Thru my eyes

Comin Home!

2008-10-29T02:14:00.000-07:00

Woohoo!!! i'm comin home ya'll!! Wow could I sound any more redneck?! Anyways, Can't wait to be there going to be busy busy but nice and hopefully relaxing too. Going to figure out how to put pictures on the internet again and I'll post a link on here for ya'll that way if your not gracing me with your presence while I'm in town you can still c some of the view here! Hope americaland is still as great as I remember!! Can't wait to be home and see you all, soon soon!! Much love, vic

Third year

2008-05-01T02:15:00.000-07:00

So I'm offically in my third year! How crazy is that!! The move into the new house went great! The farm was a huge help. They sent a vehicle over and picked up most of my stuff. So that made it really really easy for me. Had a nice last night dinner with my family. They really made the last two years fantastic!! Still see them on Tues and Thur afternoons for some shima! Yum yum!! Definitly enjoyin the new house with electricty in the evenings. Usin a wood stove for now, that's been adventure tryin to figure out!! Currently have about 7 small burns on the little hands their goes my chance at bein a hand model when I return, shoot! Oh well guess I'll have to think about somethin else. Luckily I still have a year to decide! Hope glad to hear from you!! Hope to see you and everyone else in Nov!! That's right guys Nov the month, it'll be here before we know it! Anyways, just in lusaka for a bit, got a ride down here with pete on the plane, how cool is that!! Definitly returnin to my Peace Corps roots and busin it back up to site:( Should be outta here tom morning. Just came down to watch Katie ring out!! YAY for her!! Okay well hope you guys are all well. I'm fantastic, busy at times and well readin a lot during the others!! Take care hug each other for me, know that I love ya'll and think of ya'll lots. Oh and I think I'm turning into a facebook junkie! Luckily I'm not around internet enough to develop an all out consuming addiction!

Hi hi hi

2008-03-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hi ya'll sorry it's been ages!! Not sure if anyone reads this anymore but just in case:) Things here are still wonderful! Yep it's true I am extending another year, so see you all in Oct/Nov!! I think that's when I will be taking home leave. I want to see you all so if you don't live in Ok then you better make plans to get there (Jess, Kat, Lynn)!!! So I will be changing sites but still working in my same area and continuing the work that I have started there with the Rural Health Center. Super excited about it!! I am moving sites though, which is super great, I am going to love where my new super small house is! Christams was fantastic!! Went to Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa and Mozambique. All of it was simply amazing!!! I'm currently in Lsk for extension meds stuff. Came down for fun stuff like peeing in a cup, giving poop samples, getting shots, giving blood, having my teeth cleaned and all sorts of other fun stuff! Don't you wish you were me now! Anyways, other than that I have been managing to have a fantastic time down here eating all 3 meals a day plus more!! Stuffing myself up before I get back to the village!! No worries though until I move into my new place (april 1) i'll be leaving my house at 6:30 every am and biking a half hour to the reserve for the am to mess with stuff there then 30 min back to the Ikelenge Clinic to mess with stuff there, then finally home!! It's been some pretty long days lately!! and rainy rainy rainy!! Goodness I tell you this stuff has gotta go!!! Came home to a puddle on my bed the other day! Roof leaks above the bottem end of my bed and I forgot to move my sheets before I left so... you can pretty much guess what happened?! okay well off to give away more urine. Here's hopin it's clean:) Love ya folks, vic

Alls well

2007-09-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!! Long time no post huh. Things here are fantastic. It is super hard to imagine that I only have 6 more months here. The idea of prolonging it is playing around in my head but not sure how it will play out as of yet. But for now I am enjoying life plenty. The staff at my clinic has changed and the new people are amazing and great to work with. I wish that I was just starting out so that I would have 2 years to work with them instead of the next 6 months. The country director for Zambia came up a few weekends ago, she's been trying to visit all the areas. It was great having her visit. I definitly very supported by peace corps because of her visit. That was something that had been lacking with previous country directors, but the new CD is amazing and really getting things turned around. It was a great site visit too. Some other volunteers in my district came up with her and I biked to the source of the Zambezi to meet with them, then it was back to my house to unload some things, then we all went out to the rapids/hydro that's in my area. Then it was back again to my house for an amazing dinner cooked by my family, then a friend of mine working at a reserve this side got permission for us to camp out there. So we were able to all camp out on the reserve that night. It was awesome! Then the next morning we went on a small game drive. Everyone had a blast so I was in turn very very happy! Don't worry they don't have any of the big 5, but they do have all of the tiny 10. There is actually something called the tiny 10. I've learned a lot more about the sport of hunting now. It's intense as is birding. But anyways, that's my life now, I am in Solwezi for a meeting should be here a few days and then it's back up to site proably until thanksgiving, so take care and know that I love you all and miss you lots and lots and lots, vic

