You have got to be kidding me...

Bradley was complaining over the last two days about a toothache. We thought it was some popcorn or ribs stuck in between his teeth. We brushed and flossed and brushed and flossed...He woke up at 1am this morning with pain, I sent him back to bed- he came in at 2:30am with pain. He tossed and turned the rest of the night. When we woke up late for school this morning- the left side of his face was so swollen. I felt terrible!!
We gave him some pain reliever and sent him to school- I ran into an American dad in the school parking lot that is an ER doctor- his daughter is in Bradley's class so he went in the class and said it looks like an abcessed tooth. I called a dentist that was referred to me and she saw him at 3pm. He made it through school and swim practice with some help from Tylenol.
The dentist finally saw us at 4pm- that was okay- I was thankful that she was able to see us at all. She was wonderful- so sweet to Bradley- it seems that his filling came out and his roots were exposed and infected- Ouch!! She wrote a prescription for penicillin and pain medicine- $10 total. Then she asked me where we were from- I told her Jacksonville, Florida- She just happened to go to college at Jacksonville University and still had friends and family in Jacksonville. Thanks be to God, once again. He is placing people in my path all over this country. What a blessing!!
We will go back Saturday to have x-rays and see if we can go ahead and pull the baby tooth instead of replacing the filling. Bradley should be back to normal in no time!! He invited his first school friend to come over and play Thursday. His name is Sid and he lives in a hotel- just like Zak and Cody!! He eats chocolate donuts for breakfast every morning!! Lucky kid!!

Goooo Gators!!

You would have thought that we were in Gainesville, Florida last night at a tailgating party. We spent the day at the Rafiki Village and when we got home- Bob and Jim were grilling some shortribs, baking some potatoes and steaming broccoli and carrots- They even bought a cake- Yummy!!

Erik downloaded Mick Hubert- Voice of the Gators- right into our family room. The Kaspers were all sporting our Orange and Blue and we had a great ol' time cheering on Tebow and the Gators!! What a great way to start the football season!! Erik and I are trying to locate the nearest Gator club for the next game:)

We had a very nice weekend- Friday night we were invited to the Cooks for dinner. When we arrived they asked how flexible we were. Their power had been out for several hours- a common occurrence in some areas of Lusaka- so we loaded up the van and went to a local Chinese restaurant. The restaurant is located in a warehouse in the fairgrounds- so you drive into the warehouse- the kids all played in the warehouse as the adults waited for dinner.

What a great time of fellowship and play time for the kids.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at the Rafiki Village. We met David and Nancy Writebol and Rose Allinder. Wow- what an inspiration. These people live 30 minutes south of Lusaka then turn right for about 30 more minutes down a very bumpy dirt road. They have about 60 acres of land and currently one dining hall, 3 classrooms, 6 dorm rooms, and the guest homes that the missionaries live in. Their hospitality was so wonderful!! We were able to see the way they run the orphanage- they showed us inside the classrooms as well as the new school building that is still under construction.

There are currently 32 children who are double-orphans, both parents have passed away. There are 6 mamas who take care of the children. The children are between the ages of 2-6. They are taught at the school and also have a bible study in which all the staff and children are involved in. The primary founder of the Rafiki foundation was very involved in BSF. All their support comes from donations and let me tell you- people have been very generous. This was a beautiful facility. There are 8 others in Africa with the same model. Besides financial assistance- there is also a need for tennis shoes and clothes. I know we could help, I just need to find a way to get things shipped over here at a minimal cost.

Lynn Bledsoe- any suggestions??

My kids loved playing with the children and the children sang some Bible songs for us.

Bradley and Chelsea were trying to teach them to swing.

Peterson also got his first "Zambian cut". The groomer was called Mutt Cutts. He looked great and it only cost 120,000 Kwacha, about $40.

My kids have started their own blogs:

Chelsea- Zambiangirl.blogspot.com

Bradley- Zambianboy.blogspot.com

Have a blessed week!! Happy Labor day!!

21 days of mourning...

We are in the midst of 21 days of mourning for President Levy Mwanawasa. Every radio station and television station in town has committed to playing Christian music for the entire 21 days. From old hymns to modern day Christian music. It is awesome!! His body is being flown to many different cities throughout Zambia for people to show their respect. He will be buried next week. The Country has declared September 3rd a National Holiday in remembrance of a great leader who made many positive changes in this Country. He was a born-again believer, Praise God, but he has left behind a wife and 6 children. Please join Zambia in praying for that family.

