November Rain

Rain

The first Real Rain of the season began earlier this week. Deluge, Gullywasher, Torrential. These don’t quite cover it. It began somewhat suddenly around 6pm as I was cooking dinner and did not let up for the next 4 hours. The last few weeks have brought sporadic showers, but not the real thing. This was an incredible rain and it was really beautiful. For the first two hours. Then I was ready to go to the toilet and brush my teeth along with the other things in my evening routine. I managed to do things from the safety of my semidry covered porch, and for the first time in two months I used a sheet because it wasn’t 100 degrees in my hut. There was only one leak in my roof, which was taken care of with a bucket, like in the movies. The next few days were cooled considerably though the humidity has definitely set in.

Rains mean farmers begin going to their fields to prepare the land and plant in earnest. From 5 am to noon, the village is a virtual ghost town because everyone between the ages of 6 and 75 are at the field. Except Ambuya (granny), age 84, who keeps me company next door, she on her porch snoozing and me on mine reading and listening to the radio.

Rains also mean new critters. I was pleasantly surprised to find few bugs in my life up to this point in Zambia. Apparently, insects accompany rains. Now its ridiculously frustrating to even have a candle lit nearby me at night, nevermind my headlamp, because a million different types of insect are flying towards the light. One particular variety, local name inswa, is a popular snack so people make a big fire to catch as many as possible and roast. I haven’t yet tried this “delicacy.” I’m too annoyed at them to bother catching them. Snakes and Scorpions are also new hazards brought by the rains. I’ve been told I can no longer go to the toilet or bathe in the dark because you never know when one might be hiding. I had found a few small scorpions in my hut and didn’t see what the big deal was after I squashed them under my shoe. Then I encountered a scorpion the size of my hand and a shiver went down my spine. They can be lethal and I am now fearing.

Rain brings Mangos. Since the day I stepped off the plane into Zambia, Mango season has been built up so that I believed it would change my life for the better. It makes rainy season worth it. With the recent showers, mangos have begun to ripen. Various children brought me a couple as they returned from the field each day this week. They are very tasty, however after what started as a slight itchiness and irritation in the corners of my mouth, escalated over the last week to become a very irritated allergic reaction around my mouth and chin. I’ve been told this is a common PC allergy. So no mangos for this PCV. Honestly, they are kind of difficult to eat. More trouble than its worth, is what I’m trying to tell myself.

Rain has made gardening MUCH easier. Though possibly less satisfying in a way. My water hauling muscles will go away and I won’t spend an hour in the AM and PM watering the garden. Interestingly, the squash and zucchini I’m growing are doing beautifully and the Lepu, a Zambian staple vegetable has all died. My onions are still small and they’ll probably be harvestable in 4-6 weeks, although I really have no idea.
Work stuff is going okay. I spent way too much time in the hot season biking to schools to observe classes. I’ve had two successful community meetings recently though. At two different schools I met with communities to sensitize them on education. This basically means encouraging them to pay the volunteer teachers, send their kids to school and be involved in school development like building projects. The turnout was great at both meetings and people were really receptive. The skeptic in me knows this is at least in part because I’m a white lady to gawk at and has the potential to be a donor, at least in their minds. However, if the end effect is further development of the school in some way, it’s worth it I suppose.

This week I’m attending a training of trainers, or TOT. So I’ll be out of my village for more than a week. It’s a nice break.

American election day was really exciting and we had a party full of American food and CNN. About 9 of us volunteers met up at a guesthouse where we could watch CNN all night long. We made cheeseburgers and fries and apple pie. Our patriotism was excessive, as we decorated our bikes with American flags. I was up almost the whole night eating up all the political commentary (if you don’t know, I’m a closet political junkie). The next day, Zambians were shouting, “Obama! Obama!” as we rode around town. It was pretty exciting. Maybe Obama, will reverse all the funding cuts for Peace Corps….

That’s all for now, maybe more later this week. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Love, CJ

More photos!

Dad put up more photos I sent, so enjoy!

http://thegjfam.home.insightbb.com/Zambia2008-2010/Round2_Oct2008/index.html

October!

Its Zambian Independence Day! Happy 44th Birthday Zambia!

In Zambialand these days its very hot. It doesn’t bother me so much except at night. I wake up often because of the heat and can’t go back to sleep because I am drenched in sweat. During the day, I avoid the sun, but when part of my job is to bike to different schools it becomes a bit difficult. I’ve been toting my backpack full of water bottles to stay hydrated. The Zambians seem to think I drink an inordinate amount of water.

Some highlights of the last month have included me starting a garden and my village starting my new house. The garden is doing great and I’m growing onions, zucchini and squash. I plan to also grow watermelon and cantaloupe but I’m waiting for the rains to begin. Just with my one bed, I’ve doubled the amount of water I have to draw everyday so I’m holding off on the melons because they will require a lot of water. My neighbor is also gardening so we bond as she advises me and helps me out. The village seems proud that I’m growing something, since they are all farmers themselves.

The house they are building me has become its own telenovela. Instead of getting stressed about it, I’m trying to let them handle it and they can just tell me when to move my stuff. The reason they are building me a house is that the house I’m living in now (which I really like) belongs to my neighbor and she needs it back. When Peace Corps begins talking to a community about placing a volunteer there, they ask the community to provide housing to signify the community’s commitment to the volunteer and to the community’s own development. My community is not unwilling to do this, but they did say they would start it in June. Now its October and rain will come in two weeks and destroy their hardwork if its not completed.

A few weeks ago, I gave some teachers some Newsweek magazines to read when they asked me if I had any books they could borrow. I figured Newsweek would be harmless enough, however it turned out to be very strange to watch them flip through and be exposed to Americanness. Everything from picture captions to advertisements seems bizarre through the eyes of the Zambians. A frequent PCV comment is, Isn’t America weird?” They were particularly interested in a few stories about Michelle Obama, as the title article put it, “A real wife, in a real marriage.” Hahaha. I have to admit a bit of embarrassment on behalf of America. I realize its just what it is though. I’m trying not to negatively judge my own culture, but looking at things through a Zambians eyes does make me question, particularly advertising. Its just so odd sometimes, not necessarily bad.

Borehole wars—It is now the driest month in Zambia. There has been nary a drop of rain since early March. Luckily my borehole is staying strong and hasn’t been tapped out. I am told it will be fine. The nearby boreholes however, are struggling. A few have broken. So my borehole is getting used more intensively than normal. To fix broken boreholes it can be really expensive, so often it takes awhile for the village to raise the money or find it. The school where my borehole sits is considering locking it up outside of school hours to control whom is using it, or start charging for use. This doesn’t seem right to me but I don’t know what the solution is.