Another country to the list

2007-07-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well hello friends and family!!! Hope all is well that side of the earth! Things here have been fantastic!!! Lauren leaves tomorrow morning and we have had an amazing time! We got to to go to Botswana!! I saw lots and lots and lots of animals!! Definitly one of my coolest days and africa, and actually really cool too weather wise that is. Okay anyways, alls well, I'll be around computer usage for the next few weeks so email anytime, love ya'll vic

Laurens in Lusaka

2007-06-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll!! Hope alls well! Ive just been enjoying the last few days hanging out with Katherine and now laurens arrived!! yipee lots of fun friend times!! Anyways, she got bumped up to first class from London to lusaka, needless to say she had excellent transport and got off the airplane looking clean and refreshed. But that will all change tommorrow when we head out on the bus to my home! Fun times ahead and definitly not in first class! Hope alls well back home. I love ya'll and will write more in a few weeks, hekwawu. Love ya vic

Hey friends

2007-05-17T02:57:00.000-07:00

Hey friends!!! Hope ya'll are all doing well!!! Life here is great. Thanks for all the prayers this last week when I was ill. I am much much better and drinking lots of water, On that note I would appreciate it if ya'll would stop telling me to drink water. I myself am now definitly aware of that fact:) Anyways, in solwezi for a few days, it's great getting to hang out and see people. Oh the house just got a new fridge, so guess what I got, a new refrigerator box!! So eaxcited, I'm going to take it back to site and have jeremey come up and help me make a fort with the boys!!! How exciting. The fridge is super nice too. Tonights a chili cook off at the house! Yummy yummy!! Anyways, not a lot to say, made it back from vacation just fine and have been enjoying being back in good old zambia. Talk at ya later, love ya vic

Greetings from tanzania

2007-04-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hello ya'll!! I hope everyone is great!! I'm in tanzania headed to the beach!! I am so excited I think we are going to the north beach off of zanzibar first then we will head down along the east coast depending on the north coast. I basically plan on doing nothing except laying on the sand getting sun, shopping in stone town, and mabye a bit of snorkeling! It's a rough life I know buy hey someone's gotta live it so it might as well be me:) Peace Corps things are good, my village is still amazing! My dad just came to see me and it was a blast!! Loved every minute of it and unfortunatly i only have 2 minutes left on the internet, gotta post what little there is, love ya'll vic

Once more

2007-01-27T02:04:00.001-08:00

So one more posting before I'm back at site. I just got back to province a few days ago. I am working on making barbque tonight! Yummy!!! Anyways, then I will head back to site via the boma where I have to stop by their office and touch base with some people about some things. So anyways, I'll be glad to make it back to site. The new volunteers flew in yesterday? Hard to believe I've been here a year!! I might meet a few while they are on first sight visit. It'll depend on how things are at sight. I have a lot of things to catch up on when I get back. And a few visitors are going to visit for a few days. So I am sure I'll be busy. However I don't plan on coming back in to town until mid march so I should be at site for a good stretch and be able to do some good work. Mom just came to visit and we had a good time. Saw Vic falls, it's AMAZING!!! I can't imagine what it would have been like to be david livingstone and see them way back when. It was great fun having family here though. My family at site was equally as excited as I was! We all had a great time together. But for now it's back to work. Peace out and know that I love ya'll. Oh and if you haven't seen pictures of my life here then call my mom, she took tons while she was here and I want' yall all to see my beautiful family! Love ya vic

