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!