'Tis The Rainy Season

Greetings & Salutations everyone. As I approach the start of my sixth month in Zambia, I really can't believe I've been gone from home for that long. What I really have a hard time picturing is that less than a year ago I was still taking classes at Iowa. It all seems worlds away. Anyways, I digress. It's the height of the rainy season and all is well.

For the last month or so it has been raining almost everyday. It rains all times of the day, but the good thing is it finishes after a couple of hours. When it rains here people stop working like they're communists. They look at you like you're crazy if you're outside in the rain. That's nice because if I have an appointment at 7:00 and it's raining, I just get to stay in bed and sleep.

Like I said things here are great and have really been picking up a lot, but you can read about that below. I posted new pictures at the beginning of January, so if you haven't been here in awhile, fell free to check them out. I hope you find the following posts interesting and/or entertaining. Be sure to read the last one.

Living Without

I have to give the Peace Corps credit, they have a pretty good system set up to minimize the amount of shock that one experiences for the first few months when starting out.

When you first arrive, all the real comforts of America disappear. You have to live with a family that hardly speaks your language, the food is like nothing you've ever eaten, and you eat it twice each day, the toilet is a hole in the ground, and the electricity and water are about as dependable as a good Keanu Reeves performance. But you're surrounded by Americans who, after a couple weeks, become friends. Since you spend 10-12 hours each day with these people, they're there to reminisce with you, vent to, and listen to, so all the changes aren't too bad.

So you spend 10 weeks getting used to that new lifestyle, then the Zambian comforts are removed: friends, and any form of electricity or running water. In all honesty, it’s not that bad. I really never wish that I had electricity, or more accurately, I never feel like I need electricity. I’ve come to find that it’s more annoying to be at the PC house, where we have electricity, when the power is out. Running water is never really an inconvenience. I’ve got it lucky though because my furrow runs very close to my house. Some volunteers have to walk 2 or 300 yards to their water source though.

So far I’ve made the transition pretty easily for the most part. Below is a short list of things I miss most about home. This list is in no particular order.

Friends and family (collective awww), a variety of beer, snowboarding, Quizno’s, mom’s cooking, driving/convenience of a car, draught beer, TRL, new and good music, bowling, big breakfasts, disc golf, and South Park.

Let Me Check My Calendar

For my first several weeks I was at site I didn’t do much of anything. That was my plan. Peace Corps encourages it for a smooth transition to the village lifestyle. For the last couple of weeks I’d been worried because not doing anything was becoming comfortable and easy. I was worried that I’d slip into a habit of not doing much and being incredibly lazy. Sounds like college. It all changed though about 2 and a half weeks ago when Ba Kennedy Mwela and Ba Mark Chola came to get my advice and make appointments. It may be the first time in my life that I’ve said in all seriousness, “That sounds good, let me just check my calendar.” Now I use that sentence all the time. I’ve had appointments for the last week solid and have several into next month already.

So far I’ve staked one pond that is ready to be dug now, had several consultations for pond sites and farm planning, as well as attended several harvests. In the last couple months, 7 or 8 harvests have yielded more than 300 pounds of fish bringing in around $300.

My typical workday is 3-5 hours long, but I had an 11 hour day last week. When not working I read, work in my garden, clean my bike, or listen to music.

My Garden

So far I have 4 beds planted and growing. I just got a bunch of onions, green peppers, and jalapeno pepper plants started. I recently acquired about 100 pounds of manure for 50 cents, so I can’t wait to get started working that into my beds.

I’ll be sure to include pictures next time I can post some in April. By then I should be eating watermelons, cantaloupe, sweet corn, carrots, and beans

A Few Of My Favorite Words

My Bemba skills are coming along slowly, but surely. I thought I’d provide you all a short list of some of my favorite words. Fell free to learn them and use them in your everyday life to show all of your co-workers and classmates just how cosmopolitan you are.

Bufi: pronounce boo-fee. This word is used to call someone out when they’re lying. If someone is a habitual liar, call them a bufi sana.

e.g. “That was such a bufi when Brett said he’s been working.”

Chowama: pronounced chow-a-ma. This is a way to say, “It’s good.” It can be used with a thumbs-up/wink if it’s really good. A fun Peace Corps variation is to add mama at the end of it.

e.g. “These beers are on the house.”

“Chowama mama (with thumbs-up).”

Iwe: pronounce e-way. This is the way to say ‘you’ without respect. Basically you can refer to kids as iwes.

e.g. “Iwe, go get me some mangos.”

Look for more fun and useful words in future postings.

Hand Jive

Here in Zambia they’ve developed an informal sign language for common topics. The most universal requires your palm to be up, fingers just relaxed so they’re bent up, and your hand shaking horizontally like you’re feeding ducks. This is used by vehicles to tell you there’s no room when hitchhiking. I use this to accompany an expression to explain if I don’t have something/money, if I’m unsure of anything, or if an event never happened.

This next signal is especially useful in cities. Take your index finger and point it towards the ground, then move your finger/hand in a circular motion as if you’re stirring a can of paint with your finger. Vehiles tell hitchers that they’re just staying in the immediate area, so that’s why they’re not stopping. It’s a nice move to use for pedestrians. Taxis all park in the same area, so you get hounded by 5 different drivers at a time. Half the time I don’t even want a cab. If I’m in the middle of making an insightful remark and this happens, I can just make the finger-circle motion to say, “Sorry guys, we’re just staying in the area. Thanks ever so much for the offer though.” It’s so much nicer than ignoring them.

A few other favorites: universal thumb rubbing middle and index fingers for money, if someone’s hands are dirty from the fields or whatever they offer a closed-fist handshake so you just shake their writs, if you see someone across a group of people, instead of waving, you clap your hands together at about head level and nod your heads at each other.

