Friday was Independance Day in Zambia. After being strapped to a lampost and made to apologise for the British I was helped down and straight off to a Kitchen Party (I might have made that first bit up...) with Choolwe, Iness and Irene who teach at the school. We met up in town and played 'how many zambian women and a muzunga can you fit into a very small car' to get there (answer is 8, 3 in the front, 5 in the back) and I swear the petrol was actually cans of Tab Clear which I recently discovered you can buy here. Arrived at Kitchen Party to total chaos queing to get in- now, I am not sure I even KNOW 300 women but this party had 300 women there. All drinking, dancing 'cept the old ones who were mostly 'tut-tutting'. We were in the lairy corner, Choolwe's relatives were excitable, and there was a lady there who kept grabbing one of my bum cheeks (Ive checked local traditions and its definitely not one of them) - the event itself took place in a courtyard of some kind, we all sat round like a football match style, and there was a makeshift kitchen in the middle. Then, the relatives and friends of the bride to be bring the woman out and she sits down and the man presents flowers. But as she is covered up it is customary for them to 'ho ho ho' bring out a different woman and cover her in a veil. So the whole proceedure takes bloomin hours. A few hours and more beers on, we were to present the gifts to the bride, and Iness and I had to get up and do a traditional dance that I was taught before I went up. Now, as traditions go, this one has to be more humiliating than most, we had to go up and you do this slow hip girating dance (readers of this blog over 40 may look away now) as if you are teaching the bride how to please her man. Cue embarassing ness all round. And then you kneel down and present your gift to the bride , unwrapping it and I had to say 'urm, these are some pots and pans, urm, you , urm, cook with 'em'. She probably didnt understand a word of it. The bride also has to sit looking down the whole time, and she looked sodding miserable. She wasnt allowed to enjoy it out of respect. I spoke to her right at hte end of the party, she didnt say much but was exhausted from not being allowed to enjoy it. Random.
Jollyboys was more than lively to say the least this weekend. But we ALL went to the local nightclub Hippos after I got back from Kitchen Party, it was quite fun as tons of folk from the hostel en mass trouped down to Hippos, with a mix of local folk too who seem to want to protect us all wherever we go which is very kind of them. So dancing, drinking and generally silliness until the small hours went on. Much of the same on saturday but with a slight hangover- chatting to everyone and having a really good laugh. There are some folk sticking around for another week or two and we are having a Halloween party Friday at the hostel which will be very much fun I hope.
Back at school today was good, but I had to take some classes with Grade 6- English was good but then I had to do a social studies class which was quite tricky, explaining why people should stay in rural areas and develop it instead of moving into towns. Not being a proper teacher I do find it hard but I think I managed to keep them quiet and attentive by doing impressions of pickpocketers and fishermen.
Some of my drama group came up to me today to tell me they'd already learnt their lines for the play! I am VERY impressed.
October 2008 Archives
It's a VERY hot wednesday afternoon...there's a PTA meeting going on (which I don't understand as its mostly in Lozi or Tonga and my understanding of either stretches to hello, I am fine and thankyou) so I've grabbed a computer.
Things are very busy here- the music teacher has malaria so isnt able to come in much so taking more lessons and planning for school performance next month and doing drama, poetry and random classes on transport and communications. I wasnt very good at the last one and the class had trouble understanding why I didnt really know what a pontoon was. Still reading every morning with Grade 5 class (10/11 yr olds mostly) and their reading is coming along very well, we are also doing lots of poetry which they love (Bears in the Night and The Crocodile by Roald Dahl which I'm sure will make sure they keep away from the river) and we will be writing our own 'animal' poetry next week.
It's Zambia's Independance Day on Friday so no school- today the performing arts group went to the Livingstone Museum (I visited that on Sunday, its quite good) to perform their dancing and drumming again, but I stayed here to do music classes. So, on Friday, I will be attending my first 'kitchen party' which is the equvilent to our hen parties back home. Except no manky male strippers. The man even get's to attend!! I've been invited by Chloowe who teaches Grade 1 class here, and two of the other teachers and coming along too- we are to take something that you would find in the kitchen and traditionally we teach the bride to be how to use it. It all sounds very nice and better than a piss up in t' town.
I am trying to add more photos as I have some of Vic Falls, the kids here and the house I'm staying in next to the school (which is very nice but I feel bad as I rattle around in it and I even get help cleaning it!) and the lizard who likes to stalk me at night.
I've been back to the Radio Station to talk about building them a website (thanks to Tom) and how to get more local people involved in the station. The station itself is very good and is randomly sponsored by people in Finland.
I'm also trying to read Catch 22 under my mossi sheet at night.
This is the entry that I wrote last week- it has re-appeared!
Tujatane - the Tongabezi Trust School is an amazing place. Vanessa (who built it, and is the director of the school) picked me up from Jollyboys on Tuesday morning to take me there,show me round and introduce me to everyone. I was really taken aback by how beautiful the school and its grounds seems, there must have been nothing there before, and now there are over 6 classrooms, kitchens, toilets, staffrooms, library, computer room, 3 teachers houses and Adelaide's stunning addition of the Music Room built last year. I have to say, walking into the Music Room I was taken aback at what Adelaide and Rob achieved in such a short time, and reading the dedication to Adelaide's late uncle William who the room was built in memory of really pushed me over the emotional edge! The first lesson I sat in on Tuesday was unfortunately my worst subject- Maths. The kids knew more than me, and in English could explain fractions and percentages. In the afternoon I went to listen to some of the children who study music practicising in the music room with Sophie who looks after the room (and is leaving the school in January which is a shame for them but she is going to study to be a teacher herself) we ended up all jamming together, with some percussion, some songs in their language and also English and some crazy dancing from Sophie and I. She can dance, I can shuffle around looking hopeful.
