ZAMBIA

We had a super long Easter weekend here and decided to get out of dodge and do something other than go to the beach. Zambia is just a short drive away (according to the map) and has some of the best game parks in Southern Africa. Thus began a long weekend drive on probably the WORST, bone jarring roads I have ever had the displeasure to drive on. This "short drive" turned out to be just about 7 hours. Our AVERAGE speed from Lilongwe to the camp was 44 kilometers per hour. This equals about 30 MPH. And, it must be mentioned that the first hour and a half or so we were on paved roads doing about 60MPH. That's how bad the roads were!

We went with a small group of people to a place called "flatdogs." As always, we decided to camp b/c it is by far the most economical way to get away. The boys put their tent up on the platform and the girls and I were down below on the ground. Why platforms you ask? Well, we found out the first night there when we were awakened at about midnight by hippos grazing right outside our tent. And I mean RIGHT outside our tent - maybe two feet or so. Needless to say, all requests to go to he bathroom at night were responded to with a firm, "hold it." We also where told to "clear out" one afternoon by a scout that said a small herd of elephants was headed for the camp (but turned away before they came through). Turns out our only "animal casualty" was a few "ham" (quotes due to the uncertainty of the "meat") snatched by some naughty vervet monkeys that stalked our every move. To add insult to injury, the sandwiches were eaten in the treetops directly above us and the "ham" was thrown into the dirt.

I must say, it's hard to beat the game parks we visited while living in Kenya, but the kids had a grand time as they don't remember doing all the game drives and safari's while we lived there. We were able to see lots of animals, especially on the super fun night game drives. The park was teeming with elephants and oddly enough we saw tons of monitor lizards as well. We saw some lions and a leopard on our night game drive (too hard to photograph), but apparently there are no cheetahs in this park.

Rainy season had just ended when we were in Zambia - so there were still a few muddy spots. I did an excellent job of getting the car MAJORLY stuck in such a spot. So stuck, in fact, that Mike had to take over the rescue attempt and only after several tries was he able to get the car out. Stuck car pointer: don't turn the steering wheel (AT ALL) while trying to reverse out of muddy, dung filled, quick sand i think we are going to die here spots. Who knew?

SICK KIDS - MALAWI STYLE. PART II, SOPHIA

Administrative Notice:

This entry was started nearly 1 month ago. We have pretty much not had any internet at our house since then. Usually blog silence is due to my laziness, but not this time!!

Now, on to the story:

Sophia has been sick since we arrived in Malawi. As of now (April) she has missed about 7 weeks of school! It began with HUGE, huge tonsils and cold symptoms. Then she consistently has had long lasting fevers without explanation, sometimes with diarrhea, sometimes not, sometimes ending in head colds, sometimes not. About a week after Anna's hospital episode, Sophia got sick again and the Doctor here decided he'd had enough and sent us to South Africa for some tests.

Sophia had a CAT scan on her sinuses which showed that she had acute sinusitis on top of chronic sinusitis, inflamed adenoids, and possible polyps. She also showed a minor allergic reaction to dust(s). The plan is for her to take daily medicine (Claratin/nasal spray) and have a follow up CAT scan in 3 months to see if her sinuses have cleared.

Other than the allergy test, which Sophia hated, we had a great time in South Africa. Not sure how SA is on the same continent as the rest of the Africa that I know though. They have sky scrapers, malls, highways, McDonald's! Sophia is not embarrassed to admit that she ate lunch at McD's EVERY day we where there (which was a week!). The highlight for sure was Sunday in a shopping mall and CINNABON for lunch!!

Another interesting observation is nearly complete lack of shoes on kids in South Africa. Surely this must be where I was adopted from. I'm talking about shoeless kids in restaurants, shopping malls, the zoo!! I might even draw the line at being barefoot at the zoo. I finally asked our taxi driver what the deal was and he explained that shoes are completely optional until kids reach the equivalent of middle school. Shoes, optional? Ahhh, it's like Lynn heaven.

Speaking of Lynn heaven. I have mentioned before that all our dairy products here in Malawi are imported from South Africa. This means they are all expensive. I took full advantage of a paid trip to South Africa to load up an extra suitcase full of CHEESE!!! I mock expiration dates!

UPDATE:

It's now May and Sophia continues to be sick. She is currently on another 10 day course of antibiotics. She will have her 3 month follow up appointment this summer while we are in the States. Assuming her tonsils will come out????

SICK KIDS - MALAWI STYLE. PART I, ANNA

So a few weeks ago Anna came down with a horrible bacterial infection involving frothy diarrhea, high fevers, you name it. The "highlight" of her being sick was an overnight stay in a local missionary hospital. For the rest of my story I must insert the following disclaimer: although I am about to bemoan the care and conditions of said care, i do realize that for the vast majority of Malawians this type of hospital would be a dream come true. I really do get this.

