Dad put up more photos I sent, so enjoy!
http://thegjfam.home.insightbb.com/Zambia2008-2010/Round2_Oct2008/index.html
Friday, October 24, 2008
October!
Its Zambian Independence Day! Happy 44th Birthday Zambia!
In Zambialand these days its very hot. It doesn’t bother me so much except at night. I wake up often because of the heat and can’t go back to sleep because I am drenched in sweat. During the day, I avoid the sun, but when part of my job is to bike to different schools it becomes a bit difficult. I’ve been toting my backpack full of water bottles to stay hydrated. The Zambians seem to think I drink an inordinate amount of water.
Some highlights of the last month have included me starting a garden and my village starting my new house. The garden is doing great and I’m growing onions, zucchini and squash. I plan to also grow watermelon and cantaloupe but I’m waiting for the rains to begin. Just with my one bed, I’ve doubled the amount of water I have to draw everyday so I’m holding off on the melons because they will require a lot of water. My neighbor is also gardening so we bond as she advises me and helps me out. The village seems proud that I’m growing something, since they are all farmers themselves.
The house they are building me has become its own telenovela. Instead of getting stressed about it, I’m trying to let them handle it and they can just tell me when to move my stuff. The reason they are building me a house is that the house I’m living in now (which I really like) belongs to my neighbor and she needs it back. When Peace Corps begins talking to a community about placing a volunteer there, they ask the community to provide housing to signify the community’s commitment to the volunteer and to the community’s own development. My community is not unwilling to do this, but they did say they would start it in June. Now its October and rain will come in two weeks and destroy their hardwork if its not completed.
A few weeks ago, I gave some teachers some Newsweek magazines to read when they asked me if I had any books they could borrow. I figured Newsweek would be harmless enough, however it turned out to be very strange to watch them flip through and be exposed to Americanness. Everything from picture captions to advertisements seems bizarre through the eyes of the Zambians. A frequent PCV comment is, Isn’t America weird?” They were particularly interested in a few stories about Michelle Obama, as the title article put it, “A real wife, in a real marriage.” Hahaha. I have to admit a bit of embarrassment on behalf of America. I realize its just what it is though. I’m trying not to negatively judge my own culture, but looking at things through a Zambians eyes does make me question, particularly advertising. Its just so odd sometimes, not necessarily bad.
Borehole wars—It is now the driest month in Zambia. There has been nary a drop of rain since early March. Luckily my borehole is staying strong and hasn’t been tapped out. I am told it will be fine. The nearby boreholes however, are struggling. A few have broken. So my borehole is getting used more intensively than normal. To fix broken boreholes it can be really expensive, so often it takes awhile for the village to raise the money or find it. The school where my borehole sits is considering locking it up outside of school hours to control whom is using it, or start charging for use. This doesn’t seem right to me but I don’t know what the solution is.
I have been following American politics as best I can. I even woke up at 3 am for the final McCain-Obama debate. After an hour I got bored and tired and went back to sleep. Zambians are really interested in the election. They have a lot of opinions about Afghanistan, Iraq, Bush, Obama, the economy, etc. Same goes for their own election which is October 30.
Village life is going well. No one should be surprised that my vermin saga continues. When I awoke one evening to a sprinkle on my face and expected to find a bat perched above, I instead found my arch-nemisis, Mr. Mouse crawling on my mosquito net. I have no idea how a net managed to support his weight, even though he wasn’t that big. It was really creepy, but I just went back to sleep after he crawled off. Multiple poison varieties and a trap have failed to kill him. Three nights in a row, he managed to snap the peanut off the trap and not get caught. I have to give him some serious credit for that, in addition to gnawing on some impressive objects. I was expecting a gigantic rat, but really he’s just a little guy. I keep imagining that story that I read when a kid of the mice that lived in the dollhouse playing house and drinking tea.
Thank you for the recent packages I received from Mom’s book clubs. I even had a dream the other night that I went home to visit and it was Book Club night. Hahaha. The packages were awesome and its pretty thrilling to get them. So ThankS!
Missing everyone at home, drop me a email, comment or facebook message!