I have been following American politics as best I can. I even woke up at 3 am for the final McCain-Obama debate. After an hour I got bored and tired and went back to sleep. Zambians are really interested in the election. They have a lot of opinions about Afghanistan, Iraq, Bush, Obama, the economy, etc. Same goes for their own election which is October 30.

Village life is going well. No one should be surprised that my vermin saga continues. When I awoke one evening to a sprinkle on my face and expected to find a bat perched above, I instead found my arch-nemisis, Mr. Mouse crawling on my mosquito net. I have no idea how a net managed to support his weight, even though he wasn’t that big. It was really creepy, but I just went back to sleep after he crawled off. Multiple poison varieties and a trap have failed to kill him. Three nights in a row, he managed to snap the peanut off the trap and not get caught. I have to give him some serious credit for that, in addition to gnawing on some impressive objects. I was expecting a gigantic rat, but really he’s just a little guy. I keep imagining that story that I read when a kid of the mice that lived in the dollhouse playing house and drinking tea.

Thank you for the recent packages I received from Mom’s book clubs. I even had a dream the other night that I went home to visit and it was Book Club night. Hahaha. The packages were awesome and its pretty thrilling to get them. So ThankS!

Missing everyone at home, drop me a email, comment or facebook message!
Say hello to Fall, pumpkins, apple cider and Christmas decorations, hehe!
Love, Caitlin

How a sticker relates to development theory:)

I had a kid steal a sticker from me the other day. After washing my pots, I let them choose a sticker and then they like to look at the rest. They never take more than one sticker. However, the other day when they left I noticed many more stickers gone than pots scrubbed. I’ll be honest, I felt betrayed. I thought these kids were cool; I thought they were my friends. Its just a sticker, but its also the principle behind it. Really more than one principle, even. Stealing is bad, they shouldn’t steal from me or anyone. However, it also brings up the issue of volunteers being seen as “donors.” Because so many NGOs, Aid agencies, missionaries frequently address development by giving both things and money away, a relationship of dependence often develops among those in developing nations. An organization (typically white people) comes in and dumps a bunch of food or stuff on a community for a number or years and then when the organization pulls out and moves on, the people are left not knowing how to satisfy their needs. When PCV CJ moves in they see another white person and just more money. Every new group that I work with has to be sensitized to the idea that I’m not here to give them money or even stickers. Peace Corps philosophy is about capacity-building, developing people not things, and teaching people to meet their own needs. Many people ask me if I know donors who can help them. While I know of some grants to apply for, this is not the point of me being here and I hesitate to associate with a project that will perpetuate the idea of “white person as donor.” This is also why when people at home ask me how they can help or what they send me that my villagers need or would like, I am hesitant. What they need can’t be sent in a box from America. To be fair, many development organizations are moving away from the donation paradigm but it continues to persist and is frustrating for those of us trying to offer a different approach. So while I feel like an old curmudgeon complaining about a sticker thief, there is more to it than the loss of a dime-sized piece of entertainment.

tsitsi lali fupi (short hair)

So the hair is gone. Why would she be so crazy, you might be asking yourself.
1. I’m in Africa. Less than 10 degrees south of the Equator. Its HOT.
2.Its really hard to keep your hair clean, no matter the season, when you wash it upside down in a bucket.
3. I would never have the nerve to do this in America, and a lot of Zambian women have hair this short so I blend in a bit more.
4. As a result of living in a foreign environment, my hair is falling out. Not in chunks but just enough to be annoying. The medical officer told me this is one of the most common complaints of PCVs worldwide, due to the stress of living weirdly.
5. To let go of a natural vanity most women have regarding their hair (I haven’t shaved my legs in 7 months either! Imagine!?)
6. Its just hair, it will grow back.
7. I think secretly, I was always jealous that my brother could do this as a kid and be so cool in the summer. I’ve always wondered what it would be like.

I can’t stop rubbing my head.
The wind-in-my-hair thing has a whole new meaning now.

My mom said, “It looks weird, it will look better when it grows out.”
My friend said, “Man, I wish we had a basketball court here.” (In reference to the very round orangeness in front of him)
The housekeeper here in Chipata said I look like a boy.

I’m really enjoying it so far.

Phew, this will make the hot season cooler.

September 10, 2008

6 months in Zambia! Woot!
So upon returning to my village after being away for two weeks I felt a bit lost. The city, transport, and training were all highly stimulating so back to village life I felt a bit underwhelmed. School break had been extended a week because of the death of the President, so i didn't have much to do. The villagers were often gone or busy, so I was a bit lonely. Also, I discovered that my various vermin had decided to re-take up residence in my house while I was away. Yes. Bats and Rats. I'll spare the details because I feel like this blog has become a story of Peace Corps volunteer vs. the common pest. Anyway, this mad me both furious and a bit depressed. After I discovered the mouse had somehow worked its way into my bag of peanut M&Ms from Monika (who sent me a super awesome package!) it was the last straw. You just don't mess with my M&Ms. My counterattack has begun. Yesterday I purchased poison and hopefully the sucker is now dead. However, I am scared that he has crawled into my roof and may at some point just fall on me. or my stuff. Mice are so stressful. I'm also fearing that I will wake up to a giant fat rat dead on my floor. Why am I so afraid?

School finally started yesterday, so I have stuff to do. What I'm doing...still not exactly sure. Feeling my way in the dark.

Its hotttt in Zambia, only to get hotter.

I miss everyone from home!! Thanks for the recent packages!! Mom and friends, Zack and family, Monika , Dad and Pat!

Email me!

Love,
Caitlin

Long time, no blog...

Hello everyone! Its been awhile since I've blogged but there's not much new going on here in Zambia. After three months in my village, I went to Lusaka last week for a week of training. I was reunited with my training class and it was nice to see everyone. It was really weird to be in a city though. I got to see the new Batman--the first time I'd been to the movies in 6 months, so I splurged and bought some popcorn. It was probably the highlight of the week. Batman was awesome. Also during that week, the president of Zambia died, Levy Mwanawasa. This was pretty sad, though not altogether unexpected. After Lusaka I went with a couple friends to Chipata to just hang out for a few days because we decided to postpone our trip to Malawi. Here, we became addicted to the show Prison Break, managing to watch an entire season over two and half days. I'm heading back to the village today after having been gone for nearly two weeks. I'm really looking foward to going back.

