Christmas in Africa

This Christmas was very different…not just because I was away from family, friends and snow but I spent it on the beach and it truly felt just like any other day. I was able to go to mass on Christmas morning so that was nice (I didn’t understand a majority of it since it was in the local language) and they sang the “Gloria” song from back home at the end of mass. I missed the Christmas season back home—seeing the Bell ringers outside Hy-Vee, making hot cider and watching the Grinch, making those peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses on top and mostly being with family. It was really nice to be reunited with all the Moz 19ers in Nampula and get to catch up and hear about everyone’s sites though.

We did celebrate with very good food though (chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, French toast, banana pancakes with mango syrup, cookies, garlic bread and shrimp pasta—which I actually liked, shocking that I would say that about seafood I know!) and listened to Christmas carols and watched Home Alone! I even learned how to bake in a makeshift Dutch oven using pots and sand. Today I tested out my skills and made a coffee cake—it turned out great! I was so proud of myself for making a Dutch oven and baking for the first time by myself in Africa J

Traveling to Angoche for Christmas was interesting…I left my site and caught a semi chapa to take me to Nampula city. In the city I met another Moz 19 PCV at a coffee shop (I honestly would still be wandering around the streets of Nampula if not for a VERY nice mother and daughter who showed me exactly how to get to the café—thank goodness for nice people!). We then tried to catch a chapa to Angoche but the only thing leaving was an open back truck full of cargo and they weren’t planning on leaving for another few hours. So of course we decide to just walk along the highway (I know, smart right?) and hope to catch a boleia. Only a few cars passed us by but no one was going that way. Then out of nowhere a car speeds past us and we didn’t even have time to flag them down. The car turned around and started driving back towards us—it ended up being 2 nice South Africans traveling in an air conditioned car. They even had a cooler in the car and offered us cookies, pop, ham & cheese sandwiches, hot dogs and chocolate. They were so nice they even drove us right to our stop in Angoche and let us take some food with us! It definitely made up for the semi and craziness of Nampula.

When we were trying to leave Angoche we had better luck catching a chapa to Nampula at 4am. However, I did get my first marriage proposal on that chapa. I had no idea what to say to that so I just kept telling him no…then of course he had to ask why I didn’t want to be with him, etc. It was all I could do to keep a straight face and not laugh. I mean seriously—he didn’t even know me, he just met me on this truck and asked to be my husband. It was an interesting day to say the least! I was able to shop for food in Nampula and get syrup, veggies and other tasty things I can’t get at site. While I was in Nampula city I saw someone wearing an Omaha/Council Bluffs YMCA shirt! I literally stopped in my tracks because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I knew he probably didn’t know where Omaha was but the fact that I got a reminder of home made my day! And on the chapa back to Nacuxa I saw a man wearing a Whistler, Canada sweatshirt and it reminded me of when I went there with my family! Overall, even though traveling back to site was very stressful it made me smile when I had these little reminders of home and fun times with my family J

Ringing in the New Year in Africa will definitely be a bit different as well. I’ll still make my list of resolutions but I won’t be watching the ball drop on TV. I’m going to Nacala (the closest big city about 30 minutes away) with my roommate to stay on the beach and watch some fireworks!

Finishing my laundry has never made me feel so accomplished. I can’t believe how easy it is in the States to just put your clothes in a machine and add soap then go watch tv or do something else while your laundry is being cleaned. Here that is not the case…It entails a little bit more labor than that but once you have it all done you feel like you’ve really accomplished something J

School will be starting soon and I’ll be busy teaching English and computers—I’m excited and anxious to teach at the secondary school. It will definitely be different than the 3^rd graders I’m used to but it will be a great learning experience. I’m still not quite sure when school starts. I’ve asked a few times and each time I get a different answer. It’s either starting Jan 7^th, the middle of January or early February. Hopefully, I’ll be finding out soon so I can be prepared! For now I’m cleaning the house, making curtains and catching up on my reading—I’ll be glad to have lessons to write and tests to grade to keep me busy soon!

Happy New Year!! Thanks to one of my college professors I have a quote to start the New Year with that I hope is as inspiring to you as it has been to me…

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bugs, Peanut Butter M&Ms & Christmas lights

I wanted to share with you some statistics I got on the education system during my PST…I was really shocked by some of them and thought it was important for people back home to see the differences between our education system in America and those of other countries.

Statistics on Education in Moz

o      Adult literacy rate is 47%

o      Female literacy rate is 32%

o      52% of children attend school in a mud or stick structure or under a tree

o      26% of primary school teachers have not received any training

o      Based on a USAID study in Mozambique of 50 schools, on average a school had 30 days of effective instructional time per 183-day school year

o      59% of 3^rd grade students in the Cabo Delgado province could NOT read a single word

Random Happenings in Nacuxa

-This last week I was wondering why my bread was crunchy…I then looked and saw some black specks and figured it was mold. I then decided to look closer and pull that piece out and realized their was a bug in the bread. I had been eating bread with bugs in it—I felt kind of gross but I kept eating the bread since it was dinner, (haha—not something I thought I would ever say)

-Went to the hospital with my roommate, Anna, and was able to see her weigh babies and what it is like to go to the hospital in Nacuxa. In order to weigh the babies they put them in this fabric swing that hangs off a scale. Most of the babies don’t weigh as much as they need to and look pretty malnourished. It’s also so weird to me to see women breast-feeding in public and not covering themselves up. It just is odd that women cannot show their knees in public or even at home in front of men but they can walk around feeding their babies uncovered. It’s perfectly normal to everyone here and I’m sure soon I’ll be accustomed to it as well.

