Gone

In less than 24 hours I will go to my new village. Pronounced "GO-nay", spelled "Gone", I leave at 3 pm tomorrow.

I always tell myself that I must stop comparing Zambia to Madagascar, but I've come to accept that the comparisons will always be there, I just have to accept all that Zambia is, for better or for worse.

I've been here for about a month and a half and the only real accomplishment (other than maintaining my health and sanity) has been to pass my language test with fewer than 65 hours of training. With that in the past, I was considered prepared to go to my village. But Peace Corps Zambia kept us behind all of the other trainees that we had joined so that we could meet the volunteers that have been in country for one year... All of the volunteers with whom we will return to the States.

As for my village life here in Zambia, I will be about 30 km from a nicer city and the provincial bunk house for Peace Corps Volunteers. I'll be about 8 km from paved roads and will have some cell phone service. All of which would be considered general improvements from my location in Madagascar. I bring with my a small duffel bag and some odds and ends that Peace Corps Zambia has given me, everything else that was left behind will be shipped to the States. So, life is beginning to begin again.

I apologize for the brevity of this post and the delay between posts, but as life returns to some sort of normal, things should fall into place and general life pace will calm. As for now, my health is teetering, and my sanity is improving. But altogether, things are looking up. I send everyone my best, and remind you that there's always a place to stay in Zambia.

See you soon!
Marshall