While nothing significant has happened to me as of late, I just thought I would put a few thoughts out here that might be of interest to some... First, I went up to visit a friend of mine in Mbala. She lives about 380 km north me, just near the Tanzanian border. While she only lives 12 km from the Mbala town- the bike ride to her site takes about an hour and a half because of the rolling hills and rough terrain. Needless to say she doesn't get a great deal of visitors. She has a beautiful home and a wonderful family that stays just near her. She is a fish farming volunteer so I got to see a couple of her ponds that looked really good and I was incredibly impressed by. As I only have a few months left, I was glad to get a chance to see another friend's site. We put so much effort into making our lives manageable here, it is such a special treat when we can have a friend visit. Our villages are our homes and the people who live around us are our family. While Peace Corps Volunteers are also our family, the villagers are the people we spend the most time with, and we are always telling stories about these folks to our friends. Therefore it's nice to put a face to a name that you hear about from other PCVs. A note on Zambian culture: As a white person in the village, I stick out a lot. Most everyone knows who I am, and I am treated as a bwana (rich person). Therefore, wherever I go in the village, I am given the penultimate symbol of respect: the chair. If I attempt to sit on the ground with everyone else, I am usually chastized until I sit on whatever chair they have brought out for me. This may be simply a plank of wood that is about 3 inches off of the ground, or it might be a plastic sack filled with grass, or it may be a village stool that my butt barely just fits on, or it could be an actual finely made chair. It is incredibly embarrassing how much people will fall over themselves to give me a chair when I am usually perfectly content sitting on the ground. As I do stand out in a crowd here, I feel much better trying to fit in and be among the people rather than being separated. Similarly, whenever there is a large group eating nshima, I am always forced to eat INSIDE with the leaders of the meeting or the most affluent of the group. This frustrates me beyond belief. First of all, it is usually stifling hot inside any home which makes eating uncomfortable. Secondly, like I mentioned, I do not like being set apart from the villagers and them forcing me to eat with people they put above themselves. While this bwana group of people usually gets to eat first and their meal includes the best of the relishes, I would much rather be sitting outside on a reed mat eating with mayos than with people from town who act like they are better than the villagers. I usually bike with my ipod on my arm... Most people think that I am biking around with a solar panel on my arm... There are usually around 3-7 churches in one village. In every village, the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness churches are by far the nicest ones. Throughout the country, these churches are almost identical. They're all made out of really nice brick, have tin rooves, and usually a very manicured yard area. I have to admit that I know little to nothing about the Jehovah's Witness church, but I have to assume that the churches here get their funding from the states to build these really nice Kingdom Halls. Rainy season is in full swing right now. This means it rained almost everyday in my village for two weeks. The rain usually comes in the afternoon and will last through the night until morning. Therefore if I wake up and there is any semblance of a sun outside, then I will hurriedly wash my clothes. It is not uncommon for my laundry to be wet for three days because there is no sun, and everything is just damp. I can't even begin to explain how disgusting and frustrating it is for clothes not to dry! With the rain also comes the end of all meetings. If there is a meeting or gathering scheduled of any kind, and it is raining, then it is automatically assumed the meeting is cancelled. Similarly, children and teachers do not go to school if it is raining- even if they live right next to the school. Therefore, unfortunately I spend a lot of my time sitting in my hut and reading during rainy season. I just finished "The Grapes of Wrath" recently, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had never read the book in it's entirety before, and as I always am with John Steinbeck, I was enthralled. A lot of the sentiments characters in the book were expressing about their America in peril seem to apply to today. "Where is this country going?" It's sad, but something that a lot of people seem to be thinking about lately. I am going to miss the kids in my village (my kids) so incredibly much when I leave. Lately, when they are over at my house, I will tell them that I am going to miss them so much when I go to America (Nkaya ku America pa April, na nkafuluka sana!). Usually they give me a blank stare and as I walk away they'll mock my Bemba. I would be lying if I said this didn't make me sad. I hope they'll miss and remember me. I've given them enough candy to give them multiple cavities, so at least they may remember me that way ;o).