Hey everyone!
I am so excited to share my first blog post from Malawi! I have been here for almost a month and a half and a lot has happened since then. My environment group has been going through a ton of training and in less than two weeks we will be swearing in as official Peace Corps volunteers!
For the last five weeks I was living with a host family in a small village south of Lilongwe. I had a great experience with them and despite the fact that they spoke little English and I even less Chichewa. But, I have learned to appreciate the awkward silent moments! Other than that, my group has been kept very busy with language, technical, cultural, safety, etc. training. I am learning a lot of Chichewa and I am really, really enjoying the technical training such as agriculture/permagardening, bee-keeping, composting, mud stoves, income-generating activities, etc.
And just a few days ago I found out where I will be living for the next two years of my stay in Malawi. My site is in central Malawi in the Mchinji District in a village called Kapiri. I am replacing a volunteer and I am very excited about meeting the people and the potential projects that I may be a part of. Today I will be shadowing a fellow environment PCV who lives in my district, and after a few days I will be going to my site for about three days. Then, I will go for a week of intense language training, followed by swearing in and then moving to my site. Scary, exciting, crazy!
Well that's it for now, but I do want to say thanks again for the continued prayer and support. I appreciate it greatly and ask that you would continue to keep me in your prayers. And if you think about it, send me a letter!