One Year Later

I can’t believe last week marked the one-year mark of my Peace Corps journey. I remember last year at this time getting settled into my first home stay family—I was SO nervous and could not communicate a single word in Portuguese. I’m so glad to have this year under my belt and not be the PCV newbie anymore.

Last week brought up a lot of memories from getting ready to come to Mozambique (the packing disasters, Sheridan’s overload, and Vala’s Pumpkin Patch), PST (Halloween and Thanksgiving celebrations) as well as thinking back to my first few months at site. So many things have happened this last year and I have grown so much—in my knowledge of Portuguese, Mozambican culture, as an English teacher and in many more things.

I'm so glad that I’ve gone through this year with my fellow Moz 19 PCVs. I could not imagine staying sane without these wonderful “government mandated” friends. I feel so happy to say that I’ve been here in Mozambique for a year (well…except for those 12 days in August)!

During my first week in Mozambique last year I was very nervous and unsure of what I was getting myself into. Even though I still have days where I feel unsure of my work and if I’m making a difference I can truly say that I am in the right place. Mozambique has become my home in so many different ways—

•  I realized that there are some words I don’t even remember in English. While I was home in August I think I got some weird looks when I kept saying crianças, lá, chique, bolo, etc. Portuguese seems to always be in my mind now.
• Spiders on the ceiling are now a normal décor in my bathroom and they don’t faze me anymore.
• Air-conditioning makes my teeth chatter from being too cold.
• Baking in a big pot with sand is so easy to me now.
• I crave Matapa…sometimes even more than Runza or froyo.

Peace corps life is an amazing, challenging, inspiring, happy, funny, sad, rewarding, and indescribable experience. The Peace Corps describes service as “the toughest job you’ll ever love,”…and oh boy is that saying true. Peace Corps has its ups and downs but it is the most influential volunteer experience I have ever had. I am really looking forward to what these next 15 months of service brings.  Estamos Juntos MOZ 19! :)