Christmas in Africa

I'm in my room with my fan spinning on the highest speed.  Sweat is dripping down my neck. It's summertime here. I'm miles away from friends and family during the holiday season.  I hear Christmas music in some of the stores here.  I see posters of  Black Santa Clauses advertising cell phone services. It doesn't feel like Christmas.  I'm not expecting any gifts.  No one will be receiving any from me.  That's just how it'll be this year.  That said, volunteers can't leave their province for the first three months for security reasons.  In other words, my roommate and I have to stay in Zambezia until March.  There aren't many volunteers in Zambezia from my cohort and the volunteers from other cohorts have left for other  provinces for the holidays.  Luckily, my roommate and I were invited to have Christmas dinner with a missionary couple who live  in our city.  My first Christmas should be low-key   It'll be very different from eating around the dinner table with my family and playing games.  Don't get me wrong, I'm blessed and very thankful for all that I have here and for the people I have met.  

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well.  Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Minha casa mocambicana!!!

My new home. My home for the next year is in the Zambezia province and I couldn't be happier.  Supposedly, my roommate and I will be volunteers will be visiting us because people often stop in our city for while travelling.  I'm not in the mood to write, so I thought I'd just post pictures.

Here's our new hut!

Gotcha! I was expecting something like this, but we ended up with a pretty sweet home.  

Here's our place:

Here are pictures of the school

Pictures of the city...

Don't worry, I'm still alive!

Great news, I'm still alive! I hope that you didn't miss me too much. The past five weeks have been quite hectic, but a lot of fun.  I'll try to update you as much as I can:

In November, we found out where we'd be serving for the next two years.  I was excited to hear that I'd  be living in the Zambezia province with my new roommate, Jennea.

My host grandmother had a birthday. She had a GREAT time!

All of the volunteers got together for a Thanksgiving pot-luck dinner.  We have a lot to be thankful for :)

...Then I studied and took language, cross cultural, safety and security, and technical tests.  Later, I packed for my big move.

I left Namaacha and gave my host brother and sister a big hug.

We officially became Peace Corps Volunteers at the U.S. Ambassador's immaculate home in Maputo, Mozambique on December 4th.  Gorgeous view, huh?

We stayed the night in Maputo and said our goodbyes that night.  In the morning, all of the volunteers left with others who were headed to their region.  A group of us who will be living in northern Mozambique for the next two years, stayed in Nampula for a few days for a conference with our school directors.

On December 9th, I spent my birthday unpacking and cleaning.  I'm still unpacking and cleaning.  But I'm happy that I have fans to keep me cool.  

The next post will be more about my new home and community.  Feel free to write me and let me know how things are going with you all.  I miss my friends and family in the States!

Random Pictures of Moz

Pictures of Maputo

The pictures below were taken a couple of weeks ago when my group cooked a meal for our host mothers.  We cooked fish tacos with mango sauce and they cooked us rice and a coconut curry dish.

Wet Clothes and Other Complaints

Richard, another volunteer, helped me formulate a list of challenges and rewards that we’ve encountered while living in Namaacha so far.  Moz 19, if you have additional ones, feel free to add.  J

Challenges

Frequent power outages

Mosquitoes=Malaria concerns

Limited food options- Where’s the Mexican food?

It’s rainy season in Namaacha.  In other words, clothes may never get dry because they hang on the clothesline and get drenched

The volunteers have little free time- We have training from 7:30am-5pm Monday-Saturday L

Missing out on national/family news and events

There’s little control over what host family will cook and how they will cook it

Roosters crowing outside of my window at 3am

The neighbor blasts dance Angolan music at 5am

It rains incessantly and my host mother gets angry when I have matope (mud) on my shoes

The anti-malaria pills can make it difficult to fall asleep at night, induce vivid nightmares, can make me urinate often, and can make me feel like I’m the happiest person on earth one minute and wanting to choke the crowing rooster at 3am the next minute

It’s hard not to confuse Spanish with Portuguese. 

Everything takes longer to do

Punctuality amongst Mozambicans is almost nonexistent

Excessive drinking= Excessive drinking and driving

Riding in a chapa (public transportation): I had no idea that 20 people and 15 chickens could fit into a mini-van

All of the volunteers are expected to communicate with their friends and family using only  one public computer with internet in Namaacha.  Not only is the computer about 20 years old, the internet is slow as molasses.

