Continuing from yesterday...

Hello again,
It's not everyday that I get to update this site twice in a week. Now there is another catch in going on site visit next week. Aside from the stuff that went down in Kasama a couple of weeks ago, there is a huge fuel crisis taking place at the moment. In Lusaka, police have been dispatched because there are near riots, people are sleeping in lines at the gas stations, and there are just random cars left all over the place due to lack of gas. So hopefully some stuff can get resolved in the next week so that I can visit my site in Mporokoso.
Right now I'm in Mwekera hanging out with some current PCVs. I actually met one of the guys currently up in Mporokoso and he makes that place sound great. I'm just getting more excited. He told me about the compound I'll be living in. So a pretty well off farmer owns a bunch of land (owning land here in Zambia is rare) and my house will be on his land. Apparently it is very secluded and a great place to be. The family is very nice and helps Mark (the guy I'm replacing) with whatever he needs. Life is still good here in Zambia.
Now to address some questions I've gotten in postings and emails...

For bathing, my family has a little structure built about 4 feet x 4 feet. The ceiling is a few inches taller than I am. They have some water outside that sits over a fire all day so I take a few ladles of that and then dilute it with cold water to touch. So I just use a cup to wet myself and then lather up and rinse. Fairly straight forward. I apologize for those of you who have gotten mental images. But I suppose to others of you, you're welcome. I'm probably considered dirty to my host family because they all bathe twice a day. Somehow I don't smell as bad though. I think they just use nasty smelling soap.

For my slingshot, I plan on using it to shoot animals that trespass into my garden when I'm at site. Small rocks will be my ammunition of choice. I want to get a good garden established allowing me to grow some of my own food. (Speaking of which, if you want to send me any jalapeno, watermelon, cantelope, or any other good food seeds feel free.) All animals are free range here though so they just wander wherever they want to. I would like to make a fence to keep them out but we'll see. I'm also planning on getting a few of my own chickens so that I can get eggs for breakfast on occassion.

If any of you have any interest in calling me sometime, you can email my mom at sharonpearson@mchsi.com. They know of cheap calling cards for $5 or $10. I have a cell phone that all of the trainees pass around. I have it for about 3-5 hours each week. So in case any of you are bored...

I am all but finished with my first 2 books. I hope to read 200+ books in my time here. I finished Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris and am almost finished with The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis. If any of you have some great books you think I should read feel free to send them to me because I know I'll have plenty of extra time.

The weather here has still been great. We actually got rain a week or 2 ago which is the first time it's rained in September since 1978 apparently. The rainy season is supposed to start on October 24th, Independence Day. It's funny because when you ask a Zambian when the rainy season starts, it's never 'the end of October' or anything like that. It is always, October 24th.

I just realized that it has been 1 month to the day that I left the U.S. I've been thinking about a lot of you and just kind of laughing at some of your reactions that I can picture to some of the stories I'm telling on here. If you have any questions or comments please post them to one of my postings or email me and I'll try to respond to them.

Now for today's update on Zambian Cultural Tips. Today's topic is eating...
When eating, it is important to not use any utensils. If we're having baked beans, who cares, use your fingers. It's funny because I spent 5 years in college eating over a coffee table in front of the TV and I still do now. My father and I eat hunched over the coffee table in the living room and my mother and brothers either eat in the kitchen or outside on the ground. It seems really strange, but it's the norm here. They just don't all eat as a family. The first night I ate with my family, they had killed a chicken for dinner in my honor. It is the Zambian custom to give the guest the gizzard. I knew this going into it so I mentally prepared myself. When I was passed the bowl with the chicken in it I grabbed a drumstick and quickly passed the bowl back to my bamayo (dad was working that night). She then passed the bowl back to me explaining that the gizzard was for me. So I thanked her and ate my dinner. As I was eating it I kept staring down this mysterious dark organ just cringing at the thought of putting it in my mouth. Eventually the time had come where I had to eat it because I didn't want that to be the only food I had left to eat. Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. I haven't had a gizzard since which is pretty nice.

Well that's all for this week I guess. Thanks again for all of your emails supporting me. I enjoy them all.

Go Hawks!

Pearson, out.