wild animals we have known (and found): Guest Blogger!

Hi. Today you will be hearing from Jonas and Larissa about different animals that we have caught or observed here in Zambia.

(note here from Mom...Everywhere we go...somehow word gets around that we like animals, which I can't say I even really do...but because of my association with my husband I embrace the science opportunities that have been presented with gusto. This embracing has led us on baby snapping turtle rescue from a pool (thank you Rita), taking care of baby birds fallen from a nest (Thank you Carla), rescuing helpless damsels in distress from garter snakes (thank you Christy), various turtles and fish and snakes caught around our house (okay maybe that was my fault) and many other adventures which we don't have time or space to share)

When I, Jonas, was at the airport checking in to move here to Zambia, the lady at the counter asked where I was going and I said "to Africa." And she said, "You are going to have lots of adventures!" I said, "Yes." and she said, "Yes. You are."

She was right. The very first animal we caught in Zambia was a chameleon. When we first saw it we were all excited. Chameleons cost a lot of money at pet stores in America. We quick scooped it up from a tree and put it in a box. Then we took it to the house. It wasn't doing very well. It was actually dying. And then it did die. On a banana leaf. On mom's kitchen counter.

Some time later, we got three chameleons. It was so cool to have them, Chameleons like to be in trees in the daytime. Around evening time, they sometimes come down and hunt, at least that's what I have observed. When the rains start, all the termite colonies' eggs hatch. It's a chameleons favorite time of year because first one termite comes out, then another and another and pretty soon they are swarming everywhere! It's a great feast for the chameleons and sometimes the birds join in.

sorry. this is a little bit gross. but we wanted a picture of our first chameleon we ever caught.

a video of our chameleon catching a bug

Hi everyone. This is Larissa. Today I want to tell you about our cat Figs. This is what happened. One day Jonas was going outside and Figs ran in the house. He didn't know what she was doing and he just let her go in. Awhile later when we were playing with our friends outside Jonas came out and said, "Figs is having babies!" We ran in the house to our bedroom. Figs was in my underwear drawer having kittens. We all crowded around. She started feeling worried about her babies. Jonas told us to give her a little rest, but no one wanted to leave. Finally we all went out. She had three kittens we named them Marlee, Si, and Ocie. They grew pretty fast and soon we could hold them. But awhile later, sad news had come. Duma, one of our dogs, had killed Marlee. So we buried her that night. We kept the kittens for awhile, but my mom always says we are a one cat family. We had to give the kittens away to some friends who renamed them Simba and Nala. 

newborn kittens!

us being goofy with one of the kittens

Back to Jonas: One of my most favorite pets that I have had here was a mystery animal when we first got it. It was my mom and dad's anniversary and they were leaving the house to go out to eat. As they were leaving, they saw some boys on the road. They were carrying a little creature that looked like a mongoose. My dad asked them what it was. They called it a Bemba name we had never heard before. Dad called me out of the house and the boys said they were going to eat it. I bought it for 10 kwacha, which is a little less than $2. I got a little box for the boys to put it in. When I brought it inside it had a sound like a kitten. It was the softest and fluffiest animal I have ever felt in my life. Since we didn't know what it was, I got out all our books about Zambia trying to figure it out. I was home alone so I had nothing else to do anyway. The last book had an animal that looked similar. It was called a serval. We sent pictures to our family in the States over whatsapp and everyone was trying to figure out what it was. Which was really funny. After some more observation, we discovered it couldn't be a serval. Our animal was only the size of a month old kitten, maybe 5 inches big. Serval kittens are way bigger than that. Plus our animal had a really long tail, longer than it's body. The next morning we were all laying in mom and dad's bed discussing what it could be. Finally, mom found a picture that looked identical. It was a genet. It was only a baby. In Zambia there is no pet formula. We really wanted to take good care of it but didn't have anything to feed it except for human baby formula. She did very well for a few days. She would ride on our shoulders while we did our chores and our school work. She would purr a lot. Then if we would lay down she would curl up beside us and fall asleep. She was really curious and she hid from us a lot. Everytime I would set her down and try to go do something, she would come running after me crying for me to pick her up. She was so cute. I wanted to keep her forever. A few days later she seemed like she wasn't feeling well, and was acting very weird. She just kept getting weaker and weaker and her breathing got slower, and slower. She ended up dying. I was so sad. I hope we find another genet soon. I am having my grandpa and grandma bring me over some kitten formula when they come to visit so I can be ready next time.

Back to Riss...

Another really cool pet we have are Meyer's parrots. These birds cost a lot of money in America. They are pretty colorful. They are blue, yellow, black and gray. Our parrots stay in a big cage on our screened in porch. In the morning they whistle and chirp for a long time. They are kind of like an alarm clock. 

We have had so many different pets stay at our house since we moved here that we can't even remember them all. Sometimes we do take pictures. Here are a few of them. These were taken with our kids' ipod which only has a front camera so sometimes they are kind of fuzzy and stuff.

tadpoles we caught in the reservoir, now its full of frogs!

The snails here sleep a lot. But they get really big! We find them a lot in the rainy season on trees or in wet sand.

This is a tree frog. They like to curl up and hide under leaves. We catch them a lot in the orange grove here at the farm.

 This is Barney. He is an African land tortoise. He is the third biggest species of tortoise in the whole world. He is pretty small right now but he can live to be 100 years old so he has time to grow. He eats mushrooms, raspberries, cucumbers, and peaches.

