Long Overdue Update!

I am writing again from my favorite local coffee house, and because our car is with the mechanic (apparently 1998 Honda CRVs need a little love here), I am on foot. It is always a good change of pace to walk places in the city. It is easy to get in the car at home, drive through one gate to the next, and blast the AC while listening to Raffi (It’s Stephen’s favorite.) But it is another thing to take in the many sights, sounds and smells of the Lusaka. Of course, it is dusty, hot and mostly smells of burning trash, but it is humbling.

On my way, I passed a few Peace Corps Volunteers leaving the coffee house as I was walking in. Volunteers are easy to spot! There were two, 20 something year old guys strolling behind and one, late 20 something woman leading the pack with a chitange sling bag. All three looked pretty scruffy, clad in t-shirts and flip-flops. I overhead of the young men say, “It was so weird being around all those people, wasn’t it?” It struck me how I was right there in their flip-flops 5 years ago. It gave me a brief moment to reflect on how far we have come. I vividly recall enduring the full day of hitch-hiking for a simple, hot cup of filter coffee and a piece of sub-par pizza. At times I long for those days again. Life was simple. There was the everyday, more or less predictable life in the village and there was life in the big city, but only as a guest. There were few responsibilities back then; no power cuts to worry about (no power to worry about at all!), no immigration hassles, no car trouble and no traffic to stress about. I took a moment to smile at the volunteers passing by, and then took another moment to savor the moment that I am in now. I have a beautiful baby boy who is happily playing with his nanny in our nice home while I get to enjoy a cup of coffee and work on a long overdue blog update. My husband is out in the field collecting his dissertation data and he is fulfilling his goal of completing designing and implementing his own project. It is something he can own for the rest of his career. I don’t have to hitch-hike anywhere, I can find high-speed wifi every day and I can take a hot, long shower, EVERYDAY. What a blessing it is to live and know two lifestyles in Zambia. Each experience came at the right time and I couldn’t be happier.

Now, time for the family update. Stephen is 10 months old and he is crawling up a storm! You can’t turn your back for a second or he is crawling out the door, sticking a spider in his mouth (Yes, that happened. Luckily he gave me his mischievous look and I pried it out.) or grabbing a random pen and marking up the wall. He is starting to walk when we hold his hands, pull up on the stairs, in the bath and on furniture, and when he doesn’t want to eat his broccoli, he causally throws it on the ground and hopes you won’t notice while you reach for the favorable sweet potatoe or apple. He also loves to laugh and show off teeth number 5 and 6! (We are currently having a lot of fist chewing and fussiness with those darn teeth, but they are almost in!) He has lots of baby girl friends here from all around the world and he has several local Zambian friends, of all different ages, he has made on our evening walks around the neighborhood. He continues to thrive and makes our hearts burst on an hourly basis.

Joey is finishing up week 4 in the field. He has been living/working in 3 different villages in the Mkushi area while his eight enumerators are riding on bicycles and trying to complete 3-5 farmer interviews a day. Joey sleeps on the floor in local school classrooms and spends his days in the bush reviewing the completed questionnaires, getting bicycles repaired, and answering text messages from his family who interrupt him all day with updates! There have been a few bumps in the road (impossible to avoid), but progress is being made and it is very exciting to see round one of data collection coming to an end. August will be a time for reviewing the data, one week of training, but mostly, quality family time and a mini vacation with Oma and Opa.

I have been actively searching for our next home. It is working out that we are on the move more than anticipated, but we are embracing it! In August, we move into a beautiful, big “safari” house full time. We have been back and forth between our city flat and the “safari” house for a few weeks, but on Monday we officially say goodbye to our first home here. Can you believe 4 months is up? I cannot. The flat was a wonderful arrangement for our family and I feel grateful we found such a great spot while we were still in the States. We have had wonderful memories there and it will always be a special place. It looks like we will have the opportunity to house sit for another friend in September. Once again, it is for a family with a young baby so Stephen will have his own nursery for at least another additional month. It is remarkable how well he has been provided for.

We have five months to go, A LOT to accomplish, but a lot to enjoy as well! 

Stevie has been such a good eater!

While Joey was away, Stephen and I enjoyed a local picnic with some friends.

We spent a night in Mkushi at our friend's house to see Dadddy and Stephen started to pull up!

Part of our bedtime routine is now taking evening walks in the carrier. Stephen loves to greet everyone we see.