Once more

2007-01-27T02:04:00.000-08:00

Been a long time

2007-01-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

So it's been a long time since I have written anything. Sorry sorry. So I will try and recap my life for the past 2 months! Thanksgiving came it was loads of fun. Katharine was still here so we and 40 other volunteers celebrated at the PC house in Solwezi. It was a really good time. We had lots of chicken. I killed one of them with a big knife. It took 3 trys to get the job done but it all worked out in the end. Well it worked out for me but not for the poor chicken. Anyways we had a huge feast with garlic mashed potatoes, green bean cassarole, stuffing, pumpking pie, apple pie etc etc. It was amazing!!! Then I went back to site for a few weeks and a friend came up to visit for christmas. We had a good time celebrating christmas in my village together. We went to see the source of the zambezi on christmas eve day and then on christmas we went to christmas morning mass and then we ate lunch with the sisters and the priest. Then we had christmas dinner with my family and opened presents that night. They gave me and Maureen ours in the morning. They gave us matching chetenges so that was thoughtful. It was a really great christmas though. Then we went to Lusaka where we met up with a lot of other volunteers and enjoyed the coming of the new year together. Oh a bit of exciting new between thanksgiving and christmas. I went monkey hunting!!! Let me tell you 7 hours of walking in the bush at a ridiculously fast speed is not easy!!!! Luckily there were some fresh berries around and honey right from the comb so we had a snack and some water after 4 hours of ridiculously fast walking!!! Serioulsy ya'll we proably walked at least 40K! Anyways that's all for now outta time, love ya vic

Hot bread and prison

2006-11-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

In America after a long day of transport and possible imprisonment one might find themselves wanting to take a long hot bath upon returning home, in Zambia fresh hot bread does the trick. Luckily transport ended and by the grace of God we did not end up in a Malawi prison. Apparently the immagration officals don't like it if you threaten to call the US Embassy and tell them how to do their job. Who knew? Luckily my wonderful travel companion Katharine had the ability, unlike me, to not laugh in their face and kiss some major ass. (Pardon my french). So we made it back. Well to Lusaka anyways, we'll see what tommorrow brings, peace out love katharine and victoria

Oct 06

2006-10-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

Hello all!!! Life here in zambia is good. Katherine comes to see me in 2 days. I can't wait!!! I just got into Solwezi yesterday and I'll be off to get Kat tomm. Site has been going well. It's been great getting back!! The sun has made it really really hot. The rains have come though so that cools it off some. I bathe in the river most days because the cold water feels so good! It's great! One of my bags hasn't reached me yet but it's hopefully at the airport so I will have it in a matter of days! I can't wait!!! I borrowed clothes from my 16year old brother! Needless to say he'll be glad when i get my luggage back too. Anyways, doing great here take care of each other there, love ya vic

I'm back

2006-09-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I've returned!! After a wonderful visit with the friends and family back in the states I am glad to say that I have or am almost home! The flight back was okay. I missed one plane and my luggage has yet to show up, but I'm back in Solwezi!! I'm going to spend a few days resting up and then it's back to site and back to work. Thanks for all the good times back home. It was great getting to see everyone! I didn't get a chance to update with pictures while I was home but mabye sometime before the years up! Take care, and know that you're loved~vic

The little things

2006-08-12T03:28:00.000-07:00

So as I sat looking up at a dead spider hanging from my ceiling the other night I thought wow there are a lot of little things about my life here that you do not know. So this blog is dedicated to the little things/thoughts/actions that make up my daily life while here.
** So as I stated there is a dead spider hanging from my ceiling and it only has 7 legs. 2 are dangling and the rest of it is stuck up there. I suppose someday it will fall down. I look at it all of the time and think about wiping it off but I don't think I ever will.
**Im addicted to bread!!! Fritters, scones, whole loaves of bread I don't discriminate, i eat it all.
**I got a new rack in my bathing shelter and I feel like a new person when I bathe, It's fantastic!!!
**My dishes are tan with flowers on them.
**I love sweet potatoes, who knew?
**Another addiction, cassava shima, I have to eat it everynight for dinner. If I don't I go into withddrawls. To bad too much cassava causes bloating!!
**Since they have burned the bush next to my chimbushi I wonder if people can see me when I go to the restroom. I could hang up a bag to block the view, but then what would I wonder about!
**I heat up my water in the middle of the day even if it's really hot just because I can.
**I have hot tea for breakfast every morning. I often contemplate another cup but I think that would be pushing it. Any thoughts?
**I listen to Norah Jones every night when I go to bed.

