Boondoggle

Boondoggle (v)- to do work to keep busy

Here's how today went: wake up at 6:30, actually arise at 7:00, greet neighbors as soon as I open the door, fetch water from spring, start brazier, set water to boil on brazier. While cooking water, sweep house and front yard. Greet other neighbors. Once water boils, make tea and porridge, keeping most of the water for bathing. Eat breakfast, using leftover coals to make popcorn for a snack later. Greet host mother and host father. Use water to bathe, apply lotion, wrap up in chitengi and get dressed. Wash dishes using leftover bathing water. Set dishes to dry on rack made of sticks. Till a few beds in my garden and plant gathered tomato, papaya, and passionfruit seeds. Whisper encouragements to my little mint plant (encouragemints!). Use leftover clean dishwater to water garden and set buckets to dry. Eat popcorn. At this point, it's only 10:30 or so in the morning...so I sit and wait. I wanted to go to church to introduce myself but my host mother is not going today and my host father is not around. We're supposed to go meet the chief this afternoon, so I don't want to wander off.

I sit inside and knit, play games on my phone, listen to music, eventually collect the dry dishes, leave some behind because they're covered in ants, check on the garden two or three more  times, chat with some neighbors about their school work, watch the goats wreak havoc, test paint colours on my wall, go through all my photos, play my phone game again...time is dragging on. My ataata eventually returns (from church, apparently? There is so much I don't understand) and says the chief was not feeling well enough to meet with anyone today. We will go tomorrow. More sitting and trying to keep busy, trying not to think about the two years ahead that suddenly seem looming.

It's day five in my village and I have:
-built a shelf for my chisasa (bathing shelter)
-fixed/installed hinges on my garden gate
-started a compost pile
-tilled some beds and planted a colourful assortment of plants (fingers crossed they all grow)
-unpacked, rearranged clothing and furniture
-hung maps, photos, a calendar, and some butterflies on the wall
-affixed my mezuzah and had a great (as in funny) conversation with my amaama about mezuzot.
-made a jewelry hanger, a tp holder, and a pair of baby booties (plus the knitting needles from some building wire)
-fetched water, washed clothes, had clothes covered in ants, devised how to store clothes to protect from said invaders
-cooked popcorn, pineapple fried rice (with pineapple from my parents' fields, deeelish), some weird but tasty apple fried rice, crepes, more popcorn, tea...
-struggled, was chastised, struggled again, and I think figured out how to light my brazier properly. My amaama was muttering under her breath in Lunda something about a woman who can't light a fire.
-walked to the network spot (a hill about a twenty minutes' walk away) three times, greeting neighbors along the way. They all know my name but I am struggling to learn family names. There seems to be some reticence about just giving names.
-did my accounting from settling in purchases
-made a body pillow
-biked into the BOMA for a planned meeting with the district councillor, who was otherwise occupied
-met another volunteer in the area, who showed me around Ikelenge. It's small but has almost everything! We found apples, yarn, peanut butter, jam, oats, local fruits and vegetables, bicycle parts, sandals, and chitengi. We wanted bread but the baker was out.
-met my Department of Fisheries supervisor and the local agriculture officer, exchanged numbers
-very briefly met the local clinic worker and one of the organizers of a girls' group. I was expecting/hoping to sit down and talk plans but it was strictly an exchange of names and handshakes. Is that the Zambian way? Is that my American bias, thinking "let's get to business"?
-Read some of a biography of Alexander von Humboldt (it's called The Invention of Nature and is highly recommended)
-had a conversation of sorts with my headman
-tried to speak some Lunda. I'm really struggling with understanding people, which is keeping me from just going around to start conversations with fish farmers or strangers
-remembered to stretch/work out and take my malaria prophylaxis every day

This is a list I'm fairly satisfied with but when I think about this next list, I'm a little concerned.

Since arriving in the village, I have not:
-met with any fish farmers
-seen any fish ponds, except for a quick glance at my host father's since they are <100m away
-been introduced to any farmers outside my village circle
-visited the clinic, mission hospital, school, or police station
-met the chief
-toured/been explained the communities in my area. My ataata has mentioned making a map with me, so we'll see
-made any plans for community meetings or fish farming work
-had any real communication about how things are here. There has been a little surface level talk
-identified potential friends or new counterparts. A few of my neighbors seem nice?
-ate Nshima with neighbors. How essential is that really to integration?
-learned any information about the immigration office...I apparently have a meeting with them in a few weeks and no one has confirmed if we even have an immigration office in Ikelenge.

I know I need to have patience as culturally, things move slowly and people are very much occupied with their own lives. Overwhelmingly, I feel people in the village have been going out of their way to help me, whether by patiently listening to my broken Lunda or just greeting and welcoming copiously. I'm truly appreciative but I also was anticipating people wanting help, not people wanting to help me. I know Peace Corps' development happens at a grassroots level, and slowly, but as the village asked for a volunteer, there must be something(s) they want me to work on, right? I was expecting at least one individual to approach me and say, "Oh good, you're here. I want to talk to you about implementing X and how you might help." So far, as we say in Lunda, kosi (nilch).

So...be more proactive (?) I plan to wander some, stop by the clinic and school, and keep struggling to introduce myself. I can't exactly organize meetings by myself or find fish ponds on my own. I tried asking a few people in Lunda and the conversations went much like this:
<Are there fish ponds around?>
<Yes>
<Oh, where are they?>
<Around.>
<Around where?>
<Just around.>
Oh. I still have a looooong way to go before I understand the culture, let alone integrate respectfully. I'm trying my best. Maybe culture first, then community?