feliz novo ano!

Written December 31, 2012

Happy New Years Eve from Quissico!

Written from my small living room – I’m cooking banana bread in a dutch-oven set up, drinking REAL coffee, and waiting for mom to wake up. That’s right. My mom is in my house. And I’m drinking REAL coffee. My mind is blown.

It has been so surreal to me to have her here. I’m trying my best to be informative without being overwhelming, show her things in small doses without things being too alarming. . . . I think I failed day one when I put her on a bus to come to Quissico. In typical Mozambique fashion, the bus took about an hour to pack up and leave, and then it stopped about 3 or 4 times before actually leaving the big city. Along the road we were traveling at a comfortable speed (unlike some break-neck speeds I’ve experienced) but made stops in just about every town. It was hot, crowded, and Mom obviously doesn’t speak the language. . . so I can only imagine what she was going through.

I try to put myself back in a mindset about what things were like for me here when I first started service, how anxious and scared I was, how overwhelming things were. Now I’m just jaded. The chapa ride sucked, but it wasn’t the end of the world for me, I would just pull my baseball cap down a little further and sleep. Its all part of life here. There is no reliable transport in this country, one of the things I had to come to terms with.

So yesterday I dragged mom all over Quissico. We went into the town itself, I showed her the one road of shops, and the other road of the open air market. We made some purchases, I introduced her to all of my produce ladies in the market (they LOVED her), mom bought a capulana, and some flip-flops for showering and that was that. I took her into the shop where my good friends are – I think you remember me mentioning Dona Julia in a previous blog? They were really excited to meet her, and I spent the next few hours translating back and forth, while we sipped on a 7Up. Something cold and sweet to beat the heat.

Came back home, where I did some things around the house, and mom took a nap on the grass mat. The baby (my dog) has taken to Grandma right away, and proceeded to nap on the mat with her. I took a picture. It was adorable.

Speaking of, they are both passed out right now. Mom over in my bed, and Ceu on the floor underneath. Too cute.

In the afternoon, we walked around a bit more, and I showed her where my old house was – when I was living with ACOMUZA. We checked out the overlook of the lagoon, and had a glass of wine while the sun was setting.

Came home to make some dinner – coconut beans and rice YUM. We watched a movie, and called it a night.

No big plans for the day today, making banana bread, maybe doing some landry, showing mom around a bit more – then the NYE party tonight!! I’m really looking forward to it, I think mom is a little anxious because of the language barrier, but everyone is very excited to have her here.

Quick story before I leave you- last night, after my bath right before I started cooking, my neighbor Amina came up to the house to check in on Mom. She wanted to know how the first day went, if she was ok, upset, sick etc. . . The thoughtfulness of this gesture was so heartwarming. I’m lucky to live here in Quissico with such wonderful neighbors and friends.

Happy New Year

Your friend (and her mom) in Moz

first christmas in mozambique, and a visit from my mom!

Written Friday, December 28, 2012

MY MOM IS IN AFRICAAA!!!!!! This is wild! Totally and completely insane. I keep thinking that this is just some strange thing- like a freak apparition or something. But NO! she is actually here! Jet lagged and everything haha.

Let me digress though – Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope the holiday season finds everyone safe and healthy, enjoying family time and all that the holidays bring. I spent my Christmas at Tofo Beach – one of the worlds top vacation spots (not to shabby right?). I left site on Sunday morning with some fellow volunteers who had stayed the night with me. We stayed in Inhambane City at a fellow Volunteers house Sunday night, and enjoyed everything the city has to offer.

The next morning we all headed to the beach! We stayed in Tofo Backpackers – a nice location right on the beach, cheap dorm room beds, friendly staff, and lots of fun. We had 20some people with us on the trip, so there was always a group around town, at the beach, or at the hostel. I took a surfing lesson, laid on the beach, spent all day in the water, and just totally enjoyed myself. It’s a tough life here I tell ya.

We had great cooks with us (some fellow volunteers) so we all ate really well this trip. The one night we did a huge set of appetizers – like hard boiled eggs, bruschetta, mango salsa, latkes, etc. and of cours e there was lots of alcohol involved. It was a holiday with a bunch of Americans after all. Tuesday it was the same thing, we went out surfing early in the morning, went back for breakfast (french toast, banana bread, apple sauce etc) then went back to the beach. I did a bit of exploring in the town that day (had to pull myself away from the ocean) but I’m glad I did, I talked with some really nice people, had an ice cream cone, and just enjoyed the laid back vibe of a beach town. Being at this amazing place made me forget that I live in a “third world country”.  I often forget that I do. . .well that’s a lie. I suppose it is hard to explain what I mean. I have all the necessities, I live in a BEAUTIFUL place, I can travel, I have no complaints for the most part.

