I know I have just written two blogs but I have about 30min before I leave Lusaka so I thought I would take advantage of the nice free internet thats slower than America but faster than in Mkushi at least.

First for a list of some of my favorite things:
1. ice cream
2. Showers (hot ones are especially nice some days)
3. my ipod (particularly when it's charged)
4. yoghurt
5. cheese
6. chocolate chip muffins

I guess I'm in a pretty good mood today listening to music and enjoying my breakfast of yoghurt and chocolate chip muffins along with the hot shower. (the cheese and icecream were dinner last night)

I went to dinner by myself both nights i was here and I went to see a movie alone last night. I enjoyed the food and the movie, but i will say that doing stuff like that alone is about as lame as it sounds.

In other news: Over the past two weeks it was really windy at my site and small chucks of grass began to blow off my roof. There is still at least a thing layer of grass covering the entire roof but it's a little disconcerting considering the rains will be here very soon, probably mid november. Not to mention my housing committee still hasn't cut grass to make a roof for my cimbusu so I don't think they'll ever repair my roof especially if it looks find. And by the time the rain comes and you discover leaks it's kinda too late because you can't dry grass for the roof when it's raining. After about a week of this I was laying in bed reading and around 21 hours I started hearing the crackling sound of bush fires. Almost everyone practices slash and burn cultivation and aside from burning their fields some people like to burn the area around their house first to create a fire break so that a huge fire doesn't get out of control and burn down their houses. As I laid their reading and listening to the fire I heard it get closer and closer until i could hear it on all sides. I contemplated what I should do- go outside and see if I could keep the fire back, go get help, or just keep reading and hope for the best. I opted for the last idea because I thought if my roof did burn at least they would have to replace it and i could ensure that it was a solid leak free on this time. Also I do have insurance on my things. So i packed a small bag with my valuables and continued reading just waiting for my roof to catch fire. Somehow I accidentally fell asleep which would have been bad in the event of a fire. But when i woke the next morning my hut was still intact and the grass surrounding it but about 2 meters on each sidewas all burnt.
Ok time to go hopefully it will be a good day for transport!

updated wish list

Updated wish list:

1. dried blueberries
2. chocolate chips
3. macaroni and cheese
4. cheezeits
5. brown sugar
6. funfetti cake mix and vanilla frosting for my birthday! (in case you forgot its less than 2 months away and packages sometimes take awhile)
7. chocolate and cream cheese frosting
8. seeds for cumfry, lemon grass, and spinach (just one packet of each)
9. coconut lime verbena moisturizing shampoo and conditioner from bath and body works
10. Of course any chocolate and reeses items are always greatly appreciated


Also Sabsina can now be added to the hall of fame yay!

Another note: it’s generally easier for me to get packages that are sent to the Mkushi address which is PO BOX 840038 Mkushi, Zambia. You can still send something to Lusaka address if you need to but it takes a little longer to get to me. Thanks again to all you wonderful family and friends that have been writing and sending packages!

September

I’m back in Lusaka with real internet which is nice although I’m not a huge fan of Lusaka in general! Since the last time I wrote I returned to my village and found out that my rabbit had her babies the night before but they were all dead by the time I arrived- I’m not entirely sure what happened, but the villagers don’t know much about caring for them. I wish I had been there because maybe I could have done something, but it was too late by the time I arrived. I am trying to breed them now hoping she will get pregnant again soon. The night I returned, it was 18, and I was disappointed about the rabbits and tired from transport and hungry so I wanted to just eat dinner and go to sleep. However, someone knocked on my door and handed me what looked like an empty mealie-mealie sack. I automatically said thank you and took it then asked what it was, he said “it’s your cat.” I was confused because I didn’t have a cat although I was planning to get one from a nearby volunteer the next week. Apparently he found out I wanted a cat and he wanted to get rid of a kitten so he gave it to me. In a way it was nice, but I had no food or anything for her and I was so tired that I almost gave her back so I could just get the other one the following week, but she’s adorable and tiny and she was so scared that I had to keep her. Her name is Tigerlily and she is earning her keep, killing the rats and even a blue headed lizard. Plus she’s really friendly and it’s nice to have her around to keep me company. She loves to sit on my lap or follow me around and she sleeps under the sheets curled up right next to me every night. I’m really happy to have a kitten finally!

As far as work is concerned: I have started a permaculture garden to provide delicious fresh food for me and the rabbits and probably more importantly it can be used as a demonstration to teach farmers. I was asked to start teaching a business class but so far no one has showed up. I planted lemon seeds and I got a bunch of seeds from peace corps and my forestry officer so I can start planting those when the rains come.

The first week of September there was a traditional ceremony in Chalata (just near me) to celebrate the Lala tribe (it’s really like a sub tribe of Bemba). People were socializing, drinking, dancing and partying all weekend, but on Saturday morning there was an official ceremony that I went to. Its supposed to be to celebrate the harvest when people return from their fields to the village (cibwelamushi means return to the village)There were 11 different Bemba chiefs that came along with the vice-president of Zambia. It was nice to see them act out the presentation of a small portion of each crop to the chiefs and dance and tell the history of the tribe. Also we all sang the national anthem in Bemba, the Zambian national anthem is actually really pretty, but I had never heard it in Bemba before so that was nice.

Mostly I was staying at site recovering from the Lusaka craziness for the past month, but I did go to the house this past Friday and it was nice to cook and bake and chill. The electricity was off and on the whole time, but it was still really nice. And then a group of us ended up going to visit Kundalila Falls about a 2 hour drive north of Serenje. The falls were beautiful and we saw baboons and it was really nice just to get go somewhere relaxing. The water was freezing and the weather was overcast for the only day in September but I did swim a bit and I had fun climbing up the rocks all around the falls. We camped there over night and altogether it was quite enjoyable.

I think that’s all I have for an update and I put some photos on facebook for those of you that don't have facebook you can use these links: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2884386&id=2034306&l=c07db3df14
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2857227&id=2034306&l=d212dc697b