West Coast Whirlwind

Next time I have to move from somewhere, I’m definitely going to plan it to coincide with a trip. Nothing could've taken the sting out of leaving Zambia quite like 3 ambitious weeks jam-packed with travel, beauty and fantastic food. It’s much easier to pack your bags when you’re planning to do something fun with them.

In mid-August Emily and I boarded our flights from Lusaka, leaving KK International for the last time (as residents), and headed directly for San Francisco. From the minute we left the airport we shifted into high gear. We were there for Emily’s sister’s wedding, taking place just a few days later in Big Sur just south of the city. There was still preparing and arranging to do, but Tammy somehow found time to take us on a delicious oysters and wine tasting day trip. 

(Tomales Bay oysters)

The following day, the whole family convened to wrap up the loose ends, while I snuck off to hang out with my high school friend Brady in Berkeley. He’s blowing glass there and making some incredible pieces, and it was a huge treat to see his studio and the community he’s been living in for the past few years. Berkeley is a cool town, easy access to the city but with a residential feel and hills to hike right in the backyard. I rejoined the family the next day, meeting Emily’s parents for the first time in an apartment crammed with all types of flowers for the wedding décor. That night we had a big meal together then were on our way to Big Sur.

On the way down in the morning we stopped off in Monterey (for a Costco hotdog) and detoured along the beautiful 17-mile drive by the Pebble Beach golf course. There I got my first sight of California coast-line; the stark, saturated blue turquoise of the water bordered in bright white foam. In many places it made a strange, surreal sight, very different than east coast shores.

We arrived in Big Sur and checked into our place right along Highway 1, tucked into the towering green trees. That evening was the rehearsal dinner, held at Big Sur Bakery with courses of delicious home-style cooking, and a mountain of cookies for dessert.

The following day was the wedding. It was held at a really beautiful location: a small old library in a clearing ringed by tall redwoods. We got there early to help set up, and the decorations turned out fantastic. The wedding itself was a ton of fun. It was catered by a bbq food truck, had lots of good music and dancing, and sadly was over in a flash. This was the first wedding I’d been to for someone my age, and it really set the bar high.

(Centerpieces)

(An academic theme: riding to the library on a schoolbus)

(Dessert spread and lights)

After the wedding, Emily, her parents and I spent a fun few days exploring the parks within Big Sur and camping out in a small wood cabin. Endless beautiful coastline, waterfalls, even whales! Hard not to fall for this part of the country.

(Sunset at Pfieffer Beach)

(Surreal McWay Falls)

Back in San Francisco, after our days in the woods, Tammy took us around a city I’d only seen as a small child. We walked all over, from the stadium to the wharf to the bridge, hopping trolley cars and hitting up food and dessert places along the way. In a lot of ways it seems like a fake city, at least the parts I saw. So much man-made and natural beauty, and tons of happenings around every corner; I can easily see why it’s attracted so many friends like some big shiny beacon.  The highlight of our day and a half must’ve been the unbelievable Thai food we had at Kin Khao on our last night.

(Afternoon treat at Ghiradelli Square)

I would’ve been happy to end the trip there, our time in California was packed with good stuff, but this was just the halfway point. Back at the airport we caught our flight to Seattle for what was my first look at this much-loved northwesterly city. Our first stop, though, was a cabin belonging to the uncle of Jeff, a friend of ours from Zambia. He had kindly offered it to us and Emily’s friend from home for a weekend. It was less of the “cabin” we were picturing, having beautiful, homey furnishings instead of dank wooden rooms. Situated right on Puget Sound, it was the perfect place to relax and take in the natural beauty of Washington State. We did do a little work, digging up clams to eat for lunch and dinner one day.  It was a well-fed, well-relaxed weekend after our busy time in California.

