For our swearing in, most of the guys, are going to have nice 'staches!!! it is hilarious. I have pics and will send them home for my mom to upload on
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Hair Cuts!
I just want to say I think it is awesome that Salley Cessna shaved her head!
For our swearing in, most of the guys, are going to have nice 'staches!!! it is hilarious. I have pics and will send them home for my mom to upload onFacebook b/c the internet is WAY TOOOO SLOW HERE.
For our swearing in, most of the guys, are going to have nice 'staches!!! it is hilarious. I have pics and will send them home for my mom to upload on
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
All Is Well!!!
After that tear jerker of a post (well, for me anyways). Now I will tell you about my second site visit.
I have an awesome house, as described in the second to last post.
Sunday: well, we showed up on sunday to the site (which is becoming my house) a little after 6pm. Upon arrival we were to go to the Chiefs house to give a gift and make him aware of our presence in the community for the next 10 days. His house is literally 20yd's from my house. AWESOME! After going and meeting him we went back to the house to make dinner. First, as a volunteer, you hardly every have more than 2 people at your house, so dishes are scarce. That being said, we had 7 people at Marks (our host volunteer) house. We didn't have enough dishes for everyone to have a plate and food to be served so we had to put all the food in a 2 gallon bucket. We proceeded to shake the bucket to mix all the ingredients and then there it was... We ate the next 6 dinners together out of the bucket, along with breakfast each moning to finish leftovers haha.
Monday: Because I am replacing an existing volunteer (Mark) the community threw him a going away party. Zambians know how to have a going away party. Mark traded his bed for the slaughtering of a goat and 5 chickens for us to eat at dinner before the party started. (super cheap, I know). After feasting on all of that plus Nshima, the party began. After all the singing and dancing and introducing me as their next volunteer, the excitement began. Our language trainer was at this party (you need to know that). So, the Zambians were doing a skit about Mark, but the skit implied that he did nothing his entire two years of service. This was very offensive to our language trainer (being Zambian herself and knowing her culture doesn't do jokes like this), and the "Zolleywood actors" never mentioned anything positive about Mark. After the skit was over Harriet (trainer) spoke about how if Mark was no help, why would they want another volunteer? And if they didn't want another volunteer, then to tell her and she would place me somewhere else. She was pissed. But in the end, everything was settled and they said for "lack of time" is why they didn't show all of his accomplishments and apologized to Mark. It was pretty exciting to say the least.
Tuesday: The most epic battle of Risk (a board game) took place, in which I lost. I was not created to rule the world I guess. lol. But, it was my first time playing and I didn't pick up the strategy until after I was already out. but we had a lot of fun playing and it was a heated battle as teams were formed very quickly. (Not ok, by veteran Risk player standards).
Wednesday: After language class (every day until 1pm) Mark was presenting the Chief with a walking cane and the Chief was, in return, giving Mark his old one. It was awesome to watch and I have many pictures of it. Other than dinner later that day, not much happened and it was pretty chill.
Thursday: Thursday we got out of language early to go to this celebration of these kids "coming out of the bush". In Zambia, boys are showered and bathed by their mothers until they are circumcised, usually between the ages of 4-10. They are taken into the woods with some older guys and have to stay for a month after the circumcision takes place, for healing I am guessing. but the boys were out and a huge dance celebration took place, so we attended. The boys are given money, new clothes, and new shoes for their "becoming of men." It was a pretty cool celebration to watch. After the party we went home to pack and get everything ready for the trip to The Source of the Zambezi River.
Friday: Again, after language we got our bikes and trekked to The Source. Before reaching our destination, we came up to a sign that was literally the D.R. of Congo/D.R. Zambia. Yes, I crossed the line haha. After that, we reached the main building to The Source. Now, think of (or google) the Zambezi River and then think of it ALL starting from a hole in the ground that was literally three feet by three feet. But who am I to judge... After-all, I have only been here for a little more than a month. But we took bottles of water from this source and drank it (without water purification tablets haha). Yea, we are daredevils haha. My second bottle had a water purification tablet though. lol. We ended up camping in the campground and roasted marshmellows... There were no smore's because chocolate is hard to come by and there was no way chocolate was going to last 7 days without being eaten.
