Rainy Season

Hello all!

It is now officially rainy season in North West Province. It has rained every day for the last few weeks, but still usually only an hour or so during the day and some more at night. This means that work as far as education has slowed down (kids are off of school in December) but picked up as far as gardening. My work lately has been really slow, but I am excited to help conduct another nursery school teacher training in a neighboring area in mid-December. It is a good time to do trainings since ideally the teachers will be ready to teach by the time term one rolls around in January.

I have also been fortunate in meeting lots of people from all walks of life recently. I have been working more with the Zambian Department of Fisheries because my host father is building a fish pond with the help of another PCV, I have also met game lodge owners, lumberjacks from Spain, and all sorts of other random characters. It keeps life interesting, that is for sure.

One interesting thing I have been able to do is go fishing with my host mother and brother, Dear. I spent the entire day speaking to them in Luvale, since their English is limited. We used a mosquito net (my host mother insisted it was an old one and that they have one on their bed) but other people were using spears (boys, with little success) or woven baskets. I even caught several fish with my bare hands! We ended up catching maybe 80 fish, the largest being about 3 inches long. My host mother was disappointed at the catch, but I thought it was a nice day anyway.

Stevie is a God

So Stevie wrote two songs for In Service Training, and she posted them on her blog, but I want to post them here as well. She is a genius.

Go Slow
Chorus
[Go Slow, don’t move too fast Just enough to keep the kids coming to sweep the classGo slow, don’t move too fastNext term might see some teachin’ so sit back and relax]

Now let me tell you all a little tale
Of life under the sun for one quite pale
The mission in front was impossible
To make teachers willing not just capable

Chorus

At first I hoped to be just a fly on the wall
But soon there was nothing to see at all
The first week of term was for cleaning the class
And all the complaints were just a pain in the ass
No rural hardship so we fight for the cause
And then with the what what, sports and nataz
The strike was decided the only way
No learning to do so pupils stayed at bay

Chorus

Yet I still have three months to fill with time
So I thought I’d tell you about in this here rhyme
With the schools all deserted and empty
I found many other things tempting
There is the important job of entertainin’
Always a hit- what’s that mazungu makin’
I became master of the brazier cake
Cause mufu birthday’s were serious to take

Chorus

Chasing after the DEBS took many a day
Happy to find a new one’s on the way
See our DEBS happened to be a big fat jerk
And seemed to hate me just as much as my work
Never turned down a single invitation
Resulting in hours of church and salvation
I made friends with the small one block boma
On days with power we cried HALLEJAH

Chorus

The strike finally ceased with 3 weeks to go
Hit the ground runnin’ on with the show
My ZIC’s quite a rockstar, she is one sassy lady
We were bikin to schools in my zone daily
Managed to fit some TGM’s in
Did lots of work with a program called SHN
I am used when it comes to life village side
Just ok with selling my soul… for a free ride

Chorus

House décor included some painting
And when I get home there’ll be kitty waiting
Let’s hope that the go slow is truly finished
Otherwise my to read list will be diminished
Not sure how much real teaching there will be to see
When all of these kids out runnin’ free
But I’ll still be there tryin’ to fight the good fight
One step at a time, proving education’s a right

Chorus…just a bit of culture exchange

Southern Cross
Verse 1
Cast out on a shipset on land all a blaze
unknown how life has come this way
everyday set the course destination unsure
and the patience of waiting and waiting, not knowing if it matters at all

Chorus

When the sun melts away
And one by one the stars appear
Then I gaze at the Southern Cross
And the world melts away
All the worries and the doubts
And I know that this is right

Verse 2
Some days start so strong
endless movement forward
this could be the real start of things
yet somehow turn away
everything falls apart
and I'm sinking and spinning and trying
just to keep floating at all

Chorus

When the sun melts away
And one by one the stars appear
Then I gaze at the Southern Cross
And the world melts away
All the worries and the doubts
And I know that this is right

Bridge
How much can you change without taking what is there
And How much take you give without knowing if they care
And How much can you take without loosing while you came
There's value in unseen efforts
The beauty's in the choice of time

Verse 3
All it takes is one day
one sweet moment of bliss
then the shore somehow comes into view
on it goes spend your days
slowly gliding along
without seeing, or asking,
not knowing how this became home at all
When the sun melts away
And one by one the stars appear
Then I gaze at the Southern Cross
And the world melts away
All the worries and the doubts
And I know that this here right
When the sun melts away
And one by one the stars appear
Then I gaze at the Southern Cross
And the world melts away
All the worries and the doubts
And I know that this is right yes
I know that this, this is right

New library books waiting to be categorized

Sweet little girl with missing front teeth at the high school graduation

Akuli Musana (It is hot!)

Hey Everyone!

I am in Lusaka on my way to a music festival, and I have FREE internet! So let me update you all.

