happy holidays

This Christmas season has been a weird one. As I sit here on Christmas Day, I feel far from my family. Zambia is far from America. That is a fact. I don't think anyone will argue with me on that one. 

This week I have reflected a lot. I have honestly had some really horrible days this week which made me rethink life in Zambia. Why am I here? Is it worth it? What am I doing? All those wonderful questions. This experience is amazing but like everyone says, "You have to have the downs to know the ups." 

Here I am in the midst of one of my downs. My family is in America. My PCV friends are in far other places of the country or Malawi. 

I would donate my leg to have been woken up by my little sisters at 3:30 AM this morning to see what Santa brought but I am here instead. Instead Santa gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to serve the people of Zambia. 

Sometimes it feels like it sucks. My brain hurts from Bemba. My legs hurt from walking or riding my bike for 19384 kilometers. My soul aches for comfort of family. I am tired of being the mzungu harassed by drunk men. 

But it all comes full circle. 

I can communicate with the people in my village better now. I can walk and ride farther. I have found solace in the family I have been given and created in the village. I will always be the mzungu but if I wear and citengue and speak Bemba... all the sudden I am less of a mzungu and more of a local. 

As much as I really wanted to be home for Christmas and surrounded by people I love, I am so beyond grateful to be in Zambia. The more it rains here, the more it looks like paradise. As I continue this journey I hope to remember these words from President Holland. 

“Therefore, let not your hearts faint. … Mine angels shall go up before you, and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land.” ¹What goodly land? Well, your goodly land. Your promised land. Your new Jerusalem. Your own little acre flowing with milk and honey. Your future. Your dreams. Your destiny. I believe that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountain or the temple and there shows us the wonder of what His plan is for us. We may not see it as fully as Moses or Nephi or the brother of Jared did, but we see as much as we need to see in order to know the Lord’s will for us and to know that He loves us beyond mortal comprehension. I also believe that the adversary and his pinched, calculating little minions try to oppose such experiences and then try to darken them after they happen.” – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland 

Happy Holidays. Come visit. Come one. Come all. 

My door is wide open. 

Giving Thanks

I just wanted to reflect on what I am thankful for this holiday season in Zambia.

1. Clean water
2. My electric toothbrush
3. Zambia
4. Strong legs
5. My family in America
6. Culture exchange
7. Movies
8. My hut
9. That my dog died and who I met because of it.
10. The Texcele Family
11. Faith
12. Rain. Lots of rain.
13. The ability to read.
14. My American citizenship.
15. Solar energy powered deceives.
16. The natural ombre way the sand is on the roads.
17. Trees.
18. Mango season.
19. Children.
20. Bemba and speaking it.
21. My pupils.
22. The ability to have phone data.
23. My BYUI educational experience.
24. My dad.
25. Sleep.
26. Music for every mood.
27. Food.
28. The smell of rain.
29. The kids who are excited to fetch my water.
30. My bike.
31. Ulupwa yandi and how they protect me.
32. Airplanes.
33. Modern technology.
34. Knowing how to swim.
35. Mikunku Basic School.
36. Nalgene water bottles.
37. My experiences in Kenya.
38. Knowing English.
39. Being Mormon.
40. Good hair days.
41. My freedom.
42. The PCVs of Central Province.
43. Kasamwa Village.
44. My mom.
45. Straight teeth.
46. This experience.
47. My sisters (maybe brother in-law too).
48. WhatsApp.
49. Food.
50. You. (Thanks for everything)

October at a Glance

I guess I will take the idea from another Peace Corps Volunteer and do short Twitter like updates of my life this last month. Good thing I keep a journal to look back on my life.

1 Oct: My dog is sick. He won't eat. 

Blessings started building my pig pen.

 Had a late night dance party with the village.

2 Oct: My host family cut off a part of my dog's tail while I was sleeping. I strapped Swahili to me with a citengue and took him to the vet. Returning tomorrow.

3 Oct: Swahili is getting worse. We went to the vet. He is on liquid therapy. The vet, Josh, says it is Parvo. He is hopeful.

4 Oct: Back to the vet. Lunch with Lea. Swahili is crying a lot and now cannot stand. I can't stop crying. I am that weird American in the village.

