Itinerary

Daily Journal

March 20th - Thursday
I spent the day with mom. It'll be a long 3 weeks without my usual visits. I promised to call as often a possible. After lunch, we made a run down to the Valley for last minute Avid parts. I got home with only about 90 minutes to pack. Meanwhile, the shuttle was 45 minutes late. We'll see how good their "We're on time or you don't pay" guarantee really is. Lines were long at LAX, and the plane was over an hour late taking off. No biggie really, it just means less lay-over at Heathrow. It was great to have Pastor Mark Clark and his son Alex as traveling companions.

March 21st - Friday
This whole day was mostly flying. It was over 10 hours to Heathrow, and the time there was 10 hours later than LA. We ate at a restaurant/bar at the airport, and had Fish & Chips ... with "mushy peas". Basically just green peas that have been smashed. Back onto another 10+ hour flight .... anyone that says they actually sleep on a plane is just kidding,

March 22nd - Saturday
Arrived in Lusaka on time. Wow, I'm a millionaire ... kinda sorta. I needed cash, so I went to an ATM, and withdrew 2 Million Kwatcha, or about $528. After settling in we went out shopping. I forgot to pack dress shoes, so I bought a pair of Zambian shoes ... very stylish. We had lunch at Subway. It's basically the same as the ones in the USA ... just less choices. One type of bread, one choice of cheese, and fewer veggies. But, still good. At 4:00pm, we visited LifeNet Children's Rescue Mission, the orphanage that CCMI runs & supports. We met the boys, presented gifts, and had dinner with them. Later, we returned to the Mbulos home, where I'm staying. Jet lag kicked in, and I crashed.

March 23rd - Easter Sunday
What a glorious way to spend Easter Sunday, worshipping with my extended family in Zambia. Their regular meeting place, the Mulungushi Conference Center, is in use for a year while a new Constitution is deliberated and voted on. During this time, the church meets on the property of the El Jemima Lodge, in a pair of huge tents. After church we returned to the Mbulo home, where we spent time with the church ministry team, and the media team. This was my first chance to get to know them. We immediately got into some interesting technical talk. The workshops over the next 3 weeks will be very enlightening, for all of us.

March 24th - Monday
We spent the entire day on location at The Cathedral of the Holy Cross Anglican Church, filming a music video. The church worship team, Vessels of Praise, released a new CD last year, and will be releasing the accompanying DVD this July. The media team does a fantastic job, considering many of the limitations. After the shoot, Pastor Mbulo and I returned to the church offices, so I could upload this web site. Even though they have a fairly fast connection, I had almost no internet connectivity or e-mail. I was unable to connect to any FTP sites, my personal e-mail, or even AIM. I was, however, able to get to work e-mail. Go figure. Oh yeah, SMS works on my phone. Speaking of phones, AT&T gets $3.49/minute to call the US from Zambia. The local cellular company Cell-Z gets about a buck.Our friends at AT&T lock their phones, so I can't use a SIM card in mine. Meanwhile, I'm borrowing a phone from Pastor Mbulo, and I loaded it up with $50,000 Kwatcha worth of talk-time.

March 25th - Tuesday
Today we had two workshop sessions. We started out by sharing our backgrounds, and the team shared with me their goals and aspirations. We continued by distributing all the gifts I had brought. Special thanks to Avid Tewks and Avid Burbank! The workshops went great, with lots of interaction and good questions. Tomorrow we'll reload two Avid systems from scratch, one Mac and one PC. We'll also upgrade them from Xpress Pro to Media Composer, and add Genarts Sapphire and Boris BCC/AVX. I found out what the problem is connecting to my web site. The CCMI ISP is only set up for "Private IP", and not "Public IP". Tomorrow we'll upgrade it, and I should have FTP access to my site. Then ..... you'll finally be able to read all this.

