Wait, that’s Spanish…not chiTumbuka! I’ve been teaching some of my friends here to speak Espanol. It has become a ritual at my hut. Almost every evening, my sister and a few young people that have completed grade 12 (and therefore can speak quite good English) hang out with me. We have leaned quite a lot from each other. I have taught them lots of card games, introduced them to many new genres of music and musicians, talked for great lengths about American culture, and cooked delicious new foods for them (pancakes blew their minds). They tell me all about Zambia from their own perspectives and experiences. It is good to hear this generation’s ideas and views. They are, after all, the ones who are going to make the change and the difference where it really matters.
I’m really surprised at the number of educated individuals that actually complete grade 12 (no easy feat here…there is no free education beyond grade 7 and the cost is ridiculously high, beyond the attainment of most families, especially when they have more than 4 children for whom to pay), yet have no where to go but back home to the village where the only opportunity is to pick up the shovel and hoe and follow in their parents’ struggling footsteps.
I mentioned my Agogo in the last blog. I crocheted her a green hat with a pink and purple flower on it. I don’t think she has taken it off since I gave it to her! She is really cute in it. As always, I will try to post photos…
My Agogo’s name is Idah, as is her granddaughter. Idah the granddaughter is my best friend and sister. She is amazing! If she did well on her grade 9 tests, she will be allowed to continue schooling through grade 12. Grades 10, 11, and 12 cost a family around $200-300 per year. Remember that statistic about Africa that says most families here live on less than $100 a year? Yeah…….
I experienced my first earthquake! There has been some shifting going on in the Great Rift Valley, more over in Malawi, but we are feeling the tremors here. I woke up to my bed shaking. I could simultaneously hear a chicken right outside my wall so my first thought was, “How in the world is that chicken shaking my bed?” Then, I realized how absurd that thought was and blamed the shaking on Mef (my malaria prophylaxis that has been known to cause hallucinations….I’ve only had crazy vivid dreams to date). Later that day, my father, Save Nyasulu (or Zulu for short) told me there was an earthquake and I didn't feel so crazy after all.
My Zambian sister, Idah, gave me a chicken! It is solid white; so naturally, I named it “Blanco Pollo.” While I was at it, I named Idah’s mama chicken “Loco Pollo” because it chases other chickens. The chief gave me a chicken as well! I named it “Comida” because when my sister, Marcey, comes to visit in February (there is not enough room here to express my excitement!!!) she will get to kill and help cook it! Yeah, I don’t think I told you about that yet, Marcey….surprise?
I have really been loving life in my village. I am much more comfortable and happy than I was even a month ago. My relationships with my family here and neighbors strengthen everyday. I’ve met with several fish farmers in the area and have begun advising them on how to improve their current ponds and get them ready to stock with fingerlings. In the upcoming months, I will be conducting management workshops and continue teaching proper feeding techniques. I also helped my father here to measure and dig a new pond!
Development work is difficult. I’m beginning to experience the downsides and flaws of organized (and not so organized) aid programs (Peace Corps included). There is not one simple answer to complex issues. There are many dynamics – cultural, economic, political, historical, religious, local, national, global, generational, etc. – coinciding and colliding. But I didn’t need to come all the way to Africa to figure that one out. I learned it time and time again in college. It is the same in every society and culture. It’s just that…well, I guess I’m just once again realizing how naïve I was before I came. This has been a most humbling and enlightening experience. And the best element is that I continue to discover new things about myself, this culture, American culture, and the natural wonders and cycles of which we are all a part.
Well, right now I’m in Chipata for the holidays (internet has been crap for a few days…). There are 9 of us that came in to celebrate Christmas together at the Provincial house in Chipata. We have been cooking and eating so many delicious dishes. It is so wonderful the people you meet in Peace Corps. I’m talking about the other volunteers. I wasn’t aware of this additional culture with which I would get to interact and become a part of. It is pretty fantastic indeed. There are lots of unique characters and personalities. And it has really broadened my network of friends across the U.S. And it has definitely broadened my repertoire of culinary interests. For breakfast Christmas morning we ate: drop biscuits with gravy made from bacon grease, bacon, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, fruit salad with fresh mangoes and cucumbers, and corn pudding. You have to make almost everything from scratch here and it really makes you realize the incredible-taste-bud-exploding experience that store-bought/pre-made/ready-made/just-add-water products cheat you out of. I’m not convinced anymore that the convenience is worth the sacrifice. For dinner last night, I made Mexican Lasagna. Many of you have tried my attempts at this dish. But we put 2 spins on it here. Aurora made pineapple-mango salsa from scratch for the topping. There are no lasagna noodles to be found in Zambia (maybe Lusaka, but we are 8 hours away), so Kevin made homemade ones! It was pretty fantastic. I successfully made egg nog from scratch. In fact, I have made it three times now and am getting better every time! Makes me think of you Grandma. Wish I could share them with you. I'll make you some when I come home. Oh, and I made banana bread one afternoon and deviled eggs with avocado.
Ok, it’s raining now. I think there is dancing going on in the kitchen, so I’m gonna let yall go for now. Hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Christmas. I miss you all terribly. It has been 6 months since I left Lubbock and last saw my kindred spirits and the land of my birth. It has been 5 months since I left my family and loved ones…longest separation in my life. Something I learned from reading Bless Me, Ultima: it is better to take your experiences (whether trial or tribulation) and turn them into strengths, not weaknesses, for the future.
Oh, one more thing. The clouds here are unreal. Unreal to you at least. Unreal to me at first. It feels like my memories of the first few months of being here are painted with exotic and unbelievable experiences. Recently though, life is becoming more real and personal. I’ve had some very real experiences recently involving violence and death. At the same time, the rains are bringing forth such an explosion of life and love. I enjoy the rhythm of life here. And I like being a part of the whole. I will always be an outsider to this culture, but it is the daily intertwining of my life with the individual lives around me and their spirits, needs, desires, hopes, fears, mysteries, and connections that reaffirms the reality of my experience here. Some days I feel very ordinary and content; like I’ve figured this all out, like I’ve been living this life for a long time. And then, I look up and see these clouds, beautiful and spread across the sky, painted with colors my eyes have never before seen. I watch them as they melt and grow and change and move on, dancing with the sky, and it reminds me of my own dance of growth, change, and impermanence.