First of all the big news is that there is a new intake of fish farmers and health volunteers, so Mufumbwe has grown by 4 more volunteers. I have already biked to one of the sites, my new nearest neighbors which are about 27-30km from my house. They all seemed to be getting settled alright, and we are really excited to have new faces.

I have been working on my garden a lot, my fence is all put up and I am working on perma culture techniques, so I am learning as I go. I have already planted onions, marygolds, and hot peppers. When I get back to site I hope to plant oregano, cilantro, basil, rosemary (thanks Aunt Nancy!) carrots, lettuce, celery, green peppers, and tomatoes. I have never gardened before so if even one thing grows I will be really happy! I generally work on it between 5-7am because it has been really brutally hot out lately, and I have to fetch water from my borehole to water the plants.

Hot season is in full swing here. We did get our first rains a week ago, but since it has continued to be very very hot. Most locals get up around 4 or 5am and head to their fields, come back around 10am and do work around the house. Then work starts up again around 3pm when it starts to get a little cooler. The mornings are wonderfully cool, but it is difficult to get to sleep at night because it is so hot. The rains are supposed to start at the end of the month, which will be a welcome relief.

The library in my zone, thanks to the previous volunteer's hard work, just recieved over 4,000 books from America. So I have been busy busy going through them all, reminicing, and categorizing. We had to categorize, shelf, stamp, pocket, record, and label all the books, so I am sure I will be busy with that for quite awhile now.

The schools in my zone along with the Ministry of Education (MOE) have been rock stars this term. One school is building 2 teachers houses, and 2 new classroom blocks (one by the MOE and one community funded.) Another school just put a roof on their long standing roofless classroom blocks that was community built (imagine, 3 classrooms and two offices not being used because there is no roof,) they got two new teachers, which doubles their staff, which is a much needed addition. They had 200+ kids and only two teachers, one of which was the principal so he wasn't really supposed to teach. They are also getting another classroom block built by the MOE. So my area is really developing quickly. Let's hope the projects are followed through to fruition.

Otherwise I have studying Luvale, hanging out with friends, sewing, reading, napping, visiting schools, having meetings, and other things like that to keep busy. I might be starting two more nursery schools soon, but I am not sure if they are serious or not.

I think that is about all for now. Check out picture on facebook.

Amazing Shop Names

I will keep an on going list of all the amazing shop names I see here in Zambia

That Place-Kabwe
Boom Shaka-outside Kabwe
Stranded Millionare-Mufumbwe
Just in Case Butchery-outside Lusaka
Mysterious Hardware-Lusaka
If Not, Why Not?-Kasempa

Then the variations of Shop Rite:
Shop Left-Between Solwezi and Kasempa
PoshRite- Kasempa Turnoff
Write Shop
Rite Shope-outside Lusaka

Quick Update

Hey all!

I am back in Solwezi for a couple days for a resiliancy training and to welcome Lynn as our new PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leader I think.) The big news is that a Shop Rite opened in Solwezi, which has pretty much revolutionized our lives here! I mean...cream cheese!?!?! Amazing!

I just had second site visit come to my place (unfortunately I missed Likumbi Lya Mize for it) and the new kids are a blast. We are almost doubling the amount of volunteers in North Western Province (we will be 27 total) and Mufumbwe will have TEN volunteers, which is absolute insanity for such a small district. So my new family includes Bob and Marie, Laura, Adam, and Ashley. We are all really excited to get to know them and the rest of the new people.

Otherwise I am still loving life in the village. I went to buy charcoal yesterday at the traditional healer's place and she started getting demon visions or something and ran around her compound yelling. It was definitely interesting after being around Americans for two weeks to be back in the village. I love it though, I got a very warm welcome from my family and my garden fence and toilet are FINISHED. Hurray!

Pictures! (more on facebook)

A cool billboard in Lusaka

Ricardo, Kamizhi (Brittany) and Kevin hoeing our permaculture garden!

Here are blogs from others in my group :)

http://zambiaigo.blogspot.com/ Brittany.

http://w4justice.wordpress.com/ Beth

http://steviegreenwell.blogspot.com/ Stevie

End of In Service Training

The "Boma Bike" the most tricked out bike in all of Mufumbwe!

Hey all!

I am back again..internet overload! I just finished up 10 days in Lusaka hanging out with my entire intake, which was great. We really bonded more as a group which was nice. I was going to try to go up to the Likumbi Lya Mize festival, but the dates were sketchy (is it 23rd-28th? 28th-31?) so instead I am going to host the new kids for their second site visit!!!! The details for that are also wonderfully sketchy, but I will be hosting somewhere in between 4 and 7 people for somewhere between 3 to 7 days. Haha. I am excited but hopefully it goes well.

