May update!

Hi everyone!

I've spent the last month on vacation, and what a rejuvenating experience it has been. I'm a little worried about going back to the grind on Monday.

My first vacation experience was a little unexpected: culture shock. I look down on people who claim to have culture shock - I regard it as amateurish and arrogant. Nevertheless, when I walked into the backpackers' hostel in Lusaka the night before picking up my friends from the airport, I was really surprised by my negative reaction. All those white people, drinking cold beers and eating food that wasn't nshima! I was like, people stay here and think this is Zambia?

Matt, Sara and Eugene were excellent guests. They ate nshima; they made appropriately flattering remarks about Zambians (so friendly; always want to talk to you but don't ask for money at the end of the conversation); we admired Victoria Falls together; we saw some wildlife. One of the highlights was almost running into two elephants on the way back from a gorge swing over Victoria Falls - they were maybe ten feet away, with big tusks. => Oh yeah, and we decided my hut in Nampundwe is definitely about 9-10 feet in diameter, definitely not twelve. And then five of us slept in it, with the lights on, of course.

Then we went on to Cape Town, South Africa. It was GREAT. We rented an incredibly swanky apartment with a pool (see pictures on Audrey's blog at http://vorbild.blogspot.com). The food was *amazing* - we discovered Namibian oysters; and I got hooked on Viennese hot chocolate, which is hot chocolate with whiskey - intensely alcoholic chocolate, I loved it!! We climbed Table Mountain, we went to see Robben Island, we visited my sister Audrey who is in school in South Africa, we ate out some more. We discovered a super-cool bar (unmarked up four flights of stairs, good decor and young crowd), in which Sara and I played a brief game of Truth or Dare and I successfully inserted myself between two people who were engaged in an intense conversation on a couch. I spent the last day reacquainting myself with a good bookstore. =>

Possibly the last week was the best, though. Four female SPW volunteers and I headed over to Lake Malawi. The lake is stunning, with warm, clear, deep water and little bright blue fishies that swim around your feet. It's surrounded by the mountains of the Great Rift Valley; and completely untouristed except, of course, for the ever-present backpackers hostels ($2/night). The company was great - we all get along, and we like nothing better than sitting for hours on a verandah over the lake and discussing all kinds of things - notably our discoveries of (you guessed it) previously unimagined sexual practices, like taking a certain drug to dry up your girlie parts, or masturbating with a cooking stick. Eeek!

This past week I've been in training. May I note, in a sort of broad, global context, how incredibly focused young single people are on the opposite sex. Three of the four of my Lake Malawi companions found bedmates - and we were there less than a week! And training with the other volunteers is just as hectic, with most people having at least two or three serious flirtations going on at once. It is quite remarkable to behold. In addition to adoring Eugene and having consistently wonderful times with him, I can't help but feel grateful that I have all this extra time on my hands thanks to not being so preoccupied with the process of finding a partner.

FYI - Congo plans were ditched due to logistical difficulties. Good thing, too, the country has been super-dangerous in the last couple of weeks, even in Lubumbashi which I had thought was safe. => Malawi was an inspired alternative.

I am leaving a lot out of this e-mail, but after realizing that after my last e-mail some people missed the fact that I'M GOING TO HARVARD!!! YAY!!! - anyways, after that I've decided that brevity (or bold face?) is the soul of comprehensibility.

Admin: Zambian numbers changed to include an additional digit, my number from the US is now [number removed]. My e-mails are posted at http://summerinzambia.blogspot.com by my talented and lucky sister - Stellenbosch must be the most attractive university in the world, surrounded by mountains and wineries, and all the men there can dance.

Love to all,
Summer