Vivi in Zambia :): Interesting days in Livingstone

Last time, when I left you, I was on my way to the first club competition of the year and I was really looking forward to it. Well, when I reached Libuyu (the compound where we were supposed to have the club competition) and no teams had shown up after having waited for 30 minutes, my excitement had slightly decreased…The African time wanted to challenge my patience again :D Luckily, I was prepared, so I took out my book and read until the teams showed up. This was my waiting spot:

I sat next to my bike :)

When it started raining, I shifted my waiting spot to this place

Even though I’ve now been here for exactly 7 months, I still get surprised of, how interesting and fascinating African children think white people are and especially a girl sitting next to her bike, reading a book next to the sports field :D The 40 children who’s school just finished, while I was sitting and waiting for my teams to show up, let me really feel their fascination about seeing a white person in the compound :D It was quite entertaining though :)

After approximately an hour, two teams finally had shown up and we were able to start the match.

Stella and me

The two teams playing

Mevis, Stella, Doreen and me

(two sports captains and my sports coordinator)

It's always fascinating to see women carrying things on top of their heads, while having their child on the back

The weekend was one of the more calm and relaxing ones, with having a braai, dinner and a relaxing time with friends. The boat club in Livingstone right next to the river was the new location for the braai. It was amazing!!! Just have a look at the pictures :)

Perrin, Vicky and me enjoying the sunset from the boat

Nice sunset :)

Having a good time

Last week started calm and easy as always with work at the office. Writing reports, planning the monthly sports captain meeting, field visits, the participation in the Women’s Day and the tournament on the 16^th of March, were some of the things, which were on the programme that Monday. At that time I didn’t know that that week would turn out to become a bit special.

Tuesday was still fine and I enjoyed the field visit. What am I actually doing at a field visit, you may wonder? Well, I go to the different sport clubs in Kwenuha, visit the sports captain and supervise the training. Together with the sports captain I enhance the training and try to find solutions for the challenges they face in the club.

The unexpected thing in that week started Wednesday. I knew that on Thursday the 28^th of February they were supposed to have the Livingstone parliamentary by-elections. Just to let you know, this is the third time they were having this election…the first two times the right person just didn’t win…and this is called democracy...Anyway, because of the elections we were only working half day Wednesday and having a holiday on Thursday. Sounded good to me :D
However, it turned out to become a bit more complicated, than just enjoying having the day off. People told me it would be better to stay in the compound during the following days. Apparently, being in town wouldn’t be safe, since they expected a lot of riots and violence because of the elections. When I knocked off Wednesday I was still a bit doubtful about, if I really should believe what people were saying. Could it really be so bad or were they just exaggerating? When a lot of cafés closed early Wednesday, so their staff could manage to reach home before 18 hours, I kind of started thinking that it might be better for me to cycle home as well. Furthermore, I found out that Monday evening one of the ruling party Patrotic Front (PF) had been hacked to death. That explained all the police in town and the big concerns. Hence, I went home. What came a bit unexpected (at least for me) was that all the concerns were useless, since it ended with a postponement of the elections to the 14^th of March. What is the exact reason for this postponement? Well, I’ll let it open for you to decide. Maybe it’s because of the violence, maybe it’s because the ruling party might have lost…I don’t know...

Here are two links, which can give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

http://www.lusakatimes.com/2013/02/26/death-of-pf-cadre-following-political-violence-in-livingstone/

http://lusakavoice.com/2013/02/27/zanis-copy-violence-switches-off-by-elections-in-livingstone/

All in all I can say that these elections have been and still are very interesting to follow, as long as I’m safe of course ;) We'll see, what is going to happen on the 14th of March.

Friday the 1^st of March it was time for the second club competition, this time in Mwandi. On my way to the sports ground, I kind of already could feel that this club competition would turn out to become an even bigger challenge than the first one. Even though they have fixed the road to Mwandi compound, it still is TERRIBLE!!!!

All the stones made it impossible to cycle

It was impossible to cycle on it even with a mountain bike. Hence, I had to walk all the way. After spending 45 minutes walking in the afternoon heat, I finally reached the sports field. Luckily, this time I didn’t have to wait alone. Angela, one of the sports captains kept me company. However, this doesn’t change the fact that only one team showed up and we weren’t able to conduct the club competition. After 11/2 hours waiting for other teams to arrive, Angela and I left. And believe it or not, it even became better...when I had reached the road, where I finally was able to cycle again, I realized that my front tyre was punctured :D Hence, I had to walk all the way home to Morelight Extension and believe me, it's a LOOOONG way!!!

Even though I was completely exhausted and my ability to say T.I.A. and take everything with a smile had slightly decreased, I still was in a good mood, when I reached home and had to face the fact of the power cut…yeahhh...T.I.A :) Anyway, the reason for my good mood was that I in the morning spontaneously had said yes to join some friends for a trip to Lake Kariba. I’m quite sure that you would have said yes as well: Spending a weekend on a houseboat, on a lake, just relaxing and enjoying life. Doesn’t sound too bad, right ;)

That's why I Friday night took the night bus to Lusaka, where we Saturday morning started off to Lake Kariba :) Spending the weekend on the houseboat was absolutely amazing!!! I was so happy that I had said yes to this spontaneous trip :)

I think I’ll let the pictures speak

Our bus

Some goat meat? It actually tastes good :)

Our beds

The pool on the boat

The view from my bed, when I woke up

Preparing the lunch and drinks

Our boat

The private island we visited

One of the many spiders on the island

Nice view from the island

Nice view :)

Having dinner and drinks at the beach

Enjoying life

Nice view

Sunday late evening it was time for me to take the 6-7 hours bus back to Livingstone. Monday morning I was ready at the office again, a bit tired though :)

The main topic of this week is the walk on the Women’s Day on Friday the 8^th of March. Since Kwenuha is a Women’s Association I really want us to participate. However, the organisation doesn’t have any money to provide a uniform or food. Hence, it’s going to be a challenge to motivate the women. However, I’ll try my best to make it happen :)

What else is going on this week?

Work wise the planning of the Women’s Day is on the Programme. Besides work, I might go travelling from Friday afternoon to Tuesday. Tuesday the 12^th of March is a public holiday (International Youth Day), so it’s a perfect opportunity to use the long weekend for experiencing the country :)

Some of my enjoyments in life