-Finally got my 2 year bag and other boxes! It was so happy seeing what all I had in there. It was like I got a whole new wardrobe with all my other clothes I forgot I had. (Still can’t find my camera cord….so no pictures until my mom sends me the cord, sorry!)

-Buying a fan was the BEST purchase I think I have ever made! I absolutely love it and was even able to sleep using my quilt from home for the first time this week (Without sweating!)

-I now have a USB internet modem that lets me skype (yay!) but not check gmail or go to my blog…so it’s working but only for certain things

-Killing cockroaches and other weird bugs in our house has become a daily occurrence—at least so far I’ve only had one in my room and none in my bed!

-Last night I walked into my room to find 1 of the biggest spiders I have ever seen…I didn’t want to step on it so I instead went and got our bug spray. When I sprayed it lots of mini little bugs/spiders came out of it and it ended up getting away! I then saw 2 more huge spiders in my room—I only successfully killed one (and the babies) but the others are somewhere hiding under my clothes/suitcase. I’m just hoping the fumes from the spray killed them slowly. For the rest of the night I sat on my bed with my laptop, kindle, water bottle, hard drive and ipod securely tucked under my mosquito net for fear the spiders would come get me...I haven’t gotten over my spider fear yet but I’m working on it J  

-I hate to admit this but I got a little too excited to have peanut butter m&ms from my care package….I ended up eating both bags (not the mini ones either) in just 3 days...let’s just say I haven’t been eating the most healthy lunches when it consists of pb m&ms and fruit! But I ate them all so now hopefully I can start cooking and stop being lazy with my meals. My roommate and I are going to try and go into the city sometime soon and buy an oven so we can start baking!

-Thanks to my family back home our house is now decorated with a Christmas tree, nativity scene and wreath! It feels so homey now J Anna and I are going to have one night where we make the snow in a can (thanks mom!), drink hot chocolate and make cinnamon toast—I’m so excited! I’m hoping it’ll cool down some before we do this or else I’ll be sweating as I drink the hot chocolate.

-I finally put up all my pictures on quotes on the wall—so now with our Christmas decorations and pictures on the wall my house is starting to feel like home J

-This weekend the neighbor kids came over to color and I brought out my 2 big English picture books (thanks Katie!) and the kids absolutely loved it! They asked me to tell them what every word was because they really wanted to learn English and then they would tell me in Portuguese. I even had one little boy come back over to our house this morning asking for the books so he could read it on our porch! They are super cute kids—I took lots of pictures this weekend of them playing and acting crazy and I’ll be sure to put them up soon

Hope you all are enjoying the Holiday season! Make some Christmas cookies and drink some hot apple cider for me J

Home Sweet Home

Sorry I’ve been slow at updating these last few weeks…life has been crazy between Model School,‭ ‬our final LPI‭ (‬which I passed‭!)‬,‭ ‬packing,‭ ‬swearing-in and moving to site‭!

Nacucha‭ (‬Nacuxa…I can’t figure out which way to spell it because it’s spelled both ways‭) ‬has so far been a beautiful site and the people are all really nice.‭ ‬The town really wouldn’t exist without the secondary school,‭ ‬where I’m living.‭ ‬The school has‭ “‬machambas‭” (‬farms‭)‬,‭ ‬animals,‭ ‬big field for‭ ‬“futebol‭”‬,‭ ‬houses for the professors and dorms for the‭ ‬students.‭ ‬The only other parts of Nacucha that are outside the school are the market about‭ ‬5‭ ‬minutes down the road,‭ ‬the Hospital‭ (‬where my roommate,‭ ‬a Moz‭ ‬18‭ ‬Health volunteer works‭) ‬and‭ ‬2‭ “‬barracas‭” (‬bars—where you can buy water,‭ ‬pop,‭ ‬cookies,‭ ‬and some other staple foods‭)‬.‭

Nacucha is only about‭ ‬2‭ ‬hours away from Nampula city‭ (‬the Province capital/Peace Corps office‭) ‬but getting transportation to and from Nacucha can be a challenge.‭ ‬The nearest big city is Nacala,‭ ‬about‭ ‬15K away so it shouldn’t take long to get to but no‭ ‬“chapas‭”‬ or cars really come on the road by the school so it makes getting off campus a little difficult.‭ ‬The nuns and priest do have cars and thankfully go to Nacala a few times a week and let us come with them so that will be nice‭! ‬But otherwise traveling out of site will probably be a little bit difficult.‭

A priest and‭ ‬3‭ ‬nuns run the school,‭ ‬just met the Priest‭ ‬and some professors‭ ‬this morning and‭ ‬they are very nice.‭ ‬They have all been really welcoming and have put up with my low level of Portuguese‭ ‬ My house is really well furnished—Anna and I both have our own rooms with a bed and‭ ‬2‭ ‬side tables,‭ ‬an indoor bathroom,‭ ‬desk and round table in our living room,‭ ‬a fridge/freezer,‭ ‬electric stovetop and a pantry.‭ ‬We also have electricity‭! ‬We have running water that supposedly comes on twice a day for about‭ ‬30‭ ‬minutes each but since I’ve been here it hasn’t‭ ‬come on much.

