Waku is what we here in Luapula land refer to America as when we are speaking about it. Waku doesn’t actually mean America in bemba, it means “from far” but in our bemba/peace corps slang it has come to be known as America, that land we are so “far from”. As some of you know I spent the last three weeks in Waku. It was an amazing three weeks that I had been thinking about since the beginning of my service. However it was also a learning experience for me as everything seems to be throughout my Peace Corps service. Throughout my three weeks I visited four states ( Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and New York) and dozens and dozens of friends from all different parts of my life. I felt so lucky and blessed that so many people made such an effort to see me. I got to see my cousins which I usually only see once every three years at our family reunions ( that includes you Kevin Kokal, I told you I would give you a shout out), I got to see old high school friends that live all over the states but who have still become my family ( love you ladies), I also got to see old college roommates, study abroad friends, as well as people who I went abroad with to Israel in 2005 and hadn’t seen since. It really was like I was taking a blast into the last 10 years of my life. It was wonderful seeing everyone and again thank you everyone who came from near or far to visit. It meant the world to me. So now that I have written the most broad thank you note ever written, lets move on to the infamous “reverse culture shock” which I anticipated and experienced while home. A common question while I was in the States was “ How are you doing? Does this feel weird? What is the most different or hardest thing to adjust to?”. All are valid questions but are hard to answer with one word or even one sentence. Therefore I am going to revert back to the "list technique" which I have used so often in my blogs. So here are the list of the top 5 things which were the most obvious culture shocks in my three weeks in America after being in Zambia for a 18 months. Note, these are my observations that I don't think are necessarily good or bad but different from Zambia.

1. Iphone, Ipads, Ipods, America is ruled by Apple and by “I”. When I left the states the Iphone was present as was the blackberry, android, flip phone and various other types of cellular devices. When I came back it was Iphone nation. One of my friends had a blackberry and people shunned her like she was living in the 19th century. I understand and see the appeal of the iphone very much, however I think it has made people less social and more “I” centered. Its not a negative or a positive, just a difference that was immediately apparent to me. I just hope that as this “I” revolution continues people continue to take time to put down their “I” devices and take in the beauty that is human interaction, experience and adventure, because I think sometimes the ease and “apps” which the iphone provides takes that scary yet useful unknown out of our lives. 2. DRIVING!! I got to drive while I was home and it was incredible. I turned the music up, put the windows down ( just a smidge because it was cold) and just drove. Although I loved driving, I did begin to miss the fresh air. I tried to explain to people that in Zambia I live outside. Yes I live in a mud hut but let’s be honest, it’s a mud hut. It is basically outside. I cook all my meals outside, I bathe outside, I use the bathroom outside and when I have to get from one place to another its by biking or walking, again outside. So although I tried to get out for a run or walk everyday I still felt a little stuffed by the perfectly heated cars, houses and restaurants. The day I got back to Zambia it was in the high 80’s and I went to the house where I was staying that didn’t have air conditioning or fans. It was almost a relief to be uncomfortable by the natural weather. I know I might regret this in a few months when the rains are pouring down and the humidity is unbearable, but for now, I like my uncomfortable weather. 3. OPTIONS. America has more options in every facet of its existence than I remembered. The first week I was in town I drove to a local CVS to find face wash. I stood in the isle for 45 minutes trying to figure out which one I should buy. Do I need pore reducer, foam wash, acne cream, total face wash, scented wash, etc. I just want some soap for my face!?! I became overwhelmed quickly and left the store, face wash had to be bought another day. This same thing would happen whenever I went to restaurants. To preface, we have one “restaurant” in Mansa which contains fried chicken and chicken pies, so to go to a restaurant with 100 choices of which way you want your salad prepared is slightly overwhelming. I usually just went with old classics or whatever the person next to me was ordering. It is exhausting making that many choices! 4. FAST PACE AMERICA- Although I loved every minute of my time in the states I am exhausted!! I am at my provincial house currently about to go back to my village and have slept for 10 hours each night. Although I didn’t “do” that much in America the amount of things that everyone tried to fit in their day seemed exhausting to me. Lets compare a day in the village to a day in America. A day in the village: Wake up, go on a run, eat breaktfast, bathe, read, have a meeting, cook lunch, read, wash dishes, sleep. A day in America: Wake up, Run, Shower, Go to breakfast with friend 1, go to target to get unnecessary yet wonderful accessory, stop at the bank on the way to take out money, drop off dry cleaning on the way to meet Family member 1 for lunch, go to doctors appointment, meet friend 2 for coffee, go home and take an hour to get ready for dinner with family member 2 and 3, then meet friend 3, 4, 5 for drinks after dinner. Don’t get me wrong, being able to see this many people that I love in a day is something that I will be forever grateful for, but can you see the difference? Even if it is just eating or getting a cup of coffee Americans don’t just “hang out” anymore. There must be an activity, going to a movie, or shopping, or eating or drinking. In my hut I might read for 4 hours a day, when I come into the provincial house we might watch a movie but mostly sit outside just talking about nothing ( mostly because there is nowhere to get a bite to eat or drink). I noticed in America I was always doing something when sometimes I just wanted to be still.

5. Marriage, babies, engagements oh my!! I am so thankful I was able to meet two little new additions to my family ( Hayden and Dylan) while I was home. I was also able to meet new boyfriends, wives and significant others that I had been waiting to meet for some time. It was wonderful. However this theme of marriage, babies, engagements seemed to be present in every city I visited or friend I talked to. People were either getting engaged, wanting to get engaged, tired of hearing about engagements, going to 5 weddings in June, sick of weddings, wanting to be in a wedding, etc. Again, I hope this doesn’t sound negative it was just a difference that I found since I had left the states. I understand I am 25 and this is the new reality. However I guess I spend so much time in Zambia explaining to people why I am NOT married or NOT engaged or NOT with child that it just came as a shock that it was the topic of conversation with so many different groups of people. It’s obvious to me why it was a shock as one of the main messages and topics of health education I focus on is delaying early marriage and early pregnancy ( as it is common to see a 16 year old married and pregnant and therefore dropping out of school at an early age), so I guess I just didn’t expect to talk about it as much with my peers who are living such completely different lives.

I want to be honest and say this blog has been really hard for me to write. I don’t want to come off as negative towards America or condescending or patronizing in any light. I know where I live and how I live my life currently is drastically different than the majority of the people I know. I know I went from living in a third world country to visiting one of the richest countries in the world. I know that the culture shock would have eventually worn off if I had stayed long enough and it will wear off when I come back later this year. I just felt like it was important to acknowledge and share my experience as I have since starting my journey of Peace Corps a year and a half ago. Even though going back to the states was going “home” I felt at the end of my trip that I was also going back “home” to Zambia. I think you can have multiple homes throughout this world and I think depending on what your doing or how long you’ve been there your comfort level at those homes can vary. Currently I feel most at “home” in Zambia. With my lack of electricity, dirty peace corps volunteers and fresh humid air. I know my home will shift back to the states soon enough, but for now I am content where I am. I can’t finish this blog without thanking my parents for everything they did for me over the past 3 weeks. Mom, I hope you can get some rest and take care of yourself as I know you were taking care of me every second I was home. You couldn’t have made it more perfect, I enjoyed every minute of my time with you and hope you know how much I appreciate everything. Dad, I know you took off work and made it your priority to be with me as much as possible. Thank you. ( B- I didn’t forget about you, thanks for spending the most time either of us have spent in Greensboro in years with me. It made my homecoming that much sweeter). Hope everyone had a Happy New Year and are looking forward to what 2012 will bring, because I know I am.

**This blog was written November 30,2011 the last night in my village before I am gone for a month, I will be in Lusaka (the capital) for a workshop for a week and a half before I fly to America on December 14, I won't return to Zambia until January 5th. It will be the longest I have been away from Zambia and my village since starting Peace Corps 16 months ago. So apologies in advance if it is a bit over dramatic. The village does that to you sometimes.***

I am sitting here in my hut, watching a huge rainstorm that has been building all day over my little village. I just cooked my counterpart our last lunch together for a month, I just packed up all of my clothes under my bed in suitcases ( so my various little rodent friends won't eat them while I'm gone) and although I am leaving my village tomorrow , right now America couldn't seem further away. I have been counting down this day for months, marking my calendar as the months went by and thinking of all the things that await me at home, but now that the day has come my emotions are mixed. Of course I am so excited to go home, sleep in a bed that doesn't have a rat living above it, eat food without having to substitute dairy products for fake yellow cheese, and to see my family and friends. However part of me will remain here. Part of me will stay with my kids as they draw on my porch ( which is what is happening currently as I write). Part of me will stay with my PC family as they travel to surrounding countries to celebrate the new year. Part of me will stay in my village reading in my hammock and listening to my kids giggle and dance outside my door. It has been a year and a half since I have left this continent and a year since I have left Zambia (I went to Malawi last new years). It's a weird feeling that is hard to describe even as I try. For example, a baby was just dropped on my porch by one of my iwes. In America this would probably be considered neglect by the parents of said child ( her name is Emma and I have attached a picture), as the iwe in charge of this baby is only 10 years old. However here, it all works. I love that I don't know who emma's mom is and probably won't know as she is probably a women passing through to collect caterpillars ( it is caterpillar season here in Kalaba and people come from all over Zambia to collect them). But for now Emma and I are playing and bonding and getting along quite splendidly and this is normal. These are the things I worry about going back to the states. I'm worried I'm going to try and hold any baby found anywhere. Grocery store, gas station, restaurant, I will probably try and hold them . Secondly my "famous" status will go on reprieve for the first time since arriving. When I go running, to town or just outside of my house I won't have children screaming my name and calling after me. In an interview with former President Bill Clinton, I heard him say one of the weirdest things to adjust to after finishing his presidency was that they stopped playing a song every time he walked into a room. I feel you Bill.But with all of the weird changes and social norms I am sure to break, I think I will survive in the end. I'm sure to offend strangers by staring at them blankly ( a social norm I have become accustomed to) or wearing something that was " so 2009" ( which is the last winter I was home). However even with all of it, I can hardly wait. To see my family and friends even for a few short days, weeks, or hours, is worth breaking every rule in the book. So get ready, because here I come!

