Happy BaMayo Day!!!

Hello friends and family!

Impalas in Linvingstone

It’s been a while since I’ve written. I think part of the reason is because I’ve been so busy…but also because I have been busy with things other than work. There’s a break from school in April, so I jam-packed the month with lots of other activities all of which included being away from site…and boy do I miss home now! Going back to the village today after being gone for a month is going to be a bit crazy but I am so ready to get back to some normalcy!

So what have I been doing for an entire month if I haven’t been working?? Well…

Beginning of April my friend Ricardo and I made a journey down from the Northern Province, met up with our friend Ashley in Central the traveled across the Copperbelt and up to North West (all in 2 days total) to visit our friends Stevie and Brittany in the North West for Easter weekend.

Tangent: Now transport in Zambia is…difficult. The roads are few and terribly kept so there are not many options for reliable transport. From Northern Province (which is roughly 12-15 hours from Lusaka, the capital) for instance there is a public bus called the “night bus” which leaves around 4pm and arrives in Lusaka at 5 or 6am. The bus is reliable in the sense that is runs every day and horrible in the way that many they wreck all the time and many people have died… The safer but less predictable way to travel is hitch-hiking. Hitch-hiking has a negative connotation in the states but here it is the most normally used way to get around. Its legal and its usually free, and because I am white and blonde I don’t seem to have much trouble getting a good ride!

So, after hitch hiking for two days cross the country my friends and I spent 4 nights celebrating Easter weekend with our friends in North Western. There was matzah-brye, Bloody Mary’s, home made bagels, and a trip to Mutanda falls. From there I hitched back down to Lusaka where I spent 3 days and “PST” (Pre-Service Training) helping the new intake (new RED volunteers who came a year after my intake.) It was cool to meet the newbies, observe them teaching, and sharing some of my experiences over the past year with them.

Shortly after leaving PST my parents arrived (and Greg!!)! They got the full-tour in the 2 weeks they spent here…we went up to Kasama to see my Village. We took the teachers I work most closely with out to lunch, went to my village where they got to meet my Zambian family and play with all the kiddies, and then spent a day at Chisimba Falls (with my young sister, aunt, and nieces from the village.) Seeing my two families meet each other was so cool. I think they both really appreciated each other and got to learn a little bit about each other’s cultures. Also, the trip to Chisimba was one of my happiest days in Zambia. My Aunt Margaret, who is disabled, had to work really hard to get around at the Falls, because of all the rocks and steps and distances, and she was nothing but smiles. When we were leaving she told me how happy she was to have seen what she saw and that she could die happy now that she had seen the falls…needless to say I wanted to cry. The day was just wonderful, beautiful falls and scenery, full-out picnic lunch, swimming with Greg and all the girls. We all had a really great time.

My Zambian Family at Chisimba Falls

From the North we made our way back down to Lusaka, did some shopping at “Sunday Market” (craft vendors market at one of the outdoor shopping malls) and went to the village where I did my training during PST to visit my host family.

Monday we were off to Livingstone! We spent 3 nights there…First we saw Victoria Falls-which is soooooo beautiful and amazing right now because it’s the end of rainy season! Then we took a day-long safari in Botswana at Chobe National Park. The safari included a ferry ride with lots of Hippo and Crocodile sightings, and then a game drive where we saw TONS of elephants, giraffes, warthogs, crocs, impalas and exotic birds reallllly close up. Besides the baby elephants I’d have to say the buffet was my favorite part of the day! All you can eat papaya and avocado ice cream…we all left Botswana a few lbs heavier.

Greg at Victoria Falls /Vic Falls

My Dad at the "Melting Pot" (Bottom of Victoria Falls)

From Livingstone it was time to head back up to Lusaka. I said goodbye to the fam and also goodbye to a lot of friends leaving the same week who were COSing (Close of Service). Being in Peace Corps is an endless cycle of Hello and Goodbyes... you become close to other volunteers and then they leave and new ones come... things are constantly changing.I met up with my friends Emily and Stevie and the three of us took the long-evil-night bus ride up to Kasama. Laura, Ric, and I spent a few days helping the newbies (who are now sworn in volunteers-which makes me a junior now…crazy) shop for their sites, then riding from each of our sites to show them (Emily and Stevie) our villages. It was nice to have a couple long bike rides after not being on my bike for about 3 ½ weeks!

By the end of the week it was time to go back down to Lusaka (not again!?! gauuuuh!) for our Mid-Term Conference. The intake I swore-in with over a year ago was 35 people, now we are 25. We have lost ten this year because of people being medically separated “Med-Sep” or “ET-ing” early termination of their service. We feel like a tight-nit group now, sessions are smaller and quieter, and group trips out are not as crazy as they were at IST (in-service-training)…excluding Cinco de Mayo where we all went out on a rented “party bus” to hit up all the hot spots in Lusaka!

Laura, Stevie, and I during Mid Term Conference

After a week full of medical appointments and administration/tech sessions I am finally now back in Kasama!!! I am going home to Luyeye today…Schools starts tomorrow…and I have no idea how fast this last year of my service will go by. I can’t even believe that next year at this time I will be finished. I have A LOT to do this year.

Miss you all, love you lots, please email or facebook me your address if you want a hand-made post card.

Shalenipo,

Ellyn (Mutale)

Me and mom @ Victoria Falls/ My Aunt Margaret and Mom @ Chisimba Falls

Happy Mother's Day!!!!