Doing it for Merica

Happy early 4th of July! Okay, sorry I haven't had a chance update this since I've left. Wow, it will be one month this Tueday...crazy, time flies. Well I need to start by saying that Zambia rocks. PC is going really well. We had some great adventures traveling to Africa. The flight was ridiculously long. We had some good food and drink though. We lost two people enroute to Zambia, one in JFK, New York and one in Jo-burg. Long story, but they made it and everyone is together again. Once we arrived in Lusaka, Zambia we spent two nights in Eureka campground where wildlife roamed all around. Zebras, giraffes, water buffalo. It was really cool. I also took my last real shower there...it was a sad moment. Not really. From Eureka they sent us straight out into the bush for four days. That was quite a trip. We stayed with John (current PCV) in Northwestern province. He showed us a great time, we even got to try the goat they killed for our first Zambian meal. We also got to help harvest our first fish pond...by jumping in the mud and grabbing the fish with our hands. Haven't tried that one before. Then they moved us to our training site in Mwekera just outside of Kitwe in the Copperbelt Province. So I'll be apart of the Nyanja tribe. I'll be stationed in Eastern Province close to Chipata. My language is coming along nicely, I think. Muli Bwanji to all my friends in Chi-town and Ohio! Tech training is cool. We got to dig our first pond yesterday. It was a really muddy time, but fun. Overall I love it here. Zambia is beautiful and the people are really great. My host family is great. I even have a 23 year old sister. There are nine of us in my home. We have a Nyanja dance party almost every night. I also feel like a celebrity here, last night on my way home, I had about 8 kids following me screaming, Ba Julie, Muli Bwanji!!! I have no idea how they all know me. They are so cute. Oh and back to the bathing situation...I'm lovin my splash baths by candle light in the latrine every night. Sounds crazy, but its quite normal now...I wouldn't have said that a month ago. Well I just finished my third week of training. In two weeks we go on our second site visit out in the bush for two weeks. I'm finally adjusting to the 24hr clock, kilometers, and kwacha (Zambia currency). Tonight we're heading to the disco in Kitwe with all our trainers, Club Exodus II...it should be a great time. Well thanks to everyone for all their emails, write letters, please! Hopefully I'll be updating this again shortly. Tidzianana!