10/07/2010

Man oh man, I’ve been a busy bee these past few weeks! The Priest at the Anglican church and I have been having some really good conversations about what this village needs and we have some really good ideas on how to address those issues. Here once a child turns about 2 they are left home alone when the parents go out to the farm, that means that they do not get fed all day long. After talking with a lot of the hospital staff I have really seen that this is a main component to why the children are underweight at the weighing days. Another big issue is education where the kids are not ready for school, think about it in America before your child goes to school they can count and say their ABCs and maybe even add a little, here is not that way. Parents are at the farm all day and when they get back they need to go get water, cook, clean and do many more chores and after all of that they aren’t about to teach their kids anything. It is not good! What is a good solution? Well start a nursery school!!!! At the church there is also a bible school where there is extra classrooms, there is a large yard, there is a kitchen!! YES we are starting a nursery school here in Milo!!! We plan on feeding the kids and also teaching some basics and just giving them a safe place to go! …. I am super excited and I really hope it all works out! Besides all of that I have been doing nothing too special…. I asked a little girl to help me build a fence for my garden and I have never felt so useless in my life! She is 12 or 13 and she was doing 97% of the work and I was just standing there useless. We first had to go borrow a panga (machete) and go out to the woods and find wood for the frame, she was climbing and yelling down commands to me, which I totally didn’t understand so she had to climb down and do everything! She then said we needed rope, me being the American I am thought about how much money that rope will cost me, she then crawled under some brush and came out with a long vine and told me that was the rope! She then peeled tree bark with her teeth and said that “bark is the strong rope”…. YEA that was how the weekend went lol … I have been thinking a lot lately about how the heck I got here! How many small choices in life led to this moment where I am sitting under a mosquito net? Those questions often lead me to think, If I was in the states, what would I be doing? Ask any Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) how dangerous that questions is! That is the first sign that you will be sad ASAP! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my village and I am doing some good work but man oh man I miss everyone! I got a package from dev and a letter from Erin not too long ago when I was in Njombe and my friend here Jill said “How cute you still have friends” … She went on to say how she stopped getting letters long ago but how your PC friends start to become family because truly, no one can relate to you like they can…. I hope that my PC little family stays close but man I know I will be checking scores of the Lewis basketball/volleyball/soccer/softball and of course some swimming games/meets supporting my friends the way that they are supporting me …. I spent the past 4 years making a connection to a Lewis community and my friends and family from home are my rock and no amount of malaria or giardia or even sand fleas can change that! In other words I might be thousands of miles away but everyone back home, if you need anything I will be there for you! ………… Random thing also, I talked to Courtney the other day and the roosters were doing their normal “cock-a-doodle-doing” and to tell you the truth I didn’t even notice but all of sudden she just says “Amy, is that really a rooster” lol I didn’t even know how to answers besides saying “duh, I live in a village dude”.. I then talked to Resha and I told her my little helper girl went to go get me water (seen as a childs chore) and she says “Amy you have maids?” haha these little moments make me so happy to share my experiences with people back in the states…. Oh man I love my family and friends!!! …. Please keep me in your prayers, and keep your fingers crossed for the nursery school to get started (maybe even next month)!!!!
AMY

