Season's Greetings

Happy holidays to everyone!! I’m just getting back to reality after the trip of a lifetime, my most epic Christmas gift yet. My parents came to visit me, see my home away from home and take me away to the beautiful world of clean feet, exquisite meal options and endless entertainment.

After a rocky start for my Dad, who had to spend an extra day in Addis Ababa due to some technical difficulties, we made it straight down to Chadiza and spent our first night together at the Government Guesthouse. I was formerly under the impression that this was a nice place to stay but after seeing things fresh from my parents’ point of view, I now have a new perspective. I think from now on I’ll ask for a clean set of sheets and a mosquito net. It’s nice to be spoiled every once in a while.

The following morning I had a local friend of mine drive us up to the farm where Mom and Dad met Amai and Atate. What an interesting introduction to make… Amai doesn’t speak a word of English so the intro went something like this, “Mom and Dad, this is Lazarus and Ida Banda, my Zambian parents… Amai, Atate, ndi a Maureen, ndi a Bill, makolo anga waku America.” All of my iwes, my brothers, sisters and extended family, crowded around to meet the folks. When Zambian families visit one another the stay is typically at least 2 weeks or more, so it was hard to explain that we would only be there for 2 days.

Day 1 in the vil, Mom and I walked down to the Boma to find my misplaced phone and meet and greet friends in the market while Dad slept off the Ethiopia debacle. I had arranged for the closest of my PCV friends to join us for a party in the village, so we met them in the shops and doubled back to start preparing for the feast. Originally I had intended for us to walk out to the main village to feast with everybody and watch the traditional Nyau dancers. Atate told me we’d have to wait until the following afternoon for the villagers to be prepared, so the first night only half of the chickens were killed for a more intimate meal with my Zambian family, volunteer family and of course, the two guests of honor. The meal consisted of nsima, chicken, rape, beans, rice, cheese, mango salsa and tortillas (sort of like American nsima). There were 7 from my PCV family, 6 from my Zambian family, my parents and me, spread over 2 reed mats on the freshly swept dirt in front of my house. We ate under the stars by candlelight assisted by my solar lamp. The mango salsa was a hit and my iwes got to try cheese, a rarity in any village. After dinner, dessert was served. I’ve been promising to make brownies for a few weeks now so it was nice to finally deliver. Iwes get impatient when it comes to sweets.

We all stayed up talking into the night, sharing stories and having a good time. The stars out in the village are breathtaking so we laid out on the mats to look up and enjoy the African sky. When it was time to sleep, my parents of course got my bed and the rest of us got the floor. 4 of us snuggled up in my main room, 2 in a tent on my porch and 2 in a tent outside. So cozy. The following morning involved french toast with peanut butter and honey, fresh brewed coffee and continued proof that there are no limits in a mud hut in Africa. Especially with a group of hungry volunteers.

After breakfast, we walked down to my school in the Boma, toured the grounds and met my Headteacher. He let us into the new Room to Read (where my world map mural will be in a few months!) and we hung out in the Resource Center with my best friends from school. The photo on the left is us with my co- English teacher, Ephraim Phiri and my homie Oscar Zulu, fellow teacher and assistant director of the RC. It was incredible to be able to share my everyday life with my family. It really reminded me how strange and wonderful this experience actually is and how lucky I am to have this opportunity.

After seeing my school we walked all through the Boma. It’s about a ten-minute tour that took close to 30 because everybody wanted to meet my parents. I’ve been talking them up for the better part of a month, so everyone came to pass greetings. We bought veg and got a ride with one of my co-teachers up to the main village where the Nyau Festival was to take place. We got there about 3 hours after the appointed time, which I figured would mean we’d be right on time, but the chickens were still alive and the villagers were scattered and unprepared. We waited around for a couple of hours but by late afternoon when still nothing was close to ready, we decided to make the 3km trek back to my hut so we could eat and get out of the African sun. It was disheartening to give up on the event I had been planning with my villagers for the last month or so but it served as a good example of how difficult it is to accomplish anything here. It’s a cultural difference that I’m still learning to accept. At least the village got to enjoy a good feast that day, while we finished up the eggs and bread and packed up my house to leave the following morning.

We left at first light to catch a flight from Chipata to Livingstone. Transport has never been easier, I should throw money at that situation more often. We made it straight to our hotel just before the rains and had a great buffet-style dinner; complete with all the vegetables I’ve been missing for the past 10 months and more. It’s been too long since I’ve gotten the chance to split a bottle of wine with Mom and Dad.

We were on the move the whole 3 and a half days spent at Victoria Falls. We walked to the gorge, explored the sites and then signed up for some adventure. One afternoon we spent riding elephants and the next walking with lions… Mom and Dad were up for anything. Truly the vacation of a lifetime. Victoria Falls (locally named Mosi oa Tunya – The Smoke That Thunders) is absolutely incredible, you can walk along almost the entire width of the falls all the way up to the gorge that separates Zambia from Zimbabwe. Words and photos could never do it justice, it’s a sight to be seen before you die.

