Alive and Well

5-3-11

-          Went to town with bataata

-          Toured town- internet cafes, shops, bars, market, bus station, guest houses, district offices, hospital, etc.

-          Was proposed to at least 20 times

-          Rode on an open back truck in morning hitch and a minibus in the afternoon

-          Probably greeted at least 100 people

-          Hand fed the dogs with bataata in the evening to gain their trust

5-4-11

-          1 week today! Has gone by fast!

-          Slept in- until 7:00am lol- everyone- people and animals get up here at about 5:45a.m. each day- it is pretty loud and hard to ignore the noise- you hear kids running and yelling, cattle bells jingling, roosters crowing, pigs squealing, and goats crying

-          The mice in my house go crazy every night, I always expect a big mess in the morning, but it is surprisingly clean when I wake up

-          Started painting 2^nd mural- did about 1/3 of it- tree/forest scene

-          Had lunch and waited whole afternoon for bataata to come and take me on tour of village- never showed

-          Started new book “Unbowed”

-          Put potatoes in leftover soup broth from lunch to make potato soup for dinner-didn’t turn out that great L

5-5-11

-          Had high hopes for breakfast- frying leftover potatoes (taken out of soup) & eggs- lol didn’t work so good

-          Started to paint insaka- ran out of paint- very difficult painting on rough bumpy soil walls- need to rethink that plan

-          Worked on 2^nd mural again- painted trees and grass- need to finish leaves and details

-          Mouse living behind my suitcase and trying to dig hole in wall- just discovered where the term “packrat” came from- found my mouse’s stash of groundnuts!

-          Attempted French toast for dinner- interesting, but not total failure J

5-6-11

-          Cleaned room- moved/rearranged bags- big mess, but no mouse- found mouse traps and will try to set tonight

-          Finally hung mirror- amazing how good that makes me feel- to walk through the sitting room and see myself in a real mirror! Hope it doesn’t fall!

-          Went on LONG walking tour of Nteme area with bataata- 5 hrs- saw Community Dev. Office, World Vision, Clinic, judicial court, agriculture office, teacher houses, headmen, and the old PCV’s house

-          Very tired, sunburnt, and starving when we got home

-          Got 2 chickens as gifts from people we visited- will eat one and then keep the other for raising more- bamaama #1 cooked chicken for me

-          Sat awkwardly with family for awhile

5-7-11

-          Ready & waiting for church- yard in front of my house is burning- not really sure why? But they seem to be doing it on purpose

-          Sad when I turn on my phone and have no texts from anyone

-          Went to church-not as bad as last time, but still not fun- I also HATE getting home so late- get home at 13 & takes at least an hour to make fire and cook something- I can’t stand eating lunch at 14 or later everyday, but to Zambians it is normal to eat lunch anywhere from 13 up to 16!

-          Cleaned house, did a little RED note taking, helped bataata learn to use his new computer (he has never touched a computer before- I had to start with the ON button)

-          Got ready for evening- went to family compound for dinner, dancing, singing, and drumming- we were having a small wedding celebration for one of my brothers-they do a kind of “capturing” the bride from her parents house and carrying her (covered) into the groom’s family’s house where she must stay locked inside for the night- I stayed until about midnight, but they continued dancing/drumming on into the night

5-8-11

-          School starts tomorrow!

-          2^nd part of wedding celebration today- feast- and bring bride & groom out of house & uncover her- more dancing & drumming for them- then they leave to their house

-          Wrote some letters to friends and family

-          Sat with family after celebration, talked and joked, helped peel & cut pumpkin leaves- starting to get a little more comfortable

-          Children getting more comfortable too

-          Spent time with grade 9 sister & got to know her better

5-9-11

-          Went to school at 7:15- kids cleaned and did assembly until 8:15- staff had a “briefing” during that time to decide on time for staff meeting and “what to do with the children”

-          Staff meeting set for 9:00, but started at 9:30 and went to 11:45- students hanging around in classrooms and school grounds

-          Left with 2 teachers to visit their houses- started home at 13:20- first time going home alone, got LOST- luckily randomly came across a man I recognized to be one of my brothers & he escorted me home lol

-          Bad headache and starving again- didn’t eat until 14:30

-          Headache continued all day even after nap- all night- woke up and majorly drugged myself with some Benadryl and ibuprofen- finally got better after that

5-10-11

-          Rushed breakfast and getting ready, then waited for others for a long time as usual- very big lack of sense of time here

-          Feel headache coming back already

-          Went with 3 bamaamas & grandma to funeral- walked to mourning house- cars, tents, and people camped all around, have been there a couple days- body/casket in house in sitting room with wailing women sitting around it- casket then taken to church & we follow behind- have church service similar to funeral service in America- do quick body viewing on way out- then casket and whole procession returns to mourning house & walk to burial place just nearby- put in ground and all sit and watch and sing as men bury casket with cement and dirt- call up various groups to stick flowers in mound- when burial finished, people return to mourning house for drumming & dancing & meal

-          Returned home with bamaamas- ate saampu for lunch- liked it a lot

5-11-11

-          2 weeks today

-          Observed many problems of zambain education today- lack of time awareness (teachers & pupils), teacher absenteeism, overcrowded classes, not using available materials, not having materials/lessons prepared, beating students (have witnessed 4 different teachers doing it already), random assignments (busy work) and grading, district offices unorganized, Head in town all day, Deputy Head absent, etc.

-          Mailed letters in town

-          Tried to meet DEBS in town, but she was not in the office

-          Went to internet café and Facebook is locking me out L

5-12-11

-          Rode bike to school all by myself and didn’t get lost! Too bad I got lost on the way home-even coming on the same path lol!

-          Traveled with Head by car to 4 schools

-          Visit in afternoon from Dickson, PC Zambia Safety and Security Coord., and PC Lesotho Safety and Security Coord.- just showing him around Zambian villages and PCV houses

-          Set mouse traps finally- killed one immediately!!! Yay!

5-13-11

-          Biked EARLY to school, went with Head to 2 more schools- saw a community school for the first time (sort of like a one room school house you might see in a “Cracker Country” exhibit or historical museum- then take it one step down from that- no chalk boards, no books, no materials, no desks, etc)

-          Went to visit/talk with clinic, world vision, and community dev.- but was a community meeting about to start at clinic & I decided to stay- ended up being a 4 hour meeting (from 11-15…again no lunch!)- all in Tonga- finally at end of meeting I got to introduce myself and Peace Corps and what I was doing there (in Tonga)- so was beneficial