Packing

I have one week left in Ohio until I leave to begin my new position with the Peace Corps. I will spend two nights for orientation in Philadelphia, and meet the other volunteers that will serve beside me for the following twenty-seven months. We will subsequently be shipped to the east coast on the 16th of February where we will catch a 20-hour flight to Zambia. From that time until the beginning of May, I will reside in Lusaka for training where I will work within the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) structure and the Zambian Forestry Department. LIFE currently works in the North-Western, Southern, Eastern, Northern, Copperbelt and Luapula provinces. Depending on my location, I will learn one of the following languages: Bemba, Kaonde, Nyanja, Tonga, Tumbuka and Luunda. Once I have proven competency in my new language and culture, I will be placed in my village for two years where my program aims to focus on sustainable agriculture, environmental education and income generation.
As I have learned from prior travel, expectations can be misleading. Therefore, I want to meantion what knowingly awaits me in Zambia. I am looking forward to being in warm weather again as I promise myself annually to leave Ohio before the next winter. I am anticipating hours of biking and, of course, walking where bikes cannot reach! A remarkably unique set of flora and fauna with some of the highest diversity in the world awaits my camera lense. I will learn the art of storytelling, gain further knowledge of organic gardening, explore new musical instruments, be inspired by the unbelieveable strength of African women and develop the inevitable love affair with nshima (the staple food made of maize meal). Most importantly, I am looking forward to a completely new culture and a simplicity of living that the Western world has long left behind.
However, with changes come sacrifice. I will leave behind my friends and family, hoping for visitors someday! ;) I know there will be days when I miss warm showers and electricity. Cheese. Rock music. Sarcasm. Pizza. Couches. Wine. Wasting time. All of which I have enjoyed extensively over the past year as I anticipated my service. As much as I enjoyed living with these luxuries, I will learn to thrive from the new skills and outlooks obtained from the African way of life. My next post will be from the other side of equator, in my new home, Zambia.