Muli Uli!

Hello everybody.

What an amazing time I'm having here in Zambia. Everything is such a change and completely wonderful. Training. What an adventure that is. Its unlike any schooling I've had. Two four hour blocks that make up my Mambwe (language) and technical training. Language is quite intense; however, its quite rewarding to learn some language and be able to go out to the village and use it in a day to day setting. A very practical way of learning. The other volunteers in my intake are an amazing bunch. It seems all who join peace corps have a certain amount in common already, so take us away from everything at home and some tight bonds grow quickly. My family for the next two years has been formed.

I've been able to track down a guitar and a few who can play it. Now we can get some fun jams in before we all get split up and sent to our parts of the country. I will be going to Mbala district of Northern Province where I will speak Mambwe. I will be in Kaka Village, yeah..., and will be a second generation volunteer to the area. I will be living on the family compound of the head man, so I will be safe and in a great area for meeting the villagers. I will be posted up there in early November. The village is wayyyy out in the bush, the headman says about a 50 minute ride to Tanzania. Which will lead to my great adventure, climbing Kilimanjaro.

My home stay is great. I live with YaMaayo, mom, Peggy. She speaks 10 languages and has one son who is in boarding school. Every evening I get to sit by the charcoal with her and help prepare dinner, which consists of, generally, cabbage, meat, beans and, of course, Shima! Zambia's staple food. It's pretty intense cooking all your food over coals and when the sun goes down it's dark. 12 hours of sunlight and that's about it. Talking with her is always fun and interesting, there are guests nightly who come over to talk to "ELICKY" and share stories with me. It's quite enjoyable to be in a society that values family, extended family, and neighbors so highly. In Zambia you are never greeted without a smile. By anybody. It's a great place to call my home for the next to years.

Hopefully sometime I will be able to upload some photos so everybody can see the sights and have a better idea of what all this is. Next time, I'll try to write something out before I get to a computer so I can have some more details of whats going on and such.