True Liberty

Hi again!
Rae and I went to Lusaka and had lunch with Cathy Thompson, who told us all about her interesting life! She's lived in Nepal, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Israel... basically her life has been one huge adventure.

When we were in town we had the regular business of some guys wanting to be our boyfriends... I realize thought that I should specify that my anecdotes are not applicable to all Zambians. Not all the men we see as us out (that's based more on personality... or insanity), and not everyone runs up to us asking where we are going or if we need help. But people are definitely a lot more helpful and a lot more curious than in Montreal.

We were at one very chaotic bus station and I saw a very practical example of what true liberty looks like. In the Baha'i Faith, the Writings talk about how "true liberty is submission unto [God's] commandments"... this idea appeared contradictory to me, because isn't liberty the freedom from rules? Ah. Well, at this bus station, there were buses reversing into each other, parked haphazardly, blocking the entrances and exits and you couldn't walk across the lot without almost being run over. So there were no rules for traffic ("freedom") but you can't survive that chaos! If some traffic laws had been upheld there, though, I would have been safe to cross and get on a bus and go wherever I wanted. So basically, with just a few rules to follow, we have the liberty to travel anywhere we want safely.

Time for a new dedication! This month won't be 'in memory of' but more 'in honour of.' As December is generally a time for families (over the winter holidays especially) I'm going to dedicate this next month to my family, specifically Tami, Matt, Mika, Kai, Robby and Mia :)
Love you guys!

One World

Last night, while I was supervising computers, some of my girls found my blog on the internet, so they all had a lot of fun admiring pictures of themselves... They felt very famous to be on the internet! And I guess in a way they are rather internationally known, because you read about them :)

Also last night there was a pretty big thunderstorm in the distance, so I got to see the most spectacular lightning but stay dry at the same time! I've never seen lightning forks that big before. And at one point, there was a frenzy of fierce lightning coming from a very localized area - it was beautiful to watch, but I hope everyone near that area is ok! I've always loved storms... I remember running outside with my friend Sam when we were young in the middle of a thunderstorm, and Tami and I went dancing in the rain just last summer! haha, but I know when I go home I'll be bored with the wimpy lightning.

I've had great news! I've been trying to organize some fundraising for the Primary school here. I've asked friends who run junior youth groups if they'd be interested in helping with it, because all the groups have some kind of community service aspect. So far, I've got requests for pen-pals and school supplies coming from Findland as well as Montreal, where one group has gone so far as to ask schools, university peers and radio channels to support them! I think this is just one example of the uniqueness of these junior youth empowerment groups. Not only is it teaching them that service to others is important, but it's exposing them to a world-wide community and the concept of the human family. If the younger generations can come to appreciate the oneness of the world and its peoples, I think the world will be a healthier, more peaceful place.

African Mourning

A few days ago the wife of one of the teachers passed away suddenly. I'd never had a chance to meet her (Mrs. Phiri), but she was a valued member of the community here. Last night we could hear the grieving coming from the house - a symphony of wails and cries from the family and friends, in unearthly tones that carried on for at least half an hour. I think that this kind of mourning is very healthy because the whole family and community comes together to support each other, and everyone has a chance to get out their grief in one torrent of emotion... This morning I was thinking about one of Baha'u'llah's Hidden Words, "to the true lover, reunion is life and separation is death." So really, if you are a spiritual person, one could regard our existence in this world as death, and our 'death' as the beginning of our true lives. That was my thought of the day :)

Amy and I have started a Ruhi Book 5 circle, training some of the youth to become animators of Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment groups. These are world-wide initiatives, aimed at helping young teens develop their power of expression, which helps their understanding of reality, and helps them form their own moral structure. It's my first time facilitating a Ruhi book, but so far it's going well!

One funny story I have is last night at Ruhi, there was a HUGE "safari ferrari" on the wall, which is basically a spider-like insect that moves FAST. So this creepy-crawly was as long as my finger and quite plump and juicy. But I managed to trap him in a tuperware and take him outside (he was much to big to fit into my dad's nifty bug-catcher...) In terms of my development here, I'm becoming very resilient to the presence of bugs. Normally if a bee buzzed within a 1 meter radius of my head, I would duck and run screaming for cover! Now I hardly flinch.

Otherwise, everything is fine! The school will close in 3 weeks (so fast!!) and soon we'll know what our jobs are and which dorms we'll be in for next year. My plans for the holidays to Livingstone and South Africa are taking definite shape, and soon Amy's mom will be here for a short visit!

Party's over...

The celebration at the school and at the Institute were great! All the girls dressed up and looked lovely! The programs were so full of music, I know I'll miss that a lot when I go home.
Rae and I went to a restaurant/farm/lodge place 15mins away called Fringilla for lunch, as a Holy Day treat! My had waaaay too much fun on the trampoline and other little-kiddie toys they had there, as you can see.
One thing I haven't talked about much yet is the driving here. The city driving is a bit chaotic, but I get more scared on the highway that connects the school to Lusaka - the Great North Road, it's basically the main road in the north of Zambia. The scary part is over-taking slow trucks and stuff, because you have to slow down as you approach them from behind, and then check if cars are coming the other way before trying to over-take them... usually I try my best not to look at the road, but when I do I make strange faces to keep myself from crying out!
I'm thinking of changing my bachelor's from nursing to nutrition... I need general opinions, so if you have advice, please tell me!
I feel like the rain is going to come pouring down on me, so I'm going to take shelter somewhere where the wireless internet doesn't work :P

Inswa

It's my mom's birthday! Happy birthday Mia :)
We've had a few impressive rain falls lately, but no thunderstorms yet. The rain is nice because it cools down the air and makes things green, but it also brings out all kinds of bugs. The other night my dorm was full of flying ants and we had to spray two cans full of poison stuff before the girls would go to their rooms... I'm going to get leukemia and brain cancer, I just know it. It's also hard to stay dry when it's raining, so I've been getting used to being perpetually damp.
One very exciting thing did happen yesterday though! I ate a fried termite! They're called inswa, and the local kids eat them a lot as a snack. At first I was very skeptical, but I figured that it would be really boring if I spent 8 months in rural Africa without intentionally eating something outrageous. So I did. It tasted like oil (it was fried) and crunchy. A bit starchy. So now I feel very brave :)

Tahirih and I went to Lusaka on our day off again. No marriage proposals this time, and no overly-squished bus ride. I've noticed that, unlike in Montreal, people always talk to you on the bus. At first, especially if a man addressed me, I'd be reserved and try not to encourage the conversation as much as possible without being rude. But now I can see that as long as you aren't alone somewhere suspicious, most people are just genuinely curious and friendly.

This weekend is going to be full of parties! It's a Baha'i Holy Day on Sunday night, the celebration of the Birth of Baha'u'llah, who is the prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith. The high school does a formal dinner (we get ice-cream and cake for dessert!) and the girls all get dressed up. Then there will be another celebration at the Institute for the Baha'i community on Monday morning. So I should have lots of colourful pictures to post soon :)