Muchinda Basic 1x3 Classroom block Update

To give an outline on the status of our project, we have currently laid the foundation. In about a week we will have laid the slab. After that we will start putting up the walls of the structure. That will take about a week, we hope to be done with this stage of the project by mid November. This will allow us to complete the walls of the structure before the rains come near the end of November. All the bricks we need have been molded and burned. All materials that we need have been purchased and transported out to Muchinda.

We have had a few set back, causing a slight delay in the project. The first is the cost of cement in Zambia. Due to the unreasonably high price of cement, we had to purchase cement from Tanzania. This caused about a three week delay. The Buildings Officer along with the Procurement Officer who are my main counter parts at the Ministry of Education for this project were in a car accident. Both are ok but had to be hospitalized. Because of this I kind of had to take over their roles, needless to say they have more experience then I do so it took a bit longer for me to get things done.

Overall we are progressing nicely. Once we start putting bricks up we will move along pretty quickly.

Girls Empowerment Camp

The Camp I helped organized went really well.  It lasted five days with 24 campers and 4 facilitators. There were no real problems of any kind. The planning committee on the whole felt as if the campers will be able to take a bit of the knowledge that they learned and return to their villages and be able to pass the information on to others girls in their communities. We stressed the idea of passing on information the whole week of the camp. We felt it was one of the most important aspects of the camp. If the female campers are able to work with the peace corps volunteer that escorted them to the camp so they are able to form clubs we will feel that the camp will have been a success.

Really the only stressful thing that happened all week would be when I went running the first morning and I thought I was getting chased by lions. So everyone knows about two weeks before we had our camp there were lions patroling the area where the camp was held. The lions came through and killed some cattle and what not. I knew this but I didn’t think about it till I started running at 5am and I was running under the full moon. My imagination started working and I got scared. This little incident led to another. Imagine myself and Zach to full grown boys huddled together cause we thought we heard a leopard outside our shale. We went outside to throw rocks at it, but apparently it is hard to hit a frog.

Terrible things.

You know when terrible things happen like breaking your leg. But you know in the long run maybe its for the best, that’s how I feel about Kevin Garnett getting traded.

Central Sports Teams

To entertain ourselves in Central Province we decided to make up the lineups for teams that we feel we would field if challenged by another Province. These teams include starters, subs, and all necessary coaches. The teams also are set up to field different looks, say if we want to play alittle small ball, or if we want to run with three guards, or if we need to throw out a hands team. For example we have a hitting coach for baseball. The teams that we are able to field include: Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Rugby, Track & Field, Water Polo, Swimming, Diving, Syncro, Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, Volleyball, Cheer, Spelling, Trivial Pursuit/Family Feud/Catch Phrase, Gymnastics, Netball, and Cricket. We also made up a band with a stage set-up.  I  would type up all the line ups but I sure you are only concerned with what I am doing. I am center field/ starting pitcher/ batting 7, small guard, Wide Receiver (not playing defense, I only score touchdowns)/ hands teamJ/ Punt and Kickoff Return, 3^rd line in hockey ‘bruiser line’(no discernable positions on this line we play for the pain of it), Rugby -Outside center, Track- 4x800/ L.Jump/ Decathlon, Swimming 100 fly/200im/ 200 free relay, Polo 1 spot, Soccer playing Defense, Ultimate- Midfielder, Volleyball- back row, Gymnastics- Vault/Even Bars, and in the Band I am a Lead Band-Aid.

Obviously you noticed I am not on every team. This is because other people also have to play and everything has to be fair right?

Walking

Just like a week or so ago my friend Katie and I decided to walk from my hut into Serenje. Its about 32 miles. So that went well, we started at 5am and finished at 5pm. To be honest the day we walked out was overcast so the weather was perfect, and besides a few blisters it went fine. We averaged about 5k an hour, and took maybe 2 or 3 rest breaks. Mostly we just jiber jabered. The next day my knees were tight, but that always.

When Katie and I were dropped at my house, we also brought along 600 fingerlings. Its like the baby fishes you can transport from pond to pond in big plastic buckets. We picked the fish from a farmer near Katie’s house on Friday am, then we took them direct to my village and gave them to my fish farmers.  It went pretty well only about 9 fish died. The farmers will now keep the fish in ponds they dug that are about 10mx10m. The fish can grow to a length of about your wrist to your elbow. They will either sell the fish or use them for food security. 

Movies I have enjoyed recently

Bourne Ultimatum- the fight scene with Desh was unreal.

Transformers- Really good. You are Heartless if you didn’t cry when bumblebee was getting dragged away.

Harry Potter- I think because I have read the book, I was able to insert a lot of the back story on my own. I think I would have been confused if I hadn’t read the book.

Harry Potter Book

It is my favorite book. I couldn’t of asked for anything more. The saddest part for me, was what happened at the end of Malfoy manor and at the beginning of The Wand Maker. I won’t say anymore, I don’t want to ruin it for anyone.

