The Quickstep

I'm still puzzling out whether it was a bug or some bad food ... wouldn't be surprised, as we had a workshop at the Hollywood Lodge out on the east edge of town early last week. Anyway, my intestines have been twisted in knots for three days and, well ... you know how that goes. Or maybe you don't. Diarrhoea (diarrhea to the Yanks) in Zambia is brilliant opportunity to explore the deepest depths of your soul. Whatever particular bug has infested my guts, it is the kind that causes the roughed-up joints and spots w. muscle tension to sing like they were packed with shredded glass. As such, the middle of my back, my right knee, both shoulders, and my neck took turns screaming at me. I alternated between laying on my bed, then on the floor when it got too hot, then sitting in a chair, repeating every few hours with bathroom breaks. 

If you haven't caught it by now, expat workers (particularly those of the RPCV variety) find solace in relating their bodily functions because frankly, the tropics and the developing world teach you the frailty of life in the face of about 6,000,000,000 ways to die. What was it in The Snows of Kilimanjaro ... the main character died for want of a bit of iodine.

The other thing dying fast around Mongu are the crops. We're now 15 days into our second dry spell of the year, and the maize is looking pretty far gone. It's not been a great year for the project ... Conservation Agriculture is climate-smart, but not climate-proof. Still, we missed some opportunities not being on time with planting due to our late start. Our extension workers are notorious for sitting still until they have seeds on hand, which given our late start date (late Oct. / mid-Nov. in some cases) we didn't get the seeds out until the later date. Then half of them planted straight in standing weeds, compromising the vital early growth of the plants, then weeding weeks later ... consequently, half of everything was spindly and easily attacked. 

Excuses, excuses. I just realize I will need to run like a demon this year when we take on 3,000 beneficiaries.