9/21/2010

Have you ever read a book in candle light while eating peas and drinking a warm beer? Well that is my night tonight. Today was pretty typical for my time here so far, I woke up at around 7 and finished my book that ive been reading (the white massai) and then rolled over and climbed out of my mosquito net. I then lit my kerosen small burner and started to boil water to make coffee then cracked open some eggs and cut up an onion and made myself a little omlette. I journaled and read my daily prayer book and started to clean up a bit. I swept my house and reorganized my potatoes because I have sooooooo many (gifts). I then got dressed and packed my work bag and was out of the house around 930am yet on my way out an old woman that was bit by a dog not too long ago stopped by and wanted to have oil and so I got her some and then also gave her a few eggs because I have alot any way. She then asked if I was a doctor and I said no but she lifted up her shirt and on her stomach is a huge tumor thing that is in need of attention bc it is open (ew). I told her to go to the hospital and I think she agreed but to tell you the truth she talks too fast and I didnt understand her, I could have promised her my first born child for all I know.I then walked to the hospital but stopping to greet everyone and I also dropped my phone off at the "duka" so they could charge it with their generator. At the hospital I translated some of the book that I am using right now and I made signs for the CTC clinic (where people go to get ARVs and also to get tested). I made some really good posters but forgot tape so I left and talked with some people on the road then went back to my house. At my house I made easy mac lol and read some of my new book. I returned to the hospital about an hour later but before getting there I sat and chatted with some store owners along the way. At the hospital I hung up the posters that I made and talked to some people before going back to the main part of town and just sat and talked with people and simply worked on my lacking language skills. I sat there for a long time before going home to cook dinner. I sarted my charcoal jiko and started to peel peas and soon realized I had no water so I asked a neighbor kid to get me some and in return I gave him gum (great deal). I was about half way done peeling when a woman I saw at the hospital came in my gate and told me she heard about me and that she is HIV positive and she is just starting ARVs, she then gave me A LOT more peas and sat down and helped me peel the rest of my peas. We talked about how I plan on starting a club for people living with HIV and that she is more than welcome and if she had any other questions feel free to ask. I then gave her a few eggs and a few plastic bags and she was off! I finished cooking the peas and read some more and here I am!!!.... FUN DAYS!!! .... On friday I watched baby weighing which was actually really sad because when a baby was underweight the mother was yelled at and not given any advice or anything so I think I will start meeting with the women whose babies are underweight and help them with nutrition and help them to plant a perma-garden (which is a way to make a garden that controls water and has high yields in little space). I also want to have a health club at the elementary school where we will plant a perma-garden and learn about nutrition and HIV/AIDS and of couse play soccer after the meeting (how else do you get kids to show up?). On top of that of course I want to work with the tree group that already exists here. I just want to introduce them to the Moringa tree because it is seriously AMAZING, look into it because it is such a sign and gift from God! It is so useful and can grow anywhere and fast!! Oh I forgot, at lunch I also put up my pictures on thewalls so that my house feels more like home!.... All in all I try to stay busy so that I feel useful here, it is hard because I see a lot of needs but my language is just not good enough to do anything yet, I can understand the jist of what people are saying but I can not hold up a conversation on nutrition AT ALL... I cant wait until I can actually do good work and not just the little things! But I have 2 years to do things so I just need to calm down lol... Missing everyone back home, especially when I have to take freezing bucket showers or im walking a bucket of water to my house! But I believe that this is where God wants me to be right now and I thankful for all of the prayers and if anyone needs any prayers their way feel free to let me know! ...... Also I have found some good TZ music, look up Mr Blue - Tuko Pamoja and also Mama Ntilie ... both good songs! .. Until next time!
AMY

Photos

I am officially a PCV (peace corps volunteer)

8-26-10
I have been at my site now for 4 days and it seems like Ive been here a year!... My new house has 3 rooms, one for me to sleep, one for a spare bedroom slash indoor laundry and the last room is used for my kitchen ... I also have a living room that has a borrowed couch and a table with 2 chairs! My courtyard has four rooms, the last to the right is my bathroom, then a storage room then another storage room and then lastly a kitchen for cooking with wood..... I have yet to really feel like home here but as I clean up and make some personalization’s on my house it is getting there... It is weird to think that I am out on my own now and that I actually need to start working lol..The first 3 months are a transition period where I am going to be learning the language better and also making connections along with an assessment to what the village needs! For now I am just trying to get used to the fact that this is actually my life for the next two years! I guess that I am having my “wow I am really in Africa” moment these days! Maybe its because there are no other white faces around or the fact I have to go walk to get water or maybe even the fact that I cook with charcoal but whatever it may be it is in full swing! .... The other day I went for a walk (as I do every day to try and figure out my village) and I was in the forest preserve and I saw 4 really cool monkeys!! They were black with white around their faces and they had white in their tails! Turns out the forest has a lot of monkeys! Al so I am right above the great rift valley so last year a lion wondered up towards my neighboring village! Not to worry though because that was simply a fluke given the fact that I am so high up!... As of now I am about a 4 hour bus ride from town and the road that you take is the scariest thing I’ve ever been on! ... I concluded that if you do not think you are dying 87% of the time then somehow you are on the wrong road lol ... It is just straight up a mountain!.... I cant wait until I can start understanding the language better so I can actually do something worthwhile instead of chill on the sidelines all day but hey I am learning more and more everyday! .... I really miss y’all and hope all is well!!!!!!!
Amy

