New House

I was moved to a new guesthouse a couple weeks ago, but I left right away for the Western Province trip and hadn't really had time to enjoy it until this week. It's MUCH bigger and nicer than my old one, though the decor is 1980's out of date and extremely tacky. The only other problem is that I don't have the stuff to fill it, so it looks bland and empty.

It's much more functional and comfortable though, and the best part is that I live on a property with another family in the main house. The main house belongs to the head security officer for the Embassy, who has a very nice wife and 2 kids. They had me over for an excellent dinner last week of eggplant parmesan, flatbread pizza, wine, sambuca, and capuccino. They're foodies and like to cook, so I think they were happy to have an excuse to go all out for on a Sunday night. They've lived in Cairo, Paris, D.C., and a couple other places before coming to Lusaka, and are very cool.

The house also has a tennis court and more space inside the walls. I like my guards better here, and the family also has an awesome Dachshund named Bo that I LOVE. I'll try to get a photo of him up. It matters less since I have a car, but it's also walking distance to a bigger/better shopping center than the area I used to live in, plus it's still only a 3 minute drive from Black Knight and a 10 minute drive to work in the morning (if there's no traffic).

Sorry about the bad lighting in the photos, my camera sucks and I know nothing about how to avoid that, so I'm stuck with what I have. You can see the huge living room with the bookshelves and the couches. The TV is in the bedroom, and I have a DVD player now so I don't have to use my laptop to watch West Wing. The bed is a real queen, rather than two twins pushed together. There's a second bedroom and bath that I don't even use, plus a second living/sitting room adjacent to the master bedroom. And multiple air conditioners! I seriously love this place.

Not much else is new here, though work is heating up and will stay hot through the rest of my time here. I can't believe I've been here for 9 weeks now, and have less than 2 months before I come home. I'm enjoying myself immensely and am not in any hurry to leave, but when I do think about home I do get excited. I guess things can't be better, as I'm happy in the now and excited for the rest of the year.

I'm still trying to decide if/where I should travel immediately before I come home. I've been thinking about Windhoek, Namibia or Maputo, Mozambique. I only have a couple days for a short trip, and it's hard to justify spending $700 on a plane ticket and then other things just for 3 days. Plus, in that short a time I can't really get out and see the country, so I'd just explore the city. I love cities, but again is it worth it? But if I don't go now, when will I? I'm also thinking about going back to Cape Town because I had such a good time. Decisions...