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. :)