YAY! I made it to town before next week. Woo-hoo! 
I finished my final oral language exam today. It was pretty funny! I was worried that I wouldn’t pass (not because I don’t know the info, but because I thought I would get nervous and forget it all), but now I am certain that I did fine. The tester asked me questions about my family (both in the USA and here), my work before I came, PC goals, what I will do in the village, what like to eat in Zambia, a recipe, and about politics. He asked me if I like Bush or Clinton more. I told him that as a PC volunteer I am not allowed to discuss politics and that it’s a secret! He just laughed. He kept asking me what I like to do in my spare time (here and before I came)... I told him I like to drink cold beer. He asked me if I like to play sports—I said, “Pepe, Ndilayanda kunwa bukoko itontola buyo” (No, I only like to drink cold beer). He laughed so much. Don’t worry, Mom, I clarified that this wasn’t true, but just for the sake of conversation. At the end of the conversation he asked if I had any questions for him, and I thought that after already having asked him about his family, what beer he liked to drink and why, what he believed the HAP goals are, etc. I should ask him something “fun”… so I asked what his life goals are and if he would give me money to go to Zanzibar for Christmas. Again, we laughed! The entire conversation was recorded so that it could be scored by numerous people, so I may try to get a copy of it to listen to. Ha ha ha
Sunday was a bit rough here. After leaving town Renee and I prepared to do a presentation on juju (witchcraft)—which is REALLY bizarre here, and then went to rest at our houses. About an hour later my Bamamma said, “Ba Spring, I have just received notice that Renee’s sister has passed away.” I started freaking out for a minute because I thought Renee’s sister died (then remembered she is an only child), but it turned out that it was her host mother’s first born child (who we have never met). We didn’t really know what to do as American’s because no one shows emotion here or touches each other. We went to Renee’s house and sat on the floor, looking down, with all of the women. They were wailing… and as soon as they walked out of the house their faces showed no emotion. It was a bit hard… particularly for Renee. I helped Renee pack and move out of her house last night, as her family left to go to the funeral in Lusaka. Cabija (too bad in Tonga).
So, juju… I’ll just write a bit and explain it much more later on, but apparently the witches and wizards travel by sitting naked on a winnowing basket or the collarbone of a still born child and using human blood as fuel to fly through the sky. They never reveal themselves as witches until something happens and they fall off their “plane” and into an unknown village. This is where the witch or wizard confesses everything—how many people they have killed, where they were going and from where, etc. Don’t worry, as a white person I cannot be bewitched or “hurt” by the witchcraft. Apparently my blood is different. Yay? Oh, for a while Zambians discussed using this mode of transportation for everyone, because it is so cheap and so quick, but then they remembered they would have to kill people for fuel, and that my friends is not sustainable. Ha ha ha
Baaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! The connection here is horrible! I am having a really difficult time checking my email. yuck! If I only had a working computer (wizard of oz tune, “If I only had a brain”)
I’m moving to the hostile (ha ha) tomorrow and will swear in on Friday. I am having a chitenge suit made. I’ll send pictures. Saturday we are leaving for the Southern Province, and I’m not sure if we will stop in Lusaka for the night or drive all the way down. I should have internet access in Choma (the PC house in the southern province) so I’ll write more from there.
Lots of love to ya’ll!
Spring

My address is:
Spring Ackerman
Peace Corps
PO BOX 630569
Choma, SP Zambia
Africa

Again, the views stated here are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Peace Corps, the US government nor the Government Republic of Zambia. Thanks.