New address and what's been up!

Despite the fact I've been in country for one day shy of 4 months and haven't posted anything slightly resembling a blog post, it is still my intention to do so for the next 2 years.
I finally have Internet connection on my phone, so I'll begin blogging to keep everyone updated!
The first update is that I have a new address! Remember to send the flat rate boxes, since I'm pretty sure that's the cheapest method, but be sure not to claim a value for the contents of the package. Say the package is full of legal documents and books, like bibles or something religious. If there is a value claimed the postal service is "legally" allowed to open the package... Basically to see if there's anything worth taking! Another important reminder; be sure to adorn the package with as many biblical phrases as possible! Like I've said before the fear of God is mighty with Malawians and so far it's kept my packages safe!
My new address is:
Lauren Rodgers
P.O. Box 47
Nkhotakota, Malawi
Southern Africa
Ok so now onto the good stuff. The most logical way to begin my blog is well, at the beginning! The first 2 months of service were training. We lived in villages with host families to learn the culture and the language... My fist day of homestay was unforgettable! It was full of lots of sign language and complete misunderstandings as I only knew how to greet people and even that was a challenge for me! I was so lucky to have such a warm and welcoming host family who gladly taught me life in Malawi!
My host family consisted of 8 people, my host mother and father and 6 children: Gift, 17, Maliki, 15, Clement, 12, Vikitorya, 9, Bright, 5 (who's name was usually pronounced Blight since the sounds for L and R are interchangeable in Chichewa.... Unfortunately this isn't true for English as the meaning of his name changes to something is rather dim with the quick switch of an R for an L) and Tamala, 3 months.
My days consisted of learning the basics to life here, such as eating nsima (a thick sponge-like carbohydrate filled, nutrient lacking, maize flour porridge) hand washing my clothes, cooking over a three brick fire, carrying 20 liters of water on my head (though this was a bit embarrassing since my bucket had a lid, which my host mother's bucket did not and my bucket was literally half the size of the bucket my host mother carried water with!!!), bucket bathing, successfully using the chim (the pit latrine) and becoming a chim ninja, since using the chim is something that is never spoken of and something that should be done without anybody noticing.... I remember my first day of homestay holding having to go to the bathroom for the entire day for fear of using the chim for the first time.... The next morning, yes I held it all night too, I woke up at 5am hoping to sneak to the chim. I opened the door to my one roomed mud hut only to see my entire host family of 8 standing there waiting for me... The next few hours were excruciating and I finally caved and accepted the fact the chim was now a part of my life and it was never going to go away. It was now, in fact was something that had to be learned as much as I had wished it didn't exist!
During homestay we all lived in 4 villages, Sila/Nengo, which were so close and small they were considered one village, Chapatali, and Zuze. I lived with 10 other environment volunteers in Sila/Nengo village. All of the villages were within a distance of no more than 3 miles with a population of 38 white folks! It was quite a happy and safe bubble we all lived in, there were always friends around me who shared my culture and language. There was reliable support from those friends within a 30 second walk.
Within Sila/Nengo villages we had class daily, except of course for Sundays as that was the day reserved for church and clothes washing! We had language lessons in the mornings and occasionally in the afternoons as well with technical trainings in the afternoons. The language classes were split up into classes of 3-4 people whereas technical we all had together. In my language class there were three of us, myself, Dasha and James. Our teacher was Agatha. For technical, we were taught by a genius man known throughout all of Malawi for being a permaculture expert, who just so happens to also have one of my favorite names here, Lovemore.
In the evenings after school, I'd go home and sit next to the fire in the "kitchen," a one room mud hut with a small window for ventilation while my host mother cooked nsima and ndiwo (a side dish, such as boiled mustard greens eaten with nsima). Another very important thing I had to learn was how to handle sitting in a completely smokey room with a smile on my face, attempting conversations as tears ran down my face from my burning eyes. If the evenings spent with the company of my host family, hadn't been my favorite part of everyday I don't think I would have lasted a single day sitting on the floor of the kitchen with smoke billowing into my face!
Everyday I think back about my host family and am so grateful they opened their arms and their hearts to me teaching me the true meaning of generosity.
Though I was brought to Malawi to teach, I feel everyday I learn so much more than I could ever teach.
Since homestay and training, I have moved into Ching'amba village, which is in the Ntchisi district, off of the M-18, 4km from the eastern gate of the Nkhotakota Game Reserve!