**This blog was written September 30, 2011 as a journal entry in my village**

Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year for Jews around the world. Today we had our first rain in Zambia, the official mark to the end of dry season. Although seemingly different, both symbolize a beginning. Rosh Hashanah is a time where we are suppose to look back and think about our past year. We are suppose to think back on things we did wrong, sins committed and decisions we hope to learn from. We are also suppose to look at the parts we did right; prideful things, ways we have grown and changed throughout the past year. Rainy season, or the first rain, is similar to Rosh Hashanah in a lot of ways. It's a clean start, everything has been burned (my yard was just burned last night-the scariest/coolest thing I have ever seen) and people are ready and waiting to plant again. It's a new season, maybe a chance to plant something you have never planted before, for Ba Shaderick that will be watermelon, for others maybe cabbage. For Zambians just like Jews and all Americans really, the timing of Rosh Hashanah, is the calm before the storm. For Zambians, it is hot season. A time to rest and try to survive the immense heat which has appropriately been named "Suicide Month". For Americans October it a time to enjoy the cool weather, the new football season where every team still has a fighting chance, and halloween where everyone gets to revert back to childhood and just have a night for dress up. Next comes November. For Zambians this marks the beginning of rainy season because when and only when the rains begin can they start planting. Everyday from 04:00 am to 07:00 am they will all be in their fields planting. Being precise with every seed is crucial for a good crop. As that one head of cabbage, or row of maize could feed their family for a week later in the year. They will timelessly plant and hope that the rain will continue to fall. For with every drop, their harvest will improve. For Americans November means one thing, Thanksgiving. Although many (mostly men, no offense) don't know this, mothers across America will start planning, cooking and preparing for Thanksgiving the first day of November. Whether it is deciding which family to visit, where to have it or who will attend, there is always something to do. November 1st, start your engines. It takes a whole months to plan Thanksgiving because after Thanksgiving (and for some literally the day after) Christmas begins. Lights start going up, presents start being bought , holiday cards being sent out, the list never ends. This falls true for Zambians as well. December is also a crucial month for rain as January will be when the first crops start trickling out of the ground. December is also when the children get out of school here, although at the beginning of the month, rather than in the end like in America. It is scheduled this way so fathers have more hands in the field, while women have more kids in the kitchen. However this is where things start to differ drastically. The end of December in America means gorging yourself. Gorging on Christmas dinners, festive holiday drinks and work parties galore. It's a time where you keep telling yourself you will start that new diet at the first of the year. In a lot of ways December means excess in America. Excess food, drink, presents and cheer. In Zambia, December means hunger. It marks the beginning of "hunger season". A time where crops from last year are running low and crops from this year haven't come up yet. It's a time where children will go a little hungrier, mothers more warn out and fathers less prideful. It's a month where families will go a whole day with just one meal and patiently wait for the night to fall. Although this is partially the families and farmers faults as the opposite of hunger season is waste season. Food sustainability is a big problem in Zambia and you will see many children in April (when crops are plenty) throwing maize meal at each other as a game or feeding the whole village while they should be saving it for later in the year (like December). Whatever the reason, December is not an easy month for most Zambians. The longer I am here the more I notice the similarities and differences in my two worlds. On one hand we are all the same, mothers worrying, fathers working and children playing. On the other hand, like when it comes to December, we are worlds apart.

So this blog post is a little different than my previous ones. Instead of writing one long blog about a certain event, thought or experience, I have put together three separate journal entries that I wrote during different times in my village. They are just thoughts and observations taken at different times throughout the last month. So here I go, hope everyone enjoys. Bamaayos (Mothers/Women) As I sit here reading, waiting for my participants to finish their tests, I am amazed. Bamaayos, women in Zambia, are incredible. They sit through their trainings with babies on their backs, having to get up and leave the room every time they start crying. They learn and take notes as their babies’ breastfeed on their laps. Then, when the big final test comes a child gets sick and throws up over her mother's lap. The mom looks frantic, trying to take care of her sick girl and move her paper out of the way of her child's vomit, all the while still trying to take her test. She calms the child, makes sure she is ok, put her back on her lap and whips out a breast for her to breastfeed on. Now it's finally back to test time. Bamaayos- the strongest people on earth. Education With all of the problems that are talked about with the American school system, and I agree with a lot of them, it's nothing compared to here. I just finished going around to all of my zones and giving Post Tests to make sure they had been trained properly as an NHC. At every one the question would have to be asked, " who doesn't know how to read and write". Remember the test that was given was written in Bemba so the people who don't know how to read or write are illiterate in their own language. At every single one of my 14 zones, at least two or three out of 15 and sometimes even topping off at half the group would be illiterate. When my counterpart would ask the question (only so he would know who to take outside and verbally give the test to) the few people almost always women would shyly raise their hands and giggle in embarrassment. I would always try to flash them a reassuring smile trying to tell them without speaking that I was so proud of them. They just sat through a 3-day training where their only learning tool was to listen. They are doing this voluntarily, for no money, only to help their community who has failed in giving them a proper education. So maybe that's why they are so brave and strong. Maybe they are trying to give the education they were deprived of to their children, grand children and great grand children. Education. The longer I am here the more I am convinced it is the key to the future of this country. With better education Zambia could grow into the successful country it's meant to be. However like all things, it's so much easier said than done. Dancing Why don't we dance after meetings or trainings in America? I think I might try to start a revolution when I get back to America. After every single one of my NHC trainings that I have visited over the past two weeks, we have always ended with singing and dancing. They are celebrating being finished with the training, being given this gift of education and a chance to help their community. Plus they just love to dance. Think about it, it could revolutionize the work place. After every meeting or long conference call, everyone gets up and sings and dances. It would lift worker's moral, get people moving a bit (maybe a small step in the fight against obesity), and its just a little extra fun in your day. It will probably be years until I have a "proper office job" (sorry mom and dad) but when I do, I am dancing.

**This blog was written a few weeks ago in the village**This past week, I was back in America, kind of. Before you start writing the hate e-mails, I wasn’t actually in America or else I would have obviously called all of you prepping you for my arrival and all of the wonderful food we would eat and drink we would drink. However I was back in America in the sense that for the first time in 12 months, I had a schedule. I got up around 6:00 am, I went for a run (although it was through the African bush with little children chasing me), I took a shower (or bucket bath in the cold mornings looking up at the massive Zambian sky), I got dressed (in chitenge and tank top), made breakfast (used the leftover coals from heating my water to heat water to make oatmeal) and then went to work at 8:30(walked 5 minutes to my clinic) and came home around 16:30 (walked the 5 minutes back to my house), immediately got into my pajamas, listened to the news and went to bed (around 20:00/8:00 pm). So OK it wasn’t EXACTLY like America, but like I said, it was the closest I have gotten to being there in over a year. Why did I have this unusual schedule when my normal one usually consists of one meeting a day and cleaning, cooking, and doing other chores the rest of the day? Because I finally held my NHC Training of Trainers!! So now you are probably asking, what the heck does that mean? It is a bit confusing but I will try to explain it in the easiest way possible. An NHC is a Neighborhood Health Committee. The rural health center, which I am connected with, contains a catchment area of 14 “zones” AKA collection of villages, each which has their own NHC. The job of an NHC is to give health education to the community, do small projects to raise money for a health post where the clinic comes once a month to give immunizations to children under 5 and be the general link between the village and the Rural Health Center. These NHC’s are crucial as they are only link between the village and any health education what so ever. When I first got to my village in September of last year I started going around to visit all of these NHC’s and soon realized that although they were “formed” none of them were functioning. They didn’t know the jobs of an NHC and weren’t educated on any of the six health thrusts of Zambia (which include HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Reproductive Health, Nutrition, and Water and Sanitation.). These health thrusts are the top issues in Zambia’s health care system and what I was trained to teach about in the village. However this information wasn’t getting to the villagers through their NHC’s, which is why I decided to focus on it as my first big project. Now it might sound crazy but I have basically been working towards this training since I got to my village. It took 3 months to just bike and visit all 14 of my zones during my community entry. Then I had to apply for a grant in order to get enough supplies, food, etc, to hold this training. Then I had to wait for the grant to come through and put a schedule together comprising of different facilitators throughout my RHC and the District Health Office who could come and help me to train. The way in which I decided to organize it was to have Training of Trainers where we picked two people from each zone to come to training for five days. They were trained on the six health thrusts of Zambia as well as exactly what an NHC is and why it is so important. After this five day training they are to go back to their zones and each train their own NHC. This is what is happening as we speak. Then over the next few weeks I will be traveling to each of the zones and checking to make sure the trainings actually happened, giving a post test to verify that the proper information was given and then give certificates of completion (which are a really big deal in Zambia). Whew. Did you stay with me throughout that? Anyway, so the training went really well and I am thrilled that it did. Everyone showed up on time, they participated and seemed to be learning a lot. It was one of those moments where I truly appreciated Peace Corps and the work I am able to do here. Just watching them learn and really feeling like this would make a difference, even in a few peoples lives, was one of the most rewarding feelings I have had in Zambia. Also, this past weekend I hosted new volunteers in my village and decided to take them to one of the NHC trainings, which was happening. I want to preface this with the fact that I wasn’t planning on going to any of the trainings until the last day when they had worked out all of the kinks. However this was the first day and I was extremely nervous that they wouldn’t be prepared, or nobody would show up or the whole thing would be a bust. I was happily surprised. They were there, they were prepared and the training seemed to be going extremely well. I really did feel like a proud mother. I know not all of my NHC’s will be this great and after this not all of them will be as active as I want, but with everything here even if half end up being successful I will consider it a success. I hope you all could keep up with that crazy explanation. It really is hard to explain what we do here sometimes. Either way you hopefully got a small idea of what I do here and why I love the work so much. It has officially been a year since I landed in Zambia and the amount I have learned about myself, my work and my village is amazing to me. I truly do learn something new everyday, as cliché as that sounds. So its one year down and one to go, I can’t wait to see what this next year brings. P.S. the picture at the top of the post is the last day after we had finished the Training of Trainers. Felt like a proud bamaayo ( mother).

