August 2019 – Reilly in Zambia

My Life for the Next Ten Weeks

Mwapona buti, everybody! I’ve been in Zambia now for just over a week, and I figured that it’s time to give you all an update on my life.

When I arrived in Zambia, we were greeted warmly at the airport by Peace Corps staff and whisked away to a lodge, where we received a three-day orientation. Since then, we’re moved to our training sites.

Right now, and for the next ten weeks, myself and 34 other CHEP trainees are living in villages outside of a town near Lusaka while we complete our 11-week Pre-Service Training (PST) program. We all have host families that we are living with during this time to help us fully immerse into the Zambian culture. PST covers topics such as language (I’m learning Tonga, which means I’ll be placed in the Southern province, the land of Victoria Falls), technical skills, medical, safety and security, and cross-cultural exchange. The days are long, and feel like a mix between summer camp and boot camp.

Let me give you an idea of what my day looks like:

5:45: Wake up with the rooster’s crows (there’s a really fun word for that in Tonga, comment below to learn it 🙂 ) and crawl out of bed from underneath my mosquito net

6:15: Brush my teeth outdoors while watching the sun rise over the mountains, get ready for the day, and journal for a little bit

6:45: Wash my face in my bathing structure, after my Bamaama (host mom) heats up water for me

7:00: Breakfast of bread, peanut butter, coffee, and fruit, before our next-compound neighbors (and fellow trainees) meet us to bike to training. The ride is rough, and probably about 2 miles each way.

8:00: PST starts for the day. We’ll have one session until 10, then a break for tea time, another session from 10:30 to 12:30.

12:30: Lunch, packed by Bamaama! We get an hour for lunch, to socialize, speak with our language teachers, and meet with our mentor.

13:30: Sessions begin again, and go until 15:00, where we break for tea time again. (We LOVE our tea time! Zambian snacks, tea, and coffee are put out for us to enjoy)

15:30: We come together for one last session of the day, and conclude around 17:00. People from the same villages/neighborhoods typically group together to bike home during the sunset.

17:30: We arrive home, and Bamaama heats water for us to bathe with (and I definitely need to, it is HOT these days and the ride is hard!). I study after bathing until it is time to eat.

19:00: Time for dinner! In Zambian culture, men, women, and children eat separately, so we just eat with Bamaama. Dinner usually consists of nsima, chicken or another kind of meat, a vegetable dish, a delicious tomato and onion relish, and often another starch. We speak in Tonglish (Tonga+English) for a while, before I feel the need to wind down for the night.

20:00: I return back to my room for a bit to do a bit more studying and then I lay in bed to read for a bit before going to bed.

21:00: Lights out! Time to get some rest before doing this again the next day.

If that sounds like a lot, IT IS! I’m always exhausted, always challenged, always learning, always smiling, always crying. Heading into hot season, days often climb up to 90+ degrees, and the days and the heat drain you. I’m making lovely new like-hearted friends and constantly pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.

There’s so much more to tell you all, but for now, I’ll just leave you with a few pictures!

This is my home! My room is on the left, and another trainee lives in the other room!

My bathing shelter! Each morning and evening, my Bamaama heats weather for me to bathe with. Typically in the evening, I bathe at sunset!

Our pit toilet. It’s exactly what it sounds like.

The sun sets right in front of our compound! It really is that beautiful every night.

I’m generally able to time brushing my teeth with the rising of the sun each morning 🙂

Hello from Johannesburg!

To say that the last 24 hours have been a whirlwind would be an understatment. It’s been a flurry of excitement, some anxiety, and making sure everyobdy has what they need. Imagine trying to lug your just-under-100 pounds of checked luggage, plus your carry-ons, onto a bus, off the bus, into the airport, and checking it through to your final destination, while ensuring that all of your buddies have their things too.

Here’s a timeline of my last day and a half:

1:45 AM: Wake up, get dressed for the trip, and make sure I have all of my things together.

2:30 AM: Check out of the hotel, flooding the lobby with 70 people and their luggage to last 2 years.

3:00 AM: Load and board the bus that will take us to JFK Airport.

5:30 AM: Arrive at the airport. Since our airline isn’t open yet, we all wait in the open area with all of our things. Picture a huge, sleepy group of people excited for the next adventure sprawled out on the ground.

7:30 AM: We can finally check in for our flights and rid ourselves of most of our luggage for a while! Some faced weight challenges or packed prohibited items, so they had to scramble to re-arrange suitcases and backpacks or say goodbye to nice sunscreen and dry shampoo. I slid right into home base being just 2 pounds below the cumulative weight limit.

