Pictures of my House, Village, and Thanksgiving

Here is my house! A little beaten up but I loove it. I have tons of space and it stays nice and cool. Next step, furnature!










Here is a pathay leading away from my house. The village is beautiful and very green.

This is the Heath Clinic I work at. I hope to be doing most of my projects out of here. Also, here is where they will organize all ofthe outreach for the 13 villages I am going to be responsible for.









Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving dinner. This was my first real party in Zambia. The current voluteers have been really great at making me feel at home.

In the middle there is our grumpy Peace Corps Volunteer Leader. He is the one responsible for the house that is located in our Provincial Capital. He actually is a really nice guy and has helped me out a ton!

A couple of volunteers technically from my "class" that are in Northern Province with me.

Thisis one of our married couples. They are great. Chris on the left also was in the Capital soon after I arrived into the country and really helped show me around Lusaka.

And these are the two dogs that live at our Provincial house. The one in the foreground used to be another volunteers dog until it killed a goat in the village! awesome!

Pictures: Peace Corps Office, Site Visit

Peace Corps Zambia. This is the "Insaka" that we had all of our language training was. notice the curved plant on the right hand side... That is where I lovingly hit my left eye wit every time I go to class.

This is the Peace Corps Zambia Administrative office

Jess and I walking to class way too early in the morning...

This is the Building for my Community Health Improvement Project. One of the big projects under our umbrealla is the HIV/AIDS Project.

Here is the cat that stole Jess's Pizza and harasses us for our lunch. This black cat was the first thing I saw when I got here... bad omen...

Ouch....

Here is the computer lab. I spent more time on the internet in the past two weeks then the last 10 months combined.

The bunk rook where we stayed. Notice the hats above the window, look familiar. Thats mine on the left and Jessica's on the right

Ok, these picture AREN'T from my hut. This is on a site visit at a volunteer named Ruben's site. In the foreground is what is called an insaka. It is where you usually would cook or just hang out during the day when you don't want to be inside the hut. In the back is his house.

Off in the distance there is the tiny little bathroom

This is the showering area. This is really similar to my shower area in Guinea

As you can se, everything is a little ways away from his hut. Definately not like Guinea where the villiages were really dense. I can't believe I am basically describing my last villiage as a bustling metropolis in comparison to this.

Here is a closer shot of his house and the dirt road that leads up to it. I could not believe the driver could find this place. he basically knew every footpath you had to take to get here. it is literally a half hour or more off the main road. What was more impressive was the fact that the next night he was able to find it again but in the dark. I am going to get lost... You all know my keen keen sense of direction

Here is Ruben's very own mango tree. I have heard that I will have some as well. We are just starting the rainy season, so I am getting here just in time to gorge myself on Mangos.

Gotta end with a sunset picture. Sorry about the cheesyness..

Site Visit

So, how the Program in Zambia works is that before you go to your villiage, you tag along with another volunteer at their villiage for a couple of days. I just got back from my site visit, and there are a lot of pretty distinct differences between this and my villiage in Guinea.

The most striking thing, and what you would notice immediately is that Zambian villages are much more spread out and rural. We were just over 1 hr outside the captal, and 5 min ouside of a town, but the landscape was only spotted with huts. In Guinea I had a villiage that was relatively dense and had about 1,500 people. Here You have a hut, a cooking hut, a wooden "dish rack" a latrine, and a bathing area. It is more land and you only really see the next hut a bit off in the distance.

How the villiages seem to work is you have your town, and around it are these tinny groups of huts. Each group of huts is a small villiage and as a volunteer we will be responsible for a group of these villiages. On this trip we took probably about a 45km bike ride around his whole group of villiages. It was really cool to see the different dynamic for each one. I think it will make my job of learning about my area a little harder, but I am excited to try different things in the different areas.

The Heathcare and the development of the healthcare system in addressing preventative care is much father along then it was in Guinea. A lot of the things I was trying to initiate in Guinea already have a foot hold here. Thats exciting because I will be able to do some higher level work.  I saw libraries that were built, Medicine that is pretty well stocked, and people that already got a lot of information on things like AIDS. There are still lots of problems, misinformation and need for innovative ideas on how to educate the population, but the structure will be much easier to work with.

As for the experience, I found that as night falls the spiders and massive bugs are unleashed. I have never seen such a wide array of bugs in my life. There were these really ominous looking black spiders that were about the size of my fist. They were very shiny and evil looking (sorry, I am not an entomologist). Also there are what are wonderfully named scorpon spiders. These things walk on 6 legs and the front two are way up in the air and look like claws. In addition there were just tons of grasshoppers, termites, moths, praying mantis', stick bugs, leaf bugs, etc.

The huts were nice. they have little openings (I wuold say windows, but there is no glass, just metal mesh. The roofs seem like they are often a problem. I am pretty sure they were more sturdy and water resistant in Guinea. It is not a circle also, more of a rectange with multiple rooms.

The next post has some pictures of The volunteer's housing area as well as some of the office.

