Arrival in Zambia

I arrived safely in Zambia on the 27th.  My luggage arrived on the 28th.  Apparently it is a common occurrence for luggage, upon arriving in South Africa, to decide to see the sights and catch a later flight.  So after 24 hours, I was quite happy to be reunited with my bags.  Dustin and Vaughn made sure to give me a proper introduction to Lusaka.  Friday night we went to the local Mexican restaurant, La Revalucion.  Now you must know that a year ago there was no Mexican restaurant in Zambia.  Dustin, being from San Diego, found this unacceptable.  So in addition to his Akerfa/Zambikes venture, he partnered with restauranteur named Dan and helped start La Revolucion.  They have been open for just over 3 months and have become a popular place to go for drinks on a Friday night.  Somehow I ended up behind the bar with Dustin, taking orders from people I could hardly understand, making drinks I had never made before (some I had never heard of before), and dealing with prices and currency I had never seen before.  I had a blast.  I was laughing at the situation, thinking to myself... “Of course I am helping run the bar.  I mean, I have been here for 24 hours.”  Saturday was equally entertaining.  I watched Vaughn, Dustin, and their teammates win a soccer match 10-1.  Afterward, we headed to a different kind of match... a women’s boxing match.  Apparently, Esther Phiri, a local Zambian, is a star female middleweight boxer.  Who knew?  (Probably only Zambians)  There were two reasons why we had to attend this boxing match- 1. Vaughn has had a serious crush on Esther for years, 2. Vaughn had actually met Esther earlier that week.  (Through a series of strange events he ended up being the translator for her Columbian opponent at some pre-fight press conferences.)  The fight was exciting and went the full 10 rounds.  Esther, who was expected to lose, won on unanimous decision by the judges.  We were allowed into the press rooms (and by “allowed” I mean that we just walked back there), but we did not get a chance to talk to Esther.  No worries though, Vaughn already got her number.  Sunday was much more relaxed.  I spent time reading, praying, going on a bike ride, and enjoying the beautiful Zambian weather and scenery.  Now the week has started and we are working to see what projects I can take on.  I will probably post again by the end of the week because there is a good amount of news at the front end of this trip.

NYC to Lusaka

I had a great time in NYC.  It was a perfect way to exit the states.  Saturday, I got to see two great college friends- Victor Marshall and Tyler Danforth.  We watched the KU game (no comment) and spent time catching up.  Last time I went to Africa, I actually went with Tyler and Victor.  We all spent a month in Zimbabwe in 2007.  So it was appropriate that I saw them on my way out.  Sunday, I met up with my college roommate, Chad Evenson.  Chad and I did a little afternoon of tourism.  We went to the Museum of Modern Art and evaluated whether the items on display leaned more towards "modern" or "art."  Then we went to Rockefeller Center and saw an amazing view (as you can see in the photos).  That night we met up with my cousin Bryan Sayler and watched the Jets game. Bryan made sure that I got a great Italian meal, glass of wine, and a place to sleep.  Perfecto!

Monday, I met up with Dustin at the airport.  We went strait to a meeting with Gloria, an intriguing old lady who has worked for the UN for twice as long as I've been alive.  She loved what Zambikes is doing and volunteered to connect us to several people.  This resulted in an impromptu meeting with the ambassador of Kenya on Tuesday.  Strange, huh?  To close out the trip, we spent Tuesday night meeting up with friends for dinner and drinks.  We flew out of NYC early Wednesday and greeted Thursday morning in Johannesburg, South Africa.  That is where I am now- waiting to board my flight to Lusaka.  In 3 hours, I will be seeing where I am going to be living for the next 5 1/2 months...

Leaving for NYC tomorrow

First off, I added a nice little music player to the blog site.  This could prove to be an annoyance to all you readers, but I could not resist putting together a little "Africa" playlist.  Well, believe it or not I am finally leaving.  I fly to New York City tomorrow morning.  I am going to spend a few days there getting a taste for the big apple and meeting up with a few friends.  So this is me tipping my hat to you all and saying, "I'll see you when I return."

Hey everyone!  I am sure that if you are reading this you probably already know that my name is Andrew Zarda, and I am going to be in Zambia from Jan 26th - July 15th serving with a non-profit organization called Akerfa.  However, you may not know what exactly Akerfa does, in which case I encourage you to take a few minutes to check out their website and/or watch this sweet video.  My cousin, Dustin McBride, and his friend, Vaughn Spethmann, started this company in 2007, and I have been eagerly waiting for the opportunity to join them in Zambia for a season.  I am not normally one to blog, but I had several people ask me to do so.  And since I have no facebook (yes, I am one of the 83 people that don't), I thought this would be a good way to inform friends and family of notable happenings while I am away.  Time will tell if I have what it takes to blog... 

(Also... if you would like to support Akerfa and its continued efforts to change lives, you can make a donation by clicking here.)