Something new everyday!

I was given a huge pumpkin and I knew I couldn't get it all, so I cooked it then added vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. I shared it with my family. The kids didn't seem to mind it too much, but my Mama and Tata didn't like it at all.

My BaTata invited me to attend a mini Tonga (harvest) Festival in a local village. I was excited to go and had a great time, though it did last a little too long and watching the men get drunk was not my favorite part. I did get to meet the local witch doctor and he dressed up for me and showed me a mock witch/demon finding ceremony.   He put a stick in the ground and gave it an offering of nshima, two boys held the stick and then the stick "led" them to a demon which they proceeded to fight back into the ground. It lasted for like forty five minutes it was amazing to see something that I had only ever read about. Then they took out the drums and danced to traditional tribal songs while getting progressively drunker. The tribal dances were cool but this went on for 6 HOURS! And I was sober the whole time.

A man from seed company, the Zambian equivalent of Monsanto, came to see me and gave me some free sorghum, maize and soybean, ground nuts, ginger and some seeds from home as well. I have been planing a garden, I'll have to make it bigger now. I learned that I own the Savannah next to my house so I'll actually be able to use that. My Batata burned it as a fire block, so it's now ready for me to till. I'm planting 16 crops in total. I'm hoping to get chicken wire and chickens next week and a goat soon as well. I met the man than owns the hardware store in Mufumbwe and he will bring the chicken wire to me. I also learned that the type of grass that were in my savannah show it is very fertile and will be great for a garden.

My teacher Mr Kashindwa has set up a club of kids that want to learn more about America, so I've been teach an "American" class. They have lots of questions, misconceptions and interest. It is fun and interesting to learn what they do and don't know. I was asked how long I had to live in Zambia for my skin to turn black - no little Zambians you are not burned to a crisp! I showed them pictures of builidings and streets in the US, one had a clock on a building, they didn't know what it was. When I explained it was like a watch, which they know what that is, they said why do we not tell time by the sun and why do we care what time it is.

I am really enjoying getting to know the 2 farmers I am working with,
Mr. Makonde and Danny. They are very excited to learn new techniques and are very smart when it comes to creating tools. Here is a picture of a hand held corn sheller that one of them had a local welder make. It slides over the ear of corn and is twisted to shell the corn off the cob.

They also are very open to new ideas and both work in the fields with their wives and are very proud of that. In fact one of their wives is a teacher at the High School in Mufumbwe and they live there during the week. When I told him that I didn't have the math skills to figure out something we were trying to make, he said he didn't either and then pointed to his wife, smiled and said, "math teacher". He says the only way you can become successful is to work in the fields with your family and to take good care of your farm and profits.
I have gotten to sit in on a couple of meetings of the farm co-op. It's interesting to learn what they now do and what they want to learn from me.

I was also given a ginger root, and it is as big as my head, here's the proof! I have been using it in everything.

I love watching my brothers, Maka and Popo doing their favorite job of the day, getting the chickens in for the night. Every night, they chase them around the yard yelling, and trying to catch them. One night I heard the boys and I also heard Marangu yelling at them, the boys were buck naked running after the chickens and Marangu with their clothes in his hands were chasing them and hollering to stop and get dressed!

Marangu came home from Mufumbwe with a tiger fish from the market. It was as long as from my waist to the ground. It was from the Zambezi river.

I had my first site visit from BaHenry, our PCTrainer. He comes to our villages and interviews people about us and sees how we are doing, integrating and taking care of ourselves. He was very excited with my progress. He even asked me to speak at the IST (In-service training) in August.
He said that the people at the tuck shops and they in the village all know me, and like me. My family loves me. They teachers at the school and great things to say as well.
He said he was happy to learn that I had made so many contact by going to the school for language lessons and by attending a different church each week. He also said that the programs I've start and have ready to go are good and very innovative.
He liked that I was very well settled and that they had not received any complains from me as I've not had any problems or things to complain about.

I have also learned that I had a couple of things wrong, just due to language problems. My BaTata was introduced to me as Headman Mujillo, so I thought that was his name, but actually the village I live in is actually called Mjuillo and he is the headman of it, and Kowama is sort of like a county, including a group of villages all in one area. My Batata's name is Pollom and my BaMama's name is Sylvia.

Little Maureen was sick and had to be in the clinic in Mufumbwe for a few days, but is home and seems to be better, not as cranky. My BaMama had a very bad day - I heard her yelling at all the kids and screaming at a woman in the middle of the road, not a side of her I'd seen before. We all have those days I guess.

I had a drunk man come into my compound one night and wouldn't leave, I had to get Marangu to come to make the man leave. He came back again the other night and my BaMama came yelling and ran him off. It's good to have them close and so protective of me. 

