hakuna matata

It all started when I missed my first flight to Tanzania. I had it all mixed up in my head and I knew about 6 hours before my flight took off that I had missed it. I guess when you live so far in the bush, I should start thinking about these things with at least 8 hours.

Bless her heart, I WhatsApped my mom and she took care of everything for me from the hut. I had to wake up super early at start hitching by 6. I rode my bike in the dark at 5 to the road and was off in no time. I found an awesome hitch who was returning from Tanzania and gave me all of his left over shillings. What a blessing.

I land in Tanzania. I barter with the taxis. I pick the youngest taxi guy that I got a good vibe from and we were off on my way to meet up with Cassidy at the YWCA. I talked to my taxi guy all the way to the YWCA. His name is Muumin. He was super cool. I ask him where to get a sim card for my phone and which company to use. He offers to get one for me in the morning because it is 24:00 and everything is closed. He'll drop it by around 14:00.

Cassidy and I have a lovely reunion and talk forever. I think we went to bed around 3:00. It was so late. I have never ever stayed up that late in Zambia... 24:00 is my max. We wake up in the morning and want to go to church. (My 5th time going to church since joining PC.) We tried to figure out the bus route but there was no hope. The language barrier is so thick and all I want to do is speak Bemba to everyone. The languages are so similar yet so different.

Luckily, we run into Cassidy's friend she met the night before when she was waiting for me. His name is Tiger and is from China. He speaks great Swahili and sends us on our way on a boda-boda. It was so fun to go that far on a motorcycle. With the help of a few locals, getting to the wrong church first, body language and a tuk-tuk: we made it to The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. The internet said church doesn't start until 10:00 and we are early. It is 9:30. There is a different ward in but someone came out to get us and the internet lied.

We met a lot of great people at church. Everyone was so friendly. It was 100% different than all of my experiences I have had going to church here in Zambia. I silently wished Zambian wards were like Kenyan and Tanzanian wards. Church is all in Swahili. This guy tries to translate it all for us but it is mostly distracting. Our favorite person we met from the beginning is a boy also named, Kass. Name twins with homegirl. This is perfect.

After church we need 2 things: 1. How to get home? 2. Ferry tickets for the next day. Both of us sync brains and we wait for Kass to come out the building. He gladly accepts the offer to be our Dar tour guide if we sponsor his bus fares. No problem. We quickly figure out that this boy is a sweet angel from heaven above who just got baptized less than a month ago and has the i-love-the-gospel glow radiating. He took us everywhere we needed to be. It was perfect and he is perfect.

Cassidy has 2 huge bags of things my mom gave to her to bring for me. We both agreed that maybe lugging them all over Zanzibar wasn't the best idea and if there was a way to keep them on the mainland that would be best. Kass, our newest boyfriend, offers to keep them at his place. We met him less than 12 hours ago, loaded him up on a tuk-tuk, threw on the bags, gave him transport money for both directions and sent him on his way with a prayer in our heart that he is the sweet baby angel we think he is.

In the morning we get on the ferry after trying to track down the coast line and failing the first time. I was told I had to check in my bag because it was too big but Cassidy was let on with her's. We met some anal travelers on the way who sang a song in German about Zanzibar but we were happy to sit on the deck and catch some rays. Cassidy thought the trip was only going to be 15 minutes. 2 hours later we had arrived in Zanzibar but not my bag. It is gone.

Just like that. Gone. The Ferry manager, Akim, is not happy about it at all. I guess this doesn't happen often. All I have are the clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, wallet with bank cards and PC ID, passport and phone. Everything else is gone. Oh well. No time for tears. It is just stuff. We are told to come back.