So then on Wed I headed back to site (a travel day that was a bit rough) spent a quick afternoon there preparing for mom’s visit – did laundry, took the dog for a walk, cleaned a bit etc. Then Thursday bright and early I was on the side of the road trying to catch a boliea (hitchhike/free ride).  I finally caught one that took me to Macia (about 3 hours south of my site) but then they realized that I wasn’t planning on paying – although I was very upfront about it, they kicked me out of the car haha. So there I was stranded on the side of the road, in the pouring down rain, luckily a nice semi-truck driver took pity on me, and gave me a lift into Maptuo. I caught a chapa to my hostel here, and checked in. A fellow volunteer’s friend had just arrived in town, and his baggage was lost, so he needed a place to stay, so I helped him out a bit, got him a bed here at the hostel and we met up with some people for dinner right down the road.

I then hopped a taxi to the airport to meet mom – only to get there, wait 20 or so minutes, and get a phone call saying “missed my plane!”. So I returned to the hostel alone (sad face) – but had a really nice night here. The best part of hostels are the different clientele that they get. I sat and chatted with 3 people from South Africa, another PCV from Malawi, and another American who is living in Lesotho. Really cool group of people, interesting conversation, just an overall good time.

Oh and did I mention the running water here? Loving it.

So this morning, I took a walk up to the Peace Corps office, took care of some business there, chatted with my supervisors etc (all great people) and then caught a taxi off to the airport one more time. This time I was successful!! MY MOM IS IN MOZAMBIQUE! Madness. Pure and utter madness.

Took the taxi back to the hostel, we had a mini-christmas right there in our dorm room:

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE GIFTS!!!!!

I cannot even BEGIN to express how incredible you all are. Mom just kept pulling things out of her bag saying “oh this is from _____, this is from _______” my mind was BLOWN.  I will say it again

THANK YOU.

To know that I am that loved, that so many people were thinking about me over the holidays, that you all went out of your way to purchase me gifts is beyond thoughtful. If the postal system here was a bit more functional I would send each and everyone of you a personalized thank you note. So I am sorry that is a general blog post “thanks” but please know that I am very very very very thankful for everything.

So after we unpacked, and then re-packed everything into a more ‘moz’ travel friendly set-up, we went exploring through Maptuo. I gotta hand it to my mom, missing a connecting flight, having to spend the night in Johannesburg, to then get into a totally foreign country (did I mention it was seriously hot today too?) and let me drag her around this big, noisy, dirty city. . . . the woman is a trooper.

But we went up to the craft market, she got a nice wallet, and a cool purse, and we scoped out some really cool craft things. If anyone wants something, let me or her know! I would be HAPPY to send you all things back with her. . .the international Sherpa haha. So we wandered for a bit, I took her to one of my favorite local watering holes (I had a beer, she an orange fanta) then we headed back to the hostel. Which is where I am currently writing this blog post. She is taking a nap. . .not going to let her sleep too long (I know she is jet-lagged, but it’ll help to get on Moz time). We are going to grab some dinner tonight, thai food I think, then hit the hay early. Tomorrow is going to be another “experience” for her.

We have to take a bus up north to my site (Quissico) . . .about a 5 or 6 hour trip in a hot, smelly beat up greyhound type bus. God. This woman is a trooper. Hat’s off to her.

My mother is in Africa. Wild.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and a very Happy New Year.

Big hug and kiss from your perspiring friend in the big city of Maputo.

t

just another day. . .

Written Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Good Morning! And I really mean that – put yourself in my shoes for a moment. You awaken under a white mosquito net to the sun, your fan is bathing you in a cool breeze, your dog lazily stretches in anticipation for the front door to open. You open the front door to another beautiful day, the sun caressing the palm trees in your front yard, the sand still cool from the night under your feet. You make yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy a fresh mango for breakfast on the front porch while listening to a bit of music (this morning it was Dave Matthews Band) and scratching your dog behind his ear.

Now that we are all on the same page, I will bid you again, a very good morning!