Was woken up to wailing the other night, next morning I found out a little girl across the road had died. It is so eerie and spooky to hear it in the middle of the night. Also, my BaTata's brother died last week.

I had a great day of American company one day by going into Mufumbwe and meeting up with two other volunteers that are close. We had a day of shopping, eating and speaking English!

I want to Thank everyone that has sent packages and letters and emails. I love getting any kind of contact. Also a big thanks to everyone that has donated money for shipping and projects.

My last picture is of a cute chameleon I saw. Zambians are afraid of them, and won't eat them. They are afraid that they will turn colors.

Hurry up and wait!

I am waiting to start working with the farmers.  There is not a lot for me to do until it's planting time again. I was invited to a farmers' co-op meeting. I was told it stared at 9, so I went at 10 and was told they would come at 2. At 2 they came and the first 30 minutes were spend with them complaining about why all meetings started late, of course none of them had shown up either.

I did meet with an agent of the AG field office. She and I are teaming up to make a map of Kowama and doing a census. It's hard to do an accurate census, as they will never tell the truth when you ask personal questions. They will tell you more or less depending on which way they think it will work in their favor.

You do see women getting firewood, but you don't see them cutting trees, this is because it's considered shameful for women to cut trees. No one can really tell me why. I also found out that when they do go to cut trees there are often times accidents and people are killed, because trees fall on them. I told them about saying 'timber' and they thought that was very odd.

I bought 6 sweet potatoes for 2K, that is about .25cents. Each potato is as big as my head. I use that analogy a lot about things, but it's usually true. I killed a spider in my shower that was as big as my head. I was going to take a picture of it, but it started to move, and I ended up beating it with my broom, out of fear, instead. I got a carrot one day that was as big around as my arm and as long as from my wrist to my elbow. I also was avocados that the pits are as bis as the biggest whole avocados I've ever seen in the states.

My kitten spends her day trying to catch the chickens, and being run of by the rooster. She also used my dish rack that sets against my hut to climb on my roof My family still doesn't understand my having a pet. My sister Melda is terrified of Crona. While I was gone, I kept Crona in my hut, my BaTata said he could heard her saying "mew, mew" He was worried she was not okay with me gone. 

I have met one of the village's hunters. He has promised to bring me some bush baby and impala meat next time he has some. I really do miss meat.

I am getting better at the language, and have learned a few more proverbs. When I came home after being gone for a few days, my BaMama said a proverb that translates to my goat is home. Because she was glad that I was home. I also learned a proverb that I know I will use on my mom for the rest of her life. It translate to, 'if I had something in my mouth or my nose, I could take it out, but because it's in my eye, I can do nothing about it .' This is ONLY said to Mothers, and it means if you were anyone but my mother I could do something about it. I think we all sometimes feel that way about our mothers.

I also learned a word ndioe, it means to paying a man for work with alcohol. I also found out that each field where a crop is grown has a different name, not just ground nut field and maize field, but a specific name for each field depending on the corp that is grown. 

I might understand the language, but still not the culture.  My dog was in the trash pit the other day and Fumpa and another boy started shooting it with rocks from their slingshots. I yelled at them to stop and they just laughed at me, even my BaTata didn't understand while I was mad. Animals are just not important.

There are no maps at the school, they asked me how long it took to drive to Zambia. They also are land locked and most have not seen the ocean and don't understand how big they are or why it would take so long to cross them.

My teacher friend and I were trading information one day and he told me he didn't believe that women were or would ever be as smart as men. I asked him what he thought of me, and he said I was different because I was not from Zambai. Even the women teachers he didn't think were as smart as he was.

He also asked me about elective surgery in America, he wanted to know if it was true that women got bigger breast so they could feed more children. When I told him that no, they did it for sexual reasons, he said breasts are not for sex, they are only for food for babies.

My mom send pictures of winter and snow, my BaTata was fascinated and he also wondered if the houses in the pictures were make of tin or plastic.

My brother Maca had a toothache and had to be taken to the hospital Everyone had to be dress in their 'Sunday best'. They had him in the cutest little blue suit. It's very important to be dressed correctly when you go out.

I also showed him pictures of me in the states. He didn't recognize me and said it was because my hair was so short. He also was very disapproving of how short my dress was. I told him that is acceptable in the states, and he said it was not good.

I had found out last month on my trip to the Prov. House that I found out I had lost 10 lbs. So I've been trying to eat a little more. I found out that nshima is good when it is mixed with sorghum. I have been asked by people in the village if I eat, they think since I don't eat nshima, that I don't eat at all. And since they already think that body is different than theirs, I must not need to eat. I've tried to tell them that we are all the same, but they don't understand that. I was also asked how long I'd have to live in Zambia for my skin to turn black.

My sister Maureen is starting to sit up and to keep her upright, my BaMama places a pumpkin in her lap to keep her from falling over. the pumpkin is as big as she is. Maureen chews on it and plays with it.