Saturday: As we woke to the early morning sunrise peering through our tents, we packed everything and began our trip back to Marks site. Shortly after arriving the truck came to take everyone but me away and drop them all off at their new sites for three days of aloneness (don't think that is a word but... it's a blog so). I spent the few hours of daylight I had left bathing in the river (200m) from my house and then started cleaning my new/future house. I had to get to bed early because I had a soccer match in the next town over that I had to leave early for.
Sunday: When I woke up, I was told that we were going to leave at 9am instead of 8am because my neighbor was very sick and they thought he may pass away at any moment. nine turned to ten, then the coach told me to just go ahead and they would catch up. The field was an hour bike ride from my house. As I was riding I came across Nchilla Game Reserve where there were buffalo, deer, sable, and a few other animals. I decided to turn into the park (knowing the Zambian team would be late). As I was riding around taking pictures I came up to a church where four older white ladies stood talking. I approached them to say hello and they already knew who I was and that I was replacing Mark. (word gets around whereever Kenny Ray goes haha). But after introduction, Ester invited me to lunch with her. After the bike ride, I couldn't refuse. Ester works at the orphanage and has been there for 37 years. She made Frenchtoast and veggies. For dessert we had fresh cut pineapple and a layered dessert with jam, custard, and a whipcream topping. I ended up spending almost 4 hours there. Realizing I had probably already missed the soccer game, I decided to leave. When I arrived to the field, I got news of the elderly man's passing. I rode home and attended the beginning of the funural ceremonies.
The next two days were pretty much the same thing... I sat on my porch cooking, cleaning my house, and keeping the kids busy. The entire community never left my neighbors house for the next two days. For all I know, they are all still over there greiving the death. Literally 24 hours a day, they are outside praying, worishiping and mourning the loss of this man. There were at least 12 huge log fires set up and all going at once. I learned that this is done for each of the man's kids/grandkids.
Wednesday: Now I am back in Solewazi waiting to catch a bus tomorrow at 6am into Lusaka for two more weeks of training and then back out here to Kaseki for two years of service!!!
Love, Kenny Ray
I have an awesome house, as described in the second to last post.
Sunday: well, we showed up on sunday to the site (which is becoming my house) a little after 6pm. Upon arrival we were to go to the Chiefs house to give a gift and make him aware of our presence in the community for the next 10 days. His house is literally 20yd's from my house. AWESOME! After going and meeting him we went back to the house to make dinner. First, as a volunteer, you hardly every have more than 2 people at your house, so dishes are scarce. That being said, we had 7 people at Marks (our host volunteer) house. We didn't have enough dishes for everyone to have a plate and food to be served so we had to put all the food in a 2 gallon bucket. We proceeded to shake the bucket to mix all the ingredients and then there it was... We ate the next 6 dinners together out of the bucket, along with breakfast each moning to finish leftovers haha.
Monday: Because I am replacing an existing volunteer (Mark) the community threw him a going away party. Zambians know how to have a going away party. Mark traded his bed for the slaughtering of a goat and 5 chickens for us to eat at dinner before the party started. (super cheap, I know). After feasting on all of that plus Nshima, the party began. After all the singing and dancing and introducing me as their next volunteer, the excitement began. Our language trainer was at this party (you need to know that). So, the Zambians were doing a skit about Mark, but the skit implied that he did nothing his entire two years of service. This was very offensive to our language trainer (being Zambian herself and knowing her culture doesn't do jokes like this), and the "Zolleywood actors" never mentioned anything positive about Mark. After the skit was over Harriet (trainer) spoke about how if Mark was no help, why would they want another volunteer? And if they didn't want another volunteer, then to tell her and she would place me somewhere else. She was pissed. But in the end, everything was settled and they said for "lack of time" is why they didn't show all of his accomplishments and apologized to Mark. It was pretty exciting to say the least.
Tuesday: The most epic battle of Risk (a board game) took place, in which I lost. I was not created to rule the world I guess. lol. But, it was my first time playing and I didn't pick up the strategy until after I was already out. but we had a lot of fun playing and it was a heated battle as teams were formed very quickly. (Not ok, by veteran Risk player standards).