Yesterday was an excellent day here in Quissico, I had a nice slow morning at home, then wandered down to my one community-based organization (Despertai) where I discussed a project with the president. I have asked them to construct a small dehydration box for me, so that I can dry mango and other fruit. My organization seemed very interested in this (another form of income generation), so tomorrow and Friday we will be constructing these boxes. We talked a bit about what we would do with the money, I checked in on the Jackfruit tree’s that we have planted (they are germinating!) and then headed back towards town.

I went to Sota’s house to pick up some Moringa plants he had left behind for me, and proceeded to plant them in my yard. I also gave a few to my neighbors, taking the time to teach them about the incredible nutritional benefits of this plant, and how to use it. One of my neighbor’s daughters knew about the plant, so she helped me out with the explanation. I felt really great after all of this, knowing that my neighbors will take good care of these trees, and hopefully spread the word of Moringa to others. I also suggested that once they are a bit more grown, sharing the seeds and cuttings with friends/family and other neighbors. The more people we can get eating this amazing plant, the better.

For those of you who don’t know what Moring is – a plant of India/Ethiopia descent, grows like a small tree (the idea is to trim it so it grows more horizontally and produces more leaves) has a growing rate of 6-8 months, and you can use ever part of it. The leaves can be dried and then ground down into a powder that can be added to prepared food (without altering the taste) or in a tea. Or one can eat the leaves raw in a salad. The seeds can be used to purify water.  This plant has Vitamin A and C, calcium, iron, and more protein than eggs. It is indeed a magical plant. It grows in areas where people need it the most. It can grow in sand, doesn’t need a lot of water, and likes sun. Basically it’s the all-encompassing plant for those here who are suffering from mal-nutrition, and illness.

So after I did a bit of “work” I wandered into the town, chatted with my shop owner friends, and helped out some lost South African’s who wanted to buy vegetables and fruit. I realized that I’m at the point with my language where I could translate for people – that’s pretty cool. I never imagined that at some point in my life would I be bilingual.

Came back to my lovely little house to try out a new recipe: apple-carrot salad with toasted coconut. You toast the coconut in a skillet with some cumin, add it to chopped apple and carrot, and toss it in a dressing of lemon, salt, cayenne pepper and olive oil. Top with a bit of parsley and boom. Nummies.

It was good. I also made a coffee cake – dutch oven style, for dessert/breakfast this morning.

Today, I don’t have much going on – going to wander into town this afternoon to find some mosquito netting, I want to make a screen door for my house. I also have tentative plans with my friend Dona Julia (the shop owner) to bake and cook some things at her house tonight. I’ll probably wander around town a bit, give the dog a bath etc. just another day in the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I have friends coming in this weekend, Monday we are heading up to Tofo Beach to celebrate Christmas, then the 27^th Mom will be here. . . madness.

the indian ocean, crashing a wedding, and FOOD

Written Monday, December 17, 2012

Hello hello! Sorry it has been a bit since my last blog post. . . time has just been sliding right along, and I find myself busy in a manner of speaking.

So last week went as expected, had some meetings with my organizations (the last ones of the year due to holiday travels for everyone) and so Friday I packed my backpack and headed down into the Gaza Province.

Friday afternoon I met some friends in Xai Xai, a large city that has just about anything you could possibly want or need. The market there is about as big as my town as a whole, and the produce possibilities are endless. I stocked up on some dry goods in another store (lentils, yeast, popcorn, brown rice etc) that I cant find here in Quissico. I also took a walk through the seemingly endless rows of second hand clothes – I’m telling you, this town has everything that any western-style lifestyle could ever possibly need. We had lunch at a small barraca (stall) for 25Mtz, a giant plate of feijao and rice (beans). It was delicious. We then headed down to the beach.

We had rented two small cottages for the weekend, fri and sat nights. I elected to just stay Friday night. It was a “welcome” party to the new volunteers who were just sworn in two weeks ago. Very nice to meet some new faces, and see some old ones. It was a fun  day and night spend at the beach. Lots of laughs, dancing, some soccer on the beach, swimming in the ocean etc.  I couldn’t believe that I’ve been in this country for 6 months and this was my first trip to the OCEAN! Yes I go to the lagoon just about every weekend, but its totally different than a beach with waves, the salty breeze etc. It was a fantastic evening. The stars at night were incredible. I sat in front of the surf, staring at the sky for a good few hours just thinking. I saw some shooting stars, and made a wish on every one.

Saturday, I had breakfast on the beach and hung out until about mid-day, than my friend Linda and I headed back to her site –Manjacaze, Gaza. A nice rural town about an hour west off the EN1 (the national highway). We walked around a bit that afternoon, and made an incredible dinner of peanut noodles, a veggie stir-fry with eggplant and green beans, and of course, brownies for dessert. YUM. It was so nice to spend time with such an incredible friend, cooking, listening to music, and just hanging out.

