**Written in Kalaba Village, May 6, 2012**
I think one of the best things about living in a village is
that it makes you notice simple pleasures. When people ask me what I did this
past weekend I could really say is Laundry and Paperwork. However the things I
noticed that made it a great weekend in the village are smaller and to some may
seem inconsequential. For example in my mind yesterday I spent a good part of
the two with my two favorite kids, Agnes and Ngandwe. We spent a good part of
the day in my hut on a hunt for a scary hairy spider that I found when cleaning
under my bed (a chore that I try to avoid at all costs). When I was telling
this story to my parents their reaction was “Aren’t you used to spiders by now”
and most things of the creepy crawler distinction I am used to. I can handle
wall spiders, biting ants, lizards, rats and even small snakes but this thing
was tarantula looking and I was not going at it alone. So after moving of my
furniture, lots of squealing (mostly on my part, not on the 10 and 12 year olds
part) Agnes stabbed the spider with a small stick and again a 10 year old was
my hero. That adventure was the highlight of my Saturday. That paired with
playing with bubbles with my kids after the hunt had concluded. I think it was
a quote from Knocked Up when Paul Rudd says, “ I wished I loved anything as
much as my kids love bubbles” Well I love watching my kids love bubbles. I
would do it for hours if I didn’t get light headed from the loss of oxygen it
takes to blow the bubbles. I am sure someone in America has probably made up an
invention that doesn’t require breathing for bubbles to fly away but we are in
Zambia and all we have is me for now.
That brings “Sunday Fun Day” or me to Sunday as some refer
to it in my previous life. Again not “eventful” by most peoples standards but
pretty perfect by mine. I went on a beautiful run past my favorite dambo that
looks like every beautiful picture you have ever seen of Africa but happens to
be in my backyard. Then I treated myself to breakfast burritos (I must say my
tortilla making skills have gotten quite good). The rest of the day was mostly
spent reading and doing paperwork for this Malaria Net project. However it
ended with my kids drawing on my porch and then two cute girls playing a
laughing game with each other on my porch for hours. Just listening to them
laugh at nothing was enough to make anyone smile. Now it’s the end of my
weekend and I get to write this journal entry while listening to “new” (at least
by PC standards) country music that my neighbor gave me and watch the sun turn
from the brightest yellow to a light orange and finally the most beautiful
pink. Two years ago when I arrived in the village I would be counting down the
hours until the weekend was over so my American Monday workweek could start. Of
course there are still remnants of that neurosis left, but very little. The
longer I am here the more I enjoy the simple pleasures especially because as I
write this entry my time here is slowly ticking away. However for today, right
now, I just get to watch the Zambian sunset and listen to little girls’
laughter. I honestly can’t imagine a better Sunday.
