Sunday, August 28, 2011

Our new home

We’ve officially spent 10 full days in Zambia.  It seems that 1/2 of the time was spent in slumber, failing miserably to overcome this jet lag.

The other 1/2 has been utilized in familiarizing ourselves with our new country of residence and in preparing a home.  We have finally moved into our new house; well, for now it is a large shell of a home.  It is only one mile from the Lusaka Eye Hospital and Dental Clinic.  Sitting on a generous plot of land, neighbored by only one other house, it is surrounded by a brick wall with barbed wire on top of the wall to discourage potential thieves.  The landlord, a friendly Brit who married a Zambian, lives just on the other side of a wall.  The house itself is quite nice by Zambian standards.  Tile floors, a large floor plan, five bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and two full bathrooms.  There are a few furniture items that were provided for us, but mostly the rooms lay barren, breathlessly awaiting the arrival of our container of belongings, which will likely take months to reach us.  Earlier last week, we selected cloth and had curtains hand-tailored for our 13 large windows.  So finally we have some semblance of privacy.  



I am thankful for running water, which gets warm but never hot enough.  I am also thankful for electricity, although the first few nights we experienced black-outs and had to resort to going to bed at a very early hour. 

Shopping is interesting in Zambia.  We were tired of Shoprite, the major supermarket that has monopolized the entire country.  The lack of competition in prices as well as the need to import most goods have caused goods and food to cost as much as or even more than they would in the U.S.  So last week we asked our driver to take us to where the locals shop. New Soweto Market.  Bumpy dirt roads lined by dilapidated wooden frames for booths selling everything from soap to monkey bananas to plastic slippers.  Swarms of flies found their haven in the new orange peelings that were thrown into the piles of old debris.  That was quite an experience, but at least the prices were much lower!

Since we have not yet settled in completely, we have unintentionally been forced to diet.  We have been able to manage eating only 1 or 2 meals per day.  Food has been difficult for us to obtain, as we do not yet have a car and we live far from the downtown area.  Our stove is not functioning very well (it took almost 30 minutes to heat up a frying pan with veggies), so cooking is difficult.  I will be very grateful when all of our kitchenware arrives in our container. 

We are still waiting to obtain our work permit; hopefully that will be obtained in the next week or two, so that we can begin working.  In the meantime, we are getting to know our new country.  We have many things to learn. 

Tomorrow I will head down to Zimba, a town almost 400 km away, to meet with some ophthalmologists/cornea specialists from Michigan who come regularly to Zambia to provide eye care.  It will be good to start networking with other ophthalmologists in Zambia.
Paul and I have obtained cell (mobile) phones.  So if you are ever wide awake in the middle of the night and have no one to talk to, feel free to give us a ring!  (If you live in Hawaii, we are exactly 12 hours ahead; if you live in California, we are 9 hours ahead, and if you’re in Boston, we are 6 hours ahead)

From the U.S., just dial...
260-97-988-4100 (Janie)
260-97-972-7412 (Paul)

Hopefully we can get more reliable access to the internet in the near future.  So stay tuned…More updates to come!

Monday, August 15, 2011

T minus 12 hours


Attention, ladies and gentlemen!  After a four year hiatus from blogging, I'm back!  Paul and I have decided it would be a good time to start a blog together, as we are transitioning into a big life change.  Today (yes, I did say TODAY), we leave for Zambia!

It is an indescribable feeling.  One that is mixed with excitement and joy as well as some trepidation and sadness added to a mounting dose of exhaustion.  Excitement and joy because this is a dream that I have had for the past 15 years since the age of 16, and one that Paul has had since he experience a 180 degree change in his life path 10 years ago.  And finally, all these years later, we're finally leaving.  Leaving to serve as ophthalmologist at an Eye Hospital and general dentist at a Dental Clinic in Zambia. 

Trepidation because of the unknown.  The unfamiliar.  The prospect of two Asian Americans who grew up in California and Hawaii serving in a land of Africans.  Although the official national language of Zambia is English, the 40 tribal tongues will be inequivocably difficult to understand; the traditions, norms, and mores will be a puzzle to figure out.  And although we might convince ourselves to believe that we are somewhat well-traveled and open-minded, we are certainly not too naive to exempt ourselves from the inevitable culture shock.  And the assumption that we are Chinese (after all, South Korea is a very small country; and adding on the fact that I was born in America just adds to the confusion).  Nonetheless, we have committed to serving in this land of the unknown for as long as we are called to serve.  Hopefully 5 or 6 years, but maybe more, maybe less. 

Sadness because of the people we are leaving behind.  Our families, our friends, our co-workers, our pets (bye bye, Nilla).

We won't get to attend the special autumn weddings taking place this year (congrats Mary and Jason, Eunis and Jeff, ...) nor see the birth of my first nephew (congrats, James and Linda).  

Many memories will be made, and we will noticeably or maybe not so noticeably be absent from many of them.  But I know that life will and always does go on in our absence. 

Exhaustion because we have been on the go since our wedding date (which, by the way, was June 24, 2007…ah, the wonderful memories).  From marriage to honeymoon then immediately starting ophthalmology residency…to Paul’s graduating and working…to graduating from residency and moving to Boston to start a fellowship…to moving back from Boston, celebrating my dad’s 70th birthday on a week-long cruise to Alaska, spending time at home in Hawaii…to returning to California and frantically packing for this cross-country, cross-Atlantic move.  

Needless to say, we’re exhausted.  And if I were a prophet I might predict that we will knock out as soon as the flight attendant begins her usual schpeel on seatbelts and emergency exits.  But even if we slept for half the flight, we’d still have to fill the remaining 12 hours with attempts to entertain ourselves.  All in all, we are not looking forward to this long flight. 

Anyways, we ask that you please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this adventure.  We will try to keep this blog updated, internet- and electricity-permitting.  Goodbye California, Hello Zambia.  And we’re off…!!!