Merry Christmas

Christmas

Christmas here this weekend was nice, but weird. A bunch of PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) got together at Xai Xai beach and we rented a little house where we spent the weekend. We actually originally just rented out a few rooms in a house, but when I got there on Thursday they had double booked the rooms (of course) and they had to move us. The second house actually had more privacy and room for all of us so it ended up working out. It was VERY HOT for most of the weekend and the first few nights it was hard to sleep because of the heat. The first day I was out at the beach in the sun from 7:30am to 9am and after that spent most of the day in the shade and off the beach. You just can’t spend more time than that in the sun otherwise you get really sunburned and exhausted from the heat. It was nice to pretend like it was an ordinary weekend and not Christmas because thinking about it being Christmas day just made me miss home and the family traditions that we have. It was probably one of the tougher days that I have had here so far because it was hard to be so far away from home and it was the first Christmas that I have ever been away from family. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing weekend on the beach and it was nice to be around so many other volunteers after being alone at site for a few weeks.

So now I am back at site and back to washing dishes, clothes, and killing bats (I’ve killed 2 more since Christmas). Hopefully in a week or so I’ll start having meetings at school regarding the upcoming semester, my schedule, and what grades or subjects I will be teaching. I’m definitely ready to start work and get a busier daily schedule.

Hope everyone has a great holiday week back at home!

Firstly, since many of the days since I arrived at my site have been somewhat uninteresting as far as my daily routine does, I think I will start writing more blog posts based on general topics instead of what I have been doing. Today's topic? Hard work.

Most household tasks here are the same as the ones that we do in the U.S, only much more time consuming. People of course wash dishes, wash their clothes, cook meals, and tend to their yard, just like Americans do back home, but everything is done by hand and takes a lot longer.

In college, my housemates and I used to gripe about not having a dishwasher in our apartment, and now? I don't even have a sink. And let me tell you, washing dishes is even more of a pain when you are doing it in a bucket without running water.

When I was in Namaacha during my homestay and the outdoor kitchen (which didnt have a lightbulb) was really dark one night, I brought out my rechargeable flashlight with one of those cranks that you turn instead of using batteries. I thought that my host family would love it since you don't need to buy batteries or anything, just simply turn the crank. My host mother played with it for about 30 seconds and then gave it back to me and told me that it was too much work. Hah! Too much work to turn a crank when they spend hours cooking their meals and heating water over a charcoal stove? I guess it's just what they're used to.

So yes, cleaning my house, washing my clothes by hang, washing dishes without running water, and all of those chores are time consuming and harder than work at home, but the one task (that I luckily do not have to do) that really amazes me, is how people cut their grass. There are no fancy John Deere riding mowers here, no motorized push mowers, not even the little manual push mowers. Nope, people here cut their grass by hand with a machete. They bend at the waist and just swipe back and forth at the grass with the machete as it cuts. It amazes me and looks like the most exhausting and time consuming chore ever, but when there's no other way, I guess it just has to be done! For that reason, I am thankful that my yard is mostly full of sand. :)

More Pictures!

More assorted pictures from training.
This is my language teacher from training, Matusse, and I at my swearing in ceremony.

From left to right, Ruben Hernandez, the Peace Corps Country Director of Mozambique, me, and Ambassador to the US, Leslie Rowe.

My friend Hannah and I before our swearing in ceremony.

My host sister, her son, and I at the homestay celebration. Yes, he is pulling my hair and I am trying not to laugh.

My class of kids and their certificates from model school in Namaacha. Most people here dont smile for photos so you might notice that the teachers are the only ones with smiles.

Quick Update

I am in Xai Xai again today. It's disgustingly hot and I have not had power for 2 1/2 days so no cold drinks...and the food in my fridge is spoiling as we speak. Ah, oh well. Things are still good in Chongoene as I get to know the town and the people in the town better. I'm going to make this post short and try to upload some pictures now that I finally got them on my camera!

This is the secondary school in Namaacha where we had training and model school.
The Indian Ocean and a pretty boat in Bilene where we went for a weekend getaway.
Me in Bilene!
At the top of a mountain that we climbed in Namaacha. This rock pile is the spot where the borders of Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland meet.
My host family's house in Namaacha.