Love you all,

Carrie

Hey everyone,

I forgot to ask on the last post, can anyone that gets letters from me please keep them so that I can make photocopies when I get back to the States? I would love to keep them since it has basically been my journal. Thanks!

Facebook | Carrie Navin: zambian (north west) baby funerals

Facebook Carrie Navin: zambian (north west) baby funerals: "If the baby dies when it is less than one month old it is not treated like a normal person as its soul has not really been on earth long enough to be considered part of the human world. When the baby dies, the mother is not allowed to cry or else she will become infertile. The baby is not buried in a graveyard but under the mwenge tree in a shallow grave with its head facing west. If it faces east the mother will be infertile. Before they cover the baby with soil, they tie a white cotton thread to the baby's finger. When they bury it, the string is tied to the mwenge used. I asked if this is to keep the baby from coming back from the dead, and did not get a straight answer."

Facebook | Carrie Navin

Facebook Carrie Navin: "There was a zambian rebel leader that spent a lot of time in my area and affected the people so i thought i would write about him.
Just before zambian independence the major domestic political party was going to put up Nkumbula as their presidential candidate and Mushala as their vp candidate. Kenneth Kaunda, the secretary of the party played a trick and instead of campaigning for Nkumbula, campaigned for himself. Kaunda ended up winning the election and instated a one party system. Mushala was put as the minister of wildlife and was based in jivundu (25km from me) Mushala was pissed and quit and tried to run as president, which was illegal in the one party state. So he ran to namibia and angola to get support, training, and weapons. While there he also learned juju to make himself invisible to the government troops. He came back to zambia in 1975 with soldiers, the zambian government sent troops to stop him. They fought bush battles in kashima (this was the early 80s so most people i know here were directly effected. After a time when Mushala burned houses in kashima, the locals took up arms (dogs, bows and arrows) to fight. Mushala was hit in the heel and two kashima men were shot. Mushala fled to congo for ammunition and to take revenge on kashima. His wife at the time was living in jivundu and was fed up with living in the bush and so she gave up mushalas camp to the gov troops. When Mushala came back from congo they ambushed him and shot him in the eye. He is buried in solwezi.

My host father told me this tale so it is his fault if it is exagerated or wrong, haha. I think there is a book about Mushala so if you are interested check it out."

6 months!

Hey all!
I have been in Zambia for almost 6 months, so I am on my way to In Service Training in Lusaka.
Things at site have been great, I love it there so much and everything is wonderful. I am working hard with Lister and my host mother on reading and writing in English and we read together almost every day. Lister is making amazing progress!

The nursery schools are still going really well. They took a field trip to my house to see my cat, and I got to see them all walk like a cat, meow like a cat, pet the cat, and count its legs. Too adorable for words. The teachers are working overtime to catch them up to the government school terms so that the kids old enough to go into grade 1 will be better prepared to start in january. I am really proud of the teachers for all their hard work and enthusiasm.

Thank you to everyone who has sent things to me and for the nursery school, it is all very very very much appreciated!!!

In other village news, I got a new bafwa (bathing shelter) because my first one had holes in it (not very condusive to private bathing, huh?). I also am having my toliet replaced for the same reason, and my garden fence was almost finished when I left site! So I should be able to start my new garden when I get back.

I got the chance to connect with my host kids more; we got to make makish masks from the packages you sent and the markers. They absolutely loved it.

With the kids I also started a "trade condoms for balloon" program because they use condoms (sometimes used ones...gross, right?) to make balloons. So I will trade any kid that comes to my house a condom for a real balloon. Hopefully it catches on.

Otherwise things are great and I hope you are all doing well!

You can't expect my cat, Tuneza, to get all the big mice that come in my hut. Just in case!

Tribal Cousinship

Tribal cousinship is a big part of life here. In America, I prefer "ethnic group" to "tribe" but tribe is the word they use here. So I will use it as well. "Tribe" brings images of cannibalism, living in the bush, and running around naked with spears but really all it means is the historical and language group. In Kashima, there are many groups: the Luvales (which I claim to be a part of), Luchazis, Mbundas, Chokwes, Kaondes and Lundas are the most prevalent. Between these groups they have tribal cousins, with whom they are allowed to tease and joke. These cousinships usually come from war or marriage, but I got the stories of some of the ones in this area.

The Luvale and the Luchazi

The Luvale used to live in the plain by a river and used to raise a lot of cattle. The Luchazis lived further from the river and collected mushrooms. When the Luchazis came to the river to draw water they saw the cattle and wanted to buy them. They asked the Luvales to sell them some and the Luvales took the money saying they would deliver the animals in a few days.
When those few days passed with no animals the Luchazis went to find the seller. When they got to his land they were told he had died and that they should buy animals from the neighbors instead. The Luchazis gave the neighbors money and were told they would deliver the animals in a few days. The story continued like that for awhile until they caught on to the trick and stopped buying cattle.
The Luvales were also fishermen, so when the Luchazis bought fish from the Luvales, the Luvales gave it to them in broken cauldrons with patched bottoms. These cauldrons are very important to the Luvales and they are symbolic of the Luvale village. When the Luchazis stirred nshima in the cauldron, the patch came off and the Luvales pretended to be horrified saying, "You have just killed our headman!" They then demanded payment for the broken cauldron. To this day the Luvales claim the Luchazis are fools and the Luchazis claim the Luvales are thieves.

