Things start to hot up!

The weather is getting distinctly hotter, which is quite scary given that it's not going to start raining until the end of November! We might have boiled by then. The locals keep asking how I'm coping with the heat as if they expect me to melt shortly! That said, today there is a nice cooling breeze which made me wish it had been a running day.

I have attached a couple of photos of our new place (from the outside) and the Chada and surroundings...

The back! to the hot water tank decoration

The front of Katho 2

The Chada shops

The Chada market - at sufficient distance you can't see the flies!

Mobile phone masts Zambian style... MTN was previously using the water tower!

Daily life

I thought it would be a good point to explain a little about daily life and the trials thereof. Starting with the utilities!!

Electricity

This is where the whole cycle begins! The hospital is served by Zesco, the national electricity provider. Supply has been reliable by recent standards since we arrived. A few months ago there were a series of planned outages (every other day no power) after an extended period of sudden unannounced lengthy black outs. The hospital building (plus some other buildings cheekily wired into it - including the Mess and one of the doctors' rooms) has a back up generator. However, at the moment this is awaiting parts from South Africa so it doesn't help!

Currently we are getting one or two power cuts a day but they are typically lasting only 10-15mins. The longest one was about 2 hours - annoyingly timed when I had no laptop battery left so I had to sit outside and read my book - gutting!

However, when the power is on it doesn't necessarily mean that things work correctly. The voltage goes up and down (you can tell by looking at the lights and listening to the fridge). I was tempted to get a voltmeter so I could watch what was going on (yes, sad I know!) until the Prof told me that he has one and he's been watching - quite often we have only 110V against an optimum 220V. No wonder it's dim around here and they aren't using non-dimmable CF bulbs!!

Water

The hospital isn't on any piped water or sewerage system. There is an aquifer below us and a series of pumps are used to bring the water up. You can see where this is going... So, when the power is on everyone's happy. When the power is off we have no light AND no water. On particularly bad days this affects the hospital wards as well - not ideal when you are supposed to wash your hands between patients!

The reason it's variable is that some pumps function better at low voltages than others. Hence my newly learned skill of finding taps at varying heights so I can chase down the water however low the power. The hospital's pump is the most accommodating of low power, so it works pretty much all the time there is some electricity. The old house was great because it had an outdoor tap, a bath, two sinks (same height as the loo) then the shower (then the hot water geyser miles in the sky) - a good hunting ground for pressure. Here we have only the shower and kitchen sink (the bathroom sink being an ornamental towel rail supplied by the fictional hot water). Since Saturday the shower has worked twice - once for a minute to trick me into thinking I could have one! And once for about 30 seconds for Geoff. The laundry bucket has proved useful! But shortly it will be replaced by the bucket shower! Everything is ready, all we need to do is get the rope in place...

Laundry

A week ago Nat asked us all what, if anything, we missed from home [people excluded, before you get huffy] and we all unanimously said 'nothing'. And, that's still true to a greater or lesser extent BUT there are some things that I will appreciate far more on my return.

The greatest of these is my beloved washer-dryer. I already loved it quite a lot but that was against only a vague idea of the pain that it helped me avoid. Now I have a much better idea!

There is a communal laundry here but we've been warned not to put anything in it that you really like and want to see again. Strangely, I'm quite fond of my clothes - particularly my underwear given that even a small attrition rate will cause significant problems quite quickly! So we've decided to wash some things by hand. I say 'we' for reasons that I don't really understand because I've been doing it!

Socks are the worst - they are full of dust and are almost impossible to get clean! Plus Geoff's are up to their usual trick of elaborate hide and seek. However, I thought I'd got the process nailed until one of the Kiwis asked how I was drying them..... "Outside like everyone else?" Every house, the families of patients in the hospital, the hospital laundry dries clothes outside in the sunshine, naturally...

Now, my Dad did tell me that if I went for a swim in Lake Malawi I was not to dry my costume outside but to do it inside because of Putzi flies. Sensible - I don't want some hideous fly larvae burrowing into my skin and living there for 2 weeks - ugh! Except that the Putzi fly (under many guises like Tumbu fly, Mango fly, really annoying fly) is prevalent here too. The only solution is to iron everything that's been dried outside! Suddenly this whole clothes preservation malarkey becomes more tiresome - I don't iron at home either!!

Of course we are both wearing clothes I washed at the time we make the discovery. Immediately all bites become suspicious and everywhere is itchy...

Sleeping

This is the most important part of my day. The problem is that I'm not very good at it when it's hot! And  in our new place it's hot at night. The tin roof warms up all day and then helpfully radiates all night, so no matter how much I've cooled the place with the windows open it's always hot inside at night.

