Updates from Week 9

My, what a week it has been!  Had a scavenger hunt, model school finished, little kids are exhausting, HIV/AIDS Day march, homestay celebration  party, confirmation ceremony and party for Senia, and only 3 more days til our Swearing In Ceremony where we become official Peace Corps Volunteers!

So, to start, last weekend, Jill and Mac organized a scavenger hunt!  The volunteers divided into teams of four or five people and we ran all over Namaacha, completing tasks like finding a black goat, a white goat, and a black and white goat, a lizard, make a human pyramid, take photos wearing our batas (white coats very similar to lab coats that all teachers wear), a photo inside our mosquito nets, playing pool, inside a chapa, with a few local figures like the internet café man, climb a tree, etc.  And guess who’s team won……I DID!  Me, Mary Z, Mary L, and Ashley completed the most tasks, earning the most points and we returned first.  Love me some competition and victory!

This week, three cousins visited my family, two six year old boys and a thirteen year old boy.  The kids are hilarious and have unbelievable amounts of energy!  They love playing cards, and I have taught them Slap Jack, Spoons, and Uno.  They were blown away when I showed them how to make a paper airplane and then demonstrated how they can fly it.  They also LOVE to dance, especially to Michael Jackson and even break dance, do MJ’s spin move, and moonwalk.  Though they don’t understand much English, they were thrilled to watch my movies, including all three Toy Stories, Aladdin, Madagascar, and Ratatouille.  Felt very much like any American family, just sitting around the table playing cards after dinner and watching a movie together.

Thursday, Dec 1^st was HIV/AIDS Day.  In acknowledgement, that morning we joined others in a march along the main street of Namaacha, carrying banners with messages of spreading the word about HIV transmission, encouraging testing and use of condoms, etc., walking about 15 minutes or so, ending at an AIDS monument where a few people spoke, placed flowers, and sang a couple songs.  There were about 150 people in attendance.  Then, of all things, there was a basketball game (two Mozambican teenage teams), somewhat random, but fun to watch. 

Michael, a volunteer who stayed with my family before and who has completed his two years of service, came to visit Thursday before he returns home to the US.  My family prepared a big dinner for him, complete with a heart-shaped cake.   Our neighbors came over, and all the family sat together for a tasty dinner they had clearly put a lot of work in to.  It was a simple moment, but seeing how happy they were having him visit and the relationship he had created with them was a great reminder about why I am here and the potential I have to create equally meaningful relationships.  At times during the past few weeks, I have gotten somewhat sad because my family was always very busy and not really around much, but I have come to realize how much they have adjusted their lives by having me stay with them and how great of an experience this has been.  Yeah, maybe I could have put in more effort to do more with them, but in this last week, I have actually felt like part of the family during those simple moments of playing cards, eating dinner together, and watching movies. 

Apparently, my mae is more comfortable with me too as she had no hesitation in telling me that I had become more gorda (fatter) since coming here!  During that same fancy dinner with Michael, she told me how I had been skinny when I arrived and now I was “um pouco mais gorda”, I tried to take it as a compliment…

Saturday, Peace Corps held a party to celebrate the homestay families.  There were a few speeches, (one by a volunteer, others by Namaacha figures), an incredible spread of food (so many chickens, beef, matapa, salad, pasta, fish, rice, beans, cake!!), followed by music and dancing.  My mae and the two visiting younger cousins came, and somehow I became in charge of the kids for the entire duration of the party, turning in to Mama Sara.  Those kids were lots of fun, but so exhausting!  By the end of the afternoon, despite my best efforts to keep them entertained by my silly dancing, they were definitely tired and cranky and behaving like typical little boys who had missed their naptime.

Sunday, I woke up around 5am, and was greeted by about five new women at the house who were beginning to prepare for a party celebrating my sister’s Confirmation.  As I waited to leave for church, I debated whether or not there was some way I could help them or whether it was better to just stay out of their way.  (I did offer to help, but they refuted me anyway.) 

I thought the two hour mass I attended many weeks ago was long, but it compared nothing to Sunday’s four and a half hour long service.   Yes, you read that correctly, four and a half hours!  Still, even after 9 weeks of Portuguese, I understood very little about what was going on or being said.  The mix of Portuguese and Changana certainly makes it difficult to follow, and, needless to say, difficult to stay awake. 

Finally, at 12:30pm , the mass ended and we returned home, the women still cooking and prepping!  Around 4pm, my sister came back from her lunch at the church and was escorted into the backyard by singing and clapping.  We ate incredible amounts of food including the typical rice, beans, potatoes, egg salad, lots of cake, but also this new special kind of chicken which was delicious (they called it frango de Zambezia, not sure what the sauce was but it was awesome!) and my first time eating cow head. 

Yup, cow head!  On Friday, I watched my brother remove the fur from the head, then he cooked it in a pot of salted water over an open fire.  Then they removed it from the skull and used a hatchet to cut out the brain, throwing all the parts (meat, brain, nose, ears, tongue) together in a pot with some onions and peppers and continued cooking.  It tasted basically like normal stew meat, though I did pick around all the foreign looking parts this time.  Maybe next time, I’ll try some brains….

But anyway, the party was a lot of fun!  We had so much cake!  They have the guest of honor cut the cake and then go around to important family members, feeding them bites of the cake.  During the gift giving part of the party, everyone sings and claps as each person gives their gift and kisses the receiver on both cheeks.   The Mozambicans certainly do love their music and dancing!

Monday we had our final language test, and this week we are prepping for heading off to site!  Thursday is our Swearing In Ceremony which will be held at the Ambassador’s house, then Friday we are headed to our regions for a conference!  Just a week from Monday, we will be at our sites!