Thursday, September 29, 2011

Lately...

I've been trying to be better about keeping a journal at my site. Sometimes, I journal about programs and work, but mainly my journal consists of funny things that happened during the day... I'm trying to remind myself that funny shit happens everyday.
11-9-2011
"When you first arrived you were slim, but now you are very fat." - My neighbor
It's a compliment, right? Peace Corps didn't just tell me that to make me feel better, right?
13-9-2011
I got my first pity laugh today. People tell me everyday, "Ugh, you don't understand. You should learn Bemba."
To which I reply "Ba Kafundisha." which means "Teacher" and point to them. This usually elicits laughs, strong handshakes and women hugging me. But, they totally heard that joke last week when I said it to the same group of ladies. I need a new joke to go out on, or learn to speak Bemba, whatever.
17-9-2011
The bride's family dances first, then the groom's, then it's mzungu's  (white person) time.I swear the only thing the drunk lady dancing next to me said was "Shwarma!" (Shwarma is a delicious middle eastern food, kind like a gyro). An amaguy came up to dance with me next complete with hips and whistles, I tried to whistle back, but my lips were too dry so I hooted like an owl instead. SHOULD'VE SEEN ME.
19-9-2011
"What tribe are you? Tonga, LaLa, what?"
"I come from the Irish tribe, my ancestors came from Ireland."
"Oh, British."
"No, Irish."
"Iris? Iris."
"No, Irish. Do you know the Irish potato?"
"Yes, brown and round."
"I come from the Irish potato."
My women's group is fun. Bunch of saucepots, they only speak lala, which is a dialect of bemba. It makes conversations hard, because my vocabulary is so limited it takes a while to actually have a functional conversation. Funny thing about the lala tribe. The name come from the bemba verb "ukulala" which means "to sleep". When they reached the area that is now Mkushi to Serenje (~100 km) the tribe split. Bembas continued north, while the lalas remained, and slept. So they have a reputation for being lazy. Which is fine, because this is something we have in common. About 1 hour of our meeting was spent talking about the game plan for their hives and about 3 hours were spent talking about potatoes and searching through my scalp for my "platts" or where my wig was connected to my real hair. They think I wear a wig.