Im in Lusaka for my mid-term medical exams, which means that this is officially my mid-service mark. Hard to believe. I'm glad to report that I'm healthy and very luckily haven't suffered the various medical ailments I've seen in other volunteers. Strong Like Bull! This year has flown by and I have been kept very busy. The next few months will also be nuts as I work to raise money for my Peace Corps Partnership proposal expanding a preschool in my village, which I will write more about soon and be sure to bug y'all for donations :). Things in the village are good. The rains are tapering and the maize stocks are popping up. Mangos have finished but now the fresh maize is everywhere, which i LOVE. The village is lush, green, and soggy and my farmers are working hard in their fields. The season has brought all sorts of new critters including a few new snake sightings, and an ant infestation, which has come and gone several times. Luckily, my roof was patched so leakage is minimal and my beautiful yellow flower fence is in full bloom around my compound. I had a successful fish farming workshop and soya cooking demonstration in the last month and have another next week. It is hard to find good sources of affordable protein in rural areas and soya beans are great for that, but people aren't comfortable with how to cook with them and it is not a common village crop. A bunch of my nutrition clubs are starting to grow them this season, which I am really excited about. The groups LOVE cooking demos because they get to eat a lot of fun and new foods and also watch me struggle over the brazier. It's also a great opportunity to teach basic nutrition and empower the clubs to be more comfortable with giving nutrition advice. There is a lot of malnutrition in the village and people are really lacking accessibility and information. The clubs are always so grateful to have workshops, I usually leave with a barrage of gifts, banana bunches, sweet potatoes, maize, mushrooms ect. I am continually awed by the generosity and appreciation the villagers show. I want to end this post by thanking everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes and incredible packages. I am so LOVED and feel INCREDIBLY lucky to have such support! THANK YOU!!!!! nalimutemwa (i loveeeee you) lisa

Reflections

Time is flying by and my life is ever changing. It is time for reflection as I sit in Kasama on my second of three birthdays in Zambia. A year ago I was bright eyed and in a constant state of awe and confusion as I tried to take in all of the wonder and challenges of this new place. I didn't know what life in my village would be as I attended my bemba classes and sat through tech. training. I wondered how I was ever going to bring change to a community that was so foreign to me. I am still bright eyed and awed, but now my goals are becoming reality. As I become more familiar with my role and learn to weave through the complexities of development I only hope time will allow me to bring my plans to fruition. Mwamba has become my home away from home, and though I am often pulled out of the village for work and various adventures, and am often still flustered by the cultural differences here, I am always relieved to return to my little mud hut and the people and children waiting for me. I have learned to take what is offered around me and work with the skills and ambition that lies in my surrounding communities and to mesh that with my knowledge and my connections with home to enrich the lives around me. Though I am constantly striving for sustainability and change, I never fail to realize that the people around me have impacted me more than I can ever hope to impact them. I am truly living this life and it is beautiful to me. I am awakened by farmers planting their maize fields and children making their walk to school, tattered black uniforms and bare feet. I am kissed by the pouring rain and tickled by wall spiders. I always have dirty feet and finger nails, I feel the cool force of the sweeping river current. I stare at the rolling hills around me as I bike down the narrow red dirt roads that weave through the bright green bush. I am filled with the excitement of a health training and the sparkle in the villagers eyes as they answer my quiz questions or facilitate a lesson for the first time. My heart flutters as the children of Milex preschool sing in class and recite the lessons learned that day. With each joy the reality of the poverty of village life is still present. The sober touch of AIDS, malaria, and malnutrition is felt all around me. People live on. They work, love, laugh, sing and cry. The suffering and joy is life in the village. The support and love from home and the people around me keeps me strong and on my 25th birthday this experience, place, and the people in my life are the greatest present of all. Ever thankful... lisa

ps mom got 2 packages, havent opened yet but thanks...and lins SO GOOD to finally talk to you loooooove you!!!

The Greater Salt Lake

Aka: The Dead Sea. We bussed an hour and a half outside of Jerusalem to the Dead Sea which is surrounded by the cliffs of Israel and Jordan. We hiked in the rocky beige cliffs and gazed upon the endless desert. Despite the chill in the air, I made it into the blue water and it was WILD. I floated effortlessly and my body burned from the salt. The dead sea is the saltiest body of water on earth, not to mention the lowest point. The rocks along the shore had a hard crystal build up of salt and nothing can survive there. It is 30% salt where as the ocean is a mere 3. My skin was smooth and soft from the water and my eyes burnt from the air around the surface. The sensation of weightlessness was unlike anything I've experienced, I couldn't have drown if I tried. It was a nice afternoon.
The last couple of days, I have spent exploring Jerusalem and learning more about Judaism and what it means to be Jewish in Israel. My friend Lyndsey and I went to Haifa, the second largest city in Israel, for "the holiday of holidays" where Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan is celebrated. We went with "seeds of peace" a really great organization that brings Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, Egyptian, and American kids together for peace and conflict resolution. It was incredible to see the kids reunite for the first time since they were in the program together. The Israelis and Palestinians are often kept apart by boarder patrol and the giant wall that is being built around Israel, and the kids were ecstatic to reunite. We wandered around the city, saw the majestic Baha'i Gardens, listened to live Opera, and ate some great street food. The food here is heaven, falafal, hummus, yummy fruit, and great chocolate! It was a great day.
I attended my first Shabbat service and dinner afterward. The service was a liberal hippy gathering with beautiful singing and spirit filled people. The dinner afterward was at an Orthodox house and was right after a wedding, so there was incredible food, prayer, singing, and dancing in a circle around the table. YES, that really happens, and its fabulous! I felt so honored to be included at the table, and everyone was so welcoming. I am learning so much and experiencing an entire culture and place I am so unfamiliar with. Tomorrow we will see the Dome of the rock and the Holacaust museum. HAPPY NEW Year! LOVEEEEEEE me.

