Radiate

Oh yes I know, I know, you can spare me the criticism, I know I haven’t updated the blog in a long time. And yes I know that my previous post was a cop out post actually written by Jeremy. And I know that at the end of the day, I have absolutely no excuse other than sheer laziness in getting to my computer and writing, but its not the end of the day yet, and so I’m still going to give excuses. My battery is still dead on my computer. I haven’t been in Meheba for a month, and this blog is after-all chronicling my life in Meheba Refugee Settlement, so technically my time in Lusaka should not be on this blog...My dog ate my homework...and I have been far too busy launching my Zambian music video career to dilly dally on such trivial a thing as a blog. See, its not my fault. Well, there is some truth to those excuses…

You see I have in fact been in Lusaka for almost a month now. I mentioned some time back that my good friend Sara would be moving to Congo to work with FORGE in a new office they were opening in Eastern Congo. Unfortunately, around the same time that Meheba was experiencing some unrest, conditions were becoming tense in the region where Sara was working as well. While things have calmed down and we are able to continue our established projects in Meheba, the situation in Congo has changed significantly since deciding to open the office there and it was decided recently that it was no longer feasible for FORGE to go ahead with their plans in Eastern Congo. As such, the office was shut down and Sara has gone back to America to pursue other opportunities. The task of selling some assets from Congo has fallen to me, most notably the Landcruiser Prado that is no longer needed now that the office has shut down. And so, I find myself in Lusaka selling a car. Incidentally, if anyone in Lusaka wants to buy a 1995 Prado, please phone me :)

In “my” previous post, you read Jeremy’s account of our previous adventure ridden trip to Lusaka. What was missing was information we got a few days later that the same driver who dropped us in Lusaka continued his journey towards South Africa but came to a halt when he hit not one, but two cows on his way through Botswana, totaling the vehicle he was driving. Storybook.

After the previous trip to Lusaka and my general distaste for the 12 hour bus ride, I was looking forward to an uneventful and comfortable drive down to Lusaka in the Prado. The Prado had come back from Congo to Solwezi and we found a driver to take the Prado and me with it down to Lusaka to sell it. Sweet. We set off early from Solwezi and the Prado was sailing along with no problems...until we heard the pop. My first thought was that we had popped a tire, but the ride did not feel as though a tire was gone. My second thought was “why on earth can’t I manage ONE uneventful trip to Lusaka?!??” As we pulled off to the side of the road we noticed steam pouring from the bonnet of the car (can you tell I’ve been spending too much time with colonists? Its the “hood” for all the American readers, but I do think “bonnet” has a much nicer ring to it). Opening the bonnet revealed a rather sizable crack running the length of the top of the radiator. Lovely. Luckily, we were only a few kilometers from a sizable town and on a stretch of road that was not far from a village where people were able to bring us water to fill the radiator and sell us a container of water to take with us. This was important as in the 15km to the nearest town we had to stop twice to refill the radiator.

In Chingola we were able to find someone to put a fiber resin over the crack to act as a temporary repair and get us on the road towards Lusaka. We still had to stop every hour or more to refill the radiator with water, but at least we weren’t stuck in Chingola and were able to make our Lusaka destination the same day...even if it was fourteen hours later. (For reference, I have friends who can make this trip in seven hours.)

Side note: Let this be a lesson to you, always save your work. Having no battery does actually suck. I’ve lost half of this blog post twice now as I accidently nudge my computer and the power cord comes loose and the computer turns off. See my commitment to you my faithful readers?? You WILL have a new blog post.

Back to the story. After repairing the Prado’s radiator I take it to a specialist to tell me everything that needs to be fixed and appraise the price he thinks I can get for it as-is vs. making the repairs first. After getting it back from him I spend the next week putting for sale signs on the Prado, getting an ad in the paper, hanging adverts in public places and telling everyone I come in contact with to buy the Prado or at the very least get their friends to buy it. I happen to be in town when a new FORGE volunteer who will be spending six weeks in Meheba is scheduled to arrive in Lusaka. I drive to the airport outside of town to pick her up. Driving this distance proves to be too much for the Prado and as I near the airport the heat gauge goes wild and steam once again pours from the bonnet. Lovely. I pull over and let it cool down enough to get to the airport less than 3km away. Once I finally get to the airport I’m able to refill the radiator, find and pick up Linda, the FORGE volunteer, and get back into town to grab some dinner. After dinner I head home with Linda only to see the heat gauge go wild again less than 2 km from home. This time however, it wont go down. We open the hood and realize why...the top of the new welded radiator has cracked again. A good samaritan stops and helps us fill it with enough water to get home, and the next day I make arrangements to find and price out a new radiator.

The next day Linda was able to get on a bus to Meheba and I was able to find a new radiator. Now I’m not really good with cars but this time I don’t believe the “there was just no water in the radiator” excuse and make sure they find out exactly why this keeps happening. Apparently there is something wrong with the cylinder heads and gaskets and such. Again, I’m no good with cars, but I figure I’m done repairing and replacing radiators so this needs to be fixed. However, this is not an easy fix and takes several days of labour. Having the car in the shop for a week does not make it easy to sell. Customer: “Hello, I’m interested in your Prado, can I come see it today?” Me: “Er, um, well I would love to show it to you today, but you see I took it to my mechanic to look it over and have some minor repairs made to get it ready to sell.” Customer: “Oh well, that’s ok, I don’t mind having to make some minor repairs, can I see it tomorrow?” Me: “Er um, well you see its actually not going to be available to see until the end of the week..” Customer: “Um...is it even in running condition? Maybe I can just go to the shop to look at it, the end of the week is far away.” Me: “Oh well, it is running yes...except the engine is being taken apart to work on the cylinder head...so right now it doesn’t run per-say…” Customer: “Right, ok, well, don’t call me I’ll call you.”

Right.

Thus, the month long Prado selling saga continues. In the midst of all of this however I think I have actually found someone who seems genuinely interested in buying the Prado. It is still having the cylinder head fixed but should be ready on Thursday and the potential purchaser is willing to wait to look at it once the repairs are made and make an offer on Thursday. Fingers crossed that the saga ends here and that come Thursday the Prado will have found its new owner and I can get back to Meheba.

There have been some perks of being in Lusaka though. I have a lot of friends here which is nice, and in the time I’ve been here I was able to star in a Zambian music video being filmed for MTV South Africa. “She’s So Fresh” is the song and I’m the rap star’s “main squeeze” (in my words) that walks into the club and turns all the heads. Oh yeah, I’m so fresh, better than the rest, best girl in the club tonight. :P Not half bad if I do say so myself...and yes, as soon as I have a copy of the music video, you will have the youtube link. Any MAYBE if you are nice to me, I’ll even give you an autograph...

So you see, I believe my excuses are valid. Well, except the dog and homework bit...but really, when has that ever worked?