Trainee No More

So I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. We swore in this afternoon at the house of the ambassador. Only there isn’t an ambassador for Zambia right now just a charge’ de affairs or something of the sort. It was a really nice house and a fun little ceremony. It feels strange that I am only now going to begin my life as a PCV, but this is it. We are now in Lusaka doing some shopping before all 46 of us newbies head off to our own provinces to begin our service. Most of the necessities we will need to purchase will be available in the provinces, but some things will only be available here in Lusaka. I feel like I’m shopping for college again, only instead of bedspreads and home furnishings, I’m shopping for braziers, charcoal, and food supplies for 3 months at a time.
There was a flurry of activity at my homestay the last two weeks we were there. Last week Wednesday, my bashekulu (grandfather) passed away. He had been ill since I arrived, but told me he was doing his exercises every day to get stronger. He had a doctor’s appointment in Lusaka not too long ago and I was told he was going to need surgery in June. Eventually my Bamayo said he would not undergo the surgery after all. Beginning Monday of last week he began to deteriorate drastically. I’ve been meaning to describe the Zambian funeral here for quite some time since we have heard so much about them. Now however I have first hand knowledge of this tradition unfortunately. My bamayo woke me up Wednesday evening around 11 to tell me the news, but promptly told me to go back to sleep. However shortly after I shut my door, I heard a sniffle then some crying. Soon another woman joined in the crying, and within 5 minutes there were neighbors from everywhere in the house wailing. When someone dies here it is customary to cry loudly and at great length. While I have heard these funerals throughout the village the past 9 weeks, I had never been close enough to really understand the severity of the wailing. Being inside the house and hearing this very erie and harrowing sound was horrible. Thankfully, someone went to the nearest language trainer and told him of the death and that he should come and take me away from the house for the night. We ended up deciding it would be best for me to stay at my Bamayosenge's (aunt's) house. She is my bamayo's sister and lives only 80 yards away or so. My language partner, Bart lived with her, so it was like staying with family. The next three days, the funeral proceeded. The house was emptied of all furniture and people from all over came visiting at all hours of the day. The women would sit inside the house on the ground and whenever a new lady arrived, she would begin wailing. The family members would wail with her for a while and then they would just sit in silence until the next person arrived. The men stayed outside in the yard sitting on the furniture around fires. I stayed at my aunt's house until Friday night because this process continued 24 hours a day. My sisters would come and cook for Bart and I at my aunt's house, but everyone stayed and slept at my house. The funeral was Saturday because the family was waiting for one of my uncle's to arrive from South Africa. The body was brought to the house and there was a small alter set up in the yard. Because my bamayo is the treasurer for the local Catholic Church, there were many church members and clergy people there to officiate. The yard was FILLED with at least 150 people watching the funeral. Then we walked to the family bur rial plot near by. They buried him right there and then called up people to put flowers on the grave. The order of people called up was this: the grandfather's siblings, his children, then me and Bart. We felt a bit out of place, but it was nice that they thought we should be included. Eventually the rest of his grandchildren were called up as well, followed by all other members of the family and community. One interesting aspect of funerals here is that the tribal cousins of whoever has died is supposed to take care of all the cooking, digging of the grave, transporting the body, etc. For my case, we are Bemba's therefore our tribal cousins are the Nyanjas. There is a very fun tribal rivalry usually involving taunts and teasing from each side. For instance us Bemba's are monkey eaters while the Nyanjas are rat eaters. However when it comes to funerals, each tribe takes their job very seriously. Because so many people were coming in and out of the house, the yard looked like a refugee camp: huge campfires set up throughout the yard, people sleeping on the ground, giant pots of nshmia being cooked, etc. It was very interesting to witness this cultural event however also very sad. While I wish I would never have to experience another one, there will unfortunately be many in my future here.

On a lighter note, I passed my Bemba test as "intermediate low". This was the level we needed to be at to pass, so I just got by (along with everyone else in my intake). We had a cultural day on Wednesday that involved us trainees cooking American food for our host fa miles (I didn't do much cooking, but rather watched the soccer match going on between us trainees and the trainers). It was a lot of fun to have our families come up to the training center all dressed up. My family gave me 4 enamel bowls, a coffee mug, a broom, and a nshima spoon. They were very generous in that. I had bought them some candy from the states, a few buckeyes for good luck, postcards from Chicago, and a headlamp. My bamayo went NUTS over the headlamp and didn't take it off all night long. I had to remind her that I only gave her one extra set of batteries so she should turn the light off and stop blinding everyone. Ha! I just feel so bad for her because when she walks home from the market at night it is always so dark and she has to use her phone to light her way. Also when the sisters are cooking they are always struggling for light. Hopefully the lamp will help them out a bit.

As for now, we are spending the night in Lusaka and getting up bright and early in the morning. I am going to miss everyone so much! However we all get to see each other in August for In Service Training in Lusaka -- something to look forward to. There are 9 of us going up to Northern tomorrow. We have SOO much stuff, the two cruisers are going to be PACKED. We will spend the next few nights at the provincial house in Kasama while we do the rest of our shopping. Then we will get dropped off at our sites one by one beginning Tuesday and ending Thursday (not sure when I'll be dropped). As our LIFE boss, Ba Don, says, the cruiser will dump our stuff in the yard, drive away, and watch us cry. haha- he's a great guy- really! Anyways, I appreciate all the support I've received thus far. However these next three months (the first three months of my being at site is called "community entry") are going to be rough. I will have my first birthday away from home and am not looking too forward to that. Please keep in touch and let me know what's going on back home! Stay well and take care!