Gina's Post:
Didn't think I would be writing this for a few weeks, but I was able to get e-mail access due to an unexpected guidebook falling on my pinky toe from the top bunk of the provincial house this morning. After 10 days of living in small villages, fetching my own water, and biking up to 60k per day on dirt roads, a little broken toe from that darn book was the last reason I thought I'd end up in the PC medical office. The doctor wants x-rays tomorrow just be sure, but he said it should heal nicely, and I don't think it'll interfere much with upcoming training, as we'll really be focusing on language the next few weeks.
On a better note . . . thanks everyone for the birthday wishes for both myself and Scott. I was able to spend my b-day at another health volunteer's site gawking at waterfalls and initiating a game of red rover with the kids hanging around at her clinic. I then made my way to our future home, which I included in the last post. We live on a family compounding consisting of a pastor and his wife and some of their six children as well as various friends/family members that I am unable to keep track of quite yet. There are SO many things I could write about for my first impressions, but I thought I'd leave you with two for now:
Ant/Termite Hills:
The further up into Northwest Province you go, the bigger and more mountainous they get, sometimes towering upwards of 30 feet high. At first they just dot the landscape like crazy little mountains, until you realize that entire villages are actually centered around them, with about one ant hill to each family compound. When you take a closer look, you can tell these hills serve at least 3 very essential purposes for human bush existance:
1) I guess the soil they dig up is very clay-like and perfect for making mud bricks. In fact almost every ant hill in my new village has a hole cut out of the side of it and a brick oven kiln within several feet of it. I found that the handmade bricks in the huts up there are much more solid than the Lusaka area ones, especially after they have been fired in the kiln.
2) The numerous goats and sheep up where I live love to climb on the hils and make little paths all around them . . . almost like pseudo-mountains. The sheep here are almost hairless and at first I thought they were goats except for their long tails and their baa-ing, so that took a little adjustment.
3) The two best places to get cell phone coverage in our village are of course by walking halfway up the anthills, so if you ever decide to call, you can just picture where we'll be standing as there is no network coverage inside our hut.
Food:
Our area is 19 kilometers on a very hilly dirt road from the nearest BOMA, or town, so it is very difficult for villages to buy almost any products. They are truly subsistence farmers, but that said, they take pride in the diversity of foods they are able to grow/cultivate. I think the next two years will truly be a lesson in how to eat locally. Here are some foods that I tasted at site during my time there and their rating in Lunda:
1) Chawahi Nankashi (Very good)- freshly-cut pineapple almost every day, sweet potatoes in 2 varieties, freshly pounded coffee off the tree in our family compound, a small fruit that tastes like a mango, chinese cabbage and rape (a green leafy veggie).
2) Chanti Chanti (Just okay)- sweet potato and cassava leaves, goat/sheep meat, fresh sugar cane (delicious, but hard to eat), nshima yamakamba--that play-dough like substance that is made out of fermented cassava root instead of corn up in the Northwest. It's the staple and eaten with every meal, so I better learn to love it!
3) Nakenga Wanyi (I don't like)- dried fish--although depending on how it's prepared I can actually like it, my swallowing a fish bone a few weeks back as well as eating the heads made me a little more weary of these things, dried catepillars--at first I thought I would try those, but for some reason I just couldn't stomach them when they were offered to me without any other relishes or other foods.
Yes, living in the bush will be quite a culinary adventure. I also hear there are bananas, avacados, mangos, squash and fresh honey available depending on time of the year :). And . . . lots of the villagers are interested in some of the foods we grow in America, so we'll definitely also have our own little garden.
That's about it for now. Scott is still on his second site visit learning about fish farming implementation in action, and we will both be at our training sites for the upcoming national elections, which happen September 20th. We'll probably have some interesting stories after those happen, but I don't want to jinx anything, so we'll save that blog for after.
I'll be in Mwnilunga area (our official site for the next two years) in mid-October, so feel free to start sending mail to our new address in the corner as it takes about a month and it will probably reach us by then. Off to bed so I can get some x-rays tomorrow morning!
Take care,
Gina
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Home Sweet Home
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| The two guys on the roof are putting the finishing touches on our soon-to-be house! |
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| One of the dancers at the traditional ceremony, Chisemwa Cha Lunda |
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| This is one of the fish ponds near our future house. Scott's job will be to consult with the fish farmers to increase their capacity. |
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| These guys finished thatchng the roof of our future pit latrine in just a few hours. Notice the large anthill in the background. |
Saturday, September 10, 2011
~ Halfway through training!