Wednesday: After language class (every day until 1pm) Mark was presenting the Chief with a walking cane and the Chief was, in return, giving Mark his old one. It was awesome to watch and I have many pictures of it. Other than dinner later that day, not much happened and it was pretty chill.
Thursday: Thursday we got out of language early to go to this celebration of these kids "coming out of the bush". In Zambia, boys are showered and bathed by their mothers until they are circumcised, usually between the ages of 4-10. They are taken into the woods with some older guys and have to stay for a month after the circumcision takes place, for healing I am guessing. but the boys were out and a huge dance celebration took place, so we attended. The boys are given money, new clothes, and new shoes for their "becoming of men." It was a pretty cool celebration to watch. After the party we went home to pack and get everything ready for the trip to The Source of the Zambezi River.
Friday: Again, after language we got our bikes and trekked to The Source. Before reaching our destination, we came up to a sign that was literally the D.R. of Congo/D.R. Zambia. Yes, I crossed the line haha. After that, we reached the main building to The Source. Now, think of (or google) the Zambezi River and then think of it ALL starting from a hole in the ground that was literally three feet by three feet. But who am I to judge... After-all, I have only been here for a little more than a month. But we took bottles of water from this source and drank it (without water purification tablets haha). Yea, we are daredevils haha. My second bottle had a water purification tablet though. lol. We ended up camping in the campground and roasted marshmellows... There were no smore's because chocolate is hard to come by and there was no way chocolate was going to last 7 days without being eaten.
Saturday: As we woke to the early morning sunrise peering through our tents, we packed everything and began our trip back to Marks site. Shortly after arriving the truck came to take everyone but me away and drop them all off at their new sites for three days of aloneness (don't think that is a word but... it's a blog so). I spent the few hours of daylight I had left bathing in the river (200m) from my house and then started cleaning my new/future house. I had to get to bed early because I had a soccer match in the next town over that I had to leave early for.
Sunday: When I woke up, I was told that we were going to leave at 9am instead of 8am because my neighbor was very sick and they thought he may pass away at any moment. nine turned to ten, then the coach told me to just go ahead and they would catch up. The field was an hour bike ride from my house. As I was riding I came across Nchilla Game Reserve where there were buffalo, deer, sable, and a few other animals. I decided to turn into the park (knowing the Zambian team would be late). As I was riding around taking pictures I came up to a church where four older white ladies stood talking. I approached them to say hello and they already knew who I was and that I was replacing Mark. (word gets around whereever Kenny Ray goes haha). But after introduction, Ester invited me to lunch with her. After the bike ride, I couldn't refuse. Ester works at the orphanage and has been there for 37 years. She made Frenchtoast and veggies. For dessert we had fresh cut pineapple and a layered dessert with jam, custard, and a whipcream topping. I ended up spending almost 4 hours there. Realizing I had probably already missed the soccer game, I decided to leave. When I arrived to the field, I got news of the elderly man's passing. I rode home and attended the beginning of the funural ceremonies.
The next two days were pretty much the same thing... I sat on my porch cooking, cleaning my house, and keeping the kids busy. The entire community never left my neighbors house for the next two days. For all I know, they are all still over there greiving the death. Literally 24 hours a day, they are outside praying, worishiping and mourning the loss of this man. There were at least 12 huge log fires set up and all going at once. I learned that this is done for each of the man's kids/grandkids.
Wednesday: Now I am back in Solewazi waiting to catch a bus tomorrow at 6am into Lusaka for two more weeks of training and then back out here to Kaseki for two years of service!!!
Love, Kenny Ray
Memories (tears) for/of Friends
Hello everyone! Today was a hard day. When we began our trip from our second site visit back to the provencial house, I began thinking about Brent (RIP). I wanted to really connect with him again but in a car with 12 people it is hard to do. I began reading The Shack by William P. Young (the book I read right after Brent passed). It made me think of how much I really miss him and others that I have lost but also that God wanted them all in heaven with him. Brent will forever be missed down here on this earth but I seriously can't wait to see him again. Tears come to my eyes just thinking about him. When I got to our provencial house I learned that a girl I went to middle school with also passed, She commited suicide. I have been checking up on Rance (may God please let him pull through). Rance went into a coma three months ago and has yet to wake up. I played volleyball with him in St. Augustine and his amazing wife, Barb! My prayers are always with them. I also learned about a 24 y/o from South Florida who passed away on the 5th of Sept from a drive by shooting in a South African town. He was with his fiance and a few other people. God Bless his family as well and keep them in your prayers.
