So, a comment from AZ wants more about my job. Thought I gave a few examples of work related things but guess I should explain more about the Peace Corps program. PC Zambia has 9 weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST) before being officially sworn in as volunteers. Then we go to our sites and begin our 2 years of service with a 3 month community entry period. We’re supposed to get to know our area, our community and people there. Basically get to know people, let them get to know you, figure out how to live in rural Zambia and start trying to figure out how you’re going to work there, what kinds of things seem feasible and weeding out who’s actually interested in working with you from those who just want to be friends with the white girl. We’re not really expected to work much or start any projects, just get to know people and explain what it is we’re supposed to be doing. We’re also not really supposed to leave our villages during those 3 months, not supposed to leave our district except for 1 official provincial meeting, and no vacation or anything. The point is to try to integrate into the community, learn about the problems there, and about what the people’s needs and wants are, not just come in and start telling people what to do. So when I posted those last posts I had just finished that 3 month community entry period. I think I said but I was at In-Service Training (IST) also known as Reconnect because we get to reconnect with our training group that we haven’t seen for 3 months.
So now that I’ve been back at site for a few months I’m trying to get the ball rolling on some projects and trying to start planning things. But dealing with getting my house built is still eating more of my time than I would like. Not much happens quickly here-not house building, not arranging meetings, not starting or doing projects. And I think it would be a mistake to rush into a (big) project without planning. That’s one reason why I haven’t posted about my work-it’s just starting.
But things are moving.
I’ve taught short nutrition lessons at the Under 5 Clinics-baby weighing mostly but they/I “sensitize” the mothers on various health topics before the weighing starts. And sometimes the clinic staff comes (from 17km away) to do vaccinations and such.
So far I’ve been talking about trying to eat a balanced diet with all the food groups and how young children need to eat multiple times throughout the day. I hope to encourage gardening some through talking about nutrition, like that a way to have a variety of different foods for a balanced diet is to grow them, thereby also diversifying your crops. Then I also plan to talk about soybeans (referred to as soya here), about how nutritious they are, different things you can make from soya, and then encourage people to grow it so they have it for nutrition, to sell and to add in crop rotations for improving nitrogen in the soil.
I taught about and made a compost pile with the 8th and 9th grade agriculture science classes. When it’s finished rotting (and if we make more), we’ll be able to use it instead of fertilizer on the school garden, maize field and when we plant our tree seedlings in the field during rainy season.
Hopefully I’ll be starting a tree nursery with my school this week. We’ll plant some trees around the school boundary and for a windbreak. I’ll also plant a few of several different (leguminous) nitrogen fixing trees, at least to have examples of them to show people the different types and, hopefully, also show the benefit of soil improvement.
I’m helping the headmaster at my school come up with a basic business plan for the small shop he’s starting.
I hope to work with a few groups on beekeeping. It’s a good income generating activity because there’s a good market for both honey and wax, mostly just requires good management (though sometimes that’s easier said than done), and the few outside materials needed are fairly easily obtained from the forestry department or NGOs who also promote beekeeping and have expertise to offer. The forestry department will even come out to villages and purchase the unprocessed honey, avoiding the difficulty and cost of transport but not always giving beekeepers the best price.
So those are some examples of things I’m doing or hope to do. I’m still spending too much time trying to get my house finished (though it’s started now), so I’ll be glad when that’s finished.
Though they ran out of bricks and have to make more so who knows when it’ll be done. I’m fairly confident it’ll be done before rainy season though I’m afraid it’ll be down to the wire. I got frustrated with the whole process for a while, but I’m trying to go back to just being patient now.
Thanks for the packages everyone! It’s so nice to know people are thinking about me and sending me treats and useful things. You all (especially my mom) have been taking such good care of me with packages that really I get more excited about nice chatty or newsy letters than I do packages. Not that I’m asking you to stop sending packages, I just really love hearing from friends and family. I don’t always have enough cell phone battery or time in electricity to type emails, but if you write me a letter I’ll do my best to reply. That said, my request for granola bars is still standing. :)
Oh yeah, I went on vacation to Livingstone/Victoria Falls. I’ll just say that Vic Falls definitely deserves it’s place on the list of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. I’m also happy to report that Livingstone is a really nice place. That’s a bit of a relief to me since I anticipate going there quite a few times if all my potential visitors come and want me to accompany them to see Vic Falls. If you’ve looked up anything about Vic Falls maybe you’ve seen something or heard about Devil’s Pool. We walked out to swim in it. Don’t want to try to describe it, but it’s hands down the coolest thing I’ve ever done.
I have to say I really don’t like blogging, but I suppose my potential readers (=my parents) are in luck today as I’m sort of in the mood for it. I’m at the provincial house basically by myself enjoying electricity and a mental break from the village. But now I’ll try to do a little work to prepare for planting the school tree nursery.
Oh, the other thing I wanted to say is that if you’re looking for a way to support me, you can also support Peace Corps, my fellow volunteers and their communities by contributing to their projects. Volunteers and their communities can apply for a grant to be funded by you, our loving friends and families. I don’t have one myself as I’m still new, and don’t really plan on it, but it’s a possibility in the future if the community is motivated to do a worthwhile project. If you’re interested, check out the Peace Corps website and click on Donate to Volunteer Projects. You can look for projects in Zambia, or any that you think are worthwhile. My friends, Zambian and PCV, will thank you!
