The Rest of the Story

Writing from yet another backpacking lodge in Livingstone!

The medical staff at Peace Corps were concerned about my foot and insisted that I rest up for a few days, so they booked me at a guest house near the Lusaka office. I was thrilled to discover that this lodge not only has hot showers, but the best Chinese food I've had in six months. (Yes, Peg, it all comes back to food) I wanted more time with friends so I invited a PCV who stays near Lusaka to come be my caretaker for the weekend. This didn't actually work out so well for her since I rapidly recovered and she fell quite ill. (Sorry, Angela!) Afterward, I realize I shouldn't have worried about being alone in Lusaka because this particular guest house is the unofficial Peace Corps hang out and I met many more volunteers as well as family and friends of volunteers. This trip has been a whirlwind of new names, faces, and locations. It's precisely what I needed after long days in my hut keeping myself company during the student protests.

My departure for holiday was delayed until Tuesday morning when medical staff cleared me. By this time, the group I had intended to travel with had already left Lusaka. This is where karma, or "the law of the harvest" as my dad would say, comes in. I have discovered that even though plans rarely ever proceed as scheduled in Zambia, something always works out. On Tuesday I took the bus down to stay with a PCV in my project who lives just a couple of hours outside of Livingstone. (If you come to visit me and want to go to Livingstone, this is the bus to take! We were assigned seats and given Mountain Dew. Luxury.)

I loved my time at this southen province site and it was great to bounce ideas around with a volunteer in RED who has an extra year of experience under her belt. While at her site we met SCORE volunteers from Norway, Namibia, and Zambia and also spent time with a wonderful intern from John Hopkins graduate school who is doing work with an NGO in Lusaka. I was able to get a free ride from Kalomo to Livingstone the next day with the coordinator for SCORE and upon arriving in Livingstone, checked in to a lovely backpackers place and splurged a little on a private room. I didn't realize how much I needed to rest until I checked in and slept for a solid four hours in the middle of the afternoon.

Livingstone is an interesting place--touristy, but still lacking the tourist musts like McDonalds and Starbucks. It's been extremely odd, however, being in a location where I can't even use my stilted local language to get around. I didn't realize how accustomed I've gotten to chit chatting in Ki Kaonde to establish my credibility. Unfortunately, my Tonga is limited to "good morning" and "thank you," but I've had a lot of positive response from just using those two phrases. Also, traveling around Zambia has given me a new perspective on just how rural NW Province and Mufumbwe really are. But that's another story for another blog entry.

I met up with another PCV who is in Livingstone with American friends visiting and shared a lovely time with them at Victoria Falls. The group was here helping with a sports camp for street kids and took some down time to see the sites. We spent yesterday morning together and I watched them plunge over enormous cliffs on a giant gorge swing. I did not take part of the adrenaline activities partially because of financial constraints and partially because of sheer terror. I am waiting for my brother, Jeremy, to come visit and convince me!

I have finally met up with my group today after five days of being a vagabond and just seeing what happens next. It's really quite fun being on vacation without a schedule or a plan or much cash. There's no telling what can happen!

I'm heading back to Lusaka over the weekend to take care of some Peace Corps work, buy needed supplies like face cream, and get a few more wonderful restauarant experiences before I had back to site and buckle down to work.

I have not been good about writing letters in the last month, but I swear I'll be sending out loads of mail in the next few weeks.

Best to you all!
Stacey Jean