...ow

Hey guys, so I'm writing from Lilongwe after a successful IST (Inter Service Training?) I ate a lot of meat on Peace Corps dime, it was amazing.

Unfortunately, last weekend, I got sick and didn't eat anything for three days, which was a damn shame, because I was staying at Jen and Kris' house with the lovely Esther, who cooked for us, and I didn't feel well enough to eat any of the food.

On the good news end of things, I got a bunch of packages from Carrie, Megan & Thom, My Mom, My Dad, Zach, and Zach's Mom's Friend. I feel very loved, but I don't really know how to get them all home- if you want your packages to reach me faster, you might consider using my new address in Chintheche, which I posted about earlier- as things are now, in order to get packages I have to take a day off of school, catch a 6 hour bus ride to Lilongwe, spend the night there, and go back home the next day on the 6am bus. Each bus ride costs 1,000 Kwacha, so to go to Lilongwe round trip costs the equivilant of 20 Carlsburgs (aka, "probably the best beer in the world"- their actual slogan). Not to mention that in addition to going to Lilongwe, I have to take any packages back with me on my back... it gets heavy. Please use the new address.

My glasses broke this week :( but I get a new pair today :) -I can't say that my new glasses are the nicest pair in the world, but at least I'll be able to see

This weekend the new group of volunteers arrived! We met them at the airport, and they seem nice- I'm happy not to be a newbie anymore.

That's about it for now, I'm pretty tired from lugging my packages all over the country, but I have a plan for getting them home, fingers crossed.

Beeb