Hello friends and family! I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! All is well here in Zambia, just enjoying some time off with my fellow volunteers. We have less than two weeks left in training! We swear in on the 24 of April, then head on out to our respective new homes.My site is in the northern province, in a town called Mungwi, about 30km east of the provincial capital, Kasama. Last week we spent the week at our new sites getting oriented to our new communities. I live on the compound of the head woman of the village, and i have my own two room hut, insaka for cooking, bathing shelter, and cimbusu (pit latrine).On the first day in my new village, my new community held a welcoming ceremony for me. There were 200 or more people attending, and dancing by the kids and elders. I was also presented with gifts of a live chicken, corn, beans, pumpkins, and caterpillars. I was asked to give a few words in Bemba... And the entire crowd laughed when i spoke. It was exciting and very welcoming, as well as a little scary. I'm very excited to get to my site and get started as an actual peace corps volunteer!On second site visit I was also able to meet with various other community members and visit some of the schools I'll be working with.There is a nice market in Mungwi, where i will be able to get most of the things I'll need. My closest peace corps neighbor is in Kasama, about 30 km away. I'm very excited about my new village!
We haven't had much time off from training lately, as the past two Sunday's were spent in the land cruisers traveling to and from the northern province, which is about 12 hours from Lusaka. Of our training group of 18 education volunteers, 5 are headed to northern.In addition, one of the agriculture volunteers will be joining us, as he's married to one of our 5. Today some other trainees and myself are getting together for an Easter/ American food party. American food can be a welcome break from nshima twice a day.
Yesterday was our language trainer's birthday, so we had a small celebration with a bit of cultural exchange involved. We bought a balloon that said 'happy birshday' on it, and filled it with some candy. We intended to hang it from a tree and blind fold him and have him hit it like a pinata. Unfortunately, the balloon popped before we got it there. Instead, we found a medical rubber glove, filled it with candy, and blew it up. After blindfolding Ba Leonard and spinning him around 3 times, he started trying to spear the balloon. Of course we can't just say, 'swing it like a baseball bat,' to the Zambian who only knows soccer. It may not have been the best pinata, but definitely worth the attempt.
Here's my new address! You can write me here from now on, I've even heard the mail gets to northern province faster than Lusaka!
Laura Martel/PCV
Peace Corps Zambia
P.O. Box 410374
Kasama, Zambia
Africa
Laura is a very difficult word for Zambians to say due to the 'l' and 'r' ... So I'm going to be 'Rolla' for the next 2 years. Sorry Mom and Dad!I hope everyone at home is doing well, and I hope to hear from you all soon! Take care, and tukamonana!
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