my nana told me to update this and so, i did, finally...

I know it's been a long time since I've written on this thing and it's finally boredom that has caused me to update it. Your welcome Nana.

It's hard to believe that I left Malawi four months ago. Like most life-changing events in our lives, it feels like it all just happened yesterday and yet it seems like forever ago. I miss it, a lot, more than I can express sometimes. I tend to romanticize my experience by thinking of my wonderful friends and family there and all the good times that I had. But when I think honestly on those two years I know that I encountered many challenges and frustrations and I was often homesick or just plain sick from some weird parasite or infection. But all of it together turned out to be the best two years of my life to date. I feel so blessed and humbled to have had the opportunity to do something I probably would have thought impossible before I went. I really don't know how I made it through in one piece, but I did and for that I know I have no one to thank but the Lord for His provision

A short little update on my past projects...I talk regularly with Aaron, my friend who runs the Kamera Health Clinic. The clinic is running very well and now the community wants to make the most of the nice building so they are going to use it for a community daycare and for the local youth club. The chiefs at Kamera were not satisfied with only having the clinic and are now building a house for Aaron so that he can live in the village rent-free. A very kind donor chipped in money to help pay for a builder and the community is fundraising the rest of the costs. The other projects, like the pigs at the HIV/AIDS Support Group and all of the medicinal gardens we built are also going well. But in the end only time will tell if the projects will be sustained or not...

As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed my time post-Malawi at home with my family. I spent my summer watching my beautiful niece Adelaide, beekeeping and bottling honey with my dad, spending time with my other awesome niece and nephew, and indulging in everything I missed out on for the last two years.

My summer was great, but now I've moved on to the next phase in my "journey" which is grad school. I moved out to Colorado last week and I'll be starting at the University of Denver next month. I'll be studying International Development with the aim to go back to Africa or work with a nonprofit here that operates within the Sub Saharan. But who really knows, my future is wide open and I like it that way.

I just got a job working in DU's athletic department and have some other income generating ventures up my sleeve. On top of that I've been riding my bike everywhere, playing pickup volleyball, polishing up my snowboard, and enjoying the scenery of Colorado. It's a fun time right now and I'm trying to live as stress-free as possible until school starts.

Well, that's been my life the last four months. I'm not sure how much I'll update this blog while I'm in school as I'd love to think I'll have a lot of free time but sadly I don't think that will be true. But I'm confident to say that this isn't the end of my blogging days and I hope to be writing about other adventures sometime in the future. Thanks to all for your continued support and readership!

I leave you with a picture of my recent trip to Castlewood Canyon State Park. Colorado is great!

hittin the road...

April 10 has finally come, the day where I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer but a RETURNED PCV and it's also the day that I fly home. I am feeling many emotions right now, but on the whole I am happy and sad and ready to go home. That mostly sums it up.

If you've been reading the news lately you might have seen what's been going on here in country. Basically, President Bingu died of cardiac arrest on Friday and now the Vice President, Joyce Banda, has taken over as president. And not wanting to go on a rant against Bingu, I will just say that I'm finally feeling hopeful about the future of Malawi. It's also been encouraging to see the peaceful transition of power and I hope that things continue to stay this way. Overall, it feels as if this country is about to take some big steps in the right direction.

Well, I don't have much else to say and I've got a plane to catch in a few hours. But I'll leave you all with a video of my neighbor kids singing a goodbye song that they made up for me. It's hard for me not to watch this video and think fondly of my time here. Man, life is good isn't it?

Thanks once again for everyone reading this and helping me to feel like my efforts to document my journey these past two years was not in vain. I hope you've enjoyed it as I certainly have enjoyed sharing my experiences, the good and even the very bad. See you all in America!

packed up and ready to ship out

For the last six months I was obsessively counting down the days until I go back to good ol' America. Then in the past two weeks I tried as hard as possible to not think about the precious little time I had left in my village. Time just slips by doesn't it? Well anyway I am all moved out of Kakunga village and to be honest I'm having a hard time right now just thinking about the fact I won't be going back there again, at least not in the same capacity. My home, my dear friends, my Amayi, my cats and dog, projects, everything. But we go into the Peace Corps knowing it's a two year deal then we move on and let the community pick up from where we left them, which was hopefully better off than when we started. The whole purpose of development is that we should be putting ourselves out of a job, we go in there and do our work and then let them figure the rest out. It's still tough though as we invest so much of our time, energy, and our heart into our job.

Anyway, I'm currently in Lilongwe trying frantically to finish all the mounds of paperwork, do interviews, and get all my medical issues resolved. I'll be flying outta here next Tuesday and I'll reach Philly the next day. So while you are all waiting in desperate anticipation for my return home, why don't you distract yourself with some more pictures of my last couple of months?..

Putse fly larvae I pulled out of my leg. My face doesn't even begin to express my disgust...

Yep, that thing was making his home inside my body for at least a week (unknowingly I swear)

One last bike ride

Jimmy and Daniel in front of their demo medicinal garden, something I think I'm most proud of to be involved with during my service. Watch out for them, they'll be selling their products in America veryyy soon

 

Wake up to make coffee and I find 6 puppies stuffed into my mud stove

Day before leaving Kakunga and I see this over my neighbor's house. Nice reminder that life's beautiful in spite of my heavy heart...

Daniel proudly showing my mom his assortment of medicinal products

Amayi and the other neighbors showing me up on the dancefloor...

Fellow PCVs Christi and Alysia teaching the support group about permaculture

Some of the women listening to Alysia talk about composting, intercropping, guilds, natural pesticides, etc.

Mom and I in front of the Kamera Clinic during the opening ceremony. What a special day.

Norman Carr Cottage on Monkey Bay. An awesome way to end an even better week with my mom...

I can't wait to see you all very very soooooooon! Much love from Malawi...

the final countdown (in pictures)

Well I am back again with another post, which could quite realistically be one of my very last. I'm not feeling too sentimental about it, at least not for now. But anyway, here's my update on the last couple of months. Instead of writing way too much to explain everything like I normally do, I decided to take a different approach and use pictures instead. They are in a very random order, but nevertheless I hope you enjoy...

Kapiri Medicals - first place winners of the 2nd Kapiri Women's Football Cup (sponsored by my soon-to-be-married friend Steph Ohlson, thank you Steph!)

Christmas '11 at Likoma Island (jealous?)

Tithandizani HIV/AIDS Support Group in front of their newly built pig house

Kamera Under Five Health Clinic...Finally finished!

the piggies

Chizumulu Island on Christmas Eve

making a eucalyptus tincture

the beginnings of a homemade beesuit as modeled by one of the teachers

 with my bud Nelson, a cute 5 yr old with a disorder that severely stunts his growth

my dog - I asked my little sister to name him and she affectionately gave him the name "LionTiger"

groundnuts grown for cooking oil production with the women's group

what I see while waiting for a minibus to Lilongwe in the early am

natural medicinal products for sale..

one of the nursery school kids with her donated toy 

part I of a beekeeping training at a primary school

my backyard in the middle of the rainy season...this means I am on constant snake watch

with the local nursery school kids and presenting them with toys, books, posters, and maize porridge thanks to a very special donor (again, thanks Steph!)

Thanks again for reading my post. Hope all of you from back home are ready for this tanned, slightly malnourished, even more slightly cynical, but very happy girl!