Good-bye 2009.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down
The rains have finally come! That might have been the longest drought of my life. 6 months, I think. The rain is really exciting too. It sounds neat on the grass of my roof and I only have a few leaks, mostly right by my door. But it’s ok. Nothing sits there. Oh, except for this chicken I named Lanolin. If I get my photos posted, you can view Lanolin chillin’ in my doorway during a rain. She’s pretty cool.
I’m going to talk about food:
I made peanut butter the other day. It was fun and delicious! I’m thinking I will buy a mortar and pestle when I go back home and make my own peanut butter from now on. It is SO easy. Ok, maybe I’ll splurge every once in a while and buy some creamy Peter Pan…..or Jiffy……mmmmm…….
On a grosser note, I ate a horrible-looking bug with wings. It was really hard to put in my mouth (yes Heather, I know), but once I did it actually tasted incredibly good (yes Heather, again). It had a nice crunch to it. Check out my photos.
Children bring me mangoes almost everyday. Lots and lots of mangoes.
One of my younger brothers here killed a wild rabbit. They said he snuck up on it while it was sleeping and beat it with a stick. He is probably 9 years old. Then, we ate it. It tasted like wild African rabbit.
Now, I’m going to talk about witchcraft:
There was a hyena trying to eat a piglet the other night. Some say it was a witch creature. Either way, our dogs chased it away. Some powers that witch had.
There is a terrestrial snail here that leaves quite large, pretty, white shells everywhere. I told a few people that I like them and want to decorate my house with them after, of course, assuring them that it is a perfectly normal behavior in America (it is right?). So my Agogo (more on her in a bit) and my father have been bringing me shells when they come home from the fields. Every evening this past week, I have been helping my sister Ida study for her final exams. There is a young guy, Saidy (pronounced “Side-ee), from a cluster of houses next to our village that taught at a nearby school. He is better help than I am and laughs just like Tigger, so I let him hang out with us at my house. The other night, he and Ida and a few others were telling me some interesting things about these snail shells. Apparently, witches decorate the shells with classy effects like beads, needles and pubic hair. Then, they use them to fly to America in 2 seconds. No seriously, 2 seconds. But the catch is they have to be naked. No cargo allowed. Then, once in America, they must land at airports (I mean, where else are you going to land a snail shell covered in….yeah) where their friends are waiting with clothing. I wanna know how they contact their friends. Probably wirelessly, through their charred corncob transmitters covered in bull poop. Scott heard a similar story, except the witches there use reed mats and it takes them 20 minutes to get to America (guess witches in my area are more advanced with their intimate hair follicle usage).
Okay….enough of that. How bout granny stuff:
Grandmother in chiTumbuka is “agogo” and does mine ever. She is purty darn old, but spunky as all get out, I mean a real hoot n’ a half (man, I miss Texas, yall). I’ll try to get a better photo than the one where she fell asleep in my “kitchen.” She lives 2 houses down and loves to wander over and check on me several times a day. She kinda has a scowl on her face, especially when she is trying to understand my Tumbuka and scrunches up her nose. But good gracious her smile is a wonderful thing. It spreads across her scowl like raspberry jam on toast. It is so pleasant. I do things or say things sometimes just to get her to smile. It really makes my day. And makes me miss raspberry jam.
The rain has caused the green to ooze out of the streams and creep across the hills. There was this brown and dying lump of plant material right outside my house. It has now shot up 5 elephant ears!!! One fond memory of my American Granny, Ida’s old house was her huge elephant ear plants (that and the snapdragons). It was the first place in my memory that I encountered them. Now, across the years and the miles, I have been blessed with my own elephant ears. It’s the small things that connect us.
I hope all is sweet as peaches. I am enjoying being alive and sharing my beat on this beautiful, insane, insect-ridden earth.
I’m going to talk about food:
I made peanut butter the other day. It was fun and delicious! I’m thinking I will buy a mortar and pestle when I go back home and make my own peanut butter from now on. It is SO easy. Ok, maybe I’ll splurge every once in a while and buy some creamy Peter Pan…..or Jiffy……mmmmm…….
On a grosser note, I ate a horrible-looking bug with wings. It was really hard to put in my mouth (yes Heather, I know), but once I did it actually tasted incredibly good (yes Heather, again). It had a nice crunch to it. Check out my photos.
Children bring me mangoes almost everyday. Lots and lots of mangoes.
One of my younger brothers here killed a wild rabbit. They said he snuck up on it while it was sleeping and beat it with a stick. He is probably 9 years old. Then, we ate it. It tasted like wild African rabbit.
Now, I’m going to talk about witchcraft:
There was a hyena trying to eat a piglet the other night. Some say it was a witch creature. Either way, our dogs chased it away. Some powers that witch had.
There is a terrestrial snail here that leaves quite large, pretty, white shells everywhere. I told a few people that I like them and want to decorate my house with them after, of course, assuring them that it is a perfectly normal behavior in America (it is right?). So my Agogo (more on her in a bit) and my father have been bringing me shells when they come home from the fields. Every evening this past week, I have been helping my sister Ida study for her final exams. There is a young guy, Saidy (pronounced “Side-ee), from a cluster of houses next to our village that taught at a nearby school. He is better help than I am and laughs just like Tigger, so I let him hang out with us at my house. The other night, he and Ida and a few others were telling me some interesting things about these snail shells. Apparently, witches decorate the shells with classy effects like beads, needles and pubic hair. Then, they use them to fly to America in 2 seconds. No seriously, 2 seconds. But the catch is they have to be naked. No cargo allowed. Then, once in America, they must land at airports (I mean, where else are you going to land a snail shell covered in….yeah) where their friends are waiting with clothing. I wanna know how they contact their friends. Probably wirelessly, through their charred corncob transmitters covered in bull poop. Scott heard a similar story, except the witches there use reed mats and it takes them 20 minutes to get to America (guess witches in my area are more advanced with their intimate hair follicle usage).
