the lunda legends

jeremy, me, kit & dan complete w/ our trash stashes.

the two most hardcore weeks of my life...

hey all,

so we just got back from site visit number two and it was amazing. we finnally got a true taste of village life to know what to expect for the next two years. the trip started last sunday with pc transport in the landcruiser to solwezi, our provincial capital where we have a proper house that our lrad volunteer lives in and we can crash at when needed. we got to meet a bunch of the other volunteers in the province and had a little party which was nice. on monday it was off to mwinilunga for about a week of class which was at times stressful only b/c me and my friend dan had to bike five km each way to get there...in the end we biked over 300 km each which was a nice feat. once classes ended last tuesday we crashed at a mission near dans site for a nite and had the best food yet in zambia, saw the dr. congo border, saw an amazing waterfall, the list goes on. i got to see my site where ill be living, but my house isnt built yet. another volunteer in the area said ''i'd hurt someone for your site''. its pretty sweet- 1/2 km from the tarmac for easy transport, no kids, my ataata keeps his animals penned, there is every fruit tree imaginable, a sweet rock gorge nearby & there is a huge grassy plain rite accross the road. i really cant wait to move in and if you feel like sending anything to help decorate (pictures, stickers, posters) that would be great-i have no same making a plug like taht seeing as i make no money at all now. what a perfect sugue to my new address:

raymond palko
peace corps
p.o. box 160073
mwinilunga
zambia
africa

so please keep the mail coming it is amazing, and once i get to site ill start writing more. also i'll keep my phone on all the time for the next two weeks b/c at site ill not have service, so give a call if you can. thanks for all the support, email, letters, etc. it has meant the world to me.

take care.

x-culturism

this past week had some interesting views into zambian culture. on the 4rth we had a cross-cultural day where all of our homestay families came to the training center and cooked for us...no real outta the ordinary foo (except for impala & catipillars) but we did so chickens being slaughtered and some of us, no myself, got to take part.

on thursday we had an amazing lecture from a zambian author about zambian culture and its differences from the western cultures. basically as far as time goes, americans are monochronic whereas zambians are polychronic...so in zambia waiting is an activity where in the states it is an annoyance. i have defenitly seen that in daily life here already. the most fascinating part of the lecture was when the woman commented that the extended family structure in zambia is starting to weaken a bit. i thought she was going to say due to hiv/aids, when in fact she commented that the extended family structure is the one thing that has saved zambia from total chaos in the midst of the hiv/aids crisis. its amazing the obligation that zambians feel toward their families and fellow human beings.

there have been a few questions about my email, its hcaulfield123@yahoo.com and currently i check it weekly, which will soon turn into monthly, but feel free to use it anyway (in addition to writing cause letters are AMAZING). also i got a cell phone which will have good service till i leave for site in mid august (minus the last two weeks of july when im on site visit). i can't call you b/c i have no money, but incoming calls are free & my # is 011 260 99 658 537. i'm not sure if i listed the country code in the beginning rite, but if you cant figure it out and want to call, call my parents and they will tell you what to do.

guess thats all for now, take care & stay classy.

do it for 'merica!

hey all,

so we are gettin into the meat & potatoes of training rite now. we had our first language interview/assesment/test yesterday and i think i did ok. its become apparent that the more you say 'hello, thank you & goodbye' the more fluent you appear...kolenu mwani, nasakilili nan kashi, melea mwani! the tech training is really gettin fun as we get to ride our bikes through the bush to get there. earlier this week we went the wrong way and stumbled upon a sweet waterfall which we all hang out at in our free time now. yesterday we started to dig a pond and i got covered in mud from using it as a slip & slide plus a few sweet mud fights. its so sweet that even when we are in class its in the middle of some cool pictureque african setting. the only worry now is that i will miss my fellow trainees & my homestay family when i get posted. my homestay family is really awsome and insists on doing nearly everything for me. i finnally broke thru last week and did my own laundry. tommorrow we are going to have a bob marley party while we do laundry. my fellow tainees are my real family here. they are so great and the best way to put it is w/a line from 'swing life away' by rise against...

''and I've got some friends some that I hardly know but we've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world''

and tonite is the big 'disco nite' where we all go to the club with our trainers which should be a blast...don't wait up.

kolenu mwani!
(hello, literally 'be strong')