The Mbunda and the Chokwe

One day, the Mbunda king, named Katawola, went to the Chokwe Kingdom where the chief was called Mushilingingi. Katawola came across a beautiful mwali (girl undergoing initiation) and fell in love with her. Katawola went to Mushilingingi and pleaded that he give him the girl to marry.
Mushilingingi refused as she was still undergoing initiation and offered Katawola another beautiful girl. Katawola refused and left with his followers.
That night he told his followers to sneak in and steal the mwali. They obeyed. The next morning the Chokwes followed and there was a battle. The Mbundas were defeated and Katawola was beheaded and his head was put on a stake.
The Mbundas were infuriated and went for revenge. They captured Mushilingingi and he fell to the same fate as Katawola. After this, the Mbundas and the Chokwes agreed that they were even and would never fight again.

The Lunda and the Kaonde

A Lunda hunter who was exceedingly handsome was named Kabinda Mutatata. One day he went hunting in the bush. The day went on, he was not having any luck and he was getting tired.
He came across a well deep in the bush. He stopped and asked the Kaonde women drawing water, for a drink. The women rushed off to tell their Chieftainess Luwezhi about the handsome hunter.
She beckoned him to her place and heard his life story. She invited him to stay and hunt for her kingdom. After awhile she became pregnant and asked him to marry her. They had many children and to this day both the Lundas and the Kaondes claim to be the parents of one another.

my host brother Upale, helping out

My host brothers at the mukanda ceremony

My neighborhood women and the North Western Crew of April 09!

Geoff, Stevie, me, Brittany, Beth, Mike

Blacksmith Brown

Wicked Awesome Blacksmith Brown, dressed as a wizard (not really, it is his pastor's outfit)

A baby clapping and my house in NW!

Zambia Shoes and Belt Buckles

A shout out needs to go out to the glory that is men's shoes and belt buckles here in Zambia. I feel like about half of my pictures will be of these two objects. Shoes are usually long and pointy, and often made out of an amazing material like, suede, plether, or crocodile skins. Sparkles are definitely not out of the question, nor are zebra stripes, studs, pictures, writing, or anything else completely hysterical that you can think of.

Belt buckles are very often holographic. Which on its own is amazing, but the pictures are often of rappers or professional wrestlers. They are massive, and so they draw the eye, which can become quite uncomfortable as you stare at the halographic 50 cent on your head teacher's belt buckle. Mike, a PCV in NW province found a halographic Obama belt buckle, which is pretty sweet.

Finally an update from the bush!

Hello all! I miss you all so much and am so glad I FINALLY get a chance to use the internet (and hopefully send home pictures, be patient!

So I have spent my first month in the village and I really couldn't ask for a more perfect situation. I absolutely LOVE my village, my community, and most of all my host family. I am living about 3km from a national park (hippos and crocodiles live about 7km away), I have 8 schools in my catchment area: 5 are government run and 3 (including a high school) are community schools. My host father is a beekeeper, farmer, bricklayer, former blacksmith, former diamond miner, fisherman, pastor, librarian, nursery school teacher, and a member of the neighborhood watch, so he is a really active and amazing resource for me to get to know people in all walks of life in my area.

I have a new local name, so I will be known in the village as Sombo. Sombo is the name of a bush fruit, which I have yet to see, but I am told it is small and blue. It is a Luvale name, and in Luvale the connotation is "girl who is always laughing and cheerful" so I think it fits. My area is not really heavily populated with Kaondes, the language they taught me during training, so that is a big issue I have been working on. My area is Chokwes, Luvales, Lundas, Kaondes, Luchazis, and Mbundas. So instead of attempting to learn all of those languages, I will be trying to learn Luvale and then maybe Chokwe eventuall. I can greet in all of them already, which is a start, but it is difficult to hear so many languages all the time.

Oh, my new mailing address is:
Carrie Navin/PCV
Peace Corps Zambia
PO Box 130050
Mufumbwe, North Western Province
Zambia
AFRICA

So I am in a part of my service called community entry. It is the first three months, where I am not supposed to leave my district (right now is the exception because I had provincial meetings) and I am not supposed to be doing any "work". What I AM supposed to be doing is meeting everyone I can in my area, sitting in on classrooms, going to meetings about school things and community events, learning the language, and getting to know the needs of the community. The idea is that you can imagine a Japanese person that knows how to say "how are you" in English, coming to your hometown and trying to "develop" it. Chances are they don't know how you do things and what your community needs or wants, so this is my time to learn about the desires and needs and priorities of my community, and not just doing things for my own agenda.

