just in case you miss my smiling face

theres a party in my bloodstream & every parasite is invited!

hey all, so i was the first of our group to get malaria. it could best be described as the worst chills ever imaginable w/extreme fatigue...fun. luckily i was able to recognize my symptoms and get treatement, so i'm totally fine now. makes for a good story i guess. other than that things are great here. last week was kinda rough, but knowing that it was the parasites making me feel down gave me a fresh start. so my days are basically spent in class now b/c we are in training. language in the moring is uber-tough but our trainer is great and the three other guys in my class, jeremy, kit & dan are really cool. tech training in the afternoon is a lot of fun and yesterday we got to bike out to a farm and stock a pond with fingerlings, or 'tunyana kanshi' in lunda. i live in a house near the training center with a family of eight who are really nice and hospitible. when i'm not there or in class i'm hangin out w/other trainees who are some of the funnest people i have ever met.

time to write is extremely limted, but i am churing out letters when possible. please write me b/c i miss you all and want to know how your lives are going. to date i have gotten one letter from my sister abby and it was the best letter imaginable, complete w/ news articles, moms picture in the local paper & the brangelina baby...keep up the good work sis!

and if you feel the need to mail anything, the following items could come in handy:
green tea
books
magazines
lara bars/cliffbars
anything else you think i'd like.

so thats about it for now...and know that everyday i have a moment where i sit back and try to comprehend what i'm doing and it is then that i'm happiest to be here...i'm being challenged a lot and couldnt be happier.

peace.

survives week one of training!

hey all! happy fathers day to any dads out there, especially mine. we have finsished out first week of training which has been INSANE! we spent a few days in the bush getting a preview of live as a pcv and it was sweet. now we are living near the training center w/homestay families and going to class all day 5 1/2 days of the week. my brain is ready to explode with all this information and the experience has been very humbling. we are taking it in stride though and each day i realize that this is the most amazing thing i have ever done. please write i would love to hear from you guys and i'll be writing when time allows.

take care.
ray

made it to zambia!

made it to zambia... will write more when there's time -- right now, it's time to get more shots!

here in joburg

all,

we have safely arrived in johannesburg and will be here overnite then will fly to zambia. south african airlines rocks! the hotel is amazing, i'm enjoying a nice south african white wine rite now. my fellow trainees are great people and i feel truly at home doing this. please pass this along to everyone...from this point on communication will be spotty, so we shall operate under the premise of ''no news is good news''. i miss you all and wish you could be here with me. peace.

take care.
ray

this is it!

so here we go! thanks so much to everyone for their good wishes and generousity over the last few months. i'm off to philly for orientation and to be honest there is so much i'd like to write but i cant concentrate. you will all be missed...please write! its the po box listed on this blog. with letters write air mail/par avion and for package declare no value and write 'used religous materials' so i dont have to pay for them and they dont get picked through. i'll have my cell phone on till tuesday afternoon if youd like to call.

take care.