Newsbreak

There I was a few days ago boasting about how safe Zambia is compared to the unrest in the surrounding countries. I guess I spoke too soon:

1) Two University of Zambia (UNZA) students shot; one in the chest & one in the shin. Background: students have been rioting because their allowance (from the government) does not take into consideration the inflated prices what with the looming international food crisis. The government refused to increase stipends, students began rioting, and police were brought in to keep innocent passer-bys (motorists) safe. Both injured students are recovering. Neither (apparently) had been involved in rioting; perhaps a situation of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alvin knew the young man who was shot in the shin as he is a basketball player for the UNZA Pacers. Shame. The government & UNZA certainly need to sort out their issues, if it isn’t an annual riot, it is bi-annual. The investment in post-secondary education does not appear to be serious in light of the recent violence.

2) I’m reading the Zambia Daily Mail Wednesday May 28th & a headline appears “12 Die in accidents”/ while the other daily paper (Times of Zambia) claims “long weekend road accidents claim 13 lives”. One weekend, 12 (or 13) road fatalities; drinking and driving is B-A-D!!! And perhaps not all the fatalities were due to drunk driving, but the rate of intoxicated people driving over the long weekends is shocking to this Canadian girl. We saw one man trying to unearth his Benz from a bus stop as we set out for our early morning run/bike ride on Monday*sigh*

3) Random news: a woman in a shanty compound gave birth to triplets and named them after the two former presidents (Chiluba & Kaunda), and the current president (Levy). She made the front page yesterday; good for her I say, she’s managed to get herself some support from the higher-ups!

4) Another headline: Zambia’s HIV prevalence drops to 14.3%. This information coming from the long-awaited Demographic Health Survey that has provided plenty of numbers, but little analysis. I’m weary of accepting the information since much of the survey was implemented with questionable methodology…but I suppose any small improvements should be celebrated & motivating.

5) A great late-breaking addition: Smoking is BANNED in public places in Zambia- HOLLA. Apparently smokers caught in public places will be fined, or thrown in jail for under two years. I’ll be curious to hear how it is received, I remember it being such a controversy back in Alberta lo those many years ago. But I’ll admit that I’m looking forward to visiting a couple of yummy indoor restaurants if the smoking ban is upheld! Yiippeee

I miss my girls

Over the Canadian May long weekend the girls got together for Jenni's stagette (of sorts). Thanks for sending the photos girls, & know that I wish I could have joined in!!

Gardening feat

At some point this lily of mine looked worse for wear. Rather than giving up on it, I transplanted it, & promptly forgot about it. To my amazement- it’s blooming! It’s just what I needed what with my dill & Aloe looking so down. So here is my revived lily & some gorgeous holly hocks in the back (well, I think they’re holly hocks- feel free to correct me- Janet, Hol?) I have a theory: we have a new gardener; he actually waters the plants- I think he could be helping:-)




































And I’ll openly admit that I can’t remember the last time I used the abdominal bench. There, it’s out & I feel better. I can happily report that I’m back on running though! Looks like I’ll only manage twice a week for now (as we still don’t have a vehicle…so my 07h30 start doesn’t allow for much running time when I have to leave the house on my bike at 06h45)*sigh*. Can’t have it all, right?! I’ll let ya know when I’m motivated for the abs again. I think I just have to start, I felt so strong while doing them, don’t really know how I fell out of the routine.

That’s all from here for now.

Orbit update

Well, the Maui Melon Mint is a letdown. I was expecting that awful watermelon flavoured "bubbalicious"-esque kick. Not even close, too sweet. Thank goodness it's not my last pack!

I know, the world around me is crumbling & I can find nothing better to write about than chewing gum. Pathetic. South Africa is a disaster right now, it's horrifying to hear of the violence, & it just doesn't make sense. Apparently Zimbabwe is safe, but still under the rule of Mugabe indefinitely. I feel awfully boring (but happily safe) in my little corner of Lusaka:-)

Looking forward to a long weekend- Africa Freedom Day! Holla

Girls players clinic

The Youth Basketball League (YBL) hosted it’s first ever all-girls player’s clinic. There was a poor turnout (we had several more coaches than girls to start out)*hahah*, but we did have fun. The, erm SIX girls who came were really keen to learn something new. Here are some of the girls in action. (None of the girls are my BSA girls- they told me they wouldn’t be able to join in because they had school games. Too bad for me). I should also mention here that earlier in the month the YBL hosted a co-ed players clinic, at which there were 22 players, 3 of whom were girls- & one of them from BSA*smile*.

