Moving to a new country is always intense (to say the least) so it feels like soo many things have happened since l left Belgium about 10 days ago…
Of course it started off with me losing my phone about 5 min after Karen said goodbye to me at the airport. I realised at the gate so I ran to some info desk for help but they just told me to go back to the security check (where I expect I left it) failing to mention there is no way to get there. So I see 2 escalators going down and a lift I get in press the button the doors close and nothing. So I press again still nothing, I press a button to open the doors … nothing. At which stage I half panic thinking I’ll miss my flight and connections plus I will have lost my phone and now I’m stuck. Thank god for the alarm bell. I press like crazy, signal to people out there and soon the doors open and someone helped me to get into a different elevator which gets met to security. There there is no sign of my phone and I get a pamphlet, I ask them the time and my flight is due to leave in 5 min. So I rush away and when I (panting) arrive at the gate the stewardess looks at me and says, she’s here you can stop looking for the luggage and allows me in. No music on the plane for me and my 30 free airtime in Joburg are used on lost and found BXL airport.
I got picked up (exhausted) and dropped at my new home. Liz my roomie stayed in for me and turns out to be absolutely lovely and so helpful in my settling in process. She took me to the bank/supermarket and finally to dinner as we had no power at home.
First day of work I get told what they had in mind for me and it is FAB! I get to work directly with some teachers (those of the demo schools and some others) to build their competences and hence establish more Zambian examples of “good practice”. Everyone is nice and welcoming.
They'd also arranged for me to be able to visit a couple of schools before they close entirely for the holidays. The new school year starts in January.
Especially the special needs school made quite an impact. This teacher (a seemingly dedicated and motivated woman) has physically and mentally disabled students in the same class, she "solves" ADHD by locking students in her version of a “home corner” and she checks “art”-work (meaning copy the picture the teacher drew in a small A5 ruled notebook) by drawing a red ballpoint stripe through the drawings. Students’ names are listed in class next to their disabilities so you have a name and then "retardation" for example. A picture of a tree shows who is doing well academically (1 at the top, the kid with the physical disability) and who is NOT (several kids at the bottom of the tree). Needless to say I was blown away by just how much there is still to be done.
Nonetheless there were definitely good things going on in that classroom and in the school, for example they try to empower parents to deal with their children’s special needs and they run a home schooling project for children who cannot attend classes.
The week flew by, and meanwhile I was trying to get a sim card, get internet through a USB modem and basically survive! On Friday I had a late meeting and my first minibus trip! Everyone was so eager to help me find my way, people are really lovely, especially the women.
On Saturday I discovered _during a Skype conversation with my mum_ that roached here are humongous (seriously 4 cm or something) and can fly. Good thing my mum did not die of a heart attack when she heard me shout! These roaches have too much attitude, I swear they look at me and say: “so I’m here_ in the corridor that leads to your bedroom, what’re you gonna do about it, huh?”.
My colleague had asked me whether I wanted to be “zwarte Piet” at the “Sinterklaas” celebration the tiny Dutch school here was organising. It was a fun way to meet new people and also odd to dress up like “zwarte Piet” and drive through the streets here. I was baking Piet dressed in blue and holding a pan most of the time (see pic below). Again everyone was super nice and it was lovely to actually celebrate “Sinterklaas” here on my first weekend. (Annelies/Roosje I also ate your chocolates and thought about you. That evening I met up with Nele’s friend Peter and his wife Johanna who also live here for dinner and the last bond movie.
Sunday morning I bought doom spray that kills instantly before Liz took me with her to a brunch with her friends. In the late afternoon I was expected at work to leave for a workshop on mentoring which meant being on the outskirts of Lusaka for the rest of the week (see pic below).
It was lovely getting to know my colleagues informally over dinner and after dinner chatter, the area was very beautiful and I got to eat a lot of different types of local food. (lots and lots of meat _pork, chicken and beef and some vegetables: mostly boiled leaves but also a lovely bitter aubergine related plant).
While talking & planning I got involved in a project with LUCA school of arts (formally known as St Lucas Ghent) which involves a visit of some of their lecturers whom will facilitate a workshop here. It’s going to be FUN!
I will also contribute to a Zambian lecturer’s manual for early childhood education based on their new curriculum about which I will also facilitate a workshop. So All hands on stuff which I think I will enjoy and which will undoubtedly keep me very busy at work!
My second weekend started with Indian dinner with Liz and her South African boyfriend. Saturday’s mission consisted of buying a bicycle. I took a minibus into “town” instead of going to one of the many malls which are filled with chain- stores and shiny stuff. I found my way in between a hustle of locals doing their Christmas shopping towards the market. It was filled with nice looking fruit, gorgeous textiles and smiling faces. I was not hassled, followed or robbed and peacefully walked around until I found the bicycle section. My new rid weighs a lot and is an Indian made-men’s bike with those fluorescent balls on the spokes like we had when we were little).
After buying it, it still had to be properly composed (such as breaks, light, tyres) so I sat and watched this friendly man who was recommended by the shop prepare my bike for me. By the time he was done it was 14:00 and I had only had breakfast. My first bike ride was hellish: not enough energy, the heat burning my skin, driving on the wrong side of the road and in the gutters filled with stones and bumps because there are no sidewalks and cars don’t respect cyclists on the road.
I was exhausted when I got home and decided on a power nap. When I woke up strange noises where coming from the cupboard where I had stored the mountain of chocolate I took from Belgium… I should have kept them in our small fridge.
Luckily for me Liz her boyfriend volunteered to be my hero (they even especially came home after I called them to ask what I should do). The mouse/mice or perhaps even rat(s) had a clear preference for the white chocolate with tiramisu filling. Most of my chocolate remained untouched and is now stored safely away from rodents. Mice traps have moved up on my “to-buy-list”!
Peter and Johanna invited me along to an 80s party (I was glad I packed my MC hammer trousers and my badges) upon arrival I see a familiar face: my only Belgian colleague with whom I taught in Addis has been teaching in Zambia for the past 3 years, it was fun to catch up with Rene (Rozemarijn yes the one that knows your auntie) in addition there were many Dutch people whom I had also met the week before. So it was fun chatting with different people.
Now it’s Sunday afternoon, the power has just gone (first time this weekend we were very lucky) and I think I’ll try to go for a swim somewhere!
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