Cultural Wins

Many times when I look at where I am in the culture and where I would like to be, I get a little bit depressed. I wish I spoke the language more. I wish I enjoyed the food more. I wish I wore the chitengi better. I wish I understood the culture at a deeper level.

But I've decided to consciously and intentionally celebrate the little wins. Yes, I can always do better. But today, I'm celebrating the little things.

In the past two weeks I feel I've kicked some cultural goals :

• I made some nshima (local maize based dish) and it was the best I have ever made. (Check out this video of how to make nshima)

• I lit the brazier (to cook beans) in a record of 10 minutes and only 4 matches.

• I successfully went a day speaking only (mostly) Bemba. I'm really grateful to my housemates and teachers who force me to speak Bemba. Currently I try to only speak Bemba on palichitatu and palichine (Wednesday & Thursday. I don't always manage, but my language skills are improving.

• Our garden is flourishing and we'll soon be eating onions and tomatoes from the garden! We've also been eating fresh papaya that has been growing in our yard. I'm not so good at picking the fruit - it involves a long stick, lots of poking and then running away quickly from the falling fruit!

• I managed to tie and wear two different head scarf designs this month