Zambia Food Fun-Fritters

You may be asking yourself what is a fritter? Well I will tell you: Fried Dough. Now for those of you from the South, you may be wondering, “Why didn't we think of that?” On the way to work Friday (and also the following Monday), we decided to stop and get some fritters at a road stand. These stands are pretty much all over. They sell anything from fruit to talk time for your cell phone. They keep the fritters warm in a covered bucket. They open this bucket up and give you the choice pickings. We asked if we could take a picture and the woman laughed. I told her we didn't have these in the States. Then she asked if I would take her picture and so I did. We gave her a zikomo (thank you in Nyanja) and she laughed and we headed to catch the bus. 

The local stands on the side of the road.

The maker of our fritters.

The beloved fritters.

Enthusiasm as the fried dough hits your lips.

Sweet Friends

Thank you for all the lovely words. We are so excited and wish we were closer to everyone. One of my dearest friends, Lindsay, posted the kindest blog post and I thought I would share the link with you. You should check out all her great photography while you are at it.

Ndidzakhala mwuana…

This is Nyanja for we are having a baby. We’re pregnant!!! We told our parents this weekend. I am 14 weeks along and my due date is February 28^th. We will be cutting our trip a little shorter than planned. Our plan is to head back to the States at the end of January and deliver in Birmingham. We have a physician here in Lusaka. She is wonderful. I have seen her once already to get an ultrasound. We will go for our next checkout at 20 weeks.

I have been feeling fine. The only time I start to feel sick is if I wait too long to eat. I am not really showing but I can tell that my body is changing. I was relieved to be out of the first trimester. It is becoming more real.

I have decided to take update photos and post them on the blog. Since I am in such a beautiful country I decided that I would make the most of my background. I do wish I could be closer to share this wonderful time, but until I return my blog will have to be our bond. Love you and miss you all.

Weekend Wrap Up

Nyanja lessons with A Elijah, our muphundzeria (teacher)

Alana's going away braii

On Saturday, we got to go on our first excursion outside of Lusaka.  We drove for about three hours to Kiambi, a camp located on the Lower Zambezi River.  Sunday morning we took a boat safari around some of the river's islands.

This guy greeted us good morning

A hungry, hungry hippo

A little afternoon reading. This living in Africa thing is hard.

A tiger fish that Will wishes he'd caught

A photo of illegal immigrants in Zimbabwe

Monkeys, monkeys everywhere at the campsite

A sunset view over the River Zambezi

New Discoveries

So today I am sitting at work with my roommate you know shooting the breeze, pretending to look busy. We were having our normal mid-morning snack when we realized the crackers we were eating are called Salticrax. Being the 5th graders that we both are we busted out laughing. We read the side of the box and to our delight found more advertising humor such as: "Salticrax is your perfect party guest."  and "Life is complicated enough without letting entertaining add to your stress. Put Salticrax at the top of your guest list-it's the smart thing to do."

Our Real World Zambia Pad

I thought I would give you a tour of the intern house. We have four other roommates. Two of the four live in a smaller house out back. We all share the kitchen. It has worked out nicely so far. All of our roommates are really great. Sadly, two of them will be leaving to return to the States at the end of the month. We will then be getting two more roommates who will be around the entire year. 

 

Here is our bedroom with our fairytale mosquito net.

Our living room. Complete with Christmas snowflakes.

Our dining room.

Our kitchen

Our porch and the lovely hammock.

Did I mention we get a pool?

In Zambia all the houses are walled compounds secured by a guard. It is normal to be walking down the street and see nothing but walls and trees. It isn't the most inviting, but they do that to keep people out. All in all Lusaka is a safe place. There is petty crime, but nothing more than any other city. 

The people here are so kind. They love it when you try and speak Nyanja which is the most common language beside English. In this culture you rarely say hello and keep walking, even strangers will stop to have a conversation with you. Typically you would ask how the person is and their family before getting to the real meat of the conversation.

Our First Week

Let's be honest can we say cultural shock. The first day we were here I was like I don't know if I am going to like this place. I have begun to change my mind. We have been in Zambia for over a week now and we are slowly adjusting and getting used to all that is new and different. CIDRZ has done a great job of showing us around. We have been to several markets, restaurants, cultural villages, and, even the annual agricultural show.  We sat through various meetings and power points this week trying to get oriented to CIDRZ and its many departments. We have also had plenty of free time on our hands which has been nice for reading and napping.

The Dutch Reformed Market takes
place once a month.

The Tuesday Market is a local food market.
Everything is fresh. I loved the bags of
beans, spices, and rice.

Tuesday Market again

Kabwata Cultural Village. Tom taught
Will how to play a game.

Umozi drama performance which takes place
at Kanyama. They use dance and drama to
talk about TB and HIV.

This is in another area of Kanyama. I know it is a cliche
picture but it had to be done.

Nshima is a Zambian staple. It is similar
to grits so fortunately I am at home. You
roll the nshima in your hand and then
use it to scoop your food. 

Markets are everywhere. It seems to be
the way a lot of people make a living.