(I wanted to post pics but they won't upload. sorry sorry)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
A Bit of Daily Life in Mambilima
Again Wednesday August 11, 2010
I get up between 6:30-7:00. Eat breakfast (pb&j, toast, cereal, granola if I can get it, or oatmeal) with coffee, usually just put my tea kettle on my family’s fire to heat the water. Sometimes I do a few chores in the morning and then go to a meeting or work on something. Some days I do chores all day. Sweeping my dirt floor, sweeping my bath shelter and pit latrine, dishes, laundry, fetching water. I usually only cook if I’m home all day and not too busy. I cook lunch more than dinner. If I have bread I eat pb&j, maybe I make pasta or just have like a cup-a-soup and a boiled egg if I have eggs. Or if I’ve been to town and have vegetables sometimes I try stir fry or curry. Sometimes I cook for lunch and then just reheat for dinner, but usually I eat with my family for dinner. It’s just easier not to spend 2 hours cooking and then I get to chat with my host father which is usually great. With my host family I eat nshima usually with cooked leafy green vegetables like rape, Chinese cabbage, or pumpkin leaves, sometimes beans, soya pieces, mushrooms and occasionally chicken. My favorite is ifisashi: pumpkin leaves cooked with pounded groundnuts. It’s like a peanut sauce. So good. My family also helps me heat my bathwater which really helps out with time spent on chores. A hot bucket bath can actually be really nice. After dinner I either tidy up my house or try to get some productive reading, journaling or letter writing done. Then, time for bed around 9pm, sometimes 8:30, sometimes closer to 10pm.
(Sunday 8-15-2010 Ah, I was going to try and give more info about other things I do, but there’s too much going on in Lusaka right now. Too many people I love that I don’t see very often and too many things I want to do. Maybe later.)
I get up between 6:30-7:00. Eat breakfast (pb&j, toast, cereal, granola if I can get it, or oatmeal) with coffee, usually just put my tea kettle on my family’s fire to heat the water. Sometimes I do a few chores in the morning and then go to a meeting or work on something. Some days I do chores all day. Sweeping my dirt floor, sweeping my bath shelter and pit latrine, dishes, laundry, fetching water. I usually only cook if I’m home all day and not too busy. I cook lunch more than dinner. If I have bread I eat pb&j, maybe I make pasta or just have like a cup-a-soup and a boiled egg if I have eggs. Or if I’ve been to town and have vegetables sometimes I try stir fry or curry. Sometimes I cook for lunch and then just reheat for dinner, but usually I eat with my family for dinner. It’s just easier not to spend 2 hours cooking and then I get to chat with my host father which is usually great. With my host family I eat nshima usually with cooked leafy green vegetables like rape, Chinese cabbage, or pumpkin leaves, sometimes beans, soya pieces, mushrooms and occasionally chicken. My favorite is ifisashi: pumpkin leaves cooked with pounded groundnuts. It’s like a peanut sauce. So good. My family also helps me heat my bathwater which really helps out with time spent on chores. A hot bucket bath can actually be really nice. After dinner I either tidy up my house or try to get some productive reading, journaling or letter writing done. Then, time for bed around 9pm, sometimes 8:30, sometimes closer to 10pm.
(Sunday 8-15-2010 Ah, I was going to try and give more info about other things I do, but there’s too much going on in Lusaka right now. Too many people I love that I don’t see very often and too many things I want to do. Maybe later.)
Bits of info
7-31-10
Still have laptop battery, so I’ll type another story or 2.
(Still ignoring that my parents blog about me exists. So I don’t know what you may or may not have read about me there. Still think it’s a little creepy)
So July 29th was my 3 months in the village. Crazy. It has FLOWN by. I finally got 2 pieces of my furniture this week, a bookshelf and a food prep table-no such thing as kitchen counters in huts. Took 3 months but the table is fabulous. Never thought I’d be so happy to have a table. LOVE it. I cook sometimes but not much. Partly because I had to take outside, where I’m borrowing a small table from my family and where there’s fire, everything I wanted to use. Me cooking also = the musungu show. (what’s the white girl have today??) Ah, there a lots of other reasons why I don’t cook, too. Working on that. Pretty pumped to get my dining table too, hopefully this coming week. Also in love with my bookshelf. Now, if my house would just get built. My temporary house is fine, but I’m really excited to have a cement floor, and one which is remotely level. Hopefully by the time I get internet to post this, I’ll have a report on some construction progress. Supposed to happen next week. Now, all I have are some bricks, not even enough for the house. And they have to knock down another small house first, where mine will go. There’s some drama there because it’s currently housing 4 boys who have come here for school, grades 8 & 9, because they don‘t have teachers or something where they‘re from. I’m staying out of that one. I didn’t decided where the house would go or make the plan to keep boys there and then kick them out. I just came here to be a volunteer and hang out in Africa. Not cause drama.
Still have laptop battery, so I’ll type another story or 2.
(Still ignoring that my parents blog about me exists. So I don’t know what you may or may not have read about me there. Still think it’s a little creepy)
So July 29th was my 3 months in the village. Crazy. It has FLOWN by. I finally got 2 pieces of my furniture this week, a bookshelf and a food prep table-no such thing as kitchen counters in huts. Took 3 months but the table is fabulous. Never thought I’d be so happy to have a table. LOVE it. I cook sometimes but not much. Partly because I had to take outside, where I’m borrowing a small table from my family and where there’s fire, everything I wanted to use. Me cooking also = the musungu show. (what’s the white girl have today??) Ah, there a lots of other reasons why I don’t cook, too. Working on that. Pretty pumped to get my dining table too, hopefully this coming week. Also in love with my bookshelf. Now, if my house would just get built. My temporary house is fine, but I’m really excited to have a cement floor, and one which is remotely level. Hopefully by the time I get internet to post this, I’ll have a report on some construction progress. Supposed to happen next week. Now, all I have are some bricks, not even enough for the house. And they have to knock down another small house first, where mine will go. There’s some drama there because it’s currently housing 4 boys who have come here for school, grades 8 & 9, because they don‘t have teachers or something where they‘re from. I’m staying out of that one. I didn’t decided where the house would go or make the plan to keep boys there and then kick them out. I just came here to be a volunteer and hang out in Africa. Not cause drama.
(my temporary house below)
I think I’m the only volunteer waiting on a house to be built. Good thing it’s me and not some others. I’m really patient about it, perhaps too much so, in that I didn’t push for it’s construction early enough. My temporary house is round, a former kitchen/store house. Maybe I don’t mind staying in it because I can’t help but laugh every time my batata (host father) tells me I’m staying in his chicken. Never occurred to me that it might be easy to mix up the words chicken and kitchen, but say them, they‘re close.