March 26th -Wednesday
The morning was spent in another workshop. Today, we got deep into the computers, reloading Windows, swapping hard drives, etc. In the afternoon, the team setup for the Wednesday night bible study. Then, the bible study started at 5:30, and it was video taped for broadcast. Tonight the base of my Canon EX550 Flash broke, and it cannot be mounted in the hot shoe. Hopefully I can find some epoxy. Meanwhile, I'm stuck using the little built in flash on the EOS 10D. Sadly, it's not that great for distant shots.

March 27th - Thursday
The morning was spent preparing for the taping of show intros/outros. The rest of the day was the actual taping. The "set" is the Mbulo living room, which gets torn down and set back up every week. There are may other challenges, as the equipment and cabling are old and in need of repair. The director's booth is set up in the Mbulo garage,

March 28th - Friday
Today we started out at 8:00am and headed east for Malawi. It's about an 8 hour drive, plus the necessary business at the border. We needed to file with customs & immigration on the way out of Zambia, and also record the vehicle we were driving, so we wouldn't get taxed for it on the return trip. Meanwhile, the "money changers" swarmed us, each stuffing handfuls of Malawaian Kwatcha through the car windows and yelling "their" exchange rate. It turns out to be 30:1 against the Zambian Kwatcha. We then crossed the border into Malawi and went through similar business with their customs & immigration service. We also bought short-term car insurance.

The drive was beautiful, with non-stop trees and foliage. There are many people walking and biking on the sides of the roads. With them, are goats, cattle, and pigs, just running free. The larger groups of cattle were being tended to by "little shepherds", young boys maybe only 10-12 years old. We even saw a few monkeys. We arrived after dark, and once settled into Anna's Lodge, we went to the home of the local pastors, Dickson and Mary Msichili, for dinner. We were treated to a local favorite that I had been hearing about for days, Chambo, a fish native to the nearby lakes. It is served the same as the Talapatia that I've eaten at home. The sides of the fish are scored diagonally, and then the whole fish is deep fried. You basically just pull the fish apart to eat it. It was served with "gravy" which was more like a stew, noodles, Cassava root, and Shima. Shima is a dough-like food, made from meal. It is served in a large bowl, and is in handful size clumps. Using only one hand, you break off a small piece, and manipulate it, turning it into a small ball. Then you use that to soak up the gravy or just mix with any other food. Tomorrow, we drive to Lake Malawi, where the Chambo come from.

NOTE: Photos on the road trip to Malawi were all taken either through the windscreen or out the side window, at up to 120Km/hour .... some may be a little soft :)

March 29th - Saturday
We started out doing a little shopping, and more money exchange. This time we went to one of many ForEx (Foreign Exchange) establishments. The exchange rate today was 150:1, Malawian Kwatcha vs USD. Since both Zambia and Malawi both call their currency Kwatcha, it is designated as either MK, for Malawian, or ZK, for Zambian (pronounced zed-k). After we stocked up on MK, we headed off to do some shopping. The local rice is preferred over Zambian rice, so we picked up about 8 large bags. I also bought a necktie, as I forgot that as well. A nice Italian tie, with matching handkerchief and cuff links, was 1,795MK, or $11.97USD.

Finally we were off to Lake Malawi, home of the now famous Chambo. It's about 120KM, and took approx 2 hours. The drive was quite scenic, with all the usual people, walking and cycling, and farm animals along the way. Once at the lake, we had lunch at the Sunbird Hotel. From our table on the lawn overlooking the lake, we enjoyed more Chambo and steaks. After lunch, we drove to the fishing community where the locals tie up their boats, and distribute the fish. On the drive home, men and boys are standing along the roadside holding up a dozen or so Chambo, and other fish. One might wonder where the ice is to keep these fresh.

Once back at the Msichili home, we had another great dinner, and then discussed the CCMI churches, and their growth potential through the use of media. It was a real pleasure to finally meet the pastors from one of our missionary churches. Tomorrow, I'll attend church here in Lilongwe. Next weekend, we'll be in South Africa.

Cargo Management still hasn't released our container. It's been sitting on the dock for 2 weeks, and due to some internal policy and red tape, they won't let us have it. Time is now running out. I only have 3 more working days in Lusaka before I come home, and one of my primary projects was to set up the new Avid and train the team on it.

