April 29, 2007

Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful Spring in America. We are at the tail-end of rainy season here, and I am looking forward to the upcoming months of cool mornings and constant sunshine. I suppose you could say that my spirit has been a little "water-logged" recently, so a pleasant change in the weather may be just what I need to put that all behind me... like a fresh change of clothes after getting caught in the rain.

If I had to sum up the month of April in a single word, I would say it's been straining. Not strenuous, like it involved a lot of hard work, but straining... like when you hurt a muscle and have to continue walking on it. I don't think there's any shame in admitting when times have been tough, and to be perfectly honest, the past few months have been quite a challenge. But, the good news is that I feel I've forged through the stickiest parts and there are so many wonderful things to be looking forward to... My family is visiting in May, several of my projects are doing well, I have a great tan, etc.

Anyway, I have a few experiences from recent weeks that I'd like to share with you- my favorite being Easter at Lake Tanganyika, what a time! Here we go...

Lake Tanganyika & Kalambo Falls

This year's plans for Easter were originally to spend it in my village, just relaxing. The thought of travelling with a big group on a complicated trip somehow wasn't appealling to me... and that's what a lot of volunteers seemingly had in mind for their Peace Corps Easter vacation days.

I had gone to town to take care of a few work-related things and was preparing to head back home, when I connected with a group of about a dozen volunteers on their way up to Lake Tanganyika for the 4-day weekend... I was easily persuaded to join them (which surprised even myself!) I think it's because I've been wanting to visit that area of Zambia ever since I arrived here and didn't want to pass up an opportunity to go there with friends.

A brief geography lesson for you... Lake Tanganyika is located at the Northernmost point of Zambia. Following its shoreline, you would touch Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's a gorgeous area and has much more of a tropical Central Africa feel than the rest of the country. The lake is only about a 5-hour bus ride from where I live (I had no idea it was that close), and after arriving in the port town of Mpulungu, we took a ferry to the lodge that had been reserved for us.

Once we arrived at our beach (That's right- we were the only people staying at this remote and rather secluded lodge), we enjoyed 3 full days of beautiful scenery and relaxing in the sun. The lake is so large that it felt like we were at the ocean, except that it is fresh water and we could see mountains nearby. We laid out, swam, played sand volleyball, and had bonfires on the beach at night. A few people even went scuba diving. The most memorable and exhilerating part of this trip was our Easter Sunday hike to the top of Kalambo Falls.

The waterfalls are not easily accessible and we had to hire a local guide to lead us to the top. Here's what my Zambia travel guide book has to say about Kalambo Falls, just to provide you with a clearer picture... "Kalambo Falls has a vertical drop of 221 meters. This is the 2nd highest waterfall in Africa, about double the height of the Victoria Falls, and about the 12th highest in the world. On either side of the falls there are sheer rock walls... The falls themselves will be at their most spectacular towards the end of the wet season (Note: which is exactly when we were there)... Kalambo Falls are also one of the most important archaeological sites in Southern Africa. Just above the falls, by the side of the river, is a site that appears to have been occupied throughout much of the Stone Age and early Iron Age. The earliest tools and other remains discovered there may be over 300,000 years old, including evidence for the use of fire... For years Kalambo provided the earliest evidence of fire in Sub-Saharan Africa."

Here's an excerpt from my journal describing the experience: "On Easter Sunday we were led on a hiking trip to see Kalambo Falls... It was a hot & humid morning when we embarked on the 2 1/2 hour mountain trek. The whole expedition was vertical- it was like 2 1/2 hours of stair steppers!!! Several of us didn't think we'd survive the hike. I definitely wasn't in proper shape for it. However, upon reaching the falls and seeing how indescribably magnificent they are, the hellish hike became worth every bead of sweat. It was like having a baby and instantly forgetting the pain of labor. Those falls were the perfect testament to the many natural wonders of this world- & so many of them are tucked away where human eyes never get to see them. I felt small and insignificant... I was in the presence of a timeless and terrifying and wonderfully crafted work of God. The perfect place to be on Easter Sunday.

After marvelling over the waterfalls for an hour or 2, we started back down the mountain... The descent turned out to be far more difficult than I ever thought it could be. For the next 2 days my body was so sore and achey that I could barely move- but, it was 100% worth it, and I would hike it all over again in a heartbeat to experience Kalambo Falls once more."

The Easter get-away at Lake Tanganyika turned out to be exactly what I needed to remind myself of how amazing it can be to live here. It was also a nice opportunity to simply relax and let myself be rejuvinated. I wish I could better describe just how important and thrilling and completely captivating the waterfalls were. You really must see it.

Anyone Need a Wedding Planner?

There is to be a traditional Bemba wedding in my village next month and preparations begin early. On April 21 I observed some of the activities leading up to the actual wedding, the making of the beer and the "pep talk" for the bride.

When I arrived there were about 10 women singing and spreading millet on the ground in a large circle. The bride-to-be (maybe 16 or 17 yrs old) had a basket full of millet, and she and another woman would together shake millet out of the basket and into the big pile. The other women sang and drummed on jerry cans. Next, everyone knelt around the millet and pounded it with either axe handles, hoe handles, or just big sticks. They'd lift the sticks over their heads and with both hands, slam them on the ground. (I thought it looked like they were trying to beat a bunch of ants to death.) And of course, they were singing.

Once they were finished pounding the millet, everyone dispersed. A few women remained, separating the seeds and loading the millet into baskets. Most everyone else gathered in the shade of a tree or the nearby nsaka and chatted. I sat down with my friend Ba Patrick (the only man around... This was an exclusive women's tradition), and he explained that this was the Bemba way of preparing village beer for a wedding. They would soon take the millet down to the river and let it soak for a few days.