Say hello to Fall, pumpkins, apple cider and Christmas decorations, hehe!
Love, Caitlin
In Zambialand these days its very hot. It doesn’t bother me so much except at night. I wake up often because of the heat and can’t go back to sleep because I am drenched in sweat. During the day, I avoid the sun, but when part of my job is to bike to different schools it becomes a bit difficult. I’ve been toting my backpack full of water bottles to stay hydrated. The Zambians seem to think I drink an inordinate amount of water.
Some highlights of the last month have included me starting a garden and my village starting my new house. The garden is doing great and I’m growing onions, zucchini and squash. I plan to also grow watermelon and cantaloupe but I’m waiting for the rains to begin. Just with my one bed, I’ve doubled the amount of water I have to draw everyday so I’m holding off on the melons because they will require a lot of water. My neighbor is also gardening so we bond as she advises me and helps me out. The village seems proud that I’m growing something, since they are all farmers themselves.
The house they are building me has become its own telenovela. Instead of getting stressed about it, I’m trying to let them handle it and they can just tell me when to move my stuff. The reason they are building me a house is that the house I’m living in now (which I really like) belongs to my neighbor and she needs it back. When Peace Corps begins talking to a community about placing a volunteer there, they ask the community to provide housing to signify the community’s commitment to the volunteer and to the community’s own development. My community is not unwilling to do this, but they did say they would start it in June. Now its October and rain will come in two weeks and destroy their hardwork if its not completed.
A few weeks ago, I gave some teachers some Newsweek magazines to read when they asked me if I had any books they could borrow. I figured Newsweek would be harmless enough, however it turned out to be very strange to watch them flip through and be exposed to Americanness. Everything from picture captions to advertisements seems bizarre through the eyes of the Zambians. A frequent PCV comment is, Isn’t America weird?” They were particularly interested in a few stories about Michelle Obama, as the title article put it, “A real wife, in a real marriage.” Hahaha. I have to admit a bit of embarrassment on behalf of America. I realize its just what it is though. I’m trying not to negatively judge my own culture, but looking at things through a Zambians eyes does make me question, particularly advertising. Its just so odd sometimes, not necessarily bad.
Borehole wars—It is now the driest month in Zambia. There has been nary a drop of rain since early March. Luckily my borehole is staying strong and hasn’t been tapped out. I am told it will be fine. The nearby boreholes however, are struggling. A few have broken. So my borehole is getting used more intensively than normal. To fix broken boreholes it can be really expensive, so often it takes awhile for the village to raise the money or find it. The school where my borehole sits is considering locking it up outside of school hours to control whom is using it, or start charging for use. This doesn’t seem right to me but I don’t know what the solution is.
I have been following American politics as best I can. I even woke up at 3 am for the final McCain-Obama debate. After an hour I got bored and tired and went back to sleep. Zambians are really interested in the election. They have a lot of opinions about Afghanistan, Iraq, Bush, Obama, the economy, etc. Same goes for their own election which is October 30.
Village life is going well. No one should be surprised that my vermin saga continues. When I awoke one evening to a sprinkle on my face and expected to find a bat perched above, I instead found my arch-nemisis, Mr. Mouse crawling on my mosquito net. I have no idea how a net managed to support his weight, even though he wasn’t that big. It was really creepy, but I just went back to sleep after he crawled off. Multiple poison varieties and a trap have failed to kill him. Three nights in a row, he managed to snap the peanut off the trap and not get caught. I have to give him some serious credit for that, in addition to gnawing on some impressive objects. I was expecting a gigantic rat, but really he’s just a little guy. I keep imagining that story that I read when a kid of the mice that lived in the dollhouse playing house and drinking tea.
Thank you for the recent packages I received from Mom’s book clubs. I even had a dream the other night that I went home to visit and it was Book Club night. Hahaha. The packages were awesome and its pretty thrilling to get them. So ThankS!
Missing everyone at home, drop me a email, comment or facebook message!
Say hello to Fall, pumpkins, apple cider and Christmas decorations, hehe!
Love, Caitlin
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