We get settled into Kiponda B & B and explore a little. We find our way back to the ferry building and the bag is still MIA. I know it is long gone in my heart. They tell us to come back the next day except I have no clothes. I need help with that. After talking to Fiki, the tourism manager at the ferry, he has us all jump into a taxi and takes us shopping at the local market. It is so funny. We are running around buying things. I end up getting an African tribal looking shirt made in Thailand (said the tag), a Zanzibar jersey and a pair of breezy pants. Cassidy tried to convince me to get some undies but I couldn't in front of what seemed like all of Zanzibar's population watching me. Fiki makes sure we are satisfied and loads us back into the car. We went home.

I forgot to mention that Muumin, my taxi driver, did bring the sim card for me but he was just 2 hours late and so we were not around. As soon as I got the sim card in my phone we started chatting. So, he knew when my bag went missing. He contacted his mom who lived in Zanzibar and she is the sweet woman who brought me the clothes to my hotel at 24:00. I will never be able to forget this kindness shown to me.

The next day we head back to the Ferry station. PC Safety and Security at this point has contacted me and wants to talk to Akim. They talk and now it is really out of my hands. I turned it over to PC Tanzania.

Cassidy and I want to see the tortoises on Prison Island. That is what we do. It was awesome. We got our own little boat out there and the Island was empty. It was perfect. It was gorgeous. There is one tortoise on the island that is 198 years old, or something like that, who produced all the other tortoises on the island. Now there are over 200 tortoises. They are huge and you walk right up to them.

The rest of Zanzibar is a blur of which day is what. We went on a spice tour where we learned all about the different spices and where they came from. Spices are huge in Zanzibar and they have these large farms. We ate a lot of ice cream. We went to the other side of the island to get more of the beachy feel over the old town feel. We stayed at Teddy's Place and met so many wonderful people.

Everyday is beach. One day we switched it up and tried swimming with dolphins too. Lucus, one of our boyfriends we met, described it best: "I was told that you have to be an Olympic swimmer to swim with the dolphins here. They drive a boat as close to the dolphins as they can and once they see the dolphins they tell the people to jump out of the boat and swim. You have to swim pretty hard to keep up with them." That is exactly how it was. As soon as our driver said, "GO!" if you were not out of the boat before the "g" left his mouth then the dolphins were gone. It was so fun!

Musa is a worker at Teddy's Place. One day he took us to his village and showed us around. It was awesome. In that moment I kept on thinking how I told totally be a PCV in a village like that.

We went to a party. The Maasai were going crazy. Cassidy and I had to keep our dance movements very big to keep the men off of us. (This sounds so prideful.) There were not many non-locals on the dance floor. It was just Cassidy and I. Everyone else was at the bar. Cassidy quickly got attached to a new boyfriend and I got passed like a rag doll from boy to boy. I couldn't take it anymore after I felt one trying to get friendly with my neck. No sir. Not me.

Kaleigh flies in one of these days. We go back to the other side of the island and say goodbye to the people we have made friends with.  Kaleigh wants to go snorkling. We get on a boat again and head to Prison Island. It was fun. We were back in deep water and jumped out right there. I am getting used to jumping out into the ocean in deep water. After a little bit of snorkling and realizing it is high tide we head to the beach. Kaleigh freaking loves jumping off the dock but won't jump off the very top until I do it first. As soon as we left the dock all the other tourists join in.

We get back to Dar and I am given a free ferry ride back thanks to Akim. He apologizes multiple times. I know it was out of this hands. I have let it go. I don't need my bag anymore. I have spoken my peace and I have a new bag thanks to the nice Brazilian couple we met at Teddy's.

In Dar we go shopping for clothes and go to the movies with my friend from BYU-I who is a local in the area. We also hang out with Kass again. He is the sweet angel boyfriend we thought he was. He brought our bags with nothing missing. Kaleigh hadn't really gotten her beach fix yet and Kass promised he would take us to a good one.

As life always comes full circle we have to board another ferry to get to the beach we want to go to. I lost nothing on that ferry. We go to the beach and walk until we find the perfect beach for Kaleigh. Kass claims that he doesn't know how to swim and waits on the shore watching the bags. It isn't as fun without him. He met a friend on the beach. Between his new friend and us wanting him to come swim he was convinced. There was almost no one on the beach and so we risked our stuff being stolen.