(Walking in Washington woods)

(Fruits of our labor)

Over the ensuing week we trekked all over Seattle and I fell in love with a fantastic city. From Safeco Field to the Chilhuly Museum to the waterfront, there’s so much cool stuff to do. We lucked out with our timing and spent a day at the Bumbershoot music festival, where we saw The Head and the Heart, Kishi Bashi, Tom Robbins reading his books, and a live taping of the Moth podcast! Also, the Space Needle is just a downright awesome building. 

We ate so much good food, not even having time to fit it all in (so pressed for time that we had 2 lunches in one day!) After over a week of eating almost exclusively Chinese and Taiwanese food I’m still feeling the pangs of withdrawal. We had a great meal with my old college friend Breese and her new husband, which started with oysters, and ended in delectable lava cake, does it get any better? We also had a personal downtown tour from my friend Seth, co-study abroad mate in Senegal and current Seattle resident. Somehow I also found time in there to meet Deanne and Joseph, two of Emily's closest high school friends. I’m told I should take the fantastic weather we had with a grain of salt, but seriously, in what other American city can you see multiple mountain ranges and the ocean, right from downtown? I could continue raving but I think you get the point. Seattle is a great town (even the libraries are cool), and it was awesome to spend some quality time both in the city and in Emily’s hometown.

Goat Rodeo: NPR Tiny Desk Concert

This band makes me pre-nostalgic for the fall I'm about to leave (and just as it's getting going too). The song "Attaboy" is one of my all-time favorite songs, and Yo-Yo Ma's face of joy throughout the performance makes it even more fun to watch. 

Goodbyes, and What's Next

I’ve said goodbye to a lot people over my three years in Zambia, far more in both number and frequency than in any other period of my life. Anyone will tell you it’s the nature of life in that environment, especially if you stay more than a year in one place. Meeting cool new people is bittersweet in its natural time limits, and it’s easy to become cynical once you’ve said goodbye to a few cycles of friends.

It was surreal, then, when it was my turn to leave. While I never expected to stay in Zambia the rest of my life, the fact that I had tripled my time there after my initial one year stay had given my experience something of an endless feel. As these were my first real post-college jobs, and my first true home away from Boston, I also wasn’t accustomed to this process of leaving, which people do all the time all over the world. While it was on the horizon basically since 2014 arrived, it still crept up on me as I’m sure it does with most people. It felt like the time to departure was becoming exponentially shorter every time I checked.  But everything went on, just like it continues to do after you leave. Work, trips, errands, sports, I only started to feel the difference when normal meet-ups became “last time I’ll see you” affairs.

Everything wrapped up ok, which I’m thankful for. Had the chance to say goodbye to important people and places, including a lucky opportunity to see all the KF students in one place. I sold my car and my few immobile belongings, and packed my life into two suitcases with only a moderate amount of weight and space related stress. Emily and I had people over for one last party with friends, and I wrapped things up at FINCA. Then, it was time to look forward.

Forward is the grease that allows you to turn the wheels of leaving. And we were fortunate to have plenty to look forward to, both in the short and long term. Ahead of us, an action packed few weeks on the west coast of the US. Beyond that: a new adventure in a new location, the fruit of a long job search and much deliberation. Beginning mid-September, I started as an analyst on the Microfinance Partnerships Team at One Acre Fund. In October, I will move to Kenya, to a town near Kisumu in Western called Bungoma, where I will join Emily and be based for two years. 

I’m excited about this new opportunity, where I hope to expand my skills and experience within the field at a company known for its analytical, client-first approach to agricultural microfinance. It has built a strong reputation since being founded in 2006, providing small-scale farmers with access to timely, high-quality farming inputs on credit, with repayment schedules that meet their specific cash-constraints prior to the harvest season. I’m looking forward to the very new environment, in both where I’m working and where I’m living. It’s an exciting time and I’m sure I’ll have more stories to share about it soon. And I'm grateful for all the stories Zambia gave me over these last three years.

