So as I’ve just finished yesterdays blog and it so late (ten past 10) I gonna keep this short. We’re here 3 weeks in Zambia today and it’s still so interesting. We were up at 7, with heads (well mine anyway) feeling like a block of steel being pounded on by 8 sledge hammers carried by 8 six foot coal miners while listening to Yoko Ono scream, to go a teach at a nearby school. The school was about a half an hour away, in a small village called Chilombo, and we arrived about 20 mins late (that’s early in Zambian time). The walk there was stunning as we walked down through a valley with a river and then back up a hill again. The village is tiny with a row of small shops . We arrived at the school and met the principal. He was a middle aged man and while the science teacher was preparing for our visit he started on a rant (he had a perfectly valid poinT) about how bad things are developed in Africa how he was in college before he had shoes. He then started ranting (again a valid point) about how all the Presidents are lining their own pockets rather than helping the country, we didn’t know what to say (I was tempted to mention Bertie Ahern but decided against it). The workshop itself went really well and all the kids asked lots of questions. My hangover didn’t seem to affect me at all during it. The school had no electricity so we had to set up the 4 laptops for the kids to see the presentation. We have become so used to teaching the workshops it has become really easy. After finishing in the school and them asking us to come back tomorrow we headed to see the painter’s studio Áine and Jamie had seen last Saturday. It was down a path from the school into stereotypical African villages and countryside it was a really interesting walk. His studio was tiny (a small wooden shack) and he is working on a picture that will be used as an ad by OXO in the UK. We got a much shorter tour that Áine & Jamie got because he was going to town. We followed him back but we were so thirsty and hungry me and Dan started racing ahead. On the side of the road we bought some donuts which were OK. After dinner (more bloody fish, we reckon the Yanks are getting all the nice chicken) we went to Leonard house to finish digging our hole. The hole has to be 1.2m deep and if it fills with water once you dig it the ground is not suitable for a septic tank. We tried for ages to move the rock and has some success digging around it but it just stayed there like a fat person on a couch. Eventually 3 guys came and helped us with better tools but still the rock wouldn’t move so they went and got a sledge hammer. After a good number of blows it finally moved and we took it out. We then got a pick axe and used this to dig out the soil but it was till back breaking (and hand breaking work). We kept pouring in water to help soften the ground but it wasn’t much help. We dug to about 90cm and hit another rock so decided to stop as it was impossible to go any further. So we dug a big hole for no reason. When we got back to the guesthouse there was another craft seller there and he tried to sell us a mask used for circumcision ceremonies (OK I don’t think I’ll be needing one of those thank you very much). It was a horrible brown mask with hair attached and we made excuses to get out of buying it. We did very little for the rest of the evening apart from playing a few card games in the Gazebo at the back of the guesthouse. So that’s 3 weeks down roll on week 4. Now I gotta sleep to be up for another workshop tomorrow. Goodnight.
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