The day came and the day has gone, Simmons family vacation 2011 is officially over. I can say without a doubt in my mind it was the vacation of a lifetime for all involved. We ate, we drank, we flew in small plans, we saw lions mating, we relaxed next to one of the wonders of the world, and we really did it all. So let me not get ahead of myself, let’s start from the beginning. As I mentioned in my last blog post my father, mother and brother all flew into Zambia on June 13, 2011. I greeted them at the airport and it was immediately as if no time had gone by at all, that is why I love family. My Dad and brother were already making fun of my mother for a comment she made on the last flight, she was rolling her eyes and holding me hand (I think relieved to have another girl in the mix after being the only one for a year) and I was just smiling and taking it all in. We spent their first day in Lusaka, doing a little bit of walking around but mostly just talking and trying to catch up on a year of missed one on one time. That night they got to meet their first of many PCV’s (Peace Corps Volunteers). My friends Ashley, Brooks and Angela all went out to dinner with them and everyone got along famously- not that I was surprised as PCV’s are some of the best people I have ever met and my family is also quite easily liked. So we drank and ate at a restaurant which is rarely visited because of our “Peace Corps Salaries” AKA we are broke, and had a great time. The next day I got to show them the famous “Manda Hill” Zambia’s one and only shopping mall and then we were off to Mfuwe!! They boarded their fourth flight in two days and I boarded my first in over a year. After hitching to Eastern province last December on my way to Malawi (a 5-hour hitch in a really good ride we got lucky to get), we were in Mfuwe in less than an hour flight; this is where my dream state began. Getting somewhere in Zambia in less than 5 hours of standing by the side of the road, meeting and greeting strangers and taking sometimes questionable transport, this couldn’t be real!? We arrived in Mfuwe and were taken then on a four-hour ride through South Luwangwa Park in order to get to our Bush Camp. Instantly after getting into the camp we were seeing Zebra, Impala, Elephants, Oh my! It was incredible and everyone got their first view into what our Safari was going to look like. When we finally arrived at our camp it was pretty late at night, maybe 20:00 (8:00 pm) and I just figured that since it was so late we would probably not have dinner and just crawl straight into bed—silly peace corps mentality. No, instead we were greeted with hot chocolates by the staff and a man asking what time we would like dinner, as it was already ready, we said 15 minutes and it was ready in 15 minutes. Not just dinner but a 3-course meal of the best food I have had in my entire life. Dream state was continuing and getting even more vivid. Maybe this was a Malaria prophylaxis dream; they are usually pretty outlandish and vivid. Definitely had to be the prophylaxis. So then we continued to be pampered and see incredible animals for four days. The mornings we would wake up early and be out on Safari by 6:30 and back by 10:30. Then we would have an early lunch/brunch with incredible food that was all made from scratch on site- I ate my weight in whatever they gave me, after this vacation it was back to rice and stir-fry for another year. Then we would have a Siesta from around noon until 16:00/4:00pm. This was wonderful as it was the heat of the day so we could read in the shade, nap in our incredible beds, and shower in our outdoor shower while watching a herd of buffalo go by and just relax. We would usually set out on another drive in the afternoon for our night drives which were amazing. We would drive for a while until right when the sun went down when they would stop at some absolutely magnificent spot where we would have “Sundowners” or cocktails as the sun went down. Then it was off for another hour or so of driving where our drivers could spot a tiny chameleon in a tree with their spotlight, which looked like a leaf to the naked eye. Incredible. So after our wonderful Safari was over it was time for “the real Africa”, village life. We were first welcomed in Mansa by some more PCV’s who were sweet enough to make my family a welcome sign and clean up our often cluttered provincial house. After a quick tour of Mansa (not so much to see) it was off to the village! Seven of us packed into a small car and off we went. The Village was wonderful. I am not going to lie I was a little concerned about this part of the trip as we were going from one extreme to another and I have heard some horror stories of parents crying every night they are in their child’s village, wondering what their crazy child is thinking, etc. However the Simmons clan did fabulous! We cooked them a delicious stir-fry the first night and hung out and got them acquainted with peeing in a hole in the ground, using candles and headlamps when the sun went down and of course playing with my children. The next day the village took over. It was father’s day so we cooked my Dad some delicious pancakes for breakfast and just hung out a little while. Then it was off to the festivities! We went over and took a short tour of my clinic and then started watching all of the Bamaayos (women in the village) cook every dish I have ever heard of and some I hadn’t even tasted yet. They cooked for hours and we watched for a short while before the drumming began. Then the drumming began and that’s when things started getting crowded. I think the majority of my village was in the surroundings within 5 minutes? This seemed more normal to me, back to reality, I was famous again and everyone was staring. Dream state went on a reprieve for a short while. Then the traditional dancing started and it never stopped. It was wonderful, my youth sang welcome songs, the whole community got up to dance and my family got to see what a traditional Bemba dance looked like. Obviously at the end they wanted us to get up and dance so thankfully my fellow PCV’s aren’t so timid, so we all got up and showed the village the skills we had learned in the past year. I must say they are still talking to me about it and I am sure will be until the day I leave Zambia. Then it was time to feast. As my parents looked a little dubious about the meal, eating with your hands and what this mush in front of them was, my brother dug right in. I was impressed by his nshima eating skills. A lot of people think it’s an acquired taste but he put down a good amount. As for myself and my PCV’s it was like Christmas—Chicken (never ever get in the village because its too expensive), all types of ifishashi ( ifisashi is any vegetable which they mix with pounded groundnuts making kind of a “creamed spinach” type of dish) and fresh fish (we usually only get to eat the dried tiny fish), it was wonderful!! The rest of the afternoon we just laid in our Nshima Coma’s- often can’t move after eating so much Nshima, and my family got their last play time in with my iwes. The next morning it was back to the dream state. We left my village at 6:00 am and were in Livingstone by 14:00. This would usually be at least a three-day trip for me. One day biking into Mansa and getting my things, then hitching to Lusaka which on a good day you can get there in less than 12 hours and then another day of hitching to Livingstone. I was dreaming again. We spent the next four days relaxing, eating more delicious meals and seeing the amazing Victoria Falls. We also had a few adventures which included Bungee jumping with my brother while my parents very daringly watched from a café overlooking the gorge we were jumping into with a cord tied to our feet, as well as riding elephants on our last day through the river and into the sunset. Before I knew it the adventure I had been waiting on for so long was over. I was waking up from the most amazing dream of my life. Except it wasn’t a dream, it really happened. I know this may seem like an obvious statement but I have to keep writing it out to remind myself that it’s true. It was a wonderful vacation with the people I love the most in the world. I got to laugh, joke, talk, discuss, debate and explore with them. All of the things I am lucky enough to do with my Peace Corps family now but that I will always miss doing with my real family. As the trip came to a close I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel, saying goodbye again for another long period of time. Although it was hard I felt shockingly content after the last hugs and kisses were given. I have lived in Zambia for a year now and it really has become my home. I have an amazing support system in my fellow PCV’s and my fellow villagers, I have a hut that feels like home and a country which I can’t seem to breathe in quick enough. The vacation was incredible and something I will remember for the rest of my life, but so is my Peace Corps service and that in of itself will always make me want to wake up from a dream.

The day has finally come, the anticipation is at its highest, in just three days on Monday July 13, 2011 the Simmons family will finally touch down in Zambia!! I am overwhelmed with excitement about their arrival as it will have been 11 months since I have seen them. I can’t wait to show them Zambia, a country that I have fallen in love with and continue to discover and explore everyday. I will also be lucky enough to experience parts of Zambia, which I haven’t been able to see yet, including my first Safari in South Luwangwa national park in Eastern province. After our four-day Safari we will head to Kalaba, my village for two days of “roughing it” (AKA reality to me). My village is ecstatic about their arrival and has planned a huge celebration where I am pretty sure they are preparing enough food to feed my entire village. Finally we will head to beautiful Livingstone and Victoria Falls to relax and soak up one of the seven natural wonders of the world. As my family's arrival continued to get closer I started to think about all of the differences in American and Zambian culture. I decided to compile a small list of “advice and adjustments” that they might find useful when coming to the “real Africa”. It is quite a funny list to the outsider’s eye so I thought I would share it with you all. Lusaka/Arrival: Talking about the airport, I will be there to pick you up and it will be near impossible to miss me. There is one gate, one terminal, and customs, passport control; security and baggage claim are all within one room. Welcome to Zambia! The cab drivers will try and charge us a “muzungu” (foreigner/white person) price. Just smile and let my Bemba skills go to use. This is when they come in hand the most. They will most likely cut the price in half when they realize you aren’t their average tourists. Lusaka (the capital of Zambia) is not a realistic view of Zambia. Most compare it with South Africa as every store, restaurant and amenity is from South Africa. Nonetheless it has restaurants, which we lack in Mansa (my provincial capital) and obviously in the village. Therefore I will be really excited to eat food, which you are used to consuming everyday in America. Just let me get excited and chuckle silently to yourselves when I change my mind of what to order 10 times because I am overwhelmed by the amount of choices. The reason we are only staying in Lusaka for a day is because there is nothing to do there but eat and shop so if you want to “see the sites” we will have to just wait until we get on Safari. Village Life: When we arrive EVERYONE in my village is going to stare at you constantly and probably won’t stop the entire time you are there. This is because of a few reasons. First, we are arriving in a taxi, which is probably the only car they have seen all day. Second, we are white and we are many (as they say here in Zamlish). It is already an event when I arrive alone from a weekend in Mansa on my bike but now there will be four white people which is basically like having the Beatles, Lady Gaga and Brangelina show up in your town at the same time. There will be kids around my hut constantly. Even if you don’t see them they are like the children of the corn (literally hiding in the maize fields) or trees or bushes. They might be scared at first but eventually they will come out to play and they will no doubt melt your hearts instantly. EVERYONE is going to want to greet you. In Zambian culture greeting someone is one of the most important and respectful gestures you can give. You greet people at every point in the day, morning, afternoon and evening. So we will work on your Bemba skills before you get here and they will think its amazing and hilarious if you even attempt to greet them in their own language. They are going to call you fat. This is not because you are fat. They call me fat, they call my friend fat who barely weighs over 100 pounds, this is because it is a compliment to call you fat. It literally translates in Bemba, as “you look good or healthy”. This is the result of living in a 3rd world country where malnutrition is a very real issue. To call someone fat means they have enough food to support themselves and their families, which is a rarity in the village. My hut is very small, very very small. We will make it work but it is going to be tight. Just think of it as family bonding time. My village and I have been waiting for your arrival ever since I moved there in September. So enjoy all of the beauty that is Zambia and is the African bush as it is a view of Africa that few people truly get. I think that is it for now. I will be sure to write another blog when our wonderful vacation is over. I can’t wait for all of the stories, jokes, and amazing experiences we are going to have together. Mwende Bwino (Travel Safely) and see you so soon! Love to all of you back in the states and thank you so much for being so supportive this past year. Knowing I have such a strong support system near and far is something I value dearly. Love and miss to all of you!

