Saturday, August 18, 2012

1 Month Update!

Hello to all of my beautiful family and friends! I have been in Zambia for 1 month, and have reached my first Internet cafe. There is so much to say, but I firstly wanted to tell you all that I am happy and safe and loving life. I am also SO appreciative for all of your love and support, I can feel it all the way across the globe.  Where to start... right now we are in PST (Pre-Service Training), 11 weeks of intense language and technical health training that is exhausting at times, but is getting me so excited to find out my village placement (I find out on Friday of next week) so that I can settle into a community and begin working on community health projects for the next 2 years.  My friends in this group of trainees are absolutely incredible, and if I ever need a hug or any emotional support, I get at least 10 hugs.  My host family is just my Bamaama, and every night we talk freely over dinner about our days, about the differences between life in Zambia and life in America, about our families... I really value our time together, and I am going to miss her so much when I leave training.  On Sundays I also love washing clothes and fetching water with her as the sun sets.

A typical day during training begins as the sun wakes up, I bike to language class in a neighboring village.  I have language training with 3 other volunteers in an nsaka (open hut).  By noon we bike home, have lunch (I taught my Bamaama how to make PB&J), and then bike to our technical training center for health training, or a field trip to a rural health clinic.  By 5:15 I bike home, bathe quickly before the sun sets, write in my journal, have dinner with my Bamaama, and fall asleep around 9:30 or 10 at night inside my little mud hut.

There are so many ups and downs throughout training, but after the first few weeks I have felt so present and balanced here in Zambia. I know I am where I need to be. I feel overwhelmingly grateful for this opportunity to work as a health volunteer in Zambia, so lucky to be alive experiencing another culture, meeting the most amazing people, and maintaining connection to home (so far, phone calls and texting are the only way to do this).  After training we swear in (October 5!) as Peace Corps Volunteers, then 3 months of community entry where we settle into our communities, and then we can begin our work on HIV/AIDS prevention, malaria prevention, and child and maternal health.  I will have a little more internet access after community entry (January), but I can feel all of the love from home when I go to sleep at night and look up at the magnificent sky, of shooting stars and a brilliant moon that trumps the light of my flashlight at times! I love you all so much, I miss you, and I cannot wait for letters from you :)

*(If you need any ideas for packages, here are a few! Granola bars (that won't melt), dried fruit, sweet and salty almonds/nuts, Gatorade/Crystal Light packets (my friend had the raspberry lemonade kind, reminds me of freshly squeezed lemonade!), healthy crackers to snack on, and books!) <3 <3 <3