Life in a Mud Hut

So this is Africa....my first thoughts after being dropped off at my site. As I'm standing there the Induna (second in command to the headman of my village) informed me that two girls would be spending the first four nights in my hut with me for security. I was a little alarmed. "Did I really need security. So the first night went fairly well, with many lost in translation moments. The two young girls and I had a conversation about whether the brazier (thing I cook on) should be left outside or inside. Never did understand what they were saying. Lots of gesturing going on. The next morning I woke up to lots of commotion. I walked out of my hut and saw about 10 dogs running towards my yard along with about 20 men and boys running after them and screaming and throwing rocks trying to stone one of the dogs to death. I was told one of the dogs was rabbid. GREAT! Nice way to start off the morning.

Kapata Moyo is actually an area....containing 79 villages. I was a little taken aback by this. Its a huge area. My village is Kazembe which happens to be in the dead center of everything....not to mention that they built my hut right in the middle of everything. I'm constantly feeling like a Disneyland character on display. I have about 50 people stop by everyday...they greet me...sit down and just stare. This goes on for about twenty uncomfortable minutes while they are checking out everything that I brought with me. I felt silly having so much stuff when they have so little.

Living in a rural village I expected to get a lot of attention...but not as much as I have had. People are traveling some distance to come meet the Mizingu (white person). And they all want to touch me...like i'm an alien....some have never seen a white person and some children just run and scream when they see me coming. However everyone loves that I can speak a little of their lanuage. They are constantly laughing at me though. I know my Chinynja is very broken and it will take some time to learn. However my family or families that take care of me are great. My "mom" actually speaks great english which has made the transition a little smoother. She's also tutoring me.

The second day at site I was invited to a "coming of age" celebration...when two girls started their first menstrual cycles. Its a big deal and several days of celebrations take place...including a full night of drumming and dancing. It was really cool. I was invited to a wedding the next day. By the first Tuesday I was invited to meet the Chief of Kapata Moyo. This was really exciting. When you greet the Chief you have to get down on your knees and clap and say "yojira" which means "god" I think. Its a respect thing. Also i was not to look directly at him when speaking. He said that he was very happy that I was here and now that I met him, I was free to go about the village. I thought, was I not free earlier...that would explain why I got twenty questions everytime I walked out of my hut. On our way to visit the Chief in his village it sounded as though a truck was driving up the road....I turned back and realized that about 30 cattle were charging right towards us in full stampede. I froze and started screaming as they blew past. Well that was close I thought....only in Africa. Walking through the forrest and over the rivers and up the mountain I really felt like I was on the set of "Lord of the Rings" in a strange land with strange people speaking a strange language. It was very surreal.

The following thursday night was probably one of the scarier moments in my life. Its windy season and a storm blew in with about 60 - 80 mph winds. I'm not kidding I thought I was going to be buried alive in my hut. I was being pelted with so much dirt that I decided to set up my tent in my hut....I even contiplated wearing my bike helmet at one point. It was so bad and didn't let up for the next 8 hrs. My roof has to be redone, but needless to say I made it through okay....however I've never prayed so much in my life...and being alone made it all the worse.

So cooking, trying to keep inches of dirt off my things and trying to bathe take up most of my day. Living to just survive is hard work....I've got to hand it to these people...they work so hard...its unbelievable. I've had to ask for some assistance....drawing water is a whole challenge in of itself. But after two weeks I'm starting to settle in.

There's been many football and netball tournaments where about 400 people show up. The fields are right behind my house...so of course they all want to see me. I made the mistake of talking to my parents on my cell phone outside...I had about 20 children wrapped around me for the entire hour conversation. It was a little overwhelming. I've only had about 15 marriage proposals. They don't understand why I'm not married. However when asked my age, a boy looked at his friend and said, "oh, shes too old any." Right! So I'm constantly explaining that I'm here for work only...not to get married. I feel like making a tshirt so I can stop explaining myself.

Its really great, I've met several potential counterparts that I'll be working with. I've met with the Headmaster at the local school and they want six fish ponds ASAP...so I know i'll be busy, but we are to take the first three months to settle in and integrate in the community and strengthen our language skills, however everyone is so eager to start now.

I'm currently in Chipata for our first Provincial meetings. Its been great to see all my fellow volunteer friends again. Its hard being the white person for miles....and I don't have a close PCV's. My site is kind of out of the way. However I decided to climb the mountain that takes you into Chipata. Boy, that was hard...super steep and taxing. Once you get on top though you can see into Malawi and my entire area on oneside and beautiful Chipata on the otherside. Its breathtaking. If I hike that once a week I should be in great shape.

So each day brings something new...I'm reading a lot of books to occupy my time in the late hours of the evening....definitely gets lonely at night. I'm still trying to live minute to minute. One minutes things are great and I've met some wonderful people, and the next minute I accidentally set a fire and almost burn down my families home. Yes....this is the Peace Corp. Always expecting the unexpected. This experiece will definitely be the hardest thing I'll ever do.

I've received my Nyanja name....Chiko....short for Chikonda meaning LOVE. How sweet is that. Well back to the house I go. Hopefully it won't take me two months to post again.

Its official, I'm a volunteer

So its been a little while since I've posted. Life has been very hectic. So several long stories short I was sworn in as a volunteer on Monday August 14th. It was really neat. Several people gave speeches in the various languages and we had to swear in and make our committment of two years of service. Our Country director gave a wonderful and touching speech.

I passed my LPI (language profiency interview) at the Intermediate Mid range...which means I can hold a very simple conversation in Chinyanja. Bantu languages are cool. The week prior to posting was a little insane. Everyone was at the PCVL house for about a week. Definitely felt like being back in college again. However Eastern province is great. Its so beautiful here and the area is surrounded by mountains or large hills.

So I got posted to my site, Kapata Moyo on Friday August 25th. That was definitely a turning point in my life. Everything has changed. Training was so easy compared to the last couple of weeks. I fought back tears as the Peace Corps truck rolled out of my site leaving me and my belongings outside my mudhut while about 50 strangers stood staring at me and speaking in a language I did not understand. Posting to be continued in the next entry above.