The Avant Gardist
May 24,2010

Bocar Wane, 7^th grade math, Geometry, is currently presenting at the e-Learning Conference: Africa in Zambia. His presentation is entitled Anywhere, Anytime – Lessons to Be Learned from an Online School in Hawaii. He will be sharing information about Myron B. Thompson Academy, and how we operate in a virtual setting. Bocar will also be researching some new trends in online learning.

May 24, 2010

Bocar Wane, Myron B. Thompson Academy, USA

Dateline: Lusaka Zambia

Day 1:

My wife and I arrived in Lusaka, Zambia from London, England for the E-Learning Africa Conference on Monday, May 24, 2010 at 7am local time. The total trip time from Honolulu, Hawaii was 36 hours. My first impression of Lusaka, after driving from the airport to the hotel (about a 15-minute drive) was that Lusaka is no different that any other African city I have seen thus far. The streets are more or less clean, people jaywalk haphazardly, and to my big surprise, people drive on the left side. I guess the Zambians picked up that culture from the Brits.

I travelled with my wife, and this is the first time for both us to have ever set foot in Zambian land. Our hotel was modest but with character and charm, at least the outside of the hotel. Actually, the hotel is called a lodge; there are only 10 rooms total. It is more like a modified house. Our room appeared to be clean but it was very small and cluttered so we are going to change to a bigger room tomorrow and see how it goes. The staff at the hotel are very friendly. We ordered lunch at the hotel., and the waiter/cook recommended a local specialty, roasted quail, which was delicious. We also ordered grilled fish and Nshima, which is the local starch staple—a pounded porridge of maize flour—a Zambian type of poi!

After resting a bit, we walked around and went to the two major malls in Lusaka. The first mall we went to is called Manda Hill Mall. It is undergoing construction so the sound of construction resonated everywhere. We did, however, find a nice coffee shop called Kilimanjaro, decorated in Kenyan/East African style. We had coffee and homemade lemon iced tea and then walked to the other mall, Arcades. There we walked around and had dinner at Arabian Nights. The food was good; Ann ate Afghan steak, a seasoned steak, and I ate grilled lamb chops. Both meats were well seasoned. We also ate delicious naan bread and a great Pakistani chopped salad made of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, parsley…and tons of chopped hot chili peppers. I had to stop eating it but Ann kept on going until her lips were swollen and red.

Internet connection at the hotel is beyond slow. I hope that tomorrow we’ll get to town to an internet café so that I can send this. After so much travelling, I am beat—today ended early, at 8:30pm. More to come tomorrow.