9:30 AM: We finally passed through the world’s longest and slowest security line. We piled into our gate, making final phone calls and FaceTimes for a while. My new friend Yvette and I sat down to have breakfast before going to the gate.

11:15 AM: I board the plane!!! I’m so excited and eager to get to my seat and be on my way to my dreams. I (luckily) have an aisle seat for the 15-hour flight.

12:30 PM: Hurry up and wait. The plane has taken off, my in-flight TV doesn’t work, so I watch movies and read from my tablet. I sleep for much of the night, but took some walking breaks when I felt my body tightening up.

8:30 AM (today): We land! Note that from California, this is a 9-hour time difference (6 from Philadelphia, where I had spent and adjusted to the time zime for a couple of days). So far I don’t feel jet-lagged, and it makes sense to my body for it to be morning.

After de-planing, we go through a passport check and another security check before heading to our gate for our 2-hour flight to Lusaka, Zambia. We don’t board for another 2 hours or so, so we have plenty of time to wait around.

When we land around 4 PM in Zambia, we will be greeted by much of the Peace Corps Zambia staff and transported to our next stop for the next few days. I’m so eager to get there and dive into Pre-Service Training (PST, the 3-month language and technical skills training we recieve before heading to our post).

Nothing too crazy or poinant to report today, but just wanted to update everybody all on my journey so far. Almost there!!

My Life in 140 Pounds or Less

Lesson learned: Do NOT try to start packing the week before you move 10,000 miles away.

I did it! I’m all packed and ready to go, with no time at all to spare. Tomorrow is the big day: I head to Philadelphia in the morning, where I will have my orientation with the rest of my cohort before flying off to Zambia.

Let me tell you, packing for the Peace Corps is no small feat. First the gear was shopped for. My dad and I pored through reviews and blogs, consulted experts at stores, and compiled ever-changing lists of the things we thought I’d need. After I (finally) got my legal clearance, we went into a manic state wherein we purchased everything. Clothes came together in a much less organized manner, buying a few things here and a few things there.

In my last post, I mentioned my party but I didn’t mention the absolute gift of having so many friends and family in town for about a week to visit and fill up my heart before I go. We spent the week soaking in the best of Sonoma county….which meant that I wasn’t focused on packing up my life.

With everyone on the next leg of their trip or back home by Thursday, I finally had the time to dig in and really get started. As all my new goodies arrived, we tossed them into the back room until it was time to get them into suitcases. Yesterday, I went to Safeway and picked up some spices and snacks that will help me (a very picky eater) get accustomed to a new cuisine and have a taste of home with me.

I’ll be honest with you all, I had a couple of meltdowns in the past 3 days. From having to run out to Costco for a bigger suitcase because mine was smaller than I anticipated (Thanks/Sorry, Mom and Dad!), to having the same suitcase be 15 pounds over the limit and having to re-arrange and pare down, to just feeling totally overwhelmed knowing that I should have been done with this a week ago. The tears are gone now, and what I have left is a sight to behold: my life in 140 pounds or less.

I have a huge suitcase that holds my clothes, shoes, and some gear. Into a large blue duffel bag I have my hiking pack filled to the brim with gear, my bike panniers, and a few loose ends. My carry-ons are a day pack and roll-on suitcase with essential clothes and gear to hold me over until I’m a bit more stationary in about a week.

Should I have finished packing a week ago and not 16 hours before moving? Yes. Would it have prevented meltdowns and tears and exhaustion? Yes. Are my parents absolute angels for not getting frustrated with me about this procrastination and instead very loving and helpful? Yes. Was it really cool when I was writing out my luggage tags and got to write: “Reilly Briggs, US Peace Corps”? YES! Am I tired? YES! Am I done packing? YES! Am I excited beyond belief?! I think you know where I’m headed with that one.

Sent off in Style

Tacos, popsicles, and all of my favorite people

Last weekend, some of the most important and influential people in my life came together to celebrate two of the biggest accomplishments of my life: college graduation and joining the Peace Corps. This group included extended family, close friends, friends from out of the country, mentors, managers from work, and even the royal family (If you know, you know). Having this group of people together in my backyard was so special to me.

We had lots of Korean-style tacos, wine, gourmet popsicles, more wine, and tons of laughter (ok, and some tears too) filling the backyard throughout the evening, and my heart is overflowing with gratitude. To be able to see the support around me, to feel the love, and to know that all of these people are in my corner meant the world to me before moving across the world.

Rather than talk about it, I think I’ll just share some photos from the evening and let the pictures speak for themselves. Notice how I’m laughing in most of them? Enjoy!