Okay….enough of that. How bout granny stuff:
Grandmother in chiTumbuka is “agogo” and does mine ever. She is purty darn old, but spunky as all get out, I mean a real hoot n’ a half (man, I miss Texas, yall). I’ll try to get a better photo than the one where she fell asleep in my “kitchen.” She lives 2 houses down and loves to wander over and check on me several times a day. She kinda has a scowl on her face, especially when she is trying to understand my Tumbuka and scrunches up her nose. But good gracious her smile is a wonderful thing. It spreads across her scowl like raspberry jam on toast. It is so pleasant. I do things or say things sometimes just to get her to smile. It really makes my day. And makes me miss raspberry jam.
The rain has caused the green to ooze out of the streams and creep across the hills. There was this brown and dying lump of plant material right outside my house. It has now shot up 5 elephant ears!!! One fond memory of my American Granny, Ida’s old house was her huge elephant ear plants (that and the snapdragons). It was the first place in my memory that I encountered them. Now, across the years and the miles, I have been blessed with my own elephant ears. It’s the small things that connect us.
I hope all is sweet as peaches. I am enjoying being alive and sharing my beat on this beautiful, insane, insect-ridden earth.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!
They don't celebrate halloween here. They don't even know what it is. But I hope you all have fun tonight and get lots of treats!
Well, it has been quite a month indeed. I have 2 hippos that live in a lake that is only a ten minute bicycle ride from my hut! They will migrate to the lake that is a ten minute walk from me in a few months. They are neat to watch. I haven't seen an entire hippo body yet. They stay in the water, only surfacing to breathe and wiggle their ears!
We had a relaxing weekend last weekend celebrating Cherie's birthday! It was so good to see everyone and talk and hang out and be American...well, as American as you can be in the middle of a fetus.
Please, take this moment to guide your eyes to the right of these words and observe the series of letters and numbers that make up my mailing address!!! I am so happy to finally get this posted. My parents have successfully sent a package so it does work! Takes about a month. And this will be my address from now until the end of my service.
I am now able to kill, defeather, gut, butcher and cook an entire chicken all by myself! I am constantly around chickens. Their behaviors range from funny and endearing to annoying and sometimes alarming. I really enjoy them and think I want to live in a place where I can have them when I get back to America. We have guineas here too and they remind me of the ranch, Mom. We also have 3 ducks. There were 4, but I ate one.
My mama here is having an oven built between our houses! She bakes bread a lot and sells it. She gives me buns-i almost everyday. I eat a lot here. Never would have believed I would gain weight in Africa, but I am. The women love to come up to me and tell me "Anya Zulu mwawona tutuba chomene lino!" Which translates to "Anya Zulu you look very fat today!" Being told you are fat is a compliment here. My emotions are torn on that one. Oh yeah, "tutuba" means fat. I think that word is hilarious. I tried to explain what a tuba is, but I don't think they understood. I feel very alone sometimes when it comes to humor. Their sense of humor is so different. They find things funny that I just don't get at all. And then they don't get my humor at all either and I find myself talking to myself, my walls, water bottle, food, mosquito net....anything that I happen to be looking at at the moment. Oh, I don't think I talk out loud that much...but I do just start laughing at things I think of when no one is around.
I'm finding more time to daydream and its so wonderful! I've also been shelling groundnuts and maize with the women. I've been going to lots of meetings. I played netball with some women last night and it was a lot of fun! Netball is like a combination of basketball and ultimate frisbee with a soccerball.
Day-to-day activities include waking up between 6 and 7am. Everyone else gets up between 4 and 5. Then I sweep my hut out...it's always so dusty. Then I eat cereal or oatmeal. My mama brings me tea and rolls. Then I either go to a meeting or read or crochet or hang out with people in my village. Eat lunch and do one of the above activities again. My sister brings supper to my hut if I don't cook. We eat together and then talk. I have recently been teaching her and others how to play cards. They love it, but it gets very exhausting because they want to play ALL the time. Feel free to send playing cards!
Ok gotta go. I'll try to make it back here in a week or so with more info. LOVE!
Well, it has been quite a month indeed. I have 2 hippos that live in a lake that is only a ten minute bicycle ride from my hut! They will migrate to the lake that is a ten minute walk from me in a few months. They are neat to watch. I haven't seen an entire hippo body yet. They stay in the water, only surfacing to breathe and wiggle their ears!
We had a relaxing weekend last weekend celebrating Cherie's birthday! It was so good to see everyone and talk and hang out and be American...well, as American as you can be in the middle of a fetus.
Please, take this moment to guide your eyes to the right of these words and observe the series of letters and numbers that make up my mailing address!!! I am so happy to finally get this posted. My parents have successfully sent a package so it does work! Takes about a month. And this will be my address from now until the end of my service.
I am now able to kill, defeather, gut, butcher and cook an entire chicken all by myself! I am constantly around chickens. Their behaviors range from funny and endearing to annoying and sometimes alarming. I really enjoy them and think I want to live in a place where I can have them when I get back to America. We have guineas here too and they remind me of the ranch, Mom. We also have 3 ducks. There were 4, but I ate one.
My mama here is having an oven built between our houses! She bakes bread a lot and sells it. She gives me buns-i almost everyday. I eat a lot here. Never would have believed I would gain weight in Africa, but I am. The women love to come up to me and tell me "Anya Zulu mwawona tutuba chomene lino!" Which translates to "Anya Zulu you look very fat today!" Being told you are fat is a compliment here. My emotions are torn on that one. Oh yeah, "tutuba" means fat. I think that word is hilarious. I tried to explain what a tuba is, but I don't think they understood. I feel very alone sometimes when it comes to humor. Their sense of humor is so different. They find things funny that I just don't get at all. And then they don't get my humor at all either and I find myself talking to myself, my walls, water bottle, food, mosquito net....anything that I happen to be looking at at the moment. Oh, I don't think I talk out loud that much...but I do just start laughing at things I think of when no one is around.
