Gottbreht Family Reunion

I can honestly say that I feel extremely lucky that my family was able to come out to see my life in Zambia. Before they arrived I was really nervous, stupid questions like Who do I hug first? What will they look like? and others ran through my head. It took quite awhile for them to get through immigration and the whole time I peered through the glass corridor like a little kid but before I knew it I was standing in front of all 4 of them and I don’t know who I hugged first and they looked the exact same as when I left. It was just a surreal feeling to have them in Zambia.

We took a shuttle back to the place we were staying at and throughout the ride my Dad and Jenny were falling asleep. We finally made it and unpacked all the bags, well except for one which was full of my stuff that was somewhere in-between California and Zambia. Before we went to dinner everybody decided to shower. I went into Mom and Dad’s room to check on them, well to make sure they did not fall asleep and Mom comes in and says, “Bill we have to leave, the shower has no hot water and is only a dribble,” I look at her and say, “Welcome to Africa!” We went to dinner which was nice and then came back and went to bed. In the middle of the night I hear William yelling something about his shoulder, I guess he got it stuck in the mosquito net and almost ripped it out of its socket…again. And the entire time Jenny is worried about all the bugs and thought they were going to crawl up into her bed through the net. I let her know that she needs to get ready for the bats at my place.

The next morning we went to one of the worst places on the face of the Earth, the Lusaka bus station. The good thing was that it was early so most of the sketchy guys were not around…thank God. We boarded the bus for Livingstone which is a good 6 hours from Lusaka. This was the second time I personally have taken a bus in Zambia and hated every minute. I normally hitch which is much easier but with 5 people it would be impossible. We finally made it in 1 piece and checked into the backpacker place. The next morning we headed to Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. All I can say is that they are stunning and words really cannot explain them. After getting wet and walking around we headed to the market outside the gates to do souvenir shopping. That is one thing that I hate doing since they rip you off so bad. My Dad was a sucker and so was Jenny but oh well. We did get some beautiful things. That night we took a sunset cruise which is basically a booze cruise. By the end of the night, Dad was learning how to do the traditional Zambian dance with the bar tender in front of a large tourist group. It was quite possible one of the funniest things ever!! The next morning Jenny and I did this extreme sports thing were we climbed down a mountain, jumped off a cliff and did the gorge swing. The gorge swing was terrifying but amazing and Jenny and I did it together without killing each other. Mom, Dad and William did the helicopter ride which they said was also great.

The next morning we headed to Botswana for the safari. I think every person and family needs to experience a safari together. We saw pretty much everything and lots of them besides a male lion. We went on lots of game drives, boat drives, slept in tents and ate lots of good food. It was amazing and wished it would not end. After that we were heading to the village…oh geez, I was nervous!!

Thank God that we rented a car because we would have killed each other for sure if we hadn’t. It took several hours to get to Mkushi, which is my BOMA. On the way we stopped at this road side gas station to get this wrap thing. This is a highlight since they are so good and I can only get them when I go down to Lusaka but Mom would not touch it. Never knew my Mom was a picky eater! We stopped at a friend’s house in the commercial farm block and toured his property. We did a game drive to see the monkeys and sable. Sable is a kind of antelope and to kill one you must pay between $8000 to $12000 dollars, don’t ask me when it costs so much. Then we were off to the village. We stopped in this little place called Masansa to get vegetables and fish. It has an outdoor market where all the vegetables are sitting on the ground in bowls with the lady behind them trying to see them. It is what I would think of as a ‘typical African market.’ Masansa is 50 km south of Mkushi and I stay 30 km from Masansa. We were almost there!!! We finally arrived and all the kids came running to see these new white people. Mom decided that it was time for me to go through all the packages that she brought for me for others. Man oh man I got some great stuff!!! Thanks so much!! During this time Jenny is sitting on my porch reading some magazine and all the kids come over and sit in the dirt and just stare at her. She comes in and says something funny but I tell her to get used to it since it will happen for the next few days. After dinner, we played some cards and it was time to hit the sack. So Jenny and I are the ones who are going to sleep inside my house. I let Jenny go in first because of the bats, so she could scare them but she did not know this. All of a sudden it comes flying and I yell, “BAT!” and Jenny screams and ducks down with my dog saying, “The bats in my hair get it out get it out!” At this point I don’t see the bat so we hurry into bed with Dad looking out for it. The next morning my host day and mom walk over to us with a live chicken in their arms. My host dad starts talking in English about how thankful they are that my family is here and hands my Dad this live chicken. My Dad was not quite sure what to do with it but thank God the legs were tied. We gave it back to them and told them we could eat it all together tomorrow. We stayed in the village for the next few days, took a walk to the clinic and played lots of cards. It was nice for them to see how long simple things take like cooking. Jenny immediately said she would starve and would end up eating her arm. The last night we ate a really nice meal with my host family. They killed 2 chickens, ate authentic Zambian food and it was delicious.

The next morning we headed to Serenje, where we have a Peace Corps house. Lots of my friends came to the house to meet my family and have a BBQ. That night Jenny, William and Dad tried a beer called ‘shake shake,’ it is the main beer that my Zambian can afford and it’s disgusting! Jenny and William almost vomited. It tastes like chunky, sour cream of wheat but is drinkable. It was really nice for my friends to meet my family and vise versa. But the time was running low and they were almost leaving.

We headed back to Lusaka and stayed at this nice hotel. When I booked the room I asked for two beds, thinking they would be doubles oh no they were twins. Now how we were all going to sleep on 2 twin beds since most of the hotels were funny booked. The thing was that Zambia was hosting an African Summit so most rooms were booked, roads were cut off…it was basically a disaster. We had two presidents and their security men on our floor and most of the time could not take the elevator or go out the main entrance. It was still very nice. By the time we got home from souvenir shopping and dinner, the hotel had saved me another room…thank God. The next morning Jenny and William headed home. It was a lot harder to say good bye than I thought and of course I cried. It was really nice that Mom and Dad stayed with me for a few more days. We did more souvenir shopping, went to the movies and just hung out. Dad and Mom even tried fried crocodile meat. Now it was time to say good-bye. I cried some more…it sucked. The shuttle dropped me off at a grocery store where I was meeting some friends and Mom and Dad continued to the airport. I kept walking and did not look back. It’s a weird feeling to watch your whole family; the people you love go in one direction and you another.

I loved every minute of it…the frustrating times, the sad times and most importantly the times we laughed together. I realized how great my family really is and how lucky I am!!