Village Party

So Justin and I headed from Dar Es Salaam to Kasama, Zambia via train. I'll just say that the trip was not nearly as smooth as it was going out and took 8 hours longer returning than it did going out even though we had about 400 miles less to go. But we arrived in Kasama unscathed and ready to head back to the village.

The next day we hitched out to Edmeé's house where we hung out for the evening and eventually had to crash there for lack of other transport going to Mporokoso. The next morning we headed out to the road bright and early and got a pretty nice ride fairly early on. We got to Mporokoso in the afternoon, grabbed some bikes, and went to my village. It was great to get back there and see my family, neighbors, dog, and house.

Justin and I went to visit one of my best farmers so that he could see some fish ponds and have a bit of an idea of what I do from day to day. We were only in my village for a couple of days, but had dinner with my family on the last night we were there. Justin liked the nshima, and the intimate family dining setting, so all in all it was a success.

After my village, we headed to Annie's village, Chilala, to visit her and her boyfriend that was also in from America. We had her villages cook up a bunch of nshima, chickens, and cabbage that night and then had a party. They built a proper fire, pounded on the drums, sang and danced. Zambians are good at being sure that nobody gets away without dancing, so there are pictures of each of us dancing at the party. The next morning, JJ and I biked into Mporokoso and caught transport to Kasama where we'd spend two nights.

While in Kasama, I worked for several hours on my SPA (small project assistance grant) proposal to send some of my farmers to an agricultural training center. Luckily I finished it all up before Justin and I had to head to Lusaka.