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!