Here's to the New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone back in the states. Even though it was rough being away from my family for the first time during the holidays, I'm having a blast celebrating the holidays in Tanzania. We left Zambia on Friday December 22nd and took the Tazara Railway all the way to Dar Es Salaam which lies on the coast of Tanzania. The train took 49 hours, but we kept ourselves busy playing games, sleeping, eating, running around the train etc. It was quite the trip. Tanzania is absolutely beautiful. The mountains are gorgeous. So we spent Christmas Eve and Day in Dar. Christmas Eve we ate at an amazing Indian/Chinese Restaurant and had the most fabulous dessert and champange at a really nice hotel. Christmas day we went to the ocean. We shopped, I actually had a turkey club sandwich for the first time here (my favorite) and drank by the ocean. It was so perfect. Then for dinner we ate a 5 star meal at the Hotel Africa....steak, mashed potatoes, rum cake...we were in heaven. We left Dar early yesterday for Moshi. It took us about 8 hrs on the crappiest bus I've ever been on. Public transport will test your patience like nothing else. So we arrived in Moshi around 14:00 exhausted and hungry. We found a cute cafe and met some Peace Corps Tanzania girls. We are staying in the Kilimanjaro Backpackers Hostel...super cute and actually nice. But this morning takes the cake. At about 6:30 we head the hotel next door to the roof top. The view was amazing. There, right in front of us was Kilimanjaro. I've wanted to be here since I was in high school. Finally a perfectly clear view of an absolutely amazing mountain. It was breath taking. The really red sun was just rising and words can't describe the feeling you get looking up at this massive mountain. Amazing. I'm still in awe of it. So we ate breakfast and I'm currently at this really cute coffee shop (they actually have muffins and bagels here...which is unheard of). Tomorrow we head to Arusha and then on to the Ngorogoro crater. The plan is to spend New Years in Arusha hopefully getting to meet some Maasai (warrior tribe in Tanzania). Then its back to Dar...taking a dip in the Indian Ocean and then back on the train for about two days. This vacation is exactly what we all needed.

I hope everyone at home is having a great holiday. Take care and you'll hear from me again sometime in January! Happy New Year! Oh and I'm going to try and post pictures from the last three months early in January. Tizaonana! Mwende Bwino.

A Typical Day in the Village

So many of you are probably wondering..."what's it really like to live in the bush, in rural Zambia." Well let me tell you what its like for me on a typical day. This will change of course, but the last three months went something like this:

6:00 I'm awoken by Amai Phiri "Odi? Ah Juliet, are you still sleeping?" (she's shouting through my window) Yes Amai Phiri I'm still sleeping. "Mauka Bwanji!" Nauka bwino zikomo. Amai Phiri, nagona. "Are you okay, are you sick?" No Amai Phiri, I'm fine. Americans like to sleep late and its only zero six. "Chabwino, I will see you." Okay Amai Phiri, zikomo. (then I roll over and fall back to sleep)

7:00 My alarm goes off and I untuck my mosquito net that has kept me safe from all the critters in the night. I open my door and am greeted by all people passing by. I begin to sweep, because it gets extremely dirty from my thatched grass roof. After thats complete I begin to prepare breakfast which always consist of Jungle Oats (like Quaker Oats) with powdered milk and sugar and of course coffee (which I can't live without). I usually take this quiet time to relax and read a Newsweek or the current book I'm reading. Also I decide how much water I'll need for the day and go to the bore hole and fetch about 40 liters of water. I can only really carry about 20 liters at a time so I have to make multiple trips but the children usually help me out by carrying it on their heads ;)

9:00 I decide its time to venture out and check whats going on in the village. Usually I go to my neighbors. Also if I have a meeting with a farmer or women's group then I'll prepare for that. Sometimes I'll go to the school, but lately I've been chasing down the people that need to finish things on my house. This will take up the rest of the morning.

12:30 I'm usually feeling hungry so I'll grab my usual lunch which consist of several spoonfuls of peanut butter (I have no bread in my area) and 2-3 mangoes. They are so delicious! Sometimes I'll sweep again depending on how windy it is.

13:30 I'll prepare for any afternoon meetings and the journey if I need to bike. If I don't have anything scheduled I'll go and chat with my friends or play with the children and explore Kapatamoyo.

16:00 Help the guys fix things around my house like the kitchen and fence. I'll play with all the little children. I love teaching them American games like Hide and go seek etc.

16:30 I usually decide its time to bathe. However some days it just doesn't happen. Depending on the weather I may use cold water straight from the bore hole or I'll heat it on my brazier. This is a pain however so I usually just use the cold water like all the villagers.

17:00 I'll start preparing dinner which will consist of one of two things. Soya pieces with rice, tomatos and onions, or scrambled eggs with tomato and onions. I love my options here. Sometimes if I'm feeling a bit crazy I'll even make pancakes. Yum!

