By the way, we just got cell phones. We can recieve texts and calls for free. We can also text fairly easily.
Brian
+2659118260
Kristy
+2659118526
P.S. We will probably delete this post, so write them down!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Back in Lilongwe...
We are back in Lilongwe today after a visit to our site in the Salima district. We actually weren't planning on coming here today, but Brian threw his back out yesterday so the Peace Corps doctor had us come here so he could look at it. It sounds like he just needs some pain-killers and rest. We think it was caused by stress and lack of regular exercise. Anyway, it has given us a chance to go online again which is nice.
We really liked our site. The headmaster and teachers are all really nice. We will be living in a little brick house with a brick fence. There are 3 rooms and a common area. The kitchen, "shower room" and outhouse are all located outside within a brick fence. We are planning on planting a garden and getting chickens back there.
One of the days we were there we went to Senga Bay and went swimming in Lake Malawi. It was awesome. Just like an ocean but better because it was fresh water. Plus it is soooooo hot that the water brought some relief. In fact, we were bathing multiple times a day while we were at our site. It is the hottest time of year, so hopefully the temperature will drop when we return in a couple weeks.
Next week we are back at Dedza college for one more week of training. After that we will go to Lilongwe again for our swearing-in ceremony and shopping before we move to our sites. We should be moving to our site permanently on December 14th or 15th. We are looking forward to getting settled, but we will miss our fellow trainees that we have become friends with. We will all be spread out around the country so I am sure we will do some travelling.
We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We will be missing you all at Christmas. Also, my Grandma Anderson is in the hospital and not doing well. Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. It is difficult to be away from home during a time like that.
Love and Peace,
Kristy and Brian
We really liked our site. The headmaster and teachers are all really nice. We will be living in a little brick house with a brick fence. There are 3 rooms and a common area. The kitchen, "shower room" and outhouse are all located outside within a brick fence. We are planning on planting a garden and getting chickens back there.
One of the days we were there we went to Senga Bay and went swimming in Lake Malawi. It was awesome. Just like an ocean but better because it was fresh water. Plus it is soooooo hot that the water brought some relief. In fact, we were bathing multiple times a day while we were at our site. It is the hottest time of year, so hopefully the temperature will drop when we return in a couple weeks.
Next week we are back at Dedza college for one more week of training. After that we will go to Lilongwe again for our swearing-in ceremony and shopping before we move to our sites. We should be moving to our site permanently on December 14th or 15th. We are looking forward to getting settled, but we will miss our fellow trainees that we have become friends with. We will all be spread out around the country so I am sure we will do some travelling.
We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We will be missing you all at Christmas. Also, my Grandma Anderson is in the hospital and not doing well. Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. It is difficult to be away from home during a time like that.
Love and Peace,
Kristy and Brian
Monday, November 26, 2007
A day in the life of Brian and Kristy's Peace Corps Trainees in Malawi
[note: this letter arrived the day after Thanksgiving.]
4:00 First rooster crowing wakes us, but we are able to fall back asleep. It is almost like Bean and Humphrey trying to wake us.
5:30 Kristy's alarm goes off. She takes a warm bucket bath that the host mom has heated on the fire.
5:50 Brian takes his bucket bath. Any leftover hot water is used to wash an article of clothing. We found it is easier to wash clothes one by one.
6:30 Host mom and host sister come into our hut with breakfast (bread, eggs, tea...) and we all sit on a mat on the floor to eat.
7:00 We walk through the village and greet about 25 people on the way to our trainer's house where we are picked up for school.
7:30-11:30 We are at our schools doing our practice teaching and lesson planning. We each teach 7 40 minute periods a week. Brian's class has 45 students, Kristy's has 65! We are lucky if we get books or desks on any given day.
11:30 go back to our host family's home in the village.
12:00-1:30 lunch break. Lunch might include 3 of the following: Rice, potatoes, nsima, greens, eggs, soy pieces, beans, chicken, or goat.
1:30-4:30 Chichewa language class at our trainer's house (actually it is not her house, but Peace Corps rents houses from families in the villages during our training). Our teacher-student ratio is 1:3!
4:30-5:30 We walk to a cliff with Laura, the other trainee in our village/language group and enjoy the view of the mountains and fields.
5:30-6:00 Read, lesson plan, listen to music...
6:00-7:00 Help (or watch) our host mom in the kitchen and practice speaking Chichewa with her. Oh, and sunset is at 6:00 so after that we rely on a kerosene lamp, candles, and our head lamps.
7:00-7:30 Dinner. (Usually what we ate for lunch.) MOst of our meals are eaten in silence with a few awkward Chichewa conversations.
