A Day for Thanksgiving

I was happy to hear that Thanksgiving dinner was coming together and when Andy said he got a turkey the first thing that came to mind was a frozen Butterball, of course. What he actually meant was he had bought a living, breathing turkey and they kept it in the lower house at the Provincial house for the week. Ashlee said they had to get up at 6 am to prepare the turkey, including killing it, which she left to the others, plucking it, cleaning it, gutting it and then getting it ready to cook. She said that was an experience, but not one she needs to relive any time soon. After getting the turkey seasoned and in the over then were able to roast it for about an hour before the electricity went out. So they stoked up the grill and got some hot coals then they buried the bird in the coals and were able to cook it the rest of the way.

There were 32 volunteers that attended the feast from all around the Provence. Ashlee organized everyone preparing a dish and it was a fairly traditional dinner. They had green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, pasta salad and rolls as well as the turkey. The house is meant to hold quite a few less than 32 people, so they were packed in. Andy and Ashlee always get dibs on the sick room in the house as they are the only married couple and it is the only room with a double bed, so they were happy to have their own room. The festivities went on all day and when we talked to them it was evening and they were winding down to a German movie that came from China and was subtitled in English which didn't actually make any sense in the English language. Ashlee had given up on it before we called. It was funny at first, but became annoying.

They had traveled to the BOMA for the week as Ashlee had AIDS training and Andy had to travel to Lusaka to get his tooth repaired. Ashlee went a few days ahead and they are only allowed a limited number of days at the Provincial House. Andy came a few days later and left the next day for Lusaka. He make the journey the next day and stayed with the same young couple. When he arrived at the dentist they informed him that his tooth had been given to someone else. The tooth that was custom made for his mouth. Frustrating! So he returned to the BOMA for Thanksgiving. It is two days travel each was to get to Lusaka, so he was not a happy camper. They will both go next month as Andy does not wish to go make the trip alone again. I guess you can't be too surprised in a country and runs the way that Zambia does, but it still is aggravating.

Ashlee also had an interesting week with AIDS training. Several volunteers were there for the training and they got quite an education. There a couple of interesting stories to share, and Ashlee promised a letter with even greater detail. She said the PC hired a local artist to make several wooden penises for the volunteers to demonstrate how to apply a condom. She said the artist earned his fee as he made the penises anatomically correct in a variety of sizes and colors. She said the volunteers loved them and all decided that they would have to keep them as artwork. This was shocking to the Zambians.

One of the reasons that condom education is difficult is the beliefs the of the people. One man kept saying that they couldn't use the condoms when the women are pregnant. The volunteers were perplexed until the man said he couldn't wear the condom while the baby was in the womb because the baby needs to be watered to survive. So they believe that the man has to water the baby in the womb with his sperm for it to survive. How do you even rebut that one?

Ashlee said that sex is very different in their culture. It is not optional for a wife. She is expected to give it up any time, any place and there is no law against a man raping his own wife. Families also encourage their young daughters to have sex with men in the village as they often receive gifts in exchange. How sad! But I guess to a degree, many American women practice the same kind barter system for sex but at least it is of their own free will.

They are planning to build up their DVD library before coming home. There are all kinds of bootlegged videos. They just bought a DVD of all of Michael Jackson's videos. They also found one that has 20 James Bond movies. Andy was excited by the Best of Jackie Chan. The quality is hit or miss, but they can often get movies that are in the theater for cheap. Occasionally you see a head walk by as they are often filmed in the theater and then reproduced.

The are staying at the Provincial House through Saturday as there is an Olympic themed costume party on Friday night. Costume hunting is fun there are so many cast offs from the states that make for great costumes.

Clothing is a funny thing in Zambia. Ashlee needs a camera at all times to catch some of the hilarious things she sees. Much of the clothing that is sent to Africa is clothing that is rejected by the Christian charities so many people are walking around in vulgar T-shirts with no idea what they say. Men are also often seen in women's clothing which is a riot. Some of the T-shirts they have seen are "I like boys" (homosexuality is illegal) "Where do you want it? The yapper, the snapper or the crapper?", a young boy wearing a Tinker Bell T-shirt that says "You wish you were me" or men running around in "#1 Mom" shirts.

They bought some raw hides for their dog Tosh, but she couldn't figure out what to do with them, so they brought them to the Provincial House dog, Boss. He is a huge dog, twice Penny's size, but is the dumbest dog. They gave him the turkey carcass, and he just stared at it. Pets are a different thing there. The are excited to get their cat when they return home. It is finally big enough to ween. They are planning to name it Cream Puff. Which doesn't relate to the cat's appearance at all, they just think it is funny. Ashlee describes it as a mouse killing machine and hopefully it will be in full effect be the time we visit. This time of year the creatures become more of a pest. Fortunately Andy and Ashlee have a tin roof, but for those unlucky enough to have a thatch roof, the pests are falling into their houses as the rain drove them out of the thatch. Rats, mice, snakes and other creatures have been falling into the huts of the other volunteers. Most will line the insides of their roofs with plastic, but the locals just deal with the inconvenience. Yuck!

