Northwestern Province is Zambia's most rural province and as such takes a while to get there. We traveled two days to get there, spending the first night in the provincial peace corps house which is the local headquarters for PC. It was a great house which normally has electricity and hot water however a lighting strike took out the power shortly before we got there. We met some great people and chatted the night away learning about what our future jobs and lives for the next two years would be like. A great time had by all.
The next day we left at daybreak to travel to some volunteers out in the Bush. Laura and I we in separate groups so we parted ways for the week. After another day of bumpy and cramped travel in the back of a Toyota land cruiser with bench seating for 8 (or 12 as is often the case) we arrived at Dave's place. Dave is a great guy who's been a RED (Rural Education Development) volunteer for about a year now and helped to show us the ropes. However through no fault of his own trouble started brewing.
First thing was first we needed to set up camp. However after a lengthy inventory process we discovered we did not have any of our tents! Left behind? Stolen? Who knew but they were not there. Lucky a few friends of Dave's had come by to visit and brought their tents. Ah you've gotten love the my stuff is your stuff kind of thinking when you've traveled around the world and suddenly have no place to stay. So my fellow PC volunteers and I started setting up the tents. The first one went up fine as did the second but the third gave us pause. It was a special tent one that we had been instructed to use only if needed as the tent's owner was nervous of what untrained folk might due to his nice external frame two man tent. I promptly broke it.
Following that up I was talking a picture a cute little girl who was the name sake of a girl in my group (Jennifer). Her mother was thrilled to hear this as having the same name as someone especially a visitor, especially a mizoogoo (read: gringo) was a great thing. Anyway I broke that too. After many beautiful pictures my memory card broke, resulting in a total loss of my first weeks worth of pictures. Sorry ;(
However I brought another card and the pictures will now resume. After spending the night at Dave's place we traveled a few more hours to The Castles's place. They happen to be the only other married couple in Zambia and I had to be on my best behavior as I was representing The Grays since Laura was off somewhere else this week, I believe at a spa.
The Castles too were great, their village was friendly (as just about everyone seems to be) and we had a great week visiting schools, seeing radio education in action and cooking up a storm. We brought lots of ingredients and the Castles are fabulous cooks. We made tuna fish sandwiches, pasta and popcorn to name a few and they of course were thrilled. In return they took us down to the gentle stream where they often sit and read on nice days. See below
In my group was Debra (girl in white top in foreground) Jen (black shirt next in line) Stacy and Keli (on the bridge) and of course myself (not seen here). However this being the rainy season the river was much much higher than normal almost covering the bridge across it. In fact we couldn't get in without holding onto the bridge or we'd be swept down river. So of course we all got in. We tied a rope to the bridge and let the current whip us around for hours. It was fabulous. We took turns at the end of the rope and by the end we had devised a crude hydrofoil which we tied to the end of the rope and when standing on it lifted us about halfway out of the water! Great fun. By the end my arms were so tired I could barely pull myself back to the bridge. But I did and we toweled off and chatted with some of the Castles neighbors.
Dave and the Castles spoke with their neighbors in the local tongue of Kak0nde and I caught very little. However to our surprise when the question of crocodiles came up the response needed no translation: Yes. Apparently just last week there were crocs in the river, and while not common we had just spent the day acting as live bait so we didn't head back there the next morning as we had intended ;) .
Since then we headed back to Lusaka, and found out we will be living in Eastern Province. Starting now you can send stuff to
Rob Gray
C/O Peace Corps
P.O. Box 560059
Petauke, Zambia
We won't get there till March but by the time it arrives trust me we'll be there! That is where we will be staying for the next two years! It's in Eastern Province Near Malawi and Mozambique.
Other than that we moved in with our host family: The Mwulimwina's With Rosemary the Grandmother and her daughters and theirs families living together in the same compound. They have made us feel at home and cook fabulous meals for us each night. N'shima is the staple which is pounded corn and water which has the consistency of mashed potatoes and cream of wheat, very tasty. A tomato "soup" goes with it which is fired tomatoes and onions. Along with some kind of veggie on the side.
We have language class every morning followed by technical training every night . Time flies by!! We also recently went with our host family to visit the Cheifteness. Jane one of Rosemary's daughters is to laura's left and yes that's me with the shaved head. It was just too hot!
I love our home it's breathtaking. Here's a sample of what the sunsets are like from our backyard.