People seem to want to know what my daily life looks like, a typical day. Don’t think there’s such a thing as a typical day, not yet anyway. I’ll just try to describe a few things. I get water for washing and bathing from a small stream nearby, but have to carry it uphill back to the house. My batata grows sugar cane, which all Zambians LOVE to eat, especially school kids. Batata tries to sell it but they don’t have money so they come a fetch water and do other chores for him and get paid in sugarcane. So lots of days I don’t have to fetch water, which is nice. Drinking water comes from a pump/bore hole at the school. Too far to carry all the water I need for bathing and laundry. Drinking water gets chlorine then filtered. Chlorine is prob not necessary since it’s from the bore hole and gets filtered and now that I’ve been here a while. But I have so many stomach issues I do it just in case. The chlorine is Clorin, special for drinking water, I think subsidized by USAID, but not for sure.
Ok laptop battery is dying, more next week when I get to electricity!
The Rat Saga
Written Saturday July 31, 2010
Got my laptop out in my hut. Crazy. Decided I’m going to use it until the battery dies, so it’s blog post typing time. It’s been 3 months since I’ve been on a computer. My fingers don’t quite remember what to do.
I’m sitting here with my brand new kitty in my lap. She’s teeny, 7 weeks old and ridiculously adorable. Her name is still tentative so that will be to follow sometime. I’m really excited to have a new kitty companion, and we love each other already. I’ve been awaiting her arrival since day 1 in my hut so she can scare away my rats. i HATE rats. Nshatemwa sana koswe. Nalitemwa sana pushi. I really like cats.
So, perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve never lived with rats before. Maybe this says something about my life that previously my only rat reference was Templeton from Charlotte’s Web. Now, I have several rat stories:
First night in village, they ate a hole in the side of my watermelon. No big deal, just cut that part off and eat the rest.
Rats make A LOT of noise.
Rats like to use mosquito nets to climb up and down from the roof to the floor. Less than enjoyable when one is sleeping under such a mosquito net.
First trip out of the village (week 2) was largely prompted by my desire to purchase rat poison, and get my packages from the post office of course.
If a rat only eats some poison, and not a lot, then it doesn’t die until it climbs somewhere in my roof. Can’t find those until they start smelling. Awesome. Result #1: Maggots in my house, including one, quite mysteriously as I always keep my mosquito net tucked under the mattress, in my bed. Result #2: Dead rat juice (blood?) dripping from the dead rat in my roof onto the corner of my bed. Wasn’t planning on doing laundry that day. FYI-washing a mosquito net with lots of soap because you’re freaked out about dead rat blood leads to the African bush version of the overflowing suds in the washing machine because the kids put too much soap, a la Brady Bunch. Mosquito net=excellent bubble maker. (One rat did die outside on the ground. Praise Jesus.)
Rats really like groundnuts (peanuts to you in Americaland). The Chief gave me a huge bag of groundnuts when I went to meet him. Sweet, but I couldn’t exactly fit all those in my food buckets. My attempts at keeping the rats from eating them failed miserably. I’ll add a pic if I get a chance. I got real tired of sweeping up groundnuts shells and rat poop. As I was sweeping or listening to the rats crunch groundnut shells, I would think about how they were getting fat and happy on my groundnuts. This inevitably made me sing to myself Templeton’s song about how the fair is a smorgasbord.
So I was left with quite a clever rat. Wouldn’t eat poison groundnuts. Got my tomato one night and ate a big chunk out of it. So I said, ok rat, you eat my tomato, you’re gonna eat poison tomato. Put a bunch of poison on the spot it had eaten. Nope, the rat moved the tomato, turned it over, and ate the other, non-poisoned side.
Got my laptop out in my hut. Crazy. Decided I’m going to use it until the battery dies, so it’s blog post typing time. It’s been 3 months since I’ve been on a computer. My fingers don’t quite remember what to do.
I’m sitting here with my brand new kitty in my lap. She’s teeny, 7 weeks old and ridiculously adorable. Her name is still tentative so that will be to follow sometime. I’m really excited to have a new kitty companion, and we love each other already. I’ve been awaiting her arrival since day 1 in my hut so she can scare away my rats. i HATE rats. Nshatemwa sana koswe. Nalitemwa sana pushi. I really like cats.
So, perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve never lived with rats before. Maybe this says something about my life that previously my only rat reference was Templeton from Charlotte’s Web. Now, I have several rat stories:
First night in village, they ate a hole in the side of my watermelon. No big deal, just cut that part off and eat the rest.
Rats make A LOT of noise.
Rats like to use mosquito nets to climb up and down from the roof to the floor. Less than enjoyable when one is sleeping under such a mosquito net.
First trip out of the village (week 2) was largely prompted by my desire to purchase rat poison, and get my packages from the post office of course.
If a rat only eats some poison, and not a lot, then it doesn’t die until it climbs somewhere in my roof. Can’t find those until they start smelling. Awesome. Result #1: Maggots in my house, including one, quite mysteriously as I always keep my mosquito net tucked under the mattress, in my bed. Result #2: Dead rat juice (blood?) dripping from the dead rat in my roof onto the corner of my bed. Wasn’t planning on doing laundry that day. FYI-washing a mosquito net with lots of soap because you’re freaked out about dead rat blood leads to the African bush version of the overflowing suds in the washing machine because the kids put too much soap, a la Brady Bunch. Mosquito net=excellent bubble maker. (One rat did die outside on the ground. Praise Jesus.)
Rats really like groundnuts (peanuts to you in Americaland). The Chief gave me a huge bag of groundnuts when I went to meet him. Sweet, but I couldn’t exactly fit all those in my food buckets. My attempts at keeping the rats from eating them failed miserably. I’ll add a pic if I get a chance. I got real tired of sweeping up groundnuts shells and rat poop. As I was sweeping or listening to the rats crunch groundnut shells, I would think about how they were getting fat and happy on my groundnuts. This inevitably made me sing to myself Templeton’s song about how the fair is a smorgasbord.
