Things That Worry Me While I'm Biking

    The main mode of transportation for volunteers in Zambia is a mountain bike. Whenever I go to town, I cycle the 8 kilometers to the paved road then catch a ride. Biking 8 kilometers takes me about 45 minutes. Within these 45  minutes, there are a number of things that I'm focused on, mainly things that worry me while on my bike that could ruin a bike ride or day. These things are, in order of importance:

1) Cow patties - if you're unlucky, you'll roll right through a fresh one resulting in your legs and torso, and sometimes even your face, being splattered with cow feces. If you're having a really bad day, you may have even been biking with your mouth open and a few specks or chunks ended up in there. Cow patties are by far the thing that causes me to be on alert and dodge and weave.

2) Biking with your mouth open - anything can end up in there. Even if you don't hit a pile of cow manure, you might swallow a fly or gnat.

3) Snakes - there's not much you can do if you come upon a snake in the path. The best strategy, lift your legs and hope it moves and doesn't strike at you.

4) Sticks that look like snakes - see #3.

5) Ditches - I can't steer so there's always a possibility of me ending up head over handlebars in a ditch. Sometimes the path is a narrow little trail beside a ditch. These make  me extra anxious.

6) Sand - riding through sand is the easiest time to wreck (minus being on a path alongside a ravine). The sand slows you down and makes you feel like you have no control. To combat this you have to go fast and attempt to keep your wheels straight but this makes it seem like you're even more likely to wreck. It's a delicate balance.

7) Low-hanging branches - self-explanatory.

8) Loose rocks - I'll always hit the one loose rock in the road which jerks my wheels one way or another and makes me scramble to maintain control. Maybe this happens because I can't steer and we tend to veer towards the things we're focused on. I'm always focused on that rock trying not to hit it.

9) Large rocks - again, I always end up steering right for them. They're like magnets for me and my bike.

10) Flies and gnats - they end up in your mouth or continually try to land on your face. Annoying.

11) COW PATTIES.

Tales from the Bush: Part 1 - Dinner and a Murder

I'd been in my village only a handful of days when I had my first evening visitor. Typically you don't receive guests after dark in Zambia, but this guy didn't care about cultural customs. Unfortunately this got him killed.

When night falls I become much more wary and paranoid while at my house. This is a result of the possibility of meeting some of my more testy and unpleasant neighbors under the cover of darkness such as a variety of venomous snakes, camel spiders, feral dogs, etc.

So, as I was cooking dinner on one of my first nights in the village, I heard a chewing sound coming from the floor of my cikuta. The noise continued until a small hole began to appear. Neither the cat nor dog were disturbed by this. I, on the other hand, was.
Inching my way closer to the slowly expanding hole, I shined my flashlight into. Immediately I saw a round eye with a small, black pupil. Of course I thought snake since one of my biggest worries about living in the African bush is encountering one of these reptilian neighbors at night in my yard.

When under this assumption what is the first thing any sane person does? Well, my first reaction was to sprint to my house, grab a long stick, Leatherman, and some string and begin making a makeshift spear.

I marched outside, ready to face my "guest." I stretched out my arms, gripping the spear, and jabbed tentatively into the hole. After the first strike, the blade at the end of the stick came loose, wiggling back and forth, no longer firmly attached. A few more pokes and misses with the spear and I decided to be brave. Unlashing the Leatherman, I crept towards the hole. Making a last, mighty attack, Stabbing one more time, I began widening the hole to confront whatever creature awaited.

I spied my nemesis. Using the tip of the knife, I scooped my mangled guest from the hole. I had just defended myself, to the death, against a dung beetle. Feeling silly and a little sad, I gently laid out the beast that had caused me so much worry that evening. Now, instead of allowing my preconceived notions if Africa - that danger and vipers and warlords are lurking in every dark evening - I now patiently wait to determine what might be making that sound and even help those little dung beetles chewing through my floor to emerge.

Tales from the Bush

There are so many little things that happen here that I fail to write about because to me these events are just part of being in Zambia. In the course of writing letters though, I realized that maybe these silly stories might actually be entertaining to those of you in the states. So, I've decided to start a series of blogs titled "Tales from the Bush." I hope you enjoy them.