I am my mother's daughter.

After being in Zambia for about three weeks I think it may be safe to say that I have developed a somewhat serious addiction to peanut butter. In the US I have always enjoyed a good apple with peanut butter or a pb and j sandwich on occasion. This is different. I seriously crave peanut butter at every meal and you know, throughout the day as well. I always thought my mom was absolutely nuts for eating the amount of pb that she did while I was growing up and by the spoonful no less. However as with many other things as I grow up I am starting to see just how right she was all along. My diet here besides peanut butter consists of a lot me shima which is made from ground cornmeal that is ground until there is no nutritional content left and them boiled with water to make large lumps of thick tasteless porridge. On top of the shima there is usually a vegetable like rape, pumpkin leaves, or cabbage. Sometimes there is beans or a meat like chicken. The food isnt bad persay just greasy (because using oil is a sign of wealth and you always want to impress visitors and guests) and bland. Sometimes rice is thrown into the mix but thats about it for variety. And then there's really good peanut butter readily available. I mean as far as coping and adjustment mechanisms go peanut butter dependency is on the healthier side of things... Besides the food everything is going great. I have a great homestay family. I live with an older couple where children are all older and have moved away from home. It makes for a very quiet home life but they are really open minded and supportive so I have no complaints. As far as training goes its been refuty intense. I an learning nyanja for my language which means I will be placed in the Eastern province come May near the Malawian border. Language training takes up my mornings 6 days a week and I have technical training in the afternoon as it relates to different aspects of being a L.I.F.E volunteer. So life is busy and somewhat monotonous but the days are really flying by. I am trying to write a lot me letters while I am in training but I know it will be a lot easier once I get to my site at the beginning of May and have more free time...