Riddle has a Girlfriend

This is mildly sick. I am also not making any of this up. You remember the couple in highschool who always were holding hands and kissing in the hallways, and you wanted to kick them cause it made you feel incredibly weird. Well that is what riddle and simba are like. Yes, her name is Simba. To start off they are always together, they split their time between my house and her house. This includes nights, being about 70/30 her place. If she leaves in the morning riddle will escort her home. Also they actually kiss eachother. Straight up lick eachother right on the lips. It even seems like they give eachother good-bye kisses. I am not crazy and projecting, other people have said they act goofy. They are twiterpated. Like in Bambi. They roll around on the ground together, and they are flirting all the time. I am not sure if she can have puppies anymore, she is 3 but it is her 4^th litter she is on. I kind of think she is going to have a miscarriage. So you can’t say that he is just trying to get her knocked up, he already did that and they are still hanging out. I honestly did not make a single bit of this up.  

Mozambique

Whale Sharks.

Yes, I wore a speedo.

Yes, I had my goggles.

Yes, I had little red zoomers on lone from the Minnetonka Swim Club.

So, whale sharks are big. I am also pretty sure that one of them smiled at me. It was pretty interesting the sharks kind of cruise about 5 to 10 feet below the surface skimming for plankton. Everyone pretty much stayed on the surface the whole time, so that was fine by me cause I was able to zip around down by the shark. I actually almost ran into its butt a few times cause I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. I also think I went to deep underwater. The shark kept going deeper and I kept following it, I felt fine then but when I got off the boat I had a big head ache and I fell asleep for a few hours afterwards.

Marmaduke

Marmaduke is the largest dog I have ever seen in my life. He was I think some Great Dane Boer bull mix. He was jet black with a head that was easily above my hips. He was owned by the guest house we were staying at, and during the say Marmy would come to the beach with us the sleep out there. The dog was huge, I think he at least weighed as much as I do.  

Barracuda

I ate a lot of Barracuda when I was on vacation. Atleast once a day, though most of the time I would buy it in the market and cook at the GH we were staying at. I kind of think the fish was a Mackerel but I don’t know fish but I did have it atleast once a day for two weeks.

I only have 6 months left till everyone can stop missing me. See you soon.

Antelopeish
Impala
Sable
Puku
Kudu
Red Leche

Kitty

Lion

Leopard

Dog

Hyena

Jackel

Reptile

Crocodile
Monitor Lizard

Varmint

Stiped Mongoose
Monkey
Bush Kitty

Random

Hippo
Giraffe
Elephant
Cape Buffalo
Warthog

We saw birds, but I don’t really think they count so much. Eagles and hawks are cool, but not the little squirts. Not when you can see a lion or something big like that.

I would never say that Riddle is worthless, he just hasn’t contributed to our life plan ever. His responsibilities during the day consist of eating dinner at my house, then walking over to my Zambian family’s house and begging for food from them. I except that he burns a lot of calories from nervous energy. It is just remarkable to see what he will put away. Anyways he needed employment, so Riddle has taken a position as the head goat herder for the Chibuye family farm. His level of responsibility is the equivalent of a boy on a paper route, but he enjoys being mildly independent. His hours vary day to day but he is always on ‘call’. Notice he is not on ‘duty’ 24/7 only on ‘call’ 24/7. Baby steps, baby steps. In Riddle’s defense he does have one more job then my sister. His roles and responsibilities include running after the goats with my little brothers Nkondu, age 6, and Doug 7, trying to get them into the corral. He must do this in the morning and evening time. The total head count comes to about 15 goats that are under his direct supervision. I would never say that he abuses his power, but when he is bored he will antagonize the goats. He will run after them nipping at their butts, bouncing around in front of them, and generally just jacking around.  You could say that his payment has no monetary value but it is pride in your work that really gets you by isn’t it.  So in this sense he is a very rich dog.

I have a Mom in America, and I have a Bamayo in Zambia. Why do they choose to critique me? Why are the criticisms the same? I believe the issues that they take with me, are the individual quarks that make Dan, Dan. I don’t wash my dishes, my cloths look like they have been laying in the dirt, and my general approach towards life are some items that constantly come up. The list is long, I won’t elaborate further. It is just that I am sensitive to the tortures that they put me through. Constantly harassing self confidence, using my ego as ping pong ball for their own personal paddle game. One is difficult enough, but when they teamed up my malaria, which was in remission, flared up again due to the strain that they put me under. Fortunately some people understand, our differences make us who we are.  Riddle has fleas he is cool with that, my cloths are dirty I am cool with that. We both understand each others short comings and we except, we hang, we are cool with it. We don’t judge each other at face value, we look deeper than that. True beauty is on the inside, isn’t that what they say. Let me live my life, quit this overbearing attitude. That is my statement, this is all I can say.