hello everyone, i'm sorry that I have not had a chance to post anything for a while. Site visit was very nice, there was some miscommunication in my village, but overall it was amazing. My village is very close to the border of the Congo which is marked by beautiful hills/small mountains. There are trees everywhere and it is very close to a forest reserve and some waerfalls, there is a lovely stream just behind my hut and a borehole very close to get safer drinking water (yes i also have a water filter). The school is close and the teachers are all very nice, i met a lot of nice people and i can't wait to work with them. They are already trying some neat things so hopefully they will be open to learning new things and trying different agricultural techniques and income generation ideas. Today I officially swore in as a Peace Corps volunteer, the ceremony was at the ambassador's house and it was actually i very nice ceremony and delicious brownies/cookies. I also bought a lot of things for my hut, especiaaly pillows and blankets-it was really cold the two nights that i was at my site and the cold season is only just begginning, apparently june/july are very cold and it often freezes at night. My hut is rather small, but it is divided into two rooms and has two windows of about 1ft2 each and it has been limed to the walls and floor are white inside and out meaning it holds more light and stays cleaner. I have a sweat bathing shelter wih a shelf for soap etc and a bench to sit on while i bathe. I have an insaka (basically like a gazebo) that will have a 2-3 foot high brick wall around it when they are finished. I have a temporary icimbusu/pit latrine, but the permenant one should be built soon. I am hoping to have a separate small hut built to store my bike/charcoal and other things since i don't have room in my hut. My host is the headman's son and he came to Lusaka for a 2 day workshop where we set a plan and timeline for the first 3 months of communiy integration. He is helping me have shelves, tables and chairs made and he assured my that he will help me get a kitten because i don't want the rats or lizards in my hut. Also since my hut is brand-new the roof is nice and edoes not leak. I can't wait to get to my site and start meeting people, although i can't offically start work for 3 months. I'm learning the language, i still have a long way to go, but i did pretty well on my language proficiencey test so thats good. Isaid goodbye to my host family yesterday and we had a lovely cultural day celebraion the day before where we cooked american food, i helped make pizza and garlic bread which was amazing! Also, i'm loving my bike now and i want to work my way up to biuking the 100km into town and back once a week, i'll let you know how that goes.