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)! ‬