Letter from Stevie! Postmarked 7.26.10

Letter from Stevie! Postmarked 7.26.10

Editor: Monica Lucero




(editor’s note: I hope I got the African words right Stevie!! Love your style, we don’t measure our years like this often enough- what an awesome year you’ve had! Xo!)







“How do you measure, measure a year.”

(It’s amazing how often RENT gets stuck in my head…could be all the talk of AZT, ARVs, or all the candle lighting)




Well first let me apologize! I have majorly been slacking! I mean December? Merry Christmas? 6 months since my last entry? PATHETIC! I’ll try and stay more on top of it but to be honest no promises…




A couple of big things have happened in the past 6 months so lets do a quick review




Jan:

- brought in the New Year in Malaui- fabulous

- enjoyed mango season- already miss it!

- Got some weird sand worms from Malawi- no further details needed

- It rained- a lot!




Feb:

- went to Zanzibar with a big group of volunteers to go to an African Music fest and sit on the beach- the trip was amazing! Good music good food, good people, and THE OCEAN! Longest I have ever (and hopefully will ever) be away from the ocean.

- Still more rain

- Lots of school fun




March:

- helped train the new group of volunteers that flew-in-newbies!

- Went back to Iwaka at the end of the month for a conference and ended up singing with a live band at a bar- a little Lauryn Hill




April:

- had a huge Easter extravaganza with some volunteers stationed in other provinces. They all made the treck to NW and we made tons of food all weekend- Easter brunch= bloody mary’s, challan bread French toast, and bagels from scratch

- went to a few rehearsals with the guys I met at the bar and performed at this swanky Italian restaurant for an event the Italian Embassy was hosting- random!

- Had to say goodbye to a lot of volunteers that made up a large part of my life here- but finished their service- miss them tons!

- Mufumbue had elections for a new Parliament member. Things got a bit violent and we stayed far away!




May:

- Had my mid-term conference- only one year left!

- Stayed in Iwaka for some medical fun- I’m ok!

- Had provencial then country wide meetings




And here we are in June! So now you are caught up on the highlights but there is one thing I want to go back and discuss before I move on. It’s kind of a big one…




April 25th 2010 was my one year anniversary of being an actual Peace Corps Volunteer. It means I am over half way done with my time in Zambia!




And with that comes all kinds of mixed emotions. I asked myself how do you measure a year?




One Year in Zambia equals…

- books read- 45 (Editor: WOW!)

- Schools visited- 7

- Nursery schools opened- 2

- Countries visited- 3

- Painfully long staff meetings- 49

- Hours spent hitching- well over 500

- Times I’ve seen apples for sale in Mufumbue- 3

- Provinces in Zambia seen- 6

- Zambian water falls visited- 3

- Kids in my yard daily- 8-13 (editor: “noodles” ☺ )

- Tables my host father has fit into my hut- 7

- Bafwas I have had built- 4

- Kitenge items I have sewn- 31… Christmas stockings, postcards, clutch, guitar strap, bags, earrings, 1/3 of a quilt

- Phone cases I have made and lost- 3

- This American lifes I have listened to – 62+

- Hours waiting for a ride at Kasempa turn off- 27

- Elephants I’ve seen- 4

- Bridges I have jumped off- 1

- Times I have performed in Lusaka- 3

- Pillows I had to destroy because of mold- 2

- Bags of charcoal- 4

- Times I took the bus instead of hitching- I still ask why I did that to myself- 7

- Pairs of reefs I wore to the ground- 3

- Engagements of weddings of close friends and family- 15- seriously guys!

- Volunteers that have visited my house- 11

- Other volunteers sites I’ve seen- 16

- Coloring books my kids have finished- 4

- Days I wanted to leave Zambia- 0 (moments? Yes, but entire days? Never)




How do you measure a year?

Seeing how I just finished reading High Fidelity here are some of my top 5’s…




Top 5 Zampop artists (enjoy the names)

- Dalisoul (youtube it! You know you want to!)

- Mampi

- JK

- Ozzy

- Cosmo




Top 5 artists I only love b/c

- Lady of Zambia Gaga

- Rhiana (well that’s not new, bit the conviction is)

- Akon

- Kesha

- All Zampop




Top 5 artists I have rediscovered and constantly have on:

- Bill Withers

- Michael Jackson

- Sara Berallis

- Amas Lee

- Sam Cook




Top 5 Zamlish Phrases

- sorry sorry (pardon me/sorry!/oops)

- I am used (I have adjusted)

- Ka-small (very small ka in front of any thing to make it small)

- You are creating (you are lying)

- At reast! (at least…)




Top 5 words in any of the Zambian languages

- mwane- used for everything

- bufi- bemba- lies!

- Twakosa- kaonde- we are strong

- Kafwako- kaonde- nothing

- Chambwende- luvalle- perfect/exactly




Top 5 vices I kind of liked in America that I can’t live without here

- salt

- Coca cola

- Crisps or potato chips

- Chips or fries

- Milk chocolate




Well I’ll stop there for now but I love and miss you all!

Mushale Bulongo