Home Sweet Home

It happened.  I knew someday it would, and the other morning it finally happened.  A lizard inside my mosquito net….

I still am not really sure how he got in there or how long he was there for, but I came back from the bathroom and there he was, a little guy about 6 inches long, sitting up in the far corner of the net.  Rather than simply leave him and hope he found his own way out only to climb in to bed at night and discover my new friend still with me, I strategized a plan to help him exit. 

Grasping a broom, I kept as much distance between me and him as I could, trying to coax him down off the net.  Who knew lizards could jump?!  This guy leapt on to that broom causing me to of course scream but I acted quickly and ran outside before he could jump off.

Later in the afternoon, I was greeted by another friend in my kitchen.  This guy was a fat one and quite the jumper too!  I tried to coax him out with a broom also, but his jumping was too much for me confined inside the tiny kitchen so I just let him be and hoped he found his way out on his own.

It’s small moments like this when you realize the little things about yourself that have already changed.  I distinctly remember a time back at my home in California involving a similar lizard incident when I called my dad at work to help me.  What I expected him to do all the way from work, I don’t know, but somehow he was going to rescue me from this “beast”.

Now, here I am in Africa tackling these “beasts” on my own.  Though, admittedly I still might scream a little when it seems like the lizard is coming toward me, I look at them more now as friends who eat the bugs.  I’m happy to see them running around my backyard.  As long as they stay out of my bed, we will be okay.  I definitely check (and then recheck and check again) to make sure my net is fully tucked in at night so no other fun critters try to snuggle up with me…

Since these lizard adventures, I have since been graced with the presence of a spider almost as big as my palm and a little scorpion inside my house.  Home sweet home!

Beaches, BBQs, and Bioluminescence

Here is an update on what I have been up to the last few weeks.  

I spent a couple days in Angoche at a volunteer’s apartment which resembles an apartment you might find back in the US. (you can see the ocean out of every window, I kid you not! And it is huge!)  They sell these things there called Apas, which consist of a tortilla filled with a fried egg and ketchup and mayonnaise.  Don’t diss it til you try it!  It’s much tastier than it sounds!  Greasy goodness!  The town of Angoche resembles any other beach town, just imagine such a beach town mostly deserted kind of like a ghost town.  Most of the people living in Angoche live in the bairros outside the city’s center, so it seems like there is almost no one around sometimes.  We took a small boat across to a beautiful beach, imagine paradise, and boom you’re on a beach in Angoche.

On Dec 24^th, we left Angoche to meet up with the other Northerners in Ilha de Mocambique for the memorial service for Lena and Alden.  We celebrated Christmas by eating at Bar Flor, this amazing, though expensive (well expensive by Mozambique standards and my living budget, like $15 a meal) restaurant where I had lobster pasta which was delicious!  Without the Christmas carols, lights, or decorations, it was really easy to forget that it was Christmas and didn’t feel like it at all!  But I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Then on Dec 29^th, about 15 of us returned to Angoche, planning to celebrate New Year’s there.  Taking advantage of the huge, real life style kitchen, I reveled in the opportunity to cook.  One night we opted for fish tacos.  So knowing nothing about fish, I ventured with Ashley to the fish market for an adventure.  The entire market gathered round as we negotiated with the fisherman.  He presented us with about six huge, and I mean huge fish!  Like four feet long! Some even had teeth while others looked like they had had a bad day.  I had no idea what type of fish these were, and still don’t but we chose two big guys and then the fisherman handed me one by its tail.  I looked at him and then at the fish and then thought to myself, well guess we gotta carry them home some how!  So I grabbed that fish by its tail and motioned to Ashley to do the same with the second.  She gave me the same surprised look I gave the fisherman, but she too picked the huge fish up and we proceeded to walk home, fish in hand.  Those suckers were heavy!  We named them Stan and Mel and kept thinking what we would do if the fish suddenly came back to life and started moving.  It took me several hours to cook everything, but I could think of worse things to do than cook delicious food on a balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean.  And they made for some certainly tasty tacos! 

For New Year’s eve, twelve of us decided to go jump in the Indian Ocean at midnight and were greeted with an incredible surprise.  The power had been out all day, and the stars that night were unbelievably beautiful!  There were even stars in the water!  Yeah! There was bioluminescence in the water!  It looked like little jewels of light floating around whenever you moved in the water.  At midnight, some people from shore even let off a few fireworks as if anything could have made this moment more perfect!  We all kept looking at each other thinking to ourselves, this can’t be real life!  It was a moment I will certainly never forget and quite the way to bring in the new year. 

Had a couple more lazy days in Angoche before returning back to site for a night, then Peace Corps flew our entire Moz 17 group down to Maputo for the weekend.  It was awesome being able to see everyone and catch up and just have more support around. 

