I ate caterpillar

Last Saturday I went to a Mateveto - a traditional party whereby the bride-to-be and her family cook for the husband-to-be and his family. This is to show the husband and his family that she comes from a good family, who can cook nicely. I went with Mwande, her aunts and grandmothers and luckily we were on the husband's side so we got to eat. Picture a lot of food, then multiply that by 10 and you'll begin to understand how much food there was! There was every traditional Zambian dish imaginable, including caterpillars. Tastes like chicken! Okay not really, but it tasted alright. Not something I would enjoy eating on a regular basis however. There was a lot of dancing too of course. No party here is complete without the shaking of the hips. On our way back, it started to pour! So we hitched a ride in the back of some truck (as it's very common here to ride in the back of a truck). There we were - about 10 women, in the rain getting soaked, in the dark, trying not to fall off the back of the back of the truck as we bounced up and down from the potholes...singing. It was so fun.

Our travel plans are confirmed! Tomorrow, Heather and I (Melanie went back to Canada for the holidays) are off to Malawi. We will spend Christmas on Lake Malawi and then make our way east to Zanzibar. We are hoping that we are booked on the train from Mbeya (small town on Tanzanian side close to Malawian border) to Dar Es Salaam. There is a train that travels from a town north of Lusaka all the way to Dar. When I went to the train company office here in Lusaka I asked to be booked from Mbeya to Dar. She could not do that from her end so she called someone in another city. Twenty minutes later she told me we were booked in for Dec 27. "What time does the train leave Mbeya?" I ask. "Oh, I don't know that. Probably sometime in the afternoon so get to the train station in the morning." "Okay....and how much is it?" "Oh I don't know" she replies "they pay in shillings over there so I don't know." "Okay....is there a confirmation number or anything?" "No." So this is what I meant by I hope we are booked on the train, as we don't have any confirmation, we don't know what time it's at or the price. It's all part of the adventure! The train ride through Tanzania is supposed to be really nice - through a national park. We will spend one night in Dar and then just under a week in Zanzibar. We have some friends we will meet up with there so that will be great. On the 2nd of January I head to Cape Town to visit Halli! (good friend from Guelph for those of you who don't know her). Can't wait! I will try to blog at some point during my travels but if not, you will surely hear about my travels upon my return to Lusaka. Happy holidays and a happy new year to all!