Just over the next hill

It has been a pretty great weekend! I have been able to talk to people that I care about on Skype, went to a little Mazungu arts and Crafts show in the middle of no where (middle of no where in Africa is a big deal folks), and got to put up Christmas decorations with Katy and Kahler at Mike and Lindy's house.

Well last week's end was very welcome and so it was decided that we would celebrate a little by going to this 'big' once a year crafts show out Leopard's Hill road and 4.5km down a little road to a place called the Polocross Club, or something like that. It had rained pretty heavily on Saturday night turning that 4.5 kilometer drive into a slick, slippery, African red dirt, barely passable in four-wheel drive kind of path. We decided to give our little 1995 Toyota Corolla beat-to-death cab drive a break and get out and hike the 4km or so down this muddy mess.

Well it turns out that it was all mazungus there pretty much and since this was taking place on a Sunday morning all of the folks that would give us a ride in the back of their truck were at church. So instead of getting picked up we just got splashed (admittedly Kahler got it the worst) I took the high road up through the bush (mamba trail). A big 2500 Dodge Ram (must be an American) long bed drove right by, I couldn't believe it. I might have had some unwholesome thoughts run through my brain just briefly.

Hill after hill until we finally arrived at the Polo fields and found three decent sized tents. Most of what they sold there was larger items like furniture. They had a few neat things but, on the whole it was super touristy and over-priced. We were blessed by running into a girl that we know from the mission named Sarah who was there with a Zambian cat named Mark. Mark works for Airtel, formerly Zain (A Wonderful World, I will tell you about this when I see you). His Land Cruiser which we all hopped in carried us all through the crimson sludge without missing a beat. He took us the rest of the way home as he did not live terribly far from our flats. It was a much better conclusion than intro for sure.

Today was productive. Got up and headed to IAVI this morning as there is a shipment going out. Kahler and I spent a few hours this morning getting all of that squared away and doing our darnedest to see that there were zero mistakes. Came back, ate breakfast and then headed for Manda Hill to walk around and get the weekly groceries per usual. Something pretty crazy happen while eating lunch. We went into a little pizza place called Debonaire's and saw a rat the size of a large ferret. This bad boy was pretty impressive. The Zambian lady in sandals in front of us freaked out and that's when we got a look at the beast before it disappeared into the counter some where. It's whatever, TIA right? I need to preface this next part with a bit of extra information.

Manda Hill has been undergoing a massive reconstruction and everything is just now finishing up and it looks great but, well we are in Africa. We are eating out side under cover of the mall while it poured rain. About mid chew I notice something out of the corner of my eye. It is water beginning to gush from the roof across the way. Then the roof just falls away in a huge section and waterfall pours out. A few people screamed and made a cute little dance move to get out of the way. I am glad that no one was hurt because I was pretty worthless laughing at what had just happen. I was laughing right up until I looked above our table and started seeing wet seams around the huge ceiling tiles. Kahler, Katy and I looked at each other for a second shoved the last pieces of pizza in our mouths and got the heck out of Dodge.

After a bit of grocery shopping we trudged through the rain about a kilometer to Mike and Lindy's. Bare foot, muddy and pretty soaked we got to the Howard's where we dried off and begin decorating their house for Christmas! It was fantastic, they have a huge amount of Christmas stuff and it was a blast listening to Christmas music with Holiday Inn playing in the background and putting up lights. It was a fabulous end to the weekend, for sure.

Oh and I was joking a little with Heather about an eagle-sized grass hopper but, on the way to the arts and crafts show I saw a huge hopper take fight and had to stare for a while and make sure that it wasn't a hummingbird. The wings underneath the green covering are so vibrantly colored. It was a pink to deep purple color that was just terrific. Definitely fun to see when everything seemed so dreary and nasty. No matter the weather or condition there is some creation that shows you beauty, even when you least expect it.

I hope that you all had an equally great weekend! It is now single digits until I am back in the states! All is very well

Also, I got to eat a few termites at Mike and Lindy's! Crispy with a little juice in the middle. Maybe not the best but, not impossible. They did feed us Warthog stew and cornbread too which was delicious!