5 Oct: Swahili had a seizure in the night. I took him in a taxi to the vet. He couldn't control his body. I had to put him down. I feel peace.

6 Oct: I was okay until dinner. My host family's puppy crawled into my lap. You can guess what happened.

7 Oct: Teacher is sick. I taught grade 8. We played games. It was fantastic. Ate at school for lunch.

8 Oct: I taught English again. It was awful. In other news... the pig pen looks good.

9 Oct: Taught English again. It went well. I cleaned up the last of Swahili's vomit. The village kids helped me scrub the old mattress.

10 Oct: I met Katie at the road. She bought me braiser starters and chocolate. She knows the way to my heart.

11 Oct: Paid off my vet bill. It was 200 kwatcha less than I expected. Josh is too kind. Hung out with him all afternoon.

12 Oct: I finally got in the water at the river to go swimming. I am so sun burnt. I want to sleep for days.

13 Oct: Saw my first mouse. Volunteered at the clinic. Played with the kids. Floyd wants to marry Taleah.

14 Oct: Invited the white farmers to Indepence Day celebrations. They were nice.

15 Oct:  Made puzzles with kids at school. Now I am the owner of 15 puzzles.

16 Oct: Drew pictures at school with kids. Mildy killed 4 large spiders in my house while I screamed, "natina." I am so thankful for my host sister.

17 Oct: I made bean burgers. Rogers said it will take him 1.5 hours to bike to Mkushi. Total lie. It is 53 kilometers up hill.

18 Oct: New terminate hole. Kids are sneaking around. I guess they have been told not to visit me all the time.

19 Oct: Josh was supposed to come but was busy. All I did today was help cut Aaron's hair.

20 Oct: Not feeling 100%. Read a lot. One of the kids is so sensitive. I can't handle it today.

21 Oct: Observed grade 8. Had a secret lunch with the teachers. Grade 9 class turned into a club today after school.

22 Oct: More prep for Independence Day. It is looking good. I carried water for the first time today.

23 Oct: Blessings finished the pig pen. The kids know how to dance. Found an orphan. I think I attract them.

24 Oct: Happy Indepence Day! It was an incredible day. I think I fell in love with Zambia a bit.

25 Oct: Mkushi day. I got a cat named Rio. Hung with Lea, Summer, Lizzie and Wesley.

26 Oct: Watched a movie and hung out with Casey. She lives like 7 kilometers away.

27 Oct: Slow day. I set up Sandra with a program that pays for orphans to get their education paid for.

28 Oct: Another slow day. Watched a movie. Wrote a letter.

29 Oct: Slow day again. Out of charcoal to cook with. Hung out with Ba Susan. I love that family. Did math in the dirt with the kids.

30 Oct: Teacher drama. Came home and cleaned.

31 Oct: Saw and hang out with some other PCVs and Josh. It was awesome to see them. Happy Halloween.

So, that is what happened last month. Hopefully soon I will be able to update you on the current witchcraft. This is Zambia

Community Entry

I feel like community entry is such an awkward phase. Let's take a look into what happened yesterday.

5:50 The sun is up and that means so am I. Also my uncontrollable urge to pee has me bolt out the door like every morning before this. My body has yet to learn how to get two things done at once. So, while I am getting all comfy back inside my house... the other number comes knocking and I am back squatting.

6:00 Breakfast is 50% done already. Time for eating and reading. I have read 100 pages. I am not even a fast reader and about.... uhhhh.... 5 minutes has past.

7:10 Washing dishes time. I am doing this in complete alone peace and BAM out of no where, I have helpers. This expedites the situation that I as hoping to take 20 or more minutes. Again, 5 minutes and I am done.

7:20 Clothes washing time. Luckily I saved up a lot of clothes I have only worn once. This should take a lot of time. Which it does. Praise the heavens. Maybe 30 minutes to an hour later we are done. My helper amount has increased to 4 now. Also somewhere during this time or before I put my phone out to solar charge. (Shoot out to Melanie: I use it everyday. Thanks a million.)

8:30 Time to sweep. The helpers insist on sweeping outside and the insaka. Luckily I have my house, chim and ulusasa that I can tackle. I do so as they handle their tasks. Of course somewhere in the middle of sweep I get distracted and burn my trash pile. Everything is looking tip-top when we all finish.

