Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Little Bit of This A Little Bit of That.

So I’m just going to post a few pictures of things that I have been doing while I’ve been out and about in Zambia these past couple of months. The first are photos from my travels up north during the training I went to in the Copperbelt – we visited this Chimpanzee orphanage camp called Chimfunshi (www.chimfunshi.org.za).

https://plus.google.com/photos/108740867339265842929/albums/5835568537264084849?authkey=CNSymq3W7ODJbQ

The next group is from a “kitchen party” I went to over the Christmas holiday in Mongu. A kitchen party is sort of like a bachelorette party for a woman who is preparing to get married here in Zambia. They have all kinds of traditional ceremonies which take place during a typical kitchen party but the overall theme is to prepare a woman for her wedding and share information (only women come to this party) about how to take care of her husband (and you also give gifts to the bride-to-be). I was invited to this particular kitchen party by a friend from Mongu sort of by chance (without knowing what I was getting into)…it was fun. There was a lot of dancing. Lots.

https://plus.google.com/photos/108740867339265842929/albums/5835563594026715169

The last photos are from my recent work retreat where we went to Siavonga which is located on Lake Kariba (which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe). It was quite beautiful. Hot and humid but beautiful. On the last afternoon we took a boat cruise and were hoping to see some hippos. We didn’t but we still had a good time.

https://plus.google.com/photos/108740867339265842929/albums/5835568537264084849

And you can now get to all of my photos anytime by clicking on the link which says My Photo Album on the right over there.  It should be working.

Enjoy!

 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like...


2013.  You thought I was going somewhere else with that opening, didn’t you?!  J  Happy New Year!  I am pleased to report that I have successfully made it through another year.  I do have to admit that 2012 was probably not my most productive year.  Strangely, I sort of felt like 2012 was my “gap year.”  You know, that year between high school and college (not that I am at all in this age range but it’s the idea)?  Maybe I just needed some time to figure things out.  I wasn't really planning it this way.  I didn't have a map.  It just seemed to happen. 

Let’s see, I finished my Peace Corps service in South Africa at the beginning of 2012 (which has changed my life in so many ways).  Then I took a month long hiatus trip floating around South Africa after which I traveled back to the US of A…and lived with my parents for the next several months.  Well, actually, for about a month during that time I traveled here and there.  And the entire time I was searching to find my place in the world all the while letting go of old habits that weren't really helping me move forward.  And, now, here I am.  In Zambia.  Where I finished out the remainder of 2012. 

I don’t know that I have had some big revelation which is making me feel like it’s now going to be okay.  But I think it's going to be okay.  And I don’t have any regrets about 2012.  It was a good year.  One that I will never forget.  And, just for fun, I thought I would share a couple of songs that will forever remind me of New Year's 2013 in Zambia (hopefully the links work)!