I'm finding more time to daydream and its so wonderful! I've also been shelling groundnuts and maize with the women. I've been going to lots of meetings. I played netball with some women last night and it was a lot of fun! Netball is like a combination of basketball and ultimate frisbee with a soccerball.
Day-to-day activities include waking up between 6 and 7am. Everyone else gets up between 4 and 5. Then I sweep my hut out...it's always so dusty. Then I eat cereal or oatmeal. My mama brings me tea and rolls. Then I either go to a meeting or read or crochet or hang out with people in my village. Eat lunch and do one of the above activities again. My sister brings supper to my hut if I don't cook. We eat together and then talk. I have recently been teaching her and others how to play cards. They love it, but it gets very exhausting because they want to play ALL the time. Feel free to send playing cards!
Ok gotta go. I'll try to make it back here in a week or so with more info. LOVE!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Salt-stealing cows
Wow! So please, do not expect such frequent bloggings as these. I put up more pics.
We swear-in on Friday. Swearing in for Peace Corps means the same thing as swearing in in the military. We will be swearing to defend the constitution, etc., etc. I get to make a speech in Tumbuka and it will be televised on ZamTV!! crazy.
Friday, I will become an official Peace Corps volunteer! I can't believe I've been here 2 months and that training is almost over! I'm very excited to move to my village, but I'm also sad to be leaving all my fellow trainees. We have all grown very close over the past weeks. 2 trainees went back home last week and that was a weird experience. It was very sad to see them go. It also brought up a lot of mixed emotions and feelings and thoughts and re-evaluations about what I'm doing here and whether or not PC is right for me, if I can handle it, etc. They put a lot of emphasis on contemplation and evaluation of our personal commitments. PC is not an easy journey and it seems a high percentage of people leave before their 2 years are complete. There are situations and emotions that we will go through (and some I/we already have) that are maybe impossible to convey to you because without experiencing them yourself, there are no words. Experiencing and living through these alone and without adequate expression is difficult and everyone deals with it differently on a personal level. I wish all the best to Anthony and Laura. I think we all felt a twinge of jealousy knowing that they now have air conditioning, loved ones nearby, ice cream whenever they want, loved ones nearby, fast internet, loved ones nearby, Mexican food, family and friends...can you tell what I'm missing the most?
People are so different and unique. This is especially fascinating when you realize that Zambians are as diverse as Americans. Loved ones, I know you are still nearby, and will be even closer in 2 years, but I've got a job to do and a Zambian life to live and am terribly excited to get to it! Your words of encouragement in letters, emails, and phone calls are incredibly important to all of us volunteers. Personal comforts can easily be lived without (just ask most rural Zambians). If anything this experience is showing me what is essential in life, what I thrive on personally and as a human being. And only after 2 months! Meghan and I were talking last night and wondering what we will be like in 2 years (as a person). What will our views be? What will be important to us? What will be different? What do we hope will change? What do we hope will not change? What kind of person will we be? How will we come to terms with losing the person we once were? I think these are questions most people face at different times in their life. It just seems like we are fast-tracking them through such an intense experience. But I must admit, this realization makes it all the more exciting and intriguing. I just hope you all still like me. :)
It is odd what has become common-place in my everyday life. I'll try to write down some examples and share them with you at a later time. I've crocheted 7 beanies so far and hope to finish 2 more this week! See my photos for a few.
What's that? You want more philosophizing from me? Ok...so I've been thinking a lot about what I'm doing here....what am I doing here? Have you been wondering the same thing? What the crap does Peace Corps actually do? I honestly did not have a good idea when I first applied nor when I got on the plane to come to Zambia. I think I have a better idea now and I will try to share it with you best as I can...
Peace Corps promotes development and cultural exchange. Yes, I am helping people to develop fish farms, but I am not forcing them to nor am I pretending I know what is best. I am going to be living in a community and providing them with information. Information they could not otherwise find access to (sorry for ending so many sentences with prepositions...my english is going to crap here). When I arrive in my community, I will not tell them that they need fish ponds. If farmers wish to know how to build and manage fish ponds, it is up to them to come to me and work with me in attaining that knowledge. I am to be like a reference point. If the villagers do not want fish ponds, but wish to learn better agricultural practices or maybe they want to grow an orchard, or beekeeping, or they want to know how to make jam, or how to market their crocheted things, or they need help with applying for loans from NGOs...or any number of things...I am there to receive their questions and help them find answers. I am an information resource, not a pusher of beliefs or ideals. Because you are not here, it might be hard to realize the isolation of rural Zambians and their lack of accessible information. It's hard enough to me to find reliable internet, and with the low literacy rate, where and how is a mother of 7 kids (with an 8th grade education) going to find information regarding proper nutrition, and/or information on how to start a sewing co-op with 14 of her closest friends, and/or how she can grow better crops to provide food for her family year-round (yes, most all the women have their own vegetable gardens from which the family survives on. The men grow the cash crops). I will be there to answer questions. If I do not know the answer, my job is to use the resources I have available to me to help them find an answer.
Unlike missionaries and some NGOs, Peace Corps does not promote hand-outs. We do not drive into villages in fancy vehicles, unload a bunch of free crap, and then drive off to expensive hotels with electricity and running water. PC trains individuals to learn the language of the locals and how to take care of oneself in such a rural setting. Then, they drop us off to live with and learn from the people for 2 years. Hopefully, by becoming a trusted member of a community, we will be better able to understand their needs and all the cultural implications wrapped up in the issues and work with them to come up with better solutions to their problems/needs/wants/desires. Also, our development work aims at sustainability. We do not tell the people what they need, instead we work with them, listen to them, and try and help them achieve their goals as sustainably as possible. Sounds good in theory right? We'll see what I think about it all in 2 years...
Oh, not to say missions and NGOs aren't doing great work here....some are, some aren't. Success comes in different forms for different people. I guess what I've learned through training is that our main purpose is to focus on promoting practices that the people can continue to benefit from after we leave their villages. To teach them things that can be passed on to future generations. The second and third goals of PC are cultural exchange. Teach them about American culture and learn Zambian culture to pass on to Americans.