So I was left with quite a clever rat. Wouldn’t eat poison groundnuts. Got my tomato one night and ate a big chunk out of it. So I said, ok rat, you eat my tomato, you’re gonna eat poison tomato. Put a bunch of poison on the spot it had eaten. Nope, the rat moved the tomato, turned it over, and ate the other, non-poisoned side.
A few days later, I had a rather flexible carrot that I decided wouldn’t be good to eat which I forgot about and left on the floor. Next morning of course found that the rat had gotten it, buy my rat is picky. Didn’t just eat the carrot, peeled it first. When possible, there’s a picture to prove it.
Cross your fingers, now that I have my akapushi (baby cat), I’m done with rats.
alive and lovin' it
May 26, 2010
Ah, sorry about the silence.
I haven’t really had time on an actual computer since I got back form SA. Well, ok, I could’ve made time and spent the money, but there was just too much going on. I think I said this already, but I’ve really enjoyed just being in the moment since I’ve been here. Haven’t been thinking about what I want to say to the masses. I think some volunteers are blogging on their phones but I haven’t felt into that yet. Also now that I’ve waited so long, figured I’d write a long post. Maybe later I’ll post more often via phone. I can check email really easily so I’ll respond, eventually, if you email. Right now I’m typing this on my ipod in my hut. My hope is that I’ll be able to get it on my laptop and then the internet. So if you’re reading this then great! That means it’s not still trapped on my ipod.
Geez there are so many stories now. Where to start? First of all, I love it here. Loving every minute. Well, pretty close anyway. And the 30 mins or so here and there that are stressful, uncomfortable or crazy usually make really good stories later. And there are so many great things, it takes no time to remember and bounce back. J Hmm, I’ll save those crazy stories for later and only tell about how happy I am. And this won’t really tell much about what I’m actually doing or what it’s like here. But maybe in another post. Or if you’re reading my dad’s blog maybe you’re getting that. (I’m not reading it myself).
There are so many things everyday that confirm that I am absolutely supposed to be right here, right no, in THIS village in Zambia, at this time in my life. God put me right here. Still don’t know what the heck I’ll do after, but I feel like I was made for this. I just fit. I know it’s all still new and exciting and I’ll probably have frustrating times, but I’m really pumped for the next 2 years.
Ok, I’ll try to list some examples of why I love it:
I love alone time. I love time to think and process everything. I’m journaling more regularly that I ever have before.
I never get bored. Maybe it’s just my personality. There’s always so many things I could be doing: Reading ag stuff for working, making a dent in my general reading list, journaling, writing letters, attempting to cook, walking to the cell network spot to check email/text, sweeping my dirt floor, laundry in buckets, hauling water, studying language, talking to people about America or anything, actually working on my PC paperwork, designing chitenge clothes in my head while sitting with people taking when I can’t understand, just sitting…see what I mean.
I love the weather. It’s sunny and beautiful everyday now that it’s dry season and it’s not too cold for me at night, not yet anyway. I love the clouds, the sunset behind the trees, twilight, and the full moon.
My village is perfect for me. They’re really excited to learn so many things, most of which I actually know about. It’s really good that they’re so gung-ho because I’m maybe a little too content to just sit and read books. They really motivate me to work for them. So many people want to know me and be my friends that someone comes to see me or takes me to do something everyday.
My village/host family take really good care of me. Maybe the secret to my happiness is that I’m spoiled… They heat my bath water. I eat dinner with them so I hardly cook. (hey, I will, I’m just taking it slow) My pit latrine is built up like a toilet instead of just a hole. That’s actually the key to my happiness. Squatting kills my knees. (sorry if that doesn’t make sense. Pictures someday.)
It’s beautiful here. Hills, trees, little rivers, a small waterfall which supposedly has monkeys, wildflowers, I already said clouds, and super cute kids everywhere I turn.
My fellow PCV friends are so so great. I seem to do well in groups where no one knows anyone when we start and we’re instant friends because we’re thrown together. (study abroad, internships, even sorority) and people who decide to join the peace corps are generally pretty awesome. :)
I love to dance. So do Zambians. And my PCV friends.
I really enjoy Zam-pop.
I like Obama. (so do Zambians. A future post someday on the plethora of Obama merchandise)
I’m a Christian. So are 90% of Zambians/100% of Zambians I’ve met so far. Most Peace Corps Volunteers are not. Zambians frequently ask what church you go to or if you are a Christian. I get to enjoy at least a little bond and understanding there, while many other people are always having to explain why they don’t go to church/pray. (Sorry future volunteer that will replace me if you don’t want to go to church. I’ll try to explain before I leave and you come.)
I’m a Christian. I’m trusting, thanking and praising God all the time here.
I’m here for the whole experience, I don’t have a narrow agenda that might not get fulfilled. I love just getting to live in rural Africa. Visiting me would be my dream trip. Guess that means I’m living the dream. :)
(Aug. 6, 2010:
Glad I typed that when I did. It’s all still true but there were lots of days I wouldn‘t gave written the same post. Had to retype it, from the ipod, but didn’t change it, to preserve how I felt then.)
Ah, sorry about the silence.
I haven’t really had time on an actual computer since I got back form SA. Well, ok, I could’ve made time and spent the money, but there was just too much going on. I think I said this already, but I’ve really enjoyed just being in the moment since I’ve been here. Haven’t been thinking about what I want to say to the masses. I think some volunteers are blogging on their phones but I haven’t felt into that yet. Also now that I’ve waited so long, figured I’d write a long post. Maybe later I’ll post more often via phone. I can check email really easily so I’ll respond, eventually, if you email. Right now I’m typing this on my ipod in my hut. My hope is that I’ll be able to get it on my laptop and then the internet. So if you’re reading this then great! That means it’s not still trapped on my ipod.