Hunter thinks he owns all the farm equipment. Right now, he thinks he is king of the skidsteer....

until...Figs rains on his parade.

These mice are named Ricky and Tilly. We caught them while Mom and Dad were in Zanzibar. We flooded them out of their holes that they were living in in the ground. They eat sunflower seeds. And mostly hide in the dirt all day long. They come out at night to eat.

This is Gunner, our new dog. He is new to our dog pack. We kind of rescued him from death.

This is how tree frogs curl up when they are under leaves.

We call this a crawler toad. We don't really know what it is so we just gave it a name. To protect itself, it puffs up like a balloon. When you put it in water, it looks like a big innertube. It uses its two back feet to paddle. We also sometimes call it a burrowing toad. 

Thanks for reading about our animals. If you move to Africa, this might be helpful to you.

Jo and Riss

(note from mom...see?!?!? What's a mom to do? It just keeps happening...every single day. Sigh.)

The brilliant red flowers of the flamboyant trees made their appearance within the last month. Now the purple of the jacaranda trees is beginning to peek through the green leaves. Walking the dusty red roads of Garneton beneath these trees for the second time brings a sense of permanence to our lives here. Things we have experienced before are happening again and out of that experience comes a sense of belonging and peace. Despite the fact there is no snow or dropping temperatures, we begin to have a few new environmental clues as to the approach of the Christmas season. We have been streaming Christmas music from our favorite radio station in the States this weekend. I will confess as I stood at the sink washing dishes left over from our Thanksgiving feast, tears began streaming from my eyes as the familiar melodies filled the air. May all of you sense His love in a new way this season.

The days continue to feel scorching and zap us of energy. We eagerly await the rains.

We had the opportunity to attend a celebration for the Grade 7 and Grade 9 at Lifesong School. Here in Zambia, a national test is issued at the close of these two grades. If a student does not past the test, they do not move on to the next level. All of these students had taken their test and were awaiting the results to be received as to whether or not they had passed. It was really special to be able to watch them in their joy. I had to laugh to myself as I imagined my own nieces and nephews celebrating in the same way. Not going to happen!

The kids all danced into the cafeteria in lines. They clapped and swung to the rhythm as they jumped, twirled and kicked their way toward the front of the group. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends and caretakers waved chitenges as they gave out excited, triumphant sounding calls by quickly placing their tongue on the back of their top teeth and saying "ah-la-la-la-la-la" (go ahead and try it...move your tongue as quickly as possible for a more authentic sounding cry). Even though I don't know many of the kids well, I still felt a lump rise in my throat as we had the opportunity to reflect how far some of them have come. They have worked hard. Some have lost a parent during their schooling, some of them have lost a grandparent. Things have been difficult. Life isn't always easy. I am so proud of them. There are times when the fog of uncertainty about what in the world I am doing half a world away from what used to seem familiar to me clears away. This was one of those times. We are humbled to be a small part of what He is doing by managing the farm and being present in the community. I wished that all of you could have been there to share that moment with these kids. Their lives have been blessed because people like you have invested in them. And early this week we received the good news that all of the grade 7s had passed their exams! The wait for the grade 9s continues as they receive their results in February.

In regards to blogging, I waffle between sharing life in sweeping generalities and sharing every tiny intimate detail. To name a few:

It is not unusual for us while driving at night to have to dodge people lying on the roads who have passed out drunk.

The rains bring out my riotous humid hair that embarrasses me.

The struggle we have as we try to understand the grip witchcraft has on the surrounding community. Our western mindset has to stretch when we hear these things. The way Satan works here is completely different but his ultimate goal of death and destruction is the same.

Our family loves to escape to the farm reservoir. An amazing water slide has been created using old water tanks.

The crowds as we go in to town overwhelm our kids and they all avoid going grocery shopping or marketing with me like the plague. They still remember America's predictability and long for it but they get a true sense of what it is to be a minority.

The frustration as we try to source things for the farm. Running a business in a third world country is challenging. Stopping 5 different places for one item seems ridiculous. And our success rate on locating some items is 50/50. But it's our reality.

When something in the house stinks, we began searching for dead rats we may have missed during our cleaning.

Our personalities have grown new dimensions. Moving to a new culture stretches us in ways we never anticipated. For example, whenever I hear African drums, my new self feels the overwhelming urge to dance. Which is really bizarre if you know me well.

The excitement we feel as new crops are planted. As they begin to establish we pray God will increase their bounty so we can provide more jobs in the community and more profit to give to the school.

The curiosity and wonder mixed with repulsion as we encounter new and frightening LARGE insects.

The challenge we face as we attempt to balance being a profit seeking business and a ministry.

The surge of satisfaction we feel when we reflect on the fact that in Lifesong Farm's peak season we employed 70 workers. We often wonder if we will be able to turn a profit at the end of the year, but knowing that for a short time an individual was able to provide for their family, have a sense of belonging and self-worth makes our time here well-spent. Thank you Jesus.

The humility and awe we feel that God has allowed us to be a part of what He is doing in Zambia. And it's because people like you have partnered with us. We thank you. Which sounds inadequate and can never really help you realize what your giving means to the people here. Or how your giving is furthering His Kingdom in Garneton, Zambia. God bless you.