I'm Forgetting How to Use Technology

Sorry it's been so long since I posted, I was too busy watching Prison Break in August when I was last at a computer. That show is seriously addicting! Some people are wondering how I get television and movies. We have a house in our provincial capital where we can stay 3 nights a month. We have a massive movie collection here and we can buy pirated tv shows right here in Chipata! So we like to come for a few days, relax, watch movies, cook with an oven, drink refridgerated drinks, sit on a couch.

Since I last wrote... I got a new bicycle, it's shiny and red and I've gotten really pretty decent at riding it. I no longer fall off from my terrible sense of balance every time I have to stop - and I'm feeling pretty powerful and awesome when I go on my bushpath rides. The other day I almost got stormed by some fighting bulls and had to do some pretty creative riding so i didn't get gored! Also one time I hit a piglet. It happens.

I've gotten a lot more comfortable with hitchhiking. On my way to Lusaka for our week-long training in August, my friend and I rode in the front of a pickup with a 65ish white Zambian man who was going to pick up his wife. We had such a great conversation with him about the history of the land and people in Eastern Province and we talked about rendering hippo fat, hunting elephants and battling lions. He told us about his gold mining hobby and his children and playing around in the bush as a little boy. Then we met his wife and we rode the rest of the way into the city with her driver and her nephew, an effeminate goth of the late 1990's style (including glittery claires keychains draped all over his body) who was a contestant on South African Idol. Also in hitching i've had a lot of conversations with city zambians who have no idea how I manage to live in the village. They are always very impressed with us. They can't believe we can manage without running water or electricity or in a mud house.

Speaking of house, we built my kitchen: a separate round mud/grass structure where I can cook during the rains without getting carbon monoxide poisoning by trying to burn charcoal in my house. Also, we are painting my house with mud and ash to make a pretty black, white and red design. I'm going to put cement on the floors soon to try and make a dent on my vast ant problem. And I sleep on a flat, wooden bed now which is wonderful. I built a garden, which was really fun and I've got squash, lettuce, carrots. The lettuce has been soooo good. It's too hot for the squash, so it's all dying and the carrots arent ready yet. Sometimes I feel like i'm just playing house.

So we had a training in Lusaka for a week which was great because I got to see all my friends I hadn't seen since April, and we got to go out to restaurants and take city transport and become more familiar with Lusaka. While we were there the President of Zambia died after suffering a stroke, which was a very sad day for everyone because he was a very popular president. There was a long period of mourning, parades and viewings of the body. Now there is going to be elections in October. It's all really interesting to watch. The schools have stations set up for people who've lost their voter cards and everyone is amazed that I can still vote for the American President from here in Zambia!

On our last night in Lusaka we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, which is really really swanky. So obviously we rolled up filthy in a minibus and they offered us champagne flutes of guava juice with beautiful fruit decorations and a green sugar crystal rim. Then we rode in an elevator for the first time in 6 months - it blew our minds. The room had a hairdryer (!!!) and the shower had massager settings. There was a button on the phone that said "instant service" so I pressed it and ordered some wine glasses and we sat in the room all night drinking south african wine we bought at the gas station, eating onion dip and watching the olympics. It was fantastic.

Work-wise I've had a lot going on. I've got a lot of different clubs starting up including home-based care, orphan support, girls life skills and anti-aids. I've been doing some more hilarious hiv info sessions for the teenagers. I'm working on trying to find some more accessible water for one of my villages and we want to try and get a maternity ward built. Everything goes really slowly. The club meetings can be painful because mostly they just want money and/or things from me, and they don't usually know what they want - they just want to start a club because they think they should. Then they ask me for ideas. There's a real lack of creativity and imagination - it's just something most villagers have never really had an opportunity to tap into. People do what they've always done, and trying to branch out ain't easy.

A couple weeks ago I went to a huge cultural ceremony in Katete. I live with the Chewa people, who are based in Eastern Province, Malawi and Mozambique. The Paramount Chief lives here, so at this ceremoney, called Kulamba, all the chiefs from the 3 countries attend, as well as important political leaders, headmen, and ceremonial dancers. There are also representatives of other nearby tribes to pay respects. There are lots of speeches, gift giving ceremonies, dancing, and TONS of drunk people selling shit. It was a madhouse. But interesting.

It's starting to get really hot. I'll keep you posted on how I manage. Also, a reminder that mail is really really awesome, even if it's a note or a postcard or a magazine or a piece of american candy. seriously. I will respond to absolutely everything.

and now for the books (i don't know if you guys think this is interesting, but books are my entertainment and what i'm reading can have a big impact on what i'm thinking): Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert; Jemima J. - Jane Green; The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver; Sickened - Julie Gregory; The Ginger Tree - Oswald Wynd; Secret Society Girl - Diana Peterfreund; Pigs in Heaven - Barbara Kingsolver; How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent - Julia Alvarez; Beloved - Toni Morrison; Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas - Tom Robbins; Killing Yourself to Live - Chuck Klosterman; Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov; My Horizontal Life - Chelsea Handler; Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi; Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea - Chelsea Handler; The Tuesday Erotica Club - Lisa Beth Kovitz; Smashed: the Story of a Drunken Girlhood - Koren Zailckas; I was Told There'd be Cake - Sloane Crosley; Pompeii - Robert Harris; New Moon - Stephenie Meyer; Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer; Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See; Waltzing the Cat - Pam Houston; The Law of Similars - Chris Bohjalian; Animal Dreams - Barbara Kingsolver.

Whew, but seriously I work too guys, I'm not just reading.