So here’s the plan / I have uploaded 1452 new ZamPic’s

2009-09-17
So here’s the plan: the cycle gets done tomorrow, I ride the heck out of it this weekend – I can’t bring it back the next because all of the staff are on a retreat somewhere, then on Monday, assuming that nothing has broken on the cycle, I’ll bring the think back to Chipata, then Chadiza. And this epic thing is done. It is going to be sweet to ride (I think, I hope).
Now that is the daytime news, the evening news is that I have uploaded 1452 new ZamPic’s (Pictures mu Zambia) onto my website. Check them out at: The Other Realm .

Successfully uploaded 1021 photos

Successfully uploaded 1021 photos, you can see them by going to http://otherrealm.org and download them by clicking on the little link down at the bottom right hand corner ( ). Going back to Chipata tomorrow and Chadiza pa Friday by bus because I guess I’ve been out of site too long but hopefully the cycle will be rideable. It is coming up on Wednesday when the LIFE program assessment person from Washington and our APCD come. I’m definitely ready to go back to site; I just wish I could make sure the cycle was exactly what I want it to be.

More Pictures

The Provincial Agricultural Fair

The Zingalume Basic School where another life volunteer and I were holding a “Chongalowa* Club” meeting
*probably spelled wrong
The market where I buy my zakudya (food)Ndi banja (my family) Transport Zam style
My forestry counterpart at my site when I was visiting it for the first timeThis Landover is on its last ride
My Pre-Service Training host family All of the Peace Corps Zambia spring 2008 intake and trainers after being sworn in as volunteers One of the countless lizards that are around my house eating a butterfly
“The Men” doing a traditional Chewa dance during my first site visitThe trainees move to where our home stay families will be When I arrive at my home stay site, I am greeted by a rainbow Me with where I had tech training in the background My closest LIFE volunteer sitting with the many iwe (kids) during our second site visit Some other LIFE trainees trying to start a fire with many onlookers
Just one of countless sunsets
A meal at first site visit
The azimie (women) dance during first site visitA market place we stopped at on the border between Lusaka and Eastern Provinces on the way to first site visit
And the journey begins

Training in Washington

A few photos of Chipata, the provincial capital of Eastern Province

Images from the Chipata Market
I felt kind of weird taking pictures, kind of like I’m a tourist and they’re on display, but people back home wanted to see what a market looked like and I only can post pictures when I’m here in Chipata.. Probably in Chadiza it will be different because they aren’t so used to tourists there. I know, I know, why haven’t I taken more photos yet, well when I’m in the BOMA I’m always busy and I either don’t have time or I’ve forgotten.

The mosquitoes here are few but deadly

Wednesday I went into the BOMA and met with some education officials and found one possible person to be in a group working on bring internet to Chadiza district schools. Then I spent the rest of my time running around trying to getting things and trying to help an education officer with computer troubles but I needed to leave before I had fixed the solution (reinstalling windows). When I got home and started to make supper my lower body felt like I had just biked the 90km from Chipata not the 10km from Chadiza. That night I felt awful and hardly got any sleep. The next morning I finally decided that I wouldn’t feel that much worse if I was up, which was obviously a naive wish as the pain behind my eyes was excruciating. I made it to my chimbuzi just in time, then I looked up the symptoms of malaria in my PC medical handbook and sure enough the symptoms matched. I took my Coartem and txt’ed my PCVL and PCMO (PC Volunteer Leader and PC Medical Officer) and I was told I needed to come to the PC house. I tried to find transport but I guess the only one I could find was of my closest volunteers’ atate driving me at 5:00 to the bus, then me taking the bus to Chipata. Well I went to bed really early and that night got a much better sleep so that felt much better though that morning and wasn’t sure why I needed to go to the PCPH, save for the fact that I had to wake up at 4:00.

Well as it turns out I didn’t because my ride never showed at 5:00. At 6:30 I decided I would have to try to bike in. So with a backpack packed like I was riding in a vehicle, I started to try to make my way to the BOMA. After we got to the top of the first hill my ride showed up. I guess I was going to be going in a flatbed truck owned by the manager of some businesses in Chadiza and we finally got going at about 8:45 and got there at about 11:30 and fortunately I didn’t need to ride in the back. When I got there I tried to call the PCMO but forgot it was the Fourth of July back in the states and PC offices are closed then. I finally got through to the 24 hour line and she first said I should take a test but I think the parts were from several different kits and the instructions looked like they had been typed on a typewriter 10 years ago. After having called her back she said that that if I was feeling better I wouldn’t need to try to take it and wouldn’t need to go to Lusaka. I will probably be here for the weekend and then go back Sunday afternoon or Monday. The house is having a 4th of July party so I guess it was kind of good timing in which to get sick.

Here are some Photos although I need to take more and my singal strength is low:

Banja (family) and I use this land as our garden
A view from one of the many hills that jut almost vertically up

My banja working on making a sturdier fence

Some of my intake before we were posted