The weather here is VERY hot right now since it’s summer…and especially hot in our house since we don’t have fans.‭ ‬I really haven’t stopped sweating since getting here on Friday…gross I know.‭ ‬Today we‭ ‬made‭ ‬a trip to Nacala‭ (‬about‭ ‬20‭ ‬minutes away‭) ‬to buy fans,‭ ‬stuff for our house and food‭! ‬Nacala is the closest big city that has a bank and all the food we can‭’‬t get in Nacucha—it also is where they have beautiful beaches‭! ‬Our house is starting to look more and more like a home‭! ‬We just hung up rope for our laundry,‭ ‬put together our fans,‭ ‬got an organizer for the bathroom and the water came on this afternoon so I was even able to do laundry‭! ‬Having a fan has changed my life‭ ‬ I now will be able to sleep all the way through the night and hopefully not sweat too much.‭

The school here is still in session,‭ ‬which is really unheard of in Mozambique…they go until December‭ ‬22nd and then come back January‭ ‬7/8th.‭ ‬Most schools here have already taken their annual exams and are out for the summer break.‭ ‬I will start teaching in January‭ ‬English and Informatica‭ (‬Computer class‭)‬.‭ ‬The good news is that my school has computers‭! ‬I was really worried I would have to teach a computer class without computers.‭ ‬ Also I found out that the maximum number of students in my classes will be‭ ‬30‭! ‬I’m really happy about that because a lot of other volunteers will be having‭ ‬70-100‭ ‬students in every class.‭

As soon as I get my other bags from PC and find my camera cord I’ll post pictures of my house and the school where I’ll be working.‭ ‬More posts to come soon‭! ‬I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas…it really doesn’t feel the same without snow,‭ ‬bell ringers and Christmas cookies‭ (‬but I have been listening to Christmas music so that helps‭)! ‬

Destination: Nacuxa, Nampula

Found out my site placement for the rest of my 2 years of service…I will be heading up north to the province of Nampula. My site is in Nacuxa (pronounced Na-cush-a) and is pretty close to some beautiful beaches! I’m opening up this new education site but thankfully there is already a Moz 18 health volunteer, Anna, there that I will be living with. We will be living on the school grounds in a cement house that has an indoor bathroom and running water occasionally. The secondary school is run by a Priest and a few nuns that also live there—it will be nice to not have to walk very far to go to church on Sundays since I’ll be living right across from the chapel!

I will be teaching English and ITC (a computer/technology class)—I’m glad I have some practice helping my grandma "sittee" with her computer  I’m really excited and anxious to be teaching at a secondary school…I think it will be really good experience but I’m used to 3^{rd graders so there will definitely be some things I need to adjust. The school I will be teaching at is an agricultural/technical school and only has about 300 students. Since it’s a smaller school I think the class sizes will be smaller—hopefully not more than 50! I am nervous for teaching ITC because that will all be in Portuguese! I don’t yet feel confident in my Portuguese knowledge to teach a class about computers…I’m going to try and learn a lot of the computer/technology vocab before I leave PST! (I’m also really hoping my school has computers…it would be very difficult to teach an ITC class without computers to look at and practice on but it is very possible that could happen). Hopefully by the time school starts in late January I’ll be able to talk about computers in Portuguese!}

From what I have heard about the site it is really beautiful and also rural. Anna, the volunteer already living there, did give me a heads up and told me that you cannot buy toilet paper anywhere in our town. I’m definitely going to stock up before I leave for site on that! There is a bigger city about 45 minutes away from Nacuxa that has real supermarkets where you can buy toilet paper and all the other fruits and vegetables you can’t get at site. It will definitely be nice to be so close to a bigger city where I can buy some staple items for my house and for meals. I did find out that our school has a giant mango tree in the middle of the grounds—I’m so excited to be able to go outside and pick a mango to eat for breakfast!

Next week we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Friday with all the volunteers, PC staff and LCFS (language teachers). We were even able to get 10 turkeys for all of us and are making tons of other good American comfort foods! I’m really excited to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving here with all the other volunteers before we leave for sites.

This week we have model school at the secondary school in the mornings. I’m teaching a 9th grade English class, thankfully it won’t be bad since I can talk all in English!Sunday I went to Mass in the morning then walked to the waterfalls with some friends. The waterfalls were beautiful—I took lots of pictures and once I find my camera cord I will definitely upload them!

"We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something." ~Mother Teresa

My friend Anna, another PCV, let me borrow an interesting book on Mozambique and this quote was on one of the pages. I loved it and wanted to share it with you all-- Enjoy this week!

Updates:
-New address for when I move to site in December:
Corpo da Paz (Peace Corps)
Rua Dar-Es Salam No. 14,
P.O. Box 526
Nampula, Mozambique

-I love to eat chicken…even after I have killed it but I just cannot get down with eating the chicken’s foot…there’s just something about it that I can’t make myself eat it. My host mom got a good laugh at that when I was trying to explain why I hadn’t eaten the foot for lunch!

-Voluntarily took a bath in the middle of the day with cold water just so I would stop sweating and cool down for a few minutes. I’m worried about going to site because right now I’m in the mountains where it is much cooler…Nacuxa is VERY hot! I think my first purchase when I get to site will be a fan (and toilet paper)!

-Love running in the mornings here! Usually not too many people are awake/out yet…and therefore do not get stared at or called malungu ("white person") by everyone. Somehow I could never wake up early in the United States to work out but here I get up everyday without an alarm clock at 5am or earlier…I guess it could have something to do with me going to bed at 9pm all the time!

