One Year!!

September 26^th marked exactly one year since I left home for my first days of Peace Corps training.  Technically, the one year anniversary for being a Peace Corps volunteer will not be until early December, but I think this still merits some acknowledgement. 

I came across the new group of Peace Corps Mozambique education volunteers’ Facebook page, and it provided a great means for comparing where I was then and where I am one year later. 

For instance, they had questions and concerns like what “professional clothing” really means and if they should bring their professional suit to how the cell phones work to how you can fit two years of stuff into two bags and how you can possibly be expected to learn another language in such a short amount of time.  Basically, total cluelessness and lack of any idea of what it will really be like.  You can read books and blogs, browse through the daunting stack of paperwork Peace Corps gives you, or ask current and returned volunteers about their experiences, trying to form your own idea of what it might be like.  Ultimately though, nothing can really prepare you for this adventure until you actually arrive, experience it and live it.

And I have lived it, for an entire year now!  It really is pretty crazy to think about.  I still have those moments walking to the market or standing in front of the classroom where I think to myself, “Wow, this is my life…living in Africa” and I can only really chuckle to myself thinking about what a strange reality that is. 

I have grown accustomed to walking to school with a herd of cows and goats and chickens roaming the streets.  It is normal to use a hole in the ground as my “toilet”, to take a shower without running water and to pee in a bucket in the middle of the night.  It no longer intimidates me being constantly stared at and being the only white person around for miles and miles.  I am an expert carvão (charcoal) lighter and can even make sweet potato gnoochi without an American kitchen and all its conveniences.  I have come to expect an unreliability in electricity and cheer right along with the rest of the town when it comes back gone.  It really is amazing how your sense of “normal” can change in such a short amount of time.

Certain things though still catch me off guard and are reminders that I am not in California anymore –  That goat riding on the front of someone’s bicycle, lizards on the walls of my house almost constantly, the six year old boy herding goats along the national highway.  I’m still just as surprised when I see four people drive by on a single motorcycle, no helmets, a baby in the front.  Those chickens still take me by surprise, especially when one is hiding in my bathroom and rushes past my legs, giving me a heart attack.  The extreme power of the African sun and trying to sleep in a house that is over 90 degrees is something you can expect but certainly never get used to.

Those things and moments are reminders that life is a little, no, a lot different here.  But amongst all those inconveniences, simples moments like when I walk home from school and three little girls come running up to give me a big hug and kids coming over in the evening asking for a “discotecha”, meaning for me to bring my flash light out and put it on strobe mode while they dance.  Helping 11 year old Niquito learn to read and seeing my students’ faces when I show them photos of animals they have never heard of like jellyfish and clams.  Those are the things that keep me around and guarantee to make me smile. 

So I have made it through my first year.  Through the ups and downs and all the emotions one might expect someone in this situation to have, and then some.  Have I changed in this past year? Yes, how could you not!?  Here, you certainly need to develop a huge sense of patience and flexibility and it’s almost impossible not to develop an appreciation for the simple things. I most certainly have learned a lot about myself and am much more comfortable and confident.  Mom, that young shy girl who was afraid to talk on the phone or order her food is long gone.  Now I do it in Portuguese or even a local African language! 

It’s still hard and I still have those days where I wish I could sleep in a more comfortable bed without a mosquito net, use a washing machine, or go to a drive-thru.  Days when I wonder what I am doing here, if I’m really making any difference and how nice it would be to hop on a plane and go back to my home in California.  What’s the most surprising aspect?  What’s the biggest difference between here and there?  What’s the hardest part?  Really all I can say in response to those questions is LIFE.  And it’s also my favorite part.  A bit general perhaps, but for this past year, this has been my life and it no longer seems so foreign nor strange.  It’s a simpler life in many ways with fewer conveniences, fewer material items, and a slower pace, but it’s been all the adventure I was hoping it would be.  And guess what….I still have another year! 

Now, rather than thinking of it as a daunting time frame and constantly counting the number of weeks or months I have been here, I have switched to a mindset of realizing how quickly time can pass and how much I still want to do before I leave, potentially just a short 13 months away now!  The days still feel just as long, but the weeks and months seem to be passing much faster now.

This one year mark, interestingly enough exactly one year to the day, brought another surprise….I received a roommate! I had previously been informed that I would most likely be getting a roommate in December, but due to some security reasons at her old house, Adrienne was moved from her site in central Mozambique to come live with me now and will be living in my other small house.  It’ll be quite a different experience this second year not being on my own anymore and sharing my town, but I’m excited for the change! 

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my current projects so I’ll try to catch up on the past few months now too.

About two months ago, I met a neighbor named Iassito when he came by for help with his internet modem.  We got to talking and I discovered he was president of a non-profit organization called AJUDEMU – Associação Juvenil para o Desenvolvimento de Murrupula (Youth Association for the Development of Murrupula).  Volunteerism is not a super common trait among a lot of people here and I was totally impressed hearing about his group’s previous projects and excited at the prospect of possibly being able to help them. 

Currently, they are working on a project to provide computer classes to the community.  They have one super old computer and just finished their first round of classes which include hour-long lessons 5 days a week for 3 weeks for paying students.  Now, I am meeting with about five people, including members of AJUDEMU and the best student from the previous lessons, to help them learn some more about using computers and train them to become teachers for future lessons. 

Iassito also has been helping me with my community library project, along with Professor Shek.  More on this project soon!  We are currently working on making a budget for the construction of the library and are hoping to write a proposal for funding within the next couple months. 

School is coming to its final weeks, only two weeks of classes left and then exam time.  I think both the teachers and the students are ready for the summer break.  During my break, I hope to do a little more traveling, perhaps to see Lake Niassa, travel south of my site to visit other volunteers, and say good-bye to those volunteers who have completed their service and are heading home in November and December.  Perhaps most exciting, my friend Courtney from home is meeting me in South Africa to do a safari and visit Cape Town in January! 

I still can’t decide if it feels like it’s been a long year or has gone by really quickly, but, nonetheless, an entire year has passed since I left home and that is pretty incredible to think about.  Thank you for your considered support and words of encouragement! J