9:15 I need water. I have 60 liters of empty containers. Good thing I have 7 helpers at this point and a bike. The two 20 liters are strapped to my bike and the two 10 liters will be carried on heads. We walk the 700 meters to the closest fullest natural well and fetch our hearts out. When we get home I distribute candy accordingly. A lollipop for 20 liters and A small candy for 10. Or a lollipop for 10 and helping me all morning. There is justice in this world.

10:00 The kids are playing "game" and I am ready for a snack. I make popcorn and eat while reading.

10:45 While doing absolutely nothing inside a bamaayo comes along selling tomatoes and I get called outside. I buy 2 bunches for 2 kwatcha and immediately some of them up with salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. So good.

11:00 My dishes and clothes are dry. I bring them inside. I fold my clothes and put them away. I also put away my dishes.
12:00 I have read another 50 pages or so and it isn't even lunch yet.

13:00 Lunch. Bamaayo has prepared nshima and rape. Classic move.

13:00 The older kids are done with school. Time for an adventure.

14:00 I have rounded up 3 of the villages finest for a good ol' walk to the river. As we start blazing our trail we of course pick up 3 more boys. As soon as we get to the river, the adventure turns into a crocodile hunt. You could have guessed, but we see nothing. I would compare the walk we went on to the epic journey of Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings. We crossed almost every type of land formation there is. Somewhere on the crocodile hunt the boys see the dangerous waters fit for a swim. It is short lived. Maybe 20 minutes at max.

17:00 Home. Bamaayo has the bath water ready. I bathe away all the dirt I have collected. While the amount of kids gathering in my insaka is enough to make an American football team. They are playing the World Famous Game of UNO. I taught it to them a few days earlier.

19:00 Dinner. By now my football team has left and it is just I and the family.

20:00 Bed time. Like a champ.

I am Posted

I am posted. That means I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). Here I am living the village dream.

During the next three months as volunteers we are supposed to spend time to really get to know our communities. I find myself 100% exhausted at 20:00. What do I do all day? I have no idea. I usually struggle speaking Bemba the majority of the day and clean a lot. I finished a book I started months ago. I am getting my walls cemented on Monday. After that, holy cow, I will have so much to do. I will be able to start decorating and painting everything. I cannot wait. I have an average of 5 kids outside my house at all times. I honestly don't mind.

I got a dog on day two. That was a blur. I named him Rafiki but my village cannot say that so his new name is Swahili. My village chose. He is a handful but everyone spoils him. He loves sweet potatoes. He is a typical African dog. The village kids love to tease him.

It just started raining. Naturally, my puppy is scared out of his mind. It is the first Zambian rain for both of us. I can't help to think about when the rainy season really does come... how am I going to take a shower? We will cross that bridge when it comes.

I got put on the committee to plan Zambia's 50th independence. I am totally game but I don't know much about Zambia. Here we go.

I talked to the carpenter. I want a breakfast nook like table, 2 chairs and a couch. I heard he was cheap but when the sum total came to 230 kwatcha... I could have died. That is a bargain in my mind.  Will definitely go back to him when I get paid again to have some shelves made.

I feel like everything here is peaches and roses. As soon as I grasp Bemba better, I will be free as a daisy. My host family do not speak English very much and so I have jumped into the Bemba world head first. They say they can already tell I have been learning a lot. I guess the best way to learn is to put yourself out there and let the words fly... even if they are wrong.

The area I live in is a Zambian Village version of Lehi Park in Santa Cruz, California. I am going to generalize this village really quick in the way the homesteads look but you can't generalize every hut in Zambia like you can't generalize how every house looks in America. Here we go. In my village the bamaayos sweep their dirt/sand yards everyday. They look great. There are trees surrounding each compound and on a lot of the compounds they have a few banana trees. If the family has enough money they might have a solar charging system connected to a car battery to charge anything or run TVs they also might have a thatch roof. The average family does have a few pets..  maybe a dog, chickens, etc. The houses are covered in thatch. They have a outdoor bathing area, kitchen (insaka), drying rack, clothes line and bathroom. But just like America, each house is subject to have their differences.

bemba for days

We are down to the wire. I have 1.5 weeks left here at training. These last few weeks are killer. Let me tell you. They are jam packed with teaching assessments, many other assessments and the big final language test.

