Monday, October 23, 2006

Animals galore and future ambitions...

So, its already been 3 months of me being at site, so it's time for me to have some training with Peace Corps! I am really looking forward to it since I haven't seen most of the people in my group for those 3 long months! I can't wait to hear all of their stories and to see if they've changed at all! Things have been going really well at site. I am learning more about the birthing process. I did a night duty shift at the health center in the maternity ward and learned how to do a vaginal exam to see how dialated the woman was! I know it sound gross to most of you, but I thought it was super amazing! Lack of technology doesn't seem to be that bad when you are delivering! It is amazing how well you can adjust and function with such little amenities! I brought Mauwa, the kitten, back to my site and she is doing really good. She is becoming an awesome hunter...she's killed many lizards and a mouse so far. She is growing pretty fast. She always goes to sleep in my lap whever I am sitting at my table. She's become very cuddly too! I also decided since who knows when I would ever get to do it again in my life, I bought 2 chickens and named them Thelma and Louise! They are both laying eggs right now! I will let them get to be chicks and then hopefully they will produce me some good eggs as a source of protein! They are pretty enteraining! I am excited to start some projects when I get back to site after training and talking to my boss about what I have seen in my health center. I am interested in getting fuding for mosquito nets in the maternity ward, starting some more women's groups, figuring out how to train traditional birth attendants, and getting condom use to be practiced more. It will be fun to see how all these things play out in the next two years of my service here...I have decided that I would never want to be a celebrity. I am constantly stared at and get lots of attention, both postitive and negative, and its sometimes hard to deal with...So, on the Madonna adopting a baby here thing...it seems like some Malawians agree with her and some think the baby should have stayed here. It's kind of sad that now the reason people know about Malawi is because of Madonna coming here. Well, that's about it for now...I am going to be back for Thanksgiving and then will teach some biology and biology lab in the North for a Peace Corps summer school program. I love and miss you lots!