-Have had to sneak bananas into my house too many times to count since I’ve been at my new home stay. The first time I bought some my sister made us hide them at the back door and then walk through the front door and sneakily get them through the other door later. I still can’t figure out why I’m hiding the bananas I just know that I can’t show them to my host mom or throw the trash away at my house. (Yes I know how weird it sounds to say I’m hiding my bananas and taking my trash to a friend’s house…)

-During language class this week a woman selling ice cream walked past our class and our amazing LCF let us take a break and go buy an ice cream cone for 10mets (which isn’t even 50 cents in America—pretty dang cheap ice cream!)

-Only 2 weeks left in Namaacha then I’ll be flying north to Nacuxa! Time has flown by so far…

Breakfast for dinner, baked goods & chapa rides

Site visits this last week were a much-needed break of PST! The site I visited in the Inhambane province was about a 40-minute chapa ride from Maxixe in Homoine. The 2 volunteers were both Teacher Trainers and lived at the IFP, (Teacher Training Institute) was about a 30-minute walk from the town/market. Their house is really nice—they even have a bathroom with running water (sometimes), an indoor toilet and a small toaster oven. The IFP was beautiful—it was sandy and really sunny which is very different than Namaacha which is all mud and cool weather right now. All the people we met were very nice and welcoming! The students at the IFP are very polite (they all stood up and greeted us when we walked into the classroom). The town itself is really safe and they had a really good market with fresh fruits and vegetables!

We made amazing food: pizzas, chocolate cake, banana bread, breakfast for dinner, coffee cake and no bake cookies! It was the best food I have eaten since I’ve been here. It was really nice to be able to make our own food and live on our own schedule for the week. We also got to see the Indian Ocean in Tofo at the beach there one day this last week—it was really beautiful! I walked with a few other volunteers and collected some pretty cool looking seashells and saw some jellyfish. We even got to watch the elections on the TV where we were staying. It was really fun being able to watch all the drama of the elections in Africa on a beach.

The IFP we visited just bought a primary school down the road and the director wants the next volunteer to do a lot of work or secondary projects with it so that would be perfect for me. I think they want to work on literacy and having more books but I’m not quite sure. I can’t wait to get to site and start teaching (in English) and be able to figure out what other projects I want to accomplish while I’m there. One of the volunteers I visited is in the process of building her own library and bringing in books for the local crianÁas (children) and teachers. It is a really cool project and hopefully can stay useful after she leaves with the help of the community. There are so many different projects that PCVs are doing and I’m getting more and more excited to be able to do my own or at least help out at a local school.

I think I’m ready to be done with PST and get to site so I can start teaching and have my own place. I’m definitely going to miss being with all the other volunteers and having a host family to help me with all my chores (like laundry—since I never do it the right way or can’t seem to get all the dust out of my white socks.)

This Wednesday during HUB day we find out our sites! I’m really excited to know where I’m going and also to know where all the other trainees are going so we can plan on getting together for Christmas and all during service.

Just saw a rat in my house for the first time yesterday during lunch…I thought that would be the only one but then I was on the phone in my room and saw a HUGE rat running across my ceiling and it really grossed me out. I would rather have rats than flies though. I don’t know what it is with me and flies but it’s getting so bad that I don’t even like to hear their buzzing. And if they are in the latrine I cannot go to the bathroom with them buzzing all around me…so that’s been kind of a problem lately.

I found out my LPI results on Friday and they are a lot better than I expected! I actually scored at the Intermediate Mid level which is what I needed to get. I don’t know how accurate it is because right now I am not feeling too strong about my Portuguese skills but hopefully I will soon. Anyone that scored Intermediate Mid or lower now is taking language classes everyday from 1:30-5:30pm instead of our tech classes (learning about classroom management and other education topics). I am actually really glad that I’ll be having the extra language practice—I really need a lot more practice speaking so I think it will help a lot!

Today I went to Mass with some volunteers, am going to watch a good American movie on my laptop and hang out with my host family (and hopefully practice my Portuguese!)
Updates:
-Never been so happy to have a fan in my life than I was during site visits! (boy, does it get hot!)

-Made pizza dough and coffee cake from our Mozambique cookbook this last weekend—it was so yummy! I’m excited to be able to cook once I get all settled in at site.

-I need to get over my fear of driving on hills/roads that are on inclines…it sounds really weird I know but I really don’t like driving when the roads are super uneven (Which is the case in Africa so I really need to work on that)

-Can’t wait to celebrate Thanksgiving…we are cooking all the traditional American dishes and desserts for our Thanksgiving dinner together! I am a little sad to miss the craziness of Black Friday shopping though. Not that I ever buy anything I actually need on that day but it’s just such a fun and crazy atmosphere.

-Site placements next week!

Halloween, Site Visits & My Mom’s Birthday!

This year’s Halloween was very different than last years. There was no pumpkin carving, apple cider, pumpkin pudding, trick-or-treating or Reese’s pumpkins. Instead I celebrated by wearing a ton of Halloween jewelry, Halloween socks and watched some volunteers bob for apples and play Halloween charades. I treated myself that night to no studying and instead watching a movie and eating some peanut butter m&m’s sent from home. (So I still did get some candy!)

On Halloween we found out what site we were all visiting so it was a very exciting day! I’m visiting Homoine in Inhambane province…it’s considered to be in the Southern region of Mozambique and is about a 9hour chapa ride from Namaacha. Our group is leaving bright and early at 3:30am on Saturday (tomorrow) to catch our bus. I’m really excited because we’re visiting 2 volunteers that are Teacher Trainers living at an IFP! I’ll actually be able to get a feel for what I’ll be doing and what the living situation will be like. I think they have running water, electricity and an indoor bathroom so I’m pretty excited! :)

Today we had our LPI and Round Robin mid-training tests. The LPI is a 10-min oral test with one of the language teachers about our daily life in Moz, family, giving directions and other day-to-day language lessons. Depending on how we do on the test (at the end of training we need to pass intermediate-mid level) we either get more language classes or cut back and do more teaching practice/model school. My Portuguese isn’t the greatest right now so I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting lots more language classes but that’s alright. The round robin test has questions from all of our other sessions…including medical, safety & security, technical training and core/cultural. Overall it only lasts an hour total between the LPI and Round Robin…I’m hoping we find out our results soon!