Life is rolling bye so fast in the states so I am a little thankful for time being so slow in Zambia.
It is hard not to cry when you think of people passing, especially when they are close to your hearts. I still have not figured out what I want to do for Brent on Dec 2oth this year... I wish Zambia had an ocean, or even just a lake near my place so I could go in the water to be with him. I will think of something though. I have pictures of him so... Angyalfy family, I love you all and miss you all. Brent was very dear to all of us.
I think it is easier for a girl to show her emotions because a guy or girlfriend will quickly come to their aid.... For a guy it is much harder. I know that when it comes to lost family/friends everyone will understand but it has been a long time since I showed any emotions (crying in particular). The last few times I have, have been when Wally passed and when Brent passed. But the more I think of them the more I want to let it all go. The book I mentioned above, The Shack, seriously had me in tears more than a few times while riding in the truck... No one in there even noticed though (thankfully).
I wish there was some way that I could reconnect with them (Brent, Wally, Michelle, Allen, JR, Ashley) in a physical sense. Or even in the same way Mack does in the book when he meets God. If only the connection to the other side were so simple. They will always be in my prayers though and I know they are always looking down on me. The goosebumps I just got are evidence that they are close at all times, even if we don't see them, or even when we don't know they are on our minds. What I would do to hug any one of them.
I will keep praying for all of them and all of you out there. I love you all and can't wait to see you all when I come home.
Shawn, keep the PaddleOut going until I get back!
Life is rolling bye so fast in the states so I am a little thankful for time being so slow in Zambia.
It is hard not to cry when you think of people passing, especially when they are close to your hearts. I still have not figured out what I want to do for Brent on Dec 2oth this year... I wish Zambia had an ocean, or even just a lake near my place so I could go in the water to be with him. I will think of something though. I have pictures of him so... Angyalfy family, I love you all and miss you all. Brent was very dear to all of us.
I think it is easier for a girl to show her emotions because a guy or girlfriend will quickly come to their aid.... For a guy it is much harder. I know that when it comes to lost family/friends everyone will understand but it has been a long time since I showed any emotions (crying in particular). The last few times I have, have been when Wally passed and when Brent passed. But the more I think of them the more I want to let it all go. The book I mentioned above, The Shack, seriously had me in tears more than a few times while riding in the truck... No one in there even noticed though (thankfully).
I wish there was some way that I could reconnect with them (Brent, Wally, Michelle, Allen, JR, Ashley) in a physical sense. Or even in the same way Mack does in the book when he meets God. If only the connection to the other side were so simple. They will always be in my prayers though and I know they are always looking down on me. The goosebumps I just got are evidence that they are close at all times, even if we don't see them, or even when we don't know they are on our minds. What I would do to hug any one of them.
I will keep praying for all of them and all of you out there. I love you all and can't wait to see you all when I come home.
Shawn, keep the PaddleOut going until I get back!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Second Site Visit!!!
First, I'd like to say happy birthday to my twin sisters Laraine and Christine! I love you both.
Last night all of the RAP'ers found out where we would be going to stay for the next two years! This is my site description: "You are replacing Mr. Marky. This is a third generation site near a river and school. 40km from the Mwinilunga boma and 330km from the provincial house. You are close to the Fishers farm (where you can buy meat and real butter) and also close to the source of the Zambezi, a national monument. In your free time you will be able to bike through Nkanji Game Reserve and see greater kudu and zebra. Your house is covered in green vines and is a beautiful site during the rainey season."
My closest neighbors are Michelle (40km), Hunter (40km), Jack (70km) who are all 2010 RAP Volunteers. Mark and Sydney (20km) who are 3rd year extension Volunteers, and Erin a RED '09 Volunteer.
Before going into what we will be doing and where we are going for second site visit... I wanted to talk about what is going on with our PC group. We have lost yet another trainee from the CHIP program. She was MedSep due to lying on her application. All the RAP'ers are still here and the CHIP'ers have lost 6 people to ET (early termination). Many have said that it's because the RAP program does a lot more hands on work. But that is just the excuses.
