Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Well some more firsts have happened since I made my last post. One of them being that I killed my first scorpion. After I white washed my house, the new termite tracks (I dont really have a better word for it) became really visible and therefore pretty easy to destroy with some spray poison...however there was a large group behind the bookcase in my hut, and feasting on those termites was a scorpion. I was really taken aback by it, and it wasnt even a big guy. I'm a little nervous here because I thought I had the fear of creepy crawly things in the bag, however my Sunday morning enounter with that guy proved me wrong. And then theres always the snakes to think about. I'm really hoping those stay hidden in the fields until I am almost done with my service (just for bonus points I would like to have a big snake story to tell and command respect for when I venture back to the states, but not for awhile).

Last week the Country Director for Peace Corps. came out to see all the new sites in Eastern Province so it was pretty cool to show him around and then all the volunteers who could make it had a big family dinner with him in Chipata. After that my friend Sarah, who is my closest neighbor (not counting the Peace Corps. house) biked back to my site and then biked the 55k to her site at the beginning of the week. I also got to see some other PCVs who stay out by her. And their area is absolutely beautiful with these huge rock formations and mountains. It was definitely worth the trip and it was only like a 2 hr 30 min bike ride which in Zambia time is like 30 min.

In fact the 55k out to her site is way easier than the 30k ride from my site into Chipata. The last 10k leading up to the city are the absolute worst! But my hitching luck has been out lately so Ive been biking it more frequently, even though I always curse myself that last 10k. To give you an idea of how different the incline is, I'll just say that it takes me 1hr 30 min to bike into Chipata and 50 minutes to bike out. But it is nice to have my bike for running around Chipata once I get here, which is always what I feel like I am doing. I used to get so excited to come to town but now I kind of dread it because I know that its just going to be crazy busy.

In other news, my parrafin stove ran out of wicks these week so I had to start cooking with charcoal, which compared to parrafin takes FOREVER. And I am not a patient person, especially when I am hungry. To add insult to injury the charcoal I got is really slow burning and takes over 30 min to heat up. Peanut butter and jelly and I are getting to be quite good friends. Other than that I've been pretty busy meeting with different groups and people and trying to improve my language skills so I can communicate with even more people. I think that they are getting better slowly...

I ended up buying the netball and I am so glad that I did because we've been playing a lot in the village. We had a game this past Saturday and won, which is always great. One thing I find really interesting about the women and netball is that before the game they bathe, and rebraid their hair. Then they put on some of their newest and best clothes to play the game. And the other teams do the same. Whereas I show up in the dirtiest clothes I have because it doesnt make sense to me, when I am just going to get absolutely filthy running around and kicking up dirt (the court is loose dirt) for 2 hours. But its one of the few occasions that the women and girls actually have for dressing up and showing off so in that sense it does make sense to me, but its just another example of a cultural difference.

And now Ive got to cut this blog entry short because I have about a million things to do in town today. But hopefully I will update again soon. And thank-you to all the letters Ive gotten. They make me so happy! And the packages too! Ive been pretty good about responding to everyone so hopefully if you havent heard from me in awhile you will soon soon!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Its Winter here...No I mean it, its really COLD

Ok to preface this post I would like to let everyone know that the apostrophe is not working on the keyboard that I am typing on so I am not being a lazy typer...ANYWAY:

So I hear that the East Coast is currently in the midst of a tropical heat wave. Thats awesome. I was so cold this morning that my toes were numb. Lets send some of that warm weather back to Zambia where it belongs. Actually the weather has been amazing lately so I really cant complain, its breezy during the day and cool enough to sleep with blankets at night, which is my FAVORITE sleeping weather. I realize that I havent posted in about a month but to be honest I think its because not that much has happened well and I havent really come to Chipata all that much.

 Well ok a bit has happened but not too much that I want to write home about. I had a few firsts. My first REAL bout of homesickness for a few days, where I was just pretty miserable and wanted to be ANYWHERE but rural Zambia. My first episode of real sickness that made me stay in bed for a few days (dont worry it wasnt malaria just some good ole food poisoning, at least thats what I think it was). And my first big fall off my bike while going down a hill with too many things on my the back of it. Im gonna go ahead and say that I would be completely and totally fine if none of those experiences ever happened to me again but I am also 100% that they most definitely will. I just try to keep my negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions off of the internet- they go into letter form instead!

I also had my first feelings of torn allegiance during the US v. Ghana match. Of course I ultimately decided to roots for the US if only because I was the only one in the room, rooting for them (and lets face it I was born and raised in Massachusetts and those are the types of sporting situations I live for). But I was going to be really sad if Ghana got knocked out because the hopes of the continent rested on their shoulders...and they did end up getting knocked out the next round but still...

But as of right now life is good. Im in Chipata today, running around like crazy trying to do a bunch of errands and failing a few of them. I want new seat covers for the cushions on the benches in my hut, but I cant seem to find the right material. Yes, I can be picky in Zambia. Im also supposed to buy my village a new netball (which is the same as a soccer ball) but am hesitant about it because they are pretty expensive and by habit dont like just giving things away, although we havent played in about 2 weeks because our ball is completely destroyed and I really really miss it so I guess I am compromising my morals for my own personal fun and I feel like this may not be the last time I do that...

So all in all life is good, even though I still feel a bit lost as to what I am actually supposed to be doing, but everyone says that becomes more clear and focused with time, so I think thats just what Ive got to give it. I know that a bunch of people have sent letters and packages...or so they say but the Chipata post office is being a bit slow these days but I'm confident that they will come soon soon.