Geez there are so many stories now. Where to start? First of all, I love it here. Loving every minute. Well, pretty close anyway. And the 30 mins or so here and there that are stressful, uncomfortable or crazy usually make really good stories later. And there are so many great things, it takes no time to remember and bounce back. J Hmm, I’ll save those crazy stories for later and only tell about how happy I am. And this won’t really tell much about what I’m actually doing or what it’s like here. But maybe in another post. Or if you’re reading my dad’s blog maybe you’re getting that. (I’m not reading it myself).
There are so many things everyday that confirm that I am absolutely supposed to be right here, right no, in THIS village in Zambia, at this time in my life. God put me right here. Still don’t know what the heck I’ll do after, but I feel like I was made for this. I just fit. I know it’s all still new and exciting and I’ll probably have frustrating times, but I’m really pumped for the next 2 years.
Ok, I’ll try to list some examples of why I love it:
I love alone time. I love time to think and process everything. I’m journaling more regularly that I ever have before.
I never get bored. Maybe it’s just my personality. There’s always so many things I could be doing: Reading ag stuff for working, making a dent in my general reading list, journaling, writing letters, attempting to cook, walking to the cell network spot to check email/text, sweeping my dirt floor, laundry in buckets, hauling water, studying language, talking to people about America or anything, actually working on my PC paperwork, designing chitenge clothes in my head while sitting with people taking when I can’t understand, just sitting…see what I mean.
I love the weather. It’s sunny and beautiful everyday now that it’s dry season and it’s not too cold for me at night, not yet anyway. I love the clouds, the sunset behind the trees, twilight, and the full moon.
My village is perfect for me. They’re really excited to learn so many things, most of which I actually know about. It’s really good that they’re so gung-ho because I’m maybe a little too content to just sit and read books. They really motivate me to work for them. So many people want to know me and be my friends that someone comes to see me or takes me to do something everyday.
My village/host family take really good care of me. Maybe the secret to my happiness is that I’m spoiled… They heat my bath water. I eat dinner with them so I hardly cook. (hey, I will, I’m just taking it slow) My pit latrine is built up like a toilet instead of just a hole. That’s actually the key to my happiness. Squatting kills my knees. (sorry if that doesn’t make sense. Pictures someday.)
It’s beautiful here. Hills, trees, little rivers, a small waterfall which supposedly has monkeys, wildflowers, I already said clouds, and super cute kids everywhere I turn.
My fellow PCV friends are so so great. I seem to do well in groups where no one knows anyone when we start and we’re instant friends because we’re thrown together. (study abroad, internships, even sorority) and people who decide to join the peace corps are generally pretty awesome. :)
I love to dance. So do Zambians. And my PCV friends.
I really enjoy Zam-pop.
I like Obama. (so do Zambians. A future post someday on the plethora of Obama merchandise)
I’m a Christian. So are 90% of Zambians/100% of Zambians I’ve met so far. Most Peace Corps Volunteers are not. Zambians frequently ask what church you go to or if you are a Christian. I get to enjoy at least a little bond and understanding there, while many other people are always having to explain why they don’t go to church/pray. (Sorry future volunteer that will replace me if you don’t want to go to church. I’ll try to explain before I leave and you come.)
I’m a Christian. I’m trusting, thanking and praising God all the time here.
I’m here for the whole experience, I don’t have a narrow agenda that might not get fulfilled. I love just getting to live in rural Africa. Visiting me would be my dream trip. Guess that means I’m living the dream. :)
(Aug. 6, 2010:
Glad I typed that when I did. It’s all still true but there were lots of days I wouldn‘t gave written the same post. Had to retype it, from the ipod, but didn’t change it, to preserve how I felt then.)
Friday, March 19, 2010
One more post while I have internet
The Office on my iPod makes me so happy. If anyone at the guest house can hear me laughing, they're probably creeped out because my room is otherwise silent.
It's hard to write about Zambia after 12 days in this nice part of Pretoria, basically = America. So, I decided I'd just try to remember things I thought were worth sharing.
The super sweet nurse in Zambia (who was taking care of me the Thursday I was in the clinic there, waiting to fly to SA on Friday) told me I had a beautiful abdomen when she was cleaning me up from the ultrasound. She seemed really disappointed that it would soon be blemished by an appendectomy scar.
Zambians used "corrupted" English words a lot, mostly for things that there wasn't a word for in the local language, also for telling time. They use a 24 hr clock, military time, so I get home from training at seventeen thirty or eighteen hours. Often things get Bembalized. (Bemba is the language I'm learning. Not sure, but I think it's probably similar in the other languages, too.) For example: spoon=supuni, clinic=kiliniki, wheelbarrow=wilubala, cabbage=kabeji. It seems that no one uses numbers past 3 in local languages. I tried to practice counting in Bemba with the little girls in my host family, 5 and 9 yrs old. They started counting with me in Bemba but... "chimo, fibili, fitatu, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten"
People also sometimes have strange names, seems like their parents just picked English words that sounded cool. My host uncle is named Try Well, my language instructor is named Golden, another is named Rave. Now, I just heard these from another volunteer, but there are kids named: Talktime, Computer, Suitcase, and my fave, Made In Usa (pronounced made in oosa).
Also, people tend to mix up L and R sounds, so strange for us english speakers who think that L and R sound completely different. I think it's because they don't seem to have a hard R sound, it's more of a rolled R, which I guess can kind of sound like L. "Kerry, Kelly, what's the difference?" they say to my fellow trainee friend, Kerry. But Blair? Yeah, right, try pronouncing that one if you don't distinguish between L and R. Needless to say, no one can pronounce my name. Sometimes it comes out Blah, but I think my host mom has settled into something like Bryah. I'm looking forward to being given a Bemba name.