"You are a fat man"

Soooo this morning I was getting ready for school when my dada (sister) and mama were telling me somthing that I didnt understand (like always) but they were super exited so I was trying hard to put it all together, after saying it a few times my sisters says "you are a fat man". This was first of many cultural breakdowns that I have so far experienced because as you know,in the USA you do not EVER say someone is fat. Anyway I was trying to laugh it off when they said it again in kiswahili but this time I understood because I knew what to listen for and sure enough they were saying "you eat ugali and rice and now you are fat", I was still not sure as to if this was a good thing or not so I asked and they said it was VERY good. This reminded me of the curtural lesson that we had which was about the fact that if someone doesnt gain weight when they visit then you did not host them well. Well my host family did a great job hosting me because I have gained atleast 5 pounds! Turns out here in TZ girls gain weight and guys lose weight WHOO HOO I went to Africa to get fat. This is a super big turn off lol ... Anywho I am getting super excited and scared for the transition that is coming up in a few days, I am leaving my homestay family on the 17th and I will be sworn in at the embassey on the 18th then off to my sight on the 19th. I am also super scared because Peace Corps has held our hands with a death grip so far and on the 19th I am pushed out of the nest! I am taking public transport to my sight where I am hoping that I will get off at the right stop some 12 hours later and then from there figure out how to get the rest of the 4-6 hours up to my viliage! All in all it seems scary but in real life there is nothing to be super scared of given the fact God is lookin out for me. I am seriously going to a house that has nothing, maybe a bed, maybe a chair but I am not expecting too much. A few friends and I have decided that we have no problem poping up our tents and sleeping in there for awhile until we can afford and or figure out how to buy a bed lol. It is weird how things seem like a big deal when in the states but now I am trying to simplify everything. I am also thinking that I wont have a jiko or anything to cook with so thank God I got my two packages today (thanks mom and grandma!) so I can always eat some granola bars and candy! The hard thing about cooking here is the fact that you need charcoal and kerosine and matches and of course something to cook in and once you have all of that you need something to cook. I will in time have all of this but for the first week or so I might just stop by my neighbors house at the right time and share a meal or two... Life is starting to get real!! ... I feel like I got here yesterday but I guess I have been here long enough to get pushed out of the nest! ............. Today I got a package from my gma and since it had a lot of small ziplock containers of things I decided to share with my family here. It was so cute to watch them get so excited about the different things in the trail mix. They couldnt really understand that there was more than one kind of nut and of course the trail mix had 3 types, also it had dried fruit which blew their mind! They were talking about it and trying to figure everthing out and they were just so happy and it made me so happy! My mama said that I need to send TZ food as a gift and I should send it through the mail but I tried to explain I cant because it is too expensive so we decided that before I go to the states I will go shopping with her for TZ food to bring back for my American family to eat! I also tried to explain how there is no ugali in the USA which is a hard thing to explain in itself because they eat it EVERYDAY and how can the US not have it! When I say that we dont have ugali they then say that we must eat rice everyday! Think about it, in America we eat somthing different everyday if we want but here it is the same thing just rotated everyday. I have also realized that there is no decision making skills here in the fact that you can not give someone choices. If my mom asks what I want for dinner with my chipsi I say eggs or veggies which leads her to believe I want both because in life they are never really given choices, it is always pretty black and white. Another example is trying to show the kids how to play with playdoh, the kids cant conceptualize really the possibility that you can make something out of it to them it is just something that looks like ugali.... sorry this blog is all over the place but I am just throwing out everything I am thinking about right now..... I am uploading pictures from the party we just had for our CBT (class)...
More randomness:
things I wish I would have packed: (ed volunteers coming in sep keep this in mind)
• sweat pants and a sweat shirt (how did I not bring any!!!)
• clothes that I like to wear in the states .... I have gotten clothes made here but sometimes you just want to feel good and me wearing my lame sunday school outfits does not do the job
• an extra ipod or mp3 .... of course mine died along with my sanity
• pictures of simple american things like our supermarkets and a washing machine and a shower and a toilet lol.... I looked through a 1985ish sears catalog with the kids the other day and it was soooo awesome to show them machines that do work ie washer and dryer and of course a dishwasher
• ipod speakers
• cheese mixes that you can mix with noodles to make mac n cheese and of course any mixes that makes life easier when it comes to cooking
• Really anything that you think will make life easier, if you love flavored coffee bring it bc you cant find it here, if you love candy bring loads of it bc its not the same, if you love to read bring your fav books (books are easy to find but not always the ones you are looking for)....
• I am in a really cold area so a solar shower has been a God-send
• A knife is essential
• Office supplies ie highlighters markers stapler
• Ziplock baggies