I want to preface this post with a note. I love Zambia, Zambians, Peace Corps and the work I am doing here. However it is hard hard work that comes with a lot of emotional and physical difficulties. So this blog post isn't my usual peppy happy blog post but I don't want that to come off as a negative thing or have anyone think I still am not loving it here. I just think its important to share the reality that is living and working in a third world country. With that said the following blog was written in my hut over the past few weeks and I have transferred it to my computer. Therefore it is read kind of as a mix of a journal entry and blog post. I hope you all enjoy...

Some of you may have noticed that I skipped my monthly blog in May. The reason for this wasn't because I was particulary busy or was on vacation, it was because May was a hard month. It was a month that I wasn't sure I wanted to share with my blogging world. However now that May has passed and we are onto a new month I have decided I think it is important to blog about May. All of my previous blogs have been of my adventures, experience and lessons learned in the village. May was a learning month but in a much harder and different way.

I returned from vacation at the beginning of May after being away from my village for 3 weeks. It always takes me a day or two to get back into the groove of village life; the constant Bemba, being constantly watched but also kind of lonely. However this time there was additional hardships which came in the form of funerals.First let me back track and say that in April the day before I was about to leave for Camp Glow and my subsequent vacation there was a funeral next door.

In Zambia you know a person had died when you start to hear wailing. Wailing is the only way to describe the noise that comes through my hut however it seems more than wailing to me when I hear it. It seems like women loudly yelling out their hearts, souls and tears for the person they have lost. It is the truest expression of grief I have seen in my 24 years in this world.

So the day before I left I was cooking lunch like I do everyday for my Zambian counterpart and I. I was in my insaka (a kind of open gazebo) and started to hear the wailing. At first many times it is hard to tell where the loss of life has occurred or who it is affecting as people come from surrounding villages wailing as the walk from kilometres away. However I asked one of my children and they informed me it was my neighbours granddaughter who had passed. My heart dropped as her two granddaughters are two of my favorite kids. However I soon found out it was a granddaughter from another daughter of hers who lives on the village over. I did not know this little one. But the second I could take a breath of relief I just kept thinking it could have easily been one of my little ones.

The child mortality rate in Zambia is one of it's biggest problems. Children die daily from curable illnesses such as malaria, diarrhoea, and malnutrition. I know this not just from living here but from being a health volunteer who reads the statistics and articles about it everyday nonetheless who sees it daily at my clinic. However this never makes the reality any easier. On my way out the next morning I stopped by my neighbours early in the morning to offer some salt and saladi - cooking oil, as that is what is customary when someone is grieving. I wanted to sit and sing with them and the over 100 people who had slept outside and in their yard that night but truthfully I wasn't comfortable enough yet and so I biked off into town, hoping it would all he better when I returned.

I returned in May. My second day in the village it started again. Wailing. Constant, all encompassing wailing. This time it was the mother of one of the girls in my youth group. I couldn't get a clear reason for her death - a common issue here. Some said she fell off her roof, others said she started coughing blood ( a possibility that she has TB but since there is stigma surrounding TB as it is often an opportunistic infection related to HIV many don't seek treatment). Either way his time i was ready and really wanted to go to the funeral, especially as I had just been with the girl the day before. So I went. Women were wailing, people were singing and talking. It was a Sunday so they combined the church service with the funeral. Here it is traditional to leave the body out in the open so people can pay respects and wail over it until it is buried later in the day. In the middle of the service a few of the bamayos - (village women) that I knew tapped me on the arm and pointed to my arm hair. It was a chilly day so my arm hair was standing up which they thought was hilarious. Zambians don't have much body hair so seeing mine put them on a tizzy. It was a nice break in the service. I left the service early - as they can go on all day- and went back to my hut to reflect and cook some food. Although the funeral was incredibly sad I still felt a bit lucky. I hadn't really known this women although I m sure I had waved to her many times, I couldn't place her exactly and felt lucky that once again I had been one step away from the true grief.

Then Tuesday May 17 came where I wasn't so lucky. I was in Mansa doing some work for my my training and was getting ready to head back to my village. It was early in the morning probably around 06:00 and I got a call and text message from my best friend emanual in the village.From this point forward I am just going to copy and paste my journal entry from that day. The grammer is horrible, sentences disjointed but it is the truest description of what happened and how I felt. It is very personal to me but at the same time feel its important to share..... I titled it grief that day and just started writing. I think grief and grieving is such an interesting emotion. Today Ba Emma and Stella’s first born one month old daughter, Florence passed away. They will never know why as Zambia’s health care system isn’t up to par to diagnose anything other than malaria and a headache outside of the main hospitals in town that nobody can afford. I was suppose to meet her next week. I kept meaning to give emma baby blankets and onesies that my dad sent but I forgot. I wish I hadn’t. I wish I had given them to him. But then would that have made it harder for him? To have a pink blanket and onesie with no little girl to go into it. I mean I am sure they have clothes and blankets that she was wrapped in but for some reason I feel like it would have been harder if it was something I gave to him. But I still wish I could have given it to him. The only type of grieving I have seen in Zambia is at funerals in the village. I have only been to two. One during community entry when my bamaayos friend passed away from “ high BP- blood pressue”. It was more of a cultural experience at that time. I was taking in the wailing, the waiting, the singing, the following of the cast. It was very sad of course but I was so detached at that point that it didn’t hit me too hard. The second funeral was the one I went to in Kalaba. It was for one of my youth’s mothers. I I felt included when I was invited to the funeral as it was the first I was invited to in my village. This one hit a bit closer to home. It was my village, my neighbors, the wailing could be heard from my house and I had had a meeting with the youth a day before and had laughed and pushed through brush with the daughter. Still, it wasn’t like this. This one was raw. Emanual was my first and still best friend in the village. Maybe it is because his English is good, maybe it is because for the first few months we were both bachelors living on our own, maybe it is because he is an outsider from Chipata (Eastern Province) like I am from America. For whatever reason we have stayed close friends for the past 7 months here. He has been there when I needed help finding things in the village, would feed me even when he has no money to feed him and his new baby and when Stella came opened her up to me just like we were the three musketeers. This wasn’t a perfect pregnancy. It was an accident. Stella still has one year left of school and when I found out she was pregnant I was FURIOUS at Emma. HE IS A YOUTH, he sells condoms in his shop, how could this happen!? She only had one year of school left, she was a smart girl, she has been through so much in her life and still beat the odds by making it to high school. But she was pregnant and that was not going to change. So then I started worrying she wasn’t eating enough, working too hard. She was my first pregnant friend and she was Zambian which is a completely different pregnant culture than Americans. I had no idea what to do but was just worried. Then the baby girl came into their lives.. Flo. I found out while all of the crazy riots where going on in Mansa. I was worried because I knew they were planning on going to Senama clinic which is close to where the riots started. Luckily I found out it was ok they delivered at central clinic and mom and baby were healthy. Now it was time to plan a visit. But first I had a bunch of funerals in my village and started getting busy with the NHC planning. So my plan was to visit her during PEPFAR training at the end of May. I would be here for a week and I could give them the baby clothes then. Then came today.. Got a phone call and text which I assumed was Brendan (my ride) telling me about when he was going to pick me up which was instead Emanual saying his precious baby daughter had passed away early this morning. I called immediately. He sounded devastated on the verge of tears. I lost it when I got off the phone. I called my mom in the middle of the night American time. I needed to talk to someone. She was wonderful per usual and calmed me down and talked to me for as long as I wanted. Then I wanted to run, to get out. So I ran. Then I went over in the afternoon. I expected wailing like usual but found out since the baby was so young that the tradition is different and they bury them right away. So instead it was more like a wake where you go and just visit. I sat there as they told me the story of baby Flo and how sick she got. They tried to take her to the clinic but they couldn’t help. So then they resorted to traditional medicine which I have no idea what they even gave them, but like Emma said, they had no other option? I would have done the same. As other people came, Stella moved closer to me. Eventually we were just holding hands as I watched tears stream down her face and could physically feel the pain radiating off of her. It was one of the hardest moments I have ever been through. No words had to be spoken. Just holding her hand, she wouldn’t let go and neither would I. Eventually I had to go, more people were coming and I needed to get back. I told them both how sorry I was again and left. Stella is 17, Emma is 26, they lost a baby today and I don’t know how they are dealing. I do know that all I can do is try and be there for them as I know they would be for me. They are my family as I am there’s.

