Our last day in Ndola really snuck up on me-- it seems like we just got here yesterday! To wrap up our trip, we were scheduled to visit Mwanaombe, a calm village of only 30 families.
It was a 2 hour drive to the village, which is kind of close to Kanyenda. It seems like the roads have gotten worse every day, because the road to Mwanaombe was by far the worst yet. It started out as asphalt, then gradually became dirt, and got narrower and narrower until we were straddling a foot-wide trail, before that too vanished and we were left with what I can only describe as a game trail-- wadded down grass wherever there were no trees in the way. We passed a stump that Djondoh calls "Fighting Illini" because the truck had gotten stuck atop it one time while carrying enumerators working for the U of I.
When we finally navigated our way to the village, we were welcomed by 20 or 30 smiling faces, and a LOT of biting ants. We had to relocate out meeting spot about three times due to ants crawling up our legs.
We went through the normal introductions, but this time Dad had the hard questions: "Why only two kids?" His interviewer couldn't believe that Dd didn't have any kids from previous marriages.
Printing pictures went quickly, and since we hard left over paper and ink we gave out group pictures as well of the whole village and groups of friends. While they waited for the printer to work its magic, one man taught Dad and Tim the local version of mancala, using holes in the ground and berries for a board and gamepieces.
Eventually we headed back to Ndola, following another inspirational speech by Djondoh. I decided to join Tim in the pick-up bed, so we took turns testing our balance, all the while waving to everyone we passed. People would always wave back enthusiastically at the sight of us, but my favorite instance was the woman who dropped the bucket she was holding in her haste to wave. We stopped briefly by a peanut field so I could flirt with death. A few minutes later it started to drizzle and I got back inside, but Tim stayed out. Bad move. A downpour commenced, and he was soaked to the bone by the time he got inside the car. The ride back was also highlighted by a D-Rose jersey spotting. I never did see the "OKC Thunder--2012 NBA Champs" shirt I was looking for, but oh well.
At 6:30 we went to Djondoh's house for a barbeque. We met his wife and two sons, as well as some nieces and nephews. Tim and I spent most of the evening swinging the kids around, but I also took some time to talk to Djondoh and enjoy my chicken, corn, and mshima. Tim and I didn't want to leave Zambia without trying the local caterpillars, so Marina (the wife) gave us some of her stash to sample. They were extremely dry, surprisingly crunchy, and quite average-tasting.
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| The road to Mwanaombe. |
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| The villagers who showed up for pictures! |
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| I refused to be intimidated by the peanut fields. Not many people can say they looked Death in the eyes and emerged unscathed. |
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| Caterpillars! |
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| Djondoh's the one on the ground next to me. |
Ezra, I just wanted to tell you I've enjoyed reading all your entries and hearing about what you guys were doing in Africa. I think it's great that you and Tim are having this eye opening experience to more of the world before you go to college! I'm glad you survived the peanut farm too;)
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