New Address!

Jessica's new address:

Jessica Petrone PCV
PO Box 530126
Lundazi, Zambia

P.S. Jessica's birthday is Sept. 24th.
Postage for 1 0z., normal sized envelope is 94 cents.
Let's overwhelm her with cards!! (should be mailed ASAP!)

Zumwanda will soon be my home!

9/2/2008

I'm on the road traveling within the Eastern Province of Zambia with 4 other Peace Corps Volunteers. We've left our host families and the training site for a couple of weeks in order to travel to the villages that we'll call home.(once our training is complete and we know the dialect)
Each of us has been assigned to live in a different town or village.

I just visited the village Zumwanda where I soon will be living and working!
It is the second smallest town in Zambia. I love it!

The day I visited I saw about 20 people. It's hard to know how many others belong there and may have been traveling.
I was told that the head of the village died recently. There are 3 men left.....I don't know what happens next about that.
I saw about 10 children. Everyone was very friendly and greeted me.

This week we'll be moving on to visit the villages where the others will be assigned. I really like the 4 other PC Volunteers I'm with. We are staying with Michelle, an experienced PC Volunteer who was assigned to Zumwanda previously. This is great because she can tell me everything I need to know! She was the only one from the previous group of Volunteers that decided to stay on in Zambia with the Peace Corps. She is now like a coordinator for the small group of us serving in the Eastern Province.(as well as other duties)
The plan at the moment is for me to move to Zumwanda October 1, 2008!

If you are thinking about writing, it's probably best to mail it to my new address...or it could take even longer to reach me.
I should have my new address posted here in a day or two.
"It is ALL good!" .......love you, Jessica

(posted via her mom)- check out a satellite view of Zumwanda! - www.maplandia.com/zambia/eastern/chama/zumwanda

The Bulls!

A picture is worth a thousand words!

An Animal Encounter....

8/22/2008

It was the end of another day of training......gee the Tambuka language is hard to learn!

Needing to reach my host family's hut before dark I was pedaling pretty fast and stirring up clouds of dust. I thought I saw something. Then I heard a bunch of voices. When I got closer I saw a group of young boys. I got off my bike and greeted them.
I looked to the direction that they were turned toward. I saw 2 big bulls fighting with each other. The kids were getting really excited when I noticed 2 more bulls had joined in the fight. I knew I didn't have time to stay and see what happened.
As I took off on my bike and headed home I heard the boys yelling something. I guessed it had to do with the bull fight. But something made me turn around for a second.
Two bulls was charging in my direction. I didn't know what to do. I jumped off my bike and squatted as low as I could. In a few seconds they were gone-right past me- no more than 5 feet away!
...yeah, I guess I should ask someone what you are supposed to do in that situation. I've seen these bulls before. Not sure what they are. I've seen young kids herding them and keeping them together by throwing rocks at the bulls' legs. :(

I miss you all. I miss not being able to talk to you on the phone.
Call me when you can: 011 260 979 423 976 (my time is 6 hrs. ahead of East coast time)
LOVE........Jessica
(via her mom)

The death of the President

August 21, 2008


The president of Zambia has died. I think he had been sick for some time. He was loved by the people and very well respected for what he did for Zambia and Africa. It is a sad time for this country.
I was told that the people will be in a state of mourning for 21 days. I'm still not sure how that will affect our training or life here. We don't get much information about what is going on.
Today we were told that if someone asks us how we are, we are to reply - "fine, except for the death of our President." But we are not supposed to talk about it any further.
All the Peace Corps Volunteers in training were planning a party for tomorrow.....roasting a goat ....playing volley ball...celebrating after one month of transitioning and hard work. But that won't be happening because it would be disrespectful.

Don't know if this made the news over there?
"I want you all to know that I think of you as much as I did when I was home -maybe more- wish I could just pick up the phone and call. Love to everyone!" (posting via her mom)





(Jessica's account of the day and words via her mom)

News from Jessica (via her mom)

Disclaimer

The contents of this website are mine and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

8/8/2008

Jessica has new a cell phone!

Her number is: 011-260-979423976

I'm relating what Jessica shared with me about her experiences during her first 2 weeks in Zambia. She barely stopped to catch her breath, sounding excited as well as calm. When I asked her how she was, I heard a spirited: "I’m awesome!!”

“...wow, the biggest grasshopper I’ve ever seen - just jumped on my bed right now! Because it is the dry season the bugs are not as good as they will be when it's the rainy season-a lot more variety! ....I found 5 huge, ugly spiders in my hut this morning when I woke up. They look like huge ticks…but are harmless."