Village life has been good for the most part. I went to some meetings. I tried to organize a community meeting but it failed to happen a couple more times. They should start building my house soon because hot season is fast approaching and then it will be rainy season and there won't be any time to build. We'll see.

I went to the post office yesterday and had about 6 packages--so if you sent me a package I probably got it. The problem is that my backpack is so huge and heavy right now that I won't be able to get them back to my house until the next time I come into the Boma. It might be a couple weeks. I did take two small packages from my dad and my mom's friend Paula. So thank you!!

That's about it for now. Miss you all!
Love,
Caitlin

5 months!

Hello! I am approaching the 5 month mark of living in Zambia and this is very exciting. Just a few weeks left of my Community Entry period and I then I will go to Lusaka for In-Service Training. The last month has flown by as I have been really busy visiting schools and further integrating into my village.

If you read this regularly, you might remember how one of my first realizations in Zambia back in February was that being in Peace Corps meant a lot of time spent on daily living and the technical project side of things more or less was secondary to living in a rural village. This was somewhat reinforced my first 6 weeks in the village when I didn't really understand what I was supposed to be doing, or even how I was to go about figuring that out. Visiting 15 schools in 4 weeks, however, has inspired me and energized me to focus on Rural Education Development. Many of the schools are in sad shape. At community schools (not directly supported by the government) the classrooms are the equivalent of a shelter or a thatched pavillion with mud benches. Most of the teachers may not have even completed 12th grade. However, these are the most dedicated teachers and their commitment to educating kids makes me want to help them in any way i can, whether that be helping them improve their teaching skills or starting income-generating projects for the schools. So right now, I have a lot of ideas about how I can be useful over the next two years. While I'm sure some of these will not work out and there will be many frustrating challenges to come, I'm looking foward to it. I also decided that because I want to work in international development in the future, I am not going to be one of those PCVs that hangs out in the village for two years and ignores the first goal of PC--To improve the capacity of people in the developing world to help themselves (my own paraphrasing). That is not to say that many volunteers ignore this, in fact, I'm learning more and more of the beneficial contributions PCVs have had on their communities and continue to be inspired.

For example, today I am in Chipata for a LIFE (Linking Income, Food and Environment) training which is being given mostly by other volunteers. Because of rising food and fuel prices and food security issues in general I think we have all become increasingly aware that understanding the way our communities support themselves is crucial to having a positive long-term impact. I, however, have no understanding of farming techniques or challenges. This training has given me a good basis for being able to ask villagers the right questions about the challenges their facing.

In the last week I've tried twice to have a community meeting to explain to surrounding villages why I'm here, what Peace Corps is, etc. Both times, only 3 people showed up. Soooo sad. This was due to some glitches in the headman-dissemination-of- knowledge system. In short, the headmen received notices to tell their villages and they did not do so. I am brainstorming on how to rectify this problem.

It has been quite cold in Zambia the last few days. I've been wearing jeans and sweatshirts all day, which is very unusual. Yesterday I biked for two hours, mostly uphill in a sweatshirt. COLD!

My email situation has currently switched from what it was. I can now check caitlinjohnson31@gmail.com but cannot check cait_the_Great99@yahoo.com. So just FYI.

America seems like a very different and far reality right now. Its hard to describe, but the world I've known for 23 years is hard to conceptualize from a distant rural village in Zambia.

I have become obsessed with both peanuts Peanut Butter. I eat it everyday and its probably (with soya pieces) the bulk of my protein intake. Also, bananas in Zambia are far superior to the bananas we eat in America. And so cheap!! I can get a heap of 5 smallish bananas for the equivalent of 25 cents. Peanut Butter and bananas also happens to equal a great breakfast or lunch.
I'll try to write more later.

Love,
Caitlin

Exploration

So this week I have been visiting schools in my zone. There are 14 altogether and this week I went to 6. This also provided me the opportunity to revisit the paths and roads that led to me getting heinously lost. Come to find out I really wasnt that lost, I was always kind of near where I was trying to be. Now, I have a very good idea of how to get to these 6 schools and I have made maps with landmarks so I will never get lost again (at least in the western part of my catchment area). However, the next two weeks I will be exploring the other areas and visiting the remaining 8 schools. They are not as far away though, so hopefully, they will also be easier to find. Visiting these schools has also made me feel more productive, as I am finally able to do some of the "assessing" that I'm supposed to, in order to figure out what the heck I'm doing in Zambia. I have really been enjoying biking around and visiting these schools. A lot of biking involved but I'm loving it. Why didn't I bike more in Americaland? Today I'm hopefully getting my brand-spankin' new bike which is exciting. It has red and white stripes (yes!) so as if I didn't already stick out (you know, the white skin) now my bike is very showy. All Zam bikes are the same--solid black. At least now I won't be worried someone will steal it, because everyone will know exactly who it belongs to.

I think I have finally solved my bat issue! I had made peace with my bat. After a few nights where he was crapping on my head, I had had enough. I sought help from the village. Right now, I'm stuffing a piece of cloth above my door and he hasn't visited in a few nights. I had named him Malfoy. Hopefullly, I'll never see Malfoy again and he will get the idea that our co-habitation is over. I've kicked him out of the house.

A note on dirt/sand: Dirt is very useful for cleaning! Who knew? If you are having trouble cleaing something like a pot, just use dirt! A village secret. Also, I think I have a permanent layer of dirt on me. The dirt is like the color of clay soil so it kind of looks like I've been using fake tanner. Heheh. Scrubbing is no use. I've made peace with this.

That's all for now, so who's coming to visit me?

