6 months in Zambia: Riding rollarcoasters and loving the little things.

Thats right its been 6 months since I embarked on this tiny little adventure! 3mos in the village. I always say a lot has happened since I last wrote but mid July until now has been a rollarcoaster! In training they told us that the few weeks before IST(in service training) there would be a few "dips" in the rollarcoaster...understatement! So the week I was suppose to cook with my womens group I caught the flu. Yup flu in Africa, it lasted about 2weeks. The teachers at my school told me that I wasnt well and forced me to go home during classes. During this same time puppy Hendrix decided to eat, yes eat, my cell phone charger as well as pages from my journal. I was not a happy camper. Luckly the boma sells chargers. I also hurt my ankle during this time. Im clumsy and tripped twice in one day. It didnt seem like a big deal until my ankle was still hurting 3weeks later. While in Lusaka for IST medical made me get an x-ray and concluded that I tore ligaments and tendons in my ankle. I now have to wear a brace/bandage for 4-8 weeks. To top it all off in the grand scheme of it all I was dreading my trip to Lusaka. 2weeks away from the village and my dog and being blinded by the bright city lights, No thanks! But as a nice send off i had my 1st encounter(hopefully my last) with the black mamba. While walking to school I spotted a "hose" in the path. As I got closer, I noticed the "hose" was really a 6ft long black mamba. I told the kids to kill it and everyone came running. It was already dead the kids just left it there to see my reaction. Nice. But the good thing about being here(guess its really how you look at it) is that just as easily as something can change your day and make it seem bad, the tiniest things can turn it all around and make you realize its all about balance. Like sunsets that remind you to say "thank you", school visits where you are told you are a blessing and feed bush rabbit(my new fav meat). When bamayos come to your house to show you their culture and to invite you to be apart of it. When candy, crystal light and dance parties with local kids are kept afloat by the light of a full moon. When you show up to the post and every letter is for you... Its about taking the bad with the good and knowing that your reaction to it all is just as important as the situation it self. During the time of "the dip" I went to a zampop concert and had a really good time with friends in Lusaka so it wasnt all bad. And despite the fact that I still dont have funiture, apparently there are no more dips in the rollarcoaster untill APRIL! There are good days and bad days just like anything else but its the little things that make it worth it!

Are we together?

Thats the phrase teachers use to make sure pupils are paying attention! Its been a busy month since I last wrote. Ive started co-teaching and meeting with my girls club. Im also meeting with a women's nutriton club and they are too funny! Ive done some school observations, meet some awesome people who let me hitch for free, saw a snake, got a puppy which i named Hendrix and went on my 1st Zambian vacation. I went monitoring with the zonal head aka my head teacher and went to the farthest school in my district Muchelenje it 30k away. The school is a government school but looks like a community school. The school has US sponsors so they have the most materials in the zone but with 4 teachers (literally 4!) theres only so much you can do. When observing the 9th grade class, the deputy head(vice principal) asked me to encourage and motivate the class especially the girls. I didnt do much, my motivational speaking skills need work. I just asked them all to tell me what they wanted to be when the grew up(everything from driver to female pilot to male nurse) and i just explained to them that you need an education for those things. Im sure that was probably the 1st time anyone asked them that question and I hope the teachers remind them of those goals. 2days ago I went to the 2nd closert school (15k bike ride) to do observations. In the middle of my 8th grade English observation the teacher asked me if i had anything to add. I couldnt help myself...i got up and taught! Just a fill in the blank activity but it got more pupils participating which is why im here. Ive co taught 4 classes so far at my center school. I taught 2 civics and 2 english classes all grade 9. Im loving it so far! The kids have fun laughing at my handwriting and my accent (hince the are we together) but i feel like they are getting something. Ive had students ask me to teach english when the teacher is absent and beg me not to leave the class when the period is over. Great feeling. I co taught an unplanned (shhh!) english lesson with the head teacher. It was crazy how we filled in each others gaps and how quickly i thought on my feet. I impressed myself. The head is now a huge fan of co teaching! The girls in the club are opening up and are "being free" with me. Ive had puppy hendrix for a week. He is a feisty yet adorable pup. He eats nshima and kapenta like a true zambian. Saw a snake walking home yesterday. I think it was a boomslang but i didnt stay to find out. For 4th of july 5th of july (hero day) and 6th of july (unity day) i and 4 other volunteers went to kapesha hotsprings in my district. It was a good time with good people. Oh i almost forgot. My too much fun womens nutrition club is coming over monday to show me how to dance, cook, and how to keep my husband. Wonder if i can opt out of that last one for now :-). My phone is telling me im done typing! Sorry for my spelling and if any of this is a repeat. Love you all and hope you are well. Keep the letters coming they are good hut art!

