So everyone always asks me what " a typical day in the village" looks like. I always have a hard time answering the question because each day can be so different from the next. One day I can have a meeting with one of my zones which is 25 kilometers away through the tall grass, broken bridges and muddy slush. Another day I can sit in my hut all day, reading an entire book, listening to the BBC and doing cartwheels with my iwes. However I know that is difficult to explain my new Zambian life to everyone back in America. I thought I would take just one day last week and take you all through step by step. Now this is going to be detailed, so if you don't have time to read it now, you are at work, about to go to sleep, or just busy, I understand. No worries, this blog isn't going anywhere and you can always come back and finish reading later. So, here goes one example of a "typical" day in the village. I usually wake up around 6 to 630am, usually awakened by my rooster which lives outside of my hut and decides to crow, starting around 5:00 am. I lay in bed for about a half hour listening to the rooster constantly crowing, some kids playing and whatever morning madness is going on as most of my villagers have already been up for at least an hour at this point. This particular day I woke up and decided I wanted to go for a short run. I laced up my very muddy shoes ( rainy season=everything is muddy and moldy constantly, one gets used to this quite quickly) and decided to get my day going. I started off on my normal path, which goes over a river and up into the next village however today it had rained an incredible amount so the river had flooded the road and created a small lake on either side of the river. Therefore there were about 20 naked little boys swimming in the newly formed pond and yelling " Kels, Kels, Kels" ( its either Bupe or Kels at this point as Kelsey seems a little difficult for Zambians to pronounce). At this point I realize two things: first, in the U.S. this would be considered wildly inappropriate even though none of the boys were above the age of 6 and were just enjoying a nice morning swim, and secondly, I needed to turn around unless I was going to try and forge the river. So I decided to turn around and run back towards my house and along a different path that led to a different field. However this required me going past my house, where I had already greeted all of my neighbors (Mwashibukeni Mukwai, Good Morning in Bemba had been said at least 20 times at this point) but there weren't many other options. I went back towards my house, where all of my neighbors children started running after me which only made me run faster which therefore made me tired much quicker. Anyway, I got a good 30 minute run in ( a good amount considering all of the distractions) and went back to my hut where my iwes ( what they call children here) were awaiting my arrival. Yes I know right now you are thinking, wow a lot has gone on in the first activity of the day, but just wait it gets better. I returned home, where I know have to light my brazier so I can cook some breakfast and heat my bath water. My iwes are very good at helping me with this as they have been doing it everyday, three times a day since they were born. I on the other hand am still pretty horrible at it and must swing the brazier at least 50 times back and forth ( yes I count when I get bored) just to get some of the coals warm. Therefore, the iwes win. So I made my usual oatmeal for breakfast, took a nice bucket bath and swept the hut of termites and ants which continuously form greater piles every night. They really are quite interesting little things. Anyway, this day I had a meeting with one of my Neighborhood Health Committees to discuss an upcoming training which I am putting together for them as well as some ITN's (Insecticide Treated Nets, aka Mosquito Nets) which are coming through the district and will need help being distributed in March and April. So we walked to the meeting (usually we bike but this zone actually happened to be in my village) and sat under a tree to wait for the meeting to start. This usually takes about an hour (on a good day) from the time we get there, to organize everyone and get the meeting started. However this particular meeting happened to be very well organized so it only took about 30 minutes until it started. The meeting took about an hour and then we were done. However at every meeting it is also culturally necessary to feed your guests so even though this meeting took place in my village and my hut was only about 1 kilometer away, we still had to wait to be served lunch ( which is usually the highlight of my day considering I am not a huge fan of cooking lunch in the hot heat in the village.. yes even though it is rainy season the days have stayed VERY warm). While waiting for lunch one of my committee members took out his sling shot and started aiming into a tree. I didn't see anything so I didn't think much of it, when all of a sudden he shot and something fell from the tree. He went, picked it up and brought it back to show me. It was a baby bird. I almost started crying on the spot. It was dead. I was confused. I asked why he shot the little bird and my counterpart told me he was going to eat it. It was a "I am in a third world country" type of moment. It was only exasperated when a few minutes later my counterpart and I were led into the home to feast on a lunch of half a chicken (meat is only served on very special occasions), nshima, the traditional porridge type of food made out of maize ( my friends call it grits in a hardered form and without any butter or cheese) and a leafy green vegetable. This is the Zambian way. Even if they haven't eaten all day or might only have one meal in a day they will be sure to feed you their best chicken and make sure you eat until you can't breath any longer. After the meal was finished, my counterpart and I walked back to the clinic where he had to go back to looking after patients as he is a voluntary casual employee who although not formally trained gives out medicine when no one else is there to, while I finished up some notes from the meeting and headed home. Of course within 5 seconds of being home my iwes were there to greet me, wanting to fetch my water, sweep my yard and just stare at whatever I do of course all in reward for a "sweetie" which they don't know is actually a flinstone gummy, haha I am so tricky. We hung out, had an art hour where they got to draw whatever they like with the crayons I provide while I got to write in my journal, listen to Larry london on Border Crossings , Voice of America, and then turn in for the day. However not before being lucky enough to stand on my mound and talk to my parents for a few minutes to tell them about my day. After that, its about 6:30 which means a light dinner ( if you ever eat Nshima you won't want to eat for days) and an early bed time, usually crawling into bed by 7:30pm. Yes I know it sounds crazy but when it gets dark, my mouse (which I have named micky) comes out to scavange for food as do other insects, rodents, etc. Therefore I tuck myself into my mosquito net, read for a while, check the news of the day and turn in by 8:30 or 9 for a good 9 hours of sleep. These days the rain usually puts me to sleep, especially now that the leaks in my roof are fixed I can stay asleep without worrying that I will wake up to a flood in the morning. Then the day starts over again. This might sound like a horrifying day to some of you, or one that is unimaginable, however for me it was a great day. I got a lot of things accomplished, only if just meeting people in my NHC and learning what their needs are and what we will work on in the future. I got to hang out with my iwes, have some time to myself, and watch a rainstorm roll in. Life in Zambia is great. It is VERY different than my life in America but I love it all the same. So hopefully this gave you a little better of an idea of what at least ONE of my many days here looks like. So I know my blogs have been few and far between but now that I just got my computer sent, hopefully I can catch you all up a little more often! So I hope everyone is keeping warm in the last few months of winter, just know that lots of love and warmth is being sent from Zambia!