Okay well that's all I think I will enlighten ya'll with today but know that i love ya'll and miss ya'll a lot! I'm doing so wonderful. Life is truly amazing and I am definitly enjoy the blessings of mine. Thanks for all the letters and packages you guys rock!!! Love ya vic

It's me again

2006-07-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

Hello!!! Life here is great!!!! I don't have time to go back and read my previous blogs and I don't remeber what all I have said. But know that I am still here in great ole Zambia, simply having the time of my life!!! I truly could not be any happier. My family here is amazing!!! I have the best time hanging out with them. We play uno and pick up sticks, frisbee etc etc. I am getting adujusted. I'm not the best cook in the world but I am slowly getting used. Luckily I eat dinner with my family everynight so I am guaranteed at least one really good meal a day. I did make deviled eggs for them and they loved them!!! I'm quite used to catapillars and baby fish. My favorite vegtable is chinese cabbage. Yummy!! My stomach gets excited just thinking about it. I have been addicted to watching the world cup. It's a lot of fun. We watch it up at the school. THey have a generator and dish. Everyone gets really into it. Okay well like I said not much time. Just wanted to send a quick hello and tell ya'll that I am sooooooo happy!!! Love you all, take care, victoria

A little song

2006-03-25T01:23:00.000-08:00

So I think my birthday and past week can best be summarized with this little song my closest neighbor in my village wrote me..
Happy Birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
You can use my chimbushu (toilet)
Anytime you need to poo!!!
Sick yet funny huh!! See, upon my arrival from second site visit I noticed something was different. Where my chimbushi used to be there was now a pile of dirt and bricks. While I was away it rained every day and my chimbushi collapsed!!! So Erin has been nice enough to let me use hers!! She is really close by me so it's not a big deal. Just funny. She is going to be Katharine's closest neighbor. Isn't that fun! She's great and I told her Katherine is great so I am excited for both of them! Anyways, it's been a great week. My b-day was fantastic thanks for all the presents, cards, and emails! I had a great day!!! This week will be busy. I will have my language test on Tueseday and then a tech presetnation on Wed. Friday we swear in and then on Sat we head off to our villages!!! I am definitly ready but I will be very sad to leave my family in my village behind. They are really wonderful people. So tears to come that day but definitly exctied and ready to start doing my own thing. This will proably be the last blog for quite some time so know that I love you all and hope your doing great!!! Peace out for now, victoria
So we will see if these links work.

For staging pictures..... http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kelley_vl/album?.dir=3668&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

For eastern pictures...
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kelley_vl/album?.dir=1d2e&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Sorry about the NW pics, I will try to put them on at the solwezi house.

Pictures, Pictures,Pictures

2006-03-18T01:05:00.001-08:00

Hello!! These are just a few pics I have taken at different times since I have left. Just click on the album and open it up. I'll try and add more later but it takes FOREVER and forever costs a lot of money:) So for now enjoy what's posted. I had a great time at second site visit. The guy I am replacing was awesome and really fixed the place up. He is leaving me a lot of furniture and stuff so I am really excited. He took me around and introduced me to a lot of people which was great. I biked 7 hours to get up to my site!!! Him and Joe usually do it in 4? They are obviously a lot better bikers than me!! On the way back I took public transport. Me and 15 other Zambians and regina's bike in the back of a small pickup truck! It was crazy fun, bumpy, wet, and rainy. I loved it!! It took about 2 hours. So those are my transport options from Mwinilunga to Ikelenge!!! I'm not sure which I will be doing the most but it is a BEAUTIFUL trip by bike or back of truck. You go up and down beautiful hills, over running rapids, and across beautiful plains where you would think to see gazilles jumping up and down! It was amazing!! Anyways, enjoy all of the pics. I hope they post okay and I will try and do more later! Love ya'll victoria
I think you can click on pictures pictures pictures to get to the pictures:)

Pictures, Pictures,Pictures

2006-03-18T01:05:00.000-08:00

2 posts in one day!

