A Whole New World

Musing Mom commented after my last photo nearly a whole week ago (! Sorry about that!) wondering where my root canal was taking place and that it was giving her a whole different picture of Africa.

I traveled down to our old stomping grounds--Ndola. We loved Ndola because it was a small town that still had enough shops to keep you happy. It was originally built by the British for the miners but after the copper mines shut down it got quite run down--almost like a ghost town. Many towns in that area called the Copperbelt nearly emptied completely. Then the mines became very active again in 2006 and all the towns came to life and overflowed meaning that new buildings had to be put up to house everyone.

It is a different place since we moved out in 2006. There are several new restaurants, a new grocery store with another due to go up any time, entire new neighborhoods. It was a little slice of Heaven to be able to visit coffee shops and sit with friends chatting and sipping a cappuccino. Nearly every time I called a friend to see if they wanted to get together for a chat they asked if I had heard of a new coffee shop called Vanilla Bread. I went there four times and enjoyed every bit of it. I got to eat a steak wrap and it came with crispy french fries. Oh, Yum!

Of course the real reason I was there was less pleasant though. I've been putting off a root canal for nearly 3 years because it was going to mean me having to be away from the orphanage for 10 days. It took three treatments to complete the root canal but I still have to go back later for a crown. This will take two separate trips a month apart. I'm trying to feel bad but looking forward to visiting with friends in Ndola is exciting!

The dentist was really good and did a fair job I think. The pain was minimal. At one point as she was jabbing my nerves not long after the injection so I really wasn't numb yet I began to go into shock and she commented that I had a low threshold for pain. I nearly hit her, but otherwise it went fairly well. The second and third trips were much better because I was more aware of what was going on.

While we were at the dentist's I had them clean Troy's teeth as well. He was my traveling buddy for this trip.

Troy loved being in a 'big' city and especially enjoyed being able to see a friend he used to have playdates with when we lived here. He also made some new friends and had his first ever solo sleep over --2 nights in a row even. He really didn't want to come back home.

A highlight for Troy was getting to ride in an elevator. His first since we moved to Africa eight years ago! He was so excited and said that now all he needs to do is ride on an escalator and his life will be complete. Good to know! I know what I'm gonna try to get him for Christmas now!

Next time: I'll remind you that I do indeed still live in Africa.