ZAMBIA

we made it to zambia safe and sound and i have a phone! i think the number is:
011 26 097 186 411 (though the 0 before the 9 MIGHT not be needed, i'm not sure). texts are cheap for me and for you (i think) and calling might be for you. we were told to tell family and friends to go to "callingcardplus.com" where you can get 100 minutes to Zambia for $5, i think. incoming calls are free for me! so i'd love to hear from you, though my cellphone service will probably be spotty at best and turned off. so, setting up times to talk is best.

i'm good. the group is really interesting and things are going really well. there are times of complete exhaustion or feeling like i still can't believe i'm really getting myself into this, but mostly it's just exciting. we're actually here! the country is sooooooooo beautiful it's unbelievable. it's the rainy season now so everything is green. we're staying in a government training center in chongwe, a town about 45 minutes from lusaka, which will also be the town we'll be in with our homestay families. though, to call it a town would be generous. mostly, from what i can tell so far, there is lusaka and then there are BOMAs (a name left over from the colonial period which is an acronym for something starting with British) which are small town centers and sometimes provincial centers. some of these are becoming more developed and most of them now have cell phone service and paved roads. and, again from what i can tell, this is light years ahead of what is was even 2-3 years ago when the group that leaves when we swear in got here. we're the first group that they're really recommending buys cellphones and the current volunteers all make fun of the fact that we all have ipods! :-) though they do too increasingly. and then outside of that, there are lots and lots of green fields with little huts and gatherings of families and villages. the huts look really beautiful and most of the country that we've seen so far (not toooo much) looks so peaceful.

let's see... other than that. we picked out languages yesterday and i'm going to be learning bemba, which means that i'll be in central or northern province, which if you find a map are (shockingly) the province right in the middle and the one in the northeast bordering tanzania. it's exciting because it's a huge area and there are a number of different places that i could be in. some new sites, some replacing older volunteers who are living there now but leaving, some near (ish) to a town and some far and rural. it's also exciting because bemba is one of the most commonly spoken languages (out of over 70) in the country and it's a bantu language so similar to some of the other southern african languages.

i'm heading to central province for a site visit tomorrow. we'll be spending some time near a town and then some time in a more remote village. i can't wait to actually be out there. i feel like we've listened to soooooo much talking to and gotten shots and medical advice and been talked to by the country director and filled out forms that i'm just ready to be out there and try to meet some zambians in a smaller group. i'll let you know how it goes.

anyway, there is so much more to add but i feel a bit like i've just had so much put into my head that i haven't had time to process much. there are still so many questions in my mind, about logistics and how to actually do my job, but i know that each day is going to bring more confidence and more experiences. zambians seem very excited to have us here and my questions about how my own view of development and that of the peace corps' will mesh seemed to have been calmed for now... the project that we're working on is now called "RED" for Rural Educational Development project and seems to be much more involved that it used to be. it's expanded to working with both non-traditional and traditional schools and using radio education but also focusing on teacher and mentor training and extracurricular activities. it just seems that there is so much space for innovation and creativity. so, i'm excited.

but, i'm running out of time and i don't want to loose all of this. so i'm going to sign off. but i miss you all and would LOVE to hear from anyone!