2006-03-05T02:39:00.000-08:00

So dam day was amazing!!! I think it is going to rank as a top 10 in Zambia when all is said and done. I really loved it. It was so good to get to hang out at a swimming pool. We couldn't swim in the water because of crocs? But they had a pool and it was so nice. I got some sun, not too much but a good amount. The best part though was lunch!! We stopped at the grocery store and got hamburger meat. I think I had a whole cow for lunch!! It was fantatistic. I love hamburger meat and I love grilling and I loved eating chips and salsa!!!! Oh pure goodness all the way around. It was supreme!!! Anyways, I love you all oh an more info on the dam. All the peace corps trainees went. It was about 30 minutes on the other side of Kitwe. Great fun, love ya vic

One Wednesday

2006-03-05T02:14:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would dedicate this page to the activities that occured on Wed my homestay day. Homestay day was implemented by the Peace Corps in hopes that during training for one afternoon we would stay at home and experience everything our homestay families do. I was not looking forward to it but it ended up being a lot of fun so here goes with my schedule....
4:30- My Amaama wakes up, since we sleep under the same roof and she is very loud when she unlocks the door I wake up.
4:35- I go back to sleep
6:00- Wake up and try to find my toilet paper so I can run to the chimubshi (along the way I must greet my mom and tell her that yes, I have woken up well, even though I am in a super big hurry to make it to the RR on time.
6:10- Get back to my house and gather my stuff for my bath.
6:15- I tell my A maama I am ready to bathe and she takes one bucket of cold and one bucket of hot water in the bathing hut for me.
6:35- I return to find breakfast on the table as always.
6:50- I rush to the RR and rush around to finish getting ready.
7:00- Head to the big hut to meet the PC bus for tech processing in another village at 8:00
8:00- Tech Processing from the week.
12:00- Head home for culture day activities
12:30- Wash my clothes outside with my sister. It is kind of hard work but they were very good to help me.
1:00- Cut the tomatoes and onions. Cried like a baby from the onions and the smoke. They felt bad but I told them it wasn't a big deal. It really wasn't I just had onion juice and smoke in my eyes.
1:15- Made shima
1:30- Ate Lunch
2:00- Washed dishes. I hate doing it in America and I don't really enjoy it here either!
2:15- Swept the ground.
2:17- Wow, sweeping the ground is hard work. I got tired fast so my mom and my sister took over. We don't use regular brooms.
2:30- Took a nap
3:00- Went outside and set with my family. One of my neices had hair bugs (lice I suspect) so my A maama was cutting off all of her hair.
3:45- Went to the fields with my mom. We have a lot of fields. We picked corn and seet potato leaves for lunch on Thursday.
5:00- Arrived back home and I pounded casava root with my sister mom and niece who stared at me the whole time. I tried the pounding for a while. It was fun but I wasn't very good. Then my sister did it and she was really good. Then my mom did it and well she has a lot of years on all of us. It was actually a really cool picture. Africa in its purest form.
5:30- Then I sifted the root we pounded. I was better at that.
6:00- Made rice and soya pieces (my favorite) for dinner
6:45- Evening shower
7:00- Played tic tac toe with my sister in the dirt
7:30- Sat in kitchen hut with my family
8:00- Time to go get ready for bed.
8:30- Lights (my candle) out!
So that's a day! A really fun day that I enjoyed a lot. The women work their rears off here. Can't wait for ya'll to come experince it! Love ya vic

Suprise!!!!

2006-03-03T05:06:00.000-08:00

So it's friday and I am blogging. Who would have thought!! I hope this makes ya'll day as much as it does mine. So today was two test friday. I feel like I am back in college. I got up at 4:30 to study. I did okay. Better than I thought but not as good as I should have. Such is life. An interesting thing on the way to the test. We got picked up from our village at 7:30 with our language trainers and then we went to the training center. On the way our driver (he's PC staff) hit a bird and then pulled over and picked it up so he could eat it for lunch!!! Can you believe it. He got out of the vehicl and we were all like wait why's he stoping it's just a bird and the lang trainers, they are zambian, looked at us and were like duh, to eat. We told them that that was a cultural moment for us. Matt, dan, and erin took a pic so I'm sure someone will post it on Sun. Another surprising thing is that I actually perfer to use a chimbushi (our toilet/outhouse) as opposed to a regular standing toliet. Theres a lot to be said for a hole in the ground. It really makes the process so much easier. The bank where I am at typing has a pretyy nice toliet but I find myself longing for that deep dark hole. Oh well. Oh to answer the question about my bike. It has 21 speeds, Front and back brakes. I am getting used I suppose. So that is really all for now. Tommorrow is big dam day!! I am so excited it will be great to be by the water!!! I can't wait. I'll tell ya'll all about it on sunday hopefully. I will proably come to Kitwe!! Peace out, love ya Vic

What a week!!!

