The Other Realm Blog

2008 07 20
Got up at 345 and got to the bus stop at 515. I was slightly worried when I got there because there was no one there, but I called a number that was on a flier at the stand and he said he would be coming shortly. The bus left at 600 and got there at about 1530 (9 ½ hours if you don’t want to do the math) then I got a taxi to Shopright, bought some good granola, powdered skim milk 1kg of peanut butter and maybe a few other things that can only be found here in the capital. I then walked, carrying my hiking backpack loaded down with everything I brought with me from Chipata plus everything I had just bought, the kilometer or so to Arcades, the other mall, because I remember the grocery store there had good bread. Well they were all out of whole grain just about everything, although I finally bought some whole wheat buns. Spar is basically Shopright except everything is more expensive. Got a taxi to Mogul, the guest house all the PCV’s who have business at the Zambian PC headquarters stay. Checked in, started to walk to the office but, as it was then dark, wasn’t certain where the headquarters was so I went back and met the other PCV’s who was staying there then decided to splurge on Chinese food because I basically hadn’t had any since I left Connecticut, however it wasn’t the best dish I’ve ever had. Got to bed later then I wanted so I probably won’t get quite as early as a start as I wanted.

2008 07 19
Well again the power was out in the morning so I couldn’t work on my laptop without draining the battery. I was also going to go to Shopright, however their generator was broken so they were closed and would not open until 1200. I think the power came back on before 1200 so I might have worked some on my laptop, then I went to Shop when the time was right, packed everything up to leave before dawn tomorrow and did something else which might have involved eating dinner and conversing with other PCV’s, although I’m not sure. I went to bed early

This is a quick blog saying what I will be doing the next few days, a more detailed one stating my resent adventures is to come. Sunday (tomorrow) I will take a bus to Lusaka because the lower gums on the left of my mouth have been hurting me. Although I would have rather not have this dental disaster it will hopefully mean I can get some things from stores that are only in Lusaka and meet with some PC admin people face to face to talk about what I’m doing and get some feed back. Might be back in Chadiza on Tuesday, might be there longer, might even be going to South Africa (I hope not). Anyway, a longer blog to come.

2009 07 18
The first thing we did after a hurried breakfast was to go to the visa office which thankfully was open and four out eight of us got our work permits so we won’t need to go and renew our visas every month. We weren’t sure why the permits for the other four, thankfully not including me, were not there but hopefully they will come soon. That done, we waited outside the visa office for a while to get picked up by the PCVL for out field trip to the farm research place where the former Dovu volunteer now works. We got a tour of the pig barn where there were some rather large hogs, then picked up someone to learn the art of potholing – what, did you think the awful roads in Zambia were simply the act of natural erosion? Just kidding, the potholes we dug are holes which, come rainy season, can be easy places to sow seeds. It also means that fertilizer can be more concentrated, less soil needs to be disturbed and therefore weed seeds have less chance of sprouting and in general less work needs to be done for those farmers who do not have cattle of their own. After that, we learned about why cassava is a good security crop (not as good as moringa in my opinion but probably planting both is the best option) and got a tour of the rest of the research going on before we went back to the PCPH. The next two things on our agenda were how to make beds by double digging, and how to eat lunch although I can’t remember the order of which came first (possibly because I think I ate eggs). The rest of the daytime hours were spent on the second resiliency session, and then we all pitched in for a family style dinner of Indian food (the only other prevalent cuisine other then nshima and relish). When I say pitched in I refer to washing dishes; it was actually somewhat enjoyable as there were others working on our task, it is just that the water was out so we needed to do it dish-pan style. The dinner was excellent and I ate large servings of everything.