...Today I rode my bike from the Peace Corps training center to my host family's hut for the first time by myself. Before then I rode with a small group of Peace Corps Volunteers, following a supervisor, in order to learn the route to each of our host families. It's probably about a 20-30 minute bike from my hut to the training center but these past 2 weeks it has taken us much longer because there is one girl who (bless her heart) can’t ride a bike very well and ends up walking it up and down hills. It is pretty treacherous terrain, very rocky and dusty most of the way.

...I like my host family a lot. The hardest part for me so far are the cultural differences-but not the food or even language. It's the gender differences. For example, I am not a guest in this family's home. I am the guest of the man in the family. So at dinner I sit at a small table in their hut across from him. The mother and children do not eat with us. I feel uncomfortable having the woman serve the 2 of us. The first night I just couldn't chew the chicken enough to even swallow it. I felt bad but since then the the food has been OK. The woman in the home serves the man of the house and me bread, tea and coffee after every meal...sometimes she joins us.

The children in the family had not approached me for the first 2 weeks...maybe out of respect...or fear? I'm not really sure. But last night, I was so happy that they came close enough to me that I could show them a piece of paper. I drew on it and handed them the paper and pen. They giggled, chattered back and forth and had fun showing each other their drawings.

The man is the only one in the family who speaks any English- and very little. Last night, he walked me to my hut before dark. He made such an effort to talk English. What he said was quite touching: "You are safe in my family... free from problems. This is my country but I will never travel and see it. You will. I want you to tell me about my country."

(He has a cell phone-perhaps a benefit of being a host family?)

I am in training every day but Sunday. I don’t have any free time right now. After dinner it is dark. With no electricity it is really dark!! Everything takes such a long time to do...eating, bathing, washing my hair in a bucket-I hope you will appreciate your toilet paper!!! (I have to count out 4 squares)

This Sunday my group will go into the closest town - Chongwe. That will be cool. It’s closer than the Lusaka, the capital, where we landed. (which is about a 40 minute jeep ride from my host family)

Peace Corps volunteers are guaranteed their own hut, bathing area and latrine. My hut is made of mud bricks. Part of it has a mattress with about 1 ½ feet of space on either side. The other area is for bathing. My hut is pretty dark even during daylight cause there are only little triangles of light that come through. After dark it is SO dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face. The sky is so incredibly full of stars -there are no words to describe it..............

Well, that's as much as I can remember of our long conversation.

Before we hung up Jessica specifically asked me to pass along these words to you:

Please tell them I am doing well. Please tell them I don’t have anyone’s addresses so PLEASE write to me and I will write back as soon as I can”.

(your addresses are stored in the phone she took with her. It “died and is a real hassle to charge”- I'm helping her resolve the problem

I know she is hungry for news from friends and family.There is a huge lag time for her to receive letters. I sent her one the day she left and she hasn't received it yet- almost 2 weeks later. She will not have internet access. It’s really expensive for her to call the U.S. from Zambia but it doesn’t cost her anything if someone calls her..

Her address, again:

Jessica Petrone/PCT

Peace Corps

PO Box 50707

Lusaka, Zambia (no zip)

phone number: 011-260-979423976 (no need to dial 1 before #)

Goodbye to the USA

July 22, 2008

Hi,
I'm packing up all my stuff and getting ready to go! Tomorrow afternoon I will be going to the hotel in DC for staging, where I will be meeting up with the other Peace Corps Zambia Trainees We will be there until this Friday, at which point we fly to Zambia! I am very excited to finally be making this trip and will carry you all with me- in my heart (and in my new ipod, which has photos in it)!
Just wanted to give out my new address for the next few months:
Jessica Petrone/PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka, Zambia

I would absolutely love to receive any letters...even just a quick hello! And I promise in return you will get an exciting letter from Zambia!
I have been told to advise family and friends to number their letters and to write "Air Mail" and "Par Avion" on the envelopes. You should also number the letters somewhere on the envelope!
I have also been told:
-Write "Religious Materials" and "Par Avion" on whatever you send me.
-Send items via regular mail-USPS. Express mail gets into country within 10 days. Non-express items take 4-6 weeks
-Rumor has it the customs people will be less likely to open it if they think it has to do with Jesus. A bible verse or two couldn't hurt either.
Please send me your address so I can write you!
I love you all!
Love,
Jessica