Mini-vacay!

I've finally gotten to a computer!! I can't believe I've been away from it for over a month. Serious withdrawals. Thanks for all your e-mails and messages...I really appreciated them:) I've been in Labe for about a week so I could check out the place I wil be living for the next two years. I'm about a two hour terrible drive away from Labe, the regional capital. I've never felt so sick in a car before and hope I can get use to it. My site is a little village called Mombeya. I will be living in a two bedroom house. It's very empty and dark right now, but I'm hoping to paint it white and decorate it. If you have any ideas, let me know! The people in my town were extremely nice and helpful. I will probably move there sometime after my training, end of September. Training is going well, it's extremely intense, with sometimes six hours of language, but it's going well. My host family is interesting, but they do do their best to take care of me. The food I receive is um not good, but I've found myself getting use to it. My family consists of my two parents, a 21 year old sister, and two younger brothers. My sister is the one who mostly takes care of me. We are able to communicate, but she does laugh at me a lot...probably because I'm a funny person...I tell here almost everyday that I don't eat fish and that I like potatoes. She finally, after a week, stopped serving me fish and gave me a potato. Don't worry, I'm not starving. I eat a lot of bread and PEANUT BUTTER!! And here in Labe, I've enjoyed pizza and french fries almost everynight and the hotel I'm staying in is fairly nice. I must say the weather here in the Fouta region is very nice and cool. I've been wearing long pants and cardigans...and have even gotten cold. I'm sorry this is so short, the internet is not that great here. I miss you guys all and hope everyone is doing well. I finally got a cell phone. My number is 011224 65822807. My family has been calling me by either getting an African phone card or using skype. If you use skype it goes right to my mobile. Apparently it's only 18 or 20 cents a minute. If you have any questions feel free to call my mother, Lauri, at 515-556-8846. Love you guys all!