FINALLY internet access!!

hey everyone!
muli shani from the african bush-bush! it's crazy but this is the first time i have been able to access my email or blog since i got here. i have an internet phone but for some reason facebook has been pretty much the only site i can get to on it. there is so much to say and so little time! first of all, africa ROCKS. i love zambia. the people, the climate, the scenery. i love it all. it's hard to believe that we only have one month left of training, the time is going by pretty fast! training is pretty intense, with about 7 hours of class almost every day (4 hours of language in the morning and 3 hours of technical traning in the afternoons). so much information has been thrown at us that it can get pretty frustrating at times, but it's the times when i am biking to class and there are mountains in the distance or when i am brushing my teeth at night and i just stare up at milky way spanning across my hut in the african sky that i know it is all worth it. :) the people in my intake are awesome, too. there are a handful that i've become pretty close with and we are already planning vacations to zanzibar and trips to eachother's sites.

we found out on thursday where we will be spending the next two years of our lives! i will be in northern province, about 80km north of Mpika. My village has never had a peace corps volunteer before, and started building my hut before peace corps even told them they needed to so hopefully that means they are as excited as i am! there are natural hot springs about 20k from my village and my hut is secluded by trees. i am also very near mountains as well as a game park to see lots of animals! there is an old victorian house built by an englishman very near to me that is apparently a huge tourist spot and has chalets that are great to go stay in overnight or camp out at. My site is pretty far out and will require an hour of biking just to get to the Great North Road (the major road running through northern province), then another hour car ride (i'll need to hitch!) to Mpika. I believe I am 30k from the nearest pc volunteer, danielle, who is awesome and another soccer girl. :)

I am so incredibly excited to get to my site but also a little nervous as i won't have cell service and who knows how far i will have to bike to get it. however, i was looking for a hard-core experience and it sounds like that is what i am going to get!

we are in lusaka right now buying food and such for a visit to northern province to see our sites and meet other volunteers in the province. we will be staying up there with another volunteer for a week. it is also an opportunity for us to meet people in our village and maybe get a carpenter to start building us tables, bedframes, etc. for our huts. later today, there is a big party for us back at the training center, complete with soccer, goat (i hear it's yummy!), and dancing! they even got us a dj haha. well i'm almost out of time here but hopefully i can update this blog again soon! thanks to all of you who have written letters, i have been busy writing letters to you all as well (mostly while sitting in class haha).

i hope everything is well back in the u.s., i miss you all like CRAZY but everyday am reminded of how i am having the experience of a lifetime. much luv from ZAMBIA!!

love,
katie