Hello America-land

Muli shani bonse mukwai? (How are you all?)

I just posted new photos. Check them out.

I’m sitting here, not sure what to write about. So, I’ll write about the three main things on my mind lately. This will inevitably turn into one of my flow of consciousness musings. So, here it is, in no particular order (if they were to present themselves to me in order, I’d probably be a lot more able to deal with each and every nuance in a much more Virgo fashion), I present the stirrings of my brain:

Topic #1
MY HOUSE: My house is indeed going to fall down. Last time I wrote, I told you there was a crazy lot of termite damage in the roof beams. I returned to my site from that Easter hiatus to find all of the termite "stuff" (it’s better we just use "stuff" since I’m absolutely not sure what that is and it’s better not to think about what it might be) had fallen from the one seriously damaged beam to show just how damaged it is. I think they’re trying to build their version of the New York City Subway in my roof. At first I thought they were well fed little buggers, but then I started to think they’re not getting any protein, hence the non-stop carb-o loading off my roof and walls.

So, how to deal with this problem? Well, your guess is as good as mine at this point. Peace Corps has given my community an ultimatum saying they need to come up with a plan in writing for what they’ll do to improve upon my housing situation - either build a new house as originally promised or fix up the one I’m in, which will inevitably fall over the minute they try to do any substantial work on it - by April 30th. Well, in the last month since I delivered this ultimatum letter to my community no one has called a meeting, no one has said more than a few murmurings about doing anything. Doesn’t look like they care enough about keeping me to do anything. They get a hard-working, motivated Peace Corps Volunteer for two years (and really six years as the rotation works out) and the house is supposed to be their community contribution toward keeping that Volunteer sheltered in her time in that village. We make less than $8 a day to live at the same standard as the people with whom we are working, but I think I’m not even up to par with them on my digs.

The Peace Corps powers-that-be in Mansa - that would be Raven, and Maneesh who is due to replace her any day now - came to discuss this issue with my neighbor, who surprise surprise told them "That is no problem. The community, they are going to build Libby a new house right behind my house." I don’t know which "community" he is referring to, since no one has said a word about this to me or to each other. I know he wants to keep me there in Kanyembo, but he can’t do all the work himself. Anyway, I’m going back to site tomorrow to assess the response to Raven’s new ultimatum: "We’ve already begun looking for a new site for Libby, so you better have a lot of bricks made by 30th April if you want to keep her here." Well, that was Wednesday, and I just don’t think they’ll have very much done in less than two weeks. She’s pretty frustrated that even her many trips to my village have not been able to get my community motivated to help me out. She gave them similar ultimatums when they didn’t build me a latrine or bath shelter for the first 2-3 months I was there. Even that didn’t help, because ultimately it was members of my Anti-AIDS Club who built me the latrine, and my neighbor and I worked together to build the bath shelter - not exactly a community-wide effort.
Clearly, this issue is still up in the air, but it does seem like I’ll be moving. However, that process will take a while, and I’m not sure exactly to where I would be moving. I’ll keep you updated. Now, moving right along to:

Topic #2
MY CAMP: Those of you who are paying attention have probably been wondering all along, Why hasn’t she said anything about that big, exciting camp she was supposed to be holding right now as this is being posted to her blog???

Well friends, this is Zambia. The funding didn’t come in time and we had to postpone. By now, I’ve received the funding and now we have an issue of rescheduling. I think I might have a good case for pushing back the start of the next term by one week in order to use the school as our only hope of a venue for this thing. I’ll have to go to the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) at the Ministry of Education on Monday to plead to Mr. Bweupe. I think I’ll be able to make a good case that my participants will be learning more in one week of this camp than they would learn in the first week of classes anyway. Kids just don’t show up in the first week for some reason, and it’s pretty well accepted.

If all goes well with the DEBS we can hold the camp, but that doesn’t address our other HUGE problem. Our Mobile VCT Unit has cancelled, saying that Nchelenge is just too far for them to travel. So now I’m faced with finding new VCT counselors and test kits and get them to the same place at the same time, which hopefully will not be a total mess.

