It’s the rainy season but it hasn’t rained for 10 days. We thought it would rain today for sure since we had an afternoon outdoor show but it didn’t. The roads, which are mostly pot holes from the earlier rains, are now dry and dusty. The temperature is a consistent 28-30C each day.
Back Yard at our new home
Thanks to Marilyn’s efforts, we have managed to formalize a deal with a fairly large tourist booking agency whereby they will sell our shows through their many activity centres at various resorts and lodges. Of course there is a price to pay in commission but we are hoping an increase in numbers will offset the loss per ticket sale.
The Rolling Kencheyo (our band) is back together and rehearsing for a gig tomorrow at one of the larger resorts. It’s a Valentine’s celebration so they’ve been working on a collection of love songs. Marilyn is going to do a guest appearance with them and Tiika, Tembi, Marilyn and I are also going to enjoy the dinner.
The Band is back rehearsing
The Ngoni dancers want us to travel with them on a bus to the Eastern Province town of Chipata for their annual ceremony. It’s a long ways away but would be fund. Still I don’t think we can afford to be gone for the 5 days. We do want to take in some ceremonies this year but will probably pick a few within a days drive.
On Monday our plumber/electrician, named Paul, is starting the final phase of the bore hole project. I need to get some planks for under the tank but these are being donated by Zambezi Sawmills. All the materials have been purchased and it is possible the water will finally flow within the next week. (Why do I keep saying such things when everything takes weeks longer than expected?)
Our fruit trees
We’ve renewed the school sponsorships for our kids and they are writing letters to their sponsors. This is something I wanted to have happen last year but it didn’t.
I’m not sure if I mentioned that Air France gave each of us 3000 flying blue miles after I wrote to complain about a problem we encountered on our last trip. That’s so cool because with those extra miles we now move from “Ivory” to “Silver” and have access to their airport lounges. That will be great for our trip back to Canada in July
Some of you may know that the Colleges in Ontario held a strike vote a few weeks ago and the majority (57%) voted in favour of a strike. Management sweetened the deal a bit but our union still said we should vote against it. I was worried what would happen since I’m way over here and wouldn’t be able to picket and therefore not get strike pay. My Seneca pay is what is keeping LiPAF afloat while we wait for the big breakthrough.
To make a long story short, Management asked that their latest offer be put to a vote of the membership and by a margin of only 210 votes, Faculty decided to accept the offer. No Strike-No Worries. (To be honest the vote count isn’t official yet so let’s hope something doesn’t go wrong)
We have a lot of irons in the fire and I’ve just added a new one by letting my name stand to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Livingstone Tourism Association. The election is at the AGM on the 18th.
Our New Home
Perhaps the biggest news this week was that we “shifted” which is how Zambians say they have moved. We moved our furniture items from Kelly’s place to our new home on Lusaka Road on Thursday. Several of the cast showed up to give us a hand. We didn’t have a lot to move by rented truck but it was a good thing we had so much help after the truck got stuck in some soft sand and we all had to push to get it free.
Side and Back
Today (Sunday) we moved our clothes and final items from Maramba Farm to our new home and got the keys. It will take us a while to get settled but we are happy with having such a lovely yard full of fruit trees and three bedrooms and three bathrooms. We’re turning the full length porch into our kitchen as soon as we get all the openings screened. Marilyn has always wanted an outdoor kitchen and now she will have one.
The picture below was taken on Saturday while I was on my way to the Sun with a staff member. A lone bull elephant was in the road and not happy. Cars were doing everything they could to get turned around and four way flashers were going everywhere. We did a u-turn and waited far down the road until the elephant went off into the bush. Quite a rush actually. Sorry it was too dark to see the elephant in this pic.
Elephant Traffic Chaos