While we were down south, Peace Corps arranged to have us help out with a volunteer project in Catembe.  Catembe has this huge sink hole, a common occurrence along the coast of Mozambique, and had the army present to help fill sand bags to fill the sink hole and prevent it from growing during the upcoming rainy season.  So our job was to sort through the 300,000 or so bags, separating those that could be filled from those that couldn’t.  It was about as exciting as it sounds, and much dirtier than one might expect.  The bags had been delivered by a sugar company, so they were sticky and someone decided they should be placed under a mango tree, so there were dead mangos all over to add a wonderful smell to the whole mix.  The sheer number of bags was incredible!  Piled under the mango tree and spreading down the street looking like huge stacks of trash strewn everywhere.  We all stuck it out together and enjoyed a free afternoon on the beach after a few hours of the exciting bag sorting.  This beach was incredible!  There was a short pier with a little bar on the end in a tiki hut style belonging to the Gallery Hotel, definitely a place I would recommend staying to anyone planning to visit Maputo.  So beautiful!

We stayed on a USAID complex in Maputo which felt like America!  The house had a huge kitchen complete with oven and stovetop, full size refrigerator, and coffee machine.  The bedrooms had been arranged with several beds in each making it feel like we were on some MTV reality show or something.  They even had air conditioning! The whole complex felt like a gated community from the US.  There are about 15 houses or so and even a park with a playground and swing set.  One family even had a yellow lab dog!  I swear we had been transported to America!

One night, we had a BBQ with hamburgers, sausages, baked beans, cauliflower and broccoli, and chocolate chip cookies.  Then on January 9^th, we had a memorial service for Lena and Alden at the Ambassador’s house.  About 150 people attended, including RPCVs, Lena and Alden’s host families from Namaacha, Mozambican administrative officials, and our training staff.  Carl, the country director, said a few words encouraging us to have the courage and strength to continue on and return back to site, the Ambassador spoke, we read some passages from Lena’s blog and a book Alden had been reading, Patrick said a few words about Alden and Anna about Lena, we lined up to place flowers under their photos, and the Ambassador’s husband, a RPCV from the Philippines finished the ceremony with a few words of encouragement. 

Following the ceremony, for lunch we met with our Namaacha families who Peace Corps had driven down.  My mae and my aunt Rita came and I caught up with them and showed them photos of my house.  Though we only were together for about an hour or so, it was good seeing them and they seemed happy to see me too. 

Then it was vacation over and back to site and real life again.  Looking forward to the school year beginning and what new adventures lay ahead!

From my first days at site

Sorry I have been absent for several weeks!  To start, here is something I wrote during my first week at site….

It’s difficult to begin to describe quite what it feels like to be in our current situation.  The first word that comes to mind is overwhelming.  We just finished ten weeks of training, but nothing can quite prepare you for the feeling that comes when you first arrive at your new house, your home for the next 2 years.  It feels just as crazy as one might think it sounds, but slowly we will make this into our home. 

On Monday, December 12th, Erica and I were driven in a Peace Corps car to our site in Murrupula.  Though only about 70km from Nampula City, the ride seemed much longer than the hour or so it took, and as more and more time passed, we both got more and more nervous, completely unsure about what to expect. 

We were first taken to our school and met the school director and then we went to our house.  The director was so excited to show us our new house, but Erica and I were totally and completely shocked by what we encountered.  So I guess that is what culture shock feels like…  The walls inside desperately needed a paint job to cover up the dirt, random patches of cement, and just random feel of dirtiness and old, broken down feeling.  The doorways are tiny, just wide enough to walk through and short so you have to bend over when passing through.  I have already hit my head many many times.  There are almost no windows, only one small one in the bedroom and another small one in the kitchen.  And the house was totally empty, only a table and three wooden chairs which have seen better days, and a small wooden bookshelf, nothing else.  Nothing on the dirty walls, no plates or kitchenware, no bed frames nor mattress, no dresser or nightstand, basically nothing. 

There are actually two houses, one with a bedroom, kitchen, and living room area and the other with a bedroom and living room with some concrete benches.  We have an outdoor bathroom, one side, a key-shaped hole into the abyss with two foot-shaped concrete sections to indicate where to place your feet, and on the other side, a place for our bucket baths.  We also have (and our favorite parts) a gazebo with a thatched roof for some shade relief from the ridiculously hot African sun and a reed fence around the entire property for some privacy.

Initially, we were totally shocked, thinking what in the heck have we gotten ourselves in to and why!  Luckily, and thank god, the Peace Corps driver stayed with us and, along with another professor, helped us buy mattresses, pots, and big buckets for storing water.  They also arranged for another guy to get us water and fill up the buckets.  Slowly things were coming together and the initial shock and total overwhelmed feeling began to subside a bit.