Lost in Africa (hopefully episode 1of 1)

This week I had one of my most traumatic experiences in Zambia so far, other than being sick in April. I got lost in the wilderness while trying to get home from one of the schools in my zone. It was a spazzy day overall on my part because on the way to the school I fell off my bike AGAIN, scraping up the other side of my body just as the right side was starting to look normal. Before you start thinking, “Wow, Caitlin can’t ride a bike,” let me just say that riding on small paths that are filled with sand and rocks and ditches is not as easy as cruising along on pavement. It can be rough, especially because right now its so dry and the sand patches are terrible.
So on the way to the school, which I purposefully went to alone, to see if I could get there on my own, I did not get lost. Halfway, I found a student who was also going to the same school and showed me the rest of the way. However, I must not have been paying very good attention because on the way home, I got very turned around. I had gotten imput from several people on how to get home, but Zambians have a different idea of “directions” I think. From one point to another there are probably a thousand different bush paths to take and depending on where one’s grandma lives or whatever, the directions probably vary from person to person. There is also the language barrier. Since I can only understand the basics, if someone couldn’t speak English, it wasn’t much help. The part of this whole experience was that I left Chikuse school around 4 pm giving myself two hours to get home by dark. It only took an hour to get there, so I thought I would have plenty of time for error. Well, about 5:15 when I found out I was going the completely wrong direction, I began to get worried. Suppressing the rising fear in my stomach, and trying to tell myself this was an adventure, I turned around and asked again for some directions. A woman pointed me to this very small path and said this would take me where I was going. I did not feel good about this tiny path, but off I went. Twenty minutes later I had not seen a single human being, or grass hut never mind the village I was trying to get to. I began thinking I would be sleeping in the bush that night, luckily there would be a lot of moonlight and I still had about half a bottle of water left. I was officially scared since it was about half an hour before dark and because the path had forked a couple times I didn’t even know if I was on the right path anymore. Finally I passed a woman who confirmed I was on the right path and close to the village I was looking for. I went a bit further and found a family where I had them physically walk me to the road. This was a good idea because even though they told me “Its close, just through there” It was actually a 5 minute bike ride away and I wouldn’t have been able to have found it from those vague directions. Twenty minutes later, I arrived at my hut, although these last 20 were pretty much in the dark. It was a very scary experience but all the Zambians that I encountered were very nice and helpful. I knew that if worse came to worse, someone would give me some food and let me sleep on there floor. In fact they would probably think it was really exciting to have the strange white person stay with them. It was only when I didn’t see any villages that I was worried I was really in trouble. When I told my villagers I got lost, they insisted that from now on, I can’t go anywhere by myself. I’m pretty sure I won’t live this one down for the next two years.

Last Sunday, I went to a ceremony that takes place before a wedding and the purpose is to instruct the bride-to-be on how to take care of her husband. It consisted of about 20 women crammed into a small hut dancing around topless to drumming. One by one, every woman there, stood up, took off there shirt and showed their best dance moves. It was so crazy, you can’t imagine. There were two women playing drums and this is the only context I’ve seen women playing drums in. They were quite good. The rest of the details of this ceremony are not really suitable for the internet but if are truly interested from maybe an anthropological perspective, just ask me some other time. At the end the women made me dance and it was hilarious to see their reactions to my dancing.

Other than that, life in the village is pretty normal. This month there hasn’t been much going on in my schools because they are having various competitions, including sports, science fair, and drama and arts competitions. It is definitely cold season in Zambia. Right now I'm sitting wrapped in a blanket with fleece socks on. Its probably in the 60's outside but I don't know if I'm very good at guessing the temperature and I haven't seen a thermometer in Zambia. Biking at 6:30 in the morning can be especially chilly and I'm usually bundled with gloves. It really doesn't seem like temps in the 60's and 70's would be that bad and its actually really nice when the sun is out. However, taking a bath can be something I sort of dread. The wind is especially painful. It can be really windy here and that's what makes the cold really uncomfortable. Don't worry though, mom, I have plenty of warm clothes here.

Shout-outs for the awesome packages I received from Mamie, Lori and Kathryn and Cortney. They were packed full of wonderful things and needless to say, in the last week I have eaten more than my fair-share of candy. YAY. THANK YOU.

A Bike wreck and A Birthday party. AND PICS!

Link to pics put up by dad, ENJOY: http://thegjfam.home.insightbb.com/Zambia2008-2010/Round1-June08


The last couple weeks have been eventful. Last Wednesday I went to an HIV/AIDS workshop for teachers and it was quite interesting until post-lunch I realized I wasnt feeling very well. I decided to leave early knowing I had a 30 minute bike ride home and I was going to be sick soon. Long story short--food poisioning for two days and feeling like crap. My village was so worried about me (since they could hear all the vomitting) it was quite sweet actually. My neighbor offered to sleep on my floor at night in case i had to get up during the night. I survived it only to then wreck my bike the first day after I was feeling better. On my way to town to hopefully pick up packages and veggies and 10K in I crashed....so sad. I had some bad scrapes on my arms and there wouldnt be any way to clean in town and my bike wasn't looking to good so i decided to head back home. I then lied around for another couple days healing my wounds. I was lucky though, and I know that. It could have been much worse.

The next day was my birthday!! Yay! Diana came over and we made the most delicious oatmeal with cranberry cookies EVER. Even by American standards, really good. We basically cooked and ate all day then watched a movie on my iPod. A great Zambian birthday.

I'm in Chipata right now for a meeting where all PCVs in the Province get together and discuss various issues that need to be addressed. Meeting not so painful and followed by a Carnival-themed party. It was a lot of fun to hang out with all the people in the province at once. I'll be back in a couple weeks to do Visa/immigration stuff, so expect more blogging then.
Love,
Caitlin

update:)

Hello friends and fam!

Things are going well still and I have now been staying in my village for just over three weeks. Today I am in at the provincial Peace Corps house in Chipata to get my Visa renewed so I don’t get deported from Zambia. With that taken care of, I’ve been able to buy some groceries, take a shower, and use electricity—all of the things PCVs look forward to when they come to the house. This week was the first time I’ve seen the people in province who were in my training class since being posted three weeks ago, and it’s been great to hear about friends’ experiences thus far.

So my first few weeks in the village have been really great, though I have a few frustrations. In the last blog, I think I mentioned cooking and critters as my problem areas and those remain the same. Luckily, I have invented a couple recipes that I make almost every other night, so I’m not going hungry. The critter situation is definitely something I am learning to live with as best I can. I now have a bat (maybe bats) that live in my house and come out at night to feast on the insects in my house. For some reason, the bat really freaks me out, even though I’m sure it’s harmless. One night when I had to get up to lock my door, he swooped down and was flying around my hut. I was paralyzed with fear in my bed and waited 20 minutes to work up the nerve to emerge from my mosquito net. Afterwards, I scolded myself for being so scared and ridiculous, however, I still don’t really know how to get rid of it. Another problem with the bat is that he seems to roost right over my bed and excrete his waste all over the plastic tarp I have over my bed. I originally put the tarp up to prevent grass and bugs, etc. from falling down onto my bed and head. It has served the dual purpose of preventing bat poo from getting on me.