Wanted to post a little earlier this week because I’ll be gone on Sunday and probably won’t get to post again until after site visits. Then hopefully I’ll have more info to share on my site visit! :)

Happy 55th Birthday Mom! I’m sorry I can’t be there to help you celebrate on Sunday but know that I’m thinking about you everyday and sending lots of love! Thank you for being such a great friend and mom—I wouldn’t have made it here to Africa without your support and motivation. I’m so grateful to call you my mom and best friend! Love you!

Updates:
-This week for lunch one day I literally had French fries and bread…it’s safe to say I’m not getting a balanced diet but I’m kind of over it. (I made up for it by buying my own bananas and eating them with peanut butter in my room) lol

-Going to visit Homoine tomorrow (or as my uncle said…Hermoine/the Deathly Hollows)

-Ate literally everything out of my care packages in a little over a week…I really missed American junk food :)

-Actually wished for gloves and a hat this week because it was that cold…it’s Africa it should not be this windy and cold but I guess we are in the mountains.

-Today I had a huge salad with my lunch and I have never been so excited to see lettuce :)

One month down…

This was by far the best week I’ve had since I’ve gotten here! It probably has to do with getting my 2 care packages from my mom but it’s been a good week all around. Had more language classes and talked about Halloween and Christmas in Portuguese for an hour during tutoring. Trying to get prepared for our LPI test this next week.
We learned about perma gardening this week (just a different type of permanent garden that is easy to do here in MOZ). On Friday and Saturday we built our own garden and compost pile. We planted a lot of different veggies: sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, couve (Cabbage), pumpkins and mandioca. It was really fun and I’m hoping once I get to site to have a little garden to plant the broccoli & pumpkin seeds I brought from home.
Nothing new happened this week…it was mostly language classes and learning how to garden. We did have our Halloween party yesterday. I dressed up like an m&m with another volunteer, Anna. I even brought some of the m&m’s my mom sent to the party with me—and everyone loved them! (Thanks mom!) This week was also one of my host sister’s birthday. My host family had a birthday party for her yesterday. They made 2 cakes, lots of cookies and a whole lot of other food for the party!
Went running this week in the morning before classes with 2 of my friends, Jamie & Marin, in the English group and it’s been really beautiful out. Not many people are out walking around at 5:30am and it’s been foggy lately so the view is amazing of the mountains. We even ran to the bakery this week and bought some sweets—they were so good! We bought a piece of bread with a glaze on it (kind of like a doughnut) and a roll with a streusel like topping and shared them. It was really good and didn’t cost much at all. This week we’re going to have a “Starbucks” date and buy pastries at the bakery Tuesday morning and Wednesday (aka HALLOWEEN!) we’re going to the hotel to eat them with coffee/pop after HUB day.
On Wednesday we find out where we’re going for site visits next weekend. It’s going to be so fun. I heard that while we’re at site visits we are going to have another Halloween party! We have started planning our Thanksgiving dinner—we are making lots of good things: pumpkin pie, apple crisp, mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole and chocolate chip cookies! I’m helping bake some of the desserts and get the fruit ready. I’m so glad we can all celebrate Thanksgiving together and have some good American food J The only thing that is missing will be pumpkin pudding and black Friday shopping.
I can’t believe it’s already been one month and we’re halfway through PST (Pre service training). I have been getting better at Portuguese and my host family has been helping me a lot.
I was literally the happiest I have ever been when I opened my care packages this last week! I saw their was a jar of peanut butter and a nutty bar and started jumping up and down and screaming. I’m sure my neighbors were wondering what I was doing but I was so excited I couldn’t help it! It was like Christmas morning seeing all the American candy, Peanut butter, chocolate, hand sanitizers, a pillow, Halloween jewelry and bingo and much more! Thank you to the most amazing mom in the world for being so thoughtful and caring to send me the packages! I’m trying to ration the candy and nutty bars so they last me at least a few weeks…but sometimes it’s just too hard not to eat them.

Quote of the week:
“Just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair. That’s me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.” ~From a children’s book: Wherever You Are my love will find you

Updates:
-Site visits start on Saturday and we stay there until the following Thursday! (so no blog post next Sunday)
-I’m halfway done with training!
-Will not take toilet paper for granted ever again.
-I really hope it stops raining long enough for me to do laundry and for it to actually dry…I’m running out of towels.
-Time here is very different than time in America...if something is going to start at noon in the US it would...here noon means three or four...I really need to try and get used to it but everytime I think it will change, haha
-Happy early birthday Mom!! :)