So how about a story?
The little girl (Patti) at my homestay family is scared of cows. These last few evenings after supper we all sit around and chat a little. Patti, being a toddler, will throw tantrums. She likes to grab the container of salt and throw it. So lately the grandmother (Patricia) will hide the salt and when Patti cries for it, Patricia will tell her that the cow outside stole it (there is no cow outside). Then, she will make loud cow noises and Patti will scream and throw herself onto her mother and try to hide! It is so funny! We have a salt stealing cow. Also, my sister Marcey, has recently brought up how interesting it is that different cultures have different sounds for animals. In America, cows say "MOO." Here, cows say "BAUW."How's that for some cultural exchange?
Much love to all. Hope all the philosophizing doesn't have too much B.S. in it...I'm still not sure myself, but I thought I'd give a crack at it (if nothing else, to be able to laugh at myself in a year or so...). Maybe it will give you a better idea of what I'll be trying to achieve personally and professionally over the next 24 months and it will give us all something to discuss in months/years to come.
Thanks for listening. Lutani makola! (go well)
We swear-in on Friday. Swearing in for Peace Corps means the same thing as swearing in in the military. We will be swearing to defend the constitution, etc., etc. I get to make a speech in Tumbuka and it will be televised on ZamTV!! crazy.
Friday, I will become an official Peace Corps volunteer! I can't believe I've been here 2 months and that training is almost over! I'm very excited to move to my village, but I'm also sad to be leaving all my fellow trainees. We have all grown very close over the past weeks. 2 trainees went back home last week and that was a weird experience. It was very sad to see them go. It also brought up a lot of mixed emotions and feelings and thoughts and re-evaluations about what I'm doing here and whether or not PC is right for me, if I can handle it, etc. They put a lot of emphasis on contemplation and evaluation of our personal commitments. PC is not an easy journey and it seems a high percentage of people leave before their 2 years are complete. There are situations and emotions that we will go through (and some I/we already have) that are maybe impossible to convey to you because without experiencing them yourself, there are no words. Experiencing and living through these alone and without adequate expression is difficult and everyone deals with it differently on a personal level. I wish all the best to Anthony and Laura. I think we all felt a twinge of jealousy knowing that they now have air conditioning, loved ones nearby, ice cream whenever they want, loved ones nearby, fast internet, loved ones nearby, Mexican food, family and friends...can you tell what I'm missing the most?
People are so different and unique. This is especially fascinating when you realize that Zambians are as diverse as Americans. Loved ones, I know you are still nearby, and will be even closer in 2 years, but I've got a job to do and a Zambian life to live and am terribly excited to get to it! Your words of encouragement in letters, emails, and phone calls are incredibly important to all of us volunteers. Personal comforts can easily be lived without (just ask most rural Zambians). If anything this experience is showing me what is essential in life, what I thrive on personally and as a human being. And only after 2 months! Meghan and I were talking last night and wondering what we will be like in 2 years (as a person). What will our views be? What will be important to us? What will be different? What do we hope will change? What do we hope will not change? What kind of person will we be? How will we come to terms with losing the person we once were? I think these are questions most people face at different times in their life. It just seems like we are fast-tracking them through such an intense experience. But I must admit, this realization makes it all the more exciting and intriguing. I just hope you all still like me. :)
It is odd what has become common-place in my everyday life. I'll try to write down some examples and share them with you at a later time. I've crocheted 7 beanies so far and hope to finish 2 more this week! See my photos for a few.
What's that? You want more philosophizing from me? Ok...so I've been thinking a lot about what I'm doing here....what am I doing here? Have you been wondering the same thing? What the crap does Peace Corps actually do? I honestly did not have a good idea when I first applied nor when I got on the plane to come to Zambia. I think I have a better idea now and I will try to share it with you best as I can...
Peace Corps promotes development and cultural exchange. Yes, I am helping people to develop fish farms, but I am not forcing them to nor am I pretending I know what is best. I am going to be living in a community and providing them with information. Information they could not otherwise find access to (sorry for ending so many sentences with prepositions...my english is going to crap here). When I arrive in my community, I will not tell them that they need fish ponds. If farmers wish to know how to build and manage fish ponds, it is up to them to come to me and work with me in attaining that knowledge. I am to be like a reference point. If the villagers do not want fish ponds, but wish to learn better agricultural practices or maybe they want to grow an orchard, or beekeeping, or they want to know how to make jam, or how to market their crocheted things, or they need help with applying for loans from NGOs...or any number of things...I am there to receive their questions and help them find answers. I am an information resource, not a pusher of beliefs or ideals. Because you are not here, it might be hard to realize the isolation of rural Zambians and their lack of accessible information. It's hard enough to me to find reliable internet, and with the low literacy rate, where and how is a mother of 7 kids (with an 8th grade education) going to find information regarding proper nutrition, and/or information on how to start a sewing co-op with 14 of her closest friends, and/or how she can grow better crops to provide food for her family year-round (yes, most all the women have their own vegetable gardens from which the family survives on. The men grow the cash crops). I will be there to answer questions. If I do not know the answer, my job is to use the resources I have available to me to help them find an answer.
Unlike missionaries and some NGOs, Peace Corps does not promote hand-outs. We do not drive into villages in fancy vehicles, unload a bunch of free crap, and then drive off to expensive hotels with electricity and running water. PC trains individuals to learn the language of the locals and how to take care of oneself in such a rural setting. Then, they drop us off to live with and learn from the people for 2 years. Hopefully, by becoming a trusted member of a community, we will be better able to understand their needs and all the cultural implications wrapped up in the issues and work with them to come up with better solutions to their problems/needs/wants/desires. Also, our development work aims at sustainability. We do not tell the people what they need, instead we work with them, listen to them, and try and help them achieve their goals as sustainably as possible. Sounds good in theory right? We'll see what I think about it all in 2 years...
