Hello friends-
Matt and I are getting more excited by the day as we count down to our arrival in Lusaka. We are almost to the 100 day mark (I think today is 112 until wheels down) but it feels like the distant future. The two years we spent in DC have flown by with lots of time to see family, develop new friendships and continue old friendships, and re-Americanize ;).
I am almost finished earning a Master's degree in Secondary Education and Matt has accomplished some amazing work with Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti. Prithvi, our fox-like Indian street dog, has enjoyed trips to the Shenandoahs and swimming in Rock Creek Park. We had a blast during the past two years in Washington and look forward to our future postings here.
Zambia will be Matt's third post in the Foreign Service and will be the fourth country each of us has lived in! We are still homesick for our first post in Chennai, India but are looking forward to falling in love with a new place. Unfortunately, there is not nearly as much information about Zambia as there is for India so my mental preparation is not as far along as it was before we moved to Chennai. I can either find travel guides or histories written about European colonialism; not much in the memoir department. I have been most successful in my Zambia research by reading stories by expat bloggers. Thanks for sharing!
Perhaps because of the glut of information out there about India, I had constructed an image of the place in my mind before I ever set foot there. "Chennai is a coastal town with miles of beaches!" turned out to be miles of fishermen's huts built a bit too close to the water. The wheeled shopping cart we bought at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that has been quite useful in DC was utterly useless on the no-sidewalk/cow-in-the-way/too-much-traffic gauntlet that we endured each time we walked to the grocery in Chennai. Thinking back on my naivete pre-India, I wonder what misconceptions I have about Zambia. Will the weather be as nice as I imagine? Will the garden I am planning on Pinterest grow into reality? I hope so but know better this time. Inevitably, some of the ideas I have about Lusaka will seem silly upon arrival. That's the fun part!
We were very happy to receive our housing assignment from the lovely embassy staff in Lusaka this week; pictures of your soon-to-be home make the move come into focus. For the first time since we moved out of our parents' homes we will be living in a house and for the first time in Prithvi's life she will have a yard of her own! We might need to make her one of these signs like her friend "guard dog" had in Chennai:
-Abbie
I am almost finished earning a Master's degree in Secondary Education and Matt has accomplished some amazing work with Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti. Prithvi, our fox-like Indian street dog, has enjoyed trips to the Shenandoahs and swimming in Rock Creek Park. We had a blast during the past two years in Washington and look forward to our future postings here.
Perhaps because of the glut of information out there about India, I had constructed an image of the place in my mind before I ever set foot there. "Chennai is a coastal town with miles of beaches!" turned out to be miles of fishermen's huts built a bit too close to the water. The wheeled shopping cart we bought at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that has been quite useful in DC was utterly useless on the no-sidewalk/cow-in-the-way/too-much-traffic gauntlet that we endured each time we walked to the grocery in Chennai. Thinking back on my naivete pre-India, I wonder what misconceptions I have about Zambia. Will the weather be as nice as I imagine? Will the garden I am planning on Pinterest grow into reality? I hope so but know better this time. Inevitably, some of the ideas I have about Lusaka will seem silly upon arrival. That's the fun part!
We were very happy to receive our housing assignment from the lovely embassy staff in Lusaka this week; pictures of your soon-to-be home make the move come into focus. For the first time since we moved out of our parents' homes we will be living in a house and for the first time in Prithvi's life she will have a yard of her own! We might need to make her one of these signs like her friend "guard dog" had in Chennai:
In the mean time, I will try to read more blogs and start thinking about the logistics of the move. Prithvi is still blissfully ignorant that we will leave this apartment. Those of you who know her can attest that she is a nervous sort of dog who likes her routine. She doesn't even like it when we get out Christmas decorations. Hopefully she won't figure out how soon she will face the pile of boxes again!
-Abbie
