Guest post: Kathryn on site

Hi everyone, this is a post on Kathryn's behalf by her assistant editor / mom. Since it may be a while before she has internet access (currently a 4-hour bus ride away), I will give a short summary of our phone conversation earlier today.

After a busy day on Wednesday (swearing in day) and only a couple of hours sleep, Kathryn left early Thursday morning for her site, accompanied by the headmaster of the school where she will be teaching. They arrived safely late Thursday evening after a very long and very crowded bus ride on a mostly unpaved road. Even though though the rainy season is just getting started, the bus got stuck in the mud for a couple of hours. They were met by students who helped carry her bags to her new home. She will live in one side of a duplex, with the other side occupied by the other full-time teacher at the school. He is the chemistry & biology teacher and her designated "counterpart". The current school term is just ending, so Kathryn will begin teaching in mid January. She will teach math and physics for forms 1-4 (8th grade through 11th grade).

Her living quarters are almost empty at the moment, containing only a bed and a little table with a couple of chairs. There are no shelves or counters of any sort, so she can't really unpack yet. On Friday, her counterpart helped her buy a few dishes, a small kerosene stove and some food. She has yet to meet the nearest Peace Corps volunteer, a health care worker who lives in a village on the other side of a small nearby town. She hopes he has some hints for how to get furniture and other household purchases home on buses so full that the aisles are packed with people standing. There is no electricity or running water.

On Saturday, Kathryn got up early and used her battery-powered head lamp to get ready while it was still dark. Then she rode the bus (standing) for a couple of hours to get to the town of Ndanda, where she joined some other PC volunteers from the area for a Thanksgiving dinner. She will return to her new home on Sunday and resume the process of settling in.

She does not yet have a mailing address. She can be reached at the same phone number (assuming she can find a way to keep it charged, possibly by obtaining a solar charger).