Yes I can carry water on my head!

Yes I can carry water on my head!
So lately it has been super crazy with training and I havent had time to get to the computer station at all so here.
is some catching up! I am now in the home stretch of training (2wks left) and I can communicate with my family on a
level where they atleast have a picture of what I want and I understand them to the point to where I can figure it out.
It is really scary to think that I will be out on my own so soon! Right now I am doing shadowing where I am at a PCV
(peace corps volunteer) house and we are seeing what she is up to and all that jazz. We took the bus early saturday so
we had to leave our houses at 3:15am! We met the bus about 2 hours outside of Dar and then sat on that thing FOREVER!
It took about 9 or 10 hours but it was super cool to travel without peace corps holding our hands... Also, we drove
through a game park and I saw elephants for the first time in the wild! We also saw a lot of deer-looking things and
zebras and of course a lot of giraffes!.... When we got to Njombe we stayed the night with a lot of other PCVs as they
were on their way to COS (close of service) we were able to just chill and eat good food and have a few beers at a great
hotel that all PCVs use and there is a book and movie collection, also we get a discount!!... I am sooooo excited because
friday we got our site announcements and I am going to Milo which is in Ludewa, I am the only health volunteer there but
there are 3 education volunteers there and of course I got to meet them at the hotel! They seem super cool and Andy promised
me lasagna my first night at site! The ed volunteers are all COSing in December and 2 of the 3 are being replaced so I
will for sure have people atleast close to me which is a great worry adverted..... Here are the facts that I know about
my site, I live in Milo where there is a hospital 1k away a primary school 0.25k away and a high school 4k away, Andy works
at the secondary school and says its not a bad walk away... Also there is an orphanage (I may have a baby soon) and I
forgot to mention it is FREEZING!! yes I did not pack the right clothes lol who brings winter clothes to Africa?... I am
curently sitting in pants and a jacket trying to keep warm!... I am smack dab in the Livingstone mountains (rough road!!)
by lake nyasa which is a simple hike away which means my tent is going to get some great use our of it. My sitemates said
that it is cold pretty much all of the time because it is drafty! It is weird because in the US when it is cold you just go
inside but here your house is the same temp and so I need a jacket!.........Some vil news, my sister is healthy SHOUT OUT
to the Nagorski family for the packages Thank you soooooo much it was awesome to get some American goodies! .. My favorite
little boy was eating something weird the other day and I asked him what it was and he said “head” and I thought that I
didnt translate it right so I asked him again and he said “chicken head” Yep he had a skull in his hand and he was eating
the brain!!! NASTY buuuut apparently it is a treat to the kids ew....I helped my mama go get water all this week and yea
it is super hard, I only carried a small bucket on my head and she had a huge one and another in her hand these women are
soooo strong!! The villagers love to see me carrying water so I am the show when I do it! It is HARD and I plan on paying
kids stickers to do it :) ….CRISIS MY IPOD WONT WORK, no seriously crisis! After a day of kiswahili I need music and as
of now it is a black screen, I am working on it and there are some cool tech ppl that I have faith in!!!! here is a pic
of the view from the terrace of the PCVs house, it is pretty much what it will look like HOPEFULLY at my site! Love getting
mail so keep it coming! I am going to be getting a new PO Box number in about a month so I will keep you posted with that!
LOVE AND MISS EVERYONE!!

