Peace Corps Training - That's a Wrap!
Thank you for your patience, dear readers! The past several weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and all sorts of emotions.
Halfway through July, the trainee cohort traveled to our respective sites around the country for a week-long visit. While we were there, we had the opportunity to start building connections within our work/living communities. It was a very exciting and very intense week - certainly a perfect chance to put our fledgling language and culture skills to the test! Additionally, it was my first long journey on public transit...note to self, pack LIGHT in the future 😄
Upon returning to the training village, we had a busy two and a half weeks of technical and cultural sessions, as well as time devoted to our host families. We enjoyed learning how to make homemade menstrual hygiene pads with girls in the community; visiting a women-run vegetable garden with newly-installed drip irrigation; playing all sorts of games and sports with our host families during a field day (dude - never try to beat a Malawian in a soccer/football match...WOW our American team was ruthlessly crushed); and traveling to a nearby permaculture institute to experience a veritable JUNGLE of organically-raised fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and animals (I was particularly enamored by a specimen of the sensitive plant, or Mimosa pudica - the leaves curl up when touched!) .
During this time, we also practiced and prepared for our individual technical presentations and for our final language assessment. Other than repeatedly using the word for "hunger" instead of "ocean", I felt rather chuffed with the language test, LOL. I've come a long way, but there is always room for growth!! For my technical presentation, I facilitated a healthy cooking demonstration with Peace Corps training staff, my fellow trainees, and community members. We had a fabulous time, and dare I say, the sweet potato and peanut stew that we cooked was deeeelightful!
After what seemed like a blink of an eye, the final week of training was suddenly upon us. We were kept very busy, including a couple of day trips to Lilongwe for sessions at the PC office. I was most excited for the village appreciation ceremony, in which we celebrated our gracious host community for all of their time, energy, and support for us trainees! Our group prepared a thank-you speech, and I was honored to read the Chichewa-translation of the speech ♡ Additionally, we were thrilled to teach the community an American classic...the cha-cha slide, Chichewa edition. Needless to say, it was epic. We were quickly out-danced by the community dancing groups and performers, and a grand ol' time was had by all!
The next day found us back in Lilongwe, standing to take our oath in front of members of the U.S. Embassy, Peace Corps Staff, and current/returned PC volunteers. It felt very unreal to be closing out the training chapter, while opening the "volunteer" chapter of this experience. The next two years will be filled with many challenges, but so many more opportunities for personal growth, relationship-building, learning, and hopefully some great partnerships for sustainable community development!
Thank you for all of the support and love that have helped me stay strong throughout training! Ndathakoza (I am most grateful). Stay tuned for more!
Katy
