Happy Holidays from Africa‏

Happy Belated holidays everyone! I just returned to Zambia after my hottest Christmas to date and one of my hottest New Year's on Zanzibar Island just off the Tanzanian Coast. But first, let me rewind a little bit.

In my last email, I'd just finished my bout with dysentery and had returned from In-Service Training. Both equally as enjoyable. In the period between that and now, I've done quite a bit, so hopefully I can recall all of it, and hopefully you won't be too bored by it.

I got my field all ho-ed and planted. I haven't seen it in about 2 weeks but I'm sure that my weed plantation is booming. I've planted: spring onions, white onions, green peppers, chili peppers, garlic (hey, anyone want to make out??), cucumbers, carrots, green beans, sunflower, peanuts, pigeon peas and a row of moringa trees. Before I left, most had sprouted so hopefully everything will be ok when I return to site tomorrow. After a half day in the field, I like to spend some time relaxing in my awesome new hammock with a mosquito net (Thanks mom!)

My fuel efficient stove is almost complete. Hopefully by the next installment, I'll be able to give you a review, preferably a positive one. My hut now has a table! I'm movin' on up! Mwenso has been killing rats like it's his job, only thing is they're mostly in the field and I want the ones in my house dead. I bought a bicycle for my counterpart, George. He's paying my back a little at a time, panono panono. He's making some mad cash on the chicken vaccine IGA (income generating activity) and everyone is happy about the results. So he should have me paid off in no time. If not, I'll have to break his thumbs.

Perhaps the most exciting news, other than Zanzibar, was about 3 weeks ago. I had just biked out to the road where I hitch rides into town and saw that the police officers at the road block were teasing a bird. At first I didn't notice what kind of bird it was; I'd just figured it was a chicken. Then I got closer and saw that it was a falcon. I asked them why they had it and apparently it had been hit by a truck not too long before I got there. So I told them that I was taking it. They said no, they were going to eat it. I repeated myself and went to the little market, got a box came back and took it. Suddenly I was a falconer, a weeklong dream come true. Literally. The week before I had a dream about being a falconer and then I thought "hey that'd be kinda cool." So I took it to the PC house in Serenje where I fed him meat scraps and chicken necks, but he didn't want that. He wanted other food. So I bought a slingshot at the market and my buddy Mike and I tried to shoot small birds to feed him. I realize that it's kind of hypocritical to kill many birds to keep one alive, but hey, it's the food chain (and fun!), but we didn't kill any. We did however successfully shoot a bunch of beer cans. So I took the falcon (named Fistcraft during a rousing game of Scrabble) back home and let him guard my kitchen for me. I like to think he ate some rats, but in reality I'm sure he just sat there, occasionally knocking my pots and pans over and crapping all over my floor. The first day, he tried to get out but I found him grounded about 200 meters from the kitchen, so I picked him up and brought him back. The next day, I had to go to Mkushi to get the vaccine (and to watch Monday night football at ATB Lodge at 2:30 in the morning). When I returned, he was gone. Nobody could tell me where he went or how he got out. Well, maybe they did but my Bemba just isn't bwino enough I guess. All for the better because then I left for Zanzibar.

Look at a map, right now. Find Central Province Zambia, then find Dar Es Salaam. Then think about a train ride from Kapiri Mposhi to Dar. How long do you think? Maybe 16 hours? 24? Can't possibly be more than 30, right? 48 hours after getting on the train, I got off the train. The ride was fun though. Very enjoyable. We had an impressive Peace Corps group of about 18. We had 2 first class cars together for 8 of us, the rest scattered amongst second class, so my car was the hangout place because everyone wanted to avoid the cholera, plague, and leprosy that is found amongst the second and third class denizens. (Ok, maybe not really, but 1 st class is substantially roomier and only about $4 more expensive). The rest of the car I was in was made up of a bunch of white people from around the world- Austrians, British, Germans, and all over the natural range of Crackerus honkeyii. When I asked the Austrians where they were from, they answered "Austria." I responded with "Ahhh….Austria, put another shrimp on the barbie!" They didn't think it was as funny as I or my friends did. We passed through a game park and got to see giraffes, zebras, water buffalo, warthogs, someone saw elephants and someone else claims to have seen a rhino but "it might have been a bush pig." Huge size difference. Hey guys, is this a honeybee or an eagle??