For the past two months I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with 3 other wonderful PCV's in organizing and planning a girls empowerment camp called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). Camp GLOW was first started in Romania by PCV's during the 1980's. It has since been picked up by fellow PCV's in countries throughout the world. In Zambia the camp has been going on for a few years in the different provinces throughout the country. However my province, Luapula, has never before planned and held a Camp GLOW. I am not exactly sure why, but it just never happened until this year when three girls who came a year before me and will finish their service in September decided to take on the task of planning the first camp from scratch. In late February, only two months before the camp was planned to start, one of the PCV's had to go home unexpectedly to take care of a family illness. It was at this time that the other two girls asked myself and my friend Tiffany to hop on the organizers committee to help them plan the camp. It was an honour to be asked to be such a vital part of such an important project so early in my service, and it is something that I will be forever thankful to them for. Therefore for the past two months my every thought and movement has mostly been around planning this camp. From getting things sent from the U.S., to going around to local businesses for donations, there was a lot that needed to happen in a very short time. However, it all got done and this past week Luapula province held its first Camp GLOW. It was indescribable. The girls showed up this past Saturday to a catholic youth center that we had rented out for the week. There were 16 girls and 8 mentors. Eight PCV's were asked to bring two girls from their village, ranging in age from 13-16 ( grade 7 and 8) and a mentor who was a women in the community which was well respected and would continue to work in forming a GLOW group back in the community after the camp was finished. We had everyone from teachers, to Traditional Birthing Attendents to Women's development leaders. It was quite an amazing group of women that I was lucky enough to get to know throughout the week. The week was filled with educational sessions on issues which have been proven to hold girls back from succeeding, especially in Zambia. We discussed boyfriends and peer pressure, early marriage, HIV/AIDS, rape and sexual assault, reproductive health, women and traditional rituals, confidence and motivation, educational goals and ended the week with a career panel filled with women that had grown up in the village and were now working women in Mansa, the provincial capital where the camp was held. It was an amazing week and the girls were absolutely incredible. They participated in a way that I have never seen girls in Zambia perform, they opened up about very personal and sometimes painful issues and they grew close to one another as the week continued. They also were able to participate in the fun camp activities that I as well as my fellow organizers remember so well about our summers at camp. We had a movie night with popcorn, arts and crafts sessions to decorate journals and tshirts, sports which included an intense game of netball, friendship bracelet making, a talent show and finally a bonfire on the last night that was filled with dancing, singing and of course Smores. At the end of the week it was like the last day of camp that I remember so clearly from every summer of my youth. There was lots of hugging, some exchanging of information and all smiles as they all departed with a bag filled with lots of goodies, but more importantly with friendships and knowledge that they will hopefully take back to their village and continue to spread to their friends and peers. It was by far the most impactful week of my service this far. To teach these girls the basics of puberty and how their own bodies work, which they would have never known if they hadn't been to this camp ( because its just not taught in schools or really talked about in home life) is just one of the things which really seemed to hit me hard. It makes you appreciate your upbringing and all of the education and knowledge that we took for granted as well as how important it is to spread that knowledge to others who might not have had the opportunity otherwise. To sum up the camp in one blog is nearly impossible, however my friend tiffany did make a slide show that we showed at the end of the camp which is attached to my facebook page. So please look at that to see all of the smiling faces and wonderful girls and women that I was able to get to know over this past week. Peace Corps has its highs and lows, as does life, however this past week was why I have always wanted to do Peace Corps. To see such a difference that you can make in 5 short days makes you wonder the difference that you can make in two years or even a lifetime of work. I am not saying that some of the girls might go back to the village and ignore everything they were taught, as they are 13 year old girls and that is a reality with anything you do. However with my service I have realized if I only changed one girls mind about staying in school, using a condom, or standing up for themselves in school or at home, than I think it was all worth it. I hope you all check out the slideshow. It is pretty wonderful and tiff did an amazing job on it. So now I am off to Livingstone for a short vacation after a long two months of work, just the next adventure in my service! Thank you all for continuing to read, keeping in touch and being so supportive from near and far.

Lots of love to everyone,

Kelsey/Bupe

So everyone always asks me what " a typical day in the village" looks like. I always have a hard time answering the question because each day can be so different from the next. One day I can have a meeting with one of my zones which is 25 kilometers away through the tall grass, broken bridges and muddy slush. Another day I can sit in my hut all day, reading an entire book, listening to the BBC and doing cartwheels with my iwes. However I know that is difficult to explain my new Zambian life to everyone back in America. I thought I would take just one day last week and take you all through step by step. Now this is going to be detailed, so if you don't have time to read it now, you are at work, about to go to sleep, or just busy, I understand. No worries, this blog isn't going anywhere and you can always come back and finish reading later. So, here goes one example of a "typical" day in the village. I usually wake up around 6 to 630am, usually awakened by my rooster which lives outside of my hut and decides to crow, starting around 5:00 am. I lay in bed for about a half hour listening to the rooster constantly crowing, some kids playing and whatever morning madness is going on as most of my villagers have already been up for at least an hour at this point. This particular day I woke up and decided I wanted to go for a short run. I laced up my very muddy shoes ( rainy season=everything is muddy and moldy constantly, one gets used to this quite quickly) and decided to get my day going. I started off on my normal path, which goes over a river and up into the next village however today it had rained an incredible amount so the river had flooded the road and created a small lake on either side of the river. Therefore there were about 20 naked little boys swimming in the newly formed pond and yelling " Kels, Kels, Kels" ( its either Bupe or Kels at this point as Kelsey seems a little difficult for Zambians to pronounce). At this point I realize two things: first, in the U.S. this would be considered wildly inappropriate even though none of the boys were above the age of 6 and were just enjoying a nice morning swim, and secondly, I needed to turn around unless I was going to try and forge the river. So I decided to turn around and run back towards my house and along a different path that led to a different field. However this required me going past my house, where I had already greeted all of my neighbors (Mwashibukeni Mukwai, Good Morning in Bemba had been said at least 20 times at this point) but there weren't many other options. I went back towards my house, where all of my neighbors children started running after me which only made me run faster which therefore made me tired much quicker. Anyway, I got a good 30 minute run in ( a good amount considering all of the distractions) and went back to my hut where my iwes ( what they call children here) were awaiting my arrival. Yes I know right now you are thinking, wow a lot has gone on in the first activity of the day, but just wait it gets better. I returned home, where I know have to light my brazier so I can cook some breakfast and heat my bath water. My iwes are very good at helping me with this as they have been doing it everyday, three times a day since they were born. I on the other hand am still pretty horrible at it and must swing the brazier at least 50 times back and forth ( yes I count when I get bored) just to get some of the coals warm. Therefore, the iwes win. So I made my usual oatmeal for breakfast, took a nice bucket bath and swept the hut of termites and ants which continuously form greater piles every night. They really are quite interesting little things. Anyway, this day I had a meeting with one of my Neighborhood Health Committees to discuss an upcoming training which I am putting together for them as well as some ITN's (Insecticide Treated Nets, aka Mosquito Nets) which are coming through the district and will need help being distributed in March and April. So we walked to the meeting (usually we bike but this zone actually happened to be in my village) and sat under a tree to wait for the meeting to start. This usually takes about an hour (on a good day) from the time we get there, to organize everyone and get the meeting started. However this particular meeting happened to be very well organized so it only took about 30 minutes until it started. The meeting took about an hour and then we were done. However at every meeting it is also culturally necessary to feed your guests so even though this meeting took place in my village and my hut was only about 1 kilometer away, we still had to wait to be served lunch ( which is usually the highlight of my day considering I am not a huge fan of cooking lunch in the hot heat in the village.. yes even though it is rainy season the days have stayed VERY warm). While waiting for lunch one of my committee members took out his sling shot and started aiming into a tree. I didn't see anything so I didn't think much of it, when all of a sudden he shot and something fell from the tree. He went, picked it up and brought it back to show me. It was a baby bird. I almost started crying on the spot. It was dead. I was confused. I asked why he shot the little bird and my counterpart told me he was going to eat it. It was a "I am in a third world country" type of moment. It was only exasperated when a few minutes later my counterpart and I were led into the home to feast on a lunch of half a chicken (meat is only served on very special occasions), nshima, the traditional porridge type of food made out of maize ( my friends call it grits in a hardered form and without any butter or cheese) and a leafy green vegetable. This is the Zambian way. Even if they haven't eaten all day or might only have one meal in a day they will be sure to feed you their best chicken and make sure you eat until you can't breath any longer. After the meal was finished, my counterpart and I walked back to the clinic where he had to go back to looking after patients as he is a voluntary casual employee who although not formally trained gives out medicine when no one else is there to, while I finished up some notes from the meeting and headed home. Of course within 5 seconds of being home my iwes were there to greet me, wanting to fetch my water, sweep my yard and just stare at whatever I do of course all in reward for a "sweetie" which they don't know is actually a flinstone gummy, haha I am so tricky. We hung out, had an art hour where they got to draw whatever they like with the crayons I provide while I got to write in my journal, listen to Larry london on Border Crossings , Voice of America, and then turn in for the day. However not before being lucky enough to stand on my mound and talk to my parents for a few minutes to tell them about my day. After that, its about 6:30 which means a light dinner ( if you ever eat Nshima you won't want to eat for days) and an early bed time, usually crawling into bed by 7:30pm. Yes I know it sounds crazy but when it gets dark, my mouse (which I have named micky) comes out to scavange for food as do other insects, rodents, etc. Therefore I tuck myself into my mosquito net, read for a while, check the news of the day and turn in by 8:30 or 9 for a good 9 hours of sleep. These days the rain usually puts me to sleep, especially now that the leaks in my roof are fixed I can stay asleep without worrying that I will wake up to a flood in the morning. Then the day starts over again. This might sound like a horrifying day to some of you, or one that is unimaginable, however for me it was a great day. I got a lot of things accomplished, only if just meeting people in my NHC and learning what their needs are and what we will work on in the future. I got to hang out with my iwes, have some time to myself, and watch a rainstorm roll in. Life in Zambia is great. It is VERY different than my life in America but I love it all the same. So hopefully this gave you a little better of an idea of what at least ONE of my many days here looks like. So I know my blogs have been few and far between but now that I just got my computer sent, hopefully I can catch you all up a little more often! So I hope everyone is keeping warm in the last few months of winter, just know that lots of love and warmth is being sent from Zambia!

Happy Belated New Years everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and start to 2011. My holidays were spent slightly differently this year as they were my first holidays in Africa. I was lucky enough to spend Christmas day with some close friends at a home stay family here in Lusaka. We went swimming ( yes the weather is still very warm here, even with the rains), watched TV and made a delicious Christmas dinner for some other friends who were in Lusaka. The next day we were off to Chipata, the provincial capital of Eastern province. My friend Tiffany and I got a lovely hitch from some men who worked at Barclays and who bought us chicken on the way as a snack. Truly lovely people. I think that is why I love hitching so much, it can be a pain and sometimes it can take forever, but you always meet different people who have different stories. I really wish it was safer in the States so that I could just get rid of my car and hitch everywhere! I have started keeping a "hitching journal" where I tell about our hitch and the people we meet. I hope to look at it at the end of my service and have such good memories of all of my travels throughout Zambia and the surrounding countries. So we arrived in Chipata and met up with some fellow PCV's who were going with us to Malawi. Spent the night there and then we were off to Nkhata Bay! It took us another full day of taxis, mini buses and big buses to get there but once we did we knew it was worth it. We stayed at a lodge which was right on Lake Malawi which other PCV's had recommended to us and it was BEAUTIFUL! It was right on the water, we all had our own porches overlooking the lake, and the people, food and atmosphere was unmatched to any other vacation I have taken. While there we went on a boat tour where we got to go cliff jumping ( not really a cliff but more like big rocks), saw monkeys and eagles and played soccer with some locals on the beach. The rest of the week we really just laid on a platform in the middle of the clear blue water, went snorkeling, ventured into town to explore and ate good food. It was wonderful with amazing company of 12 other PCV's, truly a perfect ending to our Community Entry. So we ventured back into Zambia after another LONG day of hitching and getting back across the border, then stayed in Chipata for a few more days. Chipata is really a beautiful city with green mountains surrounding it. I was happy to get to explore another province for the first time since being in country. My goal is to get to all of them before I leave, they are each so unique and I think you have to see all of them to get the real feel of Zambia. So from there we hitched back to Lusaka, a hitch that should have taken 6 or 7 hours which took 9, ah the life of a PCV. So now I am back in Lusaka for training for two weeks. It has been wonderful eating good food, Thai, Chinese, Irish Pubs, Indian, really anything you could want! However now I am ready to get back to my village. It really has become my home and I miss my friends and family back in Kalaba. So I am here another week and then head back to beautiful Luapula. So I know this blog entry might not have been as profound or "cool" as my other stories from the village, but I thought it was important to know that as Peace Corps volunteers we work hard and play hard. So far 2011 has been an incredible year that I only hope will get better and as these past almost 6 months have been, I can't see it going anywhere but up.