Oh, not to say missions and NGOs aren't doing great work here....some are, some aren't. Success comes in different forms for different people. I guess what I've learned through training is that our main purpose is to focus on promoting practices that the people can continue to benefit from after we leave their villages. To teach them things that can be passed on to future generations. The second and third goals of PC are cultural exchange. Teach them about American culture and learn Zambian culture to pass on to Americans.
So how about a story?
The little girl (Patti) at my homestay family is scared of cows. These last few evenings after supper we all sit around and chat a little. Patti, being a toddler, will throw tantrums. She likes to grab the container of salt and throw it. So lately the grandmother (Patricia) will hide the salt and when Patti cries for it, Patricia will tell her that the cow outside stole it (there is no cow outside). Then, she will make loud cow noises and Patti will scream and throw herself onto her mother and try to hide! It is so funny! We have a salt stealing cow. Also, my sister Marcey, has recently brought up how interesting it is that different cultures have different sounds for animals. In America, cows say "MOO." Here, cows say "BAUW."How's that for some cultural exchange?
Much love to all. Hope all the philosophizing doesn't have too much B.S. in it...I'm still not sure myself, but I thought I'd give a crack at it (if nothing else, to be able to laugh at myself in a year or so...). Maybe it will give you a better idea of what I'll be trying to achieve personally and professionally over the next 24 months and it will give us all something to discuss in months/years to come.
Thanks for listening. Lutani makola! (go well)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sabata
Check out photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ehoelting
I visited my soon-to-be new village, where I'll be living for the next 2 years! It was such an incredible experience. The people are so nice and welcoming and generous. They taught me how to make peanut butter! My village's name is Jimsangu and I am now the daughter of a group headman. So the hierarchy of the traditional system in Phikamalaza is:
Chief
8 group headmen
10 or 11 headmen underneath each of the group headmen
My Zambian "father" is a group headman over a certain area of the Phikamalaza chiefdom. His last name is Nyasulu or Zulu for short. So my name is now Erin Zulu. Everyone calls me Anya Zulu (Anya is like "Miss"). Also, "r's" are usually interchangeable with "l's" so my name sounds like Ellen Zulu! :)
My village actually wanted a female volunteer. This is a very good thing! There is a very strong and large women's group already formed in my village. They have a few fish ponds built as well. They want to learn American crochet stitches and want to teach me their Zambian stitches!!! As you can imagine, I am very excited about this! I received many gifts while I was there (bananas, papaya, teas, a fruit called cabeza). I was even given 2 live pigeons...one I ate for supper that day, the other for lunch the next day. They left the one in my house in a pot over night. When I woke up the next morning it had jumped out and was sitting in the corner!
The 3 volunteers that have been living in Lundazi district for a year are amazing human beings! I am very excited to be a part of their "Dazi family." I really did not want to leave, but I had to come back to training so that I can swear-in and become an official volunteer (I'm still just a trainee).
Eastern Province is very beautiful! Lots of mountains and rolling hills. However, Lundazi district is on a flat plateau...just like Lubbock. But there are lots of mango and banana trees everywhere! Bananas here taste so much better than any I've had before. Lundazi also has a castle! Don't believe me? check out my photos (link at the top)
We did not have enough time to set up a P.O. box at the post office. Soooooo unfortunately I have no address to give you at this time. It makes me sad. Next month I will be able to give you an address.
I have a week and a half left of training! We will swear-in on Sept. 25.
Yesterday, we went into Lusaka and saw lions, monkeys, birds, camels, lots of different ungulates, wild dogs, and a cheetah! We got to swim and I ate a crocodile burger! It was quite a lot of fun. There was also a 22nd year anniversary concert for Peter Tosh going on, so I got to hear some reggae! MAMA AFRICAAAAA!
I'm starting to wear chitenges more and more. Chitenges are pieces of cloth that women use for all kinds of things...usually as a skirt, but they also use them for aprons, blankets, to sit on, to carry a baby with, towels, etc.
Here is a list of things to send me....if ya feel like it:
hard candy (life savers, jolly ranchers, butterscotch thingys, etc)
gummy candies (jelly beans, gummy worms, sour gummy worms, etc)
drink mixes (koolaid, whatever)
COFFEE! (there is only instant coffee. except for one grocery store in Lusaka)
soup mixes....heck, if you can fit a macaroni and cheese box in that would be incredible!
velveeta cheese
magazines (doesn't matter how old the issue is!)
books
fun paper scraps
YARN!!!! (any color, any style. the yarn here is super thin)
crochet patterns
thread
kleenex packets
maps (good for educating the kids)
crayons, markers, crafty things to foster creativity in the children
anything lightweight laying around the house that you don't want.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ehoelting
I visited my soon-to-be new village, where I'll be living for the next 2 years! It was such an incredible experience. The people are so nice and welcoming and generous. They taught me how to make peanut butter! My village's name is Jimsangu and I am now the daughter of a group headman. So the hierarchy of the traditional system in Phikamalaza is:
Chief
8 group headmen
10 or 11 headmen underneath each of the group headmen
My Zambian "father" is a group headman over a certain area of the Phikamalaza chiefdom. His last name is Nyasulu or Zulu for short. So my name is now Erin Zulu. Everyone calls me Anya Zulu (Anya is like "Miss"). Also, "r's" are usually interchangeable with "l's" so my name sounds like Ellen Zulu! :)
My village actually wanted a female volunteer. This is a very good thing! There is a very strong and large women's group already formed in my village. They have a few fish ponds built as well. They want to learn American crochet stitches and want to teach me their Zambian stitches!!! As you can imagine, I am very excited about this! I received many gifts while I was there (bananas, papaya, teas, a fruit called cabeza). I was even given 2 live pigeons...one I ate for supper that day, the other for lunch the next day. They left the one in my house in a pot over night. When I woke up the next morning it had jumped out and was sitting in the corner!
The 3 volunteers that have been living in Lundazi district for a year are amazing human beings! I am very excited to be a part of their "Dazi family." I really did not want to leave, but I had to come back to training so that I can swear-in and become an official volunteer (I'm still just a trainee).