The Wizard Of Mporokoso

Read this whole post, it's crazy...

Allow me to set the scene. I had just spent the afternoon with Annie, my nearest neighbor in Mporokoso proper running various errands and having the two much anticipated beers at our favorite bar. After the completion of my business, I biked the 13 miles back to my village. As I got to within a couple miles, I thought it seemed like there was a lot of activity taking place in the Chalabesa area, but was tired and thought nothing of it. I arrived home and went to greet Ba Mulenga and the gamily I live with. Mr. Mulenga asked if I noticed the mass exodus down the road in our village. I said I had but was unsure why. He informed me that the reason was this…the father of one of my fish farmers, Edward Lombe, had been accused of being a Wizard so the witch finders were at his house to remove his witchcraft, or the object which gives him his power. I actually just spoke with Grandpa Lombe the day before to negotiate a deal on a stalk of bananas. (I buy 40 or so bananas at a time now.)

Mr. Mulenga proceeded to tell me the background of how this happened. A neighbor, Aaron the agricultural officer I work with, has a daughter who’s been sic for quite some time now. After several fruitless trips to the hospital, Aaron and family decided it was a witch or wizard. After going to a witch finder for a consultation, Brandpa Lombe was fingered as the offender. Aaron decided better safe than sorry, though, so he got a second opinion. Again, Grandpa Lombe is named. So then all parties involved are called to the local Chief for a hearing. It was decided that on Wednesday, January 25, a team of experienced with doctors would arrive at the accused’s house to remove the object that possesses his power. Brett, you’re not in Iowa anymore.

I had planned to get some work done in the garden this particular evening, but with an event like this, who could resist? I imagined a good ol’ fashioned witch ousting comes once, maybe twice in a lifetime. I considered a camera, but figured this would be a somber occasion, thus inappropriate. So Ba Mulenga and I started off on the 15 minute walk only having to stop once to tie his goat up that’d started following us. The whole scene was hilarious. People hurriedly walking down the road in their Sunday’s best clothes. Here was electricity in the air.

As I cut left off the man road to take the 2 foot wide path that goes to the Harry Potter wannabe’s house, I could immediately se a huge crowd gathered around his house. A few minutes later, after making my way through the rows of bicycles lined up like Harley’s outside a biker bar, I was finally there.

Immediately I could see that the who’s who of Chalabesa and the surrounding villages were there. The accuser, the accusee, the local head of security, several of my farmers, and finally the white guy was there. There were probably 70-90 people total. Quickly my attention was diverted from the crowd to the screaming man front and center; the first witch doctor. He donned a white Karate Kid-style headband with an emblazoned first aid red cross in the center. He was wearing a white, mid-thigh skirt with the same symbol on the front and back of it. Two men flanking him were shaking maracas and singing songs. This man would scream, shake his head a bit, run around the house a few times, run through the house, and come back

Ba Mulanga was explaining to me that these guys use their magic so they can see the witchcraft. Apparently it’s like a huge aura that they have to capture. Once they actually catch it, it takes a tangible form. Ba Mulenga informed me that usually it’s something ugly like a horn or bone or something. He also told me something that got me even more excited. Apparently the witchcraft, before they capture it will leave the house so the witch doctors will be chasing an invisible object around the yard. I”ll also quickly comment on the atmosphere as well. I figured it’d be sad because one of their own was found guilty of being a wizard. Shame will be brought to the family, so I figured they’d be in bad farm. Wrong on both counts. It was like a party. People were laughing and singing. People were cracking jokes with the witch doctors. It was bizarre. I regretted not bringing my camera. Back to the story. The first witch doctor repeated the aforementioned sequence a few time, then he emerged from the house to announce new that drew a collective gasp from the audience. He said that the witchcraft wasw very big and powerful. Then he said that people should secure the bottoms of their pants because it could go up to people’s unmentionables. So it wasn’t long before men and kids had taken string to tie their pants around their ankles, and women holding skirts between their knees. This must have been a tag-team match because after this announcement, another guy came into try his luck.

The witch doctors have a ‘manager’ who takes care of all props throughout the event. So the second doctor, we’ll call him Dr. Rosenrosen, took a few steps out to size up the house. The manager followed him so he could fasten the ceremonial pillowcase on his head so it would hang down Dr. Rosenrosen’s back. I’m not sure if it was just him getting psyched or what, but he made that noise when people shake their heads back and forth so their cheeks flap and make a noise. He did that a good 3 or 4 times. He circled the house a few times splashing water on the house with some animal tail. He had a few call and response songs with the audience, but he couldn’t make a dent in it. It was like the end of Ghostbusters II when they can’t break through the pink shell covering the museum, but this story doesn’t end with the Statue of Liberty saving the day.

I’ll fast forward through 45 minutes of gesticulating, and trance-like stares to when they get the witchcraft out of the house. Sure enough, one of the guys was like a greyhound after the rabbit. He’s running through crowds, gardens, neighbor’s yards chasing after the witchcraft. It must have ducked into an alley to give him a slip, because he lost it. In an attempt to regain the ‘scent,’ he took the animal tail I previously referred to and was rubbing it on things around the yard and smelling the tail! Randomly he’d snort like pig for whatever reason. So he walked around the yard for 5 or 10 minutes smelling various objects and plants. After coming up empty handed for 15 or 20 minutes, they announced that this particular witchcraft was too strong for their team. They’re bringing backup in on Saturday. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the proceedings.

That’s All…

…For now. Check back in a month or so for a new update. I won’t have access to my email until the end of April, so if any of you have sent things since the beginning of January, I’m not ignoring you.

Know that I miss you all and take care.

Pearson, out.