Today we took our second language test in which i feel pretty good about how I did. I made a 92% again. Learning the language in 10 weeks is no joke. But I am trying. Today we (the trainees) have a soccer match against the trainers in which the volunteers have NEVER won. Our group of trainies has informed me that we will win though. I am going tobe playing, which means I am going to be the laughing stock for all the Zambian trainers, my fellow trainees, and all the people watching the match. Soccer is not my sport. Now, on Sunday we leave for our second site visit. Myself and the other RAP Lunda speaking volunteers will all be going to Mwinilunga to be hosted by Mark, at my future site. We have a lot of things that will be going on such as meeting new people, working with fish farmers, practicing the language with the locals and doing 4 hours of language training each day with our language instructors. That will be done the first 7 days of second site visit. After the 7 days we are going to be left alone at our site for 2 days. By we, I mean the trainees. We are going to be left alone out in the bush for the first time. I am looking forward to finally being able to cook my own food and have the time alone for the first time in a long time. Once we get back from second site visit we have just about two weeks of training before swearing in and becoming volunteers and not trainees.
I hope everyone is doing well back home and I miss all of you. GOD BLESS
Much love from Zambia, Africa
Last night all of the RAP'ers found out where we would be going to stay for the next two years! This is my site description: "You are replacing Mr. Marky. This is a third generation site near a river and school. 40km from the Mwinilunga boma and 330km from the provincial house. You are close to the Fishers farm (where you can buy meat and real butter) and also close to the source of the Zambezi, a national monument. In your free time you will be able to bike through Nkanji Game Reserve and see greater kudu and zebra. Your house is covered in green vines and is a beautiful site during the rainey season."
My closest neighbors are Michelle (40km), Hunter (40km), Jack (70km) who are all 2010 RAP Volunteers. Mark and Sydney (20km) who are 3rd year extension Volunteers, and Erin a RED '09 Volunteer.
Before going into what we will be doing and where we are going for second site visit... I wanted to talk about what is going on with our PC group. We have lost yet another trainee from the CHIP program. She was MedSep due to lying on her application. All the RAP'ers are still here and the CHIP'ers have lost 6 people to ET (early termination). Many have said that it's because the RAP program does a lot more hands on work. But that is just the excuses.
Today we took our second language test in which i feel pretty good about how I did. I made a 92% again. Learning the language in 10 weeks is no joke. But I am trying. Today we (the trainees) have a soccer match against the trainers in which the volunteers have NEVER won. Our group of trainies has informed me that we will win though. I am going tobe playing, which means I am going to be the laughing stock for all the Zambian trainers, my fellow trainees, and all the people watching the match. Soccer is not my sport. Now, on Sunday we leave for our second site visit. Myself and the other RAP Lunda speaking volunteers will all be going to Mwinilunga to be hosted by Mark, at my future site. We have a lot of things that will be going on such as meeting new people, working with fish farmers, practicing the language with the locals and doing 4 hours of language training each day with our language instructors. That will be done the first 7 days of second site visit. After the 7 days we are going to be left alone at our site for 2 days. By we, I mean the trainees. We are going to be left alone out in the bush for the first time. I am looking forward to finally being able to cook my own food and have the time alone for the first time in a long time. Once we get back from second site visit we have just about two weeks of training before swearing in and becoming volunteers and not trainees.
I hope everyone is doing well back home and I miss all of you. GOD BLESS
Much love from Zambia, Africa
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Zambian life, and I am loving it!
First, I want to say that Burke, I am glad you found the blog!!
These last two weeks, I have been living in Chongwe, Zambia. I am staying with a host-family and also another volunteer. My host family consists of a mother, Judith, and her son Jono. Jono is about 15 years old and a little quiet. He may not know a lot of English though which would explain his quietness because I don't know much Lunda (my language to learn) yet. I am getting there though. I had my first full Lunda spoken exchange today. That made me feel really good about where I am in the language skills. My host mom, Judith, is a wonderful lady. The Peace Corps has it set up to where we don't have to do a whole lot around the house just yet, that comes in a couple weeks I believe. So, she does the cooking and dishes and Jono gets our water for both bathing and drinking. It is nice not having to do those things but at the same time I feel like they believe we are helpless. So I may jump into the grind of things a little sooner then the PC would like. Chongwe is a beautiful place to see. The sunrise and sunsets are amazingly beautiful. I have a ton of pictures of both. The sky at night is another site to see. Upon the billion stars that are always out, you can also see the Milky-Way. Yes, I have pictures of that too :)
THE FOOD!!!!