March 30th - Sunday
I went to church at CCMI-Malawi today. This is our 3rd church in Africa, with Lusaka, Zambia being our first and primary base, and Pretoria, South Africa being number 2. We had a great service, opened by worship from "Vessels of Praise"- Malawi. Each CCMI church has it's own VOP Worship Team. We hope to bring them all together for a concert in the future. VOP Lusaka has already won awards for their music here in Africa.

The Malawian congregation has a high level of respect for their native language. Although they speak English regularly, they also prefer that their church services honor their own dialect. Due to this, an interpreter translates the entire service. I was asked to speak a few words, and it was a little strange trying to figure out where to break, so the interpreter could translate for me.

We had lunch at the home of Dr. Keith, a new church member from England, who has recently settled in Lilongwe. Tomorrow, we drive back to Lusaka, leaving at 7:00am. We should be home by 4:00pm. Pix tomorrow would be the same as Friday and Saturday, just from the opposite direction ... I may just enjoy the ride.

I learnd today that Lilongwe is plagued with packs of wild Hyenas. Because of this, you rarely see people walking in the city at night.

I was able to locate some Epoxy, but the repair didn't work. Dang, still no flash for the camera. :(

March 31st - Monday
We drove from Lilongwe, Malawi to Lusksa, Zambia today. Although only an 8 hour trip, it seems longer due to all the potholes. Frequently along the roadside, you'll see items for sale. At first they seem to be just out in the middle of nowhere. As you get closer, you see a small trail leading from the roadside back into the brush. This leads to the village that is selling that particular item. These include fruits and vegetables, bails of charcoal, sugar cane, crafts, furniture, etc.

April 1st - Tuesday
I think I'll just stay here forever ... April fools!

I woke up today to a rolling blackout. This is very similar to the ones we faced in Southern California, during the "fake" power crisis. The power company just arbitrarily picks a neighborhood, and pulls the plug. Sadly, the water heater is electric ... brrr. Later that day, the team and I started rebuilding all of the original Avid systems. All the PC's had viruses that were so bad, the OS's would barely work. Even Admin functions were missing or nonfunctional. I eventually just reloaded the OS on the Mac, and both PC's. Between flaky CD/DVD's & HDD's, and a multitude of other issues, this became a 2-day job. The internet was going in an out as well. One really perplexing mystery ... I had updated an Avid dongle last year to Media Composer with Studio Toolkit. I even had a copy of the Dongle Dump on my Palm Pilot, showing the completed update. When I looked at this dongle today, it was reverted back to it's original state, Xpress Pro. Physically impossible, yes.

April 2nd - Wednesday
Woke up to another blackout today. Bea, not to be deterred, cooked our breakfast on a charcoal BBQ in the back yard. Yes, a "Full English Breakfast", on an open grill. The conditions here are often unbearable, but the people simply endure. Meanwhile, the team and I completed th rebuilds. We got word that we'll get the container today, and it should be unloaded by sometime tonight. Since we're leaving for South Acrica on Friday, and I leave to come home the next day, this means I now have only 1 day to set up the Avid and train the team on it.

The equipment arrived at the CCMI offices after dark, and we finally got to see it once the Wednesday Night Bible Study was over. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day!

April 3rd - Thursday
We set up the new Avid today. I had already labeled all the cables, so it went fairly smoothly. I had the typical issues you might expect ... e.g., the Avid Mojo wasn't seen by the system, and took a little fiddling with the Firewire cables, the DSR-1800 didn't see Firewire input either, and took a bit more tweaking. Eventually, ecverything was up & running, and I was able to show the team howw it all works. They've never used a Kramer router or a patchbay before, so this is all new to them. This system also uses a mixing console, my original Behringer MX3242X. They really liked playing audio through it to the new studio monitors. Although, um, I seems to have blown one up. Thinking it was dual-voltage I plugged it into a 240v supply. Oops ...it's 110v only. No worries, I shipped 4 sets of speakers, so they'll be OK until Matthews can replace the IC's or AMP. I have some shopping to do as soon as I get back home. We also hooked up one of the Sony LMD displays, via SDI to the SDI out of the DSR-1800. They were really impressed by the image quality. By the end of the day, everything was set up and running. the only system that is still problematic is the repalcement I shipped for the original Avid 1. I keep getting windows Access Violations. I've already tried all the usual fixes, with no luck. We return from South Africa on Monday, around 1:00pm. I'll restore a disk image I made before I shipped it, and that should get itg work,ing. Monday afternoon and night will be my last time with my team here. We still have a few last minute things to do, so time will be a premium.