I sat down with my BaTata to get the names and ages of all the kids. He had the names, though he couldn't spell them but the ages were off, I also found out who the 11th child was. When I met my BaTata the first time in Luska, I asked how many children he had. He said, "my wife now has 11." So last week when I had him to write the names and ages, he only wrote 10. I asked about the 1th, he said you can write your own name and age. I AM the 1th! I felt very humbled and happy. I also want you to notice that he said his wife had 11 children, not he or they. Here the children belong to the mothers, if the wives leave the fathers may never see the kids again.

The other day Maka came over to see if I had some matches, he said Marangu need some to start the morning fire. Later that day while my BaMama was at church I went over to get some coals and I noticed smoke coming from behind the kitchen. I walked around it to see Popo, Maka and Melda, squatting on the ground over cans with nshima in them and fires under them, they were having a race to see which one could cook it the fastest. Just as I was getting ready to ask what they were doing, I heard a village boy come racing through the area yelling something in warning. Then the BaMamas came through on their way home from church and my BaMama stepped into the compound, saw the fires and started yelling, the 3 little cooks took off running in 3 different directions! Guess they weren't supposed to be doing that, and now I know where the matches I gave him that morning really went.

I went with my brothers to a festival called the Intonaga. It is a harvest festival. The pictures I have below are from that. My BaTata is there in one of the pictures. They are all in traditional dress. My language teacher was there with us. He told me to not be scared that they were going to shoot off guns and not to be scared, this was not like in America where people with guns were trying to kill each other. To them all America's carry guns and kill each other all the time. Guess they are not all that far off.

My BaTata is in the blue kitenge and jacket

 

 

My Language teacher

In the last pictures I posted I had one of the savannah. It is now burning sesason and this is a picture of the same area after the burned. 

Crona in the window

The Ants go marching.....

Most nights I get under my net in bed by 8pm, Crona sleeps with me and at some point she will stand on the side of the bed and meow to let me know she wants out. I untuck the net, let her out to eat, use her box and chase lizards, then she will come back, and meows to be let in.

A couple of nights ago, a little bit after she had done that, she suddenly wanted out again, I looked around to see if there were lizards on my wall for her to chase and I noticed that the wall was moving!

I sat up to get a better look saw a wave of Army Ants crawling up my wall. They were on the floor, walls and in my ceiling. First, I watched to see how many there were, I tried to call my mom in the USA, but she couldn't talk, not that she could help anyway! I then called my PCVL and asked him if this was something to worry about. He said where he'd been stationed, it had happened 3 times. To go talk to my family, they would help and he'd send someone my way tomorrow.  I got Crona in her box and ran to my BaMama's house.

There is a word they use for a swarm of ants, I told my BaMama that was what was happening at my house, she had baby Maureen in a sling and was nursing her, so she just hollered at the boys to come and they grabbed hot coals and fire on thatch and headed to my house. I pick Melda up, because she had no shoes on and I and already been bitten many times on my feet, and we followed.

The boys did their part by stomping on as many as they could while my BaMama, set the grass around my house on fire with the lit thatch. She also had the boys lay out little rows of hot coals, then she came in and started sweeping out my house. I say this alot, but it is so true, BaMamas here are badass! While she is doing all this, she is nursing the baby. She keeps spitting on the ground, I asked Thumpa if she was ok, he said yes, that someone had put bad Juju on me that is why the ants came and she is stopping it.

We worked for several hours setting fires and sweeping. She did tell me it was just a small swarm, not the large swarms that they use the scary word for, I hope I don't get to see the difference. She was very worried that they had gotten into my roof, not sure why, I will find out more tomorrow. She also found and sweep out the biggest tarantula I have seen yet here! I yelped when I saw it and told her to sweep it out, the boys laughed at me and she asked, "didn't I like spiders", I told her, "no, no, get it out."

The ants, while scary were fascinating to watch, they were not stopping and there were rows and rows of them, just marching along. I really hope the bad Juju goes away and this doesn't happen again!

Pictures

Bananas for $1.50 and the chair for $3.00

 

Family's compound

 

Family at work

 

Soccer game

 

My yard broom 

Anubis 

My water after a bath

 

My family

 Front row -  Maka, Melda, Popo (Pollum).
2nd row -  Grace - holding Maureen, Rhoda with her baby Joseph, Fumpa
Back row - Marangu, Janet, Mama-Sylvia, Tata -Pollum
Fumpa is also their last name

If the fore ground is the maize drying and on the roof about Tata's head are peanuts drying.