As I mentioned before, my host father is a beekeeper. He owns 386 hives all around the area I live, and I actually got to go collect honey with him and two other men. His hives are big barrel drums that he sets up in trees. I got to see him make a smoker out of local brush, and then smoke out the bees and collect the honey. I now have more honey than I know what to do with, but it is amazing!

Some other things I have been doing in the village include: Going to the Agricultural show to see many people competing for the best produce in the zone, Helping to paint the resource center in Kashima West to prepare it for opening, Attending my host brothers' mukanda (circumscision) ceremony, attending a mwali (girls' initiation) ceremony, attending the wedding of my nearest Peace Corps neighbor, Ryan, attending a different church each week to introduce myself to members of those congragations, meeting with the library committee, going to opening staff meetings at two of the schools, attending teachers' union meetings, attending a witchcraft trial, visiting schools in my zone, visiting and watching a blacksmith work, sitting and talking with people, asking questions, visiting the Kabompo River, hanging out at the clinic, and teaching my neighbor Lister, how to read in English. So I have been really busy and really happy. I have gotten to see my area a lot and have a long way to go.

Swearing in and posting!

So I was sworn in as a volunteer two days ago and it was a lot of fun. We had swearing in at the Ambassador's residence and so of course it was gorgeous. Ba Sikota (our head of training) wore a traditional Lozi outfit, which looked like a weird variety of Scottish kilt. It was awesome, he can rock it. The morning of the ceremony, Bob, who was going to be in Lusaka province, told us he was ETing (early termination) so I cried a bit, but overall the day was really wonderful and I am really I had such a great experience with my friends who I won't get to see for awhile. I have very mixed emotions and wish I could bring everyone to my site with me.

I am kind of far out there, my nearest PC neighbor is 20km away, and Beth, Brittany, and Stevie are all about 35-40km away. I think we are going to make a date to make dinner and hang out at some point in the first month.

The first three months I am supposed to stay mostly in my village and surrounding areas. I am not supposed to do "work" but just get to know everyone, hang out, settle in, see classes, and how things work in the village. I am not allowed to have outside visitors (PC visitors are allowed and I hope some people will come to visit!) so the first time someone can visit is July 24th, but Peace Corps recommends that you wait for awhile until I learn Luvale a little better and know my way around.

I have gotten a bunch of packages and letters and have appreciate all of them! Thank you so much for all the love. Remember to use my Mufumbwe address for the new stuff you send so that it doesn't get stuck in Lusaka for months and months. Some new ideas for stuff: soup packets or instant packets (mac and cheese was suggested) taco seaoning type things, would be really amazing. Ramen is also good. Think that type of stuff. I love to cook but you have to be really creative and it takes a really long time to cook anything here.

So I won't really have access to my blog for the next month (sorry!) but I should be on facebook or AIM/MSN fairly often if you want to chat just text me before you go on. I love you all!

Second Site Visit

Hey All!
Sorry I havent posted in soooo long! It has been really busy! I did get to visit my site though last week, and it is beyond amazing.

I am living in a place called Kashima East. I am replacing a volunteer who lived in Kashima West, 5k from me, and who is going to live in Lusaka (so I can still pester her with questions! Yay!)

My town is amazing, they held a welcome party for me where some of the high school students sang for me. I got to see the resource center where they will be starting a nursery school soon, so if you want to send me cute pre-school lesson plans that you can find online I would love to use some. I hope to train that teacher and work closely with him.

I live across the street from the witchdoctor/traditional healer of the village. Check out my facebook note for more information on that.

Otherwise I am in really good health (knock on wood) and I swear in on April 24th as a true volunteer!

contacting me!

ok so i have a little more time to write while I wait for some early birds to get on facebook chat. the best way to reach me if you don't want to text or call (my parents, Lindsay or Peter can give you the number) is through facebook. I just got an internet phone so I should be able to sign on to that a couple times a week. email has yet to work, so hopefully it will soon.

I haven't been able to receive mail frequently, but I can't express how much I love getting it!!! Send me random funny stories, send me updates, send me anything! I devour it all! As for packages, I would wait to send the bulk of them until I am settled at site and am able to give you all my address for north western. I do not have a lot of space at my homestay house (I have to keep my bike in my room!) so anything I get now is just going right into storage anyway. but when the time comes to send me things I would LOVE dried fruit, magazines, pictures of you!, drawings, and little things that kids could play with (stickers, crayons, figures, etc.)