And that is what happened. Only my bag.

Life goes on. There went my phone, money and the clothes I was wearing. Kaleigh lost her wallet and phone. Kass lost his phone. We make it back to Dar because Kass had some extra money in his trouser pockets. I am rocking a bathing suit with a citenge only but we made it back and no one got hurt. That is what is important.

I made it back to Zambia. I love this country. I love how familiar everything is. The bus broke down for 4 hours and it was still okay because at least I was in Zambia and I could communicate with anyone.

There were great things that happened in Tanzania and I met many wonderful people. I think this trip really let me learn that things can be replaced. I was totally protected the whole time.

Hakuna matata. -Swahili
Takuli abwfya. -Bemba

dating cultural differences

Disclaimer: This is just a huge culture difference many volunteers have noticed. There are many outstanding men here in Zambia.

Dating here. Welp, let me tell you. I have not.

Mu Zambia traditionally men are supposed to be very forward and to come off strong. They know what they want and they are going to get it. On the flip-side: girls are supposed to refuse the man even when she wants him and finally submit in the end.

Ku America we all know when a girl says, "No" she means, "Don't even look at me."

Can you see the struggle?

Basically, I met a guy that seems like he could be super cool and let's try to be friends. He WhatsApps me and we start a conversation. By the end of week one with out a shadow of a doubt he has sent some creepy message coming off way too strong about building a future together, send me a picture of you ________ (fill in the blank with whatever you like) or his deep love.

Homeboy. Calm down. You just killed anything there might have been.

But maybe, you are willing to give him a second chance. You throw out the, "I'm just looking for a friend line," or send him a picture of your dog instead. (Remember what I told you about what men are like traditionally here.)

Another few weeks go by and it is like the wedding is already planned. All you need to do is walk down the aisle and say yes. The man is so forward. He talks of deep affections, marriage, future, names for your kids together and you name it.

So, I shut it down: "Sorry sir. You are creeping me out. You should have tried the friend route." Just like that.

It makes me wonder... maybe I am too American?

God bless their sweet spirits and forward selves. It is an adjustment for me. Maybe I am in the wrong?

year one

My first year of PC is done now. I haven't been a volunteer for a year yet. That time will come in August. It is just amazing how time has flown. Everyone says for a mission it is the first year that takes forever to pass and the second year flies. Well, the first year flew and so I am afraid to blink my eyes and see the second year pass.

What is happening here?

I am still teaching every single day. I love my pupils. I am really getting to know each and every one of them. I have been trying to go to their homes and see where they live. This is really giving me a chance to see what their lives are like and why they are the way they are. We got 6 new students this term. The numbers are up to 95. When it comes to grading books and papers it feels like 300 pupils. It takes so long.

The pen-pal program is happening with their friends in Washington State thanks to Cassie Henderson (Kevin Forsell's mom). The kids here LOVE it. I have never seen them so excited to understand and want to write English. As you would expect, the mail system is super slow but I have tried to convince the post men to hurry it up a bit. In the letters some of the pupils mentioned that they like baseball and softball. The natural thing for me to do was teach the pupils baseball. My friend, Robert, came and it was a success. The girls were killing it and he boys struggled a little.

Next week I am headed to Pre-Service Training to help train the new volunteers that flew in this week. It is crazy that I am not apart of the youngest bunch and people are going to look to me for advice. I am excited to hear all their crazy questions. I know that I had a ton when  I first got to country.

As for church things... eh. Let's just leave it at that.

I have started the LONG haul on a water project. I mean I could just round up Peace Corps grants and have this taken care of in American time but I am really trying to use the Government of Zambia to do their job. It is such a long process and so many different people to talk to but it is slowing trucking forward. The Peace Corps goal is subtainible development. I am trying my hardest towards that.
In my encounters with government officials they have mentioned making Mikunku into a high school. I put in an application and we will see where that will go. Water is my priority.