I was soon called into the house to see the next part of the pre-wedding activities. I sat down in a wooden chair while the bride and 2 of her aunts knelt on the floor. 1 woman spread 5 or 6 seeds out on the floor. They were all different, and I assume they represent all of the major crops they plant in this area. While 1 lady sang, the other 1 who spread the seeds on the ground put her hands behind her back and picked up each of the seeds 1 by 1 in rhythm to the music with her mouth. After she was finished, she joined in singing the song and spread the seeds out once more in front of the girl. This time the girl mimicked her aunt by picking up each of the seeds with her mouth.

Next, the rest of the women piled into the small room where we were gathered, and we continued with the millet beer preparation. These involved a certain way of separating whatever leaves, stems, or seeds remained in the millet; the gathering of water and bringing it into the house; and the ritual of adding the millet to the water. And of course, this was all completed with singing and drumming. For the sake of brevity, I won't go into detail on all of these activities, but at 1 point everyone was kneeling on the ground and dancing to the music by circling their hips. There was a lot of energy in the air, and everyone was really getting excited. That's when 1 woman grabbed me and insisted that I join in! I didn't even hesitate. I grabbed a chitenge, wrapped it around my waist, got on my knees, and started circling my hips in rhythm to the music. All of the women erupted in laughter! They were so excited to see me participate, and I'm sure they found my white girl hip circles simply hilarious... I would have been laughing at me too!

Soon all of the women (& the millet) went back outside. Again, it was only myself, the bride, and the 2 aunts in the house. 1 woman stood up and removed from the shelf on the wall (which was actually a single board, holding all of the family's pots and bowls) a large leaf that was wrapped up into a bundle and tied with a piece of string made from tree bark. She sat back down on the floor and handed the little package to the other woman.

The women then began explaining the significance of the leaf and its contents. She untied the string and removed the outer leaf (there were actually 2 leaves and the other 1 continued to hold something inside of it). The woman explaining everything was speaking in such fast Bemba that I had an incredibly difficult time trying to follow it. She took the outer leaf and explained that the leaf was used during a woman's period... She took the leaf, held it in front of her crotch (like a maxi-pad) and said "period" to make sure that I was understanding.

Next, they moved on to the other leaf... It was unfolded to reveal 2 small fish! I wasn't expecting that at all. For the next few minutes they explained the meaning of the fish inside the leaf... Several times they would wrap the leaf around the fish, then open it back up as they were talking. It was clear to me that the fish were supposed to represent some sort of gift or surprise, but I had no idea what was being said, so I still felt rather clueless.

When they were finished sharing their wisdom with the girl (& me too, I suppose), I went back ouside and found Ba Patrick. I asked him if it was okay for me to discuss with him what went on inside the house. He said it was fine to talk about it, so I asked him what the significance of the leaf with the fish was... "When 2 people are married, the woman will giver her husband a special gift that only he sees. Do you know? It is in the bed... So the fish represent the gift," He clarified. Ahh... and the leaf stood for the woman's reproductive system of sexuality. Now it made sense.

The wedding is supposed to take place in May, and I've already been invited. Stay tuned...

One Crazy Afternoon

As I was biking home from a meeting one day (which was cancelled because literally nobody showed up), I decided to stop by a counterpart's home for a brief chat. He wasn't there, but most of his family was, so I hung out with them for a few hours. We were having a very nice time- talking about American culture, my work, etc.- when a young boy (1 of their children) brought over a mole that he had found and wounded with a spear. He laid it on the ground at our feet... I guess I've never actually seen a mole before- That's got to be the funniest, creepiest little creature known to mankind! Big buck teeth and no eyes... He just sort of pawed around in the sand and kept opening up his mouth big and wide- creepy. Their plans were to eat it as a family for supper.

After I left their house and was continuing my bike ride home, this girl about my age kept yelling: "Ba Ellen! Come, come! Come here, please!" I figured it wouldn't hurt to stop and at least greet her. I biked up to her House, where she was sitting in the nsaka. She immediately came out, hopping over to me- her feet were shackled with a chain and lock! "What the hell's going on?" I thought. Her father instantly came rushing out of the house and held her by the shoulders. In Bemba, he began to explain that she was "mentally unstable" (which he actually said several times in English). Then I looked at her in the face for the 1st time and could see that she was rather crazy. "Give me a hug! Don't go!" She began to aggressively shout at me. I told the father that I understood and wished him a good day. I turned to leave, wondering what would have happened if he hadn't restrained her. And... how does she know English??

Lost in Translation... yet again

A short story that might make you laugh... I was at a villager's house having a conversation that was about 1/2 Bemba and 1/2 English. Mary's English is about as good as my Bemba, so together we can understand each other pretty well (although I'm sure we'd sound ridiculous to outsiders). Anyway, somewhere along the way we got to talking about growing or cooking with millet. Mary brought out a plactic basin full of millet ready to be ground into flour.

"Amaule," I said as I scooped my hands through the grain and let it fall between my fingers. "What?!" she said. She sounded rather surprised, which caught me off guard. "Amaule. Right? It's millet." I was just trying to say millet in Bemba. Everyone's been harvesting it all month and this whole time I thought I had it right... "It's amale," she corrected me, "Amaule means prostitute." Of course it does. Leave it to me to make a couple weeks' worth of comments like: "Can I go with you to collect prostitutes?" "You have a lot of prostitutes!" "I want to eat nshima with prostitutes." Such is my life.

Thanks for your support and encouragement. Please keep Zambia and all of Africa and all of the world in your prayers!

Shalenipo,

Erin