We have been at a loss for Internet service and Coke Light, again. I’m sitting in a coffee shop right now- updating this blog. I couldn’t wait any longer…

Bradley made the swim team, yeah!! I’ve never seen that boy move so fast in my life. He was swimming the breaststroke, which Erik taught him in our pool the day before. I said after he finished, “You just had to show them you could do it”, he said “The pool was freezing, the faster I moved, the sooner I could get out.” Good point!!

Chelsea was moved yesterday from one Year 7 class to the next. It seems there were some “personality” issues in the other class so they switched 2 girls in one class for 2 girls in the other. She was in tears- The positive is that her homeroom teacher is now her Science teacher, who she really likes. He did tell the class yesterday that he would teach them that the world was created from Star Dust- this guy is from Colorado. Please, please pray for her. She is strong in the Bible and her knowledge of Creation. I pray she is prepared for this discussion as the Lord leads her. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Acts 4:29
We did have Open House last night for the Primary School. It was good- Only 6 parents showed up in Bradley’s class of 26. There are a lot of returning students so maybe they don’t feel the need to come??
Bradley is going camping, yes, overnight camping the first week of October. Yes, of course, Erik will be right along with him. Keep in mind, October is the hottest month in Africa- hope Erik remembers all those Boy Scout skills. Did they teach how to kill a lion? Paw-Paw might need to come on this camping trip!!


I wanted to share some sights around Lusaka:

Parking attendants- These guys are hired by the shopping center, they are in the parking lot and direct traffic. You will be getting in your car and the next thing you know there is a man behind you waving for you to come out…I always fuss and say, “listen buddy, I’ve been driving over 20 years now and know how to back out.” The people in Lusaka have been driving for about 5 years now. The majority of the population does not drive as they cannot afford a car so…it is the Ex-patriots, everyone not Zambian, mostly and a few Zambians who have done well. The other Zambians are walking everywhere. What a sight!!

Street Sweepers- There are women, usually older women, in groups of 4-5 that wear orange overcoats. They are usually working from 9:00 to 2:00. They set up orange cones on the street and sweep the street about 10 feet at a time!! The streets are very skinny 4 lane roads separated by a very slim median. The ladies sweep the curbs??, both sides of the street, everyday. There are many stories that circulate around these woman- they are usually widows that must work to eat for the day.

Full service gas attendants- All gas stations have full service attendants that pump your gas, check your fluids, etc. There is not an option. I guess with gas being at $9/gallon the least they can do is pump the gas for you:) Of course, it is appropriate to tip your attendant when finished.

Car Watchers- Ok, this really aggravated me the other day...we were pulling into a parking space- no help required- when a young boy in regular clothes ran in front of the car as we were halfway in the spot and motioned for us to come forward. I said to Erik, "that ticks me off that now we will have to tip this guy for leading us 2 feet into the spot..." We do our shopping, he sits by the car and waits, when he comes out we tip him 3000Kwacha, $1. After taking a few breathes and hearing a story about our new friend Mary who was at the market getting out of her car, someone opened the door from the back and stole a bag, her "car watcher" ran him down, put the bag back in the car and made the "thief" apologize, I decided $1 would be fine with me for a "car watcher". I need to respect the fact that this boy is not at my car door begging for cash but actually performing some service. (Sorry, no picture)

Talk Time booths- All cell phones are bought as a pre-paid plan. You must buy Talk time cards to replinish your phones as time runs out. You have several options: you can buy talk time at one of these convenient booths located throughout the city, you can buy talk time from a guy in the middle of the street at a robot(a stoplight for you Americans:)), or you can buy talk time at various retail establishments. Remember when cell phones first came out- yeah, same idea!!

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We keep telling ourselves that this is a different culture. 10% of Zambians work in either domestic help or selling things on the street. 1% of this country was fortunate enough to receive some education higher than the 6th grade. Those people are working in stores, banks, insurance companies but they are few and far between. We must respect this culture and their ways and do our best to fit in.

Calling all cooks...