The cold season is upon me. Let me tell you, I don't remember the last time I was this cold. Maybe in Idaho? It is cold.

GLOW club is great. I love the girls. We just had an awesome session on HIV/AIDS. Every time I teach about HIV/AIDS I understand it so much better. Before Zambia I had no real idea what HIV/AIDS was. Back to GLOW club... The girls are awesome. In the next two weeks we are going to make re-usable pads out of chitenge and learn how to bake bread on a braiser.

My dog is huge. My chicken is basically my host family's. My cat needs attention 24-7. That is life. It is sunset season, as I have said before, and everyday it is breath taking. I am so glad I am awake at 5:30 everyday to see that sunrise. Come and visit. I would love to have you.

Nalimutemwa. Noba, Nshafuluka ku Amelika.  Ndetemwa mu Zambia. Nakwata insansa sana muno.

summary

I had this long blog I wrote in the South African or Sydney Airport all typed up and prepared and it erased. Here I am to start a new one.

I went to New Zealand and stopped in Sydney on the way. It was an adventure. New Zealand is definitely on the other side of the world. My rump felt that on the way back. It was good to be with family and adventure. About a week in Mom said, "Megan, I think you are homesick and ready to go back." It was true. I am happy to be back in my hut.

Since I have been home I haven't done much. I have organized all the stuff I got from NZ, weeded my garden, planted some seeds and checked up with the government to see if they will bring water to my village. Okay, It might sound like a lot but I was pretty lazy and could have done a lot more.

The biggest thing I have done since I got back is Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). Each volunteer gets the option to invite 2 girls and one mentor from their village to this girl's empowerment camp. It is an excellent opportunity for the girls to learn about things they don't cover in school and really understand their individual worth. It is a week long camp and we have sessions about sex-ed things, gender roles, a career panel, games, dancing, pad sewing, etc. Camp is jam packed and at the end the girls did not want to leave. The idea of the camp is that the girls take what they learned and bring it back to the community. My girls have planned 6 club meetings and the topics we will have when school starts up again. They really want to teach the other girls in the village how to sew their own pads for menstrual hygiene purposes. I am stoked they are so excited to take back what they have learned.

In December with the village boys we are going to have the same type of camp and it will be great. I am one of the people in charge of helping plan it with 2 other people who flew in the same time as me.

As for what is going to happen these next few weeks, months, days. The chief is coming. That will be something. I start teaching again tomorrow. The term is about to start. I miss my pupils so so much. I can't wait to see them all. It takes them about 3 weeks to all trickle back into school.

I am preparing a HIV/AIDS day with the 4 neighboring villages. I am painting a mural on the clinic about malaria. I will start doing Grassroots Soccer on Fridays and GLOW on Wednesdays. Grassroots teaches the kids about HIV/AIDS in a fun educational setting.

 I want to help get this water project really up and running. I think because the government is taking full reins on the water project that I might need to redirect my energy. My school really wants to be upgraded into a high school. This will directly benefit the community because then the kids do not need to travel as far to make it to school. The parents can save money sending their kids to boarding school and the likelihood that the kids will actually continue school will increase.

I guess that is all that is happening. I like to stay busy. I think having a field is awesome and sucks too. It is taking a lot of work. I was out there for 5 hours and barely made a dent cleaning up the weeds. I love my animals. I missed them so much when I was gone. They have both grown so much especially the dog.

I am very happy here. I am so grateful I am here.

early morning yoga

It is safe to assume that I am not doing yoga but my friend Sam is right now in the insaka and killing it. Relaxation to the fullest.

My friend Lea is having a Valentine's party and thus there are 8 white people gathered in this small Zambian village. I don't think the villagers have ever seen such an epidemic.

