Thanksgiving!

My first Thanksgiving in Zambia was surprisingly wonderful. Ok, maybe not so surprising with all the wonderful people up here in Northern Provence.

The week before Thanksgiving was spent in PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief ) Training. Peace Corps Zambia receives about half their funding from PEPFAR money and the HIV rate in Zambia is about 17% nation wide, just under 5% in Northern Provence. Because of this all volunteers, not just health volunteers, are expected to incorporate HIV/AIDS awareness into their service. The week long training is to teach volunteers and their community counterparts about HIV and how to incorporate it into the work they do. Unfortunately my usually wonderful counterpart did not show. I might be able to get us into the next PEPFAR training this spring.

Over that following weekend I went with 9 other volunteers, that were in the training, with me to go out to Chishimba Falls. The weather was wonderful for our trip. We spent 3 days swimming, napping in the hammock, and hanging out before heading back into town for provincial meetings.

Provs- provincial meetings- are twice a year meetings that all volunteers in the provence show up at the Peace Corps provincial house in Kasama. We have a couple meetings discussing house changes and Peace Corps rule changes then we discuss concerns or problems we want relayed down to the Lusaka office. It gets a little hectic on the last part with 50 people voicing their concerns on our medical, bike, transport, money, etc. problems.



But after all the crazy long meetings we prepared for Thanksgiving! The cooking went much more smoothly than you would think. And we had more than enough food to go around for 50 people. Maybe we could have used a little more turkey. But turkey in Zambia is super expensive (it ran about $100 USD). We bought one giant turkey that the boys killed and cleaned the night before. I probably  had one of the easiest cooking jobs making one giant pot of mashed potatoes. I managed to spend a few hours washing dishes when the dish crew was not to be found.

Provs is a wonderful time of year. Because of our schedules there are some people that you hardly or never see. It is great to have a chance to spend time with everyone. There was lots of talking, cooking, dancing, eating, and movie watching- it was definitely something to be grateful for when we are away from all you wonderful people back home during the holidays.

After all the crazy of the last couple weeks I'm headed home today. I'll almost be there a week before I'm headed out again for Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World).

Zamcation Part 1 & 2

Part 1:

To begin my vacation I went to visit a volunteer friend, Jesse, near Kasanka National Park who was having a bee workshop. Aside from the basics of beekeeping that I learned in training the workshop showed us how to make a hive from mud bricks. Using bricks makes the hive less mobile but much much more affordable to make in the village. The workshop was interesting although geared more towards the villagers than the volunteers who went.
A Dutch farmer and Jesse's friend invited us to his farm for an Independence Day Braii. About 12 volunteers, a few people who work at Kasanka, and a couple Sweedish med students came out. We camped out in his yard, swam in the picturesque river that runs through his back yard and ate tons of good food.

Part 2:

A group of us from the Braii were going up to Mpulugu (with stops in Kasama and Mbala) to celebrate the October birthdays and Halloween. Mpulungu is right on Lake Tanganyika the 2nd deepest lake in the world. The second day there 20 of us took an hour long boat ride up near the Tanzanian border for a couple hour hike up to Colombo Falls. The hike was hot and long but the views were worth the trip. Colombo Falls is the 2nd tallest waterfall in Africa at about 750 feet. We relaxed in the water at the top of the falls, had some snacks, took some photo ops, then made our way down the mountain. The next two days were spent by the lakeside pool recovering.
Our Halloween party was an example in creativity and the ridiculous things you can find in an African market. I managed to find a tri-cornered pirate hat. Everyone managed a ridiculously wonderful  costume. We had a banana, a trucker, Minnie Mouse, a Greek, a couple pirates, a bird, and Nick looked like a woman going out to the derby. It was our last night and it ended with a bang- of thunder and pouring rain- it was a good night all the same.

Back home to the village tonight. I will hopefully get some work done this month between the trainings and programs. I have a week long PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS) training and then we have provincial meetings and Thanksgiving. The rest of my year here is looking pretty busy.