Catching up on as much as possible

Hello peeps,

This is my first chance to use the internet and not have to pay by the minute so I am going to fill in some information in a topical manner by hitting some of the main events in life and how it works in Zambia.

Food & Drink:
I am currently living with a Zambian family about 40 km outside of Lusaka.  They feed me every day 3 meals a day.  Breakfast has been the same thing everyday for about 5 weeks.  It consists of some form of bread(white bread, rolls or muffins) with peanut butter and jelly.  I like it!  Lunch and dinner is on a rotation of tomato onion soup, rice, potatoes, rape, pumpkin leaves, cabbage, fish, chicken, beef and nshima.  Nshima is their staple food and we have it at least once a day.  It is a tasteless mix of dried and pounded corn with water.  MMMM!!  Everything else is quite good.  The chickens are fresh as in killed just before we eat them.  The fish looks nasty but tastes very good. 
On thursays I am fed lunch by the Peace Corps.  That will end soon as it gives me explosive diarrhea every time.(More on that later)  My host mom said she would make me a pack lunch and I will no longer have to eat the PC food. 
Drink consists primarily of beer and water.  I usually drink Mosi which is brewed in Zambia and is a simple lager.  No more about beer because it makes me sad.

Restroom Facilities:
Our restroom is a clay hut with a hole in the center above a pit.  Peeing is easy since I am a guy but squatting has taken a little getting used to.  Dropping the logs into a opening about 5 inches by 12 inches is easy unless you have the runs and then things get tricky.  Also, I do not suggest trying to do number 1 and 2 at the same time, a mess is sure to follow.
Going to the restroom at night is about the most dangerous thing to do here.  One night Kelly, Larry, myself and Ozzie(a Zambian) were visiting a fellow PCT.  Larry went to the bathroom in a mefloquin induced haze(mefloquin is one example of malaria meds and is psychoactive)  He did not see the black mamba waiting just inside the door.  While peeing he noticed it right next to his foot however, due to the meds he simply finished peeing, walked out and told us a snake was in the chimbushi.  Keep in mind the black mamba is the fastest and most poisonous snake in all of africa.  Zambian policy is to kill all snakes on sight.  Ozzie immeditaley springs into action and pummels the snake with large bricks thrown with the accuracy of a major league pitcher.  Once it was dead we noticed it was a black mamba and Larry was lucky he was not bit because death can occur within 20 minutes.  He quickly decided to switch medication.

Transportation:
Holy crap the roads are bad here.  The tarmac is fine but as soon as you leave it the dirt roads are filled with potholes.  Just riding in a PC cruiser is an adventure.  However, riding the mountain bikes on the roads and around the trails is awesome.  The scenery is great and nothing beats riding through the african countryside.  The only drawback is Kelly usually wrecks or breaks her bike at least once each trip. 

Animals:
I am sure Zambia has some wonderful animals I just have no idea where they are.  There sure as hell are a lot of bugs though.  Millipedes, giant web spiders, wall spiders, cockroaches  and about a jillion types of ants.  We have seen the army driver ants and they bite really hard.  One day I was waiting to draw water from the pump and failed to notice that all the Zambians were standing on the opposite side of the pump.  I figured it was because I am the white guy but eventually one of them told me I probably should move.  It was this moment when I noticed the ground all around me was moving.  I was standing in the middle of the driver ants.  I quickly moved away and that was when the biting began.  My god do they hurt!!!  We also see lizards and toads all the time.  The toads seem to have a liking for Kelly's bed and about twice a week I have to remove one while she screams.  The toads are harmless but they attract the highly poisonous snakes.  Birds are everywhere and gorgeous but there is a suspicious lack of wild mammals.  The only wild mammal I have seen are bats.  I belive this is because anything larger gets eaten by people.

Language:
I am learning to speak Lunda.  The locals where I live call it the chinese of Zambia.  Hardly anyone here speaks it and when people come up to me asking for free shit I play the lunda card.  I simply start speaking lunda which immediatly confuses them and they walk away.  I love the Lunda card :)  Less than a million people world wide speak lunda but it is the language of the area where our site is.  Here is a little sample "itala da walwa" which means "house of beer".

Training:
Training is a mix of health, environmental education and mostly farm related stuff.  I have learned to make charcoal from corn husks and cobs.  I can build and harvest honey from a hive(theoretically).  We have also learned about various farming techniques and the usefullness of many of the local trees.  Classes are mixed with sessions where we actually plant trees, gardens and visit local farmers.

Anyway, Kelly and I are currenlty at the provincial capital of North-western province waiting to get our first chance to use Lunda while surrounded by people who actually speak it.  By thursday we will get our first look at our actual site.  AWESOME

See ya

John

headed to NW Zambia

Today we are preparing for our first view at our actual site.  We will leave tomorrow and be there for about 10 days.  It is in the north western province about 14 hour drive from Lusaka.  AKA in the middle of f@#%$% nowhere.  Actually, it is not that bad but the yearly rainfall there is roughly double that of home.  Time to put the rubber boots to good use.  Tommorrow I will post some more when I am able to use the internet for free.