So we arrived in Dar, and got hassled at the train station. The man wouldn't accept our half price student rate tickets because he'd never heard of "Washington College" or "Idaho State University" or "Pepperdine." So it was up to my sweet talking to get us out without paying a fortune. I showed him my student ID, Peace Corps ID, and Andrew Jackson's ID. After a discussion of what Peace Corps does, he returned all 3 IDs. It's probably the first time ever that a bribe has been returned. We stayed at a nice hotel for about $12, ate a nice dinner and the next morning caught a ferry to Zanzibar. We got there around 10 then got a van to a resort. Absolutely beautiful. Right on the beach, nice restaurants, good swimming, good people, everything was GREAT! We snorkeled on Christmas Day, then feasted at night on squid, octopus, some kind of fish, veggie curry, rice, and all kinds of goodness.

The day after Christmas, I met a man from Ethiopia who is starting a Non Governmental Organization NGO with a focus on preserving the environment. He wants to get people using sailboats on Lake Tana instead of motorboats and he wants to promote fish farming. I told him that in a year and a half when I finish in Zambia that I'd like to work with him. He got pretty excited about the idea, so hopefully Christmas 2009 I'll be in Addis Ababa. Or maybe in the oceanfront house that I told our fishing captain that I'd buy from his neighbor. But since we got shut out fishing, I don't know how I feel about that house anymore. Other activities in Zanzibar included: Spice tour where we learned about the spice trade, snorkeling with dolphins and sea turtles, watching monkeys monkeying around in Jozani forest, museums, art galleries, and rockin' in the New Year with DJ Yusuf. Though my favorite activities were harassing shopkeepers or eating. Tim and I liked to mess with the shopkeepers and the guys selling stuff on the streets, asking ridiculous questions or making ridiculous offers and several times almost killing each other with Masaai warrior clubs or knives. It's made much more fun by their inability to understand English. They enjoyed it though for the most part. Not as much as we did though. As for eating, oh man….every night in Stonetown they have a seafood fest. Crabclaws, lobster, shrimp, shark meat, tuna, blue marlin, red snapper, barracuda, all kinds of delicious foods to exceed my daily recommended mercury intake. I ate myself stupid for about $7. And for anyone who has eaten with me, you know what a great deal that is. I also met an absolutely gorgeous Finnish girl who I hung out with until late. As we split a banana and chocolate pancake, I met a man who I thought was going to kill me simply for being American. He's lived a rough life; most of it on the street. In 2002, he witnessed his father being murdered and mother and sister being raped and beaten by American soldiers. He said he wouldn't feel bad about getting revenge on an American for what had been done. But after talking with him for about 45 minutes, he admitted that American people are not all represented by our government or our armed forces. He understands that we're not all bad people. I know that I'm a government employee and that I'm supposed to be defending the US government's name and whatnot, but I think that this cultural exchange is much more valuable, especially considering Bush's low low approval ratings. And it could have gotten both of us hurt.

The next day my group of 4, plus this beautiful Finnish girl, wandered around Dar Es Salaam. We ate delicious food and ice cream. I angered the owner of a Swiss watch store by asking if he had any stolen or fake Rolexes. He said something in whatever language he spoke (not English, not Swahili) then glared at me as if he was going to kill me. So then I thought it'd be funny if I went out to the street and bought a fake Rolex, took it back to him and asked him to remove some links or change the battery. Not more than 3 minutes after I said that, a man approached me with a Longines watch. I said "nope I'm only interested in Rolex." Then he reached into his other pocket and produced a wonderfully fake Rolex which I promptly bought for $4. But when I went back to the store, his death stare was even deadlier, so I opted to stroll past and buy a pizza instead. Great decision.

Next morning it was back to the train station. 40 some hours later, here I am in Serenje. I met a very pretty Zambian girl living in Lusaka studying to be a travel agent, so I hung out with her for most of the train ride. We exchanged phone numbers and next time I get into Lusaka (maybe as early as August!) I've got a dinner date!

Tomorrow it's back to site…5 packages heavier! I don't know who they're from yet, but I know I have 5 packages awaiting me. I also got 9 letters/cards in the past 3 weeks. One from home, Theresa, Carly, The Mitchell's, Maria (a PCV here in Zambia), and 4 from Becky. I'm saving them for my hut, but thank you very much!

Take care everyone. Hope it's not too cold (nor too warm what with global warming and all). So until next time, keep on rockin' in the free world!