Another of my frustrations has been how to best occupy and fill my time. I have A LOT of free time in the village and I have found it a bit difficult to feel productive every day. I am so happy that I finally have the time to read so much, but I find that I can only read so much in one day. I have been writing letters and trying to study language as well. I think that interacting with people is going to be the best way to learn the language but this can sometimes be difficult. I’ve decided to start a garden and compost, but I will have to spend a lot of time reading and researching and asking villagers about the best way to go about this. I know virtually nothing about vegetable gardening, but I’m excited to learn something completely new.

I have also been interacting with my schools and the teaching staff to some degree. The community school staff (consisting of three teachers for 200+ students) has been really awesome and they have become my community liaisons in many ways. They walk me around the villages so I can learn where things are and meet the residents. They help me nag the carpenter to hurry up and make my furniture, and they help me bust open my door when the lock breaks and I am locked out of my house. Hehe, whoopsy-daisy.

On Sunday, I attended the Anglican Church in my village then went to a wedding. It was a traditional wedding and it so much fun—by far the most interesting and informative cultural experience I’ve had in Zambia. Basically, everyone in the surrounding villages attended, so it turned out to be a great way to meet people. Plus, they were all excited that the Muzungu (foreigner) was there. For the wedding, there was lots of singing and speeches. It began when the bride and groom came out with their caregivers, those who instruct the husband and wife on their spouse-ly duties. They had a sheet over their heads and sat on a reed mat with bowls in front of each of the 4 people. No one could really see their faces, and in fact, I never did see their faces so I don’t actually know who was getting married. Anyways, the bowls are for the gifts or money that people have come to offer. Various groups came forward to offer their gifts and they usually sang and danced as they did so. Even I offered my kwacha, though I did not sing or dance. There was a master of ceremonies who announced every group that went forward. After I laid down my money-gift, the crowd cheered and was really happy I was participating. After the singing part, there were skits that were meant to instruct the couple on how to be good spouses to each other. I won’t really go into the details because it was a bit lewd (Not sure the ages of people reading this.) Haha. This was followed by various speeches of family members giving advice to the couple. I got a bit bored and tuned out at this point. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, so I just started entertaining the kiddos who had gathered around me.

Monday, I had a sleepover with my neighbor Diana and another PCV LaShaya who lives in our district. Peace Corps sleepovers are fun and we made a delicious stir-fry and a pumpkin cake. The cake was delicious. We baked it by forming a circle of bricks, two bricks high. We placed coals on the ground, set the pot on the coals then more coals on the lid of the pot. After maybe an hour, the cake was cooked. It was awesome.

Tuesday morning I woke up early to bike to Petauke to meet up with my boss, Mary Lu, the coordinator of Peace Corps Zambia’s Rural Education Development project. We met with the District education officer then headed out to my site. I was happy to get a ride back because I also picked up three packages at the post office. Three awesome packages I might add, from my Dad and Pat, Mom and Zack! THANK YOU! The packages were so great I can’t even describe how happy they made me. Anyway, Mary Lu camped at my site and we cooked one of the only things I can cook. This was also the night, we had to bust open my lock to get into my house and the night they decided to deliver my bed. So with 30 minutes warning I had to rearrange my whole house to accommodate my bed. I’ve been sleeping on the ground since the end of February (with mattress of course) so I have to admit, it was strange to be elevated off the ground. I could a feel a breeze coming in thru the crack of my window and it was a weird sensation.

Next day I hitched into Chipata, getting a ride part of the way from a Zambian Catholic priest. He was super nice and I chatted with him about the Catholic Church in Zambia. Apparently seminary here is 8 years to be a priest. I don’t think its that long in the states. I have to say that I am surprised by how much religion has enabled me to connect with people. I think they are excited that they can relate to me on this level since my country and I are so exotic and strange to them. Even though we don’t talk theology or even the same language they feel like they can identify with me in some way. So far I have been to two churches, Anglican and Reformed Church of Zambia. Most of the Zambians in my village are quite religious. I don’t know if I will continue to attend church services, but they seem to appreciate my willingness to go and pray with them. At the services, they have each given me an English bible to use and make sure I know what verses they are reading from that day, even though they are of course reading it in Nyanja. They introduce me and I have to give a little speech, usually. The Anglican service was so much like a Catholic mass that I could tell what was happening most of the time. I never realized that before.

One last amusing thing that I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. Zambians cannot pronounce my name whatsoever. In the village I am Catherine Lungu. I even pretty much introduce myself as Catherine. There’s no point in saying Caitlin because they will either butcher it, look at me confused, or just come out with Catherine. I have made peace with this.

Lastly, thank you for the emails, letters, packages. It is truly so exciting to hear from you at home. I’m sorry if you write to me and I don’t respond but sometimes I can only read email or have limited time on the internet or at my network spot in the village. If I stand about 15 ft in front of a certain tree in my village I can get cell reception and sometimes even enough to check email, but its spotty. So, I love updates from home and I love comments on the blog! Miss you guys!
Love, Caitlin

Village life: week 1

Greetings from Petauke, Zambia!
On Wednesday, I got posted in my village permanently and so far so good. It was slightly emotional, as it usually is for most volunteers. There are so many anxieties, hopes, fears, joys and anticipation that it was a little tough to keep it together as Jeremy (our PCVL for the province) and my friend Eric hugged me goodbye and drove away in the cruiser. But my family nearby came and chatted with me and helped me get settled in a bit for the night. They got me some charcoal so I could start a fire, etc. With all my crap inside in boxes and bags, my hut seems pretty small. I don't have any furniture yet, though it is in the process of being built. I went with a couple villagers the other day to visit the carpenter and make sure things are on track. I feel really disorganized living out of boxes and bags and I don't have any work space to cook, or do dishes, or write a letter so I'm a little frustrated but this is all part of village life. For the most part, my villagers and especially my housing committee seem very motivated and enthusiastic about helping me out and making sure that I have what I need.