A Wedding, a Village Homecoming and Visitors from the Homeland

We have had a VERY jam packed few weeks. To kick it all off, we had an old Peace Corps friend get married at a beautiful lodge in the Lower Zambezi. It was a windy, yet gorgeous, 3 hour drive from Lusaka. We spent 2 nights in a rustic safari tent on the bluffs of the Zambezi River. The actual wedding was held on an island in the middle of Zambezi River and the reception took place on the mainland at Kanyembe Lodge. We felt honored to celebrate with our old friend in her next journey! (We also enjoyed the excuse for a mini vacation including two beautiful sunset cruises where we got to admire elephant. Stephen was less than impressed with the boat ride and was more into the toy cars we brought for him.)

A mere 36 hours after arriving home in Lusaka, we were back in the car headed North! Joey had a meeting in Mkushi (our old stomping grounds) and Stephen and I decided to tag along and take the opportunity to visit our village of Musofu. It was quite the day! We drove 4 hours to Mkushi and set up shop at a local lodge, and then an hour later, got back in the car for another 1.5 hour drive on a dirt road to Musofu. We reached our village around 14:00 hours and we were greeted with the sight of Bamaya laughing and running inside to grab a chitange to wrap around her. She knew lots of photos were coming and wanted to look nice! (She is so smart. I think I took over 100 photos in 2 hours.) Everything looked just as we had left it. It was as beautiful as ever. How many Returned Peace Corps Volunteers get to take their 8 month old son back to their village? We felt incredibly grateful for the experience. Stephen was a bit overwhelmed by all the new surroundings and faces, but  he was a champion! He was passed around to everyone and had to plow through nap and dinner time during our visit. He knew it was a special afternoon.

Finally, we had a fantastic visit with Nate and Taylor! Even though a lost bag started the trip out, a 2 night stay in Livingstone in a lovely bungalow overlooking the Zambezi River, followed by 2 nights in Chobe National Park (Nate and Taylor only! Not ready to have Stephen camping out with Lions…), the visit was a total success. Once again, Stephen was a champion and he absolutely loved Victoria Falls! Uncle Nate and Aunt Taylor were also very fun to play with!

Now it is back to work. Joey will be returning to Mkushi in two weeks for the first round of data collection. He will be out in the field with his “guys” for 3 weeks while Stephen and I hold down the fort in Lusaka. It will be a busy couple of months coming up, but also very exciting.

Lusaka Happenings

The past month has been full of running around and completing basic life errands. Even the simplest of tasks can take all day. Of course this was true in the village, but who knew it stood true in the big city too! The major accomplishments this month have been buying a motorcycle and a car, figuring out electricity, and trying to establishing a bit of "normalcy." These things were not as staightforward as they sound....


For the past few weeks, Joey has been getting to know our taxi driver,  "Uncle Lewis", very well. He has been going to his office at IAPRI almost every day. Three weeks ago Joey inquired about a used Honda motorcycle. There was one available and it seemed promising! However, it wasn't quite as simple as we had hoped. After several trips to the Honda dealership, multiple calls to the "boss",  2 break-downs and 2 repairs,  he finally has his transportation! The motorcycle will primarily be used to visit tomato farmers in their fields, but it also helps give Joey the freedom to get to and from his office without relying on taxis. Finally getting the motorcycle was a big accomplishment!

Stephen and I have also been relying on taxis since we arrived. The third day we were in Zambia, we found a used CRV for sale that seemed perfect for our needs here. Again, not that simple. The couple selling the car needed it until May 7th. After looking into a few other vehicles, we decided this CRV was worth the wait. Just like the motorcycle, it has taken nearly a month of visiting mechanics, applying for permits, getting police reports, car insurance, and road tax paid in order to have the car in our name. Today is the day the car is officially ours and we can finally move as we please!

We also had to figure out how to setup electricity  (something we certainly didn't think about in the village!). The way electricity works in the city is by purchasing units. You simply go to one of several "Zestco" posts (the only electric company) and buy units of power. You monitor your usage and "top up" when it is getting low. One evening last week the entire country lost power for several hours. Since arriving we have lost power for a few hours here and there, but we never experienced an entire country black out. The power was off from about 6pm-10am in our unit. Our water is run by a pump, which requires electricity, so we also had no water. When the power eventually came back on, the bathroom faucet was unfortunately left "up" and when we were heading upstairs we found the bathroom sink running full blast t and 2 inches of standing water all over the bathroom and bedroom floor! Never a dull moment around here. We quickly gathered up all the towels we could find and an hour later the floor was mopped up and drying out. We were VERY lucky nothing was left on the floor as things often are around here.


