i swear i’m going to break my neck one of these days.

the dark wood floors in our house are polished to a very high shine with kerosene on a regular basis. usually i walk around the house in flip flops. but since the weather has turned cold, big fluffy socks are more comforting and more comfortable. perhaps if i was twenty years younger, the sock slide would be a delightful game. instead, i am worried about falling down the stairs and landing on my head.

it is COLD in the mornings. somewhere between 5 and 7oC seems to be the current norm around 630am. i considered wearing a fleece under my hoody today for the ride to Dambwa clinic in the open truck. i miss Maramba because it was close enough to walk to and Janice and i could work up a little warmth through pumping blood. today’s post title is the pronunciation spelling of a phrase that John taught me for: “it’s too cold, eh?”

in return for teaching me that phrase, i taught him about frostbite. John said it must not be too cold for me here because i am from Canada. i laughed and nodded yes.

“how cold does it get there?” he asked.
“in some places, minus thirty or minus forty,” i responded.
“sure?! minus thirteen??” he was astonished.
“nono, minus three-ZERO,” i corrected while his jaw dropped even further.
“sure?? sure?” i just nodded.
“what do you do when it gets that cold?” he asked.
“hmm… well, we wrap many scarves around and wear big hats and big jackets,” i mimed wrapping a large scarf around my head. “but sometimes we just stay inside.”
“ah, sure! inside is better!” he laughed.
“if you go out when it’s that cold without a scarf, you can get frostbite.” it was clear he had no idea what i meant after repeating the words “frostbite” and “frozen skin” a couple of times, so i elaborated…

“the skin can freeze and turn black and fall off. people lose their noses and fingers and toes if they are too cold.” John was positively astonished by this news. i think he thought i was pulling his leg for a minute.
“sure?! and you call it frostbite? i can’t believe this!”

here in Zambia, it will continue to get colder before it gets warmer. August is apparently the end of winter, with September getting hot again and the rains arriving late October or November. i don’t mind the cold too much. i am comfortable at night (under three blankets!) and it warms up a lot in the afternoon. coming from a country that can go to minus three-ZERO, how can i really complain??

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