Love and miss you all! Keep the letters, emails, and good thoughts coming. Oh and of course, GO STEELERS ( I will actually be able to watch the game tonight!!!)

All my love,

Kelsey/Bupe

Muwabombeni Mukwai bonse ( How is everyone working/doing). I am currently sitting in an Internet cafe in Lusaka ( the capital) and feeling like I am in America. I took the first hot shower with pressure this morning, watched some TV, then went to go eat a BAGEL ( new bagel shop just opened) and now I am on a computer with good Internet connection as I watch people talk on their cell phones walk by. This is weird. I haven't seen so many white people, big buildings and nice cars since getting sworn in at the end of September. I have gotten used to watching my iwes sit on my porch and play with ants, greeting every person who bikes by my house, watching the clouds roll in before a big thunderstorm and having a social life which includes listening to BBC and Voice of America while eating dinner. So needless to say being in Lusaka is a bit of a shock. However it also exciting because it starts my first vacation in Zambia as well as the end of my Community Entry!! I am FINALLY a 100% pure bred REAL REAL REAL volunteer!!!!! It only took 5 months, two months of training, three months in my village, many meetings, greetings and teachings, but I made it! A lot of people have been asking me how my service would change now that I am a "real volunteer" however the work in my village really won't change that much. The only difference is now I am allowed my four days at the provincial house each month as well as the ability to take vacation and cultural days to explore more of Zambia and the countries surrounding it. So I will spend the next few days in Lusaka for Christmas and then start my long journey across the country to Eastern Province and then Malawi!! I am going with a group of volunteers from my intake and couldn't be more thrilled. We are spending seven days on Lake Malawi which should include getting my scuba diving license and relaxing in the warm sun on the edge of a beautiful Lake! We are planning to hitch all of the way there so I am sure it will be an adventure. We completed our first " long hitching experience" as we left Mansa to head to Lusaka ( it is 10 hours in a Land cruiser so we knew it was going to be a long day). Needless to say 14 hours, two 18 wheelers, a lot of stops and a block of cheese later we arrived in Lusaka! It was definitely an experience but I went with my friend Tiffany and as we kept saying on our journey, " Hitching is so fun because it gives you the best stories". We met some interesting people, saw some incredible scenery, had talks about everything from issues with aid in Africa to the new Usher song and paid with our last 5 hour hitch with a block of cheddar cheese. Like so many other things that I experience here, I just kept thinking "Only in Africa".

Anyway, back to my community entry. Not to much to update on since my Thanksgiving blog, however as I have come to the end of another chapter in my Peace Corps service I thought it would be only fitting to write a short list of some of the things I learned during community entry. This list is short and not all inclusive as I am paying for internet by the minute and a real list would take all day to write.

1. If you get sick in your village and tell one person, the whole community with undoubtedly know in less than 10 minutes. You are famous, never forget it.

2. If your counterpart asks you to name his child and you take days thinking of a name, don't be offended when they ditch the name and just name it after you. Be flattered, it is probably the only person in the world that will be named after you before you die.

3. Don't bike too close to Zambians, they usually have no breaks on their bikes and it can make for a dangerous situation.

4. Embrace the bug bites that you receive during rainy season. It is a mystery how you get bitten in certain places or what insect the bite is actually coming from, but unless it starts to blow up just enjoy that your legs look like you have the chicken pox.

5. Wall spiders are your friends. They eat some of the other bugs that are in your house and really never bother you unless you bother them.

6. If there is a rat in your roof, there is truly nothing you can do about it. You can name it, yell at it, try and scare it but it will just continue to scratch at your plastic and bother you all night. Instead just put in your ipod and pretend it isn't there.

7. If you give one iwe (child) a sweetie, no doubt he will bring 20 of his closest siblings and friends back to get some as well. So just give them Flinstone gummies and feel good that you might be adding a little nutrition to their diet.

8. If you leave your village, have friends come visit, make food for a neighbor or go to the bathroom too many times, everyone will know. You are famous, never forget it.

9. DISCLAIMER- sorry to mom, grandma, or anyone else who might be embarrassed by this comment. You will know every bowel movement, urination and grumble in your stomach and try to self diagnose yourself with every disease in the book. You probably just ate some bad caterpillars, drink an ORS ( Oral Rehydration Salt) and you will be better in the morning.

10. If you listen to BBC or VOA all day, they will repeat the same book club discussion, or interview at least 5 times. Just wait until it is 17:00 and border crossings comes on for a dose of a little American music.

11. Last and most importantly, Zambians are one of the most kind, thoughtful, giving people on the earth. Cherish every moment you have with them as well as the surroundings you are living in. The African bush is unlike anywhere else on earth. It is pure, natural beauty that is undeveloped and hard to come by these days.

So I know this post was a little quick but I will be back in Lusaka for an In Service Training after my trip to Malawi so I will be sure to update everyone then on how the vacation went! I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas and New Year holiday and just know someone in Zambia is sending you lots of love!!

All my love,

Kelsey/Bupe

Happy turkey day everyone! I know it has been a while since my last update and I feel like so much has happened. So I will try my best to update you on my first two months in the village! I guess I will start from the beginning with the first week in Kalaba. Everyone always talks about the dreadful moment after you are dropped off and the cruiser leaves you for the last time, on your own, in the middle of the African bush. However for me it really wasn't so bad, my neighbors and housing committee were there putting finishing touches on my hut and I was given a welcome meal of ubwali ( traditional Zambian dish also known as nshima, basically mashed up maze) as well as chicken(which is the most expensive and respectful food you can give in the village). So the first day wasn't so scary and I was so exhausted from all of the shopping and prepping that I was happy for some peace and quiet. However the first week following that day was a bit of an adjustment. I had to finally learn how to start a brazier much less cook on one, how and where to fetch my water ( our well is broken so when I say I fetch my water I literally mean I am pulling a bucket on a string all the way up the well), as well as all of the other daily chores that come with being a villager! It was a long week and there were definitely times when I had to pinch myself to make sure this was really happening. I was actually living in a mud hut where wall spiders and lizards were my roomates, cooking on a contraption which required me to use charcoal and swing it back and forth like a mad woman just to cook a meal, and speak a tribal african language on a daily basis while living in a village 40 kilometres from any sort of paved road! Like I said, it was an adjustment. However now although it has only been a short two months I am smiling as I type this because all of those crazy things which I thought I would never get used to are the things I have come to love about my village and my life here in Zambia.

So onto the work side of things. Although during our first three months of community entry we aren't technically supposed to be doing "work", all of you who know me know that didn't last too long. After finishing my fourth book in the first three weeks I started getting pretty antsy to say the least. So my counterpart and I started coming up with a schedule of things we thought would be important for me to do while integrating into the community. How the health system is set up in Zambia is that it has to be extremely decentralised to reach all of the people in the rural villages that make up this country. So for example I am lucky that I live very close to my Rural Health Center (RHC). This health center or clinic as most people refer to it is in charge of 14 "zones" which surround it. These zones are basically villages which each have a Neighborhood Health Committee (NHC) who are responsible for the health education and if necessary certain medications and health support in their own villages. These NHC'S are extremely important considering that some of the zones are as far as 30 kilometres from the RHC. With most zambians having no form of transportation, only a lucky few have bicycles, most of these people will never make it to the clinic to deliver babies, get medication for their families or get any other sort if health care. So right now I have been biking to all of my zones and meeting with the NHC's to see what they have been doing. As I found out on my fourth zone visit although my NHC's were formed in the 1980's none of them have ever been trained since then so they have no idea what their actual roles are in the community. Sadly this is a common theme in the village where people have certain titles however are not sure of the responsibilities that go with those titles. So a lot of my job over the next year will be putting a workshop together to train my NHC's so that when the next volunteer comes he or she can start doing larger projects with them. Although this might seem like very basic work it is really the most sustainable thing I can do in my service because once the NHC's are trained they can begin teaching health education to their own communities. From what I have witnessed thus far a huge problem with health in Zambia is lack of education. So if they can teach their own communities how to take better care of their health it could be a massive step in the right direction! I know the abbreviations and the work I am doing can be a little confusing and this is just one of the bigger projects I am trying to accomplish. Smaller ones have included helping out at my clinic, putting together some pamphlets for my clinic with recipes and information for HIV positive mothers, and planning some small programs for World AIDS day which is December 1st! So it's not your typical nine to five job and when people ask me what I do on a day to day basis it's kind of hard to explain because it is constantly changing, but hopefully that gave you a little glimpse into what I am doing. Lots of biking, trying to speak Bemba, and just learning to live in the village is what takes up the majority of my time! All in all I am really loving my life in the village. Currently the rainy season has started and watching the rainstorms roll in every afternoon has started to become my new favorite thing to do! I know it might sound crazy but the sky here is so big and beautiful that you can watch the storms roll in for hours at a time. All in all I am really loving my village, the work I am doing and Zambia as a whole. It's crazy to think I have already been here four months and I only have one month left of my community entry! So thanks to everyone for all of the sweet letters, emails, packages, etc. They really do brighten my day every time I get one. I am missing everyone over thanksgiving and hope you are enjoying time with family and friends during the holiday season! There are so many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving but instead of listing them all I will just give a short list of "firsts" that i am thankful for being able to experience in Zambia.