Here is the deal... I know I will pass the test. There is no question about that. I want to be the best I can be and learn as much Bemba as possible before I leave to my village.

I study for an hour every night and morning. I will get tested by all sorts of teachers and here is the thing... some days I feel like I have improved so much and other days I am slightly suicidal.

I guess that is the beauty of learning a new language. I always go in confident and coming out, things sometimes take a turn.

I know I will learn most of my Bemba in the village the next two years. My goal is to hit the road running. Is there any shame in that?

This is how I describe myself and families in Bemba:

Ishina lyandi nine Megan Emily Butler. Nafuma ku Amelika mu musumba wa California wa San Jose. Ndeikala mu Chipembi mu mushi wa Chikonkoto. Ndemusambi ici Bemba panuma nkalafunda pa Mikunku Basic sukulu. Ku Amelika, nalefunda abaana abanono pa Oak Elementary sukulu.

Ku Amelika, badaata niba David Butler. Bamaayo niba Moana Butler. Ba David niba shimakewbo bwa ng'anda. Ba Moana tababomba lelo ba kaipela pa EDS. Nshakwata bandume. Nakwata bankashi bane. Bankashi niba Kerianna, Ba Kaleigh, Ba Erina na Ba Taleah. Ba Kerianna balupwa. Abalume niba Jacob. Ba Kerianna tababomba lelo Ba Jacob niba shimakewbo bwa ama computers. Ba Kaleigh niba kafundisha abaana abanono pa YMCA. Ba Erina bakwata imiyaka 12 na Ba Taleah bakwata imiyaka ikumi. Ba Erina na Ba Taleah niba sambi pa EDS.

Mu Zambia, Bamaayo niba Terry Mwape. Badaata niba Fred Mwape. Ba Fred balimi. Ba Terry tababomba. Nakwata bandume bamo. Bandume niba Peter. Ba Peter bakwata imiyaka basano. Ba Peter balitemwa ng'ombe sana sana. Nakwata bankashi bamo. Bankashi niba Gertrude. Ba Gertrude bakwata imiyaka ikumi. Ba Gertrude balitemwa ukubelenga The Magic Tree House.

Chopwa. (Finished)

Mikunku Village

This will be the 4th time I have tried to write and post this blog. Luckily, I have smartened up and I am first writing it in my notes so I do not lose everything once more. 

Long story short: I am going to live in Mikunku Village in Central Province. The closest BOMA is Mkushi and I am going to be a second generation volunteer. 

We found out our sites through a balloon popping activity. We got separated by language. Our sites were inside the balloons on a small piece of paper. We had to pop a balloon and then find who had our paper. It was super fun.

I have been to Mikunku now. My hut is super duper spacious compared to the average PCV abode. I have 4 rooms. Currently, the last volunteer set up the rooms as a living room, bedroom, kitchen and a walk in closet. I am thinking about switching that up maybe but for now it is so wonderful.

The village I will live in has 2000ish people. The school is over crowded. I will teach grade 8 and have close to 80ish pupils. I can't even fathom to tell you how much I love them all. This is so cheesey but I walked into the class and my heart was so full. They cheered when I went into the classroom. The previous volunteer, Kara, made it very easy for me to come into this village because of all the good she did. 

I met a lot of people. I was introduced to Bacilolo (the chief advisor), all the students and staff at the school, villagers, the clinic, shop keepers and so much more. It was awesome to talk to everyone and get a feel of what is needed in the area. I feel like I have a hefty laundry list of things that I can possibly do. I am so excited there is so much to do to keep me busy. Ex: building a library, woman literacy, planting flowers, helping at the clinic, etc. 

Basically, if you are planning to come visit... I will keep you very busy. 

I feel like I live in a mansion in the sky. My village is wonderful. My new host family seems incredible. The volunteer before me set me up for success. I feel so super blessed. 

On another note: this area I have been assigned to is exactly where I have been praying to go. I will only be about 2 hours away from Kabwe. That is the town they are making a new branch. Only 2 hours away when I could be days away. That is incredible.