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Published: November 27th 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Maybe this weekend I will have pictures of Thanksgiving up...we will see how transport is. I hope to be back at my site by Monday since I got a ride with one of the Ambulances (the only way to travel! ha!). Don't worry, I am not sick.
Soo, TODAY I am very excited because all the Peace Corps Volunteers are going to the Ambassador's house for Thanksgiving. There is supposed to be A LOT of food. And he has a pool.
Alright, let me rewind a little bit. I set off for Cathy's not long ago with Kelly. And Cathy's dog. And dog food. And mat. And all our stuff... get the picture? We finally arrived at her site not long before dark. We met all her neighbors, cleaned her house, and she cooked us some sort of pasta... THEN I got attacked by about 2.5 million giant flying cockroaches and a handful of black SCORPIONS when I tried to use her chimbudzi (latrine). It was traumatizing and we had to call the night watchman of the health center to kill them. Uggh. I have bad luck with toilets here in Africa.
The next day
we left for Salima and hung out with another Peace Corps Volunteer before leaving for Nkhotakhota Pottery the following day.
Nkhotakhota was beautiful! I did not buy any pottery, but I spent most of my time on the beach. But, because I am not the brightest crayon in the box, I decided it would be a good idea to fall asleep outside on my back for 2.5 hours. Without turning over. Without sunscreen.
NOW I am paying for it. Well, I have been all week. My stomach especially (since it hadn't seen the light of day since 2 summer's ago) has been sloughing off in long 3, 4, 5 inch pieces. It is very attractive.
Anyway, I left with Jen and spent the night in Salima again last Friday. Saturday we traveled to Lilongwe, arriving just in time to catch PC transport back to Dedza.
Since Sunday we have only been learning Chichewa. I luckily got divided off with the nurses and we spent most of our time concentrating on anatomy terms, and questions to ask patients... like, "Are you having trouble using the toilet?" or, "Does it hurt when you walk...?"
I did, however,
go to one of the health centers yesterday near the college we stayed at and give a health talk in Chichewa with the other volunteers. My group talked about the ideal home. And we sang (well, I TRIED to sing. We all know I am lousy at singing). I also helped weigh babies and give out chiponde (this is sort of like a fortified peanut butter, and we give it to the malnourished children because it has lots of proteins and vitamins).
Yesterday evening I arrived back in Lilongwe...and now I hope to go to the Ambassador's house and EAT A LOT.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Aunt Kath
non-member comment
Hi Kristen, my name is Kathy, I'm Jens Aunt. I loved reading your blog and even caught a picture or two of Jen. Keep up thr good work and give Jen a hug from me.