We clearly made an impression with our home building skills on day 1 of volunteering. So much so that when it came to divvying up who would do what on day 2, it was decided that we would spend the day volunteering at a local preschool! I’d like to think this was less because of … Continue reading We so impressed with our building skills on the 1st day…that we were dropped at a preschool for our 2nd day

We were told that the United Church of Zambia was THE church to venture into on Sunday mornings, if we wanted to experience an African prayer service. Lots of singing. Mostly in English. Short. "Do NOT go to the Pentecostal church across the street," we were told. They speak in tongues, pull the devil out … Continue reading Zara’s (almost) Pentecostal Bat Mitzvah

Thanks to a combination of "smoothing" and "Saturday," we had an easy start to our volunteer work - which is primarily the manual labor of building homes, local style. While I think the official name of the org we are with here is “Home For AIDS Orphans” (like, an orphanage) really in practice it is … Continue reading Our “Easy Start” to Mud House Building

On our first full day in Zambia, we slept in blissfully late. We had spent Monday night on an overnight flight to London. Coach. We spent Tuesday night on an overnight flight to Johannesburg. Coach. Wednesday night we crawled into (bunk)bed at JollyBoys Backpackers and slept the sleep of the dead. Or of the jetlagged. … Continue reading Day 1: Getting Acclimated….and Elephant’d.

Reflections from Zara: Today, my first day in Zambia Africa made me realize how thankful I am, and I will tell you why. We went on a biking tour through the village which was very beautiful. In Zambia Africa it is rare that the children see white people in their village so when they saw … Continue reading The girl’s 1st day in Africa, in their own words

Airports don’t count towards CrazyTraveler countries. One has to leave the airport and see/do something for it to count as a visited country on our list. So when me the my girls had a 10 hour layover in London for our connecting flights to Africa, I seized the day to get my kids another country … Continue reading Layover in London, Ducker-style

I am an admitted mess. Or should I say, messy.  You can always tell when I've passed through a room, because I've left a trail. My coffee mug. My shoes. My discarded bra. My book. The pair of scissors I was using that I put down and now can't find anywhere.  (note: check dining room? bathroom? … Continue reading Milestones of Messiness

My life is surrounded by suitcases right now. And duffel bags. And toiletry bags. And bedding. And egg crates. And sleeping bags. I'm not only packing up myself and the girls for a month (!!!) in Africa, but by the time we leave on June 18, I've also go to have them fully packed for … Continue reading Packing for Africa Adventures…and Camp Ramah!

We are six months out from Zara's bat mitzvah. We set the date years ago. We started talking about it years ago. We actually started planning it just a few months ago. But before we even selected the place, or the DJ, or the location, we started making the kippahs. We CrazyTravelers have now had … Continue reading CrazyTraveler to CrazyTraveler Kippah: Launching this blog