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!