Life is such a great comedy.
One of my fondest memories happened at JHU's Spring Fair 2008, when a security guard on campus posed a question about my nationality: "Are you from Zambia?" I often have people try to guess my nationality but hearing that question made me burst into my usual oddball laughing fit. Fast-forward two years and now I wonder if the security guard at my university was also my placement officer for Peace Corps Zambia.
A country I had minimal information about before is slowly becoming my home away from home. Training is finished and I was sworn in as an official Peace Corps volunteer on my grandfather's birthday. The 9 weeks of training consisted of language most mornings for 4 consecutive hours followed by technical health training, cultural exchange training, HIV & AIDS training or PCV Medical sessions depending on the day. I came home by 18:00, took a bath at 18:30, had dinner and chatted with the host family until 21:00 and went to bed soon after. The two groups that swore in were RAP (Rural Aquaculture Project) and CHIP (Community Health Improvement Project), otherwise known as Fish & Chips.
I'm working in a catchment area of about 4,000 people, although I do outreach work with an additonal 30K radius. My chief's name is Bundabunda (pronounce the B's as W's) and I'm supposed to meet him one of these days. Apparently, I have to bring him a chicken or some other gift when I see him-this should be interesting. In Chitemalesa, I live on Headman Pongolani's compound with about 13 kids and many adults. My first night with the family, I was sitting by the fire listening to Notorious BIG's "One More Chance" on the radio.
On record, I'm learning to speak Chinyanja (also referred to as Nyanja) which is a Bantu language spoken in parts of Malawi, Mozambique and parts of Zambia. I soon realized that the hodgepodge of different tribes in my catchment area meant that I would also be learning Chisoli/Soli, Icibemba/Bemba and Tonga. One teacher joked that my village's goal is to turn me into a linguist. I think he's on to something.
One of my fondest memories happened at JHU's Spring Fair 2008, when a security guard on campus posed a question about my nationality: "Are you from Zambia?" I often have people try to guess my nationality but hearing that question made me burst into my usual oddball laughing fit. Fast-forward two years and now I wonder if the security guard at my university was also my placement officer for Peace Corps Zambia.
A country I had minimal information about before is slowly becoming my home away from home. Training is finished and I was sworn in as an official Peace Corps volunteer on my grandfather's birthday. The 9 weeks of training consisted of language most mornings for 4 consecutive hours followed by technical health training, cultural exchange training, HIV & AIDS training or PCV Medical sessions depending on the day. I came home by 18:00, took a bath at 18:30, had dinner and chatted with the host family until 21:00 and went to bed soon after. The two groups that swore in were RAP (Rural Aquaculture Project) and CHIP (Community Health Improvement Project), otherwise known as Fish & Chips.
I'm working in a catchment area of about 4,000 people, although I do outreach work with an additonal 30K radius. My chief's name is Bundabunda (pronounce the B's as W's) and I'm supposed to meet him one of these days. Apparently, I have to bring him a chicken or some other gift when I see him-this should be interesting. In Chitemalesa, I live on Headman Pongolani's compound with about 13 kids and many adults. My first night with the family, I was sitting by the fire listening to Notorious BIG's "One More Chance" on the radio.
On record, I'm learning to speak Chinyanja (also referred to as Nyanja) which is a Bantu language spoken in parts of Malawi, Mozambique and parts of Zambia. I soon realized that the hodgepodge of different tribes in my catchment area meant that I would also be learning Chisoli/Soli, Icibemba/Bemba and Tonga. One teacher joked that my village's goal is to turn me into a linguist. I think he's on to something.
