January 28, 2005
Ringo Has Arrived
Ringo is officially in Zambia. She's visiting villages in the north where there are already Peace Corps workers to get some pointers. She has zebra, giraffe and impala just twenty feet from her hut. She will be back in Kitwe around February 3rd for nine weeks learning the ropes and the Tonga language. After that she will be stationed in Livingstone, which is in Southern Zambia near Victoria Falls.
She hasn't had an opportunity to get her hands on computer, and she hasn't even had a chance to mail the letters she wrote on plane. Don't forget to send her mail - she loves letters and will always write back.
Posted by booizzy at 11:36 PM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2005
Last Post from Minnesota!
This picture is the last one of Mary, Dave, and Ringo (and the cat that sneaked in) before Peace Corps departure!
Thank you to all of you who have sent well wishes within the past days, weeks, months. It really helps to know that so many people believe in me! Now let's just hope that I don't chicken out or get deathly ill and come home with my tail between my legs! Hey Mom, when you check this site, remember that I love you and Dad and will miss you most of all!
Peace,
ANNIE RINGO VINE
Posted by ringo at 7:24 AM | Comments (3)
January 12, 2005
Where in the heck is Zambia, you say?
It occurs to me that some people have never really heard of Zambia. Most people have heard of Zimbabwe, however, and it is directly north of that nation. It is a country the size of Texas and it is in south-central Africa. The map above shows you the interior. The links on this blog will show you more maps (go to the travel links).
I'm almost out the door! I leave for D.C. to visit my Aunt Barb and Unlce Lefty on the 19th of January. I have to be in Philadelphia to report to what Peace Corps calls "staging" on January 23rd. I spend two days there learning about all the things that Peace Corps stands for and how I need to be a representative of our lovely nation (blah, blah, blah) and such. On January 25th I get a load of shots (yellow fever, typhiod fever, rabies, hapetitus abcdefghijk, etc.) early in the morning, take a bus to NYC, and board a plane at JFK that evening... South Africa bound. Then when we get to Johannesberg (15 hours later) and take another plane to Lusaka, Zambia's capital city. We spend a day or there, and then it is on to Kitwe for training!
I'm getting really excited and really ready to leave the snow of a Minnesotan winter for the rain of a Zambian rainy season. Peace.
Posted by ringo at 6:59 PM | Comments (1)
January 10, 2005
Expiration Date Blues
It wasn't that I got sarongs for Christmas from Bev. It wasn't that I got 100% Deet from my mom. It wasn't even when the plane tickets came... none of the above really instilled in me the thought that I am actually going to Zambia very soon. It was this weekend, when I went to check the expiration dates on the milk I was about to put in the grocery cart. All the dates were after I leave!!! What a bittersweet and exciting time. I want y'all long for the ride.
Posted by ringo at 5:29 AM | Comments (4)
January 4, 2005
Preparations Under Way
Here in Rochester the snow falls and I prepare to leave in 22 days! I'll be picking up my favorite boots at the repair shop tomorrow. My friend Bev's dog chewed a hole in the sole and I know I'll need those shoes for the rainy season (which it is right now) in Zambia! I want to extend my sincerest thanks to my friend Jenny for making this update blog available. Without her computer savy self I would be lost in a techie world. Back to packing... send me letters now... I might get them by February:
Annie Ringo Vine PCT
Peace Corps
PO Box 21527
Kitwe, Zambia
Peace.
Posted by ringo at 1:57 AM | Comments (3)