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

Peace Corps Karma

I write this blog from an adorable backpackers lodge in Livingstone, Zambia after a very odd week. After some delays, I’m finally on holiday! I spent all of last week in Lusaka for an in-service training where I had the chance to reconnect with friends from our training group and share ideas with veteran volunteers. After being in “the bush,” I’m on sensory overload and have been pushing my socializing, eating, and activity to the limit.

All of my plans for holiday were disrupted by a foot infection. I once again learned how quickly health concerns can get out of control here! On Monday I pulled out a pair of cute shoes to wear that I don’t get a chance to use in the village assuming, of course, that I wouldn’t be walking any further than to class. After a day of swapping stories, a group of friends and I decided to go out for dinner (which we did ALL week, much to my stomach’s delight) and walk to the road from our training center, about a half a mile, and take a mini bus to the strip mall rather than paying for a taxi to come get us. Unfortunately, I didn’t take into consideration the dust that gets in under the lip of the shoe and can do major damage in no time at all. I rubbed the skin on the top of my foot right off before I even noticed. Normally this situation would be moderately painful, but not really a bother with proper attention. 24 hours later, however, I developed an infection in my foot that has had me limping for the last week. By the time I consulted medical staff, my foot was twice the size it should be and I had to stay in Lusaka for a few extra days on major doses of antibiotics.

There is a queue for this computer so I’m going to sign off for now and complete my story tomorrow and explain the title for this entry.

TBC….

True to form, the first day after completing “community entry,” or the period of time we are asked to observe in our communities and not leave our districts, I was on the back of a lorry traveling the roads of Zambia. We had a few free days to celebrate both Zambian holidays and 4th of July, so I and three friends traveled down to Central Province to hang out with other PCVs from all over the country. I stayed at the Central Province house for a couple of days and then traveled to stay the night with a friend at her house and then decided to go visit a couple more friends at the house in Northern Province. All in all, I traveled half the country in a few days, hitchhiked more than I thought possible in my lifetime, and really enjoyed a nice break. Unfortunately, I will only be back at my site for three days before turning around and coming back to Solwezi for a couple of days and then traveling to Lusaka for our in-service training.

The most interesting, and intimidating, part of the trip was hitching home alone. In order to get home in one day from Northern Province we had to take a very early bus half way and then hitch the rest of the way. Fortunately I also discovered that there are advantages to being female, alone, and American in Zambia. The police worked with me to find me very cheap, safe rides and so the second leg of my three leg trip, I hitched with a South African man in a brand new big rig with hydraulic seats. He fed me crisps and paid for a taxi for me to make a connection.

I also really enjoyed seeing friends from my intake group and allowing my brain some freedom from the responsibilities and concerns of site. I’m adding some comments to the photos my dad added to this album so you can see what I’ve been up to in the past five and half months.

I’ll be back again at the end of the week and hope to have a more entertaining and interesting entry then. This week promises to be busy and eventful!
All my love,
Stacey Jean

Photos, Birthday, and Rioting

Before I begin, let me first give a big thanks to my pops for getting my first Zambia photos uploaded! Please click on the photo log to see the first views of my new home. I have taken more than 100 new pictures and will be sending them home again soon.

Back at the house for the third weekend in a row! Yesterday we left our sites a little earlier than expected because of a major demonstration in Mufumbwe over a power outage in the boma that has lasted more than two weeks. There’s no real cause for concern as I never felt in any danger, but the road between my house and the boma was extremely exciting. I will not go into the politics of the situation, but it was extremely interesting to watch the progress from my tiny town’s student body staging a peaceful demonstration over perceived injustice to an active protest with tree blockades in the road, tear gas, and vandalism. Mufumbwe called in police from three other districts to help contain the activity. Bizarre.

My 28th birthday was Monday and a few Peace Corps friends came by my house to celebrate. A new Zambian friend brought over a huge rooster as my birthday present and pulled me aside to see if I wanted to eat it for dinner. At first I was a little shaken. I had anticipated eating soya piece tacos, but soon enough I found myself with a knife in my hand sawing through a chicken’s jugular. There are moments when I have a feeling of being out of body and wondering who I am! I did actually apologize to the chicken for taking its life and thanked it for letting us eat him before I slit its throat. I’m not sure that helped my emotional state. I did, however, actually help gut, dress, and fix the chicken tacos and I have pictures to prove it. We had a diverse and interesting group for dinner: four Peace Corps volunteer friends, the post man, my friend who goes to the high school, my friend from the water & sanitation department, and a Spanish Father from the Catholic church.

The celebration was great, but I certainly missed my friends and family! I received a birthday package Monday that said “don’t open until June 25th,” and the timing was perfect! I had a present to open by the bonfire!!!