New Photos

The side of my house and Jaz running from me!


My super cute house

View from within my house looking out to the courtyard… the baby is my niece Jasmine

Mboni my nephew mudi in the middle.. neighbor Jamal on the right and a random on the left

My 13yr old helper Mboni

The crowd of kids that follow us everywhere and Justin my neighbor (he is from Michigan too)

The view by Tylers house

OUR FINISHED GARDEN!!! Beans corn kasava papaya spinach and lemon grass!!


Getting our permagarden started!! It was a lot of work but it was a good experience! We had to clear a lot of grass and other things but its good soil and water flows there really well… The point of digging so much is so that we have water control which is the main thing when doing a garden in an area where water is not readily available!


Today me my mama my cuz, tyler his 2 bros and their friend, maren and a random all went to Tyler’s family farm then we walked to my mamas fam which is all amazing and HUGE… imagine walking through a forest of palm trees and seeing corn everywhere lol and that is what a farm here looks like! I didn’t have my memory card in my camera so I only took a few pix and I cant even upload them wiithout a plug that I didn’t bring of course! But we then walked to where my baba (dad) was making charcoal because I guess he is an expert charcoal maker, anyway we sat under a tree and ate sugar cane and papya and mangos!!... then on the walk home we stopped at my mamas other farm which is all oranges… Tyler lives in the middle of his orange farm … Pretty much my family has to have money I decided bc we have a lot of land with a lot of oranges and other foods!! But it is so hot here lol… I sweat through my pants but don’t worry I had a kanga on to cover my swamp ass! But the kanga thing is already old bc it is too dang hot! .. But tomorrow Justin and I are running to Maren and Tylers house and then back with them to my house and then Justin and I will be done and they will run back … I might die given the fact I haven’t run in like a million years but I am thinking it will be good but we are leaving here at 5:45 so I have time to shower and get ready b4 school … For school tomorrow we were saposta cook our own lunch and have a little bit of a free day but cooking got cancelled so we decided to go into town (Tanga) because we haven’t been there yet! I hear there is a pizzeria woo hoo CHEESE!! But I am planning on sending this then! I really do miss y’all and this is the hardest thing Ive ever done but I am hoping that with time and more language it will get easier! Its hard to try and figure everything out all of the time in a language and culture you really don’t know too much about!! Say some prayers for me
LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
Amy