Although it was flattering for the first week, I don’t think I can stand another marriage proposal.

Corruption in the schools: It’s not uncommon for the teachers to have sex with their students and for the students to give their teachers money to increase their grades

Rewards

Learning how to speak Portuguese

Nice beaches/beautiful scenery

Food, clothes, and everything else is very inexpensive

Making friends with other volunteers

Looking forward to moving to our sites and living independently again

Little to no financial worries

Learning about a new culture

Good dance music

Great dancers

Cute guys

Boleias (hitchhiking to obtain free/inexpensive rides)

Cute babies

The women are strong.  They balance gallons of water on their heads while their baby is tied to their backs

Capulanas can be used for everything- bath towel, blanket, wall art, beach towel, skirt, tying a baby to the mother’s back, etc...

*People have been asking what my experience has been like here in Mozambique so far.  It's really hard for me to describe my experience, but there are things that I'm enjoying and other things that I'm finding overwhelming.  Despite the laundry list of challenges, the rewards that I’ve received have been invaluable.

 

Site Placements

In about five weeks, I'll be moving to my official site. Right now I'm still in training with the other education volunteers in Namaacha and then we'll be placed in different areas across the country.  I have no idea as to where I'll be living for the next two years, but I'll find out next week.   A lot of us have become very close to one another and we're anxious to find out  if we'll be placed in the same province as our friends.  Because Mozambique is so massive, one volunteer can be placed in the South and another in the North, and it could be about a $600 plane ticket.  Let's be real, we're Peace Corps volunteers, we don't have money for that.  In other words, placement is very important to us because we not only find out who we'll beable to visit, we'll be finding out about the schools we'll be teaching at.

From Saturday until this upcoming Thursday, all of the volunteers are visiting current volunteers throughout the country so that we can get an idea of how they live and work.  It's been great staying with two teacher trainers, Barbara and Annie , in Manhica.  Penny and Richard are in my cohort and we've been able to ask them a lot of questions about their two year experience in Mozambique.  Perhaps what I'm enjoying the most about this site visit is that I get to leave Namaacha and see a different part of the country. 

Yesterday, we got to see a dance/music competition between several African countries and Norway.  Annie helps with a music group and she took us to Maputo to watch them perform.  It was truly amazing to see children, adolescents, and adults showcase their talent on stage.  Today, Annie took us to one of her classes and we observed her teach an English lesson on the different professions.  Also, tomorrow we get to check out a beach nearby!  I hope to upload pictures soon. :)

I'm not sure if these pictures are showing up on here, but they're just pictures of my bedroom and my bathroom.  The white covering over my bed is my mosquito net.  If the pictures aren't showing up, I'll have to upload them some other time.  The internet is ridiculously slow here.  I'll write a new entry soon.  I hope everyone is doing well :)

Laundry Day

 10-07-12

It took me about two hours to hand-wash my clothes.  I think it took me awhile because it was my first time washing my shirts, pants, and skirts by hand. I don’t think that I’ll every complain about my laundry days when I return to the U.S. where a machine will scrub, ring-out, and dry my clothes for me.

Since I've been in Namaacha, I've barely had time to read a novel.  I have class from 7:30am-5:30pm, Monday-Saturday.  About three times a week, we have an intensive language course and I’m in a group with three fellow volunteers.  Also, the course encourages us to plunge into the community and interact with people who work in the market.  For example, last week, our topic was on shopping.  We learned different vocabulary words for items found at a hardware store, a store where they sell meat, and a supermarket.  We practiced our new vocabulary with the employees and we asked how much the items cost.  I felt like I was wasting their time, but they seemed understanding.

When we’re not in our language groups, we’re with all of the other volunteers at a school.  We learn about different subjects such as cultural differences and similarities, how to properly clean food to reduce the risk of getting sick, how to stay safe in, and the history of the country.  I enjoy meeting at the school because I get to see all the volunteers.  Right now, we are all separated into different bairros or neighborhoods and there are some volunteers who live about 25 minutes away by foot.