The first several days I just hung out around my hut, trying to organize and get adjusted before diving in to community entry. The first three months of service in the village is called Community Entry and we are encouraged by PC to be in the village, making friends and figuring out the basics of living as much as possible. We're technically not to supposed to leave our district except for specific circumstances( i.e. on May 22nd we have to go to the Provincial capital to get our Visas renewed). However, yesterday I biked into the Boma (30 K and somewhat painful) because I neglected to buy any veggies or fruits before being posted. You can only do so much with pasta and sauce packets. Cooking-wise I have been both uninspired and unsuccessful. The headman of my village brought me a bunch of pumpkin, groundnuts(peanuts) and some other type of gourd one day. I attempted to cook the pumpkin but it ended up really over-cooked. I also tried to make some rice to go with it and I added too much water. Apparently I don't even know how to cook rice. Another night I tried to make soup from a packet and add some spices to it, but it wasn't very good. I dumped most of it out. I get by on PBJ, tuna, oatmeal--easy stuff. I've never been an elaborate cooker and it doesn't seem like life in Zambia is going to change that.

My biggest fear in the village so far has been keeping mice and rats away from my hut and my food. I have to keep all of my food tightly packed into plastic bins and buckets. Its common for mice to live in the thatched grass roofs, so I have to make peace with this and try and protect my food. As long as rats stay away, I think I'll be okay.

I have been doing a lot of reading the last few days, so hopefully my time here will give me the chance to do a lot of reading I've been wanting to do. I also have a great book on yoga that I've started reading (Thanks Dr. Logan!) and I plan on using free time to practice yoga. Other than that I'm open to suggestions for new hobbies. Haha. The Community entry period is more about getting acquainted with your village and less about diving into the work-aspect of Peace Corps. By successfully integrating yourself in the first three months, theoretically the next two years will be much more successful because you have a better grasp on the needs of the community.

My nearest PC neighbor is Diana and she is 5k away from me. She has been awesome so far and I feel really lucky that I have a neighbor. The day I got posted she dropped by and brought me some Chocolate(!), EasyMac (!) packs and Crystal light packs(!). Crystal light packs are like trading cards here. PCVs trade the ones they are sent with others, its kind of funny. Diana also biked into the Boma with me yesterday to show me the shortcuts. It took us just over 2 hrs, which is pretty good time for my first time biking it. We stayed the night in Petauke and I'm not really looking foward to biking back this afternoon, as it will be intensely hot. Its supposed to be a much easier ride on the way back though, mostly downhill. My bum is still sore though. Yikes.

Today is my brother, Dan's birthday--so HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER!
Thanks for all the messages when I was sick, I'm much better now, though sick in Zambia is something I am going to try very hard to avoid.
Miss you all!
Love,
Caitlin

PCV: its official.

Well, Friday we had swearing in and I am officially a Peace Corps volunteer. It was very exciting, though my day was a bit subdued because of lingering illness. As of today, I feel almost 100% recovered from my medical nightmare. At swear-in, the Ambassador to Zambia as well as a bunch of other people.

Thursday and Friday night we stayed at a lodge in Lusaka and I only mention it because of the incredible shower that I had. Scalding hot, good pressure and adequately positioned above my head. You may not realize that this was my first real shower in Zambia. And I was beyond thrilled. It was the perfect ending to my day from hell on Thursday, when I had my rash breakout. After two months of a bucket bath, I really can't express how awesome it was to take a real, hot shower.

On Saturday morning, we shipped out to Chipata, the Provincial capital of Eastern Province. Peace Corps has a house in every province for volunteers to use and come and decompress. So we are here for several days while we do necessary shopping, etc. before we get posted in our villages. The house is pretty cool. It has electricity and running water--both of which go out about once a day. We have met some of the other volunteers in the province. The house is honestly about 20% frat house if you know what I mean. A bit dirty, disorganized and chaotic. What did you expect though, it has 30+ peace corps vols using it and we're all dirty hippies, right? JUST KIDDING. stop judging.

okay....well thats about it for now, I might be inspired later in the week.

Trials and Tribs of sick in Africa

So, you may or may not have heard that earlier this week I contracted Malaria. Thats right, the number one killer in Zambia and possibly all of Africa. But don't be alarmed I have good medical care and drugs. I will start at the beginning....

On Sunday night I woke in chills and rigors followed by sweats. The following day, I was quite achy and had a headache. Lisa said, "That sounds like Malaria." The thought crossed my mind but I hadn't seriously considered it. I gradually started to feel worse and called the PCMO for a consult. She told me to go take a quick test at the training office, which I did, and it was negative. However, because of the prophylaxis we take once a week to prevent malaria, tests often come up negative. So because I had such distinctive symptoms I was instructed to start treatment anyway. The treatment lasts three days and is just 4 pills twice a day. By the time I got back to my hut I could barely take the meds I was feeling so bad. For the next two days I basically slept and writhed around in pain in my hot little hut. I really have never felt so bad in my life.

Fast foward to day 4 post-malaria: I should be feeling much better, but the last two days I've had a persisent, immobilizing headache/migraine. I woke with a rash on my arms and chest. Luckily we were coming into the Peace Corps office and I got to see a Med officer face to face. She nearly immediately assessed that I now have tick-borne encephalitis. (Google that if you want). All this the day I move out of my homestay. It was sad to leave my Zam Fam but I really couldn't soak it in because I'm sick. Tomorrow is our big Swear-In ceremony and I also won't be ale to fully appreciate this, which sucks. Gilly (PCMO) says I will feel much better by Saturday. Just wanted to give an update, but I have to go now...

Love you guys and miss you!

CJ

New Zambia Address!

Hey peeps!!
So from now on I will have a new address:
Caitlin Johnson/PCV
Peace Corps
PO Box 560059
Petauke
Zambia

this is effective now, because by the time anything sent now arrives I will be in Petauke. So spread the word! Also, my birthday is May 31, about a month and a half away so now would be a good time to send things:) hehe.

I got my first package yesterday from my mom and it was fabulous!! It had candy, tuna, pictures from the going away party, and other great stuff inside. For some reason all the trainees' packages had accumulated and we all got them on the same day so it was seriously like Christmas in Zambia.

Lisa, Christa and me waiting for our ride to Lusaka...

Picture of Eric (trainee), LaShaya (PCV), me, Rob and Laura, our site visit hosts, and Ryan (trainee) during Second site visit.