Chicken Killing, Lots of Eating and “Ngoma” Time

Yes you read that right…this was the week where I “killed” a chicken. I don’t think I can say I did it 100% though…and here’s why. On Tuesday during language class we got together with all of our “maes” (host moms) to learn how to cook Mozambican food and teach them some American food. We decided to make pasta and garlic bread (which was really good) and our host moms made couve, coconut chicken, rice and xima. We had a LOT for lunch that day
Cooking chicken for dinner is nothing like how you would cook it in the states. Back home I would go to the grocery store and buy a package of already cut chicken (and be grossed out when I had to touch it to put it on the grill). Here you go and buy a live chicken from the market, bring it home, kill it, take all of it’s feathers off, wash it and cut it up into smaller pieces to cook/eat (that includes the chicken feet and head…). No one else in my group really wanted to kill the chicken so I volunteered. Cutting off the chicken’s head is a little harder than you would think-well or it could have been that I had a very dull knife, which made it harder. I don’t want to gross anyone out too much but you have to step on the chicken’s feet and wings and hold it’s head all while you’re trying to cut it off. I couldn’t do this by myself because I got too grossed out when the head kept moving so I had to have my host mom hold the head for me. Let’s just say after halfway doing the job my “mae” took over and finished for me. It was not a pretty sight. And it actually is really hard to eat the chicken a few hours later knowing you killed it. But of course I still did and it tasted pretty good. However, if that is the only way to make chicken while I’m here I definitely will not be eating much of it. I don’t think I could kill it and pluck it’s feathers every time I wanted to have some chicken. I’ll settle for a peanut butter sandwich.
Okay now for less gross information. This week during our HUB day (where all the volunteers are together for our medical sessions, teaching info, etc) we had “Ngoma” time which means drum time. It’s an hour where we get to share cultural experiences from America as well as see some from Mozambique. Our language teachers performed a song/dance, we had cultural dancers, and some volunteers performed funny skits in Portuguese. It was a really fun way to get to know some of the cultural dances and songs as well as for us to share some fun talents we might have.
This week I actually got up early and ran with two other volunteers and it was beautiful! We ran on the main road and the view was foggy but of beautiful mountains. I promise to take pictures and get them up here soon. I actually don’t even need to set an alarm anymore because the roosters get me up at 3am and since I go to bed so early my body automatically wakes me up at 5am. It is nice thought because not many people are out so only a few people stare at you for running (which is a weird American workout/habit that no one over here does). 
One of the current volunteers who visited this week showed us the German bakery they have here in Namaacha that sells cake and cinnamon rolls! Last week one of our icebreaker activities was a “cinnamon roll” hug and every since that I have been thinking about Summer Kitchen’s/Farmhouse’s cinnamon rolls! YUM. We tried to go on Thursday but it was closed—I’m going to try and go again and hopefully they will have cinnamon rolls still there.
We had a whole day off on Saturday (Which was so nice!).  I was able to get my laundry done, chores and go to Shoprite (a bigger market) with some friends. It was a really good day! I even splurged and bought cookies and a chocolate bar at the gas station…it was so good! I feel bad admitting this but I actually paid 5 meticais today to use the bathroom at the gas station…here’s why. I went out to use the latrine today after lunch and a swarm of flies came out of it so I stood with the curtain open and tried to shoo them out. After I thought all of them were out I tried to go to the restroom just to have another swarm come up while I was going to the bathroom. I looked like a crazy person trying to hold the curtain open and shoo them out. Finally I had enough and decided I would just pay to use the bathroom at the gas station. It was heavenly (no flies, a flushing toilet and running water with SOAP!) 
We also went to a birthday party on Sunday for 5 kids (it was more like a whole day event!). It looked like a wedding reception when I first got there. People were dressed in their nicest outfits, there was a TON of food and 5 cakes and at least 100-200 people. It was crazy but really fun because there were some other volunteers there with their families too. My host sister, Deolinda, and I bonded on the way home screaming and running from all the bugs and frogs while eating some bolaches (cookies) from the market. Then she helped me pour ashes and bug spray down the latrine hoping to get rid of all the flies. Thank goodness for her or else I’d be lost! Enjoying the end of the weekend eating some Cadbury chocolate and watching an episode of Modern Family (thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for putting all these shows on my hard drive)! It’s a great day! :)

Updates:
-I’m pretty sure mice are living in my room because every night when I turn the lights off I hear squeaking.
-If any more flies come up out of my pit latrine I’m going to go crazy! (It freaks me out and I look like a fool holding the curtain open and trying to shoo them out of the latrine)
-Found my first cockroach in my room this weekend…thankfully it had somehow gotten on it’s back so it wasn’t moving and was easy to kill. 
-In our PC cookbook I just found recipes for monkey bread, french toast, peanut butter cookies and apple cider! I REALLY want to make them but don’t know how to try and ask my host family that in Portuguese.
-I’m getting a little better at Portuguese and can finally get my point across (about certain things) like not taking a bath when it’s cold and dark outside
-This week there were 3 days where I only had to take ONE bath the whole day! Okay I know this might sound odd to you but when it’s dark/rainy and cold at night it’s not all that fun taking a bath so when I told my host family I didn’t want to they laughed at me (probably because I said I didn’t want to take a bath because it was dark) haha but they didn’t make me so it was worth it J
-It’s almost Halloween! The volunteers are all having a party and it’s the same day as my sister’s birthday party so next Saturday is going to be a crazy day! 
-In 2 weeks we get to go on site visits and then the week after that we should get our own site placements!
-Made cookies with my host family (which were more like little pieces of fried bread—but they were good). Unfortunately since I said I like the cookies and the cake from last week they have been giving that to me for breakfast and snack everyday. Don’t get me wrong it’s good but not too healthy, haha but I add a little peanut butter to it so I’m getting my protein in :)

Chapa Rides, Black Cat & a new fam!