The food out here has been a big surprise. Nshima (please google) is not very good, but they say I will come to love it. I disagree. But, Nshima is served at every meal except breakfast so I hope to come to love it soon. That is were the bad ends. Every night I am served either fish, beef, goat or chicken supplemented with two of either cabbage, spinach, rice, beans, soup or fritters (fried bread). Lunch is usually a pasta or rice dish with regular bread or soup. Oh, last night I had sausage. Breakfast has been boiled or scrambled eggs, the classic PB&J, or fritters. All meals are followed by "tea" which is either coffee (my favorite), tea, or hot chocolate. It is Lunda culture to not have anything to drink while eating. That is super hard to accomplish when eating nshima, but I have not broke tradition.
THE AMAZING GROUP OF PEOPLE!!!
Although we have already lost four people to ET (Early Termination) I can say that I have 54 amazing friends here with me in Zambia. A few of us have decided to make a new tradition among our group by having cut-off chitanga Thursdays where we have a fabric "chitanga" made into a shirt with no sleeves and Bichi Fridays (fresh friday), where we dress in our Sunday best. We are currently looking for other ideas for the other days of the week lol. The other volunteers are from all walks of life in America and not one is from FL. I have come closer to a few people that are going to be in the Northwest Provence with me for the two years of service, but everyone has every ones phone numbers too. I don't think we have a single outcast in our entire group. I would actually be upset if any of the 54 that are left decided to quit. Our youngest volunteer is 21 y/o Leigh, she is from Cali. Our oldest is 62 y/o Cheng, from Washington. My NWP group consists of Jack from Idaho, Michelle from Washington, and Hunter from Rhode Island. Let me just say this, my language group (Jack, Michelle, and Hunter) are freaking hilarious. I can't tell you how many times I have cracked up laughing in class. Our teacher is always right there laughing as well though.
On to the story I have told 20 times... My boy Will was definitely feeling this girl one night and flirting with her. They were talking about scars and other things about each other when Will decides to take his short sleeve shirt completely off to show her a scar that was literally by his armpit but still on his arm. Mara (a volunteer) and myself busted out laughing when he did this. I was wearing a snap-up shirt and proceeded to rip it open while saying "Mara, check out my scar" all while pointing to my calf... Just to show how pointless it was for Will to take of his shirt when showing the girl his scar. Mara and I as well as 10 other people in the room are now ALL laughing. That is just a little info on the great people that I am sharing this experience with in Zambia.
CLOSING!!!
I have had such a great time out here so far and I hope everything continues to go this way. I will write again when I can, but I don't know how long it will be from now. I hope everyone is doing great back in the States and remember, always write me letters because other PCV's say that is what gets you through the rough days. I love and miss all of you
These last two weeks, I have been living in Chongwe, Zambia. I am staying with a host-family and also another volunteer. My host family consists of a mother, Judith, and her son Jono. Jono is about 15 years old and a little quiet. He may not know a lot of English though which would explain his quietness because I don't know much Lunda (my language to learn) yet. I am getting there though. I had my first full Lunda spoken exchange today. That made me feel really good about where I am in the language skills. My host mom, Judith, is a wonderful lady. The Peace Corps has it set up to where we don't have to do a whole lot around the house just yet, that comes in a couple weeks I believe. So, she does the cooking and dishes and Jono gets our water for both bathing and drinking. It is nice not having to do those things but at the same time I feel like they believe we are helpless. So I may jump into the grind of things a little sooner then the PC would like. Chongwe is a beautiful place to see. The sunrise and sunsets are amazingly beautiful. I have a ton of pictures of both. The sky at night is another site to see. Upon the billion stars that are always out, you can also see the Milky-Way. Yes, I have pictures of that too :)
THE FOOD!!!!
