Officially a Volunteer!

I made it through training! Now I am officially a volunteer! The swear-in ceremony went really well, and I made it through my speech (although it was a bit nerve-wracking). We also had the best catered meal I could imagine. Every time we went into Kitwe, every volunteer essentially would eat at this place that served schawarmas, which are delicious (although not typical Zambian food), so they had that place cater for us. We also had s'mores that night. MMM.....yum. So right now I am in the process of buying stuff for my house, which is a bit stressful. As I mentioned before, you have to bargain for everything or else you get ripped off, so it just takes so long. The shopkeepers are also so nice and want to know everything about you, and it is just a part of the pace of life to take the time and talk to people and make friends, so that adds to the length of time for shopping. But it is nice to have an actual conversation and interact with the people you are buying from. I am also working on my Kikaonde, which they get a real kick out of. It is fun being in an area that some people actually speak the language I have been learning for the past two months. It is also funny when you buy stuff, you can ask for an mbasela, which is just a little something extra. Like if you buy 3 tomatoes, you can ask for a fourth for free. And as long as you haven't bargained down to an unreasonable price, they will pretty much always give it to you. It is definitely a good thing to know. Anyway, I have yet to buy my silverware, but I at least have a bed (we got sheets as an mbasela!). I can just eat with my hands, I suppose--that's what we usually do anyway since nshima is a utensil-free food. ok, I should get back to shopping!