And proud of it...

I found this chocolate bar in the store the other day...it really spoke to me. I'm thinking of having these pictures blown up into billboards and put around the city...cause why wouldn't you?

I enjoy short walks on the beach (too long and I'll get winded), reading books with many pictures, and playing polo on my trusty stallion "Winston".

(And I wonder why I'm holding this bar...)

Pictures courtesy of my personal photographer, Shannon Costillo...I only work with people of the same name

The Rice and Beans Experiment

Last week we embarked on a journey that would forever change us. Our goal: to eat rice and beans twice a day for one whole week. Our reason: why not! Mission accomplished. Although we did not just eat them plain, but had rice and beans with a cornucopia of other ingredient to concoct quite the culinary delight for our pallets.

My own personal vendetta was to eat each my with my handy travel chopsticks, a habit I just might continue well after rice and beans week. It really works the muscles in your hands...a few more weeks of this and I could have a pretty ripped right hand...I shall conquer all "Thumb Wars!"

Just a side note: you know that song that talks about beans being the "musical fruit"...I don't think beans are actually a fruit, I've been researching it. I think that song needs to change. No comment on the validty of the songs lyrics to being the determining factor in eating "beans for every meal"

Introducing A Gondwe

This is Mr. Gondwe (or as he is called in Zambia, A Gondwe, the "A" being a sign of respect, like saying "Mr."). He is one of our guards/groundskeepers at the farm and perhaps the sweetest man ever! He trys to help me learn Nyanja by speaking it only...most of which I just smile and nod. Even when I greet him with the basic greeting he never responds how I expect and I usually have no idea what he is saying. He does know a bit of English which he often resorts to once he sees the confused look on my face. He's so sweet you just want to eat him...well, not really...whoever came up with that phrase should perhaps rethink it's implications!

Victoria Falls and Safari Pictures

If you'd like to see some photos of my time in Livingstone and Botswana click....wait for it...not yet...HERE!

New Horizon Girls Sample Songs

Here is a sample of the recording that I did at New Horizon Orphanage a few weeks ago. There were about 10-12 girls between the ages of 8-15. In total we recorded 8 songs, three in English. So for those of you who are looking a math challenge: If the girls at New Horizon sang eight songs in total and three of those were in English, how many songs in the venacular (Bemba and Nyanja) did they sing? (answer below)

Jehova Gira
Send Me
The Love of Jesus

(They sang 5 songs in the venacular languages)

Kasupe Kids Club

Here are some pictures of the kids at our Saturday morning kids club...I was going to spell "Club" with a "K" in the title...but then looked at the initials and thought...hmm, maybe not! (The "big guy" is Chalo, a Zambian on our team who helps lead it.)

Bulb Burn Out

So our lightbulb in our hut burnt out about a month ago. I always found the light in our hut poorly for reading but not as poorly as when it is not there at all. The thing is our ceiling in ridiculously high and we have no free standing latter. So Steph and I tried tipping my bed on end but it was far to unsafe. So instead we put the dresser on the bed and a chair on the dresser and since I stand at a towering 5'5" I climbed on up to try and change it. Once up we realized that the light cover was skrewed in and I could not reach the screws. So that was that...still no light. We are thinking maybe we should get a lamp.

Singin' in the Choir

Here is a litte video from church this morning. You may notice me as the white girl in the back row! We are singing a song in Bemba. Good Times!

Audio Update

A while ago I recorded the painful sound on my own voice as an audio update of sorts and I've finally been able to upload it. So here it is in snippet form. Click on the link to hear it.

Welcome
Mzungu how are you?
Power Off
Car Breaks Down
Church
Choir
Food
Life on the Farm
Signing Off

The Ants Go Marching Up My Pants!!!

We were invaded by ants the other day. They are the friendly biting kind that like to crawl on you and bite you. It feels real nice! It seemed they enjoyed crawling up my legs into my pants and biting me...good times. We tried numerous ways to get rid of them. Our final measure involved flamable liquids and a flame.

The Spiffy Biffy of Dreams

Last week we lost all water on the farm forcing us to dig a little hole to go to the bathroom due to the fact we could no longer flush the toilets. Here is what resulted. Here she be. Although one foul gust of wind and the walls came a tumblin' down!

In all it's glory. I especially like the ratty toilet paper (our favorite little puppy, Doc, got a hold of it!). It just really adds to the atmosphere. We put a geriatric toilet seat on the hole, just to class it up a bit.

