Wednesday, July 16, 2008

So I leave in a few days and finally the nervousness and excitement of being a peace corps volunteer has struck me. For a while there I was apathetically answering questions about the peace corps because my departure date was so far away and I seriously don't know what I am going to do there. Plus you can seriously only answer the question of how and what are you going to cook so many times. However with the date of departure closing in, I find myself with a renewed sense of passion and love for what I am about to do; which results in an over-emphatic response to any question about the peace corps. I should probably tone it down.
What is really interesting for me to think about is that while I am over here waiting and excited to go to Zambia, there is a host family there that is awaiting their American host son. Problem is, I am not sure what that are going to think when they see me walk through their door. For most people around the world, an American is white; so its going to be shocking for my host family to see a short brown guy come in. I am still not sure how to respond to statements like, "you are not an american", "you are not white, how can you be American?". Guess I will figure it out when I get there.
So for you guys stateside that want a taste of Peace Corps/Zambian life you should write me to keep in touch. I will write back, but the mail system on that side of the world is rather slow. So dont worry if you dont get a response right away, just number your letters and we can keep track. Also because I am working with the US government, I get care packages priced very afford ably, so you can send me things like oreos, pasta, sauce, curry, sri racha hot sauce, and photos. Also on packages, you need to mark it as religious materials with a value of ten dollars or less so people will be tempted to see the goods from the States. My address is
Aditya Pabba/PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka, Zambia

At least that is what it is for training. It may change afterwords.

So I guess thats it for now guys. Pabba out.

~End Transmission~