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