surviving

Well, I survived my first two weeks in the village. I'm not gonna lie, the first week was my toughest in Africa so far. I was posted on Saturday, May 3(?) and the malaria had left me pretty anemic, so I was pretty exhausted. I commissioned some villagers to cement my house, and that whole process took almost 2 weeks. Each day I had to move everything out of my house early in the morning and then move it all back in at the end of the day. The process of making my water ok to drink took a few hours. There is a stream that runs close to my house and I was both fetching my water from as well as bathing in that river, until I was notified that it is dangerous because of the crocodiles. oops? So now I need to go further to get my water from a different part of the river (the neighbors help me out sometimes but I like knowing I can do it myself....p.s. I don't know how these women carry those buckets on top of their heads....ouch!) Once I get the water I need to chlorinate it, filter it, boil it, then wait for it to cool so I can drink it. After a week of being dehydrated because that process takes forever, I decided to stop boiling it....and pray I don't get a parasite from the river.

I probably slept a total of 5 hours the entire week, a combination of being homesick, taking my malaria medicine (which makes me hallucinate and causes my hair to fall out), and just the shock of knowing how far out I am. I made it through the first week and then biked 2.5 hours to the tarmac and hitched a ride to Mpika to meet up with some other volunteers for the weekend. I was really struggs at that point. However, an angel sent from God came in the form of a retired peace corps volunteer named Lonnie who volunteered in Zambia in '95 and just never really left. He married a dutch doctor from the mission hospital near Mpika and is now building a house on a lake near where I live. He is an old white guy from Alabama :) He gave me his number and said I can catch a ride with him to Mpika whenever I need to since he goes there a lot in his big truck. I got a ride in with him again this weekend because I need to go to the immigration office for my work visa, and he has been telling me about all the great places to camp, bike, and hike around the area. He's crazy, but amazing at the same time. :)

I don't want this post to give off the impression that I'm miserable, because I am definitely not. The first week was one of the hardest of my life but it just made me realize that the next two years are going to challenge me in ways I never imagined. My counterpart in the village, who I will be working with a lot ( he is the in-charge at the clinic) is great and is basically running the entire clinic by himself so he is eager for me to lend him a hand. There is a lot of great work to be done in my village and I am so thankful for the opportunity to live there and integrate into the community for the next two years. My neighboring family is awesome, and the fact that they don't speak much English is just another reason for me to keep working on my Bemba! My site is gorgeous, and I have been exploring around the area a little bit. Apparently sometimes elephants have been known to come through, and I am located in the game management area and very close to North Luangwa National Park, where there are lots of wild animals to see. :)

I think the hardest part so far has just been feeling lonely. I eat some meals with my family that lives close, but one can only eat so much Nshima (the staple food of Zambia)....so there are lots of times where I put on music, cook my meal for myself, maybe have a glass or 2 of wine, read, and head to bed around 8:00 at night or earlier (it's dark by 6!). As I get to know more people in my community I'm sure the loneliness will subside, and this whole process of adjustment will just make me stronger in the end.

There are some things I will never take for granted again....1) a hot shower (although warm bucket baths under the stars of an african night sky is something everyone should experience), 2) a cold beer, 3) a bed to sleep on, and 4) chips and salsa, and 5) the amazingly supportive friends and family I have back at home (and liz in china!).

Oh, and chalk it up to filling an emotional void, but Becky and I bought puppies on a whim last weekend. :) I think mine has special needs and she looks a little worse for the ware, but I'm a little scraggly myself these days so I thought it was the perfect fit. :) Now I just need to figure out how to bike it back to my village without killing it....

All in all, things are looking up and I am excited to keep exploring Northern province. There are some hot springs near my place that I want to camp at soon with some friends, and my community is holding a public meeting sometime soon about my work as a peace corps volunteer so it will be nice to meet more people. And I've gotten to play soccer....a lot. :) I think I'll be OK. Thanks for all the support, and much love from Zambia! I will try to write again soon. :)

Katie