Week 2:
This week was pretty crazy and went really fast. I actually moved to a different host family on Tuesday since the mom in my first one wasn’t coming back for a few weeks and I wasn’t learning as much as I needed to about cooking, chores, language, etc. My new family is awesome though! There is a mom, dad, two teenage sisters (19 and 14) and a 10 year old brother. The first night I got to my new house my family gave me a capulana (a piece of fabric they use to wrap around their waist like a skirt) and had me helping make dinner right when I walked in the door. It has been nice to learn how to make some Mozambican foods but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to cook some of these things once I get to site. I don’t have the patience to make some of the food here.

My 14-year-old sister, Deolinda, has been helping me out with a lot! She helped me with my homework all week and taught me a lot of new Portuguese words. My new house doesn’t have the nice indoor toilet like the first one but I’m actually getting used to the pit latrine. It’s not too bad! However, it was raining quite a bit this week and taking showers in the cold/rainy/muddy weather isn’t too fun.

The food this week has been amazing! We had fried chicken and xima one day (which looks like mashed potatoes but doesn’t taste like anything from America). On Friday after training we actually made a bolo (CAKE!) and it was sooo good! First time I’ve really had dessert since I’ve been here and it was really good. I am amazed at how they can make such a yummy cake without a recipe or measuring anything. We literally just poured flour, sugar, eggs and butter and mixed it all up…it tasted great though!
The other night at dinner my sister told me she had a surprise for me and to close my eyes….when I opened them she had peanut butter (it`s called Black Cat here) on the table and said it was for me! I was sooo excited! I had some the next morning for breakfast on pao (bread) and it was heavenly!

This week in language classes we had to practice riding on “chapas” (like a mini-bus) using our Portuguese skills. Our teacher gave us all different stops and we had to make it to our stop and then take another chapa back to the shop-rite (the big market) where we could all meet up. Turned out I didn’t know where my stop was so I had to take another chapa for practice. That one was just a pickup truck where people piled into the back until it was full and then it would drive to wherever you needed to go. I thought I had already told the driver I wanted to go to the market but when we flew by it going fast I realized they weren’t going to stop. In my poor Portuguese skills I then had to ask someone to tell them to stop the car so I could get off. I probably need to work more on my chapa riding skills so next time I can actually get dropped off at my stop.

Yesterday we went to Maputo for the day with our language groups and it was pretty fun. The chapa ride was only an hour so it wasn’t too bad…boy can they really squeeze a lot of people into very small cars. It was a tight squeeze but we fit 4 people to a seat (which is the norm here). We were able to have pizza and ice cream so that was a nice surprise! :) We saw some of the tourist spots and were able to just hangout and have fun outside of Namaacha so it was a fun day. Washed my clothes again today and then it started raining while we were hanging them up to dry...thankfully it stopped raining just as quickly as it started. Tonight we are making matapa for dinner (which is a long process...but it tastes yummy!).

This Tuesday in our language groups we are making American food with our host mothers and they are teaching us some Mozambican food recipes—so that will be a fun class! I want to share a quote with you that one of my friends from home gave me in a letter this week:
“We gain strength, and courage and confidence in each experience in which we really stop and look fear in the face…we must do that which we think cannot.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Updates:
-Outdoor latrines really aren’t bad…I’ve gotten used to mine (well except when I’m sick and have to go out there all night long…that can get a little freaky in the dark but it’s really not bad!)
-Haven´t seen too many weird or unusual bugs yet (which has been nice!)
-The rainy season has officially started…it rained nonstop for 2 days this week but thankfully I haven’t wiped out on the muddy hills yet :)
-I just realized I’m going to miss Black Friday shopping with my family this year and I’m bummed.
-Pepto bismol is my new friend
-17 days until Halloween!!

Better go study for our first test tomorrow! Have a great week!! 

Hoya-Hoya

Hoya-Hoya!
Week 1: complete! A week ago we were greeted with this phrase “hoya-hoya” (which means welcome!) and a crowd of Mozambican families singing to us. It was such an amazing feeling to be welcomed into their community with open arms and smiling faces. It has been a whirlwind of a week with language classes and adapting to life in Africa. I can’t believe it’s already Sunday! Let me give you a run down of the week…

So far we’ve had three all day language classes and I think I’m getting better “pouco a pouco” (little by little). There are only 5 people in our language group and our instructor is really nice. We had a little outing to the market on Friday to practice buying things and asking for discounts. That was a fun experience!

My host family is nice and their house is really modern and nicer compared to some other house around here. There are two older sisters (in their 20s) and their 3 kids who are my nephews (10, 5, and 1). The 10 year old and I do homework together and he also helped me practice my flashcards! We have an indoor toilet and bathtub but not always running water. The toilet doesn’t flush unless you pour a bucket of water down it (but I’m not complaining because I could be using a latrine). I actually have gotten used to taking 2 bucket baths a day (Shocker, I know!) but it’s actually not bad. Plus it has already gotten pretty hot here so by the end of the day you really need another bath. I can’t imagine what summer will feel like when it has already gotten into the high 90s and it’s their spring!

This week has been full of learning experiences. I washed my laundry yesterday for the first time. It wasn’t too hard just took a lot longer than if you had a washing machine. I was really glad my host irm„ (sister) and her friend helped me do it. I’ll put a picture up too so you can see how they dry. I have eaten lots of new food…and even tried the Ketchup they have here…it’s definitely not Heinz J The food has been pretty good-I helped cut up some vegetable today that grows on trees and tasted kind of like potatoes…I can’t remember the name but it was really good! In class this week we learned how to ask for prices of items and how to ask for discounts. I also have been trying to get used to hearing the roosters crow at 3am and going all day. It is definitely my alarm clock most mornings.