Hi! We are getting down to the home stretch of training because two weeks from now I will be posted at my site in Petauke. I am looking forward to the end of training but it will be strange to be away from the 50 other volunteers that I see on a regular basis. Here are some highlights from the last couple weeks:
--The fauna of Africa: One day in language class, my classmate Ryan looked down and started screaming because there was a TARANTULA crawling up MY leg. We had a minor freak out and the tarantula ran away. Apparently they are harmless. However, they look very scary. Also, one day as I was investigating a small bug infestation all over my walls, I found two frogs and and a spider in my hut within the span of 10 seconds. Stressful, but I dealt with it and luckily there has been no more fauna in my hut since then.
--Transport in Zambia is comical, stressful and overwhelming. On our way back from Petauke, we were responsible for getting our own transport back to Lusaka. Up until this point, we had been nicely chauffeured around by snazzy Peace Corps Land cruisers everywhere. So after an unsuccessful attempt at hitchhiking, Ryan, Eric and I decided to take a bus back to Lusaka. It cost us 60,000 kwacha to get a bus (about $15) for a 5 hour ride. The bus was a charter bus like you'd see in America except there were way too many people on it. There were people standing all down the aisle when we boarded so we squeezed in at the front. Eric and Ryan sat on the console next to the driver. The center of gravity for this bus was frightening as we raced down the Great East Road at abou 110 K/hour. This is very fast for a windy, hilly road. After 5 hours squeezed into a half-seat my bum has never hurt so bad in my life. We arrived in Lusaka just in time.

Chitindi village--Here I come!

Thanks for the messages everyone! Right now i am in petauke boma, which is the nearest town to where i will live the next two years. i was at at my site yesterday and the day before and it is beautiful! I was greeted by a group of villagers who SOO excited for me to arrive. It was awesome! My temporary hut is also amazing, but they will soon be building me a bigger, better house, which is hard to imagine. I have the cutest little fenced in yard with a pretty tree and cooking shelter in front. The family on the compound seems really nice, but they don't speak much English. The predominant language of the area is Chinsenga, a dialect of Chinyanja, the language i've been studying for the last month. Its going to be difficult to learn two different languages, but I don't think I'll have any trouble finding someone to tutor me in the village. I have to go now, but I will hopefully get back online on Saturday, and tell more fabulous details.

I spend my days under African skies....

Hola! We are in Lusaka today to do some grocery shopping before we go on our second site visit, which is where we get to go stay at our actual site for a few days with another volunteer thats already in the area. The highlight of this week was definitely finding out where our permanent sites and new homes will be. I will be in the Mawanda area of Petuake district in the Eastern Province of Zambia. My village is called Chitindi village and from what I've heard it sounds great. There is another volunteer in the same village who will be 5k from me. This is very rare for PCVs to be placed in the same village, so I'm pretty psyched that I will have someone so close. Apparently, this area really wanted an Education volunteer so hopefully they will be enthusiastic about working with me. There is a government school and clinic 5k away and there is a community school within 1k of me, so I am really excited. My water will come from a borehole(water pump) that is also less than a kil from my house so i feel lucky. This is one of the safest sources of drinking water, although I will probably still boil it then filter it. My site is about 35k from the nearest boma (town) which is Petauke. When I need to get there I will either hitch or I can bike it. Hitching is a really common form of transport for volunteers and its apparently very safe. It saves us from having to spend kwacha on transport. Two other education volunteers in my intake, Eric and Ryan, will also be in my district, as well as one LIFE volunteer (agro-forestry program), so that's pretty cool.

Everything is still going great and I'm not homesick yet. I would say one of the things I'm most grateful I brought is a pack of earplugs and the thing I miss most is a hair-dryer. Other than that I'm adjusting really well. Language is kind of tough because we are just learning so much in a short period. We had a second language exam on Friday and I think I did okay. We are having a big party tonight--an American-style BBQ, complete with roasted goat, sports, and music.

I'm really loving the family I'm with and I admire each of them so much. Life, especially for women in Zambia, is pretty hard. Even the children seem so much more involved in their own care and the care of others, its amazing. My grandma wrote me an email asking if I help take care of the children and the answer is NO! THEY help take care of me, the "muzungo," who can't cook for herself, or do her own laundry. I'm talking, an 11 year old, basically did half my laundry this week, as I looked on and attempted to be helpful. She then instructed me on washing dishes and fetching water. It was humbling. 6-year-old kids tote babies on their back as they help around the house. They do all this, with smiling happy faces and a peaceful nature. All the kids (about 10) on my compound are great.

I'm so upset because I accidentally deleted all the pics I have taken when I was trying to change the settings!! So no pics today, but hopefully when I come back from my site next week I'll be able to post some of where I'll be living for the next TWO YEARS! Ugh, it makes me sick to think about but Dad mentioned they may be recover-able, so we'll see.

If you read this blog, leave me a comment and ask any questions you have or just give me a shout so I know you still remember who I am. Sometimes when I sit down at a computer I have trouble thinking about what details people might want to know.
Zambia is awesome, Peace Corps is awesome. Sometimes I don't believe I'm actually here and that I'm perfectly content living in a developing country. I hope this honeymoon period never ends...haha. I have to go buy food now, so I can eat over the next while I'm camping at my site. Stay in touch! Miss you guys!!
Love,
Cait

Muli Bwanji!

Yay! Its my first blog entry from Zambia! I'm sorry this is the first opportunity I've had to use the internet, but as you can probably imagine, there isn't exactly wi-fi at every Starbucks. I don't even know where to begin...I've been gone for 3.5 weeks and I've been in Zambia for 3 weeks. So far it is truly awesome and I am so happy to be here. I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

I guess I'll try to start from the beginning. The plane ride to Zambia via South Africa was surprisingly not that bad. I was mildly uncomfortable the entire time, but I dozed in and out enough that it went by pretty quickly. When we finally arrived in Zambia it was about 9 pm on Saturday night and we were greeted by a bunch of current Peace Corps Volunteers and Staff. We loaded all our stuff into Land Cruisers and made our way to the government hostel where we stayed for a couple days doing orientation stuff, etc. Then we were taken in small groups to stay for five days with a current PCVolunteer (PCV) for five days. This was to introduce us to life in the bush as well as what our jobs would actually entail. I was in a group with three other people that went to Central Province to stay with a volunteer named Carrie. I think when we first pulled up to her site, we were all a bit in shock. Its one thing to read about how you will be living and another to actually experience it. One of the things that I didn't realized before I left and I realize now, is how much time a volunteer spends on just surviving and living: cooking, doing dishes, drawing water, etc. Carrie had a really nice hut separated into a couple different rooms: kitchen, bedroom, living room. It was probably about 10 ft x 12ft. During this site visit week, I happened to get a pretty bad cold. It was kind of miserable but I knew if I could just tough it out than I would have already faced illness in Africa and survived. I felt a bit sorry for the two people sharing a tent with me though. The program I'm in is RED (Rural Education Development) which consists of helping train teachers as well as monitoring schools and teachers for quality as an arm of the Ministry of Education. With Carrie, we went to her school and saw what she does on a daily basis, met with the head teacher, saw a classroom lesson, etc.

