FROM THE WARM HEART OF AFRICA!!!

WOW words can not describe this place…beautiful scenes and beautiful people! Our group arrived in Lilongwe Feb. 25, after the second longest flight that any person can take in the world ( 17 hours to south Africa, 1 day lay over in Jo’Burg and a 3 hour flight to Lilongwe, Malawi!) Our group of Trainees headed off straight to our training site, Dedza! Our Peace Corp Training is awesome and has exceeded every expectation that I had. For the past 4 weeks each trainee has stayed with a host family in the village. Learning culture, LANGUAGE (Chichewa), and environmental technical skills, each of the trainees have been exposed to some of the expectations for the next two years but we are learning everyday.
Sorry I haven’t written…No technology what so ever! ITS BEEN GREAT! What little technology I did bring from the states has failed me…my watch, my camera and my Ipod…THIS IS WHY I CANN’T HAVE NICE THINGS We get bits and pieces of news from across the world on short wave radio but its nice to be fully immersed in this new culture. Internet is available here but slow and expensive so I don’t know how much blogging I will be able to do.
I do have a cell phone…AWESOME…let me tell you how weird it sounds talking to someone in the states, at night in the village! But never the less its always nice to receive free incoming calls on my phone. I will be leaving my phone on all day Sundays for those of you who want to drop me a line (Skype $0.8/min) give me a call. Sorry if I keep it short but electricity is hard to find some times.
So I receive my site placement and I am extremely excited to pass the news that my house is a 30 min WALK TO THE BEACH! I will be assisting a variety of projects outside Kuti Game Ranch. Protected area management of the surrounding wetlands, ecto-tourism potential, crop diversification, just to name a few. I’m the first Peace Corps volunteer to my village so the potential is endless!! Its hot as hell but come on it’s the beach…I’m going to get myself a wooden canoe, paddle out and spend my free time doing a lot of FISHIN!
Hope all is well back home…I miss the states…but…. I still cann’t believe I live by the lake! I bet everyone is going to come visit now!

LOVE TO ALL
Kirk
Phone: 265 09 120 889

! SEND MAIL !

It’s finally coming down the wire!! I leave in 4 DAYS…but who’s counting! I highly encourage sending me mail! A few people have been asking me about sending toys and candies to people in the villages and I think there will be an appropriate time for that in the near future but at this time I want to focus on learning everything I can about the new environment that I am immersing myself in. My communications might be limited to the states while I am in training, so I am sure that I would be overly ecstatic to receive mail from all of you. Mail usually takes 2-3 weeks to get to Malawi, so if you send me anything, don’t expect a hasty return letter. Packages take 2-3 months and sometimes longer. If you do send anything in a package, make sure that it’s not expensive and the more padding, the better. Send pictures, games and anything that you think will put a smile on my face!!

This address will be a great way to stay in touch with me for the first three months of training:

Kirk Longstein, PCV
PEACE CORPS/MALAWI
BOX 208
LILONGWE
MALAWI

This address will work well if sending packages via DHL and need an expedited delivery:

Kirk Longstein, PCV
C/O U.S. PEACE CORPS MALAWI
AREA 4 PLOT 70
ACROSS FROM OILCOM DEPOT
LILONGWE
MALAWI

You’ll also need to include the Peace Corps/Malawi phone number: 256-1-757-157।

Thanks folks, for all your love and support...hopefully I got a chance to say goodbye to everybody but if not do hesitate to drop me a line!

Pre Departure

Hey Everyone!

Counting down the days to my departure! I leave Chicago, off to my staging event Feb. 21 in Washington DC. I feel like I have been waiting forever but it's all comming together quite nicely here at the home strech. It seems like you get rushed with all this information and a to do list a mile long at the last minute..but I guess that's just the nature of the business! The one quote that I have heard from every Peace Corps staff member throughout this journey has been, "practice patience and stay flexable." which seems simple but if you are thinking about Peace Corps or are in the application process, this is one elemnet about Peace Corps that you can count on not changing.
Bank records, Tax statements, health bills...BILLS...Bills, Im in a paperwork Hell right now...I need an Intern!

This last week I received my Wilderness First Responder Certification in Boulder, Wy, from the Wilderness Medicine Institute...maybe thats why Im so behind in my Peace Corps to do list, I LOVE TO PLAY! The Wind River Mountains are amazing but cold! the first day I pulled into the ranch the temperature read -20! in addition to 3' of snow the course was a little challenging! The NOLS staff and all the other stuents were GREAT! the time flew by and now I am a certified Wilderness CPR & First Reponder, skills that I hope I never have to use but are great to have!

Well folks stay tuned for pictures and the next time I write hopefully I'll have some nice picture form Malawi! don't forget to drop me a line at my training address ( I will have another address after 3 months) and for all of you that wish to visit Malawi, drop me an email and we'll set something up!

Ti-ti Nah-nah

Introduction

Hey everyone! I started this blog with the assistance of my fellow volunteer colleges. I feel like this will be the best way to share my experiences from my amazing adventures.
Stay tuned and I'll try my hardest to keep everyone up to date with my Peace Corps experiences.