2006-02-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

What A Week!!! And yes I am posting this weekend!!! It's just going to be on Sunday and not saturday!! Okay so for the week in review... Monday was good same old same old lanugage and tech stuff. Tuesday I had the school activity. That went so well!!! It was fun to get out of routine for a bit. Kristen, Regina, and I worked well together and I think the kids all had a really good time. We talked about self esteem and the importance of it etc. It was fun!! Wed was the usual and Thru we went to mwkera. I learned about rabies. Not really a fun disease and if a human gets it and doesn't get treated in time you die. Not cool huh. So if you are coming to see me you have to get your rabies vaccinations!! I'm making it a requirment:). There are stray dogs here but the villagers kill them if they think they have rabies but still tis better to err on the side of caution. So I got my second rabies shot on thursday and my other hep shot? I have few more left. I also found out about a lot of cool and by cool I mean disgusting germs/worms I will get while I am here. Most likely anyways, I learned all the signs, syptoms, how to treat yourself when to go/call the PCMO and stuff. It was all pretty interesting and I defintily feel good about the people in charge of my health care over the next few years so that's good. Sat we had a culture day. All of our families came to the training center with us and cooked us different local dishes. I tried flying termites and catapillars!!! Can you belive it!!! I have actually had worse things. Then the families went home and all the PCT went out in Kitwe we had a good time but I am still really tired today. I can't wait for the waterfall next weekend!!! I am so excited!!! Today I went to church. Church here is cool. In the chruch I go while here, all the women sit on the left, the men on the right, and the kids upfront left. We sing a lot, clap and dance. The sermon is all in Bemba, the language I am not learning! But it has still been neat to attend a service here. Monday we are going to town during the day and we have to order food to eat in our language and practice bargaining for things at the market!! Fun Field trip day!!!! Then tuesday we have another teaching actvity kind of. We will be meeting with the neighboorhood health committee for our village and helping them address a particular health issue facing their village and then figure out a solution and intervention. Kristen, Regina and I will do it. Then Friday we have a tech test and a language test. It is going to be an extremely busy busy week. But luckily Sat we go to the Dam. Yipee!!! So I have read all your comments and to answer a few questions.... I do have an outhouse, no elctricity, no running water, except when I pour it out of a cup and it runs over me.. Ha ha ha.... I do obviously have a bike. Some people have cell phones but the whole concept of cell phones is a little bit different here. I have 3 rooms all to myself. All in all it's a pretty nice set up. I really can't complain. So as for now I had better get off this thing. I have a few things to check. oh, other people have posted pics so follow different links to see different things that I am seeing. Love ya all and peace out for now, vic

Hello friends!!!

2006-02-18T04:23:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love the internet!!! Thank you all so much for commenting. It makes me so happy!!!! So before I forget correction from the last email, it is 12k to training on thur when I bike, 24 roundtrip. I also tend to have to bike it more than just thur. But that's okay I don't mind. Sometimes PC sends us a driver so that is really nice. I am getting faster on my bike but I am still definitly the slowest. I leave first and get there last!! At least I get to see everyone on the way right?! Tuesday I will be leading an activity at a school with 2 other girls. I am excited, it should be a lot of fun. I had my first lang test the other day. I did as well as I thought I would do. My trainer is great and very encouraging but I still know I have a lot to learn!!! I am actually able to communicate with my A maama a little bit more and I met another sister the other day. She is in grade 9? and speaks some english so that has been helpful. It does rain here but I love it. It's never to hard for too long so I really enjoy it. Anyways, it's great to hear from ya'll I love you each, take care, victoria

