randomness

So it has been a long time since i was able to sit down at a computer and update this blog, sorry for that. I've been in my village since the end of April and I love it there, despite the frustrations and miscommunications that i've had to deal with. I have met several new friends in the village who have helped me find my way around, meet people, learn bemba etc. Also my neighbors generally help me fetch water, wash my dishes, wash my clothes, and they invite me to dinner every evening so its kinda nice even though i am able to do all those things for myself. I have found several green mambas, a puff adder, a dead spitting Cobra and another snake that i have not been able to identify yet. My mud hut is a nice cozy home now the bedroom is just bigger than my bed and has one small window, 1 ft squared and the other room has my bike, a small cofee table, two wooden chairs and a tall bookshelf thing for all my stuff. It's nice to finally not be living out of my suitcases. I went to the border with the Congo and their is a stone pillar with a C for Congo carved on one side and an r for rhodesia on the other side, nothing fancy but it was cool to seee. I enjoy biking and hiking through the forested area near my hut and there are a lot of hills which provide different and beautiful views. This weekend i was in Mkushi BOMA for an agricultural show that was supposed to open on Fri but when we went there was really nothing there. On Sat the plan was to hike up a mountain: on the way my flip flop broke, so much for these fancy "durable" Reefs but with few other options I chose to continue barefoot. Then the path that we thought would take us up the mountain just ended before we got to the top and what the the lack of path and lack of shoes we just stopped there to enjoy the view which was still amazing from where we were and to have a snack. Then we headed back down into town then past town and over another smaller mountain to a lodge for the night. The barefoot part led to painful blisters all over the bottom of my feet and my knee/ankle were hurting from limping. (Also the day defore i walked for 1.5 straight and then walkewd around town all day in my new hiking shoes that gave me blisters on my heels from not being broken in which is why i chose not to wear them up the mountain) Then i spent two nights recovering at the lodge, watching movies, showering with hot water and eating delicious food so all in all it was a good weekend. Also, i think i will take it easy the next few days in the village since i'm still sore and my feet feel painful. The other very exciting part of the weekend was visiting the Post Office where i had 6 packages waiting. So thank you very much to all of you who sent me packages, it was like Christmas opening everything at the same time and I really appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Other news: I have an African doormouse in my hut that is really noisy and keeps waking me up throughout the night, but it's so cute that i hate to kill it. I'm still working on the cat thing but so far no luck. Hopefully soon and hopefully the cat will chase off the mouse and keep other ones from moving in. I had food poisoning for about 36 hours- not fun but not too bad and other than that i've been healthy and safe and things have been really good. I'm getting used to the hitching thing and i kinda enjoy it sometimes because i've met some nice and interesting people that way.
Random facts:
1. it takes exavtly 1 hour to crack a 4 digit bicycle code where each digit is 1-6, yes i tried it
2. Zambians cannot say the r sound instead they say l, but they insisnt on naming their children things like ruthi that sounds like lucy and its impossible to differentiate between pray/play; rice/lice; fly/fry etc.
3. They cook ubwali which is a think mashed potatoe type consistency made from boiling ground finger millet, cassava, sorghum or more commonly maize (the maize kind is very much like polenta) and then you eat lumps with your hands and dip them in the relishes of greens, beans, meat or whatever. But whenever they try to explain it to me they say "ubwali or in english you say nshima" then they get really consfused when i try to explain that nshima is not actually an english word
4. Most people buy second hand american reject clothing from the thrift stores here so its common to find really crazy and funny outfits like a man wearing a santa hat in June.

I wish i could think of a funny story to leave you with, but i have nothing so you'll have to wait until next time which hopefully won't be too long. greetings to all you friends and family, I miss you!