Besides getting our transportation and electricity straightened out, we have also been finding our groove here. Joey has been meeting with several tomato farmers in and around town which has been great, and just recently he met with his former Peace Corps Program Director who was a big help. Stephen and I have been meeting other moms in the area from all over the world and we have been attending a "bouncy baby" class each week where we sing songs, play with instruments and meet other babies around the same age. We also made it to church last week, which was nice to see. Stephen has gained 2 new teeth since we arrived, is now eating cheerios, toast and crackers and staring to show signs of being mobile! He continues to thrive here!

One of the common Bemba expressions used in Zambia is "panono, panono" meaning "slowly, slowly." After this first month back, we certainly have been reminded of this lesson. Things just happen to move slowly, slowly and you do your best to smile and know you will get there eventually!

Stephen ordering lunch at Sugarbush Cafe

Another picture at Sugarbush Cafe

Reading with Daddy on the veranda

Resting in his Zambian nursery

Hanging out outside of church

Taking a swim with Mama

Such a happy boy!

We're Back!

The Goebs are back in Zambia! Exactly 3 years after we said goodbye to Zambia as experienced Peace Corps Volunteers, we have returned. Only this time we are staying in Lusaka (the capital) with our son, Stephen! We are so thrilled to be back and sharing Zambia with our son.

After 37 long hours of travel from Lansing to Detroit to Baltimore to DC to Dakar, Senegal to Johannesburg, South Africa to Lusaka, Zambia, we made it to our temporary home! No one slept very much on any of our flights, but we made it in one piece! (And so did ALL our luggage! 7 checked pieces..it was a miracle.) 

The day after our arrival, Sunday, April 5th, our nanny/lifesaver, Staaz, came over and showed us around our new apartment and neighborhood. She helped us figure out how to pay for electricity, how to set up the Internet and where to find the closest nshima restaurant! (Turns out there is one literally right next door to us.) Staaz will be helping us with the cooking and with Stephen Monday-Friday, 9:00-4:00. She is wonderful with Stephen and is adventures with cooking! We also met Mwila on Tuesday, April 7th, who will be helping us 3 times a week keeping the clothes laundered and the house clean! She is also great with Stephen and we so appreciate our "team" helping to make life so smooth here!

The apartment we found has been working out well. We are subletting it until the end of July from a German woman and Canadian man who are in Germany for the birth of their second child. It is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath and has a nice veranda and garden area outside. It is certainly not a "new build" as there are many "quirks" to it, but we feel grateful to have found it. It is FULLY furnished (including a crib, high-chair, pack n'play and play rug for Stephen) and we have been enjoying their awesome french press and bread maker. It is in a compound with 5 other apartments and so far we have met 2 other neighbors who are very friendly (one is Zambian and the other is Indian). There is also a community pool which Joey has put to use every day since we arrived!

We have now been in Lusaka for about 2 weeks and we are slowly finding our routine. Joey has been waking up early and taking a cab to his office at IAPRI (Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute). He has a nice set-up there with a desk, phone and a hot lunch of nshima everyday. He has a lot to do, but he is working hard and the progress will come. I am currently sitting at a lovely cafe just a 10 minute walk from the apartment. Tomorrow I am having a "play date" with another American mom here with her 1 year old daughter. She has been living in Lusaka for 9 years and will be a huge help in helping me find my way here.  Stephen is learning how to live without his swing (it's been a little rough during nap times without it...) but he is just thriving! He loves Mwila and Staaz and they love him right back. He is eating new foods (butternut squash, avocado from the tree just outside our backdoor, green beans and bananas) and learning how to use his walker. It is just amazing watching him grow so much every day! Life really is slower here and I'm enjoying having time to just admire how special our son is.

In some ways life here feels like the Zambia we remember, but in other ways, living in Lusaka is a very unique and different experience. We both miss the quiet, beautiful, fresh air of the bush, but we are grateful to be close to supermarkets and Internet access. Each day brings new experiences and we both feel this is already a remarkable family adventure. So much more to come....