Eastern Province is very beautiful! Lots of mountains and rolling hills. However, Lundazi district is on a flat plateau...just like Lubbock. But there are lots of mango and banana trees everywhere! Bananas here taste so much better than any I've had before. Lundazi also has a castle! Don't believe me? check out my photos (link at the top)
We did not have enough time to set up a P.O. box at the post office. Soooooo unfortunately I have no address to give you at this time. It makes me sad. Next month I will be able to give you an address.
I have a week and a half left of training! We will swear-in on Sept. 25.
Yesterday, we went into Lusaka and saw lions, monkeys, birds, camels, lots of different ungulates, wild dogs, and a cheetah! We got to swim and I ate a crocodile burger! It was quite a lot of fun. There was also a 22nd year anniversary concert for Peter Tosh going on, so I got to hear some reggae! MAMA AFRICAAAAA!
I'm starting to wear chitenges more and more. Chitenges are pieces of cloth that women use for all kinds of things...usually as a skirt, but they also use them for aprons, blankets, to sit on, to carry a baby with, towels, etc.
Here is a list of things to send me....if ya feel like it:
hard candy (life savers, jolly ranchers, butterscotch thingys, etc)
gummy candies (jelly beans, gummy worms, sour gummy worms, etc)
drink mixes (koolaid, whatever)
COFFEE! (there is only instant coffee. except for one grocery store in Lusaka)
soup mixes....heck, if you can fit a macaroni and cheese box in that would be incredible!
velveeta cheese
magazines (doesn't matter how old the issue is!)
books
fun paper scraps
YARN!!!! (any color, any style. the yarn here is super thin)
crochet patterns
thread
kleenex packets
maps (good for educating the kids)
crayons, markers, crafty things to foster creativity in the children
anything lightweight laying around the house that you don't want.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Zamtasticalness
The top picture is a sunset as seen on the path to my house. The next photo is my hut with chimbuzi in the background. The next photo is of my fellow Tumbuka friends/students/soon-to-be neighbors inside our classroom! left to right: Cherie, Dan, and Scott.
So I chopped off my hair! My friend Leah chopped hers off with me. Here are our before and after photos. And actually, mine got trimmed down a little more than what's in the picture to even things out.
I leave tomorrow to visit my site for a week. From what I've heard (and I will know more after next week), it is right on the Zambia/Malawi border! During that time I will get a P.O. Box. Please, stop sending mail to the Lusaka address now and wait for me to put up my new one.
We are having a dance party tonight! wooooo!
I can't remember what I posted on the last blog so I don't know what to say on this one! I feel like I'm leaving out important details so email me some questions and I will try to answer them on the next blog.
The weather is getting windy and is warming up. Things are supposed to get really hot and dry. Then, at the very beginning of November the bottom of the sky will fall out and it will rain almost non-stop until March. But for now it is mild and the stars are beautiful at night. I have seen a shooting star and have watched a full cycle of the moon. Being outside almost all the time, I am really paying more attention to nature....yes, even more than I did in NHH and growing up on the ranch. There are a heck of a lot of bugs.
Here are the coordinates for my hut (just during training): s15 21 57.97 e28 41 43.98
Put them into google earth to see my roof! :)
Mukhale makola! (stay well)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Nowhere you can be that is isn’t where you’re meant to be
It has been about one month since I left home and the U.S. Just some
quick information regarding my intake group: there are 42 of us total
forming 2 groups. My group is RAP and deals with helping farmers
integrate fish farming into their livelihoods. There are 18 Rappers.
The other group is CHIP and they are focused on community health. So
PC Zambia has been calling our intake “fish and chips.” Cute, huh?
I am learning the language Tumbuka (pronounced “Toom-boo-ka”). If you
wanna see the area I will be in for 2 years starting at the end of
September, or if you just wanna practice your geography skills, find a
map of Zambia and look up Eastern Province and then within it, the
Lundazi district. There are 4 of us going somewhere in there. I will
find out my exact site next week. Then the next week (1st week of
Sept.), I will be traveling to my site to check it out and set up my
new mailing address for all you love-letter-writers out there.
I have been living with a Zambian family for the last 3 weeks. They
are an unusual Zambian family in that there are only 3 of them: a
grandmother Ba-Patricia (age 48), her daughter Eneress (age 24), and
Eneress’ baby Patti (age 1.5). That’s it. No men, no cows, no goats,
and heavens-to-betsy no chickens! Speaking of animals, I have seen
nothing crazy….other than a herd of monkeys crossing a road. The only
“wildlife” around are lizards, small birds, dogs, cats, cows (not very
many), goats (quite a few), and a sushi-load of chickens (“sushi” is
Bemba for poop. Oh, and “taco” means butt, so you can imagine the
jokes).
My days are pretty full and busy. I wake up around 6:30am. After using
the chimbuzi (outhouse), I eat breakfast and walk to language class.
Language class lasts from 8am to noon. Then, I have 2 hours to eat
lunch and ride my neat Trek mountain bike to technical training. In
technical training, I learn all the ins and outs of rural fish
farming. It is pretty interesting and involves quite a bit. This lasts
from 2-5. Then, I bike home while rockin’ out to the Beatles
(obviously), Tom Petty, Bob Marley, and/or Vampire Weekend (thanks
Caitlin! And I hope you had a very Merry Birthday! I was thinkin’
about you August 2 and wishing I could’ve celebrated with you). The
trail I get to ride my bike on is really fun and you can haul buns (or
just water, on your head as most Zambian women do).
When I get home, my ba-mama has hot water ready for my bucket
bath!!!!! Hands down the best part of my day. It is very relaxing. The
African sun is usually just setting. The view from my bathing shelter
looks out across a valley. I can see other huts and sometimes people
walking around. Children are always playing and you can hear them
laughing and yelling at each other. There is a lot of singing here, as
well as some really fun bird sounds. And I get to stand there naked,
in a light breeze, surrounded by a straw enclosure that turns golden
as it catches the long, evening rays of a sunset, with my feet soaking
in warm water, completely immersed in this far-away land rich with its
sounds, smells, strangeness, and surreal moments. Then I dry off, dump
the dirty water, and get ready for supper.
I eat every lunch and supper with the family sitting on a reed mat.