Oh, when I was in the clinic in Lusaka, I watched Zambian tv, which from the little I've seen, not so great. All the commercials are like bad local ones in the US. The most crazy show I saw was called Ready for Marriage. This tv personality guy interviewed several young women about themselves, I think advertising themselves as "ready for marriage" but I'm not exactly sure. He was asking very probing moral questions and all the women seemed very shy and uncomfortable. One woman had a child as the result of being raped and the host was like, aren't you lying about that? People sent text messages in about another girl who was shy and quiet on tv, but they said she was really loud and cheeky in real life. They were outting her for presenting herself falsely on tv. I also watched American music videos but I'd never seen or heard of any of them.
I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon on Friday and we were running late because of bad traffic. My South African Peace Corps driver says, don't worry, we will not be late. I thought, ok, but how's he going to do that? Silly me, he just put on his flashers and treated red lights like rolling stop signs.
I'm going back to Zambia tomorrow! I leave the guest house at 6am, fly out of JoBurg at 10:30am and get into Lusaka at 12:30. Not sure what happens after that, but I think I'll first go to the PC office, then see what they say. I'll probably be pretty busy after I get back, catching up with training and such. I'm excited to be going back; though it's been nice and relaxing here, it's been tough to make myself study Bemba on my own. I can't exactly make up farm visit field trips, and I miss my training group.
And I'm still really excited about being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia. (but I have enjoyed 2 weeks of pizza and ice cream :)
It's hard to write about Zambia after 12 days in this nice part of Pretoria, basically = America. So, I decided I'd just try to remember things I thought were worth sharing.
The super sweet nurse in Zambia (who was taking care of me the Thursday I was in the clinic there, waiting to fly to SA on Friday) told me I had a beautiful abdomen when she was cleaning me up from the ultrasound. She seemed really disappointed that it would soon be blemished by an appendectomy scar.
Zambians used "corrupted" English words a lot, mostly for things that there wasn't a word for in the local language, also for telling time. They use a 24 hr clock, military time, so I get home from training at seventeen thirty or eighteen hours. Often things get Bembalized. (Bemba is the language I'm learning. Not sure, but I think it's probably similar in the other languages, too.) For example: spoon=supuni, clinic=kiliniki, wheelbarrow=wilubala, cabbage=kabeji. It seems that no one uses numbers past 3 in local languages. I tried to practice counting in Bemba with the little girls in my host family, 5 and 9 yrs old. They started counting with me in Bemba but... "chimo, fibili, fitatu, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten"
People also sometimes have strange names, seems like their parents just picked English words that sounded cool. My host uncle is named Try Well, my language instructor is named Golden, another is named Rave. Now, I just heard these from another volunteer, but there are kids named: Talktime, Computer, Suitcase, and my fave, Made In Usa (pronounced made in oosa).
Also, people tend to mix up L and R sounds, so strange for us english speakers who think that L and R sound completely different. I think it's because they don't seem to have a hard R sound, it's more of a rolled R, which I guess can kind of sound like L. "Kerry, Kelly, what's the difference?" they say to my fellow trainee friend, Kerry. But Blair? Yeah, right, try pronouncing that one if you don't distinguish between L and R. Needless to say, no one can pronounce my name. Sometimes it comes out Blah, but I think my host mom has settled into something like Bryah. I'm looking forward to being given a Bemba name.
Oh, when I was in the clinic in Lusaka, I watched Zambian tv, which from the little I've seen, not so great. All the commercials are like bad local ones in the US. The most crazy show I saw was called Ready for Marriage. This tv personality guy interviewed several young women about themselves, I think advertising themselves as "ready for marriage" but I'm not exactly sure. He was asking very probing moral questions and all the women seemed very shy and uncomfortable. One woman had a child as the result of being raped and the host was like, aren't you lying about that? People sent text messages in about another girl who was shy and quiet on tv, but they said she was really loud and cheeky in real life. They were outting her for presenting herself falsely on tv. I also watched American music videos but I'd never seen or heard of any of them.
I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon on Friday and we were running late because of bad traffic. My South African Peace Corps driver says, don't worry, we will not be late. I thought, ok, but how's he going to do that? Silly me, he just put on his flashers and treated red lights like rolling stop signs.
I'm going back to Zambia tomorrow! I leave the guest house at 6am, fly out of JoBurg at 10:30am and get into Lusaka at 12:30. Not sure what happens after that, but I think I'll first go to the PC office, then see what they say. I'll probably be pretty busy after I get back, catching up with training and such. I'm excited to be going back; though it's been nice and relaxing here, it's been tough to make myself study Bemba on my own. I can't exactly make up farm visit field trips, and I miss my training group.
And I'm still really excited about being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia. (but I have enjoyed 2 weeks of pizza and ice cream :)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
1st post from Africa--not what I thought it'd be
Well, well, well. Guess I'll break the silence. So, if you've been facebook stalking me or reading my dad's ridiculous blog of my every move, you'll know that I'm in South Africa right now recovering from my appendectomy. Only 3 weeks in Zambia, and now I'm back in luxury before I even missed it. I don't really know where to go with this blog because I don't want to duplicate info or post every detail, but I also feel like I need correct my parents misinterpretations of things. Maybe I'll just comment on their blog to correct the grevious errors. Ah, I suppose I'm being dramatic. I just don't think anyone would be interested in what I had to eat at the hospital, and it's pretty hard to condense even a day of jam-packed new experiences into a phone call or a blog post. So if you're reading my parents stuff, just keep in mind the filtering process it goes through. And that I didn't think my emails would be copied directly onto the blog. Oops, there I go again, contridicting myself, irritated because the info is filtered and irritated when it's direct. I guess the deal is that right now, I just want to be in Africa: living, learning, experiencing, taking it all in. I'd almost rather be completely disconnected than worrying about trying to report everything, in a clever and interesting way, of course. At the same time, I'd still love to hear from you. I'm much better with replying to individual emails or having phone calls. I guess I like the personal, one-to-one connection rather than this mass broadcast thing. Ah, I should stop whining; let's just say I have no desire to be famous. (Yet at the same time, I'm awfully wordy so when I do post you should have plenty to read, if you're actually interested. Also, I like run-on sentences, fragments, too.)
