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!
