It has been too long since I last wrote something like 5 months. So sorry for all who look to this as away to stay connected to me. So I have less then a year to go and wow I am going to busy in these next 10 months. A trip to America which I am excited and slightly nervous about. But it will be good to help me know what to expect when finally coming back to the states.
So what has happened in the last 4 months.
New volunteers came into country. 20 environmental volunteers and 20 health volunteers. I applied and was selected to help for a week train the new volunteers. I had to go to training to know how to train the new volunteers and what topics I would cover. I am not a teacher and not a public speaker but thought what they heck no better way to get better or be more okay with public speaking then to do it. I taught creating tree nurseries, Global and Malawi Environmental issues, and helped out with others. I stayed in the home stay village with the Env. technical trainer Cathrine she was amazing and now a good friend. All in all I think the training went pretty well. It was fun to see how far our group has come in a year. Also they all asked the same questions and had the same concerns as we did. The week was exhausting and fun, glad to be part of the new volunteers training experience.
Vince came to visit which was a lot of fun. We went to Zambia on a safari which was amazing look at the pictures on facebook if you want to see how amazing it really was. It was quite the adventure to get there because I thought no big deal we will just drive a rental car across borders. But it all worked out just a little stressful. Then we headed down to my place, we rented a car which made transport much easier. He drove the whole time while I navigated these roles seem to work well for us. We went to lunch at my friend and counterparts house, Andrew. Where his mom and sisters made us lunch. They barley said hello to us which is odd but I guess with a white man there they tried to stay behind the scenes. Vince was able to eat a traditional malawian meal containing nsiama, beans, eggs, and greens. We were also given a ton of fruit. Andrew as always is amazing to me and my guests. Then we headed to the lake for a Vince's birthday and some relaxing. It was really winding and kind of cold but we still had a great time. Then Vince left I was pretty sad to see him go kind of made me home sick. Plus I was living the life of an American visiting since Vince financed the trip. Reality was tough :)
But only a week at site then I headed back up to lilongwe for Mid Service Training. I thought it would be not that helpful but it turned out to be pretty useful. It was also nice to talk projects and site experiences with other volunteers. It was our small env. group for 3 days it was really nice. Also it was good because they had some sessions on plans after peace corps. So I will take the GRE again 5 years have passed since I last took it, damn I am old. I will take it in Oct then apply to grad schools in International Environmental Policy. I hope to one day be the one on the ground who evaluates how policies are implemented and how effective they actually are as well as what can be done to change how it works on the ground. So that the policy and what actually happens are more in line. We will see it might all just be pipe dreams.
Now I am back at site and hitting the ground running because before I know it I will be leaving for a visit to America. Been pretty busy and feeling the pressure of time. Hopefully next week the bee keeping group will be harvesting honey. Then the next week I am having a nutrition day for the HIV/Aids support group I work with. I am also editing the grant I submitted, it needs some work. I have also started studying for the GRE. I am trying to garden once again, I planted some seedlings and weeded my old garden. So needless to say I am keeping busy and enjoying life.
I will be in America(Chicago, area) from Aug. 20th to Sept. 11th, hopefully will see all who I can. Thanks for listening to me ramble and hopefully this helps you understand what I am doing here.
Miss ya all and love ya
Essie/Esther
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