I am surprised I've been able to have internet access this frequently in Zambia so far. Alas, it is because we are near Lusaka and as Gina pointed out in the last blog we have been posted near Mwinilunga, just about as far from Lusaka as you can get. From our site, she has to walk down the road and to a bridge to get cell phone service, so I am predicting much less frequent blogging once the end of October hits.
Gina is solidly halfway through training and I am nearly halfway, and both of us are ready to go to Mwinilunga right now. It is not that training is that bad, more so we are just really excited about going to our site and getting started. Whether it is meeting with fish farmers to see how motivated they are to move 150 cubic meters of soil by hand, learning how to make a Zambian drum, weighing babies, or learning more Lunda, we just want to get started already!
If you didn't see the comment from Yuki Reiss, here is the link to pictures that she and Chris Landreau posted for us: https://picasaweb.google.com/
Thanks Chris and Yuki!
Some highlights since Scott's last blog:
* I went to a zambian Baptist church with my host father. It was mostly in a language I am not learning, but since my host father was one of the preachers he did throw a little bit of English in there for my benefit. He also put me on the spot by having me read some verses of John IN LUNDA to the congregation. First imagine reading something that you've never read before, and then imagine it being in a language you have been learning for about 3 weeks. I was very nervous, but there were big smiles as I stumbled through it so it was one of those experiences I'll cherish forever.
* My 40th birthday in Zambia was good. We went to Lusaka for a museum trip early in the morning and some of my co-trainees strongly encouraged me to have a drink with them. Cheap rum-like alcohol on an empty stomach at 7:30 in the morning is a great way to start your birthday in Zambia! Then I met Gina for lunch in Lusaka and returned to her training site in Chongwe for a quick american birthday party with her host family. It was great to see her though the visit was less and 18 hours since she had to go to Mwinilunga to see our site.
* Later that week I met my fish farmer host in Lusaka (yes another visit to Lusaka), Martin Malichi. He is very quiet so far, but speaks pretty-good English and was interested enough in meeting me that I am looking forward to getting started in Mwinilunga. I also met another man from the same area named Harrison Lupasa. Lupasa is LUNDA for "cup". I instantly was reminded of Randy Kupp from Yakima as I met his counterpart family in Lusaka. This also reminded me of all the great friends I have in Yakima. I miss you guys! If anybody is keeping any non-facebook blogs of their lives, please email me the link so I can catch up with you!
* About once a week the trainees in Chipembi get lunch served to them by the Peace Corps. There has been nothing quite as satisfying as the cheesy pasta that comes in a huge metal warmer tray. Cheese and pasta are practically unheard of at zambian meals.
Gina is solidly halfway through training and I am nearly halfway, and both of us are ready to go to Mwinilunga right now. It is not that training is that bad, more so we are just really excited about going to our site and getting started. Whether it is meeting with fish farmers to see how motivated they are to move 150 cubic meters of soil by hand, learning how to make a Zambian drum, weighing babies, or learning more Lunda, we just want to get started already!
If you didn't see the comment from Yuki Reiss, here is the link to pictures that she and Chris Landreau posted for us: https://picasaweb.google.com/
Thanks Chris and Yuki!
Some highlights since Scott's last blog:
* I went to a zambian Baptist church with my host father. It was mostly in a language I am not learning, but since my host father was one of the preachers he did throw a little bit of English in there for my benefit. He also put me on the spot by having me read some verses of John IN LUNDA to the congregation. First imagine reading something that you've never read before, and then imagine it being in a language you have been learning for about 3 weeks. I was very nervous, but there were big smiles as I stumbled through it so it was one of those experiences I'll cherish forever.
* During our 1.5 hour drive from the training site to Lusaka, I have seen a giraffe, 2 zebra, several monkeys, and an ostrich. Nothing like the safari in Tanzania in 2006, but still pretty exciting to see free of charge.
* I learned to cook nshima (the thick polenta-like corn flour mush that goes with every zambian meal), wash my clothes, and fetch water from the local borehole. As I pumped water my host sister asked "Are you tired?" I said no. Apparently when you say "no" in this case you are offering to pump the water for everyone else. After I filled a few more cans and containers at the pump that did not belong to my host family, I conceded "OK, I'm tired".
* Later that week I met my fish farmer host in Lusaka (yes another visit to Lusaka), Martin Malichi. He is very quiet so far, but speaks pretty-good English and was interested enough in meeting me that I am looking forward to getting started in Mwinilunga. I also met another man from the same area named Harrison Lupasa. Lupasa is LUNDA for "cup". I instantly was reminded of Randy Kupp from Yakima as I met his counterpart family in Lusaka. This also reminded me of all the great friends I have in Yakima. I miss you guys! If anybody is keeping any non-facebook blogs of their lives, please email me the link so I can catch up with you!