Some of the kids in my family and my neighborhood in Namaacha.

This is the new school that I will be teaching at in Chongoene.
This is the front of my house where I live in Chongoene.
This is the lovely view from the back of my house where I sit on the veranda.
This is the back of my house in Chongoene.

10/12/10

So much has happened in the last week. I almost don’t know where to start! Thursday was our last full day in Namaacha. I had bought some capulanas for my host mom, her sister, and the grandmother as a thank you gift and had bought candies for the kids, Nunucha and Pai. I presented the gifts to them at dinner time and my mom just went nuts. They were so excited over them and went on and on about how I had such good taste in capulanas and they were very grateful.

Friday morning I was all packed and ready to say goodbye to my host family, but they insisted on accompanying me to the bus that we were leaving on. Part way there, my host mom remembered that it was my birthday and we stopped in the middle of the street as the kids sang me happy birthday. I was meeting Hannah and Audrey along the way too, and their host families also had decided to accompany them. We walked through the streets of Namaacha with all of our stuff and little by little our sending off party seemed to grow as we met volunteers and family members along the way. By the time we got there we had quite the community parade going, which was pretty amusing to see.

Saying goodbye to my host family wasn’t too sad. Since I was placed in Gaza, one of the southern provinces, it’s very plausible for me to go back and visit them at some point.

We got to Maputo and upon arriving found out that we would not be able to check in to our hotel rooms for another couple of hours. At this point we are pretty used to waiting for things so all 70 of us made ourselves at home in the hotel lobby. Also, they had prepared coffee, juice, and refreshments for us so we helped ourselves to mini sandwiches, pastries, and real coffee!(most people drink instant coffee here, which is even what they serve at many restaurants). Needless to say, we were content to hang out for a bit. We finally checked in to our rooms and rushed to get ready to leave for our swearing in ceremony.

The ceremony was held at the house of the US ambassador to Mozambique. The house was beautiful and had a gorgeous view of the Indian ocean in the back. The ceremony was nice, and not too long. We took the oath to be Peace Corps Volunteers, which is the same oath that any government employee takes, including the President of the United States, so that was pretty cool. After the ceremony we had refreshments (again, they were delicious, and by far the best little treats we have had in two months), socialized with each other and the guests there, and took lots of pictures.

We returned to the hotel after and my friends surprised me for my birthday by having the restaurant downstairs make me a delicious little cake(Thanks Jen, Hannah, and Audrey!). Some people went out in Maputo, but I stayed around the hotel with some friends and had a good night hanging out with each other there. After only a few hours of sleep I woke up at 4:45 to say goodbye to the first group of volunteers on their way to the airport to catch flights up to Chimoio. I then went back to sleep and got up a few hours later to pack my own stuff and get on my bus to a conference in Xai Xai. It was so sad saying goodbye to the people going far away up North, but it just means that I’ll have to visit.

Monday and Tuesday we had supervisors conferences which is where the school directors meet their volunteers and Peace Corps holds a conference to make sure they are clear on rules and expectations for volunteers. I met my director at dinner on Sunday night, but he then failed to show up to the conference on both days. My school was holding exams so he had to be there, but he somehow managed to make it to the free dinner at the hotel on all three nights… Needless to say, I didn’t get the best first impression of him, but oh well. Xai Xai is also a beach town so our hotel there was about 200 meters from the beach. After the conference each day we just crossed the street and laid on the beach or swam in the ocean…not a bad life.

Wednesday morning we loaded into different chapas based on our site’s location and they sent us off! My town, Chongoene, is only 17K from Xai Xai so I was the first one delivered and got there at about 6:45 am. I am overlapping with the current volunteer by a few days so she welcomed me and I promptly went back to sleep for a couple of hours. Wednesday and Thursday we spent walking around the town, meeting people in the community, and getting to know the area.