Hopefully the next time I write to you all I will have photos and stories galore about how enormously successful the whole thing was. Cross your fingers for me.

Topic #3
MY WEDDING a.k.a. OH YEAH, I’M GETTING MARRIED TOO: Easter was a delicate mix of running around Lusaka trying to do errands while tripping over the many public holidays surrounding April 8th. In Zambia they get Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter, and of course Easter Monday. So, clearly this was not the best time to be making wedding plans, although my vacation schedule required I do the best I can with what I have (using available resources wisely and sustainably is a fundamental of Peace Corps). So, we took the opportunity to do what every other Zambian with a few extra kwacha does during this period: we traveled to see family.
Blessed and I went to visit his family on the Copperbelt. I got to meet his mom, Ruth (but I’m supposed to call her Ba Maayo). She is a total stitch, so funny, and totally adorable. Blessed looks exactly like his mother, especially in profile. They could be twins if it wasn’t for the 42-year difference.

I was so worried about meeting her, not only because Blessed kept telling me that she doesn’t speak much English, but also because everyone else was giving me advice about what to do when meeting one’s Bapongoshi (in-laws). For example, I was told that I MUST wear a citenge when meeting my mother-in-law. I MUST NOT eat anything she serves me, unless she gives me money first. I MUST NOT speak, unless spoken to. And the list goes on. Well, if there had been a test in Bapongoshi 101, I think I would have failed. I’m more or less shocked I didn’t fail the practical. Blessed was no help to me as that day approached. What should I wear? What should I say? I don’t want to unknowingly offend your mother Blessed, help me out!!! He kept telling me I was being silly and that his mom is "not so traditional" and I should just be myself and she’ll like me. I took his advice seriously knowing full well that I could blame any mishaps directly on him. Well, all worked out beautifully. We got along just fine on a mixture of English and Bemba. I adore her. I asked Blessed, "do you think she likes me?" He said, "I don’t think so. . . . I know she likes you."

I also got to meet my "nieces" who might very well be older than me, I’m not quite sure, they’re at least my age. They call Blessed "Uncle Bleh" which I think is hysterical and they were testing out "Aunt Libby" "Auntie Elizabeth" and a few others, none of which have quite the same ring as "Uncle Bleh."

Back in Lusaka I got to meet Blessed’s Auntie Rose, who hosted us for a lovely afternoon in her lovely home in Long Acres. She is adorable and she’ll be a huge help with wedding plans. Her niece Tabatha was there too. Tabatha, interestingly enough, was born in none other than Northampton, Massachusetts (this planet is way too small) and having lived her life half in Zambia and half in Syracuse, New York, just moved back to Lusaka six years ago. She teaches at the International School in Lusaka where both of her children also attend. It was so cool to get to talk to her about weddings, since she is the perfect person to help us mix our two cultures into one celebration everyone will appreciate.

So, our Easter was an amalgamation of meeting family and running around Lusaka to see if anything was open, which it was not. I’ll be going back at the end of the month to make some more arrangements and try to finish our invitations and get them to the printers. Hopefully the May 1st holiday will not get in the way of all running smoothly this time around.

Okay, I’m pretty sure all of you in the Western world don’t have time to read all this, and those friends of mine sprinkled about the rest of the globe are probably paying too much for your internet access and probably gave up long ago. Thanks so much for being so great and reading my every thought. Many hugs to all of you back there in America-land and whatever other countries from which you may be reading this. Technology is something I no longer take for granted. You know I read in the New Yorker last night that Google is scanning every book ever published to create an entirely on-line library, or at least database or something. I still think I’m so tech-y and cutting edge for having an iPod Shuffle and solar battery charger in the village. I’m gonna be way behind when I return to that crazy place I call home.

Right, okay. Gotta go. So much love,
LIBBY

P.S.
Daddy, I got the letter you sent and it made me cry. You’re so sweet and a wonderful writer. Thank you so much. I’m trying to get a birthday card out to you today. We’ll see when it gets there. Hugs.