Gospel overload...

Well as many of you I am sure have heard on the international news, Zambia's president, Dr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa died last Wednesday at the age of 59. In June he suffered a stroke and has been hospitalized in France since then. It has been a solemn time here as he was a very well liked president among many. The body arrived from France on Saturday and there was a full procession of cars and military along the main road through Lusaka, making its way to a conference centre for body viewing. The coffin was basically hitched onto the back of a truck in order for people to pay their respects, rather than it being in a hearse. Thousands of people, myself included, lined the street to watch as it went by. Now the body is being taken around to the other provinces in Zambia before he is laid to rest here in Lusaka next Wednesday. There is 21 days of mourning, which means no formal activities can take place. If your wedding was planned for this weekend you would postpone. I was supposed to go to a kitchen party yesterday (a ladies only, bachelorette type party where there is drumming, dancing, food and fun) but it too has been postponed. In addition, gospel music is rampant and is being played everywhere you go - at work, on the radio, on tv, at the mall, on the minibuses, at the bars, etc, etc, etc. There will be a presidential by-election in 3 months time. We expect that Zambia's history of peace and stability will remain during this time.

Yesterday one of the girls I work with said I was fat. She is 7. She said I am "big mama". Being called fat here is supposedly a compliment, as it means Zambia is treating you well, however it didn't feel like that at the time!

Petrol here is astronomically high - over $3 per litre. And we complain in Canada?! Due to this fact, I often notice the tank on empty. People dont get very much petrol at one time, they fill up as little as 1L at a time. Yesterday, the minibus I was on actually ran out of gas. We coasted for a while then some people got out and pushed until we got to the station. It was quite the sight!

Planning on going to Livingstone next weekend, to see Victoria falls. The falls are on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. People argue here about which side is more beautiful, just like Niagara falls. Unfortunately, I don't believe we will be making it to the Zim side.

An update on our immigration papers! We are still awaiting our work permits...When we entered the country we were given a 30 day visitors visa. So we went in last week to check on our papers. Luckily we met someone a couple weekends ago at a BBQ who works for immigration. We went straight to his desk and within 10 minutes we were in and out. Although out work permits were not ready as of yet, he stamped our passports, extending our visitor visa another 30 days. Melanie, who was away with work during that time was not able to come with us to immigration. When she got back to Lusaka her 30 day visa had expired. The fine was 1.8 million kw, or almost $600 CDN. Because of our new friend, he was able to wave the fee for her with nothing more than a warning. We must once again go back to immigration within 30 days and hope that our work permits will be ready.

Hope all is well! Take care.