Krona 

Outside my door 

Savanna

Boys playing in my Mango, lemon and lime grove. They have a rope swing

What you can die of... and other random thoughts

There are so many things to die of. Food poisoning, dysentery, every disease you can think of. Every snake in Africa is poisonous, but the large spiders aren't, (even the one I had to kill with my frying pan because it was the only thing BIG enough to kill it). Any brightly colored insect and reptile should be avoided. Don't forget the crocodiles. Big trucks on the road. I don't know about you, but I am sure you can die of food cravings, and I am sure that is what will take me out! I don't miss fast foods, which I thought I would I just miss good food!

My BaMama was cooking fried chicken the other day for lunch and I was there helping them shell peanuts. It smelled so good and I was sooooo hungry for it. Then when it was almost done, she put it in a pot covered it with water and oil, and boiled it...NOOOOOOO! It was still almost like fried chicken and I ate it anyway. They really like to cover food in salady, which is their word for salad oil and they put it on everything.

I go to the tarmac shops and get eggs every week, they think it is strange that I can eat 10-13 eggs a week.  Once in awhile i can find sausage and I will buy it and eat it. Also I have learned to make very good beans.


I was asked to sit in on meetings with the Teachers of the school one day. They were discussing things like how to keep the kids from stealing their teaching aids, (the school is always open and anyone can go in at anytime). They love their charts and teaching aids. They asked how we did it, I told them that we try to do hands on things, instead of always showing charts. That was  new idea for them.

They also have a problem with the kids showing up late. I told them that if the teachers showed up late, which they do, then they were setting a bad example for the students. Zambians love proverbs and have many to deal with their daily life, so I told them one of our was early is on time, one time is late and late is unacceptable. They said it is their culture to be late and she said "sorry, sorry, sorry, about Zambians!"

I have offered to help with their English class. They also do not teach any science, so I said I could show them some experiments and easy tools for learning.

One day I forgot to take my notebook to language class, my teacher asked how I would write my lesson, I told him, like American kids, and I pulled out my phone to take notes. He was surprised and said he didn't know phones could do that. 

I also found out that they don't have a word for purple. My language teacher said he would have to do some research to see if he could find one. I was learning past tense of words, there are no rules, every word seems to have a different rule. I also had him tell me the difference between names and words. I kept hearing my family yelling Maka, I thought that was word, as they said it a million times a day, I finally found out it's the other twin's name. I knew they were trouble! I also found out that my 12 year old brother's name is Marangu.
One of my favorite phrases is ziggie iwes, it means shoo kids. The kids of the village, when they are bored will come follow me around or hang out in my yard and watch me. Most won't talk and they giggle or run away if I talk to them. I had 42 following me one day. I use the phrase a lot!

The teachers didn't come to school one day because they all live in Mufumbwe and all the petrol stations were out of petrol. One of the teachers has a regular bicycle and he came, but they closed school for the day.

Words are very different here. Little Maureen had the hiccups I said, you have the hiccups, BaMama's eyes got big and she asked what was that I said, I pointed to Maureen when she hiccuped, and told her that. She thought that was a very funny word. They also think cheese is a funny word.  Maureen has had a cold and has been sneezing, they don't say "bless you" here, (we were asked in training by our Zambian trainers why we said that), so when I was holding Maureen and she would sneeze, I'd say oof, another sneeze, every time she sneezed. Later in the day, I sneezed and BaMama looked at me and said oof. I think I started a new trend.

I heard a very strange noise coming from the trees in my yard. I stood looking up trying to figure out if it was a bird, animal or bug. My sister came over to see what I was doing, I asked her what is that sound, she gave me the crazy msungu look and said it was a bird. She told BaMama what I was doing and she laughed and said BaHannah and a word, the word is one that is used when children do something that is cute and adorable, glad I can be cute to them. Later the twins shot the bird out of the tree with their slingshot. They are really awesome with that thing.

My village thinks the dog I have been feeding is my dog, they call it dog of the msungu, dog of the white person. I now have added a kitty to my family. I was in Solwezi for a couple of days for meetings and one of my PCV friend had had kittens, so I brought one home. She is so sweet and cuddly. I named her Krona after a video game character that is always afraid of things because any noise has her running under my skirt or in my house. She is a very sweet little thing.She met my dog Anubis the other day. Remember I told you Anubis is scared of me too. Well Krona is sitting in my lap looking at Anubis, she meows, Anubis runs away which in turn scares Krona to run into my house. Crazy animals.

I have been shelling peanuts and corn. I got a big blister on my thumb from taking the corn off the cob. BaMama had to look at it and make sure I was okay and patted my hands and said "Mama hands". I have found out that I can move coals around, but not pick them up with my hands. 


I attend the New Apostle Church, it has 6 members. They took communion and while listening to them, I realized they were saying the Lord's prayer. It's the most like Methodist I have found so far. I have 5 more to attend before I decide on one. Their communion is just wafers, as they have no wine. After church the women asked me to come with them and offered me munkoyaya, a grain alcohol that is not as strong. The women drink it even if they are pregnant or breastfeeding. I have even seen them give it to small children as a drink. (Another class I need to teach!)

