Hero's day, Unity day and Husband Appreciation

Women drumming for the dancers. They always drum in a trio. The woman on the far right is the mother of the two other, younger women drumming. What a great family tradition!

Ruth learning how to dance Zambian style at the party! It is tricky how they move their hips!

Some of the food prepared for the celebration... there was a whole bunch of food being made!

The women make a HUGE pot of nshima. It gets difficult to stir as it firms and cooks and they are using two big sticks to mix the corn meal, these women are very strong!

The ladies smiling and dancing. They sure are having a good time. They told me I need to teach everyone back in the United States how to do their dancing and have parties like this!


This week has been full of ups and downs (and it is only Tuesday!). For starters yesterday, the 5th, was a holiday. Hero's Day. Most people stay home for Hero's day but John and I went to work, we thought greetings such as "have a super hero's day" would be humorous. Today is also a holiday, Unity Day. People mostly stay at home for this holiday too. But we were planning on going out to the field to do some sampling. It turned out there was some confusion with the person who would be driving us and he was out at his family's farm harvesting sweet potatoes. This was big let down, since we don't have much time here and we need to make the most of our time left to get things done. These logistical hang ups are a bit annoying.

But, we put that behind us. Then with the power being all over the place (out, low voltage) and confusion with switching equipment from US to Zambian voltage the vital piece of equipment we need to do nutrient level readings will no longer turn on. It is broken, irreparable, and extremely frustrating. When things like this happen you begin to wonder what in the world you are even doing here.

While sitting outside wondering what we are going to do we heard some drumming nearby. We learned that there was a special ceremony going on a few houses down from ours. We asked if we could go see what was happening (it was a woman's social function so John was not welcomed). I found out that it was a husband appreciation party. The women prepare a lot of food, sing, drum and dance. Then they take the food to where the husband is and where he has invited guests and they eat the the meal. This is a way for a women to publicly show thanks to her husband for the work he has done and how he has provided for the family. I had a good time interacting with our neighbors and learning more about the culture. I also tasted their regional drink, which is fermented maize meal with roots found in the forest. It is cooked to make a porridge but more liquid, so you can drink it. It is drank cold and tastes smokey, sour and sweet all at the same time and the texture is a bit grainy. I must confess that I do not really enjoy it, but I tried it. As always we are learning much here and every day surprises us with its highs and lows.