When Will came back from Lusaka the other day he brought them an electric fan. It feels like every day since Nat had some story "Will was too cold with the fan last night" or "We knew the power was low this morning because the fan was slow" Grrrrr, jealous making so I decide that I will find myself a fan.

Yesterday I headed to Katete alone to get rope and a fan. A hospital car dropped me off (saving me the experience of the bicycle taxi - another day!) and pointed to where I might find a fan. The shop does indeed have a fan in the corner, a bit bigger than I'd expected (on a floor stand about 4' high) but beggars can't be choosers. "The fan is 190 pin" - 190,000 Kwacha - I'm still in holiday mode where the funny money doesn't really count but thankfully am starting to get a feel for what's a lot of money - that feels like too much. "It's my last one. [Of course it is] It's really good quality [Of course!]. I'll even give you my number so you can ring me and tell me how much you like it". OK, so salesmen have the same chat the world over. This guy's English is too good. He doesn't need my custom. I leave telling him that I can't carry that round the market with me.

As I enter the market area I begin to wonder whether coming alone was sensible. I know I'm perfectly safe but it's actually quite intimidating to stand out so much and not understand what's being said around you. A few people stop to practise their English on me as I wander (I'm looking for a hardware store that Will and I found but I don't succeed). I pick up the rope from the shop we bought the tap from. They seem surprised that I want 15m of rope "It's 3 pin a metre!" :) It's OK, I'm pretty sure I'm good for £7.50. The boy laughs in a slightly scared manner when I say that my husband is large and he needs tying up... I guess it's how you tell them.

I spy a small shop that looks like it might have fans. I head in. It's quite dark inside and takes me a second to register that the 3 people in the shop are sitting on the floor eating. They do have fans (just as large as the last one but 170pin - much better price [I've saved less than £3]). The guy grabs a box off a massive cupboard - he appears to be struggling. Too late I wonder if I'm going to be able to carry it. "Take a seat-y" [They have a bizarre habit of adding -y to words]. Why do I need to take a seat? Surely I just hand over the money and leave with the box? Aaahh, it's in pieces and they are going to assemble it. Without a screwdriver. I stare at the lady assembling my fan. She has no concept of how not to cross-thread things, she uses a lot of brute force and ignorance and now she's using a wall bracket as a screwdriver. Dear god. Fine, I'll just get it home then disassemble it and reassemble it. It reminds me of some colleagues who said that Rovers (new ones) were designed fine, you just needed to take them apart and put them together again properly if you wanted them to work!

I take in the rest of the shop - a whole glass cabinet filled with massive tower hifis, one wall for cooking pots and electric rings (I'll be back for one of those another day) and one of CRT TVs. Everything looks slightly dusty. It is only when I look back that I realise the fan has a two pin plug - not much use in a 3 pin plugged house!!! But they have 3 pin plugs in the shop and she's moving the fan towards it to show me it works. She jabs the plug in the wall and the fan works! Perfect! [I need Jamie (who lived out here for 17 years) to show me how to use a biro to press in the safety catch in the earth terminal to allow the live terminals to open up, back at the hospital - don't do this at home kids!]

I leave the shop with my massive fan and try to work out the quickest way to find a taxi to get me back. I pass 3 blokes sat on a corner. They yell at my back "Oh, she was looking for a fan-y". Now is not the time to correct their English. A nice man called Joseph drives me back in the most beat up car I've ever been in and it's only just wide enough for the fan!

***

Whilst I'm working later in the day the Prof's wife brings the son (he's 54) of the couple that used to run the hospital to see me. I need to speak to him about the Newsletter I'm writing but I also wanted to bend his ear a little about the Administration office. After the usual introductions he suddenly says "You can't leave me here with her! [The Prof's wife looks confused - he only just asked to be brought over] "She's gorgeous!" Not the usual reason that people don't want to be left chatting to me!!

We talked about all sorts of things but two bits really stuck out... "If there are no showers, how are you washing?" "Using a bucket" "But you can't get properly clean like that! Aren't you able to bathe at all?" "Um, we've been using the swimming pool at the hotel in Chipata [big grin]" I know he's going there later in the day, no doubt for a swim - he he he. "What do you know about who is going to take the role as Medical Superintendent?" I tell him a censored version of what I know, missing no key point  "Is that all you know? Interesting, very interesting" Oi!! There's more gossip and you are just going to stand there and not tell me! But... fine, I'll redouble my efforts. He's back Monday, I'll make sure I find it out by then!

Selection of wildlife

White frog in Katho 2

Skinks

On call Zambian style!

Boys climbing mango trees

The mangos aren't ripe yet but the boys are already picking and eating them. They fill the hospital at this time of year with broken limbs and sore bellies.....