Quarantine

This morning we were able to sleep in a little later than usual at our extremely nice hotel, the Protea. We ate an incredible breakfast there and then had about 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave. Catherine and I wanted to find phone cards so we headed over to the little shopping center next door. We saw Dr. Tullos over there with Khaki Jackie and decided to catch a ride back to the hotel. When we walked up to him, we found Ian huddled over a trash can. Poor thing! He was really sick. After a few minutes of getting him feeling better, the four of us got in Khaki Jackie. Dr. Tullos said he still needed to go find some eggs for Leonard and Catherine and I could go with him if we wanted. Catherine mentioned a jewelry store she saw on the way in and Dr. Tullos offered to drop us off so we could check it out and then he’d pick us up in about 15 minutes. So he did. The store, Zambezi Jewels, had a few cool crafts and some really pretty jewelry. So pretty, that we decided it was too expensive for us! Since we had some time left, we decided to go next door to another craft store. The shop owner, a white man from South Africa, asked us where we were from. When we said Arkansas, he said, “Well you must be Republicans!” We laughed and he asked us a million questions. He was quite the character! He showed us every single thing in his store, including some baboons made of seashells who were named after him (Mike), the other boy working (Nawa), and the old man sitting on the porch who had apparently just been released from jail the day before (Pops). Dr. Tullos finally picked us up and on our way back to the hotel, Dr. Weaver called. We were 15 minutes late! On the way to Livingstone yesterday we had all of our bags inside with us and it was so cramped. We had decided to buy a tarp and some bungee cords from Spar, a grocery store, and strap our bags to the top of Khaki Jackie. This task was not as easy as it may sound and we ended up sitting in the parking lot for 20 minutes or so trying to get it all figured out. Meanwhile, Ian still felt sick, and Sarah, Jaime, Meghann, and Marja were also looking a little green. We were finally on the road and not as squished as the way there. We were supposed to be back at 1 for Leonard’s lunch but we were already off to a late start. It seemed to take twice as long getting back, especially since everyone was feeling so queasy. We had to make a pit stop on the side of the road for a bathroom break about halfway home. That was an experience for sure! Right, Lace? We finally made it back to Namwianga around 2 (an hour late for lunch) and half of the group went straight to bed. Lacey, Kaylee, Catherine, Caroline, Dr. Weaver, Dr. Tullos, and I were the only ones to go to lunch. Leonard had cooked the traditional Zambian meal of sheema (a corn meal that is kind of like grits that you pour a chicken broth over) along with rice, cole slaw, and rolls. It was interesting. After lunch, we decided to all go to the Haven and just do the feeding group since Marja was sickly. It ended up going pretty well. It was nice having a few extra hands. Caroline had me explain a few things to them about using the z-vibe and some of the Beckman exercises. I feel like I’ve learned so much from her and it’s only been a week! We did have a little run in with some new folks, but we won't say much about that, ahem, B Weave! Since it was only B Weave, Caroline, Lacey, Kaylee, Catherine, and I in Khaki Jackie, we decided to see how fast we could go over the speed "humps". Every time we came to one, another car would be heading towards us so we'd have to slow down. Finally, at the very last one which happens to be the biggest and right next to the soccer field (where a game was going on and tons of people were watching) we were able to pick up some speed. B Weave FLEW across is and the four of us in the back were airborne for like 4 or 5 seconds! We all screamed and everyone looked at us. We laughed hysterically the rest of the way home. We had sloppy joes for dinner and then did some Zumba and abs. Now our water isn't working and we're all sweaty. Uh oh. Hopefully it will be on for showers in the morning! And hopefully everyone who is sick will be feeling better tomorrow! (written by Rach)