2008 07 17
Today was our first day of LIFE training, mainly intended for those PCV’s who are not in the LIFE program, but also to share skills learned in the field for those who are. After an introduction from the previous volunteer based in Dovu, we had a guest speaker from a Conservation Farming organization and then a quick session on composting. After lunch in which I ran to the market to get produce, my intake walked to the visa office which apparently closes at 1230 on Thursdays (I wonder why not Fridays) so we will need to go first thing mawa. The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing “resiliency.” We talked about what our challenges were and then began to try to find solutions. Although I’m not one to go in for discussing feelings and whatnot, it was a well done session and I probably got something from it. I was going to compose some emails and blogs but the power went out (yet another ARG in the technology field).

2008 07 16
Well I got to the BOMA at around 700 hours and got the stuff I had left in my counterpart’s house pa Monday. I got a confirmation of sorts that the AG vehicle was going to Chipata and thus began the wait. Well, at first I was worried that I had heard wrong that it was going, but then a little after 800 hours people finally started showing up, all confirming that it was. But it wasn’t until around 10:00 hours that it, a flatbed truck, finally came. When I learned that my transport would be in the back of this vehicle I definitely wished I had spent the 30,000k and taken a mini-bus. It wasn’t that bad though, I sat on my backpack which cushioned most of the many bumps, and other passengers had equally “pleasant” rides lying on two mattresses. I only had a t-shirt on though and the wind and clouds made it a rather chilly experience. When I finally got to the PCPH it was just too late to call Lusaka about the specifics of when I needed to get there and had to wait until 1400. I guess I’m going there on Sunday and will meet with the dentist first thing Monday. I also talked to my APCD and the IT person to see whether there was anything I needed to do to use the Wi-Fi connection that was being set up just after I got posted three months ago. Well, I wasn’t thinking Zam-Time because they were still waiting for some switches or something to come. This means I might not be able to download the many hours of podcasts I was hoping… ARG! Then I went to the place there is Wi-Fi in Chipata but couldn’t login although I spent a long time trying to connect and was just about to give up when someone else was able to log in, having gotten another username and password. I did the same and checked e-mail but didn’t have time to do much else as I wanted to get to Shopright before it got dark. Hurried to the store but they were out of almost everything I wanted to get, it’s a good thing I am going to Lusaka where there will be a wider selection and whole grain bread! I got a ride back with a friend of the PCV I had replaced. I definitely wished he still worked in Chadiza because he seemed really nice.

2008 07 14
Started out on the road after pumping up my bike tire again. First I went to meet with my forestry counterpart to see about finding transport to Chipata; however he too had come down with malaria and was bed ridden. His wife relayed the message that there was possible transport via agricultural office’s vehicle which would be getting ready for the provincial AG fair this weekend. It works out just right that I will be in Chipata then to go see it. Next I went to the district education resource center to use their electricity only to find that the power was out. Read some rather dated Newsweek magazines for a while, then decided to use the battery of my laptop to write some emails that I would send when I went to Chipata. The power finally came back on and I was able to charge my laptop, my ipod and part of my cell phones’ batteries’. Biked back to Dovu village after having dropped off my first load. I charging my cell phone some more using my solar panel’s battery and the noisy way over kill 600 watt inverter I inherited because I had left my 75w one in the BOMA. It cuts out at about 10.6 amp hours or so, so I didn’t get to finish charging it.

2008 07 11

-Had my first flat but I pumped it up and was able to ride to the BOMA and back without it going flat.

-Met with DFO (District Forestry Officer, my counterpart) and talked about spay paint (diliba?[there is none?]) and getting to Chipata.

-Checked mail, not expecting anything to have come yet but had a pleasant surprise. The company that I had bought my solar panel from, Olympic Camping Gear , found out before I left the States that I was joining the Peace Corps and they thought it was awesome. They sent me some woven bracelets and a letter explaining that the bracelets were from a pacific island, a project started to bring a means of income to the people living there, a glowing review of this company to come!

-went to market and had lunch of tomatoes and popcorn with Trevor

-Went to an open prison and met with the person in charge. There was a scheduling conflict however so it had to be brief

-this fact that the meeting was brief meant that I finally had time to take some pictures of the market, some of which can be found below

-biked back and had lentils and rice and read a book