Language Training....Again....

Oh god. I think I am having PTSD from learning all of the French in Guinea. Now we are taking a shotgun 2 week course in Bemba. I really wish I didn't suck so much at languages. Well I am going to do a little, as Liz Roddick would say, heads down, power through. It looks like we will be doing aabout 8 hours of straight language everyday. I know you are all dying to get a little taste, so here it is:

A: Muapoleni Mukwai!    (greetings)
B: Endita Mukwai!  (greetings back)
A: Muashibukeni Mukwai (good waking up)
B: Endita Mukwai, Mwashibuka shani? (good waking up back. did you wake up well?)
A: Ndifye Bwino. Nga Imwe (yes, well. and you)
B: Panono Panono. (a little bit)

A: Ishina Lyenu nimwe ba nani? (what is your name?)
B: Ishina Lyandi nine _____, nga imwe? (my name is _____, and you?)
A: Ishina Lyandi nine _____. Shalenipo! (my name is _____. stay well!)
B: Kafikenipo! (go well!)

Fun huh? Pronounciation is rough, but structure seems do-able. We'll see.

So I heard some more info on my soon to be site. I will be place only 15 km away from the regional capital. That will be nice. it is far enough that I won't go all the time, and close enough that if I need anything I can bike in. Unfortunately I will be about 18hrs from the Capital capital.

My Province is apparently beautiful with lots of hills/mountains, and lots of streams and waterfalls. Also it seems like one of the few provinces that stays pretty green all year round. We are also bearing down on the rainy season, so it should be getting VERY green soon. Looks like there are some bugs and apparently lots of snakes. Judging by my track record with paying attention to my surruondings, I am calling that I will be the first volunteer to be bitten by a Black Mamba.

I should be having cell phone reception due to my close proximity to the "city".

I also heard that my community is very motivated and the last full volunteer there did tons of work. Lots of pressure, but I can't wait to try to live up to it.

Thats it for now. I am trying to post more often while I have internet!

Memories: Bamako

Here are some Photos from Bamako before I left to Zambia. I am going to miss all of my Guinea Volunteers a ton. They were, and are, like family to me. I really do hope to stay in touch!

Bamako football stadium watching Mali vs. Sudan. That's Kiki and Nick watching intently. The Peace Corps staff hooked us up with tickets.

Ben taking some pics like the good Asian tourist that he is. Sorry Ben.

Outside my house at Toubaniso. Ok, this might need some explaining. When we got to Bamako, we stayed in this training facility for Mali Peace Corps Volunteers. The nake means little white person villiage. Hilarious. We all slept 3 per room. Of course Ben, Nick and I shared a room.

Here is the Building where we got out 3 meals a day and had the computers where we did our resumes and decided on what we were doing for the next couple of years of our lives.

We got a pingpong table! It was awesome!

The situation room. This is the inside of that last building. this is us stressed out trying to get some info off of some very slow and often broken computers.

A blurry picture of the other 2 of the Triumpherant.

The big screen that we projected movies and "the Wire" on most days. Man they pampered us for those couple of weeks.

The Bar we hang out in called The Camp. Looks like an American Bar. It was great! Awesome food, cheap drinks. Great for stressed out evacuees.

Some more of the bar and Nick being social.

Us spending way too much on food and drinks.

Trying to relax

But can't stop working. This is Ben trying to get Plane tickets and failing miserably, and Jess Worl laughing at him. Hope that worked out....

The Pool at the American Club we got to hang out for free whenever we wanted. Awesmoe deal, great staff. They also had movies,  Tennis, Basketball, a nice bar, etc.

Ben, Nick and Katy lounging next to the pool.

All of us at our last big dinner together. Great Italian place with delicious food.

Last group the night before took off.

The last photo of the Triumpherant.... until next time. This should be a photo on the Peace Corps website. Look at that diversity!

Memories: Layasando

OK, So here are some of the last pics I took in Guinea. Most of these are during the end of Ramadan celebration. Enjoy!

This is everyone sitting outside for the prayer

Here is the Chief of the District of Layasando. He is such a character. Nice hat too!

This is the Imam and his crew leading the prayer

During the Ramadan Celebration you dress to the nines,, these are some of my counterparts kids all dressed up in their Obama jerseys. Oh God! Don't eat that plastic bag!!!

There we go. These are some of my favorite kids in the villiage too

Oh, there's another one of their brothers. Really I could keep going, my counterpart in Guinea has 14 children!

Here is My Friend in the villiage, Bahfodi and the Sierra Leonean Abduliah. Both dressed up for the celebration.

Here are my adorable mother and father in Layasando. Normally they are all smiles, but when the camara is rolling this is all I get.

Some more of my Family... nice clothes, huh?

Some haircutting on the day of the celebration.

oooh, he does not look so happy

Awww, the last picture of my cat before I left. Well, I can't get her back, so she is just hanging out in what used to be my hut and getting fed occasionally by Bahfodi. Don't worry though, I told them they can eat her if i don't get back.

One last look at my hut....