I have been visiting with the man that was set up by UNICEF to do the under 5 clinics. He is very nice and has lots of questions. He has a book to teach from. I showed him a book I brought with me called "Where Women Have No Doctors" he was very please to look through it. In his book it has how to teach a class on breastfeeding and to tell them when to to it, there is a chart with the sun at different levels in the sky - remember no clocks.We also talked about how to teach a Positive living class for those with AIDS.
I did find out that men often have vasectomies here. They don't like to use condoms. TB is also very rampant here, about 1/2 of Kowama has it and we were trained to watch for it in ourselves.


I said that they love their proverbs. I find them very interesting. Here are a couple.
You should feed your chickens and not your doves - this I found out means to take good care of your relationship with your nephews and nieces, because if your wife leaves you she will take your children and you will not have anything to do with them.
Before you talk about a lion, make sure your door is shut - means watch what you are saying about other people.
Why pick one nite when you can pick two - it's about cooperation while working
A lazy man does not eat well - about working.

Mail and other forms of contact

If you would like to contact me, please do so, I love getting anything!
You can comment here you can also follow me here to get my updates.
You can mail anything to me at
Hannah Perry
C/O Peace Corps
PO Box 110264
Solwezi, Zambia

Or you can contact my mom and send things through her, at 816-769-1248

If you mail anything, please know it can take a month or 2 for me to get them, but so far I have gotten everything that has been send and unopened!
You need to write on the outside of the box or envelopes
GOD IS WATCHING
PERSONAL USE ONLY NO COMMERCIAL VALUE
it helps keep them from being opened. And just incase they do it opened, please send me a list of what is in them so I can watch for that.

I can always use face masks or face cleaning pads.
Jerky
small kid toys
tuna or salmon packages
cookies
candy
nail polish
pudding mix
gravy mix
water flavors, pink lemonade
pictures of you!

Not In Kansas (or Missouri) Anymore!

This is harvest time here, so there is not as much for me to do right now, which is nice as it lets me get used to the village, the people and learn all I can. My days are spent, making breakfast, going to language class, home for lunch, nap time, wandering the village greeting people or looking around, doing laundry or siting around and reading. Laundry is an all day affair, first it starts with sorting, I pull things out of my dirty clothes bag and decide if they really need to be washed yet, or if they can be worn a few more times, then I find a brother to go get water for me, get new coals, heat the water, wash clothes, which never really get too clean and then letting them dry for the next 2 days.

I also spend time watching the chickens, catching holding the new baby chicks, getting scared by a hen that chased me away from her chicks, trying to get the dog that has taken up residence in my yard to come to me. I named her Anubis, because she is part jackal. She is pregnant. She won't get close to me, I think she has been beaten too many times, but she will eat the food I throw to her. And has taken to sleeping on my step at night. Zambians are puzzled to learn that Peace corps workers can make pets form the dogs. It's mostly because we feed them and don't beat them, but they don't understand either of those concepts.

Zambians do not spend time in their houses, and the are always checking on me, if I don't stay outside. Houses are for sleeping, life is lived outside. Being in your yard allows others to see and greet you, which is very important to being part of a village. I went to the local chair maker and got a beautiful chair, I know I can't bring it home, but I will have a picture of it. It's like the Mamasan chairs of the 70s in America. So I now have a chair I can sit in inside or outside of my house.

One night I got to go to my family's house to watch a movie. My family has a generator and they have a dvd player and tv, which is how we watched the movie. It was all in Bemba, so I didn't understand any of it. It looked like it had been filmed on a cell phone and edited by 4 year olds. A funny thing about Zambians is their hearing is awesome, they can talk being miles apart without hardly raising their voices, but turn on a tv or radio and it's so loud it blows you out of the room.

It's the cold season here, so the people are always complaining about the cold and they wear heavy coats if they have them. They don't understand how I can walk around in short sleeves, it's the cold season, did I tell you it's about 70! Night can be cold, high 40s to low 50s. But with no real walls, doors, or windows, and the dampness, it can seem colder. I do wrap up in my blankets and sleeping bag then.

I am lucky to have a school in Kowama and the language teacher is allowing me to come to class and help me better learn Kikaonde. I am in the 8th grade Kikaonde class. I think I should be in about the 4th grade class, but they thought it would embarrass me. I go 3 or 4 days a week. The first day I was given a book to read, after 3 paragraphs, I had a sheet of questions, so that night my sister Rhoda helped me. In class I learn how to read and speak and am getting better. I also learn a lot about the kids, their families and way of life. I also learned they are taught Zam-english, such as the word WHY is spelled waayi, that is phonetic to the Zambian language. Interfere is spelled intfyre. In some books words are written correctly and in others it's all in Zam-english.

