Tuesday, June 22, 2010

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

Monday, June 14, 2010

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

Saturday, June 12, 2010

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!!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

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!!