(Final weekend trip to Mulungushi Dam)

Zamultimate

My longest running tradition in Zambia has been playing ultimate frisbee. On one of my first days here, my predecessor at KF brought me to a game. I was terrible. Couldn't throw it straight, no hand-eye coordination, all I could do was run. Despite the shot to the ego, I wanted to keep going. And I did, twice a week for three years. What brought me back was the people. Even at my worst, I always felt welcome. They were always willing to teach me and I learned, eventually becoming a pusher of ultimate on all future new people. Zamultimate has been all sorts of things to me, from friend network to professional connector to plain old fun exercise. I will try to carry the spirit on to future games in other places.

(Last game)

KF Reunion

Sometimes timing just works out perfectly. In this case, I couldn't have planned a better way for me to say goodbye to the KF students and staff, the people who originally brought me to Zambia.

The new PiAf Fellow at KF, Olivia, invited me to the annual KF reunion which happened to fall on my second to last weekend in the country. Almost every current student and alumni was there, from the first class, now three years out of school, to the new Grade 8's. For the entire day I sat there with a grin plastered on my face, listening to the students run the show. The older classes presented on topics of their choice. Many talked about the opportunities and struggles they've been finding in their first years at university. Others discussed questions they've experienced about their religious beliefs while living in other cultures abroad. Japhet, pursuing a career in IT, showed us a very complex way to reset your password if you get completely locked out of your computer. One after another they exuded a well-spoken confidence, a passion for their topic, and a real love for the KF program and the students still in it. I couldn't have been happier to be there, to see how far many of them have come, and to imagine a very bright future for them and the ever-growing Kucetekela Foundation network.

 Abram presenting to a full house

 Current students and alumni

Japhet hacking computers

 Team challenge from ALA: tallest tower out of candy, spaghetti, string and tape

Soon there'll be too many to fit in one shot

 Goodbyes

Martinho, my mentee, who has just left to attend Earth University in Costa Rica

Olivia, the new Fellow, three generations on

Florence, my former boss and ED of KF

Zomba

A week after returning I was back in Malawi, but this time for work and the traveling was much easier. I flew Malawian Air, a resurrection of the recently bankrupt Air Malawi which, judging by its in-flight magazine, is determined to convince the world it will not go the same way as its predecessor. I flew to Blantyre then drove to Zomba, a town which was once the capital of Nyasaland. I found that hard to believe, as it's a sleepy place sitting at the foot of a towering plateau, which has lodges at the top drawing tourists for the views and horseback riding.

Sadly there wasn't time in my trip to get to the top, but it provided a nice backdrop to my stay. I was there to work with the FINCA Malawi team, to gather information on a pilot project we're working on in Zambia. The workdays were full of field visits to meet clients and working with the credit team at the pilot branch. Luckily, there's another Tufts grad, Renata, working for FINCA Malawi on this project, and she was enormously helpful in coordinating our visit and showing us around Zomba. Highlight of the trip was staying at a place called Casa Rossa, a pleasant place with a great view and a menu of incongruous but delicious Italian dishes. Zomba was a surprisingly connected place, as a former Princeton in Africa Fellow, Chris, is currently based there starting up One Acre Fund's program in the country. It was nice meeting up with him again, having last seen him a year ago on his trip to Zambia.

(Renata and I showing off a Tufts tote outside the branch)

(Morning view from Casa Rossa)

Lake Adventures

Nyasa means lake, which is why Malawi used to be called Nyasaland. It's also the reason behind the name Nyanja, a Zambian form of the Chichewa language found in Malawi, as it signifies coming from the lake people. At least, this is what was explained to me by one of my teenage students, but it sounds good to me. (note: I Wikipedia-ed it, seems legit)

Emily and I turned our long weekend into an extra-long weekend and set off for the big lake in our little neighbor. Traveling there was a long sequence of mini-journeys, and a lot of last minute successes. After riding with friends to Chipata, our eastern border town, we crossed over into Malawi and took a cab to their border town: Mchinja. Already running behind schedule at this point, we took a 2 hours mini-bus ride which put us in Lilongwe right as night was falling. As we were leaving very early the next day, we needed to pick up some groceries that night, but when we got to Shoprite the guard was just locking the door. With pathetic looks on our faces we pleaded with him to no avail, but our foot in the door emboldened the small crowd that was gathering behind us who, tiring of our soft approach, eventually muscled past us and the guard, allowing us to slip in behind them apologetically. After a somewhat manic shopping session we managed to get everything we needed and only be the second to last person to check out.

