In Malawi

Hi All!
Hello from the Warm Heart of Africa :-) I've been here now for about six weeks (seven?), going through PST, or pre-service training. In short, everything is going well- the team of trainees is amazing and Malawi is a beautiful and welcoming place.
We arrived in Lilongwe airport to the roaring cheers of a massive crowd of current PCV's welcoming us- another American on the tarmac asked me "Is there a celebrity on this flight?"- nope- just the Peace Corps! We were whisked off to the training center in Dedza, in the forested highlands just to the south of the capital city. There we stayed in simple dorms, getting to know everyone- Malawian trainers and American trainees. Dedza is on the side of a stunning rock face hill; a short hike brought absolutely gorgeous views of the countryside. (Pictures to come! Sorry!).
Weeks two through five we stayed with host families in rural vilages near Dedza. I have pretty much always lived alone, except during college, but suddenly in homestay I was sharing a mud house with about ten people (seven children) and 12 chickens! Thankfully the goats lived in another hut, but I suspect they used to have my room because they incessantly tried to claw their way in. Every morning brought a new heap of dirt right outside my door from the goats' tunneling efforts.
My host family taught me well- I chopped wood, made fire, cooked Nsima, rice, greens, etc...
I fetched water on my head, did my laundry by hand while trying my best to chat in Chichewa with women at the borehole, and swept out my dirt-floored room every day. My family was also enormously comforting during that very stressful time, always ready to just sit silently next to me, using the internationally understood comfort of "being there".
After five weeks we bid a big lovely farewell to our host families and villages and found out where our new homes will be. I will be staying near Lilongwe, close enough to the city for an easy daytrip but far enough away to really enjoy rural life. I visited the site last week, my first big foray "on my own", outside of the protective safety net of the Peace Corps training staff. I will be working with a Rural Community Health Centre, however, my aim is to do preventative health projects out in the villages, away from the Center. There are HSA's (Health Surveillance Assistants) who travel to every village in the catchment area to assess the water and sanitation practices, assess for malnutrition, and do basic health teaching. Over the next few months, (after swearing in), I will have lots of time to shadow these HSA's, conduct assessments of the needs in the area, fix up my house, improve my cooking skills, refine my Chichewa.....yeah there will be a lot to do.
My house is simple, with no running water or electricity, but it is also cool and spacious; I never thought I would be so excited about having cement floors! I can't wait to add all the personal touches that make a house a home. The dust of the front yard will hopefully become a kitchen garden, and the walls will be bare no more.
Today I am off to the West of Malawi for a week of language intensive, which is my last chance to really gain from language trainers' expertise. My community has made it very clear that they want me to speak Chichewa, so I am going into this week with a renewed drive to really communicate effectively.
---Then on the 26th, we all swear in and become REAL Peace Corps Volunteers!---
Last night I had a chicken salad in Lilongwe that must have been beamed down from heaven- REAL ranch dressing?! I am having waking dreams about ice cold sour cream and cheddar cheese. If you can, eat some cold dairy products and think of me :-)

Grace and Peace-
Elizabeth