Now for the details.

Our room had one twin bed. One. We had to share. Now, Anna is little, but when an IV is involved, little people take up large portions of the one bed. I "slept" with my head at the end of the bed and my feet either wrapped around her head, or propped on a plastic chair that i pulled up to the side of the bed. Mosquito nets are an absolute must here, especially during rainy season (which is now). The one bed, of course, had one mosquito net. I tried to go as long as i could without having to use it because, quite frankly, it was pretty nasty. Around midnight, my fingers could not keep up with all the scratching so I had to pull it down. Due to my position on the end of the bed, the mosquito net, when unfurled, laid squarely on my FACE. I spent the next 6 hours not thinking about the types and amounts of bodily fluids that I was spending the night with.

Other highlights of my evening included a nurse coming in to put an injection in Anna's IV. The first nurse was great; she came in with gloves, showed me that she put a new syringe on the needle, and wiped down the rubber port thingy with alcohol before the injection. Nurse 2 obviously missed that day of class. Nurse 2 came in bare handed, syringe already on and not an alcohol wipe in site. Instead of alcohol, she used her bare finger to lead the syringe into the rubber port. In a country with one of the highest HIV rates in the WORLD, I assure you it was a big time cringe moment for me.

In the end, I begged and pleaded to be discharged as our second night in the hospital was approaching and was finally granted my wish. Anna was fine within a day or so. Mom, not so much!

SWIMMIN' FOOLS

My kids have never been the best swimmers. Translation: there was not a drop of water in Moldova. Of course, we have mom and dad's lake, but while we lived in Moldova, we always came home during Christmas, not over the summer, and Christmas is not an ideal time to be swimming in MN.

Swimming is really one of the only things to do here. What Malawi lacks in, well just about everything, it makes up for in their fantastic weather. The kids have swimming lessons at school several times a week and as a family we hit the pool nearly every weekend.

Below are some VERY belated photos of Valentine's day. The cake is curtsey of a fantastic friend who never forgets we live on the edge of the civilized world (when it come to food). Thanks Mary!! The last set of pix is from a Valentine's Day cookie decorating party for kids.

SUNDAY HIKE

Last weekend we went hiking with some friends, and brought all the kids. Malawi is full of these beautiful 'kopje's" or small mountains seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We were with another couple who have lived here for over seven years and if it exists in Malawi, they know where to find it.

So the hike started in the low ground and we hacked our way through maize fields and wandered through empty villages. It was Sunday morning and anyone who is anyone in Malawi is at church on Sunday mornings. We were accompanied by three dogs, our guides, and frankly I was very happy to have them along so they could run ahead and scare all the snakes away!

At nearly the two hour mark we made it to a little "chalet" (a very generous analogy) that hard core climbers going all the way to the peak can use as a base. We used it as a shady spot to have our lunch. After a short rest, seven of us attempted to continue further up. About eight minutes later, every kid in attendance was crying, so we decided that was a good cue to turn around and head back to the chalet/hut. The route did get really difficult and became a bit of a rocky scramble. The guard of the chalet/hut also issued a warning about they hyenas "over there" which is nearly always reason enough to turn around.

All in all, a really fun day trip. We would like to attempt again, but this time without the kids. Remind me to google "hyena repellant."

ANNA BANANA

Anna is 5. Oh brother, I don't remember allowing this! We had a smallish party with some of her friends and a few gifts that actually arrived in time. Anna's current obsession: Littlest Pet Shop's. I don't get it, but China is smiling all the way to bank.

For the party, I made bunches of sugar cookies and then let the kids decorate with frosting. It turned out to be a complete mess, but the kids didn't mind.

And then there is Marge, holding vigil over discarded pizza crusts and cookie crumbs. Oh Marge. She will sit for hours waiting for even the smallest handouts. I think she remembers the lean years from her Soviet upbringing.
Then came the rains, which brought 13 kids into the house for the last hour of the party. Good times!

NIGHTLIFE

The other week, Mike decided to head out at night, after the rains stopped and take some evening night sky photos from our yard.
He ventured over to one of our security lights to get a picture of the thousands of flying termites that swarm in the lights. At some point he looked down and noticed there were frogs eating the termites that had lost their wings and fallen to the ground. And where there are frogs.....there are snakes! Three to be exact, all right at his feet. Two quickly slithered away while one used the confusion to his advantage and nabbed a frog, right in front of Mike and his camera.

Look at the disgusting white ooooze spewing from the frog. Ask Margie to tell you about this. Early on, she made the mistake of grabbing a frog and spent the next hour or so foaming at the mouth in our family room! Note to self, don't go outside in the dark after the rains!! Yikes!

The remainder of the pix are just random shots from around our yard. Notice our discreet front gate and the razor wire that surrounds our house. It's not just us, everyone here lives behind walls like this!