6/29/10 - 7/02/10

6/29/10
It is hard to explain the pure beauty that I live in right now! I am currently in the Tanga region where I will be until I finish training which will be in August!.. I live in Lusanga C village with a wonderful family. My house is awesome with a great porch and 3 rooms and a living/sitting area then in the back there is a courtyard with 2 smaller houses/rooms where my sister and her 2 kids live in one and the other has 4 other boys that are somehow related but I haven’t quite figured it out yet. In the main house there is my room and then my mama and baba’s room then another room that I am not quite sure what it is used for. I usually get up around 5 which is when the huge rooster goes crazy outside of my window! But I dont actually get out of bed until around 6:30 which is when I take my shower then I get dressed for the day and brush my teeth, by that time I make some chai (tea) and my baba and I eat breakfast which is usually an egg and some type of bread and maybe some fruit. I then just sit and chill until about 7:30 which is when I get my things ready and go off to school. On the way to school I see everything from mountains to palm trees to chickens to lizzards!! I mean this place is awesome!!! On the way to school I stop to talk to ATLEAST 10 people, greetings in Tz are huge! If it is an older person you must address them which either takes 20seconds or can take enough time for you to ask them about their morning, their sleep, their house, and just about anything else you can think of lol but after about 2 minutes my language knowledge stops and I can no longer talk to them and they tell me to have a good school day and I go off. At school we (4 of us) learn language from 8-10 then we take a break for chai and a snack which is usually fruit and some type of finger food but at 10:30 we go back at it with language until lunch at 12:30 -1:30 and once again we learn until at least 2:30. When we are "done" we go out and try to use what we learned at the little market down the street and stop and have a pop and just talk for a little before going home. When I get home I put on a khanga and either help with dinner or watch my mama make dinner, all awhile doing flashcards and just trying to talk to her with my super broken kiswahili. I usually eat dinner around 7 or 7:30 which means its super dark so we all eat by lantern in the courtyard. I then rest for about 10 minutes with ATLEAST 6 kids around me before taking a shower then going into my room to do lastminute homework and journaling and I fall asleep around 9. I never thought it would be so easy to fall asleep at 9 everynight but man if I could I would go to bed at 8! It is just weird without electricty because you realize how much you need light lol, I am so go go go to try to get everything done b4 the sun goes down that when the sun is down I am super ready for bed! ........On saturday it is considered Mati day where all the Peace Corps trainees PCTs come together and train in health and environment which leaves sunday to try to get all the laundry done and also it is my day to learn new ways to cook different things bc I will need to do everything by myself soon enough!
Some random things: Then Kiswahili clock is not the same as then English time, they start their day at 6 bc of sun rise so at 6am it is really 1 so you need to add 6 to the time if anyone wants to know what time it is, confusing and weird.... also roosters are a lot of peoples clocks lol, they go off every hour starting at 4 am so you always know what time it is if you hear the first alarm, also if a rooster is off it is considered a city rooster lol.....
Everyone here is so nice and I cant wait until I can have real conversations with them so I am going to keep training and soon enough all will be okay!
I love and miss you all!!
Ps..... a prayer request is for my little niece Jazmine that lives with me, she has malaria and is sick so make sure you put her name up in some good prayers!


7-2-10
Today I saw the largest spider of my life!! I is in the bathroom (choo) and it is seriously HUGE… but I learned a good lesson which is don’t look around when you are showering! Not only did I see the tarantula but I saw a cockroach/beetle/bat see im not sure which one it was because it was big enough to be a bat but I think it had wings but it looked shiny, either way I kept my eye on it because I was not about to die by bat attack!! … But anywho today Maren Justin Tyler and I all went one by one to eachothers houses to talk to our parents and ask where we could find a TV for the Brazil Netherlands soccer game and our talks went pretty well .. I mean by no means are we fluent in Kiswahili but we can semi hold our own if the people that we are talking to talks slow and about simple things… In the end Tyler’s kaka (brother) told us that we can go to their babu’s (grandpa) house and so we watched it there which was amazing!! Mind you Maren and I were the only girls with a room of about 30 men and boys but hey we got to watch so who cares! After the game Justin walked me home because we live so close and I am pretty sure my family loves him more than me lol but on the way I once again saw something bigger than I have ever seen before but this time it was a snail yes a seriously 4 pound snail!!! It was sooooo cool!! I took it and moved it to the side because I don’t want a bike or kid to hit it and I think it liked its new atmosphere… But my mama was happy that I was home and we talked about me getting more Tanzanian and we are going to buy some material soon which will be cool… I then ate dinner which was bananas that were cooked by boiling them in water and coconut water which may sound good but don’t be mistaken! I ate as much as I could and drank plenty of water then told her I was full which led her to ask what was wrong and if I liked it ….. I lied to her I mean I didn’t want her to feel bad but I said I liked it and so she said why did you eat so little, I seriously couldn’t eat anymore so I said I at oranges at Maren’s, which is true, but she then said how many so I had to make up a larger number and said 3 I then said I ate cookies and chai there too, also true, and she asked how many so I once again made up a large number …. All in all I think she was sad/mad that I ate already and she made all the bananas and I didn’t eat them but seriously I couldn’t eat them and my kakas got a treat!! O yea when I was waiting for my dinner to be done I are what looked like meatballs but I have no idea what they were, I don’t even know if meat was in them… I asked my mama what they were and she told me but that was no help…. Tomorrow is Mati day for my CBT so we are going to Mati to learn how to permagarden which is making a garden that helps the soil that also has large yields which will be hard work but it will feel good to be out of the skirt for a day! Also I need to start running but I need a partner so I am convincing Justin bc he is the closest so he is the one who will be screwed but who cares we are up at 5 anyway bc of the roosters! But my outfit to run includes a looses tee shirt pants and a khanga over my butt/hips area which will be annoying slash hot but that is why I am going at 5ish ….. But this is already too long but I love y’all and I hope to get to the internet atleast once every 2 or 3 weeks but who knows!!