As predicted, the trip went too fast but we really packed a lot in for a great week. It was an emotional event for me to have gone almost a year without seeing my parents and then have to say goodbye again. I had never gone more than 

maybe half a semester without seeing them and now it’ll be at least another 17 months until the next time. This holiday season I’m especially thankful for my wonderful family, both American and Zambian, and of course the pack of strays that make up the Peace Corps. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be blessed with all of the incredible people that make up my life. I’m missing everybody Stateside and trying to soak up everything in the short time I get to spend here.

Peace and love everybody, enjoy your families and have a very happy holiday season!

Life These Days...

When I started this blog I had every intention of keeping up with it faithfully. I wanted to document this whole crazy experience for my family and friends to read and share in from home and to have something written down to look back on for years to come. I'll be honest, while I think about writing a new post a lot, my time here at the Peace Corps Chipata house gets sucked up through facebooking, stumbling, emailing, watching television and socializing with other volunteers. Simultaneously. It's a whirlwind here. But I'm beginning to realize how fast my service is going and I'm going to try to do better with writing it all down. It's incredible to have gone through the experience of adjusting to a new culture and a completely new way of living. I'm now confident that I can get used to pretty much anything. I don't feel as if I've changed too much as a person but I do feel a stronger sense of resolve to make the most out of my life and I'm truly getting to know who I am and what I'm capable of.

Having this house to come to four nights out of every month is great for a vacation from village living but in a way it feels as if I'm living a double life. I have my village life where I'm very structured, busy either working, networking or keeping up with my housework and family time, and then I have my Chipata life where I come into a house full of Americans and want to just sit on our big comfy couches and veg out like only an American can. In all honesty, I prefer my village life immensely. Chipata overwhelms me with its bustling streets (which are paved!), stocked stores and supermarkets, selection of food and beverage, not to mention the shenanigans we volunteers sometimes get into. This picture is a typical example of what I'm doing instead of writing this blog. Does it look a little risky? It should. I feel disoriented for at least a day after leaving. I can't imagine how ridiculous it will be readjusting to American life after my service is over.

So, more about life in the village. Most mornings I'm awake by 5:30 and up before 6. I couldn't sleep in if I tried between the roosters crowing and the kids running around screaming. We're finally at the end of hot season. Temperatures apparently have been up to 120* but I can't really say since my thermometer broke. It's possible that the mercury boiled. Freak of nature that I am, I really like hot weather and I have enjoyed the season. I teach Monday-Thursday at different times of the day but I always leave my house by 8 at the latest. On Monday we have morning staff meetings at 6:30 and I have class at 7, which makes Monday my least favorite day since I can't enjoy coffee and breakfast on my front porch. I've been walking the 3km to school everyday, it takes me about 35 minutes and gives me time to think and enjoy the scenery. Here's part of my daily commute..

I typically love my class even though I only get regular participation from 5 or 6 pupils out of 43. I'll upload photos of them soon and hopefully even a video of us going bananas. It's a song and dance I learned in training to get everyone out of their seats and having fun before or after class. It's just fun for the kids and makes me look a lot cooler than the other teachers. We play a lot of games so I can get everybody participating. I've started getting a much better return on homework and in-class assignments since I started bribing my pupils with sweets. I give 2 assignments each week, 1 in structure and 1 in composition. If they show me that they've tried it's almost automatically a 10/10 and they qualify for the sweet. Unfortunately there is a lot of copying from one another and even from my own example compositions that I write up on the board. When teaching I have to speak extremely slow and ask 1 or 2 pupils to repeat each of my instructions so that everyone is together. That's one thing I say at least 5 times a lesson,"Are we together?" ... Now that we've gone over irregular past tenses I've started saying "Understand?" and everyone yells, "UNDERSTOOD!" Unfortunately I think that they just love shouting it out in class and I'm sure that some pupils don't truly mean it.

I try to make my class as fun as possible. This term is the final term of the year and my first term solo teaching the whole way through, so I've been experimenting with my lesson plans. Each week I teach one structure/vocabulary lesson, one reading comprehension and one composition. That's Monday-Wednesday where I have 120 minute classes each day. On Thursdays I have only one block, which is 40 minutes, so I use it as a game/review day. Reading comprehension is my favorite. There is very little reading retention here since they've really never needed to develop the skill. I spent the first week of class getting the pupils involved in planning the term. I had them vote on what topics they'd be interested and then I found articles relating to each topic to give them for comprehension. So now we have a topic of the week and I plan each composition to relate to the topic and another opportunity to practice the structure and to summarize what they read about. One week our topic was music and I had the pupils do a reading comprehension on the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, Penny Lane. We grooved through the lesson and for their composition the next day I had them write me a story about something going on around Penny Lane. They were a bit confused and it could have gone better but we had a lot of fun. That was the week I learned how to give better instructions.