Kolenu Mwani

2006-02-12T04:48:00.000-08:00

Hello!!! That (kolenu mwani) is the typical lunda greeting. Mwani vude mwani would be your response. It is pretty much the return greeting to any sort of greeting. I use it all the time and just hope that it applies. So the city I will be nearby in NW Province is Mwinilunga? Sorry I don't have the spelling in front of me but I think if you look at a map you can figure it out. So in my last blog remeber how I bragged about feeling wonderful. Well the next morning I woke up with the big D (Diarreha). That was the day we had to drive 5 hours in the land cruiser! I was the first one in the group to get it. Unfortunatly when we got to the hotel it was accompinied by throwing up. I hate throwing up but luckily that is all behind me now. Since then though I think everyone has expericenced some of the big D. Good times. So anyways now that I have disscused the movement of my bowels with everyone I suppose I shall tell you what other exciting things I have been up too. Everyday Well Monday- Friday I go to language class in the morning and tech training in the afternooon. 8-5 with a lunch break where I go home and my A maama feeds me a lot!! It is good to be fat here so she wants me to be fat. On thurs though I have to bike 27 K to Mwkerera for a big training with all of the volunteers. It is fun because I get to see veryone but the biking is very hard. Please pray for strength on that day. IT takes me about an hour. I don't really mind so much I just wish I wasn't so slow. But I suppose I will get better in time. On Sat we just have class until 12:00. Then I will try to come to Kitwe to do computer stuff. Please keep adding comments i like hearing from all of ya'll. I know my grammer/ spelling is not that great but I don't have much time and the keyboard is sticky! So that's really all for now. But I love you all and look up at the stars everynight when I brush my teeth outside and I think that somewhere ya'll are seeing the same ones and it makes me happy. So know that you are all missed, loved and though of often. Peace out, Victoria

Zambia Rocks!

2006-02-01T04:49:00.000-08:00

Okay so, seeing zebras...tasting n'shima...land crusing it across country...meeting the locals... using the pit latrine... making fire... packing your stuff 15 times... playing with kids... walking everywhere in the bush with the mountains and beautiful zambian huts on your left... secret society male dancers... stars so beautiful and bright you would give anything to touch them...FRESH chickens... beautiful faces with big brown eyes... showering in a hut while watching the cows, chickens, bulls, and pigs scurry past... driving by monkeys... waking up to giraffes eating.... and basically living scenes right out of a national geographic are just many of the many many reasons why zambia rocks! It has really already been the most amazing experience of my life and it is just starting!! I really appreciate all of your prayers. I have met some of the most amazing people and I have been and felt so healthy. I guess eating fresh food all the time does that. I just spent the past 4 days in Eastern Province where I practiced carrying water on my head. I can kind of do it with one hand. But I do have to use one. Eastern Province was beautiful!!! Full of mountains and lush green fields. I chose my language. I will be speaking Lunda. Lunda land is in NW Province. Pull out the maps because that is where I am going to be for the next 2 years! I won't know where exactly until 2nd site visit at the end of march? We have training in Kitwe until then. So far so good. It is great being able to keep in touch with you all. I love you and miss you all a lot but I hope that you are all doing great! Know that I think of you often, vic

In South Africa

2006-01-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

Well I've made it to S. Africa. It was a good plane ride. We got in last night at around 5 and then ate dinner at the hotel had a little meeting watched the sixth sense on TV and then attempted to go to sleep. I saw attempted because all I did was wiggle around in the bed for 5 hours! I finally fell asleep 15 minutes before I was supposed to get up! Oh well. We leave for Lusaka at around 11:00. It's a 2 hour plane ride and then we will stay at a retreat area for 2 nights. Then it's off to site visits so we can see what we are getting ourselves into!! We'll be at site for about 5 days and then we all come back together for training. I think? The hotel is Super nice!! It's a holiday inn in Johannesburgh at the airport but it is NICE!!! Well, I better run up and repack my carryon, we are heading to the airport soon. I love you all and will write again but proably not for a few weeks. Take care, victoria

Zambia here I come!!

2006-01-21T06:09:00.001-08:00

Well it's Sat morning at 8:16 am. I have actually been up for a few hours because I am trying to train my body to get up early so when I get up before the sun tommorrow to go to the airport I won't be too cranky. That means I have to go to bed at 9 tonight. I know I'm like 80 years old right? But luckily I have some really good friends and family who don't mind being 80 tonight either and we are all going to spend the night and get a good nights sleep. We'll see if that actually happens! Anyways, yes I am mostly packed. I have to go get a swim suit and pack it and then I have to go to the bank and clear up some loose ends there. All in all, I think I am right on schedule. I'm off to see Glory Road at 3:00. Come To the bricktown theaters if you want to see it with me! Then we are eating at Moe's. Yummy!! My mouth is already watering, I love food!! Okay, so this will proably be the last time I write before I head off tommorrow morning so thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. I love you all and will try to update this in philly, Jo-burg, or Lusaka! Take care and know that I love you and proably already miss you a little:) or a lot:)!