Oh, so that whole surgery thing: Had the appendix out Friday night, was in pain Saturday morning, then sleepy and dizzy from pain meds Saturday afternoon. Everyone at the hospital kept speaking Afrikaans to me, presumably because I'm white, but once I figured out why I couldn't understand them, I just started telling them I only speak English. One of the nurses (black South African) told me she liked my tone of voice when I speak English. The other nurse (also black South African), was basically like, that's because she's not Afrikaaner. I realized this week that I don't know very much about SA. So now that's added to my list of things to learn about when I have free time in my village after training.
Much better on Sunday but still really sore in my abdomen from surg. My surgeon (who is very nice) drove me from the hospital to the guest house around noon. He lives near it and it was faster/easier than trying to get a PC vehicle on Sunday. The area of Pretoria around the guest house (Brooklyn) is very nice, like America but with big walls with electric fences at the top around every house/compound. There are multiple malls within walking distance, and it's near the university. I walked to the mall (5 blocks away) on monday with 2 other PCVs who are here, to see where it was and get groceries. Probably a bad idea as I was still really sore and crashed for 2 hours after. Yesterday's trip to the mall was much better. Had a frappacino and saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D. The mall is big and very nice. So I'm having a very relaxing time, but pre-service training (PST) is a pretty lousy time to be gone for almost 2 weeks. (just talked to the PC doc and it looks like the earliest I'll fly out is Tuesday)
PST is jam packed. 4 hours of language training every morning M-W, F and some on Sat. Technical (ag/forestry) training in the afternoon. Thursdays we all get together (environment + education trainees) all day for cross cultural and medical training. But free time is training time, too. While my bamaayo is cooking dinner, sometimes I'll sit with my language notebook and ask her my homework questions or go over what we did that day with my host brother or just ask the Bemba words for things. And since we have so much to cover in only 8 weeks there's always something I could be studying, mostly language. But now with internet on my phone, email and facebook are pretty tempting, and I haven't exactly been writing many letters. My stomach has been upset for a good chunk of my free time so that makes me just want to lay down instead of studying or chatting with my host family. And of course I want to hang out with all my fellow trainee friends (the education trainees just found out their villages yesterday!). So despite the relaxing luxury of recovery here in Pretoria, I want to get back to Zambia ASAP. I know I'll catch up once I do get back, but it's pretty tough to make myself study this language on my own--removed from intense training everyday, a teacher and people to practice with. 3 weeks without running water and electricity was not enough to make me ready for a vacay; I think it's just interrupting my culture shock process. But maybe it'll make my enthusiasm last longer than everyone else. I'm still pumped about being in Africa and definitely happy to be here. I can't wait to get back to my Zambian adventure, but I guess I do have a crazy story about the time I had my appendix out in South Africa.
(maybe I'll try to post more later about Zambia during my time here with internet)
Oh, so that whole surgery thing: Had the appendix out Friday night, was in pain Saturday morning, then sleepy and dizzy from pain meds Saturday afternoon. Everyone at the hospital kept speaking Afrikaans to me, presumably because I'm white, but once I figured out why I couldn't understand them, I just started telling them I only speak English. One of the nurses (black South African) told me she liked my tone of voice when I speak English. The other nurse (also black South African), was basically like, that's because she's not Afrikaaner. I realized this week that I don't know very much about SA. So now that's added to my list of things to learn about when I have free time in my village after training.
Much better on Sunday but still really sore in my abdomen from surg. My surgeon (who is very nice) drove me from the hospital to the guest house around noon. He lives near it and it was faster/easier than trying to get a PC vehicle on Sunday. The area of Pretoria around the guest house (Brooklyn) is very nice, like America but with big walls with electric fences at the top around every house/compound. There are multiple malls within walking distance, and it's near the university. I walked to the mall (5 blocks away) on monday with 2 other PCVs who are here, to see where it was and get groceries. Probably a bad idea as I was still really sore and crashed for 2 hours after. Yesterday's trip to the mall was much better. Had a frappacino and saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D. The mall is big and very nice. So I'm having a very relaxing time, but pre-service training (PST) is a pretty lousy time to be gone for almost 2 weeks. (just talked to the PC doc and it looks like the earliest I'll fly out is Tuesday)
PST is jam packed. 4 hours of language training every morning M-W, F and some on Sat. Technical (ag/forestry) training in the afternoon. Thursdays we all get together (environment + education trainees) all day for cross cultural and medical training. But free time is training time, too. While my bamaayo is cooking dinner, sometimes I'll sit with my language notebook and ask her my homework questions or go over what we did that day with my host brother or just ask the Bemba words for things. And since we have so much to cover in only 8 weeks there's always something I could be studying, mostly language. But now with internet on my phone, email and facebook are pretty tempting, and I haven't exactly been writing many letters. My stomach has been upset for a good chunk of my free time so that makes me just want to lay down instead of studying or chatting with my host family. And of course I want to hang out with all my fellow trainee friends (the education trainees just found out their villages yesterday!). So despite the relaxing luxury of recovery here in Pretoria, I want to get back to Zambia ASAP. I know I'll catch up once I do get back, but it's pretty tough to make myself study this language on my own--removed from intense training everyday, a teacher and people to practice with. 3 weeks without running water and electricity was not enough to make me ready for a vacay; I think it's just interrupting my culture shock process. But maybe it'll make my enthusiasm last longer than everyone else. I'm still pumped about being in Africa and definitely happy to be here. I can't wait to get back to my Zambian adventure, but I guess I do have a crazy story about the time I had my appendix out in South Africa.
(maybe I'll try to post more later about Zambia during my time here with internet)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Love from Philly
Since I got to Philly early (PC registration was at 6pm), and hadn't met anyone yet or eaten all day and didn't want to walk outside in the snow, I treated myself to a lovely dinner at the hotel restaurant. I enjoyed the last alone time I likely have for a while and got some journaling done. And I wasn't quite up for being in make new friends mode yet. But food and an exicted group of 50 future PCVs got me pumped up. We just did some paperwork last night, and then I found a few new friends to go out with for a while. That got me really excited to meet all these cool new people. We're all passionate about similar things but all have different backgrounds. So I'm really excited to learn from them and work together to do good things for Zambia in sustainable ways. BUT, it's still pretty surreal that I'm finally going. Thursday morning I'll actually be in Africa.