My favorite lesson so far was a group free-write where we wrote a composition together, meshing all of their ideas together and illustrating the story on the blackboard. The story ended up being about a mermaid who meets a handsome merman and falls in love. My grade 8 pupils are between ages 13 and 19... needless to say, there was a large gap in ideas. So as they passed the chalk the story took a lot of different turns. The handsome merman told our main character, Marina, that she was the most beautiful mermaid he had ever seen. Marina's reply was "OH! Thank you. That's nice." I don't know why that tickled me so much, maybe it was the voices they used to act it out, but I couldn't stop laughing all day. That's my go-to reply now for any compliments I receive from my pupils. I had them finish the story on their own and it was my favorite day of grading compositions so far.

The majority of my day is spent at school and in the Resource Center. I'll get to the rest of my job in the next post because this post is long enough already and there are some major frustrations with the other part of my job. Anyways, my school is within the Boma so the shops are just across the road. I pop into Ebenezer's Grocery for lunch with my good friends Alan and Bernard and to shoot the breeze with whoever is around. The Resource Center is practically my home now and my best friend is the assistant director to the center. The photo to the right is of all of us who work together everyday at the center. We get into a lot of deep conversations about any and everything, religion, politics, cultural differences, you name it. Zambians are very traditional, conservative, and the overwhelming majority are Christian. My own views are somewhat less than traditional so I've been very reserved in most conversations. As a volunteer I don't want to step on any toes and get into any trouble. But I feel very free with my friends in the RC and everybody gets involved in our discussions in a truly open and understanding way. I've learned a lot there.

Then I get to the village, which is a complete change of pace. I walk home around 16 hours and spend the rest of daylight with my Zambian family. We sit together outside of the insaka/kitchen hut where the women do all of the cooking and laundry. There is always something to be done. My Atate is the only adult who speaks English so it's a good time to practice my Chewa. Sometimes I eat with the family and sometimes I cook for myself. I've abandoned the brazier for a mentholated spirits make-shift stove. I just throw a match into a can of purple spirits and it burns high for 5-10 minutes. It's easier and faster than the charcoal brazier and I'm lazy. I tend to cook with a lot of spices, which the kids have grown to like but the adults can't accept. I've found that popcorn is always a nice gesture.



To showcase how goofy my family is, I'm including this
photo of my brother Loyd. He's actually one of the pupils in my class. But anyways, one day he runs up in this amazingly American outfit and asks me for my cowboy hat so he can ride his bike to strut around the Boma. For what, only god knows. They get really excited sometimes...

These are my youngest iwes, Alice and Mary. They're also little weirdos. I say that in the most endearing way possible. Their favorite topic of discussion is farting. Everyday without fail, one of them will run up and say "Osashula ku nyumba ya amai Banda!" Which means "Don't fart in amai Banda's house!" (They call me amai Banda, that's the family surname with the word for mother attached.)





So we giggle and then get on with our coloring/ dancing/ whatever activity of the day until I'll throw out an "Alicey... mwashula?" Which translates to "...you've farted?" Gets em every time.


I guess I could say I fit in pretty well around here. I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else right now. I feel truly lucky to be where I am and blessed to have a reason to smile and laugh each day.

Osadandaula

I can't believe it's been over 7 months since coming to Zambia. I just spent a week-long vacation in Malawi after two weeks of in-service training (IST) in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. My entire intake group met for IST after 4 months of our individual community entry period, isolated in our own villages across the country. It was great to be back with everyone I came into country with, hearing everyone's stories and seeing their personal changes. We're really a great group of young volunteers who know how to have fun. Since our IST took 2 weeks, Peace Corps put us all up at a nice hotel just north of the city. It was a time for indulging in restaurant food and of course a selection of beverages. Anything is a great change from the village diet of nshima and oily vegetables. Surprisingly enough, most of the girls in Peace Corps tend to gain a good bit of weight during first part of service. Who knew nshima could be comfort food? This is a photo of the group during our frat party/beer olympics. Our order of events for the night began with toga awards, followed by beer pong and flip cup, then a slip and slide tournament and finally, a sling shot competition. I got the sling shot as an 'mbasela' when I bought my first bow and 2 arrows at the Lusaka Sunday market. Mbasela literally translates to super awesome free bonus. You think you're just buying a heap of tomatoes and onions, but what's this? Mbasela cabbage. I'm a monster at deals in the market and I'd say I made out pretty well with my bow and arrow/sling shot deal. So anyway, we divided the teams according to province with the winning prov to bring home the slip and slide. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to conclude the games. 

The training was great but incredibly long. We had sessions from 8 until 17 hours each night with an hour for lunch and 2 tea breaks. I'll try not to complain, it's just hard to concentrate for that long after having so much free time in the village. I'm used to spending my days alone, coming and going as I please, visiting neighbors or exploring the bush paths and of course making moves at the school. So now, all day conferences somehow feel like a trap. Some of the sessions- for instance, coping mechanisms or safety and security- are extremely interesting and I'm happy to participate. My group broke the news to our regional supervisor about the main form of transportation used in Zambia. Most volunteers prefer to hitchhike when traveling. I know it sounds dangerous but to be fair, buses aren't very safe; the main bus line used by Eastern Province recently crashed on the Great East Road and a number of people died.

