One of the 10 most polluted cities in the world

Ahhh Kabwe. Don't worry it's only because of lead and other heavy metal contamination of the soil and water - Carrie and I brought water. I tagged along with Carrie and 2 other PCVs to Kabwe where they had a meeting with some education higher-ups. Kabwe is pretty neat, very different from Lusaka, but still very big. More open and nicer I think. They also have this mukuyu tree - the "meeting tree" - whose branches spread wider than any tree I have ever seen. It is very beautiful. The market is really big and Kabwe has a Shoprite (Western-style grocery store) where you can get things like oats and brown rice instead of corn meal and vegatables. So yeah, I sold out and we stocked up there. It's so funny to go through the market, because white people never go in there, so all eyes focus on you and you get lots of "hey my friend"s and "boy!". But people are delighted when you speak a little Bemba and warm quickly.

After spending forever getting up to Serenje (which is the closest real town to our village) we stayed at the Peace Corps house. I bought a defective bicycle (the seller touted "it's made in China" as though it were a mark of quality) and had some hassle returning it. Then we went to Mkushi (a bigger town, farther away) to buy a mountain bike which is ok, except its innertubes are awful. Eventually we got up to Mpelembe (the village where I am living) and to the hut.

The hut is very nice and spacious (for a mud brick hut). We have a kitchen, livingroom, bedroom and storage area. Outside we have a decent sized garden with all sorts of stuff (mostly stolen by mice and moles), a cooking shelter and an icimbusu (squat-over pit latrine; which really isn't very bad or difficult). Our yard is dirt and then weeds, which apparently we are supposed to sweep in a wavy pattern frequently. A usual day consists of eating leftovers for breakfast, watering the garden (takes forever as we have to draw our water from a well), doing dishes, Carrie teaching me to speak Bemba, biking to the borehole at the school for drinking water, hanging out, cooking over a brazier (now I can set fire to a brazier, just like a hippie), and going to bed at 8 or 9 pm. I can't work at the clinic until I apply for my work permit apparently, but they were very excited about the medical supplies "hydrogen peroxide! some of these things I have never seen before!", and very enthusiastic about me working with them.

Life in the village is nice. Kinda how I think life should be. Everyone is very poor by our standards, yet everything is just fine. People grow their own food for the most part. There are no police anywhere nearby. Everyone is very nice to one another and there is a good sense of community. Rural Zambians are very quick to try and help you whenever they can. I mean obviously there are a lot of health problems and most people are getting a less than stellar education, but things are ok for everyone it seems.

Some funny/interesting things in Zambia:

A goat riding standing on the roof of a cab on a huge flatbed truck

Most Zambian trucks and busses have names that are usually hilarious. The best - "Nazi Power".

All the fresh milk is Zambia is actually just reconstituted powdered milk.

The hotel clerk trying to write our names on the reciept "Bouglas Placia" and "Callio Paku"

People wearing ludicrous clothing, ranging from Tupak with studded bling and World Wrestling Federation shirts to chitenges (like a dress-wrap thing) with an oscillating fan design, dress shirts covered in depictions of Saddam Hussein standing proud, and a little boy wearing a shirt that says "I <3 making boys cry" (which is especially rich because I think homosexuality is illegal here).

The great umulilo (fire)! The headman just started setting fire to all the grass and scrub brush around his hut and ours without us realizing beforehand. We just saw a big fire up the road and ran over to check it out. One of the headmans sons declared "Douglas, you have come. Help me save my home". It wasn't really serious as they do this every year to help fertilize the soil (poorly). So Carrie, the headman and his children, the neighbors, and myself spent the night maintaining the fire in a smallish zone around our homes. It was exciting beating the burning grass with branches and running around shirtless. We even managed to save all of our mango trees. I guess ultimately we just cleared a fire barrier for when they start the really big fires.

I guess that's about it for now. Tomorrow we head back to Serenje to pick up wood for a beehive and then back to Mpelembe. On our next trip on the 21st to renew my stay in Zambia, we will be buying a couple of bush chickens for eggs! Hope everyone is doing very well!

Love, Doug