* About once a week the trainees in Chipembi get lunch served to them by the Peace Corps. There has been nothing quite as satisfying as the cheesy pasta that comes in a huge metal warmer tray. Cheese and pasta are practically unheard of at zambian meals.
* One of our trainers talked to me about all the different kinds of drums and associated dancing there are in Zambia. He also sang a couple of tunes while he picked away on a Peace Corps volunteer's guitar. He's got talent! I can't wait to learn more from him about zambian rhythms.
*The Zambian presidential election is coming up on September 20th. There is a lot of campaigning amongst the 2 major political parties. Meanwhile the road where I live is being completely redone all the way to Chongwe. Those Zambians who support the incumbent swear that the road repair has been planned for a long time and will be completed soon. Those supporting the opposition party swear that the road repair is just ploy to attract votes for the incumbent candidate. After seeing how poorly constructed the new road is, I have to agree there might be a bit of a popularity contest going on. On the other hand nothing gets done quickly here in Zambia. We will see on September 20th.
* When giving their name to someone for the first time, Zambians always give their surname first, then their first name. This has lead to a bit of confusion when trying to keep track of names.
I will be headed to Mwinilunga tomorrow for a week, and then back to my village since the Peace Corps does not want us to travel during the election week, and then back to Mwinilunga for another 5 days, so I probably will not be blogging for a while, though I never really know about the opportunities. Wish me luck as I join the Peace Corps trainees’ soccer team against the Peace Corp trainer’s team this afternoon. Meanwhile, Gina will be returning to her training site on Tuesday the 13th, though I don’t know I she will have time for internet or not on her way through Lusaka.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Site Announcement!
Gina's Post:
So yesterday was a big day for the CHIP (health) trainees. We found out where exactly we will be going for site when we get posted in mid-October. Scott and I will be in a small village about 17 kilometers biking on a dirt road from Mwnilunga, way up northwest in the Northwest province--read: almost to Angola! Other stuff we know about our future site is: it's on the road to the chief's compound, telephone coverage will be available but spotty, the water sources are good, it's near a community health center (where I will be working at times), and most importantly . . . it's a first generation site. In a nutshell, first generation means that NO other Peace Corps volunteers have been put there before. Specifically, the community asked for a health volunteer and a fish farmer volunteer and apparently Scott and I fit the bill. The community has been busy building us a place to live, and I will get to check out the site personally in about a week in a half. That means no more host mama . . . we'll have to fetch our own water, wash our own clothes by hand, and cook over a brazier. All of the health volunteers are in Lusaka now preparing to meet our hosts, local Zambians who have been chosen to introduce us to our community and help us settle-in come October.
Life has been going well, as Scott stated yesterday, and Scott and I have been able to call each other every day and see each other about every two weeks. We'll even get to meet up for Scott's big 4-0 coming up, and he'll get to hang with Mama Annie and my fam. To add to Scott's list of skills acquired, I've learned how to fetch water, but do not intend to ever carry a huge container on top of my head like those strong African women! I have changed two tires of classmates from thorns in the bush and was proud to say that I had my first flat yesterday on a bush trail and patched the flat in less than 5 min., with my language group and a herd of cows watching me! I also taught my first yoga class to a group of about 6 volunteers, and one of our training leaders wants me to teach to the staff in Lusaka sometime. Besides being to talk like a 3-4 year-old in Lunda, we've been learning some interesting topics in our technical training sessions. A few highlights:
Chief-subject relationship
Most of rural Zambia is divided up by different tribes, who thankfully have had a friendly relationship with each other for over 40 years. This fact does not in any way undermine the importance of chiefs in everything from giving out land to people in the chiefdom, welcoming visitors, having a hand in community projects, and setting all sorts of disputes ranging from farming/land/water to finding out who is the local witch. Each chief/chieftaness gets appointed mostly through a maternal lineage, and once appointed, cannot step down. Most cheifdoms are divided further into smaller areas which are controlled by a local headman. Basically as Peace Corps volunteers, we will be collaborating often with the headman/headwoman on local issues and health projects. We even had a whole session on how to great the chief or headman and which types of gifts are appropriate for the first visit. They recommend a white chicken--not black as it represents witchcraft. Ironically, I met the chief of my area 5 years ago at the Lunda festival, and my language teacher says he is still in office, although very doubtful he will remember me as I was accompanied by about 15 Peace Corps volunteers. Who would have thought?