Each province has exactly one road to travel between districts so if you stand on the side of it long enough, someone will pull over for you and take you in the direction you want to go. It's actually a great way to network because the people who have a car in this country are always the most educated. Often we can get a ministry vehicle to pick us up. On our trip down to Lusaka, my group got a Ministry of Health semi-truck to pick us up and the driver was nice enough to stop on the side of the road so I could run back for my hat that flew off. It's usually a free ride and kind of liberating to hitch but the rides are always awful. Starting from my village, I leave my district on the worst dirt road which is an hour and a half from the tarmac, which connects 8+ hours away from the capital. I'm lucky in Eastern Prov since Lusaka is technically in Eastern but the Great East Road is terrifying. We almost wrecked once going up-country when coming around a turn on a hill with one oncoming mini-bus overtaking another just ahead. As a safety precaution, the government has been putting up a series of speed bumps along the windy hills but the large canter trucks still overturn a lot. It's crazy to see.

These are my good friends Stephen and Andrew playing a friendly game of rummy with me on our hitch down. The wind only took the 8 of spades and 2 of diamonds. All in all, not a bad way to spend the trip down.

Traveling really can be a lot of fun. Zambians love seeing a white woman on the back of a truck, so they'll yell "Muzungu!" from far and near and the little iwes will just come running (iwe is the word volunteers use for kids, literally it's just a less than respectful- "You!"). Kids are my favorite part of the country, always smiling and so excited. It could just be the color of my skin but I know I'd be excited to see me, so I can't blame them. The only annoying part is when I'm riding my bike around bush paths and they chase after me and try to touch me or my hair. Side note, my hair is like a precious treasure to my iwes and my students. One day in class I let everyone come up and touch it or run their fingers through it. I also let my baby sisters brush it when they do something nice for me, for example my sister Eliza sometimes scrubs my kettle or pots with sand to get the scorch marks off from my cooking fire. I used to reward them with sweets but I had a few monkey thieves so I haven't stocked up lately. Besides, getting my hair brushed is a double win for me... An mbasela of sorts.

I'm really excited for the next school term to start in September. The training workshop has given me a lot of ideas and helpful practice for making a plan, implementing a program or teaching a class. It's all in the plan. I don't want to go on about my work right now but it's a fun job and I've been doing a lot. Hopefully my class will start to pick up when I'm teaching by myself and can call all the shots. I have a great schedule with every Friday off. I love my free time, I'll read on my porch all day sometimes or I'll go explore-running around the fields and farms. I have so many great bush paths in between villages and backways through the middle of nowhere. Running has been awesome since I don't have to talk to anyone and I can just get away for a while. I'm also obsessed with my beautiful house. I have the cleanest hut in Peace Corps, I'm sure. Not to say that PCVs are as dirty as they're stereotyped to be...

Truth be told, my hut has been described as Pottery Barn. Not bad, eh?


I'll be heading back to my village tomorrow after I get over this cold I picked up in Malawi. A bunch of us went up to Nkhata Bay after IST. It was so hard to leave! Eastern Province has no significant body of water and I'm a beach girl... It's a rough life, what can I say. The backpackers lodge we stayed at was built right into a cliff with paths leading everywhere. I felt like an elf in Rivendale. I ate the best food and swam every day. I also went cliff jumping and got to see some eagles diving for fish next to the boat I was on. They speak Chichewa in Malawi, very similar to the Chewa I've been learning in Eastern so I had a great time speaking with the locals and of course getting more deals in the market. After 6 days in paradise, I did not want to leave. It was also hard to say goodbye to all of my friends again, I really lucked out with how many incredible people are out here with me. 

This is where I enjoyed my coffee every morning in Nkhata Bay. They have a saying around there,  ''Osadandaula'' - Chewa for Don't Worry. 

Community Entry

I’m alive and well! I’m 2/3rds of the way through my Community Entry period and currently at the Peace Corps house in Chipata for a few meetings with all the other volunteers in Eastern Province. Everything in the village is going great! Life is sweet and I’m making a lot of plans for my service. Below is a photo of the fields and mountains behind my house.

I haven't taken many photos so far, I've been really awful about that.

On a typical day I wake up around 6am to the sound of roosters crowing and my Zambian family running around outside. The sun is just rising and lately it has been freezing cold in the morning. I was not prepared for cold season! My breakfast is usually leftover soya and veggies from the night before. A variety of veg is hard to come by in Chadiza so I’m starting a garden with my family, I got seeds for peppers, onions, carrots, spinach and a few others. I’m extremely excited about it.

