Saturday, June 21, 2008

Tonga and White Sox

Surprisingly I am getting better at Tonga!!!! It's very exciting for me to finally understand and be understood in Tonga...and all I can say is thank God! It was looking pretty shaky there for a minute. Last week I was a substitute for the 1st grade class at Chikoli Community School and it was a really interesting experience...kids are kids. They behave the same no matter the culture.

Surprisingly the Sox lost to the cubs in the first game of the Crosstown series. This is unacceptable for plenty of reasons, but if you're a Chicagoan you know the reasons, and I don't need to explain. May the best team (White Sox) win. Go go Sox.

I have to leave early...I will write again soon.

Kim

Saturday, June 14, 2008

New School

The community school that it is in my village wants me to help them get money to finish a new school. I am in the process of trying to find NGO's and thinking of IGA's that will assist them with the plans. The word around town is that cement is so expensive because the World Cup will be in South Africa in 2010 and this has driven the price sky high. So...wish me luck as I try to find local funding.

Also, I am extremely shocked at how abstract the program is. I mean...we can do or not do whatever we want. It's all very strange. I'm still trying to find my place here.

Kim

Friday, June 6, 2008

New Adventure...or just crazy????

So, I live in Kalomo district, which is 60 km from Choma where the Peace Corps provincial house is located. I took my bike mainly because I didn't have any place I could leave it while I was in Choma. So, when it was time to go back, I get the bright idea to ride back. BIG MISTAKE!!!! I rode for 3 hours until my body just wouldn't ride anymore. I don't know what possessed me to think I could ride that distance. It was unreal. I finally gave up and hitched a ride on the back of a flatbed truck. (Don't worry...hitching is normal in Zambia.) The moral of the story: Think before you take a bike 60 kilometers and try to ride it back!!!!!

Last week was tough for me. I get frustrated that I'm not speaking the language properly. It doesn't help that "the old lady" that I live with (that is what she is called by everyone...I would never use this term normally) constantly tells everyone visiting in Tonga "Chitonga is a problem for this one...ba Jalle spoke Tonga fluently". She says this every single day, every time I'm around. I'm really trying to brush it off, but I really can only take so much.

Well, wish me luck and keep me in your prayers!!!! Love ya,

Kim