Blogging is easier in Lusaka

So I'm in Lusaka again, more on that later.

I've done a lot since last time, primarily socializing and being massively frustrated with my village. I went to a place called Luangwa Boma with Liz. We had a difficult time getting there, involving lots of lying to hitches, a 5 hour ride in a canter truck, standing in the 50 degree celcius sun and nearly collapsing from heat stroke, and breaking down twice. It was heinous. So when we arrived we decided that we didn't want to stay at the crappy, cheap government guesthouse where we would have to specially request a bucket bath, instead we stayed at the bwana (fancy) place. It had air conditioning!!! Then we decided to leave the next day because it was hot and boring. On our way home from there we stopped in petauke to meet a bunch of friends and watch the US elections. We made cheeseburgers and apple pie and tried to stay up all night. We saw the important parts though! People here are so excited about Obama. They all say "now an African is in charge of America!" except they forget that Obama is actually American. Then they all assume that something bad will happen, and they can't believe that I, a white person, voted for him. It's good talk about and clue them in, but also really frustrating the view that people have of Americans. We are really cultural ambassadors for America, sometimes it seems like the development work is secondary.

Speaking of work, I haven't been doing much. Although my bosses would say that everything I do is work and the more quantifiable things will come with time. This is all true, but it's frustrating to consider jogging through fields the most productive work i did in a day. I've been having a lot of theft problems and frustration with my villagers, and a lack of trust. I'm also frustrated with my clinic staff because they are fairly lazy and ignorant and don't include me in what's going on. The school is on break, so I haven't been able to work there, but I have some plans for January so I'll let y'all know what happens with that.

I also went into chipata for our provincial meeting. I love provincial meetings - and i might be the only person - but I love the camaraderie and the group dinners and the opportunity to watch movies, play games, talk about life, dress up in costumes, and just in general relax - i don't even mind the meetings themselves.

When I came back the rain had taken down my whole fence, destroyed my garden and lightning hit my neighbor's house. We have thunder and lightning everyday. I think i like the fence being down though, i'm not so isolated anymore, it's easier for me to greet people, and I think it might help with the theft. People can see what I'm doing now, for better or for worse, but I'm gonna try to live without any semblance of privacy for a little while.

So about 2 days after getting back I started to feel exhausted and faint and well, it hasn't stopped. I came down to Lusaka a few days ago, i'm still here. I rode down with a member of parliament who was hilarious. He was driving because his security guards don't know how to drive. He was eating a lot of chicken and dancing the rhumba like he just couldn't help himself once the music came on. Then he would suddenly start giving a speech, although I was barely listening, and I don't think he cared whether he had an audience or not. Anyways, it was a pretty good ride. So yeah, I'm still chillin in Lusaka. Hopefully not for too much longer. Also, we went shopping at the designer stores at the mall (I can't believe you can get bcbg here!!!). I wanted to buy a gold lame strapless mini dress, but I couldn't quite justify it, given my lifestyle and all. But man, I miss shopping. I miss a lot of things. I miss America. But Lusaka is always interesting, full of weird contrasts between the projects and the fancy, rich muzungus (white people, who we are still always surprised to see, which is ridiculous because there are quite a few). I also learned that the price of charcoal is 10 times higher here than in my village. But almost everything is 10 times higher.

I had broccoli the other day. whoa. and i might have salad for dinner. that's major. and I saw high school musical 3 and enjoyed myself way too much. same with the new bond movie. you're right mom, he's a babe.

books: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling; The Sixteen Pleasures - Robert Hellenga; Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres; Every Light in the House Burnin - Andrea Levy; The Covenant - James Michener; Under the Rose - Diana Peterfreund; The Sunday Philosphy Club - Alexander McCall Smith; The Book Thief - Markus Zusak; The Right Attitude to Rain - Alexander McCall Smith; Barefoot - Elin Hilderbrand; The Careful Use of Compliments - Alexander McCall Smith; An Equal Music - Vikram Seth; Girl With a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier; State of Fear - Michael Crichton; The Andromeda Strain - Michael Crichton