I'm struggling with making good meals for my family at an affordable price. I'm going to the grocery store every other day spending over 400,000 Kwacha, that is around $120.
Here is what I need- Please send your favorite meal/meals that can be cooked with few ingredients and keep in mind that we have just the basics here. I did find cream of mushroom soup but no Spaghetti sauce, expensive cream cheese(it was 35,000 kwacha for a small Philly cream cheese, over $10), no sour cream.
We have eaten roasted chicken and veggies- the veggies are great at the farmer's market- spaghetti(making my own sauce with diced tomatoes, garlic), chili, pizza(sausage, salami and mushrooms, mozz. cheese), fried tilapia with coleslaw, pot roast, chicken and rice. We have all meats at our disposable, except pepperoni and hot dogs- is that meat??
I'm not looking for anything fancy just good and COST-EFFECTIVE.
I made homemade banana pudding the other day from flour, salt, sugar, butter, vanilla and bananas. No vanilla wafers but we did substitute shortbread cookies- Yum, yum!!
Thanks for all your help!!

It is PE Friday...

As I promised, please see the picture of Bradley in his PE uniform. I gave him two options, the uniform shorts or some longer blue shorts. He opted for the uniform. I grabbed his sister by the shoulders and said, "If you say one word...". She is so much like her mother, she walked right back in the room and in the nicest voice she could conjour up, said "Nice shorts Brad".

Thank goodness he didn't see the smirk.

My boy has a mind of his own that goes right along with his fashion sense:)

The first week is over- Chelsea was actually smiling when I picked her up yesterday. She had color back in her cheeks and was feeling 100 times better. Thank you Lord!!

We had a wonderful dinner last night with Bob and Mary Sendgikoski- Baptist missionary builders from the States. They had raised four kids and were nearing retirement. They were considering moving to the beaches in Honduras to enjoy their passion of scuba diving but the Lord has other plans for them. The moved to Lusaka in 2005 and began the construction team for Every Orphan's Hope building orphanages called My Father's House. They connect with a local church and pastor in the "Compounds" and now in the "Bush". The pastor finds a widow that would be suitable to care for 8 orphans. There are about 2 million reported orphans in Zambia. Thanks to Bob and Mary answering God's call and allowing Him to work through them, there are 40 less in the compounds. Bob was a wealth of information on the Zambian way, connections in construction, and advice on how we can help this Country. What a wealth of information. I have met 3 people in Lusaka that told me that I had to meet Bob when they heard what our mission was. 3 people in 2 weeks- Thank you God!! Calling that coincidence would be an insult to the God of the Universe who works everything together for His good!!

Bob said that last year they had Christmas for 180 orphans in Lusaka- you better believe that I asked him to put our family on that invite list this year. My mind is going crazy thinking, how can we help?? Raise money for gifts for the kids?? I will continue to pray about this.

Fangmans- you know what that means, get ready!!

The website is http://www.everyorphan.org/. Check it out!!

This is for my mom- who is beginning to doubt that I am really here with my family and that some other very clever woman is writing this blog, ha!ha!

Second day of School

We were on time this morning!! The kids shuffled off to class and I was off to buy their PE unifoms. They must wear the school t-shirt and a navy blue pair of shorts- remember in the 80s when your dad, or at least my dad, wore those really short Ocean Pacific shorts:) Yeah, well...it is okay for Chelsea to wear but Brad may have to opt for some of his own navy shorts. I'll make sure to take a picture Friday, PE day. The primary school(elementary) has PE two days a week and the kids just wear their PE uniforms to school all day!! We will see how long I can keep that shirt white!
I was called by the school nurse at 11:30- Chelsea couldn't stop coughing. I picked her up and brought her home for a nap.
When I picked Brad up he told me he wanted to sign up for the Spelling Bee. He had to run over to the French room to sign the paper. The Spelling Bee will be in French. What is he thinking?? I didn't want to discourage so look for the You-tube of Brad in his first French Spelling Bee- should be interesting. He also told me today that he wants to join the school's swimming team. Okay!!
At dinner, after many hours of thought, he asked me if I thought they would have to wear those really small bathing suits. It's funny what goes through his mind.
I had coffee with Alix, Nubia and a French lady named Caroline. It was great camarderie and we plan on meeting in the morning to walk. Thursday we are going to the Farmer's market. It is nice to find other people from other places but taking a similar journey.
It is always fun to make new friends.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa died

The country of Zambia is in mourning after the loss of their President. He suffered a stroke at a Summit in Egypt in June and has been in a hospital in Paris.
"It's a great loss for the African continent as a whole, which appreciated his political courage," French President Sarkozy's statement said. "It's a big loss for democracy, for which he was an ardent defender his whole life.
The country will now begin the election process to vote for a new President. Please be in prayer over the leadership of this country as well as the United States.