I’ve also had the distinct displeasure of having pig fleas in my feet this week. After making fun of a friend for being “dirty” and digging the nasty things (“jiggers”) out of his feet, I found my own. These nasty things burrow in under the skin and lay eggs. I never knew they were there until I discovered odd blisters that ended up being giant egg sacks. (Sorry if that’s too graphic.) Disgusting. Fortunately, I have been around people who have skillfully dug them out for me.

This week I travel to Central and Northern province to visit friends. I’ll be back next weekend to check in. And I’ll be at the house until tomorrow night if you want to chat!

Lots of love,
Stacey J.

Sun Damage and Shopping

My trip to Solwezi has been relaxing, but much busier than I expected! We are preparing for the next group of volunteers to arrive and have spent the last few days cleaning out the house and organizing. It's amazing just how messy a house can get with 40 individuals using the facilities on a constantly rotating basis. I won't get into the things we found under the beds, but you can well imagine... I've been quite impressed with how everyone pitches in to take care of chores and I really wanted to take photos of the boys doing housework to take back and show my village:)

I also went on a market shopping trip for new clothes since mine are already in a state of abysmal disrepair. I have nary a tshirt without little holes from washing them by hand and everything denim has becomes stretched out and dirt-stained. A friend from this province went with me and we found a couple of decent second-hand tshirts in a store called DAP, a charity store that contributes clothing primarily from Europe and the USA. I was amused to think all you who donate to Goodwill may actually clothe Peace Corps volunteers! I also found a chitenge dress that sort of looks like a 70s mumu and a couple of ridiculous hats to add to the costume pile at the house. I've never worn anything so comfortable as a mumu in my life. It was also very reasonable on the pocket: 25,000 kw or the equivalent of about $6.00 USD.

It's kind of fun to "graduate" from the newest group of intake volunteers to more seasoned volunteers. We get the chance now to brag with the new folks at fly-in a bit about our stories: the snakes, starting fires, cultural mishaps, etc. And now I realize that we do get in the habit of bragging about how hard-core we are when it's amazing just how quickly we can get over a lack of shower or the loss of McDonalds. I certainly complain about it, and I will be absolutely thrilled to come back to comfort, but I don't think about it all the time like I used to in the first few months. I do find, though, that if I'm watching a movie at the house, I get most distracted by seeing American beds. If I see anyone sleeping on a nice bed, I feel absurd jealousy and obsess about it for hours.

We had a mini birthday party for me and my nearest PC neighbor yesterday. He will be turning 26 on Sunday and I will be turning 28 next Monday. I will be back in the village monitoring schools and he will be training new volunteers, so my friends here baked us a cake from scratch and made us giant birthday hats made from poster and toilet paper. I'll upload the photos when I get to Lusaka. Unfortunately, the power has been going on and off all week so they really had to scramble to make the cake one step at a time. We reveled in the cake, even eating the middle portion that had been burned by accidently sitting the pan on a hot burner that was turned on and forgotten during a time of no power.

Zambians do not really celebrate birthdays the way Americans do, so I anticipate kind of a quiet day. My other two PC neighbors are cycling to my house and we are having soya tacos that night. It's been fun telling my counterparts that I'll be 28 this year since they absolutely won't believe it. One fellow observed last week that I look "not older than 12." Ha! This was particularly amusing to me since I've been very concerned about aging lines on my face. I have wrinkles popping out all over the place because I always forget to put on sun screen and now I'm tan and have skin damage. I made a vow for this birthday to daily apply sun screen and take care of my aging face, but completely forgot during the chaos of the morning cleaning binge.

I must leave to pick up my chitenge coulots (never actually spelled that word) and skirt for the village. I've decided biking in a skirt is a complete joke, particularly when it is extremely taboo to even show a shadow of knee and we ride large male mountain bikes. So now I'm going to try wearing chitenge coulots and then tying a chitenge around my waist when I go to meetings.

I will write again either next weekend or the 1st of July. All my love to everyone!

Stacey Jean

Productivity, Puff Adders, and Sticky Fingers

My dear friends and family: I have survived my longest stint in the village so far! After 3 ½ weeks, I have finally gained some ground in my projects and feel like I’m forming relationships with my neighbors and counterparts. We are actually in town sooner than expected because we will be moving around a lot in the next few weeks to take advantage of vacation days and attend an in-service training in Lusaka in mid-July. So, if you would like to call me while I have access to a landline, I will be at the house until Thursday morning.

I will celebrate 5 months in country this week and passed the 70 day mark in the village! These were huge markers for me since I feel like I’ve made it over the initial culture shock! I’m sure there are more uncomfortable moments to come, but it’s nice to say the first huge surprises are over and I’m getting far more comfortable with getting around the markets, transport, and conversations. Plus, I finally received parcels in Mufumbwe! Apparently the parcels truck had not made any trips up to town recently, so I received FOUR packages in one day. It was like Christmas and I've been pigging out on American junk food ever since. I've probably gained 5 lbs just this week! Big shout out to my mom, Peg, Andrea, Sis. Bass, and the gang from M&M. Seriously, I never knew dehydrated food packets and granola bars could taste so amazing!

