It has been a while since I blogged but that is because there really hasn’t been much new to tell. Easter was interesting at least very early in the morning when I was awakened by about 20 women dressed in white sheets chanting “Jesu Wabuka! Wabuka!” outside my window at 4:45 in the morning. I was honestly scared at first. All sorts of thoughts of witchcraft going through my mind. Then I realized that I know what they are saying. “Jesus has risen! He has risen!” However, the rest of the day was just like any other Sunday.
The highlight of the month was going to Macha, a town about 70km from Choma. I thought the road from Choma to Sikalongo was bad but this was by far the worst road I have been on in Zambia. But after three hours of being thrown around the back of a truck like a rag doll we finally made it. “We” being Mark, Jocelyn, and myself. The purpose of our visit to Macha was to see Karen who is another MCCer and a nurse at Macha hospital.
Macha was a very interesting place. It is out in the middle of nowhere. Even farther from civilization than Sikalongo. However, it felt more like North America than Zambia. This was due to the North American style houses where several North American style people live and the North American style food that they fed us. (One saintly woman even made Mark and me our own Chocolate Pie). Even most of the Zambians who live there don’t seem like the same Zambians as the ones in Sikalongo. Probably due to their higher education as most are nurses or doctors and have been more exposed to whites. Furthermore, Mark and I had wireless internet in our bedroom. In addition, just next to the hospital is the John Hopkins Malaria Research Center whose lab is as nice or nicer than the labs at Bethel College.
While there, I was able to shadow the doctor we stayed with for a day. That particular day happened to be surgery day. The first surgery was wiring a guys mouth shut who had a broken jaw. I was able to help with the surgery by holding the guy’s mouth open. However, I don’t think he had brushed his teeth in a while and he had pneumonia so he kept spitting up greenish fluid. Eventually, I had to leave because I was feeling sick. The next operation was to clean some burn wounds. Apparently the patient had had a seizure and a traditional healer told him to walk on fire to get rid of the evil spirit. I don’t know if the evil spirit was vanquished or not but the guy’s feet were badly burned. The final procedure was to remove a tumor from a man’s arm. I found this much more interesting than the previous operations. However, I have decided I am not interested in pursuing a career as a surgeon.
Other than that, the weekend in Macha was a very nice relaxing weekend filled with good food, some actual entertaining television (the TV show “HOUSE” which someone had on DVD), and no screaming two year olds. It was hard to come back to the monotony and screaming two year olds of Sikalongo.
The two year old at our house is so spoiled. I am not a fan of spanking but if she were my child she would have been spanked several times already. Anytime she doesn’t get what she wants she screams. So my host parents give her what she wants so she will stop. 10 minutes later the process repeats itself. This then makes me want to spank my host parents for giving in every time…okay maybe not, but I have tried hinting that they shouldn’t give her everything she wants. Lest you think I am totally heartless, I do respect them for taking care of their grandchildren so that their daughter can have a chance to go to college. They have admitted to me that they are looking forward to April when they will also get a break from screaming two year olds when their daughter comes back from school for a month.)
Luckily, on the way back from Macha, I got an extra night in Choma at Ron and Erma’s because there was a miscommunication with the transport to Sikalongo. Miscommunication in Zambia…imagine that. Haha. Anyway, I must admit I am looking forward to April when my family comes and I also get to go to Zanzibar. I really need to get out of Sikalongo for a while.
As for school, we are in the final weeks of term 1. This is the busiest time of year for me because I am again typing the exams for teachers. But I really don’t mind (see monotony and screaming two year olds above).