We've learned from previous visits that setting ourselves up to be comfortable and safe is the only sustainable way to approach these trips. With that in mind, we took ourselves to our favorite hardware store to equip our kitchen. Eating out in Ndola is not really an option, especially for us. There are only a few restaurants, and they do not approach their kitchen the way we approach ours. For instance, we use only bottled water for everything we will ingest. We wash all fresh foods in bottled water before we peel them; we even cook with bottled water for things like boiled eggs. We purchased a toaster oven, a hot pot, a couple of saucepans, and a small fry pan. (All of which can go in the musungu–white people–box that we store here between visits.) In theory, we are now set for delicious, nutritious home-cooked meals. And we will no doubt have many of those meals--so far we have spent way more time trying to get the electricity sorted out than we have spent cooking or eating. We are going through surge protectors at an alarming clip. We have made a commitment to ourselves to do an excellent job with the electrical and the plumbing in our new buildings.
Our charming salesperson at the hardware store.
We had a big day at our new guesthouse. We planned to meet for breakfast at eight a.m., and as we assembled we realized the halls were teeming with people we'd never seen before. (Darned near anything could go on in the halls while we're in our rooms. With the fans on, we hear nothing.) A Welch film crew was shooting a drama about a young Christian nurse who loses and regains her faith, while surviving all manner of adventure and hardship in sub-Saharan Africa. Talk about a cast of thousands! We know there was trauma, as well as hardship and adventure, because the screaming was horrific. We asked for the name of the film, which is recorded in the native languages of the area with English sub-titles, but were told it's for television rather than the big screen.
We decided to give our driver, Theresa, the morning off, as we'd given her a late night the night before, and we set out to walk downtown to do errands. First stop was the internet cafe to print out our application for electricity for the building construction and a copy of our NGO constitution, which the bank requires to open our new account.
Do you know how you know by about 10 a.m. that it's going to be one of those days? (If I were a superstitious sort, I'd think it had something to do with Friday the 13th.) Well, we could have known by about 9 a.m. that our chances of achieving anything in the direction of unbridled success were slim to none. By about 11 a.m., it felt like midnight. I kept looking at my watch and then asking others for the time because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. A true time warp. This could have been due to the fact that we spent more of the day standing on street corners waiting for people we were to meet with than in any other activity. And within that we got an amazing amount done.
As we wound down with the electric company--a complex coordination of our contractor, our engineer/architect, our draftsman, the electric company, and us--Steve offered to take us to a house that is being sold quickly, and perhaps cheaply, at auction due to an acrimonious divorce.
As we pulled up to the gate, we could see that this house is something special. The first third of the large lot was garden on each side of the drive. Solid green. The center third is the house: Large, vine-covered front porch, lots of large windows (unusual in this part of the world), very open and airy, clean and well-maintained, three bedrooms, one bath with a separate toilet room, a large kitchen that faces onto the back yard. The yard around the house is large, large enough to add anything we might like to build. At the back of the lot is a small two-room structure that houses the maid. This is a common feature; all houses we've looked at have had a "maid's quarters."
We asked Steve what he thought the house might go for, and he reported that the husband told him the most recent high bid was the equivalent of $50,000. (So much for a secret bidding process.) Later, we learned that this is about 2/3 of the going market value. A shocking amount for real estate in a small city in Africa, you might think, but this is a booming small city in a booming country. You may recall that we purchased the property for the Community Center in Kantolomba for $1600, giving the impression that real estate here is cheap. What we have is the same situation we'd have anywhere--the difference between property values in a slum and in an upper middle class neighborhood. We spoke with the woman who has been renting the house, a banker, who said the property would be a great investment. Excellent neighborhood, close to town, very safe, and appreciating like mad.
We went to the water department to check with Mr. Chaila about the well drilling date. He was in a meeting so we walked over to say hello to the DC and give him an update on our projects. He wasn't there. We returned to the water department and received Mr. Chaila's assurance that the odds were good drilling would begin over the weekend.
We returned to the electric company to meet Gaudencia, who helped us finish our application for phase 1 building supply service. Then we went to the Savoy to meet with Steve and Noble to go over the plans for the new building. Godfrey came by and, after looking over the plans, gave us an internet update. Martin the provider looks good for Monday morning. Along with everything else!
Monday morning we will go to the bank, meet the internet people, meet with Gaudencia to decide on first steps on the building, put in the letter for the house bid, buy new tires for the car, set up a meeting with the Permanent Secretary, get the chitenge to Martin for bags and to Neli (one of the teachers at the school who also sews) for pants and napkins, meet with Theresa to arrange for clearing the property, and meet with the head of the Resident Development Committee to discuss buying the lots bordering the Community Center.
And of course we finished the day with the standard electrical switcheroos (unplug the toaster to plug in the hotpot while leaving the fan off so...) along with the usual miscalculations and blow-ups.