All of the other PCVs (peace corps volunteers) are really nice and helpful…and so are the Mozambicans! The second night I was here I went walking around with some other PCVs and could not find my way back home…we practically walked over to Swaziland looking for it. That was by far my most embarrassing moment so far. Thankfully a Mozambican walked me home once we figured out where I lived. Haha, oh boy directions here are VERY different than back home.

The view here is amazing…Namaacha is in the mountains and on the way to my house you can see the Swaziland border. Apparently there are some waterfalls here too..I think maybe next weekend we’ll all go out and find them. It gets dark here by 6pm and there are no lights so the stars and moon are amazing. I’ve never seen a clearer sky-it’s beautiful!

I have a phone here and was able to talk to my mom and sister this last week which was really nice! I didn’t think I’d have Internet here so it’s nice that there is a place that has one working computer and it only cost 1 mets (metacais) per minute. To get a feel for how much American money that would be 28 mets is equal to $1. I won’t be using the internet that much but hopefully I can go at least once a week to keep posting for everyone to see!

This week we start having our “tech” sessions (About how to teach, the Mozambican school systems, etc) and of course more language sessions. We are meeting the country director this Thursday-that will be exciting! Next weekend we’re going to Maputo for the day with our language classes to help with our Portuguese.

P.S. I just wanted to tell my family and friends thank you for all the cards and pictures that you sent with me! I look at them everyday and I love being able to have a part of you all here with me. Miss you!!
Counting the weeks down until I’ve successfully completed PST…8 more Sundays!

Random tidbits/Portuguese phrases I have learned:
-I saw a girl carrying a dead chicken as I was leaving my house and I’m pretty sure that is the chicken we ate for dinner that night.
-did my laundry for the first time yesterday…it went pretty well actually (well thanks to my host family helping me)
-Really miss using napkins at meals
-Ice water is a luxury I miss at times
-I’m excited to get some mail soon with my Peanut Butter and hand sanitizer! (Some of the families over here don’t use soap much at all in their houses so I’m definitely going to be jumping up and down when I get some hand sanitizer!)
-I just noticed the other day that I have random cuts on my legs…I think I must be walking by some sharp plants or something. My host sister keeps asking what I’ve been doing but I honestly have no idea.
-Posso ajudar?       Can I help?
-Tenho que estudar.    I have to study.
-Como se diz…?    How do you say…?
-Estou confuso.    I’m confused.
-Nao sei.     I don’t know.

Made it Safely!

 I am officially in Mozambique! And have an official Peace Corps Passport and Mozambique visa! Woohoo J We’re staying at the Hotel Cardoso in Maputo, the capital, until Saturday. The flight was 15 hours and thankfully they did feed us lunch, dinner and then breakfast this morning. We had a fantastic view of a thunderstorm during our flight and got to watch some newer movies for free too.

When we arrived at the hotel today we met some of the Peace Corps Mozambique staff and then ate a huge buffet lunch. We did do some paperwork as well as get our first round of shots. I’m pretty sure we’re getting more tomorrow and during our PST (Pre-service training). All the other 55 volunteers I’ve met so far are incredibly nice. Also, 12 other transfers from Cape Verde are meeting up with us later tonight and will be joining our training class. I think we’re going to be a great group. 

On Saturday afternoon we leave Maputo to travel to Namaahca, which is about an hour and a half away. Once we get there we will meet our host families, take a tour of the city and our training villages. I just found out today who my host family is and I’m super excited to meet them! In my family there is a mom, 2 older girls, a 10yr old grandson, 4yr old boy, and 1yr old grandson. The family speaks both Portuguese and the local language, Changana.

I’m nervous to be fully immersed into the language but I think that’s the best way we will learn. After I move in on Saturday I won’t have Internet access for about 3-4 weeks. During training we will get cell phones and if you don’t get one with internet you won’t be able to go online while during training. Most likely I will get one with internet just so I can get emails and keep in contact with friends and family in the U.S. I’m anxious to get started with training and learn Portuguese! The view from our hotel is amazing but I can’t post pictures yet because I can’t find my camera cord. Hopefully I’ll find it once I officially unpack everything this weekend but we’ll see.

P.S. Reading cards from my friends and family tonight and it made my day! Thank you guys!! J

Packing. Repacking. Weighing. Packing More.

Less than a week left and I have one bag packed! I know that doesn't sound too good but I don't have the best track record of packing early. I'll give you an example...the night before moving to Missouri for college I had not packed ANY of my clothes. Thank goodness one of my best friends came over and with some motivation we packed everything up in a few hours. So, having packed 1 out of the 2 checked bags I feel pretty accomplished. 

With a 50lb bag limit I was a little worried how I was going to fit everything. But with help from my grandma and mom we took everything out of boxes and put them in ziploc bags in order to get the air out and create more space. Below is a picture of everything I had to pack...well everything but the clothes. :) 

Surprisingly I fit all this plus my clothes! (Couldn't have done it without my wonderful mom and Sittee!)

One more bag to pack and lots of things to cross off on my to-do list before I board the plane. I'm getting so excited, nervous, happy, sad, and am feeling much more prepared now that I'm almost done packing! Now I just have to hope that they don't weigh my carry-on bags since I'm stuffing a lot of stuff in there! :) 


Quick Portuguese lesson: 

Eu sou Voluntário do Corpo da Paz.

I'm a Peace Corps volunteer. 

So excited that I can finally say that! I'm going to miss my family and friends so much while I'm gone but I'm excited to be making a change in the world. 

Love you guys!