Caterpillars & Beatles

I never thought I would see it, but the road I live on has had an immense amount of traffic on it... Well immense in terms of a dirt road in Zambia that normally has little to no traffic. Officially caterpillar season started November 1, but the last week of October really marked the beginning to this season. People from all over the country are flocking to Mpika to gather this national delicacy. They are big chunky green caterpillars that are pretty gross looking while alive. Zambians make them look even worse by popping the green guts out of them by digging their thumb through the fat crawler. There are piles of this green gut goo all over... The remainder of the caterpillar is then either dried in the sun to be fried later or immediately boiled and eaten "fresh". I must admit I am not a fan of the fried version- they are crunchy and quite frankly taste like I'm eating a bug. I have yet to sample to boiled version, but I doubt it will be much better. I think my family here will be eating this as their staple relish for a while, so it looks like I'll be cooking for myself a bit. It's just crazy how Mpika seems to be the holy grail for caterpillars. The vehicles coming down my road are filled with people going to "camp out" and harvest. In Aluni, the community about 27k down the road that I've been working with, locals have been setting up little temporary lean-to's for the visitors to rent out and camp in while having their go at the caterpillar crop. People also bring in goods like pots, pans, chitenges and other things from the capitol to sell while there is such an influx of people. I guess people in Lusaka will pay a pretty Kwacha for this delicacy. Can't imagine travelling 12 plus hours in the back of a truck filled with dead caterpillars. The season for these critter does come at a good time though considering this time of year (in between cold and rainy season) is thought to be hunger season by some. Another problem with this season of harvest however (besides putting all my work at a standstill) is kids not going to school. Parents like to keep their children home to help them harvest, so the schools all but shut down during this time.

Moving on to other tales from the animal kingdom...My neighbors have been loosing baby chickens at an alarming rate. Because most people don't keep their chickens penned all day, or at all- the birds are free to roam around as they wish. I have to say right now that since arriving in the village, I have acquired a severe dislike for chickens and their dinosaur type tendencies. Between the rooster crowing at 4am to the rest of them getting into everything- dishes of water left outside for more than 2 seconds and my insaka and bathing shelter- I just can't stand them. Anyways, hawks come flying around and snatch up chicks all the time. Lately there have been random outbursts from children and adults alike making crazy screaming sounds that at first really confused/concerned me. Well, turns out they are trying to scare away the hawks when they see them lurking. Seems that with those fits of hysteria they go through to scare the predators away, they would put a bit more effort into trying to keep the birds safe. Sadly, their technique isn't very effective, although the children seem to enjoy running around screaming.

Now, I thought I would talk about a few colloquialisms that I find pretty interesting here. Some of them are English and are just funny while some of them are Bemba and really confusing:

-"caref" : yes, this is English, sort of. A shortened version of 'careful', I find myself using this as a warning along with the villagers.
-"sorry sorry" : Pronounced "sow-ry, sow-ry", Zambians LOVE to apologize for someone else's mis-doings. I hear this all the time when I am tripping, dropping something, hurting myself accidentally, or otherwise embarrassing myself. Forget about trying to convince people something isn't their fault and they need not apologize.
-"capiba" : Pronounced "cha-bee-pa". Essentially, Bemba for "that's too bad" however it's used for anything from someone being sick, to exclaiming disdain at having to take a long journey, to someone dying.
-"Just there": This is a misleading direction given by many Zambians. When asking for directions, one must be careful when hearing a destination is "just there". Sometimes it can mean right around the corner, but sometimes it can mean halfway across the country- you never can tell.
-"used" : This is commonly used by people asking me if I have acclimated to life in Zambia. "Are you used?" they will say- not referring to anything in particular I should be used to. So now, before they can even ask, I say, "Ah, yes Zambia is nice, I am used".
- "awe sure" : In Bemba, awe means "no", so literally this phrase means "no, sure". It's kind of used like exclamatory like "oh my!", or as a filler like, "um".

Now to a small commentary on the logic of Zambia. My fellow Mpika district PCV's and I have recently endured some issues with the post office. A decision was made by the folks there to give all of our mail (there are 7 of us with the same PO box) to one individual now instead of to the mail's addressee. IN light of this odd and somewhat inconvenient decision, I have come to the realization that decision making here often lacks the usual logical reasoning Americans find common. It may be hte language barrier or it may be cultural differences, but the question "why" is more often than not answered with "pantu fye" or "just because". This can become quite frustrating when you are asking a teacher why they are outside chatting with a friend for an hour instead of teaching or when someone tells you that you shouldn't take a run when a group cancels a scheduled meeting and you ask why everyone was informed except yourself. Just because or because I said so is something I expected to hear from my parents when Iw as 5 and they made a decision I didn't like- its not something I would hear from counterparts and friends. Again, maybe it's a cultural thing, but it sure is confusing!


Another confusing situation arose when two census workers came to my hut to count me. The once every 10 year census is taking place here in Zambia. The government hires teachers and other individuals to walk around dor to door in orange vests bearing "Enumerator" across the chest like it's a superhero title ( you may ask yourself why would the government hire teachers to do sucha job when they already have a paying job and it's the middle of the school year and there are students to teach...GOOD question... pantu fye). Anyways two girls about my age came asking me about my life. Were you born in Mpika? Where were you born? When did you come to Africa? Were you here last October? Yes I had just answered the question of when did you come here? What are you doing here? What is Peace Corps? What is your job? But who is your employer? etc etc etc. I understand these girls have a form to fill out but their questions just got to the point of ridiculousness. After explaining about my situation a number of times,they stuck a sticker to my door with a strange code of numbers saying I've been counted.

I'll close now with a story about a recent conversation I had that left me perplexed and quite appreciative of American pop culture. A man from Lusaka is visiting his family here in the village. He grew up in the city and therefore speaks little Bemba and is quite taken aback by the way people live here. He came to visit me one day while I was listening to non other than Border Crossings on VOA. We started talking about music and he seemed pretty knowledgeable about American artists (rare here as Most Zambians have an affection for the most random pop stars line Celine Dione, Shania Twain, Akon, Brandy, etc) Anyways a Beatles song came on the radio (requested by a PCV in Zambia nonetheless) and the Lusaka man had never heard of the Beatles. I was at a complete loss. How do you even begin to describe something as monumental as the Fab 4? Ask yourself this: do you know anyone who ahs never heard of the Beatles? I know it may seem insignificant and trivial, but it took me out of the moment and made me look at the Zambian life in a completely different light. I feel extremely fortunate that I have lived in a world where although materialism and vanity are promoted and even revered, I have received an excellent education, nourishing food, and access to such cultural entities as the music of the Beatles.