It costs the families of the kids 45 kwacha a semester to sent their kids to school. If they haven't paid, they have to leave. The teachers are paid by the government, but the books, school building, desks, chalk, any supplies are all paid by the student fees.

School has helped the village warm up to me. Of course, everyone knows me but they are now staring to greet em and if adults hear kids calling me muzungu (a slang word like "cracker" for white people) they will tell the kids, no, she is BaHannah.

One day I got to sit in on a case my BaTata was judging here in Kowama. My language skills allowed me understand most of it, I picked out words that made me understand that the 2 men were upset because one of them had been stealing food from the kitchen of the other for about 3 years. The man was fined 25 Kwacha and the 2 men left happy, laughing and holding hands.

At supper that night my sister asked me if I had understood the case. I explained to her I had and told her what it was about. She laughed and laughed. She explained that it was about the one man had been having sex with the other man's wife for 3 years. I threw my hands in the air and hung my head saying I'd never get this. My BaMama, who didn't understand us as we had been speaking English, just walked by and patted my head and made comforting mama sounds. Just when you think you got it...

In class one day I had to write a 120 word paper on a soccer game.
A. I know nothing about soccer and
B. I only got 95 words, but the teacher generously gave me a B grade.

The children have school in the mornings and clubs after lunch. They asked me to come meet with a boys group to talk about HIV and AIDS prevention. During training we are given a course to follow as this is part of what we do on a regular basis. There was one boy in the class that asked lots of questions and was really wanting the knowledge. This is a class I will teach often to boys and girls. They hand out condoms at the school but they do try to teach abstinence, and since most kids start having children around 15, I guess it's really not that long to wait.


I spend a lot of days wandering the village and learning about the people. The women are in the fields harvesting, ground nuts, maize and beans. One day after watching my BaMama strap on her 3month old baby, Maureen and head to the fields with  3 year old Melda in tow, I asked my BaTata if the men went to the fields to harvest, he said sometimes, but it was really too hot for the men to work in the fields! (Apparently the BaMayos don't get hot!)

I met a farmer one day that was very happy I had come to his farm, he had something to show me. He came back with a Yen. He had had it for about 60 years and didn't know what it was or where it came from. He had been waiting to ask a white person because he knew that they would know.

Greetings are very important in Africa. Each morning every person you see you must go through the same ritual. You see someone and say 'You're awake' the answer is 'Yes, I'm awake'. Next step is 'How was your sleep?', answer, 'My sleep was fine'. Unlike in America where 'how are you?' always gets a 'fine', here they really are concerned with health and well being, so if you are not fine, they really want to know, so it can be discussed.

A reference for my Harry Potter friends out there, Zambians and especially my BaTata are like Arthur Wealsey in Harry Potter. I am their "muggle (american)" they love to talk about America. I spent an hour talking about washing machines with my BaTata, he is fascinated by all things modern, technology and American. As are a lot of the people, they want to know things like, why and how is my hair so shiny, is our blood different from theirs, what kind of sports we have. The list is endless.

I did finally get to go to a soccer game. It was between Kowama and Mufumbwe. The soccer players are the biggest and best young men in the village, and in a place where most men are about my size (5'5') the soccer players can be impressive. Kowama won, at least that is what my brother Popo told me. One of the players is a local handyman and has come to my house to do a few repairs and lime my walls. He also leaves a huge mess and want to drink my vodka.

The kids make toys out of everything. Soccer balls are rolled up material or plastic bags. Kites are plastic bags with sticks and they love to go through my trash and find so much to use for toys there too.

One day I went to school, to find that we were not having school as it was a clinic day. All the children of the area were there, more than I had ever seen and they were all given some vaccines, weighed and measured. I then went with the workers throughout the village to do a 5yr and under baby check. I think I did more harm than good as white people make babies cry and I made a lot of babies cry! I am good at holding and handling babies and when the mothers found that out, I was handed baby after baby to hold and play with anyway.

One day I was visiting with my BaMama and a few other BaMayos. I was handed a baby and was playing with it, when it pooped on me. The BaMayos got quiet and watched to see if I would be angry, but I just stood up, brushed it off and turned my the wet spot to the side, and sat back down, they laughed and clapped, very happy that I was like them. 

Children after about age 3 or 4 are on their own. No one really takes care of them or watches them too closely. My brothers and sisters of which there are 11 and I am still learning the names are no exception. BaMama has given them all whistles, which they start blowing at 5am! But as I watched I realized there was a method to her madness. They wonder off all day and when she comes home from the fields she will blow her whistle and you can hear the answering call of theirs' in the brush.

