| X M.Y P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L J.O.U.R.N.E.Y . |
| Updates |
| The Peace Corps calls it the toughest job you'll ever love and I think I know why. The traingers often say your entire experience will be filled with the most intense highs, and lows, of your life. While I haven't experienced the most intense highs or lows yet, I have had a roller coaster of emotions. Lello wrote me and asked for details and I recognize that my emails have not been very detailed up to this point. That's a result of so many things: (1) The experience is so intense and my emotions so varied, I don't want to come across as unhappy, ungrateful or crazy :). (2) We barely have enough time to go to class, accomplish assigned tasks, spend time with host families and friends, journal or decompress. (3) When I'm at the computer, I try to read individual emails which takes time away from composing my messages forthe website. So here they are: the details - the good, the bad and the ugly. PHILADELPHIA: Staging - an opportunity to get a bit more information about the Peace Corps (PC), learn a little bit about the other trainees and prepare for training. The information was very general which made us antsy about just getting to Zambia so we could find out more specific information about Zambia and our jobs. During staging, I had 2 roomates. Most people only had one, so that each person could have their own bed. We have a young married couple in our group, so that meant that one guy got his own room and I was in a room with 2 other girls. As a result, we had a cot that we each alternated sleeping on. Though the cot was not very comfortable, my roomates were great. Katie is a recent college graduate and a bundle of energy. I wish I could bottle some of that energy and enthusiasm. She is extremely bright, generous, outgoing and fun to be around. She was raised inthe OC of CA, but is nothing like the characters on the TV show, The OC. She is extremely grounded and very smart. Heather, my other roomate, is from Bourbon, IN. She is a Purdue grad, spent some time working in Minnesota and then was a substitute teacher prior to joining the PC. Meeting a fellow Hoosier and Purdue grad felt like having a bit of hom during this new journey. She and I spent a lot of time together during staging. She is extremely smart, easy-going, compassionate and mature. I couldn't believe how quickly I felt comfortable with her. The last day of staging, we left the hotel early in the morning and went to the clinic where we received the first couple of shots (more would soon follow in country and throughout training). We picked up our malaria medication, checked out of our hotel and boarded a bus for JFK. We were on our way to Johannesburg, South Africa (via Dakar, Senegal). 17 HOURS LATER.... we were in J-burg. Our hotel was incredible. I enjoyed my last hot shower, ate an amazing dinner and breakfast (the buffet was unbelievable!), and emailed family and friends to let them know I was in South Africa. At the airport to meet us was JJ, the APCD for LTM and my boss for the next two years, and Ba Beene, the interim APCD for the CAHP program. That night, they taught us a few greetings in the local languages and some handshakes. In Zambia, greetings and shaking hands are extremely important. It was so great to get our first taste of information about Zambia. For example, in most of the Zambian languages, you address people as Ba (insert name). It's the equivalent of Mr/Miss/Ms/Mrs. That's right, just call me Ba Jalle. THE NEXT DAY AND TWO HOURS LATER, I was standing on Zambian soil. As I walked off the plan and toward the airport, I was taking the first steps of my journey. A woman walking next to me asked if I was here on business or pleasure. I told her I was a Peace Corps volunteer and would be living in Zambia for the next 2 years, along with the other 29 other trainees with me. She couldn't believe it. She was the first of many people I would encounter who struggle to understand why college educated people would voluntarily choose to leave America to live in Zambia in a mud hut without running water and electricity. In fact, since starting training, I've learned that some Zambians believe that Peace Corps Volunteers are CIA and have come to spy on them, OR, my persona favorite, prisoners forced to serve their sentence out in a Zambian village. After going through customs, we were warmly greeted by Dave, the Peace Corps Country Director (CD) and the training staff, a group of former PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) and Zambians. I couldn't stop grinning from the time I stepped off the plane throughout the bus ride and to our arrival at the campground we would call home for a few days. Once we got there, we were each given a welcome gift package filled with wonderful goodies including a citenge, 2 m of beautiful Zambian fabric that can be used in a myraid of ways: a towel, a skirt/apron, curtains, to carry a baby, decor for your hut, soemthing to put on top of your head as a cushion when carrying 20 liters of water home from the well - on top of your head, etc. continued >> |
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