It is so nice to be with other volunteers. It is a spirit booster. We all go through very similar and different struggles. Just laughing it out with someone is awesome. My friend Graham described the experience well. He said everyday is reverse National Geographic. People sit and stare at us when we do the most mundane tasks: sitting outside, washing dishes, walking, etc. It is like we are the animals at the game park. Somedays it is whatever and somedays it sucks.

Yesterday while traveling here we used a taxi from the boma. The taxi didn't know how to get to Lea's place exactly and so we got dropped in the bush at someone random's house. A man getting high we have never met picked up our 30 bananas and showed us down some overgrown bush paths to Lea's place. As we were reflecting on this while walking... When did this become normal and stopped phasing any of us?

Zambia. Goodness.

On a different note: I love my pupils. I hated making those valentines for them. It was awful. On the flip side... I have never seen people so grateful. It felt like every single one wanted to thank me personally. It was so worth it. I love my 90 babies.

That is all for this random blog.

watermelon for all

It was a rough day. I was accused of gender based violence because I have two separate clubs for boys and girls. I was happy to sit and eat nshima with my family but my dad was a bit drunk. He had a lot to say about every little thing I have done wrong in the village. My garden is going to fail. My pig pen is awful. My Bemba sucks. It was hard to listen to once but I had to hear it multiple times because of when he is drunk he repeats himself a lot. So I sat through an hour lecture in Bem-Glish understanding it all even though my Bemba sucks.

My Bataata is honestly such a kind man and does so much for me. Of course I cried a little but I am taking what he said and running with it. I know he said those things out of love and wants me to be successful. He wants my garden to reap a good harvest. He doesn't want my pigs to die or run away. He wants me to able to communicate with the people. It just came off really rude.

I stopped my current garden and moved out the field like he suggested. Yesterday my bataata, the village secretary, some kids and I went out planting watermelon. I was thinking maybe 5 plants. My Bataata has big plans for me. We planted over 100 watermelons yesterday and he says this is just the beginning. Today we are going to plant more... honeydew, butternut squash, zucinni, cucumbers, etc. He gave me a field.

I am going to get churchy really quick. I feel like this is a good example of  our father in heaven. He isn't drunk. No. But just like my Bataata has been observing me, Heavenly Father is watching and ready to take our small gardens and make them into fields. He has huge plans for us. The hardest part is humbling ourselves, stopping what we are doing and ask for help.

My Bataata is also doing all the hard work. He digs, weeds and I put in the seeds and cover with dirt. I have the easy job. The power of humbling yourself and asking.

There is going to be watermelon for all,
Happy pigs,
And a msungu that can outspeak you in icibemba.

The last one probably won't happen because I wasn't blessed with a language brain but I won't give up.

life as I know it

I love teaching. It is really hard. That is for sure but I love it. I never imagined in my life I would be a teacher... let alone, have 90 pupils. Life loves to throw curve balls.

I teach every weekday. I teach 40 minute classes everyday except on Friday it is a 80 minute class. I use Fridays for compositions and comprehension type learning.

The school is pretty bare when it comes to resources but I am doing my best. I love to make posters and hang them up everywhere. This week I made a poster about verbs and adjectives. I bet you can guess my plan for this week... NOUNS!

We made class rules this last week. The favorite rule is: "If you are late... you have to dance for the whole class." There has been a lot of shana (dance) in the classroom lately. I hope this encourages them to come on time. I do what I can. There are other rules but none as good as that one.

The levels of understanding is so varied. Some of my pupils are brilliant. They are so bright it scares me and then I have the flip-side. I have pupils that cannot even greet me in English. Okay, that is drastic but their English is very bad. I am hoping that a pen-pal program will get them excited about English so they can communicate with their new found American friends. Who knows? Anything can happen. (I am listening to Ellie Goulding right now.)

What else?