April 4th - Friday
The flight to Johannesburg, or Jo'Burg as it's more commonly known, was about 2 hours, and fairly turbulent. We arrived in South Africa to slight rain & thundershowers. After some confusion at customs as to what exactly needed to be "declared" we were met by Pastor Ken Mwale and his wife Rabecca. From the airport we drove to Pretoria, the capital of south Africa. Our first stop was at our lodging, the InnJoy Guest House, a 4-star establishment. I've included a few pix for those who are interested. If you're ever in Pretoria, you simply must stay here. That night, myself, the Mbulos, and the Mwales had dinner at a local restaurant. the Chicken Cor'don Bleu was excellent, stuffed with Spinach & Feta Cheese.

April 5th - Saturday
Today we visited Soweto, the center of the uprising in South Africa that led to civil war, and eventually changed the course of history for this region. We had lunch at Wandi's Place, where the walls are covered with thousands and thousands of business cards, currency, hand written notes and signatures. Basically, home cooked food, but in a restaurant. I had an interesting time listening to Pastor Mbulo and Pastor Mwale talk about their childhoods in Africa. They were "Compound Kids", as compared to the "Suberb Kids". They had 8-11 kids per family, all sleeping in one room, except maybe the girls who got their own room. Lunch at school was a loaf of bread and water from the faucet. Suberb Kids had lunch boxes, with sandwiches, snacks, and juice. When the Compound Kids got new clothes or shoes, they immediately "dirtied them up", so they wouldn't look to new. Cleanliness was seen as a sign of weakness .....

As we drove around Jo'Burg, looking at the architecture and businesses, you almost couldn't tell you weren't in the USA. Then, you see a street sign in Afrikaans (a derivitive of Dutch), and then you remember where you are. What was interesting were the businesses advertised on walls that lined the streets. There were "many" ads for funeral services and caskets, some for abortion, and several for video filming.

April 6th - Sunday
This Sunday was my 3rd church in a different country in as many weeks. The church in Pretoria was our first missionary outreach after the main church in Lusaka was established. They were celebrating their 4th anniversary today. After church we were treated to an outdoor lunch. There was music and dancing, and an inflated jump castle for the kids. For dinner we met with a local pastor that Pastor Mbulo hadn't seen in a long time.

April 7th - Monday
Today we flew back to Lusaka, where I had just a 1/2 day to finish all the editing systems, training, etc. By the end of the day, all 4 Avid systems were running perfectly, The only thing left is getting that one dongle properly updated, which I'll do from home. We worked until late into the night to make sure everything was OK. Back at home, we ate in the dark, as there was another rolling blackout. Then, I packed for my trip home ... in candle-light.

April 8th - Tuesday
Today was extremely emotional, as I left my extended family for the trip back to the US. I arrived in London around 6:30pm, and was joined by Paul Stimpson, a local Avid ACSR, for dinner. It was great to share with another tech, from the UK.

April 9th - Wednesday
Got to LAX at 1:15pm, and immediately called mom. She was releived to hear I was home. Between baggage claim, customs, and the shuttle, I didn't get over to her apartment until nearly 5:00pm. I have mixed feeling. It "is" good to back home, but I really miss everybody in Africa.

.... thanks for following my journey. I hope this was informative and intersting for you.

Portable Post & Ministry Video Productions
Newhall, CA