The food out here has been a big surprise. Nshima (please google) is not very good, but they say I will come to love it. I disagree. But, Nshima is served at every meal except breakfast so I hope to come to love it soon. That is were the bad ends. Every night I am served either fish, beef, goat or chicken supplemented with two of either cabbage, spinach, rice, beans, soup or fritters (fried bread). Lunch is usually a pasta or rice dish with regular bread or soup. Oh, last night I had sausage. Breakfast has been boiled or scrambled eggs, the classic PB&J, or fritters. All meals are followed by "tea" which is either coffee (my favorite), tea, or hot chocolate. It is Lunda culture to not have anything to drink while eating. That is super hard to accomplish when eating nshima, but I have not broke tradition.
THE AMAZING GROUP OF PEOPLE!!!
Although we have already lost four people to ET (Early Termination) I can say that I have 54 amazing friends here with me in Zambia. A few of us have decided to make a new tradition among our group by having cut-off chitanga Thursdays where we have a fabric "chitanga" made into a shirt with no sleeves and Bichi Fridays (fresh friday), where we dress in our Sunday best. We are currently looking for other ideas for the other days of the week lol. The other volunteers are from all walks of life in America and not one is from FL. I have come closer to a few people that are going to be in the Northwest Provence with me for the two years of service, but everyone has every ones phone numbers too. I don't think we have a single outcast in our entire group. I would actually be upset if any of the 54 that are left decided to quit. Our youngest volunteer is 21 y/o Leigh, she is from Cali. Our oldest is 62 y/o Cheng, from Washington. My NWP group consists of Jack from Idaho, Michelle from Washington, and Hunter from Rhode Island. Let me just say this, my language group (Jack, Michelle, and Hunter) are freaking hilarious. I can't tell you how many times I have cracked up laughing in class. Our teacher is always right there laughing as well though.
On to the story I have told 20 times... My boy Will was definitely feeling this girl one night and flirting with her. They were talking about scars and other things about each other when Will decides to take his short sleeve shirt completely off to show her a scar that was literally by his armpit but still on his arm. Mara (a volunteer) and myself busted out laughing when he did this. I was wearing a snap-up shirt and proceeded to rip it open while saying "Mara, check out my scar" all while pointing to my calf... Just to show how pointless it was for Will to take of his shirt when showing the girl his scar. Mara and I as well as 10 other people in the room are now ALL laughing. That is just a little info on the great people that I am sharing this experience with in Zambia.
CLOSING!!!
I have had such a great time out here so far and I hope everything continues to go this way. I will write again when I can, but I don't know how long it will be from now. I hope everyone is doing great back in the States and remember, always write me letters because other PCV's say that is what gets you through the rough days. I love and miss all of you
Friday, July 23, 2010
Zambia? no. Jo-berg? yes. Zambia on Friday? Possibly
This is our group in the line for Customs! We were constantly overwhelming these people because it is not easy to handle 58 Americans who want sleep haha!
Here is 2 of the people in our group (the only married couple) Shaun and Megan with a group of Soccer players from Namimbia
Hey everyone. I just wanted to say that I made it safe to South Africa but we missed our connector because of a delay in ATL. We got to spend the night in some hotel in Jo-Berg last night and let me tell you, it was a blast. Myself and 9 others went downtown via taxi and went to a club. It was the best time and I also figured out who the "fun" people are going to be... lol. I have slept a total of maybe 8 hours in the last 3 days... Too much to do and not enough time. I figured since I was able to go out in downtown I now don't have to make a trip to Jo-Berg in the near future. So Cape Town will be my next South African adventure.
I want to say that the Peace Corps is doing so much right now for us and have been a huge help in getting us rooms and getting some of us back on flights haha. We had about 15 people on a 10:55AM flight to Zambia this morning, another 15 or so scheduled to leave at 6:50PM tonight and the rest are on standby for hte 6:50 flight and not sure what will happen to them if they don't get on that flight. But flexability is what the PC is all about isn't it?
Everyone here is super interested in getting started in Zambia, but now we are just hoping to make it there :)
Everyone is just waiting on the information about where we will be staying after just missing our connector!!!