Sunday I was originally planning on leaving about mid-day to come back to Quissico, but what do you know, I ended up staying another day/night. Sunday started off with a breakfast of cinnamon/nutmeg pancakes with a banana compote, and coffee with coconut milk. . . .sensing a trend of incredible eating this weekend?  We wandered around town for a bit, going to her site-mate’s (and friend of mine) house. Evan is incredibly talented with plants, so his house and yard are full of interesting plants, fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, baby trees etc. He has recently started drying mango in a homemade dehydrator. I took pictures of it, and will take it down to my one organization that has a carpentry – dried mango with a chili pepper infusion anyone? That way I can continue to enjoy mangoes during the “winter” here. Also I want to see how people here respond to it. . .potential income generation project.

So after spending time at Evan’s house and organization, Linda and I walked back towards her house, stopping in at one of her neighbors houses. They were on their way to a wedding reception, and of course we were promptly invited to come along. Only in Mozambique can I feel comfortable going to a wedding reception in a pair of dirty jeans, sweaty tank-top, and hair in a pony-tail. Of course upon arriving we were immediately told to grab a plate of food, and were brought a drink. Wedding crashing – Mozambique style.

Good food, nice company. . . but we didn’t really want to stay long. We mingled for a bit, but felt a bit awkward, so we made a smooth departure. Running into Evan in the road, we went back to the market together and discussed what we wanted to make for dinner. (yes I get it, my days here revolve around food)

We decided upon some tortillas and salsa for an appetizer, a salad of moringa leaves, cucumber, tomato and onion in a homemade red-wine vinegar and mustard dressing, and a beefed up version of the Mozambique dish Couve. For dessert, there was papaya with lemon juice (try that combination, its incredible). Needless to say, it was another truly wonderful night of cooking, conversation, and eating. How I am so lucky to have such amazing friends, and the ability to cook such good food is still something I’m trying to figure out haha.

This morning, we made some coffee-cake and again, had coconut milk infused coffee. Delicious beyond words. I have started taking pictures of all the food dishes I make that are noteworthy. I will try to post pictures soon. . . internet has been very slow lately.

So I hitchhiked back to Quissico this afternoon, arrived at my home (so nice to be back) did some laundry, hung out with the neighbor kids and the dog, did a bit of reading – started a new book by Elizabeth Gilbert, and started cooking dinner. On the menu tonight were Coconut Beans. You cook beans in coconut milk (substitute for water) for about an hour, adding in sautéed garlic, ginger, onion, green pepper and tomato. I tossed in some cumin and cinnamon too. Let it all simmer for another 30 minutes or so and BOOM. Delicious nummies. Savory – that’s a great way to describe this dish. I will be making it again in the future.

Oh! Don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I finally had a new table/cooking counter built for my house! It is a game-changer. I can chop, cook, stir and anything else I need to at an appropriate level INSIDE my house. No more porch cooking haha. Yay!! I re-arranged the house a bit, and have been enjoying the new setup and cooking station very much.

There isn’t too much going on this week, work-wise. I will be going down to my one community based organization, trying to plant the idea of mango drying, and checking in on a Jackfruit tree that we planted a few weeks ago, I absconded with some nice plant bags from Evan’s organization, and will be using these to germinate some new plants with this organization, as well as some fresh basil plants, and hot peppers (called piri-piri) for my own personal use here at home.

Well –with this blog being mainly about food, I will leave you to go enjoy a nice juicy mango for dessert.

Big hugs.

Mom will be here in 10 days!!

aspirations, limitations, and a lagoon

Written December 9, 2012

I’ve been taking time to think about how incredible fortunate I am here in Mozambique. I have all of the necessary tangible commodities someone could ever need, a great dog (even if he is a bit undisciplined), I live in a beautiful location, and have had the opportunity to meet some truly wonderful people: PCV’s, JICA voluneers, host country nationals, South Africans etc. I’m a pretty lucky girl.

The week passed by without any major going-on’s. . . I have decided to set little projects or goals each week for myself. Be it something making something for my house, learning a new verb tense (my language is good, but could be much better) cooking a new dish or discovering something new in the market.