I really loved every minute of it!

Photos of Zanzibar

I've updated my Flickr site with pics from Zanzibar!

Click here

More Singin'

The other day I went to Emmanuel Family Home, one of the orphanages we work with, to hang out with the kids and sing some songs.

This is Sylvia although she could be mistaken for Macy Gray

Get this guy a kleenex!

Photo taken by Patty Hupp

On Sunday afternoon we took a little trip to this hotel in Lusaka which has this game drive you can go on. They have one elephant and a handler named Bongo! We have a couple, Steve and Patty Hupp, who are here right now beginning the adoption process as so we went with them. We got to ride on the top of the roof of the truck which was awesome. Although when we were trying to leave the elephant and Bongo he came around to my side of the truck and totally snotted me with his trunk! I will never wash this shirt again!! It was almost as good as touching Oprah!!

Tryin to catch me ridin dirty

Look out, she's behind the wheel on the left hand side of the road.
There's a little rap diddy called "Ridin' Dirty" which speaks of the police trying to catch the artists commiting traffic offenses...hence "Ridin' Dirty". I enjoy sinking low in my seat, one hand drapped over the wheel, humming that song as I drive. But don't worry, the police have nothing to catch me on, I drive with the utmost care and attention. Although with all the dust and need to have the windows open I really do ride "dirty" most of the time.

Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance...well maybe just sing

The other week some of the ladies of the Action Zambia team united to sing at one of the local churches by request...I know, someone actually invited us to sing! We are thinking of buying a minibus, painting it and taking this show on the road. The question is...is Zambia ready for THIS! We sure are a wild bunch...and I just noticed that I seem to be revealing a little too much calf/shin compared to my bandmates, if ya know what I mean!

Mzungu on the Bus

I apologize for my lack of posts recently...but guess who's back, back again...me, and I'm riding the mini bus. On this occasion I took the mini bus up the farm road to meet ma peeps in town. You cram in these things like there is no tomorrow...deoderant not required...in fact I believe it is discouraged.

Irene Jellybean Trampoline

This is Irene Hilty, the two year old daughter of Tim and Andrea Hilty, a couple on our team. She is perhaps the sweetest thing you'll ever meet...comparable to that McDonalds orange syrup that I used to drink as a kid, that was pretty sweet as well. And look at us, we could be sisters, can you see it?! A couple more days in the sun and I'm there!

Livin' La Vida Zambian

The Mini-Bus: the local transportation. The mechanical runnings of these vehicles are often sketchy at best. So what happens is you fill it with people to it’s capacity…and then you put about 4 or 5 more people in. Deodorant is expensive and therefore not often worn. I took the mini bus from town all the way back to the farm the other day. Luckily I had a Zambian with me to show me the ropes.

Nshima: the staple food here in Zambia. The moto here seems to be, “All Carbs, All the Time!”. The nshima is the white lump, made from a fine corn meal. It is often served with a relish of some sort made from such things as onions and tomatoes; cabage; a vegetable called “rape” (could there be a more inappropriately named vegetable?!); and usually either a meat such as chicken, beef, or fish; or beans. Frankly, I love this stuff. You eat it all with your hands.

Kwatcha: the currency here. It is about 4000 Kwatcha for ever $1 USD. So 1,000,000 Kwatcha is about $250 USD. This is probably the only time I will ever be a “millionaire”. There are no coins here just bills. So how do you ever figure out who is going to be the home team at a soccer game? Or make wishes in a fountain? The slang term for a 1000 Kwatcha is “pin”. So I’m thinking cutting a rap album and calling myself “2 Pin”…the Zambian counterpart of “50 Cent”…or as we in the biz say, “Fiddy”.

I Saw the Sign...

This city has some pretty scoucom signs I must say. Here are a couple of my favorite...This is a sign for the "Miss Intellect" Pagaent...or should I say "Scholarship program"...I only hope one day I could be in the running to be crowned Miss Intellect 2008

You don't know how many times I've asked myself: "I wonder where I could find some gud tings that look gud too?"...and then BAM! I find this shop! How creepy is that?!

I'm not exactly sure on which word is the magical word in shopping...but I do know they have "simply the best in meat"

Here is the local car wash and hair salon

Here are a couple of the girls that we give rides to from school down our road. The other day we had about 15 people crammed into the truck while listening to "Bicycle" by Queen.