During class last Tuesday, I visited a teacher training school with a group of other teacher trainers in my class.  The purpose of the school visit was to get an idea of what we might be doing once we get to site.    At this institute, the students were about 16 years old and they were pursuing a teaching degree.  From what I understand, after 10^th grade, the students in Mozambique can chose what career they want to pursue and they go to an institute that specializes in what they are interested.  In this case, these students who are preparing to be primary education teachers, take different classes to help them to instruct subjects such as English, Music, and Portuguese.

I enjoyed observing because now I have a better idea as to what I’ll be doing as a teacher trainer.  From what I gather, I’ll be training young adults in English teaching.  I should be living on or near the institute with another volunteer.  I’ll find out more information about my site location around Thanksgiving.  I’m looking forward to seeing where I’ll be living.

Sorry...

I plan to post pictures soon of my host family, my home, and of Naamacha.  I don't have access to the internet everyday, so it makes it difficult to post blogs.  Also, don't mind my spelling mistakes.  I don't have that much time to edit everything that I type. They're keeping us really busy here. Thanks for understanding!  :)

Host family

Walking home would have been a little more awkward if it weren’t for Kimberly, a volunteer who served in Cape Verde for a year.  In Cape Verde, they speak creole Portuguese and she was able to understand what my host mom was telling me.  She was trying to tell me that she would be going to her brother’s wedding in Maputo for the next couple of days and that her 17 year old son and her mother would also be at the wedding.  However, her 20-year-old daughter, Seninha, would be at home with me.

When I arrived to the house that I would be living in for the next 10 weeks, I was surprised to see how big my room was.  There wasn’t anything in there except for a bed, a desk and a couple of chairs.  After I placed my belongings in my new room, I went to the dining room table to eat.   My first lunch with most host mother and sister consisted of salad, steamed vegetables and potatoes, and chicken.    I thought, “I hope we won’t just sit in silence while we eat.  And how will I be able to tell them I don’t eat meat? Will they understand the concept of being a vegetarian?” I spoke to her in Spanish and she was able to understand me when I told her that I don’t eat meat.  After I asked her to speak slowly in Portuguese, she stated that it was fine because she had a volunteer before me who was also a vegetarian.  I was so excited to hear that she was okay with it.  Her smile was also reassuring.

I’m sure some of you are as curious about the bathroom situation as I was when I first arrived.  I wasn’t sure if I had dig a hole in the ground in order to use the bathroom.  My host mother showed me the outdoor bathroom. I was surprised to see a porcelain toilet.  She told me that I just need to add water to the toilet bowl and it will flush.  She pointed right in front of the toilet to an area where I can take a bath.  To take baths, I take boiled water and cold water, and mix it in a bucket until it’s warm.  Then I just scrub down using the water, soap, and a face towel.  It’s actually not that bad unless it’s cold outside.

The rest of the day went by fast.  I unpacked my suitcase and said good-bye to my host mother who was leaving for Maputo.  Seninha helped me assemble a mosquito net to place over my bed.  Around 9 PM, I went to sleep. I woke up to the sound of roosters crowing, as if they were shouting, “It’s time to get up. You’re in Africa now!”

Chapa

It was around 70 degrees outside on September 29th in Maputo.  I felt the breeze caress my cheeks as I sat in the back row of a chapa (a vehicle that is used as a taxi and it looks like a van).  I felt the seat in front of me dig into my knees and I was sandwiched between two other volunteers.  A second year Peace Corps volunteer warned, “You guys think that cramming 14 people in a chapa is bad, you’ll see how it’ll feel when there are 30 people in here when it’s 100 degrees.  You’ll have someone's chicken trying to fly in your lap or you’ll be holding a baby.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about how uncomfortable it would be to travel in the chapa.  My stomach felt like it was being squeezed like the last bit of toothpaste because I was also thinking about meeting my host family.  I thought, “Is my family going to understand me as I speak broken Portuguese?  Am I going to understand them? Will they be able to accommodate to my non-meat diet?” 