I have a big family and they are incredible! My Atate, Lazarus, speaks English pretty well. He’s a good guy to have around, he cemented my front porch for me and next we’re going to tackle cementing my bafa. My Amai, Ida, is the most beautiful Zambian woman I’ve ever seen. She works in the fields every day, usually leaving when I’m waking up and won’t finish working until late afternoon when she starts her daily chores- cooking, laundry, etc. I have lots of brothers and sisters. Mada is the oldest, she’s about the finish high school in December. She’s amazing! She just moved to the Boma to be closer to school but I'll see her on weekends and in town sometimes. Jessie is the same age but not technically a member of the family. Her mother lives in Malawi so Jessie’s been living on the family compound for a while. She's also just moved to the Boma. It was hard to see them go but I’m glad they’re focusing on their final months of high school. Then there’s my brothers, Eustace, Loyd and Andrew (whose nickname is Nkhungalume- it means The Bachelor). Nkhungs and Loyd are both in grade 8 and are in the English class that I recently began teaching. Eliza is 12, she’s my best helper and I reward her with sweeties that I got in a care package from my good friend Aaron and his wonderful Mom. Then there’s my babes, Beatie, Alice and Mary. They’re all under age 7 and they are my gang. We sing and do hand-clap games all the time, mostly in Chewa (it a slight variation of the Nyanja that I was learning in training). We also spend every night in my hut coloring and we were having a lot of dance parties until my ipod broke from me sweating all over it. I now have no music and I'm incredibly lonely without it. Hoping to find a replacement soon unless somebody is up to sending me a new one!!! I could also use infinite amounts of coloring books/ fun activities and sweeties...

My main source of transportation is my bicycle,
which was stolen off of my front porch just after my first week in the vil. I’ve been in and out of the police station hoping they will be able to recover it... PC issued bikes are easy to identify but the theory is that it was taken over the border to Mozambique to be sold. Fortunately, my school and Boma are only 3 kilometers from my house so I found shortcuts through bush paths that I've been using to walk or run to get where I need to go. The PC staff finally found a replacement bike for me so I’m back on the road! I’m in the school almost every day now. I was observing a lot of lessons and getting to know the faculty but now I have my own class I'm teaching English everyday except Friday. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the school’s Resource Center putting together the mock exams for grades 7, 9 and 12. Students have to pass in order to move on to the next grade or graduate so it’s a stressful time for them. I’m planning on using the center to facilitate teacher group meetings for continuing professional development and will hopefully begin working with the assistant director on some HIV/AIDS informational programs. I’m also waiting for our new library to be finished so I can paint a huge world map on it. I have all of the paint and supplies ready, hopefully I can start it within the month. Above is a photo taken of my school grounds. It was on a weekend, which is why there is nobody around.

After school I usually go into the market and hangout at a shop named Ebenezer’s. It’s owned by my friend Richard, who is also the mayor of Chadiza. We’re hoping to find sponsorship to buy a grater for the roads. Chadiza has probably the worst dirt road in all of Eastern Province, which is the only way out to the provincial capital, Chipata. I don’t know for sure that it's the absolute worst but this road is awful. The closest paved road is 75 kilometers away in Chipata and takes at least 90 minutes. In rainy season it’s almost impossible for cars to make it to there, where our shops stock up on groceries and other essentials. There isn’t much economic activity that goes in and out of Chadiza so our road isn’t high on the government’s priority list. There are taxis that drive in every morning but they’re 50,000 zmk to hire (that’s a lot of kwacha) and drivers always pile 4 people into the backseat even though the police have checkpoints and will fine them for overcrowding the car. They will often even put 2 people in the passenger seat. When I come into Chipata I usually take a canter truck from one of the shops, which leaves by 6am and won’t charge me much if anything.

I’ve been meeting with my villagers fairly often. The center of my village is about 4 kilometers from my house on my family's farm, which is a unique setup for a volunteer. Our first official meeting was mostly introductory but we are now talking about specific developmental needs in the village. Most importantly they would like to build a dam for their crops/livestock and water security in general. I’m taking some books from the PC house to figure out the best way to go about planning and building it but again, funding will be the priority. I’m also working on an adult literacy class in the village but so far just recruiting interested villagers. I have one student already who lives with his wife and baby behind my house. He’s in his mid-twenties and starting from square one. We’ve been working on my front porch where I’ve painted a makeshift blackboard. I’m hopeful that we’ll get through the alphabet by the end of July.

In town I usually spend time with my friends that run Ebenezer’s, Alan (the gentleman on the right) and Bernard (on the left). Alan speaks perfect English and together we are going to teach Bernard, who only speaks Chewa. It’s nice that English is the official language here so everybody wants to learn it. I’m spoiled being so close to the Boma because most people know at least some English. I have lunch with Alan and Bernard a lot, they love feeding me nshima. There’s also a pool table right outside so I’ve been playing a lot. I’m hoping to come back to America a pool shark!

