A Lazy Day and Visiting The Cultural Village

6/25

I woke up at 8 o’clock this morning without an alarm.  That sucked because I really wanted to sleep in for the first time since it was the weekend and we didn’t have to work.  I rolled over and saw that Chrissy wasn’t there – odd because I didn’t think she had planned on getting up early.  I figured she might be in the bathroom, but when she didn’t come back for a few minutes I was worried that she might have gotten sick from something we had eaten the night before.  Who knows how well fried caterpillars sit in your stomach….  I got out of bed and searched around the house but couldn’t find her.  I even looked outside but didn’t see her.  I know this sounds stupid but I panicked for a second wondering what could have happened to her and where she could be.  I played through all possible situations as I looked in all the rooms again.  I went outside again and finally saw her around the corner doing her laundry – a feeling of relief came over me.

After she finished her laundry we came inside and made a delicious breakfast of toast and eggs with tomatoes, onions, and peppers.  We also had hot chocolate and tea, and read our books at the kitchen table.  It was really relaxing and just what we needed to start off a lazy Saturday.

After chilling for a while we left to meet Ivy to go to the cultural village in Lusaka.  It’s not too far from the SIA office so we met her there and walked.  We headed to a real African market first.  Here they sell just about everything, clothes, shoes, purses, all kinds of random gadgets, and tons of food.  We walked around for a while just to see what it’s like and then went to the cultural village a little ways down the street.  This village is the remnants of the oldest homes in Lusaka, the way that all the people used to live.  Now it’s just down to about 20-30 huts.  The families that live there also sell their crafts and artwork.  The only annoying thing is the serious pressure sales tactics that they use, obsessing over getting you to buy something from them.  It makes sense because every person is selling the exact same things and this is how they make a living.  It’s hard to keep saying no because every person, but we may go back and buy some things before we go home.

On our way home we stopped at the market and bought some fresh fruit.  Chrissy and I each got an enormous orange, and apple, and a banana all for 4,500 K, which is less than a dollar.  Pretty good deal considering it costs us $1.05 to buy a banana back at school.  We then went into the market and got some freshly made fritas that were delicious!

Tonight we made one of our most successful meals yet: chicken with lemon and herb spices and garlic, as well as green beans and rice.  We were both pretty content.  Then we watched Slumdog Millionnaire with Ivy and made popcorn half way through.  Popcorn is like a staple food in Zambia, you can find popcorn shops at every school and people selling it on many street corners.  So anyway, since we don’t have a microwave here we just bought the popcorn kernels and made it in a pot on the stove.  We had seen Ivy do it before, but we still managed to fail miserably.  Our popcorn was burnt black, so Ivy helped us make a new batch.  This one was perfect and we even added some special popcorn seasonings.  We enjoyed the rest of the movie while eating popcorn, a stereotypical movie night, and we loved it.