The staple food here is shima (or nshima, or sima depending on your
language) which is made from corn flour and water. You ball it up and
use it to scoop up whatever else you are eating (potatoes, beans,
eggs, chicken, vegetables, etc.). After supper, I hang out and listen
to Patricia and Eneress talk really fast in Tumbuka and try to pick
out words I am learning. Then, I go to my hut and read/write in my
journal/study Tumbuka/brush my teeth/practice my aim in the
chimbuzi/occasionally talk to Jim, Mom, Dad, Birdy, anybody that
calls, and then fall asleep somewhere around 8 or 9. The sun goes down
around 6 and since there is no electricity, there is not much to do.
And it is REALLY nice getting a good 10 hours of sleep every night!
Oh yes, I should probably let you know the communication situation. I
am going to have very limited internet use. Good, fast internet
connection, that is. But please note: I have internet on my phone so I
can check my gmail. However, I’ve tried repeatedly (as well as other
volunteers here) to reply and send emails from gmail and it has never
worked. So feel free to send me quick emails any time you want. I’ll
get them, but won’t be able to reply. Just let me know what’s going on
with you and the outside world. I can reply to myspace and facebook
messages (I know I said I wasn't going to use them....but to
communicate with you I will make exceptions). I have almost zero
access to currentevents. There are very few places with internet fast
enough to upload pictures or to operate on Skype. But I do have a
phone that you can call anytime after 7ish my time, which is noon for
central time. BUT remember, I go to bed by 9…..so you only have a
2 hour window! This will change in October when I am at my site and
no longer have classes or any schedule for that matter.
I believe you must dial this to reach me: 011-260-977-746-154
I believe others have told me that calling cards are cheaper than
Skype for Zambia.
I also believe that all you need is love.
Ok, I guess this is all for now. Hopefully, I will be able to come
back to an internet café to upload another blog before I am posted at
my site. I’m not sure of the internet situation at site, but hopefully
I will be able to blog every month or two.
Keep on living courageously, all you fine folks out there. I miss you
dearly and look forward to hearing from you. And remember, love is all
you need. All together now! All you need is love! Everybody! Love!
Love…love is all you need.
Monday, July 20, 2009
T-minus
Today, my family is going to Dallas to pick up my little sister (who flies in from her summer in Germany).
Tomorrow, my family drops me off for my flight to Virginia, where I will be for about 36 hours.
Wednesday, I hop on a plane (and yes, I intend to hop) for Johannesburg, South Africa, where I will switch planes for Lusaka, Zambia.
Thursday, I arrive in beautiful and far away Zambia.
I've got soooooo much to do today! Although Jim and I shaved him, I don't think Mesa is going to fit in my luggage. He loves visitors so feel free to visit him at my parents house!
You, yes you, can write and mail me a letter today! Keep in mind I am a very fast swimmer so I will most likely beat it there, but it would be oh so wonderful to receive a piece of you to have with me on my adventures.
here's one of my favorite pictures from my going away party at Skooners in Lubbock:
it's me, Daniel, and Yvette
Tomorrow, my family drops me off for my flight to Virginia, where I will be for about 36 hours.
Wednesday, I hop on a plane (and yes, I intend to hop) for Johannesburg, South Africa, where I will switch planes for Lusaka, Zambia.
Thursday, I arrive in beautiful and far away Zambia.
I've got soooooo much to do today! Although Jim and I shaved him, I don't think Mesa is going to fit in my luggage. He loves visitors so feel free to visit him at my parents house!
You, yes you, can write and mail me a letter today! Keep in mind I am a very fast swimmer so I will most likely beat it there, but it would be oh so wonderful to receive a piece of you to have with me on my adventures.
Erin Hoelting, PCV
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka
Zambia
here's one of my favorite pictures from my going away party at Skooners in Lubbock:
it's me, Daniel, and Yvette
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Independence Day
I just watched a spectacular fireworks display in Houston with Jim my love, Monkey my brother (with me in the picture to the left), and Will my fantastic friend! This year marks the 40th year anniversary of man landing on the moon....so Houston celebrated by putting on the largest fireworks display in North America.I have officially left Lubbock. I'm sorry if I did not get to see you before I left, but my time is limited and there is still so much to do. I will miss the west Texas sunsets and I look forward to the day I will be able to return to the place of my birth. Take care fellow Lubbuckians! I love you and will miss you dearly.
So for staging, I will actually be leaving Dallas on July 21st and heading to Arlington, V.A. I will be there for a little over 24 hours before flying out to Africa on the 22nd. I am sad about all the people and things I will miss, but I am still very excited about the crazy journey ahead of me. I also broke down and bought my very first (and possibly last) ipod...I've gotta take my music with me somehow. woo technology....I hope (but don't believe) you won't disappoint me.
Monkey and I are on a trek around Texas...well...just Austin and Houston. I'll put pics up later. Peace.
Here is Jim and I at an Astros game.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
2 weeks left in Lubbock
As many of you already know, I will be serving in Zambia in the Peace Corps. I leave July 22 for staging and then head to Africa a few days later. I do not have specific details for staging yet.
So I spend my last 2 weeks in LBK trying to hammer out a research paper for my final class....talk about a lack of motivation. It is pretty dang hot outside though and I do not want to run the A/C much so I spend my time at the library "working on my paper." I think I spend more time staring out the huge windows....maybe I should move to the basement.
Well, I don't have much more than this to say, so I'll leave you with a list of birds I have been watching flittering around outside:
robin
house sparrow
house finch
doves - mourning and rock....probably
grackles
brown feathers
gray feathers
man weed-eating with a cigarette wearing a black cowboy hat
old man with a funny hat
obese lady
lady on phone with a backpack, purse and 2 handbags
nervous potential freshmen with bossy parents and schedules
ol' bushel-britches
flip-flops
orange
ol' bushel-britches
flip-flops
orange
here's a picture of Mesa on his move to the ranch
Stay tuned for more information on how to send me love in the form of letters and packages filled with all those neat things that the internet hasn't figured out how to send. yet.
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