My oldest sister is about 24, is married, lives here and has a 4 year old daughter and a baby.
Then there is one I have not met, not sure if it's a boy or girl and not sure where they fit in the family. Rhode is 19 and travels back and forth or stays the week in Mufumbwe for school, she has 1 year old son, Joseph. Janet and another sister are about 17 and 18 the go to school and live in Mufumbwe. They are more modern. They straighten their hair and dress more like the city girls. BaTata is not as happy they are still in school, but BaMama is.
There are 4 brothers at home, they are 12- his name I can't remember
10 - Thumpa
and twin 5 year olds, one is named Popo, the other I haven't learned yet.
Then 3 year old Melda and 3 month old Maureen.

The twins are Trouble, notice the capital T! One day I walked into their yard to find them with a lame chicken, it had become a toy, they were tossing it around like a ball, carrying it and who knows what else. A couple of days later when I walked into the yard they were whispering and I knew something was up! I found them with a large butcher knife cutting the chicken up and putting it all into a pot to cook! I asked them if they were supposed to be doing that and they looked at me like I was stupid! So, I guess it was okay as that was supper that night. BTW, I learned last year from the Lawrences in Plattsburg how to kill, and butcher a chicken. The twins did a good as a job as I could have and they did it was their big knife. They did cut the guts open and I told them they shouldn't do that, got the patented crazy muzungu look and they threw the guts in the pot with the meat, heads and feet...nothing goes to waste! Not how I was taught!  I found them the next day trying to pick lemons, but they were too short to reach so I put them on my shoulders to help. They are comical and always to be watched!

Melda is my favorite, she is so sweet and likes to be with me. And Maureen has been sick and crying for the last couple of weeks. My BaMama is so tired being up with her day and night, I go over to help whenever I can.One day I heard Muareen crying and went over to find her in a box in the yard with Melda sitting beside her, telling her to hush, the the older boys playing with the chicken. So I picked up the baby and she smiled and laughed. My BaMama came into the yard with a 70kilo bag of grounds nuts on her head and we spent the rest of day shelling them. I will have a picture next month where you can see them drying on the roof of the house. My thumbs have blisters!

I awoke to wailing in the village one morning to find out that a church leader had died and that my BaMama was going to go to Solweiz to the funeral for the next week, she would take the baby with her. My BaTata would be at the palace for the week also. Leaving Melda, the twins the 10 and 12 yr olds all home alone. I asked if they wanted me to stay with or watch the kids, the answer was no, why did they need someone to watch them. I forget I'm not in America, where we have to watch our kids every second of every day and we have to entertain them and coddle them. This is Africa, grow up and live. On a side note a young girl in the next village was killed by a crocodile a few weeks ago.

I have been on the lookout for bananas, eggs and honey. I was told by my language teacher that I have to  try a drink called Honey beer, that they are making now from honey that they are harvesting. It's made in huge vats from water, bee larvae and honey. It's fermented for 17 hours then drunk.

I did find a farm to sell me banana a huge bunch that I shared with my family and I biked to the tarmac about 9km to buy eggs, I got them all home in one piece in my backpack.

I like to go to the Tarmac, that is where there are shops and other interesting places. The people there know who I am and my name, being the only white person around makes me a known topic of conversation! One of the best things are the shops and the signs. A shop can be a few sticks with back plastic wrapped around them to make a shelter. I have seen signs that say 'potential bus stop' that is it, just a sign, no building, maybe some day there will be a building. Or 'chicken shop, we have chickens' just in case you didn't know what they sold. Or my favorite 'this is a shop', plain, simple, on frills needed!

I did make a trip into Mufumbwe on my own last week. I got paid and needed supplies, so I got my brothers to help be fasten a box onto the back of my bike and I started the 15km trek, BTW, have I mentioned lately how much I HATE riding a bike? Fortunately the head master of the school saw me and picked up, so with my bike in the back of his truck, I rode in style. I went to the ATM to get some money and it was broken, I have yet to see one that isn't. While waiting for it to be fixed a had successful conversion in Kikaonde with another woman that was waiting. It was satisfying to know my language has improved. I shopped, ate lunch and visited with the shop clerk there, she was thrilled to talk with me and we asked and answered lots of questions together. I was then ready to head back. I had unfortunately over shot the capacity of my box and had a few things, including a big bowl that I was going to have to carry. So I tried to ride, this not being possible, I got off and pushed my bike thinking it would be a long walk home.  Being hassled by men is a norm. They cat call and come up to touch and talk with you, they won't take no for an answer and when asked leave you alone. You either have to get away or put up with it. And I ran into 3 such lovely men. As they were following me and telling me they wanted me to be their wife, I spotted a Mealy meal truck. This is a big truck loaded with bags of maize meal (mealy meal) there were other women and a few men on the back, so I ran up and asked if I could get a ride. I was told I could for free, but I told them I wanted to pay, it's a haggling technique - to see what they can get from you, I then had to ask one of my followers to help me load my bike, he said he would do it for his new wife...sigh.... finally loaded up we set off down the road. Trying not to fall of the very high stack of bags, I visited with the women and enjoyed the ride. When they let me off close to Kowama, I asked how much and the driver told me 20 kawcha, I thought this sounded fair, especially compared to walking. But the women started yelling no, no, only 10K for a ride from Mufumbwe to Kowama, so the driver had to give me back part of my money. It's good to make friends.

