Life in the bush

We've extended to 21 days of mourning, which changes plans a bit, and means that I'm in town again! I've returned from Nakeempa for a BIC meeting being held in Choma this weekend, so I will be living the high life for a few days before I head back to the village. The last week is full of too many stories to tell but I will try to sum up the indescribable events of the past days/week.

I drove down the 24 km bumpy dirt path that leads to my new home on Saturday. Some parts of the path are washed out, and others will become so once the rainy season starts in October. But as we drove I was trying to make a mental map of the cattle guards, broken down buildings, and mango trees so that when I get my bike I can maneuver my way into town. I met with my host family, the headmaster and his wife, who have both their own children and other orphans staying with them. My Baama (mom) was out in the "kitchen" (an open broken down brick shack with a grass roof) preparing our meal over the fire. Nshima and relish, my new daily diet three times a day. I was escorted to the outhouse upon arrival, and realized how great skirts are for squat peeing :) Back inside we sat down to the heavy meal and swiftly I entered into my new surroundings. Mostly I don't understand much of anything happening around me... my few tonga phrases don't get me far, but at least I'm learning to say things respectfully, with a curtsy and eyes downward cast :)

So I could go on forever, but here are a few of the highlights of the past week (in no particular order):
- Having my hair braided by Bwacaha, one of the daughters
- learning to kill a chicken (I'm told that next time I will be preparing dinner, and it will be my duty to quickly saw off the head and hold down the lurching body) - sorry that's graphic
- Watching Nigerian movies using the few hours of electricity we get with the solar panel outside
- Watching black and white gospel music in many of the 72 different languages spoken in Zambia
- Learning to cook nshima and relish - basically learning to be a real woman :)
- Walking to the village dam and through the vegetable gardens at sunset
- Going to church (all in Tonga for 4 hours) and trying to follow along both dancing and singing with my most boisterous voice.
- Learning how to do a bucket bath while a frog hops around the outhouse
- Learning to greet respectfully, and messing up a million times
- Participating in the gathering for my Baama (mom) that was held at our house because of the passing of her step-mother. And, preparing "Sweety beer" - don't worry its a non-alcoholic corn drink that has massive amounts of corn floating around to gnaw on.
-Learning to wear a chitengi, and tripping on the 2 meters of colorful cloth messily wrapped around my waist
- Drinking milk straight from the cows roaming around the back yard...and making sure to drink it all before it goes bad.
- Trying to figure out Zambian politics, and the location of the president (he's being transported through all 9 provinces)

So that only scratches the surface, but hopefully gives a little taste of what my days hold. I'm currently in town for the remainder of the week, so I have a short break where I can wear pants (sorry trousers) and take hot showers. School has been postponed because of the presidents death, so I have some more time to just settle in a prepare, to learn more Tonga, and to figure out how to change from dollars to kwacha. I will start teaching September 8, and apparently will be in charge of the grade 8 math class, so there will be much more in the upcoming weeks.

I hope this finds you all well, and would love to hear from you anytime! It can get lonely in the sleepy town of Nakeempa, so please keep in touch, and know that I miss you each dearly.