I love my village. My bataata treats me like a princess. Just this week he had the ladies in the village come and weed my yard. He also told this drunk man to never talk to me, look at me or even think about me. It was great. He has my back. He also likes to find out when  I have visitors so that he can get the ladies in the village to come sweep my yard. He is too good to  me.

I have a blackboard on the side of my house. I am SO excited about this. The village kids are going crazy about it. I have to monitor their chalk use. I feel like there are so many possibilities with this chalkboard.

My cousin is digging me a garden and building a fence. I am excited about this also but we all know that I don't know a ton about gardening. I am totally ready to learn. The village kids are really stoked about it for some reason.

I have had 3 PCV visitors at my place. Emilie, Adam and Jahtay have visited me for a few days each. It has been lovely each time. It is good to hangout with other volunteers. It is a way to reboot and see your village through someone else's eyes. You need this sometimes. But now I am the village slut. You only invite a man over if you are going to have sex. I guess there has been a lot of Megan going around.

I went to my first funeral. It was awesome. I know most volunteers are on funeral number 983 by now but I guess the health is good where I am at. Just imagine me walking with 60 of my pupils through a village with rolling hills of banana plantations and they all break out into perfect harmony in a song about flowers meeting you on the other side. I was constantly asking myself, "Is this real life?!" I would say that funeral number 1 was a success. I am looking forward for the next.

I have a dog and a cat but the dog just came. I named him India but we call him Indie. I have a belief that all wandering souls end up in India. This dog is a wanderer. I love it and hate it. He freaking found me deep in the bush when I was fetching water the other day. "Where did you come from, Sir?" By golly. One of my pupils dropped him off at my house at 06:00 hours while I was sweeping my insaka. Not expecting that at all. He was so cute. I could not pass it up. The next day I took him straight to the vet. I can't have a dog die on me again. I am pretty sure the vets hate how much I text them. "Uhhh... I think his poop is weird. Should I come in?" If this is any sign of what kind of mom I am going to be... oh boy.

Victoria Falls for NYE was incredible. You should go! Serious. It is a World Wonder. What are you waiting for? I had the same feeling at Vic Falls that I had at the Grand Canyon, "How can anything be this beautiful?" My goodness. To make the trip even better, we swam in Devil's Pool and were escorted out there by a man that was chiseled by God himself. Just being honest. It is a few kilometers walk out on the top of the falls. I slipped a few times. I broke off 50% of my toe nail and got a good bruise. Totally worth it. One more time I am going to say, "Go." That's all on that.

I went to 2 workshops in Lusaka. One was on GBV (gender based violence) and the other was PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS). Let me tell you... PEPFAR was so much better than GBV. I loved learning about HIV/AIDS. Condoms and circumcision for all. I am a free spirit while talking about this subject now. Nothing is awkward. Let the questions come. Kalibu.

Christmas was okay but the 2 weeks before hand sucked. I have never been homesick in my life. Never want that to happen again. I also tried to go to the nearest church to have something familiar to make the homesickness go away. It was an awful experience getting there and home. I was told 2 hours and it turned into 4 there and 5 home. I have vowed to never go again to myself and my PCVL because it turned into a safety problem.

We have 6 student teachers at the school right now. I guess they can be my friends. Just kidding. The 3  boys are super cool and the 3 girls only greet me. You win some. You lose some. I am hoping a beautiful friendships bud with these folks. None of them want to be teachers but it is the easy thing to do to secure a job. I wish people had the chance to follow their dreams. I will encourage them as much as possible.

The rains have came. Let them stay. I have water again and everything is so green and lush.

These are my goals for this next month:
1. Start a boy's club and a girl's club.
2. Have an HIV/AIDS meeting and start bringing awareness.
3. Have a community meeting about the needs of the community.
4. Track down the Makonde Woman's Club and become a member.
5. Have Kate (RAP volunteer)  come and hold a meeting about fish farming.

These are very attainable goals. It is good for me to see this too. It will be an excellent month.