HIV/AIDS:
There has been lots of training on this topic because much of our jobs as health volunteers will be training and education regarding the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The current estimated infection rate in Zambia is a little over 14%. We've had to do several activities with our host families in preparation to going to our communities, and my health trainee Maggie and I did a little informal interview of the village women about health concerns in the Chongwe community. Although it had never been mentioned to me before by my host family, HIV/AIDS was identified as the #1 problem in the community, although treatment with free anti-retrovirals is available at the local clinic. The most surprising thing, is that we asked the local women what they knew about HIV, they were right on when it came to treatment options as well as preventing mother-to-child transmission. Unfortunately, many confused it with TB and thought you could get it by coughing or sharing food. Looks like we have a LONG way to go! We're hoping to do a little ladies' education group in the near future, and the women are looking forward to it.
Hope all is well with all of you. Snail mail is still the easiest way to go, and we just updated our care package wish list in the right-hand column in case you're feeling generous!
Shakenuku!
Gina and Scott
So yesterday was a big day for the CHIP (health) trainees. We found out where exactly we will be going for site when we get posted in mid-October. Scott and I will be in a small village about 17 kilometers biking on a dirt road from Mwnilunga, way up northwest in the Northwest province--read: almost to Angola! Other stuff we know about our future site is: it's on the road to the chief's compound, telephone coverage will be available but spotty, the water sources are good, it's near a community health center (where I will be working at times), and most importantly . . . it's a first generation site. In a nutshell, first generation means that NO other Peace Corps volunteers have been put there before. Specifically, the community asked for a health volunteer and a fish farmer volunteer and apparently Scott and I fit the bill. The community has been busy building us a place to live, and I will get to check out the site personally in about a week in a half. That means no more host mama . . . we'll have to fetch our own water, wash our own clothes by hand, and cook over a brazier. All of the health volunteers are in Lusaka now preparing to meet our hosts, local Zambians who have been chosen to introduce us to our community and help us settle-in come October.
Life has been going well, as Scott stated yesterday, and Scott and I have been able to call each other every day and see each other about every two weeks. We'll even get to meet up for Scott's big 4-0 coming up, and he'll get to hang with Mama Annie and my fam. To add to Scott's list of skills acquired, I've learned how to fetch water, but do not intend to ever carry a huge container on top of my head like those strong African women! I have changed two tires of classmates from thorns in the bush and was proud to say that I had my first flat yesterday on a bush trail and patched the flat in less than 5 min., with my language group and a herd of cows watching me! I also taught my first yoga class to a group of about 6 volunteers, and one of our training leaders wants me to teach to the staff in Lusaka sometime. Besides being to talk like a 3-4 year-old in Lunda, we've been learning some interesting topics in our technical training sessions. A few highlights:
Chief-subject relationship
Most of rural Zambia is divided up by different tribes, who thankfully have had a friendly relationship with each other for over 40 years. This fact does not in any way undermine the importance of chiefs in everything from giving out land to people in the chiefdom, welcoming visitors, having a hand in community projects, and setting all sorts of disputes ranging from farming/land/water to finding out who is the local witch. Each chief/chieftaness gets appointed mostly through a maternal lineage, and once appointed, cannot step down. Most cheifdoms are divided further into smaller areas which are controlled by a local headman. Basically as Peace Corps volunteers, we will be collaborating often with the headman/headwoman on local issues and health projects. We even had a whole session on how to great the chief or headman and which types of gifts are appropriate for the first visit. They recommend a white chicken--not black as it represents witchcraft. Ironically, I met the chief of my area 5 years ago at the Lunda festival, and my language teacher says he is still in office, although very doubtful he will remember me as I was accompanied by about 15 Peace Corps volunteers. Who would have thought?
HIV/AIDS:
There has been lots of training on this topic because much of our jobs as health volunteers will be training and education regarding the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The current estimated infection rate in Zambia is a little over 14%. We've had to do several activities with our host families in preparation to going to our communities, and my health trainee Maggie and I did a little informal interview of the village women about health concerns in the Chongwe community. Although it had never been mentioned to me before by my host family, HIV/AIDS was identified as the #1 problem in the community, although treatment with free anti-retrovirals is available at the local clinic. The most surprising thing, is that we asked the local women what they knew about HIV, they were right on when it came to treatment options as well as preventing mother-to-child transmission. Unfortunately, many confused it with TB and thought you could get it by coughing or sharing food. Looks like we have a LONG way to go! We're hoping to do a little ladies' education group in the near future, and the women are looking forward to it.