First time: eating caterpillars (shockingly tasty), being given a live chicken as a gift, naming a baby ( my counterpart asked me to name his new baby girl- I named her Leia after my great aunt Leah and cousin Luke), hitching on the back of a truck with chickens,fish and my fellow Zambians, biking from my village to town- 40km on a dirt road (I have done it 3 times now), running through the bush with African children yelling muzungu muzungu ( White person), actually seeing the thanksgiving turkey be killed ( we did that today in the backyard) and finally being given a Bemba name- Bupe ( pronounced Bu- pay) meaning gift. It is now what everyone in my village calls me and it makes me smile everytime. So lots of love being sent from Zambia back to America! I miss and love everyone tons and again hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Look out for another update after Community Entry is over December 18! lots of love, Bupe

P.S. Pictures will be coming soon! I am so sorry I haven't posted them yet but it takes about 3 hours to download 10 pictures so I promise they are coming soon!

Hi America! So it's official I made it through training and swore in on Friday as a Peace Corps Volunteer! I really can't believe it has already been two months and I am done with training. Training was a great but very tiring experience. However last week we took our final language test, we cooked American meals for our home-stay families, we moved out and said goodbye to the Zambians that have been hosting us the last two months and we moved to Lusaka for our swear in ceremony. It was a weird experience as I was moving out of my home-stay families last Thursday. As I packed all of my things, said bye to my host- dad, sister, brothers, and exchanged our final gifts I couldn't believe that I had only known them for two months. They were almost like an "RA" in a college dorm, they taught me how to cook, how to clean, how to use a Brazier to heat my bath water and were always there if I had any problems. So although it was really sad to say goodbye to them, I promised I would visit the next time I was in town (probably after our community entry in January) and then wished me well. They also gave me parting gifts of a Zambian broom (no handle but shockingly effective), a pot and a wooden cooking spoon. The gifts were so sweet and thoughtful and things I will actually use in my village.

So we left our villages and moved to Lusaka for our big ceremony. Friday was the big day- SWEAR IN!! It almost felt like my college graduation. We all got dressed up, put on make up for the first time in Zambia (one of my male friends commented- "Kelsey you look so different today, I almost don't recognize you"- I took it as a compliment? ) and we were off to the Ambassador's house. His house was beautiful and as I told my parents looked like an American house in the middle of Zambia. There was real coffee, fried chicken, wonderful scones and I must say we all ate like we were going to move to an African village for two years- Oh wait, we are. So the ceremony was great, a few people made speeches in the local language, we took an oath to protect the U.S. , and we were officially sworn in as volunteers! I almost wish we had hats or something to throw in the air like graduation but instead we just clapped and took some great pictures next to the Peace Corps flag ( pictures to come soon). So the next day we hopped on a cruiser, drove 10 hours and finally landed in Luapula, my new home! So since being here we have been hanging out, enjoying some good movies for the first time since being in country, cooking on an actual stove and enjoying each others company. Today was a crazy day of shopping for EVERYTHING for our hut. From a bed frame and mattress, to pots, pans and nails we got as much as humanly possible as this will be the only time that a cruiser comes out to our site ( the rest of the time I will be carrying it on the back of my bike). So we are finally done, just with a few things left to get tomorrow before I move to my village for good!! I have mixed emotions as this will be the first time really living on my own and even more so living with people that don't speak my language but really I am also very excited. I am excited to learn more about myself, more about how I cope with living on my own, living with people so different than I am and living in and decorating/ renovating my very first home! As my mom said in her last letter to me "Your first house will always be a mud hut in Africa" which I think is very cool. So sadly that is all that is really new for now. Tomorrow I will officially start my "Community Entry" which means I am not allowed in the Provincial house until Thanksgiving and then after that until Christmas break. This is a time where I am supposed to not do so much "work" but really just get to know my village- get to know my neighbors, my counterparts and who i will work with and who I won't work with, and get settled in my hut and make it my home! So sadly I won't be able to update my blog until Thanksgiving time but I hope everyone is settling into Fall in the U.S. it is funny because we are coming into hot season here as October is supposed to be the "hottest month of all" ( i truly can't even imagine how it could get hotter than it is now but I guess I will find out!). So thank you to everyone who has e-mailed or facebooked me congratulating me on Swear in or just saying hello. I think about everyone often and although I might not be able to respond know that every e-mail or letter or postcard that I get means the world to me! They are little connections to home that make my day every time I get one so please keep them coming! So love to everyone back home, I think about you all often. Wish me good luck in the village and when I come back I am sure I will have many stories to tell! Love to everyone and miss you all very much!

Twalamonana ( see you later, more like talk to you later)

Kelsey

Muli Shani everyone! ( How are you in bemba). So I know it has been a while since my last blog post and although I would love to update everyone on every minute of my life here in Zambia, there is only so much time in a day and more importantly so much time until this computer probably freezes. So since I last wrote I have been in training learning as much Bemba as possible before I am posted at my site. The most exciting has been the last two weeks though where I have been on "Second site visit". So about two weeks ago I found out I would be going to Luapula Province for my service! I was so excited because after first site visit I really fell in love with the part of the country and it was my first choice by far. Last Sunday we all packed up and headed on our 10 hour cruiser ride to Mansa, which is the provincial capital of Luapula. Every province has a provincial house where peace corps volunteers can go to kind of "recharge" from the village. It is where our "Peace Corps Provincial House" is and where I will call my home away from the village over the next two years. It has a tv, shower, computer, library and anything else I could possibly want on my down time. So we spent the night at the provincial house and then headed to a PCV Brittany's site. I had met her on second site visit and she was great so I was excited to go to her village. I and three other trainees stayed with her for second site visit. It was incredible and we got to learn so much about her site and how she works there. We also got to spend a night at the waterfalls which was beautiful and such a nice break from our busy schedule in her village. Luapula is known as the province of waterfalls and I plan to visit many of them on my free time here!

Friday however was definitely the big day where everyone got dropped off at their own sites by themselves for the first time ever! Everyone was pretty nervous to see their house, meet their counterparts ( the Zambians in their village that would be our co-workers) ,neighbors and see the village they will be living in for two years. So my village is named Kalaba, it is 35k off the tarmac which means I basically have to bike 35k to get to the main road which I am oddly excited about and it is truly in the "African Bush". I am also what Peace Corps calls a "first generation" which means no other Peace Corps volunteer has lived in my village and I am most definitely the first white person that has lived in Kalaba, much less the first white person most of these people have ever seen. So I was to stay in Kalaba from Friday until Tuesday and wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do or who I was supposed to meet. Well was I in store for a surprise, the moment I got there my counterparts and everyone else it seemed in the village came to greet me and work on my house. It was a whirlwind of a few days which included very high highs and a few lows (which included me trying to climb up an ant hill beside my house to try and get cell phone service only to see the whole village staring at me like I was a crazy person). All in all Kalaba was great and I am excited to go back there in a few weeks and start working. They are a very active community but they have a lot of issues ( like having no clean water source, no nurse to staff the clinic) that I am excited to work on.

So many of you may be wondering what the title of my blog post is about. I wanted to give you all one little story from Kalaba so you could get a glimpse into my life. So Sunday is most people's day to rest and go to Church as most Zambians are very religious Christians. So I went to Church ( as I promised I would go to all of the Church's in Kalaba because as I explained to my counterparts Zambia doesn't have "the Church of the Jews"), and then my town was playing in a soccer game. I was very excited to go as my brother was an excellent goal keeper in High School and played soccer his whole life ( shout out to you B), and I truly enjoy watching soccer. So we get to the soccer game and this is when I realize I am famous. Everyone basically turns and stops what they are doing to stare at me ( Zambians arent afraid to stare for prolong periods of time). Then I sat down with my counterparts and was swarmed on both sides with children and adults alike who truly just wanted to sit near me. They stared a little more and then when I spoke my little Bemba I thought they were going to fall on the ground. Not only was I white but I spoke their language, how was this possible!? So the game was great although it did end in a tie (0-0) it was so much fun and I got a small bit of what Brad and Angelina feel ( without the cameras of course). It was a great time and I just had to laugh to myself and wish that all of you were here to watch my famous status in Kalaba.

So sorry this is shorter than some of you may hoped. I am exhausted from a physically and emotionally draining few weeks of speaking only Bemba and broken english, seeing what a true Zambian clinic looked like and how many problems it faces, and seeing my very own hut for the first time! So now I am back in Mansa and looking forward to making some mexican food and speaking english for a while. Tomorrow we go back to Lusaka where we will have a two day counterpart workshop with our counterparts from the village and then it is back to my homestay family in Chongwe who I truly do miss! So only two weeks of training left after that, I really can't believe how time has flown by but now I am just excited to get back to Kalaba and start my real work.

Love to everyone back home. For all of my fellow chosen people Happy New Year and have a easy fast if I can't update before Yom Kippur. Everyone else I send my love to you and thanks for all of the sweet e-mails and messages. I don't have barely any phone network in my village except for under a few trees so I will try and get back to all of your e-mails as soon as I can.

Mwende Bwino ( travel safe)

Kelsey

Mwapoleni Mukwai- very excited to have my first Bemba title for my blog! Mwapoleni Mukwai is the greeting in Bemba for when you first meet someone or haven't seen someone in a long time. Since I have been gone for almost a month now I thought it was an appropriate title. So first and foremost I want to thank everyone who has written or e-mailed me over the last few weeks. For those of you who don't know I do have an internet phone here and can receive e-mails on my phone just about everyday. Sadly I can not respond to as many or as long as I would like as they haven't quite gotten the "crackberry" in Zambia and I still have a normal phone with a normal keypad, thus writing is quite a challenge. However do know that for those of you that send me an e-mail I will at least write back with a little thank you!

So now that the logistics are out of the way back to the important stuff! So I have been in Zambia for about three weeks now and I am loving every minute of it. There is so much to catch everyone up on but I will start with where I left off on my first site visit. So to summarize it was wonderful! I stayed with a CHIP volunteer that was just hitting her one year mark and she was great. Shockingly enough she was from Atlanta and went to UNCW for college so we hit it off from the start. After our long journey we arrived in her village and her and her two other PCV friends went on to host a wonderful three days together. We cooked pasta, tacos and rice and soya, we asked her and her friends about a million questions about their service and just tried to soak up every minute. The next day she took us to her NHC (Neighborhood Health Committee) where they were painting a new building they had just gotten as well as putting up posters and planning for a VCT event ( Voluntary Counseling and Testing- aka HIV/AIDS testing) that was coming to her village soon. They were all so sweet to us and all of the bamaayos ( mothers) cooked us a typical Zambian feast, it was about enough food to feed an army even though there were only four of us girls. So I wish I could give you more of a minute by minute of my time but basically the next day we went to this Lake near where the PCV lived and relaxed and asked more and more questions. Oh and I had my first official hitching experience- we hitched on the back of a truck filled with rocks, no wonder the ride was free it was not the most comfortable I've had!