I typically go home around 4 and take care of my house, sweeping and whatnot. I bathe using water I put out in the sun to heat and I cook my dinner on a charcoal brazier. Dinner is almost always soya unless I have another volunteer visiting. I’m incredibly lazy about getting my brazier started. When volunteers visit, we go all out on feasting. I have a bunch of PCVs in my district, the closest is about 15 kilometers so a lot of us will meet in the Boma fairly often. We had a Mexican feast a couple of weekends ago, it was a beautiful thing. There are 2 other new volunteers in my district in the LIFE program, so they are working on different agricultural projects that I’m hoping to get involved in.

So for now, I’m about to have breakfast and get ready for a meeting with the Ministry of Education to talk about how the RED program has changed and what we are all working on. I’ve been up since 5 and finally feel like I’m accomplishing something. It’s so nice to have internet and be able to communicate with friends. Facebook is amazing! I love seeing photos and finding out what everybody is up to. Emails have also taken on a whole new meaning for me and getting mail is like Christmas morning. I’ll leave with a good quote that I found, which pretty much sums up how I feel right now. “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”
- Foster C. Mcclellan.

Almost Official!

I am now finished with pre-service training! I will swear in tomorrow and become an active Peace Corps volunteer and then move straight up to my new home in Chadiza. My new mailing address is PO Box 520103 Chadiza, Zambia - in case I didn't post that last time and anybody wants to send me mail :) I'd love it if everybody could send me some good photos to put up in my hut, I didn't bring any except for the ones in my scrapbook. I want to say thanks to Katie McCormick for sending me an awesome package which included dark chocolate covered espresso beans!

PST ended with a final language exam consisting of a 45 minute conversation with a native speaker that I'd never met before, and it was recorded. I actually did well! So now that PST is over, my entire intake group is staying at a super nice hotel outside of Lusaka. We have a swimming pool, 3 bars and air conditioning. No joke. We'll start shopping for our new homes tomorrow and then each provincial group will drive up to their respective capitals on Saturday where we will finish shopping and then I'll be posted on Tuesday. That will start my 3 month isolation period for community entry. We are required to stay in our district to familiarize ourselves with the community and vice-versa. I will be able to access internet maybe once during that time which is scary but kind of exciting.

Yesterday we celebrated PST completion with our host families, I was one of the speakers during the ceremony which was kind of cool. I started my speech with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." It didn't really translate well. This is a photo of my family from Mwampikanya. I'm really going to miss my Amai, she's done so much for me. The woman to the right of me is my sister Edina. She's the strongest woman alive.







I'm going to miss life in Mwampikanya in general. Everyday we had group sessions I'd have a 30 minute walk to the training center, where I'd get to walk across this gem of a bridge...

I'm just saying, it was awesome. I'll try to post more photos before I begin community entry. I'm at Peace Corps HQ right now for some last minute swearing in details. My lunch is ready so I'm just going to end like this. Peace!

PO Box 520103/ Chadiza, Zambia

In Lusaka again today to prepare for my second site visit, this time I am going to my actual village that I will live in for the next 2 years! My site assignment is in Chadiza District, Kozele village. I am staying on the Headman's compound surrounded by the family farmlands. My hut apparently has a front porch and is surrounded by crops of maize. I am 3k from the school that I will be working at, which is next to the Boma (town) and 73k from the Provincial Capital where the Peace Corps has a house for all of the volunteers in the province. I am 12k from the next closest volunteer and I have 5 others no more than 25k away. I'm very thankful for that. Tonight, my entire intake group is sleeping in tents at FTI where we have most of our group tech sessions. It should take about 8-9 hours in a cruiser to get to my site, so we are leaving around 6am. I met my head teacher, Mr. Tembo, this week for a 2 day seminar in Chongwe Boma at the Graka Lodge. He has already worked with PCVs and is very excited to have a fresh face in the school.

My Nyanja is coming along quite nicely. I took my second language simulation exam this week and got only a half a point off. The exam was based on situations I will find myself in, buying food, bartering for items at a market, explaining who I am, where I come from, what Peace Corps is and what I plan on doing in my village. I've been practicing with all of my neighbors in Mwampikanya. The photo below is my language group, the woman in the center is our Language/Cultural Facilitator (LCF) A Peggy. She's the best! Her dream is to live in America. To the left is Maeve, she comes from Washington State but has been teaching English abroad for a few years. She's lived all over, in Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam to name a few. Next to me is Andrew, he's my next door neighbor. He's from New York and had been working with special needs children before joining the Peace Corps. We all work really well together. In the photo we're standing outside of A Peggy's house where we usually have our language lessons for 3-4 hours each day.

So now, trying to post more photos but I have already used most of my internet time loading the one above. It's ridiculous how long internet takes to load here! My foot is fine, thanks for the comment Mom and Dad. And yes, Mercedes, I wear sunscreen :) Thank you everybody for staying in touch through my blog, I get really excited seeing comments! My new address is PO Box 520103/ Chadiza, Zambia. I will be swearing in on April 13 and then moving straight up to Kozele. I'm so excited! That's all for now, I hope all is well for everyone reading! Wish me luck!

