We have internet!

The middle of last month, we moved into our house.  A few days after moving in, we started the process to get our internet.  We expected the process to take a few days or maybe a week, but were shocked that it actually lasted about a month.  We finally got our internet just over a week ago.  The process, like many things in Zambia was complicated.

First, we had to go to Zamtel (the phone company) and request that a survey be done of our house to see if it would be possible to get a phone line for internet.  At that time, we had to submit a letter from our landlord stating that we did live at the property and had permission to get a phone line and internet.  After making the request, we waited about a week for them to come to do the survey.  As it turned out, though, as soon as the technician arrived at our house, he remembered our property from a previous tenant, so an actual survey of the property was not necessary.  In fact, he never even came through the gate into our yard.

After the survey, we returned to Zamtel to fill out two forms (see photo below) to request a phone line.  The form required a lot of information and a passport-sized photo.  It took the technicians another week to come and install our phone line.

Then, I went back to Zamtel to fill out the same form again (with another photo) to request our internet. Again, we waited over a week for the installation.

While we waited for our internet, we used internet through the cell towers.  USB drives with SIM cards can be purchased at the cell phone stores here.  The internet was not great and did not do well for uploading photos, but it was better than nothing.

Thankfully, we now have real internet and it has been working well.  Now, that we have internet, I have a lot of posting to do!  I have house photos, vacations, and other fabulous activities that I can't wait to share, so stay tuned!

My First Time Driving in Lusaka

This morning, I did something that was both exciting and terrifying.  I drove for the first time in Zambia!  Since we first started talking about moving here, I have been dreading driving in Lusaka.  They drive on the wrong side of the road and I read in multiple sources that many of the drivers are a little crazy.  

For the first two weeks that we were here, Mark's company lent us their driver.  On the weekends, Mark has been driving our car (a Toyota Prado).

This week, the girls and I have mostly stayed home. Yesterday, we needed to run some errands at the mall and hired a taxi (with a driver recommended by a friend) for the afternoon.  I was thankful that the taxi driver was available to drive us as the traffic around Manda Hill shopping center can get a little crazy!

Today, the girls had art class, which is only about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from our apartment and on the main road near us.  I did not want to pay a taxi for such a short drive, so decided to drive it myself.  The girls and I loaded up into our car and headed to art class. 

While it was scary at first, driving in Lusaka was not that bad.  I am still not ready to drive in the busy parts of town and it feels weird to drive on the opposite side of the car and the road, but I feel confident about driving near our house.  

Home Sweet, Temporary Home

When we arrived in Lusaka last week, we were immediately taken to our temporary home - a furnished apartment in a new complex.  There are eight apartments (or "flats") in the complex and we were the first tenants to move in.  We will be living in this apartment for two months while we look for a house to rent.  The apartment is not perfect, but it meets our needs for now.

Many friends have asked what our accommodations look like here, so I took some photos to share.  It is very modern and looks like an apartment one might find in the US.

Here is the outside of our apartment.  You can see our car out front (I will write more about it later).

This is the living room.

We also have a very small living area upstairs.

Our kitchen is smaller than the kitchen in our Texas home, but still meets our needs.  I am missing having a microwave, though!

Our dining area has a table and a wine cabinet.

The apartment has three bedrooms, a master bedroom

and two smaller bedrooms (both look like this).

We have three bathrooms.

The apartment complex also has a communal swimming pool and a fitness area.  I did not take a photo of the fitness area, but it has exercise bikes, a treadmill, an elliptical machine, and weights.

The apartment complex provides a 24-hour security guard at the gate to the complex, as well as maid service (there are four maids, plus a head maid).

Our apartment is nice, but we are glad that we don't have to live here for our entire two years in Zambia.  The stairs aren't safe for the girls (they are uneven and there is a huge gap between the railing and the stairs).

Plus, there is no place outside where the girls can play.  And, there is not a good spot indoors for a play area.  Their temporary "playroom" is under the stairs.

I will be glad when our two months here is over and we can move into a real house!

An "Uneventful" Trip and Arrival

On the day of the flight, we got up and, immediately after getting ready, headed to the airport to check in.  Our flight was not until 7:30 pm, but we were checking 11 bags, plus a stroller and a carseat, so we wanted to check in very early.  I felt sorry for the American Airlines employee who had to help us as she struggled to figure out how to charge us for extra bags and overweight baggages (we had four seats, so we could only have eight bags, under 50 pounds each, for free).  Checking in took over an hour, so I am thankful that we did it that morning instead of waiting until two hours before the flight (thank you to Mark for insisting that we check in that morning!)

After checking ourselves in, we attempted to check Mia in for her flight (for that story, see my previous post).  Then, we spent a few hours resting in the hotel room before heading back to the airport.  In addition to the large number of bags that we checked, we also took 8 carry ons (2 each) and a carseat with us, so Mark and I had full hands navigating through the airport!

As we were preparing to move, one of the things that scared me the most was the prospect of flying to Zambia with two little children (our girls are 3 1/2 and 18 months).  The trip involved an almost 10-hour flight from Dallas to London, a 9-hour layover in London, and another 10-hour flight from London to Lusaka.  I had horrible fears that the girls would scream and yell for the 20 hours of flight time and that we would get kicked off the plane.  Luckily, that did not happen.  In fact, the trip can best be described as "uneventful".  Abigail (our oldest) slept for most of both flights.  Charlotte slept most of the first flight and struggled to sleep during the second flight; however, she happily played and cuddled quietly for the three hours that she was awake in the middle of the night.  We only received a few nasty looks from other passengers and a few people even commented on how good the girls were.  I cannot even begin to tell you how thankful I am that the flights went so well!

Our flight landed in Lusaka at about 6:45 yesterday (Monday morning).  After spending about thirty minutes in line, we got our visas and were officially allowed to enter the country.  Mark's work visa has not yet cleared, so we were only issued 28-day visitor visas for now.  

As soon as we left the visa area and headed to baggage claim, we were bombarded with "help" collecting and transporting our baggage.  By the time that all of our bags had been collected, there were 8 people helping us (which was twice as many as was necessary to push the 4 carts).  On our way out of the airport, we were stopped by customs and asked if we had anything to declare.  We said "no", but the lady was skeptical.  She asked why we had so much luggage and what was in our bags.  Our answer of "we are moving here" and "our luggage contains clothes, toys, household materials" did not satisfy her and she sent us for additional screening.  When we were told to open a bag for searching, I immediately thought that they were going to look at each of our suitcases (which would mean a LONG delay in leaving the airport), but they glanced into the one suitcase and then sent us on our way.

As soon as we got outside, the office manager from Mark's company and the company driver met us.  They took us to our temporary home where we spent a few hours resting before we began the process of getting settled into our new home.  Over the next few weeks, I will be posting about our new home and the experiences we are having as we settle into our life in Lusaka.