Hope all is well with all of you. Snail mail is still the easiest way to go, and we just updated our care package wish list in the right-hand column in case you're feeling generous!
Shakenuku!
Gina and Scott
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Life is Different Now
Yeah. Different. Pretty good, too. Having my meals prepared for me, my clothes washed, my bath water drawn and heated, and my schedule laid out is pretty nice here in Zambia. I am learning a lot between language classes, technical classes on fish farming, and just living in a close knit community in the middle of Zambia. That includes everything from avoiding untraveled routes for fear of tire-puncturing thorns, sweeping frequently to keep the ants from setting up a home in my hut, shaking out the mattress and sheets to keep the bed bugs away, making sure I greet my family when I return from class, and how to roll nshima properly so it can be used as a spoon.
Gina has proven to be the master cow-game player here in Zambia. I think the score is something like 12 to 1. I also have to commend Gina on her ability to get Zambians to open up. Whether they are children or adults, Gina seems to attract people with smiles. After I got a less than warm welcome from my host family when I arrived by myself, Gina's visit to my host family last weekend had my host mother, children, and neighbors talking jovially about anything, even if only in broken English. I feel like my host family has warmed up more to me even after Gina has gone back to Chongwe, so I either need to start taking notes on her tactics or must make sure she is around when we get placed to our permanent site in October and when I go to my fish farmer meetings.
I thought I had gotten over most culture shock after staying in Chongwe with Gina, but with my host family in Chipembi there was room for a little more: having my host father strongly suggest that I do not go outside at night and even providing a pee-bucket to keep inside my hut to discourage leaving it at night. I also had to get used to the sounds of pigs snorting and rooting outside my hut for scraps and bugs instead of the Zam-pop I had while I stayed with Gina's host family. Of course, the aforementioned bed bugs, or what i assume are bed bugs, were a change as well.
Highlights for me since the last post:
* Going to a Church of Zambia service with gina and her host mother in Chongwe. It was nearly 3 hours long and was about 60% singing, 30% sermon, and 10% waiting, and worth the experience.
* Going to a church choir practice near my host families house in Chipembi on a saturday. I got to play the drums and learn a popular gospel dance step. Yes, gospel dance.
* Witnessing the skinning and gutting of a freshly killed goat. I missed the killing by about 5 minutes, but from what I hear I think I'm glad I missed it. As it was described to me it was more like a lynching than a sacrifice.
* A mountain bike ride with Gina during her visit to my host family in Chipembi. The Zambian bush is ripe for adventure mountain biking exploitation.
* A football game (note: SOCCER, of course) played on a sloping half sand, half dead grass field. I wasn't expecting much but these teams meant business. You'd never know it but there are official leagues even this deep in the bush.
* An evening of drumming, singing, and dancing with my family and neighbors on a random Tuesday. I didn't know what the occasion was but everyone was happy. Zambians love the concept of the "take your turn in the middle of the dance circle". I even got to play the drum again, though the drum was a water bucket. The family loved it all the same.
* A long lazy day of throwing around a football (American style), playing cards, and hanging out punctuated by brief interviews with the technical staff and a little bike maintenance. It was "chillin'" at it's finest. It is particular noteable for me because the hasn't been a lot of time for that since I've been in Chipembi.
Though not a highlight exactly, I confess that any leaning towards vegetarianism is gone here in Zambia. I'm still eating plenty of vegetables, but it seems most of my reasons for being a pseudo-vegetarian in the States are non-issues in the bush. Bring-on the meat! Though I like the fish here just as good! I've almost got things set up for pictures, so hopefully we'll have some next time. Good bye for now. Any comments are particular appreciated. If not on the blog itself, then just for the heck of it!
Gina has proven to be the master cow-game player here in Zambia. I think the score is something like 12 to 1. I also have to commend Gina on her ability to get Zambians to open up. Whether they are children or adults, Gina seems to attract people with smiles. After I got a less than warm welcome from my host family when I arrived by myself, Gina's visit to my host family last weekend had my host mother, children, and neighbors talking jovially about anything, even if only in broken English. I feel like my host family has warmed up more to me even after Gina has gone back to Chongwe, so I either need to start taking notes on her tactics or must make sure she is around when we get placed to our permanent site in October and when I go to my fish farmer meetings.
I thought I had gotten over most culture shock after staying in Chongwe with Gina, but with my host family in Chipembi there was room for a little more: having my host father strongly suggest that I do not go outside at night and even providing a pee-bucket to keep inside my hut to discourage leaving it at night. I also had to get used to the sounds of pigs snorting and rooting outside my hut for scraps and bugs instead of the Zam-pop I had while I stayed with Gina's host family. Of course, the aforementioned bed bugs, or what i assume are bed bugs, were a change as well.
