One of many strange visitors to our home
Margie arrived in Livingstone on Tuesday after a long flight. Surprisingly she was not exhausted and we managed to see some of Livingstone and sit up and talk in the evening. She is so excited to be here and has had some great experiences over the first few days of her visit. We are looking forward to showing so much more while she is here.
Elephants close up on Mukuni Road
Margie brought a winter coat which she gave to Lefard who is one of our night watchmen. He was so excited. The nights are quite cool now as Zambia is having its winter. The days, however, are still a lovely and sunny 25-28 degrees.
Lefard's new jacket
Most of our time is taken up with getting the Arts Cafe ready for our opening scheduled for July 3rd. As with any construction project the Arts Cafe is now over budget. Paint is expensive and we’ve needed a lot of it in many colours. The materials to replace the ceiling, the electrical and plumbing and the cement work are extensive. The work is taking much longer than we hoped but generally speaking we have some great workers and see progress every day.
New sign painted at the entrance to the Arts Cafe
Marilyn did a radio interview on a local station (Zambezi FM) on a program called Lifestyle and did an amazing job of capturing the essence of our project. She displayed a lot of enthusiasm and it seems to have been heard by a lot of people locally who are now asking about LiPAF and the Arts Cafe.
Jane - one of our beautiful dancers
On Friday, Margie and I and a young woman named Linda from California spent the day painting one large room. Margie has a lot of experience painting and Linda offered to volunteer after coming to our show and getting to know us.
Margie at the golf club
We also got the LiPAF logo painted on the front of the building but not the sign above which will read “The Arts Cafe”. Jack, a musician and artist we know well was hired originally but got sick. He then got Rasta to come and he did the LiPAF logo but then he too was admitted to the hospital. Tomorrow, another artist named Hendrix is coming so hopefully it will get done this time.
Abel (l) and Lefard fixing a puncture on the bikes we gave them
It seems there is a lot of sickness this time of year in Zambia, and many of our cast members have been suffering from colds. Our housekeeper was off one day this week when her niece died from malaria. Jane rarely misses work and only such a tragedy would keep her from coming to do her job. It happened to be a day when all the costumes had to be washed but four of our girls came and helped out.
Our girls laundering the costumes
I did take last Sunday off and worked in the garden staking up our tomatoes. We are now eating rape (a leafy spinach type plant) and we picked our first green beans. It is quite a challenge having to keep the plants watered every day in the hot dry weather and the sandy soil is suitable for some plants but obviously not others. Our beets and potatoes haven’t done well.
Staking up the tomatoes
On my way to Mukuni Village last week to hire a young man to make tables and chairs for the Arts Cafe, I happened to come across a small group of elephants on the road. The elephants have been creating a lot of havoc in and around Livingstone lately and today one did some damage at the resort where we perform. Margie hasn’t seen an elephant yet and I’ve been teasing her that she may not although I know she will see plenty before she leaves.
Sisters enjoying a Ricoffy together in Africa
Last night when we got home from the show, there was a car broken down right in front of our driveway and another two cars behind that one. I pulled up along side to see what was happening and it turned out one vehicle was towing a police car and the rope broke. The police office came up very angry saying “Move out of here, you are obstructing traffic”. When I told him I lived here he became really apologetic and directed me around the cars, down the side walk towards our gate. Unfortunately, I had to drive under some tree branches and it turned out there was a big limb hidden by the leaves. Now I have to take the Pajero to a panel banger to have the roof fixed.
Damage to the Pajero roof