Once we were on our own, Erica and I took a seat in our living room and surveyed our house for a second time.  Though there is a ton of work to be done, we actually have a pretty awesome set up here.  With a little paint on the walls, building some shelves or something for storage and making it so we don’t have to live out of our suitcases for two years, this house can and will become our home, slowly.  We even have some papaya trees of our own!

For the first few days, we lived without electricity.  Having no lights was okay to deal with, but the heat, especially at night, was miserable with no fans!  Our first night, we barely were able to sleep as our house felt like the inside of an oven and we resorted to soaking some t-shirts in water and laying them on ourselves to try to cool off enough to fall asleep.  Needless to say, it was a long first night.

But, thankfully, our director, who seems pretty on top of things so far, arranged for us to get electricity set up a few days later.  And the first thing we bought that day was two big fans :). 

It’s been a long week, but we have come a long way from that first day.  We bought some paint and painted the walls in our living room a super super bright blue and a bright green and had enough paint left to paint one wall in our bedrooms.  We have gotten crafty during our free time (we have lots and lots of free time), weaving capulana strips together to make a wall hanging and hanging another cool looking capulana up as art work.  I made a basket out of sticks lashed together and covered in capulana and another out of taped together cardboard from a cereal box.  I “repaired” our kitchen counter using some rocks and duct tape (only a picture can really explain).  We even braved up enough to sleep in our separate houses!

It’s a lot easier to stay in our backyard, but we are trying to force ourselves to leave and at least walk around the community.  So far, I really like the feel of the community here and the town itself.  Most everyone we have met has been super friendly!  Our school director took us around to meet some administrative officials including the governor of the district of Murrupula, the city’s one doctor, the director of the hospital, the secretary of the district, and the district educational administrators.  We have met several other teachers, many of whom are our neighbors or live really close by.

The town itself is actually pretty big and spreads out in either direction for a while.  (I’ve never been the greatest with distances, but I’ll try to find out some numerical values or something soon.)  There is a small market with not many food options other than rice, beans, tomatoes, onions (so many onions!), potatoes, mangoes, bananas, eggs, and some pasta.  But the options really vary depending on the day and time of day you go.  We also discovered a dried fish market, quite the smelly place and not something we will ever be frequent visitors at.  Luckily, Nampula City isn’t too far for a day trip to a somewhat larger “grocery store” to include a little more variety into our diet.

So that was my first week at site, and my how things have changed since then!  Unfortunately, Erica decided to return home to the US so I am on my own now.  Also, my school got a new director, yes a new director just a week before school begins.  But I am embracing this new independence and taking it one day at a time.  Recent changes I have made to my house include making a shelf out of stacked plastic bottles and two others out of bricks and reeds, organizing my house a little more, meeting some more neighbors, hanging up some new artwork, and cleaning.  School starts on Monday so that should keep me busy and help me meet more people.  Each day has its ups and downs, but I am hanging in there!

Two New Angels

I had been at site for about two weeks.  It had been tough, emotional-roller-coaster filled weeks of self doubt and lots of free time.  Erica and I had been trying to keep busy painting our house, buying necessary items so we could live with almost zero resources, trying to make this house feel more like a home.  Though it had only been two weeks, we were both excited to get away from site for the holidays and meet up with some friends for Christmas and New Years.

On December 21^st, I and three other friends had literally just arrived in Nametil to visit Adam and Kevin when we received one of the most shocking messages from Peace Corps.  “Dear PC: There was a road accident in Macia, Gaza province on 12/20 involving five PCVs.  Three PCVs sustained and are stable but being med evac’ed to South Africa.  Sadly, Lena Jenison and Alden Landis passed away from their injuries last night….”

At first we thought it must not be true, that it must be some kind of horrific joke.  Only two weeks prior had we all been together, excited, nervous, anxious, and enthusiastic for ourselves and for our friends to begin our adventures at site.  For ten weeks, we had been through an intense training, but nothing can even begin to prepare you for news like this.

The five of us sat stunned on the front porch, at a complete loss for words and unsure how to feel, searching for more information.  We contacted other friends around the country and slowly the reality of the situation began to sink in. Two of our dear friends, two people from this new family we had created here in Mozambique, were gone, just like that, in a single instant.

How do I even begin to describe these two girls.  Lena and Alden were some of the most energetic, beautiful girls, always lighting up the room with their positive spirits.  Though I was not super close with them, I still shared many memories with them.  Never will I forget Lena’s wit and incredible sense of humor, her enthusiasm for making hand turkeys on Thanksgiving, that “growly” face she makes in almost every photo, her spunky glasses, her nack for story-telling, her passion to begin teaching.  I was always so jealous of Alden’s  style and clothes, she had traveled and seen various parts of the world, she was always laughing or making you laugh, I don’t think I ever saw her without a coconut in hand, she was incredibly easy to talk to and made you feel comfortable in an instant.  These girls were, plain and simple, living, living their lives to the fullest and following their dreams.  As a friend put it, there is so much to be said for the fact that they died not just wanting to make the world a better place, but actually taking action to make it one.  Though they were taken too soon, the world is a better place because of them, just as we are better people for having known them.

