community and singing!

Wed
Today I woke up and went running with Kim, which helped me to really feel better. My stomach has been a little bit rumbly for the last 2 days and this kind of kicked it back into the norm again! Then I got a ride via a mailcar to kalingalinga (once again..the issue of timing!) I was trained at work today by a woman named Ngombe (in-gom-bay). I loved it, and I can't explaint he feeling of excitement I felt thinking about how I would be able to also run these tests for these people. Hundreds and hundreds of patient samples come in and the number of samples will be doubling within 12 months!! ... one of my projects here will be to decide how the lab will be able to handle the increase in samples (what new resources we will need, number of workers, set up etc) I got home and was locked out so I sat outside the house with the guard and heard african singing! It was so beautiful so decided to follow the voices and ended up at a church right up the street, which had a choir practicing for a festival that Saturday. I loved hearing the songs and talked to some of the people about coming to the festival. It was so beautiful and I sat there listening to them and watching them dance while the sun was setting :)

Thurs
We had orientation today and we had a chance to see all of the different CIDRZ locations (the organization I am working for, actually it's pronounced "ciders" if you want to sound cool!) Greeting people is huge in this culture and so all of us 9 interns (Steph, Nicole, and Nathan arrived the next night and are staying with Connor in the new house) went to meet everyone. This took a very long time as there are 4 locations, each with about 40 people! Then we had a traditional lunch with Kapenta (these small fish, I ate one eventhough chewing the eyes was a little weird at first), nshima, and other foods too! We got back late and went to the market to buy fruit/veggies. 10 sweet potatos are only 5,000 kwacha - like a little over a dollar, and 4 bananas for like equiv of 50cents total. I once again WISH i had my camera because the scene walking out of the other market overlooking all of the stands with the streets packed with crowds of people and food was beautiful...or course the sun was just setting, just adding to the frustration of not having a camera!! Today I made the mistake of taking doxycycline without eating first so i was nausiated all day - no fun! everything on the whole is wonderful though. At nights I am happy to be sleeping, but sometimes before I go to bed, I think, What the heck?? I am in Africa? or like Where am I?? just thinking how random it is to be here, or like a whole year?? like really? i stare at my white walls and the space around the room, which is really quite nice and uncluttered, and I wonder how it will be this next year.

fri
today we had our community orientation! we went to a clinic nearby and it was amazing!! It is definitely in the more rural and poor area of zambia, and they try to reach out to people to give them info about HIV and getting tested. When we drove in, there were lines and lines of people, mostly women with children, waiting outside of the clinic. They try to give info through a drama presentation. We got a quick tour of the administrative office (pretty small) and then watched the show. There was singing and dancing (yesss!!) and the people were dressed in fabric (the chetenge is the tradional skirt) that said "Positive for Life" and the skit started out as a man sitting far from his friends, but once he knew his HIv status he could sit with them, because the knowledge did not drive him away from the people, but instead brought them all closer. then they danced and one woman brought me out and it was so fun. its not like at home when you dance you try to make sure you don't look weird, everyone was very accepting and they were just happy i was dancing. a woman came and hugged me later because she said i was embracing her culture. i became emotional because everything was so beautiful and amazing, africa music which i have always loved was so real now, and you really feel the drum in your heart and you have to dance! also, the fact that they were dancing and trying to spread the message to help the people and bring the people in was amazing. then we got a tour of the clinic and they had all sorts of stations in this tiny tiny building. one for pregnant women, for counseling, for injections, etc etc. i felt like if i ever had the chance to work at a clinic like this, i would never be bored, and i would always want to go to work everyday. seeing all of the people and talking to them was such an incredible experience. driving back, we saw about 15 little kids pushing a van down the road - very impressive :)

sat
today was the choir festival! we crammed about 45 people on this tiny bus and traveled to Kafue, a very rural part of Zambia. On the way we passed by a lot of mountains and shacks and huts. The people ont he bus were singing and dancing the entire way there! i was smooshed against a window but did my best to shake it hahaha i went with my two roomates laura and ilana and we were the only non-zambian people there. We were supposed to leave around 730am from the church but ended up going at 930...we were supposed to get home at 2, but got back around 530! everyone was very gracious and friendly and where were about 20 different singing groups. i got the take care of one of the woman's babies while there - sooooo incredibly fat/cute - very healthy. a lot of the women have children and are in their late teens. the men there all asked if i had a boyfriend or was married. it can be pretty overwhelming i think because we were the only white women there. everytime you turn around, there is a pack of guys smiling at you and asking to be in a picture with you or asking you to tell them where you live so they can take you out. there were a few very persistent ones and so you have to just walk away. the singing and dancing was great and i was up in the front at one point kind of dancing a little and these 2 really large women came over and grabbed me and wrapped me in fabric and took my hands and pretty much dragged me closer to show me how to dance. they seemed pretty happy that i wanted to dance and they kept hugging me and kissing me and they brought me back to their families afterwards and everyone was hugging me and telling me how they are so happy i dance with them! i feel so lucky to always be able to be dancing here -i found out they really dont care how you dance, and lucky for me they take it as a compliment even if you have no clue what you're doing! During the trip, a guy named Paul was very helpful for the guys who kept asking for marriage. He pretty much stood next to me a lot and then other guys didn't approach me as much. Also he told me that while women are seen as submissive here, fortunately, stricter consequences are being put into effect for abuse. Another zambian - a girl named caroline- helped me when i wanted to go to the bathroom or get water. she pretty much lead me to where i should go and told me where I should not go. On the bus ride back, Paul saved me a seat next to him, but I ended up sitting a little farther back next to Caroline...the bus started moving and people changed spots i was squished next to a guy that was extremely persistent to be my boyfriend, which was kind of disturbing. if i wasnton a packed bus i would have moved, but unfortunately for 45 min i couldn't get away. i talked to a previous intern about this and she said that i should just get a cheap ring and tell them i am married. she said if this doesnt work that i should say very seriously that i am not interested and then ignore them. I think I was very caught up in the fun of the day and kind of let my guard down and then didn't know what to do. Allison, the former intern, told me that while I may meet some nice people, it's hard to know the intentions and that I must always take what they say in this way.

I'm learning a lot here and I feel just so so blessed to be able to have this experience!!! I'm so excited to keep learning and experiencing. I love and miss you all and keep everyone in my prayers.