On the subject of the women, or BaMayos (lots of mamas) they are so tough! They do so much work, take care of the children and fields. They are the first up in the morning and the last in bed at nights. Each morning I go to my family's to get coals for my fire, my brother or I use corncobs or sticks to get the hot coals out of the flames to put in my pan. But if my Bamama or another BaMayo is there they will move us over, reach in the fire with their bare hand, pick up the red hot coals and put them in the pan, brush off their hand on their skirt and go back to what they were doing. I see this everyday and know this will not be something that even after 2 yrs. I will be able to do. I have also decided that there is only one fire made in all of Zambia everyday. Each BaMama goes to the closest house to fire each morning, so somewhere someone starts only one fire and they all share!

Nights here are quiet, monkeys, birds, bugs are the only sounds I am used to. I had a very odd experience one night; I'm in my bed reading and I hear a siren of a police or ambulance go by, at first I can't figure out what the sound is, then I recognize it, then it doesn't make sense, and I realize where I am and why it doesn't make sense. Sirens are not something you hear here. It took me a few minutes to process it all and have it make sense why it was so strange. I found out the next morning that is was in fact an ambulance and it was the talk of the village!

Families here live on compounds, a few houses together where all the family lives and grows to more house. You can tell how long a family has been there by how high the fruit trees are. A fun fact in Mozambique after their civil war, the people that had been displaced wanted to go back to their homes and with no government help they depended on the tribal leaders for this and in only 2 years they were all able to move back to their own compounds. It very tribal to live in the same place your whole life. There are abandoned house and compounds. If you look at them, one of the houses will have no door, that means that someone died in that house and they take the door so the spirit of that person can escape and they all leave and move somewhere else. And no one moves in, but I think after the houses have fallen down, it's set up as new land and they start over.  To get land to build on they have to petition the head master for a plot and they start over. Many families have huge compounds with lots of land, if they have lived in that area for a long time.

Here people are who they are by the tribe they belong to. When trying to explain that my family had come from England, Scotland, Sweden, it was finally easier to say those were tribes than countries and they we claim them all. I had a friend in training that is Chinese, grew up in Australia and his family moved to the US and become citizens. This was way too much for them to comprehend, so he gave up and just told them he was Chinese.  

There are 8 churches in Kowama, I have been to two. I live across the street from a church and hear them at choir practice which is during lunch time a few times a week, so I have learned a couple of the songs and when they were sung during the service at my family's church, my BaMama was very please with me, that I knew the songs.Last week I went to the one my family goes to. I got to see my BaMama sing in the choir, she was smiling and very happy, I don't usually get to see her like that so it was nice. The Bible is in Kikaonde and is passed around to the men that can read, to read from it. I got there too early so I sat in on the children's class, the BaMayos  thought this was funny when they found out. The Bible verse was one on how woman should obey their husbands and never question them, and that is also what they preached on during church. I will say no more! The week before I went to a different church and they sang How Great Thou Art in Kikaonde, that was fun to listen to.

I have so many pictures to share. I will be going to Slowezi in June to a Provincial meeting with all the other PCVs  I will hopefully be able to share WiFi time with the group to upload them to share.

I was able to see get a picture of my family. My BaTata was happy to have them all dress up and let me take it, all but the 2 were there. When you are a kid and you get all dressed up for a picture or you are in your good clothes, your mom makes you sit and not move, so you don't get messed up. Well, in Zambia, what is a mom to do, when all the world is DIRT??? The kids were all dressed and made to stand in a corner and if they started to move my BaMama would ah ah ah at them and they went back to the corner! Mamas are mamas everywhere!

Another interesting thing about babies is the way the BaMamas dress them. The older kids run around in anything. But babies, are dressed up! First they are babies they are dressed in hats, shirts, pants, sweaters, jackets, socks, shoes, gloves then swaddled. I think they would be hot, but they don't sweat or seem hot. Then when thy are between 1 and 2 they are dressed in cute little dresses or sailor suites. They are spoiled with clothes.

I have found a place about a 30 minutes walk from my house that is a huge old tree, not sure what kind yet, but is so very big and it just thrums with life. At that tree, I am able to get enough cell service to check email and sometimes see a snapchat, instagram or facebook! I love that tree! I usually climb up in it and hide from men that us the path by it, so I can do this in peace. I also really hope this is not an ancestor tree that is forbidden to be climbed!

More will be posted in June, stay tuned!