Yesterday at the school I sat in the Grade 5 class most of the morning where Caeser is the teacher and the kids are aged 9-11. There are some exceptionally bright kids in that class, and some who can read better than some 9 year olds back at home. We did English, then Maths (I could almost manage it this time) and then they did some singing which I joined in, and I can't now get the tune out of my head and woke myself (and possibly the other 3 in my dorm) in hte middle of the night singing it. I met Mike Zulu for the first time, the music teacher who is very enthusiastic that I've come here and has lots of ideas of things we can do- we played some tunes together and I sat and watched some of his keyboard classes.
Today we took the performing arts group to a competition- traditional dancing and poetry, The dancing was surprisingly saucy for such young kids but someone explained what it all meant. The poetry was about street kids, written by the children and performed very well. I think we may win the trophy, there were 3 germans at the judging table, they looked quite impressed.....
I also managed to fit in a visit to a community radio station who need some help, our Deputy Head David lives near it and presents one of the shows so introduced me to the programme manager Andrew so we are going to meet up next weekend and see how I can help them raise their profile and sort out their programmes! I'm very excited about this. Oh and also if anyone would like to build them a website, on the house of course, please let me know, they would love it.
It's bloomin' hot here but today someone asked me if I would miss Winter- you can imagine my answer. At least here I don't have to wear gloves and a hat- inside.
Oooh today was World Post Day in Zambia and the post office gave me free air mails to write and post out. That got me very excited.
Tuesday 14th October
More Pictures!
Sunset Cruise/ Top of the Hippo
I'm here.
After quite a long flight, some odd Bulgarian men who called me 'LADY' alot and some faffing Norweigians who made my fight from J'Burg to Livingstone late I arrived yesterday about 3pm. Went to the hostel along with a Manchester lassie who was travelling and working too- Jollyboys is lovely. It is very friendly (someone already asked if I was married=desperate men) and my room is nice, I was sharing last night with a lass from Chester who was going on Safari today. We went into the main town bit during the day, I wasnt sure what to expect but we got a mix of people selling anything they could, some people campaigning for the elections at the end of the month outside the Zambian broadcasting company (nothing like PQ- its a hut) and people just wanting to taxi us anywhere. As it was Sunday most of the shops were shut so we wondered back to the hostel where we met some drunk south africans who weren't so nice (one was very rude to me but I went to bed to avoid any more crap chat, apparently he sent his apologies via a friend today) but i had a good nights sleep.
Today I mooched around, went down to the town again and then booked onto a sunset cruise. SAW SOME HIPPOS but only peeping out of the water. The drunk Australians on the cruise upset a big Canadian family so wasnt too peaceful but it was eventful.
get's surprisingly dark VERY early here, it goes pitch black by 7pm. I'm starting early at Tujatane school tomorrow, so early night for me.
But let's just finish on this- Zambia is a very beautiful place but there is alot of poverty here, and this is from me seeing one of the main towns. Things seem quite pricey, and quite westernised. I feel weirdly guilty that nearly everyone in the town can speak English. There are 72 different languages people speak in Zambia. I hope to learn at least bits of 2 others before end of December.
xx
One day until I leave for Zambia.
It's been a crazy couple of weeks since leaving the BBC nearly a month ago now, then spending a week packing up the flat in Glasgow, having some lovely parties and nights out with friends, saying some teary cheerios, then driving my 'life in a van' back to Leeds and emptying its contents between Horsforth and Rawdon. THEN I managed to squeeze my first ever visit to Howden to visit Natalie, a quick hello to Manchester to see my brother (known as the rat to many) and Big Jen, then to London to work at Whizz Kids (www.whizz-kidz.org.uk) to do a marketing research project and meet some lovely hardworking people (less said about the scary hotel manager with his 'no heating till October' rule) then to Oxford to catch a lift with Nathan up the M6 to Adelaide and Robs engagement do at their beautiful cottage near Dumfries in the middle of nowhere surrounded by hills and animals. Oh, and a quick stop (or 'tour' if you were asking Nathan) of Warrington on the way back to Leeds. Then a visit to Helen who I went to school with who has a lovely daughter Sophie who's just started school, she's just a lovely mini version of Helen and she just adores her new guinea pigs! It was in Mytholmroyd- I got lost on the way there and on the way back. Hopeless. Last night a dinner party chez Melissa in Armley. Today- shattered, almost packed and re-located lost passport (it was with my underwear, of COURSE)
I'll mostly be using this blog to put photos on and some quick updates. I hope to become as good a blogger as my old uni flatmate Jonny who has lived in Taiwan and blogged for years. His is rather good, Made in Taiwan
(quick thankyou to Tom for setting up mine)
Back to the last bits of packing and saying more goodbyes.....