18:30 Light some candles and prepare for the night. Sometimes I'll sweep again if needed. What I mean by preparing for the night is, I'll visit the latrine one last time then I'll lock myself in the hut and apply plastic bags under my door and on the side to keep any critters out like mice or snakes. However I still have mice, because they can climb the walls :( I'll relax a bit and maybe read some more or write in my journal.

19:30 My guards arrive. I'll chat with them a bit and then return to the house and "prepare the door" again. They are only guarding my house till end of December...then I'm on my own again :( This is usually my favorite time of the day. I begin my "Jerrycan workout." I'll take my 10 liter jugs and do a complete weightlifting workout. It works quite great because I can adjust the weight by adding or pouring out water. I turn my American music on (which the guards love) and go to work. I'll even sing and dance if I'm in the mood.

20:30 Its time to go to bed. I grab what I need for the night, my alarm clock, IPOD, book, nalgene, tissues and my headlamp. Then I meticulously tuck in the mosquito net making sure nothing is left undone. I'll read about 30 pages in my book and then listen to my IPOD till I fall asleep. This is also the time I contemplate life and how its so strange. Lots of time to think.

23:00 I always wake up, rollover and fall back to sleep.

1:00 I always wake up at this time as well.

4:30 My guards shout my name and tell me they are "knocking off" for the night. I say thanks and roll over and fall back to sleep.

6:00 I'll start all over again.

Well it sounds pretty routine, but each day brings new adventures and challenges. Something exciting is always happening in the village. I love spending time with the women and children, dancing, pounding maize to make millie meal for nshima or pounding ground nuts to make peanut butter. There's plenty of things to do. I also enjoy hiking the mountains that surround my village.

Giving Thanks

Its a week after Thanksgiving and I have much to be thankful for. Two weeks ago we had our IST (in-service training) in Lusaka. We finally got to see all of our PC friends that we haven't seen since August. It was an amazing week. We had training sessions all day long and then had plenty of time to catch up at night. I've never danced so much in my life. Good times had by all.

We learned about a program called SPA (Small Project Assistance program). We can apply for small grants through the PC to help fund workshops and trainings for our community and farmers etc. I hoping to send some of my farmers to a week long workshop on fish farming next year. Its a great program. Also there is a partnership program where you can donate money to a specific project of mine. If you're interested, please let me know and I can explain it in more detail.

After IST we headed back to Chipata for Thanksgiving. It was fantastic. Eastern province has some people that can cook. We had Turducken...turkey, duck and chicken all wrapped together. Yum! Along with that we had all the usual fixens....sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie etc. We all went around the table and said what we were thankful for. I have to say I was sad to spend Thanksgiving away from my family, however I'm truly thankful for the people here in Peace Corps. The last few weeks have been a turning point in my service. I've solidified several friendships that I know will last a lifetime. The girls of Eastern province are my rocks. I love them and cherish the times we get to spend together. Its helps making the days in the village go by quickly. They keep me sane! Its amazing...never could I have imagined meeting such wonderful people here.

After Thanksgiving, it was back to the village. Going through another time warp. Chipata to Lusaka to the village...they couldn't be more different. It really messes with your head sometimes. So I was really happy to see my family in the village again. I was excited to come back to a kitchen that was almost complete and a fence in the working. It was also a very informative week. I spent a great deal of time talking with the Amai's. They love teaching me about Zambian culture. As most of you know, I've had a lot of crazy things happening in my village. I finally got the history of my area and everything is starting to make sense now. Kapatamoyo means "to hate life" and they are very much into witchcraft and juju. Many women use "love potions" to try and keep their husbands from cheating. Which is a big problem here. On Thursday I met with a group here in Chipata to try and get them to come to my village and teach them about women's rights etc. There are a few individual cases that I'm dealing with now. I feel very strongly about women's rights so I'm hoping I can help them in some way. I won't be doing it myself, but hopefully I'll be pointing them in the right direction.

Then I was back to town. Yesterday was World AIDs Day for those that didn't know. We helped with a bike race and a basketball tournament. At the tournament, Sarah, Christi, Rachel and I held an HIV/AIDs session for the kids. It was crazy because it dealt with popping balloons and anwering questions about HIV. Fun times had by all. It felt great to be apart of such a big day. There was a marching band and dances. Rachel and I got to hold the finish line at the bike race. We were the only muzungu's in the stadium of several hundred Zambians.

Tomorrow its back to the village to get some work done and get some rest. December 5th marks my 6th month anniversary in Zambia. Time sure does fly. Hope all is well at home and I hope to update again right before leaving for Christmas vacation in Tanzania. Christmas Eve will be spent sitting on a white sand beach on the Indian ocean sipping some of Africa's finest wine. Can'
t get much better than that. I love Peace Corps and couldn't be more thankful for this experience!