After first site visit, we were transferred to our host families to start the real training process. My host family is really awesome and we are totally bonding. I live with a mother, Catherine, and her three children who are 12, 7, and 3. She is a second wife (polygamy) so my host father is only around about half the week. Another trainee is actually staying with his first wife, so that's fun to compare notes. Haha. I have my own hut, which is pretty sweet. Its about the size of our shed in the backyard. Its quite cozy--a mattress on the floor covered by an industrial strength mosquito net, a stool and a small table. Plus all my crap. Its fun and so far nothing pesky except some spiders which i promptly kill with my shoe. My biggest fear is rats/mice but luckily I haven't had any problems yet. I had a minor anxiety attack the other night over some rustling but it turned out to only be a grasshopper. Close call. I usually get up at about 6:30 am eat breakfast (bread, peanut butter and instant coffee!), head off to language class by 8. Language class is until 12:30 (and a bit excruciating) then a lunch break and technical training from 2-5. Then i make my way back to my hut, take a nice warm bucket bath, eat dinner, chat with the fam (in English mostly) and i'm in my hut ready for bed by 8. I try and stay awake til 9, but sometimes it just ain't happenin'. Training is exhausting!!

Some highlights: We had a medical session exclusively on diarrhea, which was fun. We had a session on bike maintenence, which was quite intimidating. I don't have a bike yet because all my training sessions are nearby, but many trainees have bikes. I will be getting a really nice $800 Trek bike soon, though.

Zambia is beautiful!! I will have to post pictures next time, but the landscape is beautiful, and not at all what I was expecting. It is quite hilly and there are some mountains in the distance. Its very green (this is the end of the rainy season), and most of the area we are in is covered by corn fields! Corn (or maize as its called here) is the primary crop. They raise it for consumption as well as to sell. My family gets their water from pump at the headman's house. We then boil it then filter it to drink and cook with. Bathing water is from a hole out back. There is no electricity where I am, so usually I use candles and/or a kerosene lamp. I know I'm leaving out so much but I hope after training, I will have more consistent internet access. I'm loving it so far, but I miss everyone at home and I would welcome any e-mails or letters. My cell phone gets internet but I can only check my yahoo account not gmail for some reason, so its cait_the_great99@yahoo.com. I hope everythings good at home, keep me updated!!
Love you all!!
Caitlin

Zambian adventure part USA!

hey everyone! I'd like to first of all say thank you to everyone who came to my Par-tay on Saturday! It was so amazing to see friends and family. I feel so lucky. I also never realized how much work it is to be the center of attention/the party girl. Haha. I was perty tired. Also thanks to my parents, Lori, Julie and other family and friends who helped prep for the par-tay. It was so fabulous.

Okay now for info about my PC journey over the last few days. The night before I left I got 2.5 hours of sleep because I was up so late packing. My stuff weighs about 70 lbs and that's 10 lbs under what we are allowed. So I don't know how that happened but I have always been a "light" packer. If that's what you want to call it (It IS 70 lbs). It is really hard to manage as it is, so I'm glad its not 80. I immediately realized I forgot some essentials: hairbrush, nail clippers, towel. These I have since purchased, luckily. So I flew out of Nashville after some tearful goodbyes and cried as I looked at the beautiful Nashville skyline for the last time in the near future. I wiped away some tears on the flight hoping that the lady next to me wouldn't notice...

I arrived in DC, hauled all my luggage onto a shuttle, dropped my crap off at the hotel in Georgetown and went downtown to have lunch with Corinne and Stephanie!!! Highlight of the trip so far. They are my roommates from senior year at Vanderbilt and it was fabulous to see them right before leaving. So then back at Holiday Inn G-town, the orienting began. So far everyone I've met has been really cool and I can tell we have a great group. There are 52 people in all going to Zambia. Most are around my age, some a tad older. Today there was more orienting, group collaboration, sharing, feelings, anxieties, aspirations, etc. After lunch, a surprise! Vaccines! Well just one, yellow fever at THE dept of Health and Human Services. How many people can say they've been injected at the Dept of Health right next to the Capitol? Cool, right? And as a bonus, we basically got a mini-tour of DC as we drove around. Oh and a special note. There was no soap in the bathroom and I wouldn't say the restroom was especially tidy. However it was a nice building. I hope its not against PC policy to diss another Government organization in a blog.

So after getting vaccinated, we returned for more sharing and learning. Then we held hands and chanted. Not really, but i wouldn't have been surprised. In a small group we were assigned to write a song about our coming experience. One guy brought a guitar so we changed the words to Sweet Home Alabama to Sweet New Home in Zambia. It was pretty swweeeet. After all that was over with Corinne came and picked me up! We stopped at Target to pick up the aforementioned items that I forgot. And now i'm in Corinne's apartment blogging and skyping with Renata!! Since we got our shots earlier today we get to sleep in tomorrow! Woot! we leave at 11:30 for the airport and our flight leaves at 5:20 pm. If everything goes smoothly then we'll arrive at 9:00 Zambia time on Saturday night. I think that's about 2:00 BG time. Well I need to be heading back to the hotel now. I'll blog again as soon as I can but it might be awhile! Stay tuned! I miss everyone!

Love, Caitlin

Leaving in 5 days...Zambia in 7!

Today was my last day at work and it was kind of sad. I've really enjoyed working there and truly loved all the people. Plus I was getting pretty adept at rolling silverware in my downtime. I am starting to get both really pumped and a little nervous about leaving. I still feel like I have a lot left to do and get before I leave. Hopefully over the next few days I can spend as much time as possible with everybody! I got my new iPod this week so I'm busy loading it up with movies, music, pictures and such!

6 weeks!

6 weeks from today my wait will end and the adventure will begin. I will move to Zambia to become a Peace Corps Community Education Development volunteer.

To my own surprise, I am relatively free of apprehension (except on the issue of packing). At this point I am proud of myself for following through on something I've always wanted to do. I've felt that I was meant to do this for years. There are things that you always dream of doing and as you get older those dreams change. My Peace Corps dream never went away and I'm about to go off and make a big check mark on my life's to-do list.
Speaking of lists....things I have left to get:
--sleeping bag
--Solio solar charger
--headlamp(s)
among other things.