After the hour and thirty minute drive from Maputo to Naamacha, all of the volunteers climbed their way out of their chapa or bus.  I grabbed my backpack, ukulele, and my emergency safety kit.  My suitcase was already delivered to my host family’s house.  When I looked around, I saw that we were parked in front of a school.  All of a sudden, I heard singing and clapping in the distance. The group of volunteers slowly walked towards the basketball courts with confused looks on their faces.  When we arrived to the stadium, I almost cried when I saw the host families singing and dancing to welcome us.  I saw children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents.  I scanned the crowd and I tried to guess who I would be going home with that day.  I’m sure that they were wondering which volunteer would be staying with them for the next ten weeks.  After the song, they pulled out a piece of paper with our names on it.  I saw volunteers running to their mothers and siblings, giving them bear hugs.  After about a minute, I still didn’t see anyone holding my name.  Did my host family forget to come get me?  Finally, another volunteer pointed at me and said, “This is Gina.”  My lips were trembling and my voice cracked as I stated, “Prazer. (It’s a pleasure).”  She gave me a kiss on my cheeks and said, “Obrigada, prazer (Thank you, it's a pleasure).”

To be continued….

Tudo Bem!

I arrived safely in Naamacha and that I love my host family and fellow volunteers.  I hope to have a new blog up soon with pictures and more details but it is difficult to access the internet here at the moment.  Sorry for the brief message.  I will update my blog as soon as possible.

Chau

Ma-poo-too 2 Naa-ma-sha

It’s Friday night and I’m excited and tired at the same time.  We had safety and health training.  We also got to ask questions to current volunteers about possible challenges as a teacher volunteer.  We were given a Hep A and a Typhoid shot.  I was prescribed anti malaria pills and I’ll have to take them every Friday.  The possible side effect is having bizarre nightmares.  I really hope I don’t get any adverse side effects from taking the meds. 

On another note, I’m extremely excited about meeting my host family tomorrow in Naamacha.  All I know is that my host mother is 36 y.o. , her mother is 61, her daughter is 20 and her son is 17.  They speak Portuguese and a local language called Changana.  I’m happy that they don’t speak English because I think it will help me learn Portuguese faster.

The hotel's internet is pretty good and I've been able to write to people.  However, I doubt that I'll have WiFi internet at my host family's home. I ordered my cell phone today and it has internet.  I’ll receive it tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I may not be able to write long posts with pictures since I’ll be using a phone that doesn’t have a ‘qwerty’ keyboard.  However, I’ll try my best.  

Well, tomorrow is a long day and I need to get sleep before my 3 month home stay in Naamacha.  I hope all is well with you all.  Feel free to shoot me a message J

Posh Corps in Maputo

On Wednesday morning at 3 AM, half of our group took the first bus and I took the second bus with another group.  After a 15 hour plane ride from NY to Johannesburg, South Africa, my group and I waited about six hours for our plane to depart.  Meanwhile, the other group was swimming in the hotel pool and drinking pina coladas at the hotel because their flight was scheduled 5 hours sooner than mine.  I was too sleepy to take a nap at the airport even though I slept about seven hours on the plane.  Too fatigued to read a novel,  I observed people at the airport .  I observed a man who looked to be around sixty years old, charging and yelling to catch his flight as if he were running from wild zebras and giraffes.  I observed a young woman’s hips that swayed to slow beat.  They were the same hips that bore her baby who was protected in green and white cloth wrapped around her body like a cocoon.  People watching was very entertaining during the wait.  

When my group and I arrived to Maputo, Mozambique, we were separated into two vans and a Jeep .  I was in the Jeep and I watched a truck that contained a pile of our luggage and backpacks leading the way to our hotel.  The windows were down and I could smell the smell of burning trash and pollution and surprisingly, the new smell did not bother me. Suddenly, the vehicle turned onto a street that revealed a beautiful beach.  It was breathtaking. 

After my roommate and I dropped off our luggage in our room that overlooks the Indian Ocean, we completed paperwork, discussed how pre-service training would look, and we received a Meningitis shot and our first round of rabies shots. 

I will be posting pictures of my hotel room soon.  This doesn’t feel like the Peace Corps right now.  It feels more like “Posh” Corps because we are getting three delicious buffet meals per day and our hotel is simply gorgeous.  I’m taking advantage of this blissful scenery because the rest of my experience will not be nearly as lavish. 

This was a wonderful day.  I look forward to writing more soon.