I make 11,000kwatcha a day during training, which makes me almost a millionare in a couple weeks, but it only amounts to $2 per day. So texts cost me 25 cents a text, so while it might be cheap for some things, when you compare it to how much I make it is really a lot of money.

there is a wonderfully Horrible asian dubbed soap opera on tv behind me. they just said "can't you just stop being a playboy for once" and all the peace corps people in here burst out laughing because the dubbing is so awful. they play the most random things on tv.

well....lindsay and peter didnt show up online (lazy bums) but i got to have a wonderful chat with sara! So I am signing off here. i will catch you later!

First Post!!!!

Hey everyone! I made it to Zambia by the skin of my teeth, and have FINALLY made it to Lusaka to update my blog! I am sorry it took me so long but we have all been very busy.

I have found out what language I will be speaking for the next two years, it is called KiKaounde (think kee-cow-un-day) so this means I will be posted in North Western province (pull out your maps) somewhere in the Mufumbwe district. There are 5 kikaoundes in total, Me, Brittany, and Stevie and the rural educational development (RED) volunteers and Geoff and Beth are the LIFE volunteers. The REDs are all replacing other volunteers (so we will be second generation) and so they will decide between those sites which ones we will be placed at. There is one BOMA (or town) spot and two rural spots. The two girls in the rural spots are both extending their stays for another year, so it is a good sign that they have had a good experience overall!

Northwestern province is by FAR the best (ok, I maybe a little biased) we are known for having tons of pineapples, red sand, the most fertile soil, waterfalls, and amazing dances. There are three big festivals there that I have heard of, a woodcarving festival, a migration festival, and a masquarade festival, so I am really excited to go see all of those. I am sure you can find something about them on youtube or google.

So right NOW, I am in Chongwe district living at a homestay. The mother is the only one on the compound who speaks KiKaounde, so the rest of the family and neighbors speak Nyanja. So there is my bamama, her son Jano, and her granddaughter Lozina. They are all really nice (although Jano is too cool for school.) On the compound there are a bunch of other families, a girl Rachel who is Lozina's age (9), Jessica and her husband Ozzy and their 3 year old and 5 month old (Gloria! I love that baby!) Then there is Patrick, a two year old who is absolutely hysterical. He is one of my favorites. He cannot decide if he is deathly afraid of us, or if he finds us funny. So it alternates between the two. I am living at my homestay with Stevie, because there are not that many KiKaounde speakers in Lusaka Province. So she and I are staying in joined mud huts with a grass thatched roof, no electricity, and no running water. My mattress is on the floor...

So my biggest adventure so far has been having a mouse in my bed. Stevie is petrified of mice, so it was me, bamama, and Lozina chasing this mouse around my room screaming and laughing for a half hour until bamama finally smacked it with her flip flop. I thought it was really fun, but I do not like having mice in my bed, and I am definitely paranoid every time I get into bed!

Our yard has a mulberry tree (you thought it was a bush too, didn't you? who knew?) and the berries are very yummy. Besides that there is a fruit and bread shortage in Chongwe, so please send me dried fruit! Otherwise I am being very well taken care of with warm baths every morning and nshima and veggies until I cannot eat any more!

We have four hours of language class every day (so long!) and then we go home for lunch, and have RED tech classes (about what we should actually be doing in the field) every afternoon and HIV/AIDS classes every Thursday and Saturday.

Please send me mail! I don't mean to sound desperate....but I am! I miss you all and would love to hear from you!

Site visit

Carrie reports that her site visit "went great". Many thanks to the Carrie that hosted her. Tomorrow she gets her language assignment and home stay information (where she will be staying during training). I am sure Carrie will report more about the living conditions in the village. Now that she has some decorating ideas it will be interesting to hear what items she will want sent to her from the Potter Barn- "Mud Hut Edition" catalogue. Thanks all - Carrie's Dad- Rick

Spelling Corrections

Even from half a world away I find a way to embarrass my daughter. Upon further review the capital of Zambia is "Lusaka", cite visits are really "site" visits, and the language of the village Carrie will be visiting is "bemba" and not bomba. Carrie would not have been so careless. Speaking of Carrie, she received a cell phone and was able to send and receive texts. Can't wait to hear if she will have reception in the remote villages. To Brittany's Dad,Brian thanks and I will e-mail you to share stories. Thanks all, Rick Navin

Made it to Zambia!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carrie asked me to be her ghost writer until she has access to a computer that allows her to log on to her blog. After a few blips in getting final approval (ugh) Carrie was allowed to attend the Peace Corps "staging" in Washington DC and to board the plane to Africa last Wednesday. She is glad to report she arrived and that she finds everything to be "amazing". Tomorrow she departs for her "cite visit" and will be staying with another Carrie, the Carrie of "Carrie in Zambia" blog fame. Check out her blog to see what our Carrie will be experiencing. She will return to Lasaka on Thursday to begin language training- I assume she will need to decide on a future location since different areas of Zambia speak different languages. The village that "Carrie in Zambia" lives in speaks bomba. Her blog describes some of the difficulty she has had learning and implementing it even after two years. Our Carrie faces many challenges but I have no doubt she will succeed. It will be interesting to find out if our Carrie elicits screams of fear from the small children in the village like the other Carrie still experiences. Will she be able to bathe herself with that half full glass of water with villagers standing around? How big are the bugs? Stay tuned for her updates. ----Carrie's Dad

Finally?

