First Real Update and Phone number

Ok! so, I have a lot of catching up to do, so I'll make it short and sweet. I made it to Malawi on Feb 28th. Training went well...the staff and language trainers here are amazing and I stayed with a nice family during "homestay". my amayi's (mother's) name was Love, so I had that going for me...which was nice. I started learning the language of Northern Malawi (Chitumbuka) and did fairly well on my final exam by scoring Advanced Mid level...only to find out during a quick visit to my actual site that they speak a different language, Chisukwa. So that was kinda discouraging, but not much I can do to change it, so I'll just start over and keep going panandi panandi (little by little). Our swearing in was held at the U.S. Ambassador's house in Lilongwe, which was lovely, except that I had been pretty sick the days leading up to the ceremony and actually had an interesting little accident in my pants the day before swearing in. But, I guess that's the type of thing that makes you remember stuff... Now, I am in a small village in the very far North of Malawi called Chisansu. It is in the Chitipa district and kinda sandwiched inbetween Tanzania and Zambia (I am pretty close to both borders). For those of you who try to find it on Google Earth, find Kapoka on the road that goes towards Chitipa from Karonga in Malawi, and then look 2-3 miles North of Kapoka up in the mountains. I will try to stand outside with my shirt off as I am sure you will be able to see my pasty white body all the way from space!! I really like the area I am in, and the people are very and friendy and hardworking as well as progressive (in terms of willingness to try new things), but it is very mountainous and my legs are sore. I will be in superb shape in no time as long as I don't die :-)... I am going to try to upload some pictures of my house and maybe a couple others, but we'll see if it works. Thank you all for the letters that I have gotten, and all the birthday wishes too. It means alot. Feel free to call me if you can, because I don't have anyone's number and it is super expensive for me here. (I recommend buying a phone card or using Skype). To call me, dial: 00265991950398
I am 9 hrs ahead of MTN time. I hope you all are well, and I'm looking forward to talking to you soon.