One Month Down....23 to go!!!!

Muli Shani Bonse! I just wrote this blog once and it erased! Joys and curse of writing on a Computer I guess (beware of spelling and grammar mistakes anyway)! It has been a while since I have written, a lot has happened! I’ve been in the village for about a month now (4 months in Zambia) and I am getting “adjusted”. I am cooking all my meals on the Brazier (thank God for fire starters) and I only use my cook stove for reheating purposes. Cooking is my new favorite past time for several reasons. 1) It takes up so much time 2) Its cold season so being by the fire is nice 3) Its always an adventure to see how my food will come out. So far I’ve made: sweet and sour soya stir fry, spicy veggie lo mein noodles, goulash, spaghetti, “chicken” and rice, “French toast”, Mac and cheese and or course the staples of tuna, egg and oatmeal. I get chicken during my bi-weekly visits to the Boma or when the teachers feed me. They get a kick out of the fact that I like Nshima besides the fact of trying to make me “fat”. I fetch water and do laundry every week and I’m getting into a routine. My hut is becoming a home despite my lack of furniture. I’m going to the carpenter this week to make a deal. The only furniture I have in by house is my bed, a table and jerry cans that double as water carrying containers and chairs. My kitchen (insaka) is also still in the remodeling stages. Once I get a table, a spice rack an someone to put the chain on my door I will move all my food in there and it will be a proper kitchen. At least I’m no longer living out of a suitcase; except for on laundry day (we keep our laundry in our suitcase for 3days after drying to avoid bot flies). I get my water from a boar hole/mono pump and it’s relatively clean but I filter it nonetheless (there are still parasites in the water, unfortunately from experience). I have also developed the habit o f sweeping at least twice a day. Yes it gives me something to do but it is also very sandy in this area. I love my white house with the bright blue door! Although that blue door will become purple in due time. I’ve been had countless introductions with my community where I explain “I am a Black American from the United States Peace Corps and I am here to teach and work in the community for two years. I live in the village just like you and I have no money only knowledge and skills!” Of course I’m supposed to say this in Bemba which is fine until someone screams at me. It’s tricky because the kids want me to speak in English because they want to practice their English. All the adults want me to speak in Bemba 1) because they don’t know English; 2) they want me to be fluent in Bemba, 3) the get a kick out of my accent. Either way someone is always screaming at me. I understand Bemba I just can’t speak it very well. So when a Bamayo came over to visit the other day and told me I needed to sweep my yard in Bemba, she was shocked when I responded.
Since I am in Community Entry (CE) and techniqucally not suppose to work, I’ve just been having a lot of meetings with local leaders, the Community Development Officer and the Clinic staff. I am in the classroom 4 days a week and once a week I will be doing community work. All the projects that I want to do (HIV/AIDS counseling and testing (VCT) days, Child health and nutrition edu, HIV/AIDS awareness, working with women’s groups, local group registration, literacy and food security) will be working with these people. I’m sure they will get tired of me quick. Since I’m still in this integration/CE period I have not done much traveling to schools in my zone. I am a Zonal Volunteer meaning I will eventually work at all the 7 schools (5 governments and 2 community) in my zone in the next two years...in theory. I will work at the 3 closest schools the first year. They are 7k, 9k and 1k away. I am lucky because my Zonal Center School is in my front yard almost (1k) and the ZIC (Zonal In-service Coordinator) and Zonal Head are based there so I get to tag along on all their official zonal meetings/business. A few weeks ago I went to the GRACE mtg. This is where all the schools in the zonal talk about the possible challenges and solutions facing each grade. I will be doing monitoring with the ZIC and Zonal Head for the next 3 weeks which gives me a chance to go to the schools that are the farthest away (24 and 30k). I won’t be riding my bike to those schools just yet…maybe one day.