So. After a couple of the most stressful days EVER. I am pretty sure that I will actually be flying out on Wednesday and going to Zambia. My Aunt worked miracles and I owe her so much!

So I am all packed (one bag: 47 pounds, other bag: 34 pounds) Guess I will have to see if they weigh the same on the airlines' scale and if they make me get rid of the extra pound (although I have no idea what I would get rid of!)

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and being so supportive. Peter, I am really sorry about all the different answers you put up with, you are the best.

Update

Ok, Well a lot has happened this weekend and I won't write it all up here since this is public domain (you can call me and ask for more information if you are worried or interested.)

Basically after having a routine but last minute medical test my results were not great (nothing really wrong with me, just that procedure requires that I be tested again in 4-6 months to make sure that I am healthy.) Peace Corps officials told me that I would be unable to go to Zambia, but that I could be placed again. Long story short, I will attempt to get the full test results which could possibly (but slim chance) get me to Zambia, but more likely I will not be able to go and will have to go through the entire process again.

It is really hard not knowing what the result is until tomorrow, when staging is supposed to start. But either way...hopefully I will make it back to Africa. I would love, if after all my hopes of going to Zambia are crushed, to make it to Francophone Africa where my French skills would be used. Who knows...I am trying to keep my chin up. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive!

One Week! Ahhhh

Wow does time fly! I have already started packing (hopefully my scale is right because the charge for an extra pound is $65!!!)

I got to speak to my old high school today to the 1945-Present history classes. They were really great and asked really good questions. I was really happy to get the chance to do that and hopefully I will get to write to a class or to Mrs. Gesek.

My music is pretty updated, thank you Barun for all the great Indian tunes. And my going away party was amazing!

So all that is left is packing, my last day with Lindsay, Andrew's birthday, Valentine's Day with Peter, then the last two days with my family and the drive down to DC (and hopefully seeing some friends down there for lunch!)

Ahhh. The butterflies in my stomach have definitely started.

PS. I got a sleeping bag that only weighs a pound, and it was on sale!!!! I am so lucky!

Glass half full

"Some people see a glass of water and consider it to be half full. Others see the same glass and consider it to be half empty. A Peace Corps Volunteer sees it and thinks, 'I could take a bath with that!'"

Love it.

More Common Questions

Will you get sick in Zambia?

Yes. Almost surely. Probably diarrhea (the food is different.) I will boil and filter all my water, and probably eventually wean myself on to local water, but I will have to see what Peace Corps reccomends. I will also most likely get malaria, even though I will have a mosquito net and be on medication for it. It isn't a big deal unless it goes untreated, or you get the bad kind (cerebral malaria) which is much less common. Peace Corps ensures your health and safety and provides you with directions and malaria medications in case you should become sick in the village. Oh, and I hear a lot of female volunteers' hair falls out!! Joy!

Who else is going? How many people are in your group?

As far as I can tell...there will be about 50 people going in total, with half in the Rural Educational Development group with me, and half in the LIFE (Linking Income, Food, and Environment) group. I also think that there are other people who got to Zambia last year who will be doing their second year of service while we are doing our first, but I am not 100% sure of that. I am in touch with about 20 people who are going in my group through facebook, two of which are married couples. It should be fun to get to know everyone.

What is the political situation like in Zambia?

Well, keep in mind it is not Zimbabwe. The last President, Levy Mwanawasa died during his term from a stroke. The current President, Rupiah Banda, was Vice President under Mwanawasa and was elected to become President in the last election. President Banda is a career politician who has served as foreign minister and minister of mines. Things seem fairly good in Zambia and I do not worry about political upheaval. As a Peace Corps volunteer we are not allowed to participate in Zambian politics in any way.

Can I call you in Zambia?

Probably. I will attempt to buy a cell phone in Zambia and will post my phone number. Depending on the village I might be able to get a signal if I stand on a log or something. There is a rumor that calling through skype may only be 2 cents a minute, but I am not sure if that is true or will work (since it is through Internet the delay might be too harsh to carry a conversation). I will hopefully be able to receive texts. Keep in mind I will not have electricity in the village, so I will only charge my cell phone when I get to a bigger town, so I will probably not have my cell phone on at all times. Zambia is seven hours ahead of the US.

What should I send you?

