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