Ruben bloggar frå turar, innland og utland: Livingstone, Football (soccer) and killing a Chicken

Livingstone

Last Friday I went to Livingstone for the weekend. I had one mission, and that was to swim in the Devils Pool and lay on the edge of the Victoria Falls. When I arrived the tourist city, after 8 hours on the road with John, a friend of the family, I met up with Markus. He is another Norwegian sports volunteer who is based for EduSport in Livingstone. We went out that evening, meeting a lot of other foreigners and playing beer-pong (my first time since my holiday in the states in 2010!), unfortunately we won a lot, meaning we always got challenged (the challengers buys the beer) and in the end, drunk.

Football in nearly 40 degrees
Markus coaches a team in Livingstone, and they were playing a friendly match on Saturday, and fortunately we got to play with them! The game was supposed to start at 8:30 AM, we arrived at 9:40, but the other players didn't start to show up until10:30. The game finally started around 11:30, when the last group of players arrived. Africa: TTT (things take time)!

My team played 4-3-3 with me as a striker, but funny enough we always at had least 4 players in “striker position”. So in second half I moved a bit further down on the pitch. I had a very good chance, after Markus playing me free, but I was to slow to shoot and a defender blocked my shot that was determent to go in the net. After that miss, the opponent scored 5 times. In second half I created a couple of good chances, had a missed shot from just outside the box, and had a perfect tackle on the midfield, but other than that it wasn't much to write about. Was very dehydrated.

Devils Pool at Victoria Falls
I had booked Devils Pool on Sunday at 11:15, and a bus home to Lusaka at 1:30 PM, but even though I was told I would have plenty of time, I didn't. I walked with a guide and a group of tourists on the edge of the falls to the Devils Pool. When we arrived there it was already past noon. We jumped in the “pool” and lied on the edge of the falls. I got some photos, but not when I was on the edge, since my camera decided to not work at that specific time. It was an amazing view, and if I go to Livingstone again, before rain season, I will definitely do it again (During the rain season it won't be possible to swim in the devils pool). I got to run back to the car on my own (don’t think I was allowed, since I was still on the edge). By the car Markus was waiting and we drove to the bus station in town, and he dropped me off there at 1:20 PM. The bus trip was about 7 hours and went by quick since I read Jo Nesbo’s book “The Bat”, which I nearly finished (GREAT author!)

The chicken
On Monday morning I was back to work, and the Nyanja course, so I got home early. At home I met a alive chicken! My host dad, David, got it as a present from the couple which is getting married on Saturday, so he told me we would slaughter it later in the evening. I kindly and excited asked if I could do the slaughtering, and that was no problem. I grew up on a farm, but we never had chickens and killing chickens “the old fashion way” is not very common in Norway. So when the time finally arrived, we went out on the balcony with the chicken and a knife. David held the chicken while I cut the chickens neck. It was quite an experience. I could feel the warm blood dripping over my fingers, and I took out the warm intestines. It is hard to explain, but I’m glad I got to experience this (as you might see on the pictures). We put the chicken in boiling water and then it was easy to just pluck the feathers off the chicken. We will eat the chicken during the next few days.

Me: "Can I lie on my back?" Guide: "eeeh..." Me: "come on! please" Guide: "ok, but don't post the video on the internet" Me: "Of course not!"