My Penthouse Suite

Hello!

This is my hut (nyumba) for now, I'm living in Mwampikanya near the training center. Everyday on my bike ride home I sing 'My mud hut ain't much to talk about.. But it's home you know.' I took this on Sunday after amai and I finished my laundry. I tried for a little perspective so you can see some of my bafa/samba (bathing structure), to the left and my chimbudzi is on the other side of the bafa.


Here I'm with my amai and her granddaughter Roberta. Roberta just got some new hair braided into her real hair, she usually doesn't have such lavish locks. She's not even 2 and she clears our dishes most days! The brick behind us is my amai's house where I have my breakfast and dinner every day. The pots and pans to the left are on top of the drying rack where amai also does some of her meal prep. My hut is about 90 degrees to the left and we have our kitchen (insaka) right in between. Inside amai's hut you can see her daughter, Atrasela. I probably spelled that wrong.



Not much is new since my last post! Still training every day, language class, etc. It takes a long time here to upload a photo so I'll try to get some of my intake group for next time. We are now on our way back to FTI and we have a cultural analysis day on Monday so I get to stay home and cook!
If anyone wants to send me any cool things, feel free! Dark chocolate is my favorite, almonds, coffee, whatever... Get creative :) Letters are also more than welcome! My address is Jacqueline Walsh / Peace Corps / P.O. Box 50707 / Lusaka, Zambia

I hope all is well in the States. Thank you everybody for the support!

Adventures in PST

I am completely unprepared to post right now, I just had a surprise visit to the PCMO (medical office) to get a nice little cut on my foot looked at. Apparently I need stitches but the doctor doesn't want to close the wound in case of infection since it's on the inside of my foot. But all is well! I just had a little biking incident on a path that was not meant for bikes. Woops.

Since my last post, I have been to my first site visit in Chilobwe, which is in Eastern Province and I had a great time! The cruiser ride took about 7 hours. There is only 1 road in Eastern, it's called the Great East Road. People and animals line the sides of the road, there are many ups and downs around turns and the drivers are insane. It was an interesting ride, I'm glad I don't get car sick. When we got to Chilobwe, my group of 4 was greeted by the children in the village and our host volunteer, Alex. After we settled into Alex's hut and ate some PB&J, the kids swarmed the porch and wanted to dance for us. The villagers drummed on water jugs and sang songs and danced in a big circle with each girl taking turns in the center. It was incredible to watch. One thing led to another and I ended up learning some of their moves and showcasing some of my own. These kids could not stop laughing at me. Then the boys got up and did a warrior dance with sticks in place of spears. I also tried that one, it was not as easy.

We stayed in Chilobwe for 4 days and experienced a lot. We met the chief, spoke with him extensively on his hopes for development and the history of his village and got a general idea of how the village is run. We then went to Alex's school (she is also a RED volunteer) and we met with the head teacher, visited a few classes and got a feel for our future projects. Every class stood to greet us in English. There is obviously a lot of structure and children here are taught from an early age to show respect to their elders. There is not a lot of motivation for students to learn in the rural villages and the resources are extremely limited so teachers face a lot of challenges. It will be interesting to see what I can come up with as far as lesson materials, projects, etc. Alex was a real inspiration. She is starting up a pre-school in her village so there were parents coming to her hut all day to sign their kids up. Alex recruited 4 volunteers from her village to run the preschool so the entire thing is completely sustainable, even after she leaves. She also leads afterschool programs to incorporate football into learning about HIV/AIDS.

I was so excited to see what life is like in the village. We have bathing structures called sambas or bafas (corrupted English words are pretty common) where we take in our buckets and get clean under the open sky. It's very liberating. The chimbudzi is actually not so bad, as long as you check first for snakes and other creepies. I camped out in my tent in Alex's front yard and we cooked all of our meals on a braizer. You can make so much on one of those. We also made peanut butter out of ground nuts! It was honestly the best I have ever had. Village life is slow but so open and welcoming. Everyone is family and you spend all day outside with kids running around and animals are everywhere. I'm planning on getting some pigs to keep in my future yard to entertain me. I can't wait to see my own site and meet my coworkers at whatever school I will be working at! The suspense is ridiculous.

This is a picture of me with some of the kids outside on Alex's front porch. I'm definitely investing in building a front porch if I don't have my own. Look how well I blend in!

 

So now, I'm living in a village called Mwampikanya and learning Nyanja. My host mom (my amai) is Judith Chongo and she is an incredible woman. If I were prepared, I would have a picture of my hut to post. It's nice, I promise. I sleep under a mosquito net of course and the lighting isn't great but I have tables and shelves and I'm completely organized so it feels homey. I'm learning Nyanja with 2 others from my intake, Maeve and Andrew. We're a special little group, we have a lot of fun even though language classes are 3-4 hours, 5 days a week and 2 hours on Saturdays. We also have either safety/security or technical training for the same amount of time either at a local elementary school or at the farmer's technical institute (FTI) which is 5k from my hut.

