when you see we're all one

Heh….so I wrote over half of this blog several months ago and I sincerely apologize for the delay in finishing and posting it. This is a brief (and quite inadequate, I realize) account of my adventures with my brother. Ironically, my sister, Heather, is here with me now. I’ll try not to wait so long to put up stories of what’s going on now…

My brother, Tanner, arrived in Lusaka the week of Christmas. It was so exciting to see him walk out of the terminal! He came walking out with video camera device in hand, with which he took hours of beautiful footage while here. We stayed the next day in Lusaka and wandered around neighborhood streets catching up.

We tried hitching to Chipata but ended up taking a bus after waiting for 2 hours at one place. Transport at the beginning of his trip was terribly frustrating. We took the bus up to Lundazi: had to wait 3 hours in the bus station and then the bus took 6 freakin hours! We arrived in Lundazi well after dark. I honestly have never been so upset at traveling here. If I had a car it would have taken 3 hours. I miss having my own personal mode of transportation.

So we made it to the village on Christmas day, after stopping to help pull a car out of a ditch. The weather was sunny and hot with a breeze. It didn’t feel like Christmas at all. My village family killed a pig for the occasion and Tanner had brought gifts for the village. It was a happy fun day. We also got to witness some traditional dancers putting on a show.

The next few days in the village were spent showing Tanner my day-to-day routine and a bit about my work. I introduced him to lots of my friends. We even tried to see the hippos that live near me. As we were walking up to the lake, an earth-shattering gun blast scared the stuffing out of me. It was the first gun I’d heard fired in a year and a half and we were out in the bush. I went into slight panic mode wondering who was shooting at what and why. It didn’t make sense until a ZAWA (Zambia Wildlife Authority) man in uniform walked out from some reeds by the water’s edge with an AK47. He was shooting at the hippos to scare them, because 2 days prior the mama hippo had killed a cow. She had been trying to attack a drunk man but a cow was in the way so she killed it instead (and this was about 3 weeks after the same hippo actually killed a man from the nearby village). So ZAWA’s answer to the cries for help from the people was to fire shots in the direction of the hippo in hopes of scaring it into not killing anymore. There are 3 hippos total in the lake and they virtually destroy villagers livelihood every year. These hippos aren't even native to the area. They only came from Malawi a few years ago after the people decided to construct a lake there to help irrigate crops and now the people are even worse off. All I’m saying is that 2 of those hippos would feed my entire chiefdom. J

Speaking of chiefdoms, I took my brother to meet the chief. As for an update on him…I'll follow the old adage of "saying nothing at all." To which Peace Corps adds: especially on the internet. So if you’re super interested in that aspect of the culture, find me when I get back, and I’d love to enlighten you on my experiences. I will say that the chief did give us a chicken. That was nice.

Here's Tanner helping my family weed in their maize field:

After the village we headed down to Livingstone to explore Vic Falls. This time of year was great because the water level was down and we could walk across the top of the falls. We walked over the rocks to a small natural pool called Angels Armchair, where we could swim up to the very edge of the falls and look over! It was astonishing!

We celebrated new years there and had a rowdy time. Then, we also went on a walking safari where we saw giraffes, wildebeest, zebra, etc. But the best was the white rhino! I’ve now seen the “Big Five” (elephant, leopard, lion, water buffalo, and rhino). I’m not even sure how to describe the majestically powerful nature of the machines we call rhinos. It was one of the most intense experiences I’ve had with wildlife here. We got within 8 meters (24 feet for y’all in Amerca)!

Tanner, thank you for all the wonderful memories and amazing adventures and the great sacrifice it took to come visit and for putting up with me when I gibber-gabbered and complained about all the frustrating things here. You helped lift my spirit and see the beauty that I had forgotten through the clouds of frustration. I love you so much! And I’m sorry I made you miss your flight…apparently the airport is the one place in Zambia that actually runs on time…most of the time. J