On December 26^th, we held a memorial service in Ilha de Mocambique to remember these amazing girls and the moments we shared with them.  Over thirty people attended, mostly the northern Moz 17ers, but also volunteers from other earlier Moz groups.  The memorial could not have been more perfect, perfect setting on the beach, beautiful sunset, we shared stories and remembered Alden and Lena how we knew them best, energetic, enthusiastic, always lighting up the room and living their lives to the fullest.

On the beach, we found an old boat on which we placed Alden and Lena’s photos surrounded by seashells and flowers.  We created an infiniti sign out of seashells, rocks, and coconut shells and placed it in front of their photos.  We read aloud quotes taken from Lena’s blog and quotes Alden had underlined in a book she had just finished reading.  We said a short prayer.  We took turns sharing stories and memories, amazed at how close you can get to people in such a short amount of time.  We wrote personal messages and put them inside decorated bottles for each girl.  We made wreaths out of flowers and leaves.  We had a moment of silence.  While singing the song we had written for homestay celebration, “Tudo Bom Para Nos”, we let the bottles and wreaths go out to sea.  We made a slideshow and revisited those images and memories we will never forget, two girls whose memories will live on.

It is still all extremely surreal. On Jan 6th, all the Moz 17ers are being flown down to Maputo for a memorial service there.  Thank you to Peace Corps for arranging this very necessary meeting so quickly.  We have been provided with both formal and informal means of support and assistance, but I think the best support comes from us all being together during this difficult time.  Everyone here is like a family and it is comforting having so many others to lean on.

It has been a rough week and something no one was prepared for.  Several volunteers are returning home for 45 days to reconnect with family and re-evaluate their decision to be here.  Many others are seeking site re-placements, hoping that a new scenery may help them begin again.  I hope not to lose more friends who decide to go home, but everyone deals with grief in their own way.  This has definitely brought our group closer together, we were close before but now are even more so.

I think a friend put it best, LIFE IS FRAGILE.  For me, that is a huge reason as to why I decided to do Peace Corps in the first place.  We have a limited time that could end at any second and we have to take in every moment and live it to its fullest.  I still look forward to this incredible opportunity I have been given.  Thank you to all of you for your support, it means more now than ever before.

My thoughts, prayers, and heart go out to both Alden and Lena’s families and friends, as well as those of the three other victims of the accident.  Mary, Mark, and Derek, we wish you all a quick, healthy recovery.  You have many here who will miss you and we think of you every day.

Alden and Lena, you will never be forgotten.  Rest in peace girls.  Estamos juntos.  Sempre.

PHOTOS!

I finally got the chance to upload some photos to facebook today!

Here is the link....
Pre-Service Training

Enjoy!

Swearing In

An application, interview, two months of medical appointments, waiting, waiting and more waiting, invitation to Mozambique, training in Philadelphia, homestay families, ten weeks of training in Mozambique…...after all that, yesterday, we finally officially became Peace Corps Volunteers! 

Leaving our families in Namaacha was somewhat bittersweet, excited to be moving on but sad to say good-bye.  Mae told me some nice things and said their door is always open for me.  Then we hopped on a bus and headed to Maputo to the US Ambassador’s house for our Swearing In ceremony.

The Ambassador Leslie Rowe, PC Mozambique Country Director Carl Swartz, the training staff, representatives from the Ministry of Education and other Mozambican government officials, a few current volunteers, and 50 excited Moz 17 trainees attended the hour or so long ceremony including a speech from Carl, speech from a volunteer in our group, speech from the Ambassador, and one from the Ministry of Education representative.  We stood with our right hands raised and repeated an oath swearing to uphold the US Constitution and serve as Peace Corps Volunteers.  In fact, it’s the same oath used to swear in the President.

Apparently the ceremony was televised.  Our waiter at lunch today asked where we were from and what we were doing in Mozambique and then said how he remembered seeing us on TV yesterday.  Got that a couple times actually, so pretty cool!

So now we can officially call ourselves Peace Corps Volunteers!!  In a couple days, we begin what we all came here to do.  It’s bittersweet to see everyone leave to go all over the country, sad leaving good friends, but excited for everyone and the new experiences we are all about to have.  :)

Also, today I took my first shower with running water in almost 70 days!

Here are a few pictures.  Hopefully I'll be able to upload all of the pictures from Training soon!

Moz 17 Peace Corps VOLUNTEERS

Me with Carl, PC Mozambique Country Director

Me with Leslie Rowe, US Ambassador

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!