Football fever

It's going to be a bit strange now the world cup's over, it's been a big part of life in Africa for the last few weeks. There's been a lot of pride about how well the tournament seems to have been organised, and it felt like the whole continent was holding it's breath during the painful last few moments of the Ghana game. I won't miss the constant soundtrack of hooting plastic trumpets though!

I went to Choma this weekend, a small town about 2 and a half hours north of Livingstone. Appropriately I was visiting a Dutch friend, who invited me to a dinner party (I think the nicest meal I've eaten in Zambia, lots of home-grown vegetables that I haven't had in months - who'd have thought broccoli would be something you'd miss?!) to watch the final. Much fun even if it wasn't the result we wanted. I'm sure Cat will put some photos up, her blog's much more pictorial than mine - www.catelijnelissen.blogspot.com

Choma is a lovely town, we went for a Sunday walk and managed to catch some live footie - Choma vs. Mazabuka in a Southern Province league match. And on Monday I visited a youth association there to get ideas for work here. It was great to walk into an office on a Monday morning and find lots of people at their desks working! I've come back with a few ideas, and will be trying to work with my colleagues to put them in place this week, before making a decision about the job in Lusaka. Watch this space...