The mangoes are finally ready and that is another reason Ashlee is excited to return to their house. She has built a dryer and will try to preserve quite a bit and also wants to make some jams. That part sounds good to me, but you can keep the live turkey, falling rodents, and being used as a sexual ATM.

By solar powered light

Things were winding down for the evening when we spoke to Ashlee today. She was reading by the light of the solar powered light I recently sent to them . It has several different settings and they have found that on the middle room illumination setting they were able to able to use it three nights so far in a row without charging it. She said that the highest setting is actually too bright, so that is good to hear. I have been working with the manufacturer to try and their village to the list of recipients of their Buy One Give One (BOGO) program. Unfortunately they can give to afford to ship the lights to Zambia with the current purchase price, but have agreed to sell them to us at the discounted rate they give to not for profit organizations. I am working out the details to start fundraising for the purchase of these lights so that we can possibly take them with us when we travel to Zambia in May. Ashlee was very excited about how well they work and the possibility of starting some kind of program where the lights would be the incentive. She said that one of the problems the students have with school is there is no way for them to do homework in the evening. Have a solar light in the home would allow the students to help their parents after school and do their studies in the evening. As soon as I have more details I will do a posting.
Andy had already retired for the evening as there were storms the whole previous night which kept him up most of the night. Ashlee said that unlike Missouri where the weather typically comes from the West, they had a three storms today that came from three different directions. She said there may have been hail last night because it was extra loud like drums banging on the roof all night.
They area already making plans for Christmas. They will go to the doctor's family in Kasempa for dinner and to spend the night. Ashlee said she visited them a few weeks ago and swam in the pool. She said it was so wonderful and the cleanest she has been in months. Daren and Alyssa have become good friends and they enjoy having some American friends nearby.
The decided to be a bit adventurous and try to make it to the village by a different path. They started out in the direction of the village and followed the path as it winded through many small villages that were completely off the grid. Many of the villages being along a small foot path off the main path. They saw children who watched them with curiosity as two white people on bicycles with helmets on rode their bikes along the narrow foot paths. At one point they came to a river and Andy had to carry their bikes across. Another thing for the children to wonder at. Zambia if finally in bloom and Ashlee's said it is an amazing transformation. She said there are 4 or 5 kinds of orchids that have come to bloom in the village. Purple and other vibrant colors. She said there are some many things in bloom that her sinuses are completely blocked, but it is very beautiful.
They have been working on their garden and have just started to see things popping through the soil. They were starting to wonder if anything was going to grow, which was making them look bad since they are there to teach agriculture. But once the rain started their garden immediately started to grow and so has the grass around their house. So far they have green beans, beets, cucumbers and green peppers starting to show. Right now there is very little food in the towns and they have been relying on the goods we have sent them from the states. She said the government comes around to make sure the villages have food but the only thing they measure this by is the corn meal or sheema. They call the rest of the vegetables and side dishes relish and sometimes there is nothing but the sheema to eat. There is little to no understanding of a balanced diet. The main foods that are available now are mushrooms that are in season that the people gather from the forests and are the size of a larger platter, and fish and crabs that are starting to be more abundant since the recent rains have raise the water level in the river. Dried beans are a way to get a bit more protein in their diets during these times, but it is difficult as they really need to slow cook all day and if the people are working in the fields there is no one to keep the fire going. There is always cabbage, but Ashlee said she doesn't care if she ever eats cabbage again in her life. The mangoes on their trees area bout three weeks from being ready to eat, but the locals have been eating them for a while now. She said she broke down today and ate a green one and if kind of tasted like mango. She can't wait for them to be ripe, along with the bananas. The plantain trees that they thought had died have been growing with the recent rain and she said they are growing a couple of inches a day. Another common protein source during this time of year is caterpillar. Ashlee has opted for vitamin supplements, but Andy occasionally dabbles in the local meats.
Their neighbor and motherly figure, Doris, was telling Ashlee a story that she shared with us. She heard a squealing from her front yard and she went out and found a spitting cobra constricting around a small rodent (Ashlee wasn't sure what kind, but it is larger than a rat, but smaller than a pig). She killed the cobra with her hoe and took the creature home and fed it to her family. She was quite proud of herself. Ashlee says she is quite the statuesque figure but she could envision her our in the yard hacking away at the snake. She said Dorris has become a dear friend. Sometimes she shows up and tells Ashlee, "I think we will eat together tonight". Last week when their boss, Don, was in town and spent the night she brought over sheema and relish because she knew Andy and Ashlee's mill for grinding corn was broken and it was important for Don to eat well.
The people are telling them at the rains came hard and early this year, so they are relieved to know that what they are experience is atypical. They have been having trouble sleeping even with their ear plugs. They are getting excited for a family visit. Every conversation usually ends up on food and the mass quantities they plan to consume when we are visiting. That is fine with me. I also like to eat!