Jerusalem

It has been a glorious 3 days in Israel and I am in a constant state of wonderment. The girls and I went to Bethlehem, which seemed only appropriate for the Christmas celebrations. It was a short bus ride from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, but we had to get off the bus and go through the check point to get into the city. The check point is in the middle of a giant wall that stretches the borders of Israel and is intended to keep Palestinians out. Only those who live within the walls or have proper identification can get through. It was sobering to see the division so concretely. The massive wall was covered with messages like, “free Palestine,” “We are not terrorists,” “Bring Peace to Israel..” ect. It was very powerful to realize how for granted I take the freedom of movement. I can’t imagine what it is like to be kept from somewhere because of my origin or religion. Our United States Passports allowed us to enter Bethlehem and we walked down the windy streets to Manger Square for the Christmas Eve celebrations. The square was bustling with people and there was a stage set up in front of the church the evening of the 24th. There were choirs and performances all night leading up to midnight mass. We opted not to try to fight the crowds and to attend a service in the morning. The President of Palestine was the special guest so there were a lot of people wanting to attend. We ate falafel and drank sweet tea while listening to the music. I quietly observed all that was going on around me. In the morning we went to the Church of the Nativity, saw the place that Jesus was born, and attended mass there in Arabic.
This was/is only the beginning. Today we visited the Wailing Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (crucifixion/burial place of Jesus). The wall was lined with people praying and putting notes in the cracks of the white Jerusalem stone. People walked backwards from the wall so their backs weren’t turned to it. We were there as the light was radiating off the golden Dome of the Rock and Jerusalem shined.
Jerusalem is breathtaking. I had no idea how beautiful it would be. It is built on a series of hills that is a whirlwind of new and old. It is incredible to be in a city that is so significant to Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. There is so much intensity and stimulation packed into this little city. I haven’t felt unsafe at all, though I can sometimes feel tension in the air. It helps to be with Hannah and her wonderful friends here. I love the food; we have had falafel, pita, and hummus everyday, a vegetarians dream! Not to mention the delicious pastries. I could get use to this. For now, I’m just trying to keep my feet on the ground and not be totally swept away by this experience. Ahhh more soon….i hope Christmas was wonderful for you too! Love lisa

Holy Cow...I mean LAND!!

We made it to Israel!! I'm in Tel Aviv after nearly 24 hours of travel and a 6 hour stop in Ethiopia. It was crazy coming into the Israeli airport. After being up all night, totally starstruck, braids flying every which way with my array of mismatched attire and the fact that i'm usually a mess in life anyways i was therefore seen as an instant threat and politely interrogated several times. The airport officials here don't mess around...but i could bring my water and shampoo not to mention my tweezers...these guys are armatures, don't they know the havoc i could've caused with these dangerous items? The people of Israel are beautiful. Dark features and shining eyes. It is so strange to be in such a pronounced Jewish culture. Such a mesh of Orthodox, Reform, Zionists and so many more I can't grasp. It is surreal. I'm in Israel! Tomorrow we will be going to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem for Christmas. A trip to the Dead Sea is in the plan as well. I am deliriously wide eyed and with wonder. This place is so rich with culture, history, tragedy and triumph. I just talked to a French woman very active in Doctors without Borders in a coffee shop...yes real COFFEE...brewed, not stirred....who just got back from Gaza and had incredible stories. She said one night they were in the clinic and there was an air raid and they heard firing and bombs all around them and they turned on the news and were watching the activity all around them from inside the building. So crazy. I'm learning from Hannah all about the rich history of this place and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict ahh its so interesting and heart breaking.

Anyways i'm pretty much in shock here. a few reflections. One: the glory of water fountains. I was thirsty and just simply bent over and got a drink...a COLD drink of sweet water. It's so good...once it hits your lips. Dogs...there are actual breeds here. Not just starving mutts twitching with fleas and worms. I loveeee the dogs, and on leashes as PETS...what? I'm not in Zambia any more toto. Things here are so accessible. I can buy gum...in several locations. The cars are small and fuel efficient and there is tarmac EVERYWHERE...endless tarmac...and little green walk guys and and and one kid per adult IF THAT. I do miss my iwes (village kids). ok i've only been here a few hours and listen to me. I can't express how i feel to be here...it's all just too much. I'll get some sleep and compose myself and send some more coherent reflections later

i love you alllllll

yay

NHC training

The road that leads into Mwamba

Some of my NHC members and me rethatching my roof

My kids and I in front of my hut

Dancing at a festival in the village

It's mushroom season