March 26, 2005
Loving Letters and Packages... Just Wait for Replies :)
Ok. I went to Choma all of last week, and it is WONDERFUL!!! I met my boss at the Ministry of Education and she is AWESOME... her and her husband call me their "daughter." Sweet. Of course that is an inherently African thing anyway, but it is still nice to know that they like me. Of course everyone else in my Southern Province group got to see their houses. And of course (possibly because I am SO patient) there is no house for me as of yet. Peace Corps will certainly make sure that I have something temporary once I post... I swear in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer on April Fools Day. Then it is off to Choma! I'm getting excited, but I am going to miss my Zambian Copperbelt friends very much.
Thank you so much to those of you who have sent packages and letters. Unfortunately, it might take me a bit longer to respond due to a slight (yeah right) injury I incurred while in Souther Province. It happened 9 days ago and is looking much better, but is still very bad. Yeah. There is a burn on my hand (the backside) that covers a small portion. It has parts that are 1st degree, parts that are 2nd degree, and parts that are even 3rd degree. Peace Corps is doing and EXCELLENT job taking care of me, so worry not Mom! Regardless, it is something that will be with me for life, and there are great lessons to be learned as a result. I didn't cry when it happened and I haven't cried even when they have been removing skin. The Zambians are very impressed and say that most muzungos are not so strong! Writing is a bit hard, and typing is no the easiest either, so just wait for my replies... you know they will come.
Again, thanks to those who have posted on the site. I will get my address in Choma asap. I can't wait to have all my visitors... y'all better be planning now!
Love
Burn Victim #1
Posted by ringo at 11:56 AM | Comments (8)
March 11, 2005
Boma Bound!
Well, now that I have recovered from the initial shock of my placement, I can tell you as much as I know about it! I'm going to be in a Boma (the word for a government center or town, coming from the British days). That in and of itself is a complete shock, because only 3 people in our whole group of 14 were chosen to go to a Boma site. It means that I will be working directly in the office of the Ministry of Education at the district level. This is a big job and I certainly didn't bring the clothes for it, but I'm up for the challenge. The name of the Boma that I will be living in is Choma (yes, I know Choma Boma, ha ha ha). It has roughly 50,000 people, but someone else can look up the stats for that for me... I don't have enough internet time, having to pay for it and all. I leave Sunday to go visiting for a week and meeting my bosses and such. I'm very excited.
So... maybe I'm not going to have the bush experience I thought I would, but I'm still going to be here waiting for people to come and visit. And Mom, I'm pretty sure I'll have electricity and maybe even a cell phone evetually (if I can afford to buy one here, they are expensive). No excuses for those of you who are wuses... I'll have all the creature comforts that they can provide in a developing nation. For those of you who wanted to visit with the real African experience, I've got my best friend here (Rue) going only 10 kilometers away from me in a village and she said we can all come visit whenever we want!
Keep the letters coming!
Peace... The Choma Boma Queen
Posted by ringo at 3:30 PM | Comments (12)
March 9, 2005
Thanks for all the comments!
Greetings again from the sprawling metropolis of Kitwe (with two traffic lights, it certainly qualifies by Zambian standards). I wish that I could report and update on what site I will be living in for the next two years. . . but we find out this afternoon and we're just spending the morning in Kitwe. I do have my suspisions, but I won't elaborate on those. Mom, you'll know on Friday if the phone works; the rest of you will have to wait until I post again. Thanks so much to everyone who has posted to this site. It is the easiest (and cheapest) way for me to get messages from everyone. Things here are going really really well. I guess you could say that I have "blossomed" in the last couple weeks. My Tonga is asyoonto, no longer jabija. Quite a few of the Zambian friends I have made have made the comment that I am "not like the others," meaning the other Peace Corps people.
Since I last posted I have tasted some of the finer foods that Zambia has to offer: kapenta, buga fish, termites, and caterpillars. I have to say that the caterpillars are EXCELLENT! For those of you who are vegetarians (Jenny), you'll have to try some of the insect delecacies when you visit.
This weekend I will be going to Southern Province for a visit. I'm really excited about it. I will get to see my site (once I know where the heck it is), meet with the district education officials, and teach a life skills lesson at a government school. I'll also get to go to the provincial meeting where I will meet all of the other PCVs that are located in Southern Province. I'm sure that we will party down!
By the way, thanks to those who have sent me letters and packages. I love when I get things that I can give to my Zambian friends almost as much as I love getting things that I want for myself.
Cross your fingers that my site placement is good!
Peace.
ARV
Posted by ringo at 8:41 AM | Comments (4)