In addition to co-teaching Ill also be working with the after school clubs. I start my clubs this week! There is only so much I can do in a classroom (laws and such) but these clubs are a way for me to do something positive. I am “starting” an Art club to identify those kids with talent and interest in the arts. There is already a cultural dance, music, and drama club but I am not sure how well they are doing. If they are active then my “art” club will turn into a “sit and write with Ba/Madame Rae “club. Or maybe even a “help me make teacher/learning aids” club. I just want the kids to have an outlet. My “baby” is the girls club, the GLOW club. GLOW stands Girls Leading Our World. It is a club based off of a Camp that Peace Corps Zambia puts on. The camp is for girls grades 6 through 8. The Camp is to empower girls, give them a safe space to discuss any issues or problems they have, to show them they don’t have to feed into the roles that society gives them and to give them a break because they work so hard and do so much. My district (Mpika) is sponsoring the club in December. Each volunteer will bring 2 girls and one teacher to the camp. This is why I’m starting the club so early so I can send the right people in an attempt to find peer educators for the club once I am gone. Clubs started last week and I announced I was starting a club last Monday. I was in Kasama for PC business last Friday but found out today that there were girls looking for me on club day. Sounds Promising! I really want to be there for these girls. They are dealing with way more then I could even imagine at 15 (and in grade 7!). If you all want to help with the Camp, there will be a way for you to donate trough the Peace Corps website, and Ill add a link to blog. We have to submit the grant so Ill keep you posted. Also if anyone has any craft ideas throw them at me, I’m in charge of crafts for the district camp…imagine that.
My bike skills are improving and I blame it all on my Peace Corps neighbor Annie. LOVE HER! It’s so nice to be near someone who gets it. She lives about 2k from one of my schools, which is nice until she leaves me in Sept! good thing she’s getting replaced. It’s good to talk to someone who’s been here for two years and isn’t completely over it yet. She’s my dose of reality. We talk about what can and can’t work and the challenges that are inevitable. I’ve already discovered that some of my goals and ideas just wont work here be it due to law, culture, apathy, language barrier, ignorance or what have you and its better to realize that now. Within the last month I’ve realized that there are something’s that I have to get use to like COLD SEASON, iwe (kids) going through my trash, and random farm animals paying a visit (in fairness I like the random farm animals.) There are something’s I will never get use to like corporal punishment, gender disparity and people staring at me and not speaking even when I greet them in English, Bemba and sometimes Spanish(just to make sure). There will be more challenges then successes but that will just make me savior/cherish the successes that much more.
Things are going well. There are ups and downs, and good days and bad days just like anything else. With every bad day (or sick day) I remember that anything worth having is worth fighting for and that with each rough day comes an indescribable beauty in some way shape or form. My intake (PCV 2010 RED and LIFE) has a saying “TIA- This is Africa”. We always say this when life here does what it wants without talking to us first (good and bad). TIA this is Africa where the stars twinkle, the sunsets are purple and you find happiness/beauty in the simple things. TIA-This is Africa where iwe go through your trash, it takes 2 hours to make pasta, and there is a COLD season…COLD season in AFRICA! Really?! Finding humor in everything is another thing my intake does….
Sorry this was so long, but I figured I should write as much as I could seeing as I’m typing on a computer and not a phone (for the 2nd time today). Also sorry for my bad English! I’ve been using Zamlish and so I’m kind of stuck in broken English mode. Thank you soooooo much for all the letters, cards, packages, email, text messages, and phone calls. It’s so nice to keep in touch with people back home and to get updates from America Land! I LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!! Amapalo (blessings) elyo shalenipo (stay well).