We quickly left everything at the lodge and eagerly rushed off to try a restaurant which had been highly recommended to us. After a wrong try, we arrived at the correct Latitudes to find they had just closed the kitchen 20 minutes before. Breaking out our pathetic faces again, we recounted our long journey for the sole purpose of eating there, and at last folding to our charms, the staff allowed us to make a quick order. I’m very glad they did too because the food was fantastic.

Early morning we arrived at the bus station, not totally sure whether the bus we planned to take actually existed. To our relief, we found it where it was supposed to be, with plenty of empty seats. That situation persisted for about two hours until finally all the seats filled, and then the aisle filled too with people standing. Little did we know that this was a full-size bus which thought it was a mini-bus. The 3 hour ride took us about 7 hours, as the bus made frequent stops to drop and pick up passengers. However, we had seats, music, and cheese so we were generally content. Fortunately, the staff at Kayak Africa agreed to wait for our arrival (3 hours later than expected) so we could get across to Domwe Island that night. After another car ride from Monkey Bay (bus stop) to Cape Maclear (on the water), we were finally getting into our kayaks and starting the 2 mile journey to the island. Halfway across we rested our arms and took in the beautiful sunset on the lake and the near absolute stillness of the whole scene.

The camp is just a small scattering of shelters tucked into the side of the large island, accessible from a little sandy beach where we left our kayaks. It is built into the forest, with only a few wood structures visible from the water. Our tent platform was one, and it gave a beautiful view of the water and moonset. The other few platforms and safari tents were hidden away within the trees, along with a kitchen, an outdoor shower, and a dining area right on the water. Trails meandered between everything, among rocks and roots under heavy tree cover, and were patrolled by civet cats and bush pigs. Without electricity the whole setting felt very peaceful and natural, but with the benefit of a gas stove and a freezer cooled by ice.

(Dining area)

In the two days we were there, we spent the majority of our time on the water, taking a cruise on a rented catamaran for sunset on one day, and for the afternoon on the next. It’s the only place in the region where everyone (generally) agrees it’s free (enough) of crocs and hippos to get in the water, so we partook in the rare pleasure of swimming, though I still couldn’t quite shake the anxiety that comes with being in African water. The sunsets over the water were spectacular, and the nights were cool and free of mosquitos. The water also provided us with fresh fish, which we had whole and in a curry. On top of that, the staff at the camp baked fresh bread every morning.

On one morning we hiked to the top of the island, scrambling up a steep and overgrown trail, until we burst out onto rocks with a stunning view of the vast blue in front of us. Peculiarly persistent flies kept us from lingering too long though, and we decided to have our packed lunch on the move instead (not before snapping a quick shot from the top!)

After two relaxing days in this little sanctuary, we were ferried back to the mainland, and set out on the long road ahead. Fortunately for us, the guy who’d driven us to Cape Maclear was there to meet us when we got off the boat, and gave us a very decent rate to get all the way back to Lilongwe in his tiny little car.

The drive back was much shorter and more enjoyable than the way out. We jammed out to Malawian and, for our benefit, Zambian pop songs, dancing and singing our way up the steep, winding road across the mountains. At times it seemed like our synchronized head bobbing was the only thing urging that little car up the crest of the hills. Eventually we made it over, and, by the afternoon were back in Chipata, where we celebrated one last night of vacation with a nice hotel room and dinner. For a trip which consisted of 1/3 vacation, 2/3 traveling, it was surprisingly very relaxing, and wonderful to see the huge blue lake one more time.