Anyways... To the few (and by that I mean 3) people who actually read this blog, I wish to say “pepani” or sorry for neglecting you! It has been far too long since I’ve updated this. I wish I had a great excuse, but unfortunately, laziness is by far the biggest factor. In fact, I’m only overcoming this obstacle by the fact that I need to be doing something while my iPod is charging on my computer so it doesn’t go into standby and since I’ve run out of work to do otherwise, the blog it is. J I have to say… its sort of odd to be typing this by the light of a kerosene hurricane lamp and candles (I should be more stingy with the candles, but I can’t stand sitting in the dark).
So officially at the beginning of the month (well, 29 April to be precise), I’ve been a volunteer for 1 year. That realization has been met with a variety of mixed feelings… ranging from relief that I only have one more year to go, to anxiety that I won’t get everything I wanted to get accomplished done, to depression over the fact that I’m only half-way to when I can see friends and family again, to a lot of anger and bitterness and disillusionment and generally too much bitching to friends here about pretty much everything (hopefully stopping soon)... So, in brief, an emotional rollercoaster. The last two months haven’t really helped since I’ve been travelling a great deal, but not for fun-mostly “work” related stuff. And travelling in this country involves a lot of waiting and a need for the patience of a saint. On top of that, my site-mate Amy, thru a series of unfortunate events and irrational decision making by certain Peace Corps staff (and that’s all I’ll say on the matter) has moved out of our district to the nearby but not an hour’s bike ride district of Chiridzulu. Thankfully, at her new site, she’ll be working her dream job, but still, it sucks.
On some positive notes, we’ve welcomed a new group of volunteers (congrats for making it thru training!) in both health and environment, said good-bye to an amazing group of volunteers (you’ll be missed but we’re happy for you!), and I’ve gotten some work done. And I’ve managed to stay in my village for a solid 2 weeks (looking at 3 shortly). Which is wonderful. I’ve missed my house and my cat and my neighbors and the Phundumas, and pretty much everything about my village. And on a literary note, I’ve discovered the amazing-ness of Sherlock Holmes. Thanks to my new site mate, Leith, for leaving that book at my house!
Currently, the big project is bore holes… Just got funding for 3 (see appropriate water projects page), and working on another grant to replace missing parts for the one I (and about a million other people) used to go to before some bastard decided that he was more important than the 100+ families in my area that now have to walk 1+ KM to get to a safe water source. Not that I’m bitter or anything. So, Alex (my counterpart) and I have talked to most of the water committee members and parts are ordered. A few other projects are in the works, but waiting on feedback from community/PC.
This week should be pretty busy, but in a good way. A few meetings… hopefully not as far as the ones I went to on Saturday (2 ½ hrs on bike… on really bad roads!! Beautiful though!). Need to get some laundry done. And visit with some friends I’ve been too busy to actually sit down and chat with (and then eat nsima… because it’s not proper chatting until you’ve left someone’s house so full of food you can’t eat till the next day J). Anyways… that’s it for now. Love and miss you folks back home and thanks for reading. Till next time!
