Getting started

There has been much moving up an down in the last two months but it will soon come to an end and I will have a home of my own. I arrived in Malawi at the end of February and spent a week at Dedza college of forestry before moving in with the Laurenti family. My homestay family took wonderful care of me & I enjoyed the 5 wks spent with them. I attended language and technical classes 6 days/wk, went for hikes, and enjoyed many a Coke. 
I moved out of homestay and then spent a night in Lilongwe. Lilongwe has improved slightly in the last few years and I enjoyed a fine vegetable pizza at Pizza Inn and then walked around Game (Target) ogling over chocolate and unnecessary flat screen TV's. The next day, my new counterpart picked me up at the Peace Corps office and took me to my site in Msuzi (sauce, soup, gravy, broth) village. I set up my mosquito net and made dinner (avocado sandwich- no stove). I got up Monday morning and went to Chimteka Children Support (1k from my home) to meet more colleagues and learn about the community based organization. I also visited the health center that I will be working at. Chioshya Health Centre is 2k from my home and I will split my time between there and Chimteka. Two of the main issues in my area are malnutrition and malaria. I'm highly interested in both of these areas of health and I hope I can make an impact. I spent the week meeting people and evaluating where I will fit in to the current programs and programs I can pilot (I think fish farming is a great opportunity). 
My site is located about 23k off the M18 near the intersection with the M12. I'm approximately 40k from the Mchinji boma and within 100k of my village in Zambia. Unlike Zambia, it's very flat in my area and it will making biking faster and less challenging. 
After one week in my village I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it. The people seem wonderful and receptive. 
I'm currently at a guesthouse in Mchinji for language intensive week. It's not too bad so far but I'm looking forward to getting properly moved into my home and getting started with my work. I think it will be a busy 2 years!

Getting started

There has been much moving up an down in the last two months but it will soon come to an end and I will have a home of my own. I arrived in Malawi at the end of February and spent a week at Dedza college of forestry before moving in with the Laurenti family. My homestay family took wonderful care of me & I enjoyed the 5 wks spent with them. I attended language and technical classes 6 days/wk, went for hikes, and enjoyed many a Coke. 
I moved out of homestay and then spent a night in Lilongwe. Lilongwe has improved slightly in the last few years and I enjoyed a fine vegetable pizza at Pizza Inn and then walked around Game (Target) ogling over chocolate and unnecessary flat screen TV's. The next day, my new counterpart picked me up at the Peace Corps office and took me to my site in Msuzi (sauce, soup, gravy, broth) village. I set up my mosquito net and made dinner (avocado sandwich- no stove). I got up Monday morning and went to Chimteka Children Support (1k from my home) to meet more colleagues and learn about the community based organization. I also visited the health center that I will be working at. Chioshya Health Centre is 2k from my home and I will split my time between there and Chimteka. Two of the main issues in my area are malnutrition and malaria. I'm highly interested in both of these areas of health and I hope I can make an impact. I spent the week meeting people and evaluating where I will fit in to the current programs and programs I can pilot (I think fish farming is a great opportunity). 
My site is located about 23k off the M18 near the intersection with the M12. I'm approximately 40k from the Mchinji boma and within 100k of my village in Zambia. Unlike Zambia, it's very flat in my area and it will making biking faster and less challenging. 
After one week in my village I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it. The people seem wonderful and receptive. 
I'm currently at a guesthouse in Mchinji for language intensive week. It's not too bad so far but I'm looking forward to getting properly moved into my home and getting started with my work. I think it will be a busy 2 years!