http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AbbyRose/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from AbbyRose en-us Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:11:20 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:11:20 +0000 BwanjiI guess its been a while since my last posting apologies its been a crazy time. To start from where I left off last timehellip.My supervisor from Canada was here which meant that I had a very hectic and interesting week I spent Monday sitting in on a meeting at the Canadian High Commission with him very intriguing. Basically every time the partner NGO comes thru Zambia especially b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-455062.html Written October 25th 2009Greetings allI am almost at the 5month mark meaning I have 3 months left. As the Zambians say ldquoAhhhhhhh Eeeshrdquo Itrsquos gone by incredibly quickly.This week has been both frustrating and interesting. The petrol shortage continues and I am no longer finding the whole thing funny now that the price of taxis has gone up. Also when I do take the bus i http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-449913.html Hi EveryoneIt is sooooooooooooo hot. Today by 9am it was already 36 C. I sure miss that great Canadian fall weather I have spoken to some of you and have heard several complaints about the cold in Canada. I am envious The heat is not so awesome in a landlocked country where no air conditioning exists and you have to pay considerable amounts of money to use hotel swimming pools. Also wearing http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-446060.html Written Wednesday October 07 2009There and back againHey EveryoneSurprise I was in the UK for 10 days. No one knew I was going except for my lovely aunt ldquoSophierdquo who kindly engineered the whole thing. I went to the UK to attend my grandfatherrsquos memorial service. It was definitely time for a break from the whole Zambia scene. I was getting frustrated and needed a change for a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-443556.html Written Friday Sept 4 2009Mwalyeni bwino this is a common greeting in Bemba it means ldquoAre you eating wellrdquo And in turn you respond ldquokulila mulelyardquo which means ldquoprovided that you are eating wellrdquo Hence I hope you are all eating well I know I am. On a more interesting note I am beginning to lose my sanity a bit. Well not really but I definitely nee http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-436181.html Muli bwanji Thatrsquos Nyanja for hello and how are you I have been very skimpy on the photographs so I am trying to post more of them for everyone this may prove to be difficult because the internet connection here is just something else. I will try thoughThis past week was a lot better for me. Irsquove made a lot of progress with regards to my thesis. One of the major stakeholders cal http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-432070.html I hope everyonersquos week was much better than mineThis week was really brutal. On Tuesday I found out by email that my grandfather who lives in the U.K. passed away. Although this wasnrsquot unexpected it really took a toll on me and I wasnrsquot really able to function for the rest of the day. I felt really terrible my family had gone to the U.K. to help out and I was unable to do http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-428835.html Hi EveryoneI am sickhellipagain My bladder infection came back to haunt me on Friday nighthellipand it came with a vengeance. Luckily the clinic that I went to last time is open 24 hours. I gave another urine sample and was told that my original infection never actually went away so this time round I had to be given more antibiotics AND an injection. What fun.Sohellipthis pretty much spo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-426921.html Hello hello EveryoneLife in Zambia continues. I had the worst birthday ever Seriously I had made plans to have a small party on the weekend and maybe go out for dinner on Wednesday but no. Clearly the universe hates me because I woke up with a bladder infection and abnormally coloured urine. It was a wonderful 21st birthday gift. Tom knew a good hospital so he took me there and I payed 40 fo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-425225.html Bonjour allI canrsquot believe itrsquos the end of July already Absolutely crazy. That means Irsquove been here almost 2 months Work has been busy I am trying to finish up a grant proposal that is due on Aug 1st but we want to email it in Thursday. Its going well except the budget portion its mathhellipgo figure.Irsquom not sure what I will be working on after this Irsquoll pr http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-423022.html Hi AllI apologize for the lapse in communication I havenrsquot been visiting internet cafes that much lately. What I usually do is write blog stuff at home and post it when I access internet. Irsquom a bit behindhellipLast week when I got back from Vic FallsMy 3day week at the office was quite eventful remember there was a 4 day weekend.Technically I guess it was a 4 day week becaus http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-420231.html Hello AllIrsquove been having a pretty interesting time. Never a dull moment in ZambiaLast week was very trying for me. Dan and I worked very hard on a funding proposal for the last few weeks. We met with our boss several times to discuss edit etc. and were quite proud of the final result. Our boss gave it the thumbs up told us he really liked it and we sent it off to our partner NGO for a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-417123.html Hi EveryoneI FEEL TERRIBLE. I completely forgot that today was Canada Day until about noon. Epic fail.SohellipHappy Canada Day everyoneItrsquos been absolutely FREEZING here. Well for Zambian standards anyways about 10 C. My office has windows on almost all sides and the windows donrsquot close so Irsquove spent the last day freezing in my summer office clothing enjoying the cold br http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-414809.html Ok so Irsquom at a restaurant and was sitting at my table and realized that all of my blogs havenrsquot been as detailed as they should be I mean I tell you guys about the activities that I do here but not a whole lot about Zambia itself. I think its time that I filled everyone in on what its like being here what the culturersquos like etc. So I guess its important to start off by sayin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-412547.html Hi AllHope all is well in Hamilton Toronto London Market Lavington Australia etc.Its been an interesting week so far. Irsquove been spending a lot of time on this funding proposal it will never end Irsquom trying to organizeplan a budget which is a bad thing since I am terrible at math Irsquom terrified to see my bossrsquos reaction when I hand it in hopefully by the end of tod http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-412084.html Hi EveryoneSo I have recieved a few emails asking some good questions that I figured where worth responding to on the blog.About my work...I'm trying to keep names annonymous on this blog but I'll give you a description.I am working for a tiny 5person NGO that does work in health policy. Specifically we address the gap that exists between researchers and policy makers. Ideally health polic http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-410741.html Hi EveryoneI guess I owe tout le monde an update Its been both busy and not so busy all at once. Last weekend was pretty eventful. Okay Friday wasnrsquot really I kicked back with a few episodes of House I have a growing fondness for that bitter man. Saturday I was both brave and stupid and decided that it would be a really good idea to go explore downtown for the first time by myself. Af http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-409807.html Hi everyoneDue to popular demand I am posting photos of my new home. Currently its just me here at the moment. My roomates are still away probably until Friday.I must admit that I live in a gated community safety first I've introduced myself to the gate guards you have to knock on the gate to get in or hoot your horn if you're in a cab. My room's just the right size but all I have is a b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-407185.html Hi allSo good news I am no longer homeless and have moved into a house on Martin Luther Kind Rd I know awesome name right. It took me a grand total of 30 minutes to unpack my stuff but it'll begin to feel a bit more like home in time. I've only met one roomate so far Mike fake name who is quite an interesting guy. He grew up here when it was still Rhodesia his parents run a huntin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-406188.html Hey EveryoneI am alive and kicking. What a whirlwind its been I actually got on a plane and ended up having one loooooooooong trek to Zambia.I had a stop over in Amsterdam and was very eager to see the sites. I was so stoked and found my way into the city despite the language barrier and waited outside the tourism office until it opened so that I could get some advice. Amsterdam was a true http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Lusaka/blog-405283.html