Da da da da, Feelin Groovy

I can feel the energy in the air vibrating quickly here in Peace Corps Zambia, as these days in training are flying by.  We are about to leave for second site visit! I will be staying with a small group of volunteers in what will be my new home (Southern Province) for 6 days, and then will be staying alone in what will be my new home in Muzoka village, Choma district for 3 more days.  Only a short distance from the infamous Victoria Falls! I will also get to see our provincial house, where I can meet other volunteers 4 or 5 days and nights out of each month after Community Entry (so beginning in January).  Each day I feel blessed for this opportunity to be a part of Peace Corps, for my family and friends back home, and for my new Zambian family and friends.

My hostmom and I are getting nervous about parting ways in about a month.  We have grown so close, and I cherish the hours of conversation we have freely each night after dinner.  I asked her to give me my first Tonga  name, and at first she said that my village would name me.  I told her I really wanted a name from my first Bamaama in Zambia, and that she could take all the time she needed to think of the name.  The next evening she came to me and said, "Chipego, or Chipo for short. That is what I have chosen as your Tonga name."  I asked what the meaning was, and she told me-- gift from God.  She told me that she has never had a relationship with one of her children (she now considers me her daughter) where she can speak so openly about so many things, and laugh so much.  My goal each night is to make her laugh, and I have succeeded almost every night!  I will miss her so much, but she comes to Southern province once or twice per year to visit her family, and I'm sure I will pass through her village to visit her after trainings in Lusaka.  Today in Lusaka I printed pictures we took with each other, and I will give them to her when I return from second site visit.

What more can I say... the sky here continues to amaze me, the sunsets of glowing golden, pink, and orange hues, the moon that lights the sky when it is full, the stars which speckle and shoot across the Universe right above me.  I love being alive, I love the people in my life, and I continue to live in the present, full of gratitude.  I am sending you all my heart, and know that I love you!