Everyone about to go through customs!!! Jo-Berg here we come!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Getting Ready :)
As you all know, I am leaving for the Peace Corps in 4 days! These past few weeks have been so crazy with trying to get everything together and telling everyone goodbye. I have been looking forward to this moment for so long and now I am so close! Not a day is going to go by that I don't think of everyone back home but at the same time, we all know we have to grow up and venture out at some point... my venturing point is now.
Packing is insane. Think of all the clothes you have in your closet or dresser and then think of which 4 t-shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of slacks, and 3 dress shirts you want... yea, that's all you get to take for clothes. Most of y'all that know me, know that I have a ton of clothes. I want to bring every piece of clothing I have too lol. I have an 80lb pack limit which, trust me, isn't much for a 2-4 year trip. I have managed to get all of my essential items in one of my bags (now i just hope it isn't stolen once I land in Africa). One thing that I have noticed about the packing though is that I already feel like I have an understanding of what it will be like over there... Everyone wearing their best clothes every day and not really having much else other than what is on their back.
The amount of blogs that I have read is insane. I googled "Peace Corps blogs in Zambia" and just started reading the crazy amount of blogs that have been written by other PCV's in Africa. I would recommend y'all doing the same thing if you really want to know what my life is going to be like over there ahead of time. I know I was interested. One thing I was able to pick out of most of the blogs was that my first month of service (after the 3 months of training) is going to be the hardest. This is the time that I will not know anyone in my village and feeling lonely and missing home even more. So as soon as I get my permanent address, please start sending letters right away. The more the better!
My U.S. comforts; I am bringing a solar panel backpack to charge both my camera and my iPhone. Although I will not have service, I am bringing my phone because it has a lot of pictures of my friends and family. My backpack will charge both the camera and phone completely on one full charge. I am so excited to use this thing, you have no idea.
Living conditions in Zambia; I will not have electricity or running water. Although there will be a clean water source near me, it will still be a hike to get to it. my bathroom will be a pit latrine (hole in the ground). I will also be living in a clay brick house with an all grass roof. From what I hear, it will leak. But I could not be more excited for this adventure. The things that I will see, and send y'all pictures of is going to be one heck of a lifetime experience.
I am going to miss all of you.
Please take care of yourselves and keep me in your prayers.
I will update this blog as much as possible once I am over there so keep an eye out.
God bless
<3 Kenny Ray
Packing is insane. Think of all the clothes you have in your closet or dresser and then think of which 4 t-shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of slacks, and 3 dress shirts you want... yea, that's all you get to take for clothes. Most of y'all that know me, know that I have a ton of clothes. I want to bring every piece of clothing I have too lol. I have an 80lb pack limit which, trust me, isn't much for a 2-4 year trip. I have managed to get all of my essential items in one of my bags (now i just hope it isn't stolen once I land in Africa). One thing that I have noticed about the packing though is that I already feel like I have an understanding of what it will be like over there... Everyone wearing their best clothes every day and not really having much else other than what is on their back.
The amount of blogs that I have read is insane. I googled "Peace Corps blogs in Zambia" and just started reading the crazy amount of blogs that have been written by other PCV's in Africa. I would recommend y'all doing the same thing if you really want to know what my life is going to be like over there ahead of time. I know I was interested. One thing I was able to pick out of most of the blogs was that my first month of service (after the 3 months of training) is going to be the hardest. This is the time that I will not know anyone in my village and feeling lonely and missing home even more. So as soon as I get my permanent address, please start sending letters right away. The more the better!
My U.S. comforts; I am bringing a solar panel backpack to charge both my camera and my iPhone. Although I will not have service, I am bringing my phone because it has a lot of pictures of my friends and family. My backpack will charge both the camera and phone completely on one full charge. I am so excited to use this thing, you have no idea.
Living conditions in Zambia; I will not have electricity or running water. Although there will be a clean water source near me, it will still be a hike to get to it. my bathroom will be a pit latrine (hole in the ground). I will also be living in a clay brick house with an all grass roof. From what I hear, it will leak. But I could not be more excited for this adventure. The things that I will see, and send y'all pictures of is going to be one heck of a lifetime experience.
I am going to miss all of you.
Please take care of yourselves and keep me in your prayers.
I will update this blog as much as possible once I am over there so keep an eye out.
God bless
<3 Kenny Ray
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