LETTERS. I will be able to better answer this when I get there and see what I am craving, but I have heard the common strings from other volunteers are: magazines of any sort, soup, meal, or drink mixes where the only added ingredient is water, candy (gummy bears, chocolate, tic tacs, anything really,) LETTERS, pictures of life in America and you!, education information (lesson ideas, worksheets, puzzles), LETTERS, and stickers. I am sure I will think of more things, but mail takes about a month to get there (HINT HINT)

Questions I have gotten

Hey all, I have gotten a lot of questions about random things that is probably good for everyone to know:

1: How to send letters and packages to me in Zambia.
I have my address for the first two months on the right hand side of this blog and on my facebook, so if you want to send a letter, that is pretty straight forward. Take the letter to the post office (make sure you write AFRICA on it to make sure they know what pile to throw it on.) It should be 94 cents to send a regular size envelope. Also, be sure to write AIR MAIL or PAR AVION on the letter or package.

The easiest thing for packages is to send bubble envelopes! This means no full size packages unless it is absolutely necessary! I apparently have to pay tax for packages, so bigger ones mean I have to pay more, and it is more likely that things will be stolen from them. Write "includes bible" or bible verses on the packages and supposedly there is less chance that things will be stolen. The magic number is 4 pounds and I believe it is around $18 to send something that is 4 pounds or less. Any more than that and you will be paying almost twice that. Mail takes anywhere from 2 weeks to never to get there (hey, its Africa!) Expect three weeks to five weeks.

2. Are you just popped in a village all alone!?
Well...the first two months I will be located more or less in the capital of Zambia (Lusaka) with some site visits to see other volunteers' sites. During this time we will be trained in a local language, be given classes in our area (I am in Education,) and given cultural topics to help us living alone. Then at the end of the two months, they interview you and find out what you NEED from a village (will you go crazy if there isn't another American nearby? Are you unable to physically get to the water source closest to your hut?) The Peace Corps obviously doesn't want you to hate your location and to be miserable, so they do their best to place you somewhere you will like. But yes, in the end, you are usually in a village all alone. Every once in awhile they have a training in the capital where they teach you small lessons about HIV/AIDS or other topics and to give you updates about what you should be focusing on and doing in the village.

3. Will you be seeing lots of animals like lions and elephants?
Probably not. Hopefully not unless I am in a game park. I have heard a lot of people have bat and scorpion problems. No, the Lion King is not adequate preparation for Peace Corps.

4. What happens if you hate it or conditions get too bad (politically, food security, etc)
Peace Corps tells you outright that they are not the military. There is no "dishonorable discharge" or anything. You are allowed to leave at any time, and they are required to take care of your health and security. This means that if you get malaria badly or something they will send you to a hospital that has the facilities to take care of you. If there is political or any other type of trouble they will fly you home or to another country that is stable.

5. How often do you get to come home?
I get two vacation days per month of service, not counting the first two months of training. BUT I would have to pay for my flight home. I cannot leave the first five months of service or the last three months of service. I am allowed four days per quarter for in country travel (visiting other volunteers most likely). I will hopefully get to come home for a week after my first year of service, but it depends on a lot of factors.

6. What will you eat?
Mostly nshima (cornmeal porridge), cabbage, corn everything!, mangoes, guavas, bananas, avocados

7. Can I visit you!?
YES! Please do! Depending on my school schedule I will let you know what the best time to visit is. You cannot visit until June (after my first three months in my village.) It seems like the cheapest time to come is May (November is also, but that is the beginning of rainy season) with tickets hovering around $1,600. You DO need a visa to come, a single entry only costs $50, multi-entry (if you want to hit other countries in the area) is $80. The visa claims that there are no required innoculations to get into Zambia, but you might want to check out malaria pills, typhoid pills, and yellow fever just to be safe.

8. What is the weather like there?

The dry/cool season is mid-April to August.

The hot season is September to mid-November

The wet season is mid-November to mid-April

Temperatures are generally in the high 70s to low 80s. In the hot season it can get up to 100, in cold season it can dip down to the 40s at night.

9. Do you get paid?

Yes, I get paid to live at the level of the community (about $1 a day). I get a move-in allowance to buy non-perishable food, containers to bathe in, furniture, seeds, and all that good, start up stuff. If I am able to complete my service term then I get a $6,000 paycheck so I can pay rent on an apartment, buy a cheap car, or whatever else I need to do to set myself up back in the US.

One Month!

I got my staging info the other day, which means ONE MONTH LEFT! Whooo! I also get to leave out of Washington DC, so I will hopefully get to meet up with some of my friends from American U before I am finally shipped out on Feb. 18th.

Things I am excited to bring with me:
My cups from Lindsay and my mom
Recipes
Gardening tips
Posters and maps for classrooms and my hut
Stickers for kids
Ipod nano
Kindle, with so many books I am itching to read!

I only have an 80 pound limit and I believe 113 inches of luggage space, so packing will be tight!