7:30-8:30 Reading under our mosquito net until we fall asleep.
A favorite day of ours is Thursday because we get to go to Dedza College of Forestry (where we stayed for the first week). We enjoy the chance to catch up with our fellow trainees and hear about their homestays. Also, we get mail on Thursdays...hint, hint. I (Kristy) get to wear pants on the college days too (otherwise I am always wearing a skirt in the village or at school).
We will be finding out where our site is in a couple weeks. We are excited, but we're not exactly sure what to be excited about just yet. There are so many unknowns! Actually by the time this letter gets posted, we may know.
We will be spending Thanksgiving at the ambassador's house. It sounds like the food is really good. We will also get to meet a lot of the other Peace Corps volunteers in Malawi.
On December 12th we will be sworn in as official volunteers. They will give us a day in Lilongwe to buy what we need for our site before dropping us off. School doesn't start until January 7th so we have about 3 weeks to set our place up. Obviously Christmas is during that time, but we are not sure about our plans. Technically we are not supposed to leave our site for the first 3 months, but they make exceptions for Christmas.
We are having a great time. We miss you all. Write letters!
Love,
Brian and Kristy
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving!
4:00 First rooster crowing wakes us, but we are able to fall back asleep. It is almost like Bean and Humphrey trying to wake us.
5:30 Kristy's alarm goes off. She takes a warm bucket bath that the host mom has heated on the fire.
5:50 Brian takes his bucket bath. Any leftover hot water is used to wash an article of clothing. We found it is easier to wash clothes one by one.
6:30 Host mom and host sister come into our hut with breakfast (bread, eggs, tea...) and we all sit on a mat on the floor to eat.
7:00 We walk through the village and greet about 25 people on the way to our trainer's house where we are picked up for school.
7:30-11:30 We are at our schools doing our practice teaching and lesson planning. We each teach 7 40 minute periods a week. Brian's class has 45 students, Kristy's has 65! We are lucky if we get books or desks on any given day.
11:30 go back to our host family's home in the village.
12:00-1:30 lunch break. Lunch might include 3 of the following: Rice, potatoes, nsima, greens, eggs, soy pieces, beans, chicken, or goat.
1:30-4:30 Chichewa language class at our trainer's house (actually it is not her house, but Peace Corps rents houses from families in the villages during our training). Our teacher-student ratio is 1:3!
4:30-5:30 We walk to a cliff with Laura, the other trainee in our village/language group and enjoy the view of the mountains and fields.
5:30-6:00 Read, lesson plan, listen to music...
6:00-7:00 Help (or watch) our host mom in the kitchen and practice speaking Chichewa with her. Oh, and sunset is at 6:00 so after that we rely on a kerosene lamp, candles, and our head lamps.
7:00-7:30 Dinner. (Usually what we ate for lunch.) MOst of our meals are eaten in silence with a few awkward Chichewa conversations.
7:30-8:30 Reading under our mosquito net until we fall asleep.
A favorite day of ours is Thursday because we get to go to Dedza College of Forestry (where we stayed for the first week). We enjoy the chance to catch up with our fellow trainees and hear about their homestays. Also, we get mail on Thursdays...hint, hint. I (Kristy) get to wear pants on the college days too (otherwise I am always wearing a skirt in the village or at school).
We will be finding out where our site is in a couple weeks. We are excited, but we're not exactly sure what to be excited about just yet. There are so many unknowns! Actually by the time this letter gets posted, we may know.
We will be spending Thanksgiving at the ambassador's house. It sounds like the food is really good. We will also get to meet a lot of the other Peace Corps volunteers in Malawi.
On December 12th we will be sworn in as official volunteers. They will give us a day in Lilongwe to buy what we need for our site before dropping us off. School doesn't start until January 7th so we have about 3 weeks to set our place up. Obviously Christmas is during that time, but we are not sure about our plans. Technically we are not supposed to leave our site for the first 3 months, but they make exceptions for Christmas.
We are having a great time. We miss you all. Write letters!
Love,
Brian and Kristy
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Everyone!
We are in Lilongwe today for Thanksgiving at the ambassador's house. We can't write much because a lot of people are waiting, but I wanted to let everyone know that we will be in Salima about 8km from Lake Malawi. It will be very hot and sticky!
We are having a great time!
Love and miss you all!
Kristy and Brian
We are in Lilongwe today for Thanksgiving at the ambassador's house. We can't write much because a lot of people are waiting, but I wanted to let everyone know that we will be in Salima about 8km from Lake Malawi. It will be very hot and sticky!
We are having a great time!
Love and miss you all!
Kristy and Brian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