Highlights for me since the last post:
* Going to a Church of Zambia service with gina and her host mother in Chongwe. It was nearly 3 hours long and was about 60% singing, 30% sermon, and 10% waiting, and worth the experience.
* Going to a church choir practice near my host families house in Chipembi on a saturday. I got to play the drums and learn a popular gospel dance step. Yes, gospel dance.
* Witnessing the skinning and gutting of a freshly killed goat. I missed the killing by about 5 minutes, but from what I hear I think I'm glad I missed it. As it was described to me it was more like a lynching than a sacrifice.
* A mountain bike ride with Gina during her visit to my host family in Chipembi. The Zambian bush is ripe for adventure mountain biking exploitation.
* A football game (note: SOCCER, of course) played on a sloping half sand, half dead grass field. I wasn't expecting much but these teams meant business. You'd never know it but there are official leagues even this deep in the bush.
* An evening of drumming, singing, and dancing with my family and neighbors on a random Tuesday. I didn't know what the occasion was but everyone was happy. Zambians love the concept of the "take your turn in the middle of the dance circle". I even got to play the drum again, though the drum was a water bucket. The family loved it all the same.
* A long lazy day of throwing around a football (American style), playing cards, and hanging out punctuated by brief interviews with the technical staff and a little bike maintenance. It was "chillin'" at it's finest. It is particular noteable for me because the hasn't been a lot of time for that since I've been in Chipembi.
Though not a highlight exactly, I confess that any leaning towards vegetarianism is gone here in Zambia. I'm still eating plenty of vegetables, but it seems most of my reasons for being a pseudo-vegetarian in the States are non-issues in the bush. Bring-on the meat! Though I like the fish here just as good! I've almost got things set up for pictures, so hopefully we'll have some next time. Good bye for now. Any comments are particular appreciated. If not on the blog itself, then just for the heck of it!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Zambia Through the Senses
Gina's Post:
We have officially been in Zambia for a little over three weeks and have experienced so many different sights, sounds, and feelings since coming here. Scott and I have been staying in Chongwe until two days ago when he went to Chipembwe to start with his fish farming training. We were issued mountain bikes and have been navigating dirt roads to language sites, our homestay family, and “school”. “School” consists of morning language classes in small groups and either large or small groups where I learn what health care needs are prioritized in Zambia and what we are expected to do as healthcare volunteers. For the most part, the instruction has been very informative, and hopefully I’ll do well on my first Lunda language simulation this Monday.
Although training is just 40 minutes from Lusaka, it seems worlds away as the houses are made of mud brick s (including mine!), none have running water, and very few have electricity, which for all of its downfalls does tend to invoke dancing and games at night as there is not a television to watch. My host family consists of a 52 year-old widow named Annie who has 8 children between the ages of 8 and 36 (yes, it is humanly possible)! Affectionately known as “Amaama” she is a strong, kind-hearted African woman with an amazing belly laugh. Although she has hosted 11 other Peace Corps volunteers, she speaks almost no English, which is great practice for me! I have nothing but respect and admiration as she keeps a positive attitude throughout her daily activities, which include: fetching water by hand, doing laundry by hand in buckets with the water fetched from the bore hole, cooking meals in a round room over a 3-log fire, sweeping red dirt away from the houses and into the surrounding bush several times per day, caring for her young grandchildren and one son with severe CP, doing dishes in buckets, and maintaining Peace Corps such as Scott and myself by making sure we have boiled drinking and bathwater, good food, and clean clothes. Although it seems like glorified camping at first, the reality of Zambian rural living has set in for me and now I realize why health problems are prevalent and life expectancy is short; just everyday living takes so much time! Despite her long days, Annie loves to laugh and has a beautiful singing voice.
I have settled into a nice little routine here, and at some times can’t believe I’ve only been taking bucket baths and sleeping in a mud hut for two weeks. Because I’m worried that the novel may soon become mundane, I’d like to highlight my Zambian experience up to now through the five senses:
1) Sights
- Women with brightly-colored chitenge cloth skirts wrapped around their waists, normally carrying something on their head and sometimes a baby on their back
- A handful of chickens that somehow strategically climb the mango tree 10-12 feet to roost and peer at me as I take my bucket bath in the thatch-walled outdoor bathing shelter
- A blood-orange sun poking out over rolling hills of bushes and fruit trees at sunrise and sunset
- The orange glow on the horizon as fields and trees burning in the distance to clear for the next planting season
- Bright star constellations when there is no moon, moon shadows when there is just half a moon, and a full-on spotlight when the moon is full
- Any type of farm animal you could imagine walking nonchalantly just feet away from our class, including baby piglets, cows with bells, goats, pigs, and chickens everywhere. Fencing doesn’t seem to be an issue as they graze on whatever they can find.