Boxing out drills with William














Bwalya leading a station on footwork














FUN Bouncing drills with Humphrey!!














Shooting with Alinafe














Some of the coaches (Michael, Alinafe, Humphrey, William)

Any good self-respecting Canadian

We all know that a Canadian doesn't give props to the Yanks unless they've done something extraordinary. Well, I have to humbly admit that the Americans do something right...

My folks got a little carried away when they were in Arizona when they remembered I loved Orbit Bubblemint gum. The appear to have bought every flavour of Orbit minty gums off the rack. I thought after tasting Raspberry Mint that it couldn't get any better- but in my desk drawer I've got Mint Mojito- scrumptious. Here are the other flavours my tastebuds are dying to try!!!! (Think you might have to click on the photo to actually read the flavours?)

Why are the small things in life always highlights? Or is it just me??

Neti

On Friday Heather hosted our last yoga class. It’s been so nice having Friday afternoons for yoga, visiting, & yummy lunches. The girls from work & I will have to find a new way to spend time together. Anyway, for all you people who practice yoga, many of you may have already been introduced to neti. This was only my second week doing it, but it feels so great! Claire forgot her neti pot of Friday so decided to film instead. I got the giggles so hard watching these videos I thought I’d try to load one up here. And Pop, don’t roll your eyes, we used to “candle” our ears, this is another method for clearing out the sinuses. And though it looks like pure comedy, it feels wonderful after (especially since this time of year is incredibly dusty & windy). Oh, for those of you who don’t know, you pour a saline solution into one nostril, and let it come out the other nostril, leaving you clean & sneeze-free:-) See here for more in-depth information: http://www.yogapoint.com/articles/spring_cleaning.htm.

Hope you have a laugh! Me, in action.



My colleagues & yoga partners. Priscilla in the front, then Alison, & Sue hiding in the back.

Just by the hair of my chinny chin chin

Well you’d never guess, but I nearly had my first cycling accident when knocking off yesterday evening. I was concentrating on the traffic- looking left & right & left again- to cross a fairly busy intersection. Just as I made my break I realized that a drunk pedestrian had zoned in on me (directly where I was heading). He was standing in the middle of the road, looking as if he wanted to throw me off my bike. His mumbling was fairly incoherent but I gathered that he didn’t like the fact that I’m white, so at the last minute I veered wildly to the right praying that I wouldn’t face an on-coming car round the bend.
Once I realized I was safe & my heartbeat slowed, I was left only with annoyance. What a jerk! But I’m safe & gearing up for today’s cruise to the courts- wish me luck!*hahaha*

Busted!

I learnt on the weekend that the cat’s out of the bag. Let me explain: Saturday evening I went to watch Alvin’s former basketball team play, and found most of my BSA boys still at the courts. So I sat up with them giggling and joking and making predictions for the game. Then Chichi (one of the boys who has started training with a team in the ZBA, so I suppose he’s a former boy) had mentioned some random story about me. I looked at him completely blank. Then he admitted that he’d come across my blog whilst Googling some information on Zambian basketball. HORRORS! I’ve written stuff up here about drinking etc…I considered editing…but then that would take away from the real me. So Chichi, if you’re reading this: you’re too young to drink! I’ll have to be even more sure of my Zambian facts now too*wicked smile*. It’s also funny to see how random the whole concept of a blog was to him & a couple other boys’. I tried to explain that it’s the best way for me to stay in touch with so many friends back home & scattered around the world- I’m not sure if they thought that was an acceptable reason, but I’ll continue anyway!

As promised photos of the visit with Claire & Kelvin (they’re trundled off to the Copperbelt for a few days), but we’ll look forward to a few more days together before they head back to Namibia & Canada respectively.

Sangria

We had a beautiful day at the pool last weekend

Swimming & beers (well, at least beers for the girls)!

Mojitos! This was Saturday afternoon's bit of heaven. (I think the last mojito I had was in Havana Cuba & I didn't like it)...shame- it couldn't have tasted better than on Saturday:-)

It was also Kolo's birthday on the weekend. We went out for a delicious meal at one of Lusaka's finest restaurants to celebrate (it was also a 'farewell dinner' of sorts to Christine & Emily). Here's Kolo at her finest:-)