PS my phone number is 078-879-7629 just incase you feel like texting or calling sometime!!
Amy

Made it!!!

We we made it here to good ole TZ and it is amazing... the flight was tiring but all 41 of us got to Dar with all of our luggage ... The past few days have been a lot of language and safety but besides that we have just gotten to know eachother... We are moving in with host families in the Tanga area where we are broken into smaller groups where we will be learnin the language for the next 3 months ... This is going to be a big quest given the fact that the skills we are learning are going to be what we need to be able to live by ourselves... O yea our families dont speak English lol ... we are going to be busy bees for the next few moths with language and culture from 8-5 daily but it will be so awesome!! ... We have been very warmly welcomed into Tz and the people here are so nice!! I am super excited to meet my host family and when the time comes be able to actually talk to them longer than hi my name is amy im from america, I work for PC,...

I am sorry if this is all random but I didnt have time to make a blog b4 coming to the internet but I just wanted to make sure I got something up!!

Love and miss everyone!!

Amy

Staging

Flight today was at 7:05 from Detroit to good ole PA, pretty fast flight but I was dying bc I got NO sleep whats so ever!! Got to the gate and realized that there are 4 people from the Detroit area that is also going to Tz with me (theres like 7 of us from MI definitly the best represented state)!!... We got to the hotel and started the 5 hour meetings where we discussed our feelings and just got to know one another. It was a LONG LONG day but in the end it was super cool to meet everyone (about 40 of us) and realize people have the same questions that you do and that packing was def a problem with everyone!!! It is so amazing to be with people who share the same zeal for service as I do and I believe that it will be an amazing 27months.... Tomorrow we are leaving the hotel at 5:30am and heading to a federal building in NYC for people to get their yellow fever shots then off to the airport where we are flying to Zurich then to Tz.... but I am dead tired so I am getting to bed! BIG DAY TOMORROW!!... Keep us in your prayers!!
Amy

Prayer requests

So tomorrow is my last day in the states and I know it is going to be filled with A LOT of stressful packing and last minute paperwork .. lame .... but I have a few prayer requests for everyone out there please!!

1)A safe journey out there
2)That my group and I keep the zeal that brought us to say yes to this adventure
3)That our family and friends stay strong while we are not there
4)That the people that we meet in Tz are open to us
5)That we stay healthy
6)That we are the best volunteers that we can be
7)That I can stay on top of my Catholic/Christian ways while I am there!

I know those are just a few things that are racing through my mind right now but I just wanted to put atleast a few down!... I am super stressed and need to go pack ... thanks in advance!!

Mail.....

You might be sitting there thinking how can I send Amy awesome hand written letters and packages, since I pretty much read your mind I have stolen some mail info from another PCV.

-“There are a few things you can do to help hasten and secure the passage and delivery of your mail. Have anyone sending you a care package scribble religious symbols and biblical quotes all over the outside of the box. This sounds silly, but it works. Though many of the countries in which the Peace Corps serves are largely animist in religion, superstitution runs high and even corrupt postal workers are wary of intercepting religious parcels. Along every step of the way, your mail will be subject to the whims of postal officals, customs officers, and delivery personnel who often take the liberty of rummaging through care packages in search of goodies from the U.S. If you mail is embellished with religious symbols, the odds of keeping it intact are improved. You may even want to ask the sender to write “Sister” or “Brother” before your name, the heighten the effect. Another trick is to have your mail addressed to you in red ink. I’ve been told red ink is somewhat sacrosant in many third world societies and is reserved for only the most official of letters and correspondances. Though I’m unsure about this explanation’s validity, I can vouch for the trick’s effectiveness, having seen serveral packages addressed in red ink delivered safely and expeditiously.”