- A panorama of mud huts and thatched roofs interspersed through windy dirt roads that sometimes makes me feel like I’m in a movie set.
2) Sounds
- Motor bikes and diesel trucks rumbling over the nearby dirt road
- Zam-pop blaring through speakers noon to midnight with the occasional drunk stumbling past my front door (interesting how the houses don’t have power but the bars sure do).
- Political songs and slogans and busloads of people rallying with drums preparing for the September 20th presidential election—this one may need its own blog post
- Children laughing and women chattering
- Dogs barking in the wee hours of the morning, stray cats mating, and roosters foreshadowing the daytime starting at midnight.
- Dried maize kernels being sifted, sorted and dumped by hand in preparation to sell to the government
- A capella choirs resonating like angelic voices in a concrete church on Sunday
- Termites chewing on the reed mat where my mattress lies—okay, some things I may NEVER get used to.
- The friendly Nyanja greeting Muli Bwanji! Whenever I bike or walk past people walking down the road.
3) Smells
- Smoke from burning both organic and non-organic trash as there is no garbage service around these parts
- Fresh dust spewed up from cars whizzing by on the road
- The fragrant little white flower buds on some of the trees that I can only hope will be mangoes after the rains come.
- Freshly hand-washed, sun-dried clothes
- Surprisingly the pit latrine doesn’t smell too bad as Amaama pours ashes from the cooking fire down it every day
4) Tastes
- Dust from the road when a car whizzes by my mountain bike on my way to school.
- Peanut butter on everything that is a breakfast food, including bananas, fritters, porridge and bread
- Nshima, the Zambian staple, which is eaten at every meal. Imagine grits cooked up and stirred to mashed potato consistency and served two of the following relishes, cooked in oil and salt: eggs, dried fish, chicken, soy bits, cabbage, beans, rape (similar to Chinese cabbage), cabbage, tomato stew. Doesn’t sound too appealing at first, but all of the above foods I actually now enjoy.
5) Physical Sensations
- Warm bucket bathwater on a crisp evening. Yes, it has been a bit chilly at night as we are in the middle of winter and at about 4,000 feet. My synthetic down jacket has come to good use as I can see my breath most nights.
- Playing barefoot soccer on the dirt with a bunch of kids using a ball made of plastic bags and rope
- The sun beating down just right on my hat during outdoor language sessions.
- The squish squish of soap on clothes which indicates they are being properly washed by hand, as the village kids let us know!
- Rolling nshima into a ball with my right hand, pressing a dent in the center to make a spoon, and then picking up the relish with your little dough ball. I have yet to see a fork at Amaama Annie’s house.
- Flying by on a brand new front-suspension Trek mountain bike (thanks Peace Corps!) on curvy, smooth, sandy and bumpy bush trails on our way to school.
Signing off for the next month of so as internet access only comes with a special visit to Lusaka. Keep in touch via snail mail address to the right.
Shalenuhu!
Scott and Gina
Thursday, August 4, 2011
2 weeks in!
This is Scott on his first Blogpost ever. Bare with me.
Gina and I are with her host family learning Lunda, another Bantu-derived language of Africa that is not spoken in many places except Mwinilunga in the Northwest province, so that is likely where we are going. Turns out Gina visited Mwinilunga in 2006. Coincidence? We have both visited Peace Corps Volunteers at their villages out in the Bush, separately since our programs are different. At my site visit I learned a lot about how to live comfortably in the Bush and got a taste of what it will be like to interact with the locals who are interested in fish farming. We went to a Zambian school where we met a headmaster who speaks 7 of the 72 languages of Zambia. I tried to explain how I respected him and other Zambians who know at least 2 languages fluently and can get by with 1 or 3 others, while Americans usually only know one. He seemed to understand and was greatful but I think the effect I was trying to achieve was lost a little. Most Zambians know that many languages because they have to, not because they want to.
Cultural Notes:
* During site visit I slept in a tent and woke up to the sound of what sounded like crinkling paper. Turns out I put my tent on top of a budding termite colony. Luckily they aren't interested in eating nylon.
* Child care is blazingly different in the Bush. 4 and 6 year olds are in charge of minding the cows during the day. Others who don't have a task run around villages with zero supervision. Somehow this works. The Zambian population is growing.
