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!