On Thursday we took a chapa into Xai Xai so that I could get to know the city part of it and do a little shopping. We went to the post office, the bank, the market, and stopped in at the Indian restaurant in town, which is popular among Peace Corps Volunteers. While in town, I bought food supplies as well as an electric kettle to heat water, and an iron. I am fortunate that I am replacing a volunteer and don’t have to buy a bed or furniture, like many volunteers do. I might end up buying a new mattress anyway because the one here is a little old, but at least right now it’s not a necessity.

ALSO, on a less positive note, I have bats living in the roof of my house. The first night I slept on the spare mattress in the kitchen room (where the bats are). I woke up in the middle of the night to hear them squeaking and one was swooping around the room above my head. I was absolutely terrified. When I woke up in the morning and was arranging my things, I picked up my jeans that I had worn the day before and heard a squeaking sound. Yes, one of the bats had made itself at home in the pocket of my jeans. I brought it outside and later in the day found ANOTHER bat in the room on the floor, which I swept outside and then killed. I’ll have to figure out a way to get rid of the rest of them and close up the holes in my roof so they don’t come into the house anymore…

2 Days left of PST

2 days to go in training! Today I was cleaning out my purse and found a little yellow dot which we used during an activity during staging in Philadelphia two months ago. It all seems like so long ago that we were in staging and I had just met all of the other trainees. We have all come a long way and have gotten to know each other so well since then. Anyway, this week is relatively unstructured and mostly consists of packing and wrapping things up in training.

Today is World AIDS Day so we participated in a parade in town today with a group of local activists. There is a health fair going on for the rest of the day today where they have free HIV and STD testing and small groups of volunteers are also doing HIV/AIDS education activities.

Friday morning we pack up for good and head to Maputo to a pretty nice hotel, or so I hear. Peace Corps is then picking us up in the afternoon to go to our swearing in ceremony at the US Ambassador’s house. Rumor has it that the ceremony will be on Mozambican national television too. We were all given fabric to have dresses or tunics made so we will be in matching outfits for the ceremony. Saturday and Sunday people start departing for regional capitals and then Monday and Tuesday we have a supervisors conference with the health counterparts, or in my case my school’s director. Finally on Wednesday or Thursday I will probably head to site with my stuff and boxes, which is what I am really excited about. It will be nice to settle into Chongoene, get to know the town, and start setting up my house for the next two years!

Practicing Patience

Patience, patience, patience…that’s what this week has been all about for me. One would think that after two months I would always know that “we are leaving now” means that we’ll probably go in half an hour or that “we are eating soon” means that they are just starting to cook, but for some reason I still believe people when they say these things to me. Today my host mom told me that we were going to a “festa”, a party, and that we were going for lunch. She even asked me what my plans were for later in the afternoon after the party, so I assumed that we were truly going around midday for lunch and then would go home afterwards. Needless to say, I was surprised when she told me to get ready to leave at 10am this morning. We left and arrived at the party at 10:30 and apparently my mom was meeting the other women attending the party to cook and prepare the meal that would be served. She told me to sit in a chair in the shade so I sat there with the grandmothers, babies, and some of the men (men don’t cook in Mozambique). I talked to some people a little bit, but most of the conversation around me was in Changana, the local language here, and since I only know how to say limited phrases in Changana, my conversation skills were limited so I just sat and observed. One hour passed, then two, three….four…and after four hours it looked like they were done cooking and then my host mom informed me that the guests of honor had not arrived yet so we could not eat. (The party was a wedding reception and I assume that they were married yesterday or this morning, but I’m not sure). So we waited some more. On another note…it was about 100 degrees and humid today and the only drink they had while we sat there was tap water and since it was not boiled nor bleached nor filtered, I was not supposed to drink it. I probably would have, and probably would have gotten sick, but my host mom forbid me from drinking it: needless to say, I was pretty thirsty. Anyway, around 3:30 or 4 the couple showed up and we all ate. The party then continued with cake cutting, presents, and lots of singing and dancing. Finally around 6:30 the party started to die down and my mom asked if I was ready to go soon (which I was)….and then half an hour later we were on our way home. Overall it was a fun day, just not what I expected, although I guess it really never is exactly how I expect it to be here! We are entering our last week and pack up to go to our swearing in ceremony in Maputo on Friday!