* When I returned from the Bush I was able to take a real shower. But the only water coming out was a trickle of scalding hot while there was zero cold water. Imagine looking forward to a hot shower but being unable to take one because it's too hot!
*I've had Zambian fish for lunch once. A whole fish. Gina's host family mother deboned it with her bare hands right there in front of me. Hopefully she washed her hands. The next day I went to a market where she got that fish. Lined up nicely, stiff as a board and covered with flies, were the same kind of fish I ate yesterday. I had more to worry about than unclean hands at that point, but luckily I have had no stomach or digestive issues since I've been here.
* I went to the 82nd Agriculture Show in Lusaka earlier this week. The lines to get in were 7 people wide and about 100 yards long. It was like being in Times Square on New Year's Eve day. Otherwise, the fish farming community and the Peace Corps had a nice exhibit. It is nice to know that the program I'm here for has some support.
* Sunglass are for sale everywhere. Funny thing is that rarely do I see Zambians wearing sunglasses. And the places I've seen them are not tourist places. This is a weird spin on the phrase "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". It doesn't really work when you get lemons all the time.
* As I wait outside of a shop watching after our bicycles (Yes, we have brand new Trek bikes!) while Gina get's a few essentials, a Zambian man strolls up to me and says, "Hello, I would like to go to church with you". Apparently religion is the topic of choice as opposed to the weather.
Gina and I are doing good. She had a cold that slowed her down a little, but no major or minor health or safety issues so far! I will leave for my host family on August 10th, so Gina and I will be apart for about 2 months with occasional visits. We can verify that everything that people have said about how friendly people are in Zambia is true. We are looking forward to more language and technical training and can't wait to start our assignments in October. More later!
Gina and I are with her host family learning Lunda, another Bantu-derived language of Africa that is not spoken in many places except Mwinilunga in the Northwest province, so that is likely where we are going. Turns out Gina visited Mwinilunga in 2006. Coincidence? We have both visited Peace Corps Volunteers at their villages out in the Bush, separately since our programs are different. At my site visit I learned a lot about how to live comfortably in the Bush and got a taste of what it will be like to interact with the locals who are interested in fish farming. We went to a Zambian school where we met a headmaster who speaks 7 of the 72 languages of Zambia. I tried to explain how I respected him and other Zambians who know at least 2 languages fluently and can get by with 1 or 3 others, while Americans usually only know one. He seemed to understand and was greatful but I think the effect I was trying to achieve was lost a little. Most Zambians know that many languages because they have to, not because they want to.
Cultural Notes:
* During site visit I slept in a tent and woke up to the sound of what sounded like crinkling paper. Turns out I put my tent on top of a budding termite colony. Luckily they aren't interested in eating nylon.
* Child care is blazingly different in the Bush. 4 and 6 year olds are in charge of minding the cows during the day. Others who don't have a task run around villages with zero supervision. Somehow this works. The Zambian population is growing.
* When I returned from the Bush I was able to take a real shower. But the only water coming out was a trickle of scalding hot while there was zero cold water. Imagine looking forward to a hot shower but being unable to take one because it's too hot!
*I've had Zambian fish for lunch once. A whole fish. Gina's host family mother deboned it with her bare hands right there in front of me. Hopefully she washed her hands. The next day I went to a market where she got that fish. Lined up nicely, stiff as a board and covered with flies, were the same kind of fish I ate yesterday. I had more to worry about than unclean hands at that point, but luckily I have had no stomach or digestive issues since I've been here.
* I went to the 82nd Agriculture Show in Lusaka earlier this week. The lines to get in were 7 people wide and about 100 yards long. It was like being in Times Square on New Year's Eve day. Otherwise, the fish farming community and the Peace Corps had a nice exhibit. It is nice to know that the program I'm here for has some support.
* Sunglass are for sale everywhere. Funny thing is that rarely do I see Zambians wearing sunglasses. And the places I've seen them are not tourist places. This is a weird spin on the phrase "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". It doesn't really work when you get lemons all the time.
* As I wait outside of a shop watching after our bicycles (Yes, we have brand new Trek bikes!) while Gina get's a few essentials, a Zambian man strolls up to me and says, "Hello, I would like to go to church with you". Apparently religion is the topic of choice as opposed to the weather.
Gina and I are doing good. She had a cold that slowed her down a little, but no major or minor health or safety issues so far! I will leave for my host family on August 10th, so Gina and I will be apart for about 2 months with occasional visits. We can verify that everything that people have said about how friendly people are in Zambia is true. We are looking forward to more language and technical training and can't wait to start our assignments in October. More later!
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