My Traveling Times

2006-01-21T05:50:00.000-08:00

To answer all of the questions of when do you get where, here's the answer (kind of)
January 22nd-Sunday
Leave OKC early in the morning for Philadelphia, I have a layover in Dallas and will get to Philadelphia at 12:52. Training Registration is from 2-3. Then the fun begins, or fun mixed in with proably a few not so fun lectures about what we are getting ourselves into etc, etc.
January 23rd- Monday
is full of more exciting lectures, and hang out time with 32 new great friends
January 24th- Tuesday
Wake up to get a nice dose of morning shots (possibly). Take a little bus ride to the JFK airport where me and my new best friends will leave around 5:50issh I believe for an 18 hour plane ride to Johannesburg with a pit stop in Dakar Senegal.
January 25th- Wednesday
Arrive in Johannesburg for an overnight Layover. Then we head out to Lusaka where we will spend a few days at some sort of rest camp, proably figuring out how to repack our stuff, learning some about the languages, and figuring out what sites to visit.
The Days after that-
will most likely consist of some site visits, figuring out where I am to be placed in country, and then intense training filled with packages from my loving famliy and friends. Can't wait to get over there and see how correct these guesses are:) Love ya'll

Party Pics Link

2006-01-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

Okay so I believe that if you follow this link,( just click on the title party pics link) you should be able to access my photo album which contains pictures from my party! Yippeee!! Now, I don't have my digital camera yet these are just a few from my dad and Kay's camera. I will get mine up there next week when I get my camera. I will proably just add more albums as I get over there so let me know if you have a problem viewing these. Thanks! Love ya'll Victoria

13 days

2006-01-09T07:11:00.001-08:00

Hello friends! Not even a full 2 weeks left! Wow time seemed to go by so slow and now all of the sudden it's almost gone! Thanks to everyone who made it out yesterday for my party. It was so wonderful to see everyone. I really appreciate you all making the trip! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Lauren Wood took a lot of pictures for me and my family. I will try and post them later today. Thanks again for coming. Love Victoria

One month left!!!

2005-12-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

Wow! Can you believe it only one month left!! How crazy is that? What's real crazy though is the fact that I haven't posted anything new on here in almost a month. Will hope that the same is not true when I'm over there right? Anyways, not a lot to report in the PC area. I have gotten a lot of fun gifts and gadgets for my trip but still somuch left to get! After christmas I will get to gather it all together and match it up with my to be packed list and see what I lack, what I have excess of and such. Yippeee I can't wait! Oh other fun stuff, My friend Katharine come home to see me from Moldova!!!!! Well not just me I think she wanted to see some other people too or something? Go figure, anyways, glad she's made it and gets to spend the holidays with the family. Hope you all have a wonderful christmas! Love ya Victoria

Who, What, When, Where

2005-11-30T08:24:00.000-08:00

So, for those of you who have not been as informed as others about my future happenings, I am as I said in my last post, headed off to Zambia. Yippeee!!! As of right now, my training starts on Jan 22nd in Philly then we all head over together to JFK and fly out on the 24th. We arrive in Zambia on the 26th with an overnight layover somewhere, I don't have the info in front of me at this moment. Anyways, if you are geographically challenged like I am then you might not be all that in the know about Zambia, so here goes,
Fact One: Zambia is in Africa
Fact Two: Zambia is completly landlocked
Fact Three: Zambia borders lots of other countries (8 I think)
Fact Four: Zambia borders Victoria Falls!!!! Yipppeee!!!
Fact Five: Wow this could get boring fast so follow this link, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/africa/zambia/
Well that's all for me, I am almost finally completly moved out of my apt so I'm off to wander the streets:) Just Joking, anyways I'll write more soon, Love ya, Victoria

Getting Started

2005-11-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well hello friends!!! This is my attempt at keeping in touch while I am gone. But before I do I will keep you posted on what it takes to get me started getting up and over there. In case you haven't heard I leave for Zambia Africa at the end of January with the Peace Corps. I am so excited!!! Looks like things are falling into place. I will be spending the next few weeks tying up random PC ends, moving out of my apt and visiting with friends and family!!! I'm planning on having a come and go party on Jan 8 so I can make sure to see everyone before I leave. Keep that date clear and you'll get an invitation sometime before then:) Until then, peace out and I'll keep ya posted!