This morning we got up early for our first round of shots. Yellow fever and H1N1. Not bad. Then a group of us went to see the Liberty Bell and get Philly cheesesteak for lunch, leaving me very satisfied with my first Philadelphia experience.
This afternoon we had our first Peace Corps meetings. Not too intense, expectations, goals and anxieties, the 10 core expectations of Peace Corps, and logistics for our travel tonight. A big group of us went out for delicious Italian food for our last meal; I chose eggplant parm. Tasty.
Now I'm about to get all my stuff organized and ready to travel. We have to be ready at 1:30am and leave on our bus at 2am, drive to JFK (which takes ~3 hours), and our flight leaves at 10:30am. So I think we should have plenty of time to get through security. I'm going to try to shower as late as possible so I can be clean as long as possible. I'm pretty tired right now, but I don't know if I'll get a nap before it's time to get ready to go. Our 15 hour flight gets into Johannesburg Thursday morning, and we're in Zambia by 12:30pm local time, 5:30am Central. Then it's the real deal.
So that's it! Last night in America and I'm pretty excited to get started on my adventure. Peace out!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
pack-pack...pack, pack it up
I should definitely be packing right now. But I found an iTunes gift card I haven't spent yet. So I just have to do that before I leave, of course. I think I'm going to go with more episodes of The Office, from older seasons I haven't watched yet.
The biggest packing challege: "The combined linear dimensions (length + width + height) of your checked baggage may not exceed 107”. The larger piece of checked baggage may not exceed 62”. Your carry-on baggage may not exceed a total linear measurement of 45”."
I can handle the 80lb limit, but 107" for 2 bags is not very big. here's hoping they're not too strict on that one.
If you didn't notice, I got my Zambian address, and it's on the side bar below the PC graphic. I'll change it after training when I get my new address, probably end of April. I should be getting a cell phone when I get there, so I'll post that number, too. It's $0.11 to send a skype text to Zambia and $0.98 to send a letter. ya know, just fyi.
but this packing situation is serious, as in I haven't actually put anything in a bag yet. so off I go!
The biggest packing challege: "The combined linear dimensions (length + width + height) of your checked baggage may not exceed 107”. The larger piece of checked baggage may not exceed 62”. Your carry-on baggage may not exceed a total linear measurement of 45”."
I can handle the 80lb limit, but 107" for 2 bags is not very big. here's hoping they're not too strict on that one.
If you didn't notice, I got my Zambian address, and it's on the side bar below the PC graphic. I'll change it after training when I get my new address, probably end of April. I should be getting a cell phone when I get there, so I'll post that number, too. It's $0.11 to send a skype text to Zambia and $0.98 to send a letter. ya know, just fyi.
but this packing situation is serious, as in I haven't actually put anything in a bag yet. so off I go!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Here I go!
I'm about to jump! Well, across the Atlantic Ocean, in a plane. I'm finally making the big leap. One week from today I leave Kennett for Philadelphia, then on February 17, 2010, I finally fly to Africa. Am I scared? Nowhere near how scared I am in this photo where I'm about to jump off a bridge. THAT was scary! (but so much fun) Africa? Well, I guess I might be a little nervous about a few things, but mostly, I'm pumped.If you know me, you've probably heard me talk about joining the Peace Corps for a long time, or even as long as you've known me. Freshman year in college, when I hadn't even picked a major yet, I used to joke, "I have do idea what the heck I'm going to do with my life, maybe I'll just join the Peace Corps!" 6 years later, here I am.
For the longest time, introducing myself involved something like, "I'm doing such-and-such, but I'm applying to the Peace Corps." Then I finally got my application essays done and submitted the thing (Jan. 20-ish, 2009). It was so nice to have the ball rolling and be able to say, "I've applied for the Peace Corps." I had thought and thought and talked and talked about it for years by the time I finally decided and got my application turned in. By this point, I was ready! So I interview, fill out more paperwork, and within 2 or 3 weeks, I was nominated! (got through the 1st stage of the application process) Sweet!
Feb. 09: Oh, wait, I'm nominated to leave a whole year from now? Well, maybe I'll get through medical clearance and placement stuff quickly, and I'll get to leave sooner. Nope. I got everything medical done by June. Then I waited and waited to find out even what country I would get to go to. All I knew was Africa.
Lesson #1 of the Peace Corps: Patience.
So in the meantime, I read a few books by returned Peace Corps volunteers (example). Watched documentaries about Africa (example 1 or 2). Followed African headlines on BBC news. I enjoyed Columbia and my friends there without a serious to do list over my head. I also got the heck out of Columbia, when I could, to visit other friends. :) While in New Zealand in November visiting Jennifer, I got an email from PC saying to call them when I got back in the States. Hooray! I was finally going to find out my country!
3 or 4 weeks later (mid-December 09) my invitation packet FINALLY arrives in the mail! AH! And it says, ZAMBIA. "Zambia," I think to myself, "Do I even know where it is? I've even been studying up on Africa and its geography, and all I know about Zambia is that I've heard of it and that it's in southern Africa, somewhere, maybe." So (roommate) Jen and I get out the map. "Oh, ok, there it is. Sure, sounds great! I have no preconceived notions of Zambia whatsoever so that'll be cool--to start from scratch. I get to learn about and go to a place that I know nothing about and would probably never go to otherwise. Let's do it!" It was seriously great to finally be able to have a country instead of a whole continent. Africa is a huge and diverse place, I hated lumping it all together.
Since then I've been slowly getting ready to leave. Quit my job at the lab at Mizzou, moved my stuff home to Kennett, celebrated Christmas, visited friends in Kansas City, Hawaii, and Columbia. And now, packing.
Right, packing...I'd better get on that.
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