Everytime I finish a forty page blog, I think, “WHEW done! I’ve FINALLY said it all” only to have just as much to write next time. Not that it’s anything much exciting to say, but there’s a lot to say about those chickens! This time, unfortunately, I don’t have much time to use the internets, so it’ll just be a short one.

It’s weird to think that Doug’s now been in Zambia about the same amount of time that I was here before he got here!

The big news is that we have a puttytat now!!! Professor McTiddlywinks. I think he’s about three months old, so he’s not tiny, but still a kitten. Peter unexpectedly brought him one day, so Doug couldn’t refuse it, hahaha. Now Doug’s the one letting him sleep on the bed and buying him fish treats and such. He looks like a grayishbrown tabby with a polkadotted belly. Peter claims that the cat is part Genet which is completely ridiculous. He may in fact be part African Wildcat or he might just be a plain old Tabby. Peter claimed, because of his wild origin and the fact that he bit Peter so hard it left a scar when he tried to catch him, that the cat was simply untamable. He said it’d try to escape the house as soon as we opened the door and would never play or sit on our laps. In reality, the cat is actually afraid of the outside and cries cries cries if we put him out there. He’s also afraid of the chickens, and they’re afraid of him. (Except New Chicken, who will stand there and stare at him, like she stands there and stares at everything else.) He also loves to play (especially with fingers) and when he finally tires out, will cuddle up and purr. Mostly he just plays attackcat though. There might be some truth in his wildcat origins because this kitty is insane! He plays all day, then goes absolutely berserk at night, running around chasing demons of some kind doing the little gurgle/growl that cats do when they’re excited. So fierce. But then if you catch him, he lets out a pathetic little squeak. He does the stand-up-with-arms-wide-spread attack cat move the best. Very cute. He also performs his kitty duties quite well. He knocked over the “Christmas Tree” as soon as we put it up and he knocks any lighter he can find sitting around onto the floor. He’s a good climber too. Can climb right up your leg to your shoulders.

Christmas was good. Or “Happy Day,” as Wizzy put it, which I think I will refer to it as from now on. We found a tiny tree branch that vaguely resembled a triangle and used that as our tree, complete with the battery-powered lights mom sent. With the presents under the tree, candles and Christmas lights, eggnog and cocoa, it was very beautiful and Christmasy on Christmas Eve. Missed the snow, Christmas music, smell of a real Christmas tree, going to Cathy’s on Christmas Eve and Bonnibelle’s on Christmas morning, but it was nice. We spent much of Christmas Eve Day and Christmas baking bread for the Headfamily (technically not the head family anymore because he got his title revoked, but I’ll always think of him as the headman), the neighbors, and Justin/Brenda. On Christmas morning, after opening the presents, we headed to the road where the biggest celebration Mpelemebe has ever seen was going down! A huge crowd of people, just hanging out, drinking, standing in the road, eating fritters. Half the village must have been there. We mostly just sat around people watching. Zambians lend themselves so well to it, the ridiculous outfits they come up with trying to look “smart.” On the bike ride back from the house, people kept yelling “Christmas!!” at us. Twas nice until we learned that “Christmas” or “Give me Christmas!” means “Give me money.” It was the same on New Years. “Give me New Years!” Strange concept to think that you can give someone New Years.

New Years wasn’t as eventful. Since apparently I’m the only Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia without cell phone reception at my site, I never know what’s going on. I missed the Christmas celebration because by the time I found out about it, I had already planned a meeting for that day. So I thought, “Well, I won’t be out of the loop for New Years. Certainly, EVERYONE in Central Province will be at the Peace Corps House to celebrate New Years!!” So Doug and I packed up and made our way to Serenje, only to find that absolutely no one was there. Everyone was still traveling from their Christmas vacations in whatever countries everyone can seem to afford except me. So we drank our Redd’s (this delicious, lightly alcoholic carbonated apple-ish drink thing) alone and watched “1408,” which was actually quite scary. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t seen a scary movie in so long or if it was actually really scary. We ended up missing News Years by several minutes.

I guess that’s all I have time for now, but first, I have a question that MUST be answered. Someone must find the answer to it and let me know. Why is it that you can wear a pair of pants and they’re just fine, then if you roll up the bottom of the legs, the pants suddenly become twice as heavy and fall down? The weight of the pants doesn’t change when you roll them up, it just becomes more concentrated in one area, so why do they feel more heavy and fall off?

Also, can someone give me the address of a map company? I want to see if I can get free world/Africa/Zambia wallmaps for my library.



Bonnibelle – I found a portable paper Sequence board at the Peace Corps House and am thinking of brining it back to the hut. I don’t remember the rules though. Can you play with just two people? If so, how do you play?

Dad, Grandma, Cathy – Happy Birthday!!!!!

Thanks to all who sent Christmas gifts. It was exciting having something to open Christmas morning!