I have lots of stories to write, and will try to do as much blogging as I can while I’m in town. For now, I’ll offer up the highlights.

First, I’m very excited about potential projects in the near future. I’ve been attending some teacher training workshops in the past few weeks and working closely with the schools in my zone and the administration on “school monitoring.” This is essentially evaluating how current curriculum is being administered, how the teachers are functioning in their classes, how effective Ministry of Education programs are at the school level, and also reporting on the state of facilities. I’m working hand-in-hand with the administration to create a streamlined monitoring form and process so that each school is monitored objectively and equitably.

I’ve also been working with an adult school very close to my house. It’s a private school that works most closely with women who have had to quit school for one reason or another and want to return to complete their education. Starting August, I will be helping them with a Life Skills and Adult Literacy program. They have almost 100 motivated men and women who attend classes every day during the afternoon. I’m so impressed with this group of community members who see the value of education and are working diligently to increase their capacity for providing for themselves and their family. I’m also working with a small group of girls in their mid-teens in an HIV/AIDS awareness and life skills program. It’s my hope to work with this small group intensively in the next few months and then establish a peer mentoring program so that these young women can work with other young women in a “straight talk” format that may not be comfortable for older teachers.

In other news, my phone went missing this week. So, if you’ve been attempting to send an SMS, no luck! I was able to get another phone this weekend and will have my old number programmed in on Monday. I’m learning to be more attentive to my things since in just this past week I've had a disposable camera nabbed out of my backpack and 50,000 kw taken from out of my wallet while I was on transport. I’ve had no problem with theft until just recently, but I think I’ve also been a bit less vigilant than I was the first few months.

Finally, in the big news for the past few weeks, I saw my first scary snake! I was home briefly one afternoon for dinner and while I was inside my house munching on amazing pasta, I saw my neighbor fly by my door gripping a giant pole in his hands. I walked outside in time to watch him bash a 2-3’ puff adder to death. My kitty Mio saved the day! My neighbor saw the cat stalking something moving in my yard and came over to check in and noticed the snake. I took a photo of the snake and took it with me on a visit I paid to missionaries near my house and we confirmed in the Africa Snake Book the type of snake. One of the missarionaries, a nurse, let me know that puff adders are quite poisonous, but are very slow and I shouldn’t really worry about them. So, now that I’ve gotten that first encounter out of the way, something I had been very concerned about, I feel a little more at ease with the knowledge of snakes in my area. I actually even felt a little bad for the snake—he never had a chance.

I’ll be back later in the week! Hope all is well with all of you.
Stacey J.

Calling Me & Transport

Hello all!

I have not been at the internet as much or as often as I anticipated this week. This has been mostly because I've been at the house on the phone a lot with all my friends and family back in the states and also with fellow PCVs talking about our upcoming vacation to Livingstone in July after a week of training in Lusaka. We discovered a great web site, www.zprepaid.com, which allows my friends to chat with me in Zambia for .10 or less per minute. I spent nearly all day Saturday chatting with one or the other of my family members and getting caught up with all the happenings at home. These conversations alone have picked me up and helped me focus on an exciting four weeks in my village. If you are interested in chatting with me, you can contact my mom at rfjbosslady@hotmail.com for the telephone numbers where you can reach me here as I'm not comfortable posting it online.

This blog update will have to be quite quick because I have to go to the grocery store and stock up on necessities like powdered milk, cereal, and sponges for my next stint mu muzhi (in village). We are catching transport back to site tomorrow and I will spend the longest uninterrupted period of time alone in my hut since arriving. I'll be back at the provincial house from June 21-June 26 to renew my visa again and to celebrate my 28th birthday! It's incredibly hard to believe that a whole year has passed since my birthday in the Fort Collins condo.

I'm not necessarily looking forward to getting transport again. Transport has been one of the single most frustrating aspects of living in Zambia as it's not at all reliable or consistant. Last week my PCV neighbor and I went to Kasempa to visit our fellow PCV for her birthday. Her location is very close to ours, but requires a round-about trip by road to get there. We had very little trouble hitching up to her site, but on the return I wore out my shoes walking 25 k from her house to town and then spent several more hours in a mini-bus with twenty other people and then in an oil rig, which was so tall that we had to climb a ladder to get in the cab.

My grocery shopping buddy has arrived, so I must be off. Some of you have asked what I am needing at site, and in brief, I have all the necessities. I'm always short on batteries and have the most need of AA batteries. Any luxury items are fabulous! Magazines, stationary, dried foods, snacks, anything that smells pretty, spices, funny articles. I have SO appreciated everything I have received and experienced so much serendipity with receiving exactly what I need when I need it: like a potato peeler the day after I realized I really needed one!

All my love to you and will write more again soon.

SJJ