So now back to today. So I have been living with my host family for two weeks now and love love them! So my family is composed of my baamayo (mom) my dad, three brothers and a sister. I am the 7th PCV they have hosted so I think they are basically pros by now. I live in a small small round mud hut. I have a mattress on the floor ( of course with my mosquito net covering me) as well as two small tables and my water filter. There is not much room for anything else but at the end of a long day of training it is my favorite place to come back to. I live in the middle of my families compound which includes their house ( small mud house with a tin roof) and a few other small huts for cooking, bathing, and the other boys to sleep. They speak a little English so it that has made adjusting a bit easier but they are insistent on me learning Bemba so they talk to me and study with me almost every night. As for my "typical day" it is a little hard to describe because in Peace Corps nothing is "typical" or "uniform" and everything is scheduled to change! However to generalize Monday through Friday I wake up around 7 am and I am at language training in my village by 8. My language class is just me and one other girl so the one on one attention is wonderful. Also it is in the village which makes it easier when we need to practice our Bemba, we just walk right out the door! So language is from about 8-12 and then I walk home to have lunch with my family ( probably Shima, a protein and a vegetable, probably doused in oil and salt- Zambians LOVE oil and salt). By 2:00 pm or 14:00 hours I am at the training center for our technical training. Our technical training is anything from HIV/AIDS education, Malaria training, guest speakers or cultural programs. Then by 5:00 we are usually done, just in enough time to bike home before it gets dark, take a bucket bath ( which I have learned to love very quickly), sit around the Brazier and watch my bamaayo cook dinner, eat and I am in my hut by 8:00 pm asleep by 9 or 10. So that is my day in a nutshell. On Saturdays we have half days and Sundays we have free. Last Sunday I went to my first Zambian funeral with my bamaayo. It was one of the most interesting and overwhelming experiences I have had yet but I am so glad I went. The people here are so honest and open about their emotions that they just wail and wail and nobody tries to stop them. It was almost a freeing experience in some sense and I think it is something that you don't see in the West very often.

So I know this is an extremely long post but I feel like everyday I learn something new and experience something completely out of the norm. So for now all I can say is that I am truly loving Zambia, the people are the most accommodating and hospitable people I have ever met. They treat me like their daughter even if we have just met on the street and they would offer me dinner even if they didn't have enough to feed their own family. Their country is beautiful and everyday all I have to do is look at the Zambian sky and know I am doing the right thing. Whether it is in the morning as the sun is coming up and the sky seems to go on forever , my bike ride home as the sun is setting and the most beautiful colors can be seen, or at night before bed as I brush my teeth under the most stars I have ever witnessed in my life, the Zambian sky is incredible. So I guess that is it for now! I don't know how often I will get internet or how much I will be able to update the blog but I promise anytime I get near a computer, a blog will be posted!

So I love and miss everyone very much and if I don't get to post in the next few weeks Happy Birthday to all those back home and know that I will be thinking about you on your special days!

All my love, Ba Cas ( what my host family calls me, "Ba" is a term of respect and Cas is their version of Kelsey since they can't pronounce my name).

Hi everyone. I can now say I am officially writing you from Zambia! So the journey so far has been that, quite a journey. We had our pre-orientation in Atlanta where everyone met, we got our yellow fever shots and then got to the airport Wednesday night. Unfortunately our flight left an hour late from Atlanta and then was delayed a bit more in the air, giving us approximately 20 minutes to get 60 people, half of which didn't have boarding passes (stupid delta) onto our connection to Lusaka, obviously that didn't happen. So we spent a few hours in the Johannesburg airport trying to talk to everyone from Peace Corps in D.C. to Peace Corps in Zambia to the U.S. Embassy in South Africa to try and figure out our little pickle. Around midnight Zambia time (we arrived around 615pm) we finally got the message to get a hotel and fly out the next morning. In the Peace Corps spirit, that didn't happen quite as planned either. Half of our group that was supposed to fly out at a 10 am flight was bumped to a 7 pm flight and the other half got on the plane.. we thought the peace corps gods were testing us at this point, but still remained in high spirits! So we spent another day in the Johannesburg airport, needless to say if you ever are there I can tell you where all of the good napping places can be found! But we enjoyed our last few "western meals" and got on the plane and arrived in Lusaka last night around 9pm to a welcoming peace corps staff! It was so nice to finally be in Zambia and breath in Zambian air. We got into our government hostel, had a few Zambian beers and fell into our beds under our mosquito nets (which are quite whimsical if I do say so!)

So today was finally the beginning of training! We had a few intro sessions about medicine (started my malaria meds today, bring on the crazy dreams!) and then broke into our two groups- Community Health and Rural Aquaculture ( I am health but my program is called Community Health Improvement Project (CHIP) so they call us Fish and CHIPS, get it? ) So we had an overview with two wonderful women from CHIP about what we will be doing and our first site visit which starts Monday! So I found out two really exciting things. First, I will be learning BEMBA as my language! It is the most spoken language in Zambia and means I will either be placed in the Northern, Central or Luapula province, I am beyond excited to start learning. Secondly I learned that for my site visit I get to go to Luapula! Two other girls and I from Health along with 4 people from Fish will hop in our land cruisers on Monday morning ( at 6 am!) and head 8 hours north to Luapula ( the fish people have to go 15 hours so we got lucky!) Everyone has said how beautiful Luapula is and refer to it as the "Water province" because it is known for all of its beautiful waterfalls and rivers. It is in the north western part of Zambia, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo ( but no worries mom we are completely safe!)We get in Monday night and stay until Thursday morning when we head back to Lusaka. I am so so excited to finally get to the African Bush and see how another CHIP volunteer lives, and she speaks Bemba so I can get a jump start on my language! So right now we all just went grocery shopping for our site visits ( smores and pasta two of my favorites on the list) and now we have some free time in the local "mall" to walk around. Tomorrow is another day of shots and measurements for our bikes, another thing I am extremely looking forward to, not the shots but the bike riding!

So I know this is an extremely long first post but I just feel like there is so much to catch everyone up on! So much happens in a day here and it is all so exciting and amazing. I also forget to say I had my first meal of nshima ( corn maize) with some greens ( look kind of like collard greens) and a few wonderful zambian bananas ( they are much sweeter than the ones in the U.S.). So I am considering going back to being a vegetarian while I'm here as Zambians eat mostly red meat ( kidneys as one of the common meals) if meat at all and I think it might make things a bit simpler. So we will see, it is only day 1 really and so much has already happened!

I should get my phone soon and it is supposed to have internet so feel free to send me some e-mails with updates on everyone!

Ok love to everyone and I hope you enjoyed my first real post! Sorry again about any misspelled words or crazy sentences, Zambian internet isn't quite as fast as in the U.S.!

So the day has finally come, I am in Atlanta, GA and about to head to my "pre-orientation departure" which will take place here over the next day and a half. I will head there at noon today, have a few lectures on "what to expect" (even though I have read every book and blog that has ever been written about what to expect), and then tomorrow it's vaccinations and off to the airport! My emotions right now are rushing through me a thousand miles a minute. I am anxious, nervous, excited, and so much more. I have been talking and thinking about this day for over a year now and can't believe it is finally here. I just wanted to take a quick minute to thank everyone who has had coffee, dinner, drinks or just a phone call with me over the past few weeks. You have all been so supportive and I can't tell you how comforting it has been. I know we will all grow and change throughout the next two years and I wish everyone nothing but the best. Once I get to Zambia I will probably have limited internet access during training but will try to update my blog as soon as I can.

Thank you all again for everything, especially to my family who has been my backbone throughout this entire process.

Lots of love to everyone.

Kelsey

Hi everyone and welcome to my first ever blog! Although I haven't been one of the keenest or most knowledgeable about the blog world, I thought it was only fitting to have one while I am gone. As most of you know, I am leaving on July 20, 2010 for my Peace Corps Service in Zambia, Africa. I will be serving as a "Community Health Development Extensionist" which involves educating rural Zambians about HIV/AIDS. I am so excited for this journey to begin as it has been a long time coming. I began applying to the Peace Corps in April 2009. After many medical reviews, shots, tests, appointments, legal clearances etc., I was finally medically cleared on June 9, 2010. On June 10,2010 I got the call I had been waiting for for over a year. I was officially offered an "invitation to serve" in Zambia. Since then it has been a whirlwind of researching Zambia, reading blogs, watching youtube videos and talking to everyone who has ever been to Zambia or knows anything about Zambia (thanks to mom!). So now I am two weeks out and finally back home in Greensboro, North Carolina. I will be spending time with my family and getting ready for this incredible journey ahead of me. Although there is still a lot of unknown details about my Peace Corps service (what village I will be living in, what language I will be speaking, how close I will be to the surrounding volunteers, etc.) I will find out all of these details after my first 9 weeks of training in country. However this is what I do know so far: 1. I will be living in a mud hut with a thatched roof and no electricity or running water. Yes, I know you all think I am crazy but I am really looking forward to living a life completely opposite of the one I have always known. 2. I will be living with a host family during my first nine weeks of training. During training my days will be filled with Language training (there are five languages throughout the country which you get to choose once you get there), health education and cultural education. 3. My main mode of transportation will be an off-road bike which Peace Corps provides for me. I could be as far as 40-60km to the nearest village or town so I am thinking I will be a fantastic biker by the end of my service! 4. I will be getting a cell phone once in Zambia with texting abilities being the cheapest way of communication. However I probably will only have Internet services once every few weeks (also not completely known until I get there). So the best way to contact me is by writing me the old fashion way! My address during training is posted on the side of my blog and I will update it with a local one once I get to my village.

I think that is all of the details for now. So I hope everyone enjoys the blog and are able to get a little sneak peak into my new Zambian life! Love to everyone who has been with me on this rollercoaster of a journey. There will be good blogs and sad blogs I am sure, so hang in there with me and enjoy the ride!