Zambia Gott Katie

Image hosting by Photobucket I hope everybody enjoys my site. I will try to update it as often as I can but since internet is limited, it may be hard but stick with me. Thanks everybody!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

I am now in South Africa...

Hello everybody,
Geez has this month been a roller coaster ride or what. So, I am now in South Africa seeing doctors and getting medical help. The Doctors in Lusaka (Zambia) could not figure out what was going on and I was not getting any better so they flew me here. I have been going to the mall and seeing movies which is nice but I really can not wait to get back to site. I am seeing an Infectious Disease Doctor and an Internal Medicine Doc on Thursday so hopefully they can figure it all out. Overall, I am doing okay...being away and not knowing what is wrong is very mentally tolling but I am hanging in there. I hope everybody on that side of the world is okay and I will keep you all posted. Love you...and do not worry about me!

Monday, January 15, 2007

Still in Lusaka...

Hello everybody,
Well I am still stuck in Lusaka waiting for my medical tests to come back. I got sick in Zanzibar and we still have not figured out what is wrong. They first thought it was Malaria then typhoid and tick born fever but the test results came back negative so we are still trying to solve the puzzle. Just another fun thing about living in Africa. Well, at least I am learning all about African diseases...right. I will keep you all posted. My goal is to be back at site by this Friday...we'll see. I found out yesterday that my new dog, Zoey, died while I was gone. It has not been the best of times but I know it will get better.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Happy New Year!!!

Hello everybody...
I hope everybody had a good holiday season and a happy new year!! I just returned from Zanzibar and had a wonderful time. We got there on the 22nd after a 52 hour train ride. The ride was nice...well as nice as an African train could be.
We spent a few days in Stonetown which is the main city on the island. We went on a spice tour and saw how spices grow. It was not amazing but okay. One night for dinner we went to a fish market where there was tables of tables of fish laid out and you pick which one you want then they cook it. It was quite yummy but I think that is what made me so sick:(.
Then we headed to the eastern side of the island and stayed in little bungalows on the beach. The water was crystal blue with white sand beaches. The only problem was that the tide went far our during the day which limited swimming time. It was very relaxing few days which was greatly needed. Christmas was okay, there were no Christmas trees or Christmas music...two things that I love. It was hard being away from family and friends but I did get to talk to my family which was amazing!!!
One day, we went on a trip to swim with dolphins. So five of us are in this little boat and when we saw the dolphins the captain would yell "JUMP IN" so we all would jump in with our snorkel gear on. So guess what happens to me...So I jump in and I immediately get stung by a jelly fish on my right arm. It hurt pretty bad and soon my arm had hives all. It was okay :) it did not stop me from jumping in again. The closest I got to the dolphins was like 5 feet...pretty amazing. The last time we jumped in, there were some dolphins playing right beneath us. Well I thought they were playing but oh no they were mating!!! A honest mistake right ;.
After that we headed up North to the party side of the island for New Years. We hung out at the beach most days and played some football. For New Years we took a boat taxi to a different beach where Peace Corps Tanzania kids had gathered. The place had 2 main bars which were right on the ocean. It was a ton of fun!! The ride home was not a lot of fun and I got soaked!!
So on the first I woke up and felt pretty horrible. I caught some bug and still do not know what it was. It was a not so fun way to end the trip but I am better now. It was a great place to spend the holidays and am happy that I went.

I hope everybody is doing well!! Thank you for the letters and please keep them coming!! I love you all and only one more year until I see you all.

Question: A bush bath is when you take some water into an enclosed area and dump cups of it over your body and bathe. Fun right!