Sorry no pictures of the house me and my flash drive are having issues :(

More pictures! Swear-in and beyond

Chisembe Falls In Kasama Northern Provience! My Provential Capital

New RED volunteers 2010!

My Swear-In Dress! Had it made out of Chitenge material here in Zambia!


My Bike and morning wait for the curiser buddy....Mallory!

America, Zambia Cimo-Cine! (It means that America and Zambia are One!)

Picture time

So! People wanted me to post some pictures but its a LOT harder then it sounds so this may be it for now but maybe in June (during proventials) I can upload more. Sorry Im actually not in a lot of these but this is a glimpse of what my life has been like so far...enjoy for now!

For the love of tuna

Ah! So im an official volunteer now! I got through training, my bemba test and the 1st 2months. I now know why everyone says "just get through training". After swearing in, we took the 11hr drive to kasama in northern district. There i met my "no pro" family and felt a sort of "rites of passage" as i am now apart of the northern provience team. We went to the fall which were beautiful and then prepared for posting. Ive been in my village for a week now and still adjusting but loving it. It takes me a while to cook and to fetch water but as they say i will get used. I live in a white 2room hut with a bright blue door. Im sure they didnt do that to make sure i dont get lost but i sure cant miss my house. My kitchen, bathing shelter and toliet are outside. Ive begun to decorate and it feels more like home. Ive already had a busy week filled with mtgs, laundry, bike rides and practicing the art of sitting. Almost everyday i just sit and talk(or listen or help cook or just sit) with people in my village. I enjoy it especially when i pick up the bemba. Cooking is a new challange. Since the brazier and I arent on good terms i bought a cook stove that uses green gel to run. It works wonders but i still have a new found love for canned tuna. Today i went to mpika boma and had a great day! Any day that hummus is involved its sure to be an awesome day. I got tons of veggies, things for the house and of course more tuna! I hitched into the boma which was surprisingly fun. I started off around 8am this morning and I walked about 30 mins before i got a ride in. Ill leave earlier next time. On the way home the 1st ride i got wanted me to pay 50,000k. Away mukwai! So i got out the car. After 45mins of walking a great hitch gave me a lift. I even had a mini HIV/AIDS lesson with them! Both hitches were free although i bought the 1st lift groundnuts to say natotela(thank you) and apprently im the 2nd lifts new 2nd wife! Staff mtg tomorrow and GRACE mtg on friday. But now sedimenipo mukwai! (good night)

Are you going to chongwe?

Ah! Muli shani mukwai. So much has happened in the last few weeks! A couple weeks ago after spending an amazing weekend in Lusaka(full of pizza,movies and sunday markets) i had my 1st mini bus experience. And oh was it an experience. We went to the bus loading station and asked "are you going to chongwe?" bad idea. Of course they were going to chongwe they wanted our money. So 9 of us get on a mini bus with the condition of: you get paid when we get to chongwe! Needless to say we never made it to chongwe in the mini bus. We did however get a great(free) hitch from lusaka to chongwe so the day ended well. While in lusaka I met a group of guys singing outside the mall. We started talking and ended up singing together! It was great we bonded over neyo and coldplay. I also had an interesting convo with this one guy about stereotypes/labels. He now knows that southerners arent dump and we dont all have strong accents. We also talked about black americans and all the ideas he had about black american. Lets just say we had a LONG talk about his preceptions of black americans. No my one 40min convo will not change all his myths and misconceptions but he now has seen and met something different. Its kind of sad because they get these ideas from american media and they are not all positive. But cultural exchange was made so thats a start. Had a snake in front of my hut. I also had my teacher evaluation where i taught a 5th grade science class(on the excretory system) alone. The kids thought i was crazy but we had fun! I am trusted to teach now. Also passed my bemba test. Now its the night before swear in. We had cultural day yesterday and cooked for our families and they gave us gifts. Bamayo gave me a broom, a nshima spoon and 3 bowls. In bemba culture every women is given a broom as a sign of coming of age. I gave my family gifts and they were so excited. This morning batata cried and i almost lost it. I will miss them alot. But im ready for the next step. Sorry this is so long but thats whats been going on. Big day tommrow!