My amai has my breakfast ready by the time I'm up at 6-630 and I'm off to school by 715. This morning I had homemade bread, peanut butter and pineapple jam. Sometimes I have jungle oats with pb. The fruit here is unbelievable. I eat lots of mangoes, bananas, apples, and really whatever comes my way. I come home for lunch everyday that we aren't at FTI. We bike everywhere. I'll eat nshima twice a day sometimes. The vegetarian soya is delicious and I have it pretty much everyday. Also lots of beans and veg. I love the food. When I come home amai has my bafa water ready (bathing is my favorite time of day, so fresh and so clean) and then I'm ready for dinner. After dinner I sit and talk with amai for a couple hours, practise my Nyanja and share stories. I taught amai's grandaughters to play war. They're really impressed with my card shuffling skills, no big deal. I also color with them a lot.

I'm really happy here and looking forward to making it through training. Nyanja is beautiful when spoken correctly. Here's a little taste of what I'm learning... "Mwachoma bwanji? Dzina langa ndine Jacqueline. Ine ndine waku America, ndine wodzipeleka". Every letter is pronounced, there is no ph=f sound or silent letters. It's interesting to say the least. Sindikamba chinyanja kwambiri koma ndifuna kuphunzira. I want to learn.

So now, I'm about to get picked up and head back to my hut. I made some friends here who let me online! My foot is fine, really, I just have to take antibiotics and keep it clean and use butterfly stitches. Tomorrow Zambia's football team is in the Africa Cup Finals! Kind of the African Super Bowl for soccer. Pretty big deal here. I'm going to be watching with some of the other volunteers, so I look forward to that!

For now, pitani bwino, tidzaonana.

Muli bwanji from Zambia!

I am currently writing from an internet cafe in the capital of Zambia and do not have much time so I will try to fit everything in.

Everything has been incredible! I am having so much fun. During staging in Philadelphia, I sat in a conference room with 35 other volunteer trainees where we went over everything. The trainers laid out what is expected of us, the history of the program (which made me incredibly proud to be a part of the legacy of John F Kennedy and the original mission of the Peace Corps which started 50 years ago) and we all had some really candid talks about our anxieties, fears, ambitions and overall what we expect from the next 27 months.

We all had a great night out in the city, singing karaoke and getting in some last minute Yuengling (vitamin Y of course) before we bussed up to JFK at 2am. I was actually 1 of 4 group leaders, the head counter and the one to find where we were going once we got to the airport. Our flight did not depart until 10:40 so it was an interesting time to sit around and wait. The flight was over 15 hours from JFK to Johannasburg and another 2 hours from there to Lusaka. I slept almost the entire way to South Africa, which was well needed as I hadn't slept in almost a week. And it's safe to say I have the biggest bag of all the intakes. Thanks Mom and Dad for that monster duffle :) I'm sure my back pain will go away soon!

We arrived in Zambia mid-day and I was immediately taken by how beautiful and green and fresh everything is. Everyone made it through all of the airports with nothing lost, nobody had a single problem. We were picked up by the volunteer leaders (PCVLs) so of course we immediately bombarded them with questions. It is really nice to know how many people extend their service. The current volunteers are all very happy, friendly and more than willing to share their experiences.

It still hasn't hit me that we are in Africa and that this is a 3rd world country. Honestly, what I have seen is like paradise here. Zambians are incredibly friendly and they are always smiling and laughing. The hotel they have us staying at is incredible, I wish I could upload some photos. The meals have been delicious, they have soya options for vegetarians and everything. And the intake group honestly is already a family. Everybody here has such a big heart, we're really looking out for each other and can't wait for what is to come. We went to PC headquarters yesterday to meet the country director, etc and had a ringing in ceremony. The majority of the time so far has mostly been medical stuff, what to look out for and going over our jobs. We had a pannel of current volunteers in today to talk about diversity in volunteers and how each of them deals with questions from their host village.

Tomorrow will be our first site visit. I am going with 3 others to Eastern province, we are staying with a volunteer who arrived this time last year. We'll be there until Wednesday, doing everything a trained volunteer does and staying either in the volunteer's mud hut or in our own tents. It's time for pit latrines! When we get back, each of us will find out what language we will learn and from there they will place us in our provinces. Apparently there is no bad province but they are all quite different. Victoria Falls is in the Southern, which would be nice but Eastern is the biggest. I hope I'm not too far from Lusaka so it isn't hard for friends/family to come and go.. You guys are visiting right?

I just finished up a delicious meal of Indian food and we are all about to catch the bus back to the hotel. I look forward to a good night's sleep and a long bus ride through Zambia bright and early. Thanks everybody for making my last few months in the States wonderful! I wish I could have made it a few more places but I am so happy to be here and can't wait to begin some actual work!