Also:
-Make sure you're using Airmail
-Number your letters so I know if one has been lost
-I've heard that padded envelopes have a better chance of making it than boxes
-It can help to include "educational materials'" or "feminine hygeine products" on the package in writing that looks official


....Hope to get mail from EVERYONE!!

It's real.. I am going!

Booked my ticket yesterday and I am leaving from Detroit at 7:05 am... Kind of freaky to think that I actually have a flight! After booking my flight I decided to try and tackle this mess of a house, given the fact all of my things are everywhere bc I brought it all back after Sunday's graduation (which went amazing!!).... Well I dont know where it is all going to go bc I do see all of my things as importantand dont want to throw it away but hey maybe I am just a hoarder lol... Today I applied for my visa and new gov't passport bc my mom came and found my passport that I lost earlier lol I looked for it for days and she came in and found it in about 7mins, man moms are good at finding things!! But man let the paperwork continue.. I then filled out my life insurance policy for $25,000, which costs me about $2.50 a month, which I feel is a good lump some but my mom said that it will just cover the costs to bring the body back TALK ABOUT A FUN CONVERSATION! I then had to fill out my loan deferment things which led me to call the bank give or take 100 times just to find out it is already taken care of! I thought after I got fully accepted, the peace corps run around of paper work would end but man was I wrong! ... I still need to fill a few more documents out and send it but I am over it for now! ....

My going away party is coming up so that is exciting, besides that I am just trying to figure out what I want to do b4 I go, so far it is sit and watch tv until I get a call to hang out lol .... I am so excited to go but man this is kinda scary for example:
1) there will be A LOT of bugs, not little ones like ants and rolly pollies but big ones, ones that can burrow in your skin and lay eggs... now I dont know how legit that claim is but hey I watched mystery diagnosis too many times to rule it out!
2) I know little, like very little, Swahili which will make it pretty lonely until I can understand people BUT that also poses a new challenge which I am excited about..... I mean how awesome is it going to be when I know a new language!!
3) Simple fear of the unknown, I have no idea what I will really need when I get there, I dont know if I will have power or not, I am bringing a laptop but will I be able to charge it in the wall or do I need to bring a solar charger? Do I need to bring a tent and sleeping bag? I want to go exploring when I am there but is that really an option? What clothes do I really need? How about shoes? How often and how will I communicate with home? Should I bring my cell phone? ... there are about a million more questions along those lines but I wont bore you! haha
4) What if something big happens! I am not naive enough to think that life wont go on but what about the big things like marriage and babies, I already know a few births I will miss and also marriages but people just try to hold on lol.. I dont want to miss so much but I know I am simply living my dream! I am not going to put my dreams on hold and I am going to go BUT if you all could refrain from making huge life decisions without me that would be nice!

All in all these questions will be anwsered soon enough! I need to not worry and give my worries to God and do what I can to research! ... I am super exctied and hope all goes well! ... let the count down continue 27 more days!

Amy :)

First Blog

After a year of stalking peace corps blogs I have finally decided it was time to make my own. I am leaving June 14th 2010 to be a "Health Education Extension" worker in Tanzania for the peace corps and I couldn't be more excited. I wrote a lot of journals when I was in Kenya last summer and I all in all it was a great way to show people what I was up to.



I am so excited for this new chapter in my life but man it is going to be a serious transition! I have done a lot of traveling over the years but never longer than a month away from the good ole US of A but I am ready for the challenge. I am a bit worried to be leaving given the fact I have found a great community of friends over my years at Lewis University and not to mention leaving my family but hey we all need to grow up some time.



I hope to develop great relationships over there and in order for me to do that I must be open to their culture and be willing to change and I really do think I am ready for that.... with graduation around the corner I am ready for change and the peace corps is going to supply that I am sure lol ...



28 days left and I am shipping slash flying out!!!