Monday, August 20, 2007

Camp Glow and Christmas Offers

Hello to all! I have been a bit out of touch with most of you recently because I’ve been wandering around Zambia and on the road for the better part of the last six weeks. I made it to my village for four whole days—enough time to cycle 115 k to check out a possible new Peace Corps site and collect my mail—and then turned around and traveled back out to the Northwest corner of the country to help facilitate Camp Glow (Girls Leading Our World) in Mwinilunga. The camp was extremely successful, but after drinking marginal water for a few days and eating rotten nshima, I’ve had stomach trouble and am now back in Lusaka waiting for a dental appointment this afternoon and for blood test results to return so I can finally go home.

I’m hoping to get to my hut by the end of this week and start getting some work done and enjoying the pace of the village! I’m also really looking forward to starting my Life Skills course with the adult school in Mufumbwe and beginning a girls club next week. I have only a few minutes to jot down my thoughts before I leave for the butcher’s chair. I’ll try to share more detailed information about the camp before I leave Lusaka (and free internet access!:)

On my return to Mufumbwe I was very excited to see that the walls are up for my house extension! (hoorah!) and the poles are in place to get my roof thatched. Also while I was gone my neighbors put together a very sturdy clothesline and a dish drying rack—things I had commented on, but never really asked for. My cat was traumatized by my disappearance for several weeks and had just decided that we were friends again by the end of my four days when I left again for Solwezi. I hate leaving her, which seems silly since she is just a pet, but I become quite dependent on the kitty for company when I’m spending long nights holed up inside my mud walls.

Caitlin, a friend from our intake group, has had to switch sites because the community at her first site placement was not really in the position to host a Peace Corps volunteer. So we’re hoping to add her to our district team. This is great news—I love PC collaboration! While at home we were told of a potential community about 40 k from my neighbor Heather and so the three of us decided to take a day and cycle to the potential site to scope out the possibilities.

115 k and 12 hours later, we learned once again that bush paths and Zam directions are not always reliable! Unable to make it all the way back to my house, we rolled into another Peace Corps neighbor’s yard after dark and crashed out on his floor. If someone had told me in the states that I would have to cycle 70 miles in one day with only a sandwich and some granola bars for sustenance, I would never have believed them. I still have a hard time believing it. But since there were no other options, we did what we had to do. The site itself was not worth the effort, but wow, I felt like a cycling Rock Star!

So even though I can’t wait to finally get home and get settled back in, we are already talking here about vacation plans for Christmas! Most of us take a lot of time off in December since it is the rainy season and projects get stalled. Rather than sitting home and agonizing about missing our family and friends for the holiday, many of us take a break. I was discussing options with some friends: go to Namibia? Malawi? Tanzania? During this discussion, a friend of mine from here mentioned she is going to Israel over Christmas for a wedding and invited me to come along with her!! This is such an amazing opportunity, and while quite expensive, would be truly once-in-a-lifetime since I would be traveling with someone who has spend a lot of time in Israel and has community ties, a working knowledge of languages used, and... hey, I could be in Bethlehem for Christmas!! It’s going to take a financial miracle, but my coming to Zambia was a financial miracle, so anything can happen!

I will write tomorrow and fill everyone in on the fabulousity of Camp Glow. My love to everyone! I promise to catch up on letters once I get home. Miss you all.

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