Hey all,
I’ve been having a wild time since I landed in Zambia a little over 2 weeks ago. Here’s and update on my first few weeks in Zambia and what my life is going to look like for the next 2 months.
I landed in Zambia february 14th and was greeted by peace Corps staff at the airport. From there we were taken to a lodge outside the capital Lusaka, where we spent the next 3 day’s getting orientated and vaccinated, and hanging out throwing frisbees and playing Catan in our free time. I also found out I would be learning Bemba, the most prevalent language spoken in Zambia!
After the 3 day’s us members of the LIFE program were driven to a village about 1.5 hours outside Lusaka where were going to live for all PST (pre service training). PST lasts through April and if all goes well I’ll be sworn in as an official Peace Corps volunteer at the beginning of May.
During PST trainees live with host families and my host family is dope! My host family consists of my Ba Maayo (Mom in Bemba), a sister who’s around my age, and a brother who’s in middle school. There’s also a host of cousins, friends, and neighbors who are always popping by so it’s pretty lively. My family also has 23 chickens and a dog!
While there’s no electricity or running water at my host families house there are solar powered lights and water is pumped up from a bore hole in the ground, and the pump is right next to our house so it’s super convenient. I have my own thatch roof hut separate from my families house, which has been nice to have my own space. The thatch roof has been great so far at keeping out rain, even during a storm where the thunder was so loud it shook my hut.
PST is pretty busy btw. A typical day in PST consists of waking up at 6:30, having some breakfast with Ba Maayo then going to Bemba class in an insaka, which is like a gazebo that can also serve as an outdoor kitchen. Language class usually is 4 hours long. After learning some Bemba stuff I bike home for lunch and then the rest of the afternoon is spent doing technical training, such as learning how to make compost and identifying tree species that are useful in agroforesty. After that I usually hang out with some volunteers for a little while and then bike home. When I get home I usually shower (outdoor bucket bath, but Ba Maayo heats up the water beforehand so it’s nice!), eat dinner, and then go chill in my hut and study Bemba or read a book before passing out around 10.
Anyway in the next few weeks I’ll learn what province and village I’ll be placed in permanently and later in PST I’ll go visit the site where I’ll be serving for 2 Years. I’ll probably post again around that time!
Thanks for reading!
-dill