For example – this past week my goal was to get a “ralador” something that I use to shave coconut into fine pieces. I can then use warm water with the shaved coconut to make “coconut milk” and from there the cooking possibilities are endless. I also had a table/cooking stand type combination made. I am currently working with a large blue plastic table, that while is ok and does its job, is ugly and too big for my small living room. So I designed a smaller one that I can put in the corner, that has a set of shelves underneath it, also allowing me to dispose of a plastic stand that I have in my house as well. . . not a huge fan of things that are plastic. I’d like to eventually get a smaller table to sit and eat at. But for now, I’ll continue eating on my front porch, overlooking Quissico and these beautiful sunsets.

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. Saturday was Sota’s ‘despedida’ (going away party). I arrived at his house early in the morning to help prepare some things for the food, we did shopping in the market, and I did some prep-work for the party. Mid-morning a good friend showed up in Quissico, he had wanted to check out what my life was like, so we went exploring through the market (that took about a ½ hour because town is so small) and went to the overlook of the lagoon. Beautiful day – beautiful view. Around that time I received a phone call from another volunteer from my group (I digress, both of these volunteers are from my group Moz 18) who had just arrived in Quissico as well! So we explored a bit more, went to my home, hung out a bit on the porch, trying to beat the heat. Eventually we took our respective bucket baths, and headed back to Sota’s house to commence the festivities.

Every despedida I have been to is the same. Same food, same music, same general flow of the party. Which got me to thinking (and was a topic of discussion with my fellow PCV’s all weekend) just how trapped people are here in their own minds. It is all well and good to have routines, and be comfortable in your life, but never wanting more, never thinking to want more – that desire to explore and learn- so many people here don’t have. If anyone ever had anything besides feijoada (bean stew) xima, and chicken at their going away party, people would have a hissy fit.

Walking down to the lagoon today with my friends we were discussing this, how close-minded people can be here when it comes to things like food, travel, people from other cultures etc. The ability to think about the future, plan, have hopes/dreams is in very short supply here. We were playing “what would you do with one million dollars/how much would your life change” on the walk down, each person had a very interesting response – but when we stopped to ask a local woman who was walking back to her house, she coulnt come up with a response. She just kept saying that she lived over the hill with her two daughters, and was going home to cook. Poverty doesn’t necessarily have to be a situation of tangible value, in my opinion poverty of the mind is where everything stems from. Lack of education, or educational resources, creates the lack of drive, motivation and freethinking. People here expect to be given things, international development companies don’t help either. Rolling in with their fancy cars, giving money and things to people. GIVING. Such a good word in so many ways, yet it can hinder and even cripple entire countries. Not teaching that to get something, you need to put forth an effort first.

Being asked for things here in town is a common place, everyday thing for me. Something I have gotten very used to. At first it annoyed me, then it saddened me, now it almost infuriates me  - why should I give you anything of mine? Why should I give you the mango in my hand, when I can teach you how to plant a mango tree, and then you could have mango’s for the rest of your life. It was the same idea last week with my organization and making our monthly calendar. Yes – I am here to help, but I am not here to do this work for you. I know how to make a calendar, I know that when I say “see you next Thursday at 9am” that I should show up next Thursday at 9am. I have that ability to pre-plan, and think into the future. It’s hard to help people who don’t want to help themselves, but are expected to be given things.

AND yet on the other hand, people here are so giving and generous. On the walk down to the lagoon today, some woman invited us into her yard, offered us about 8 mango’s and 4 unripe coconuts (you crack it open and drink the water inside – so good). Total stranger, but because we said hello, and she had these things, she offered them to us.

Ugh. Sometimes it all becomes too much to think about. The dichotomy of it all.

So I spent the day at the lagoon with my friends, a great day of interesting and stimulating conversation, jokes, swimming and sunshine. Reminding myself that yet again, it’s the little things in life.

Just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love. An excellent book that I recommend to all. I loved the author’s form of writing, often finding myself laughing out loud. I think a yoga retreat in India would be a cool thing to do after COS (close of service). I’d like to see so much more of this world, and would like to return back to school a well. Good thing I have my entire life ahead of me!

And again, with those few sentences there – I have thought about my future, the possibilities I have and will make for myself. Where people here can’t even fathom traveling up to the next province. And so it goes. . . 

Hugs and kisses all – your barefoot friend in Africa

thoughts from my front porch

Written December 5, 2012

Sweat. A word that may be strange to think about in December of all months, but nevertheless its become a big part of my life here. I now sweat in places I didn’t even know I had. When I go walking through the market I am stopped by friends, they ask if I’ve put some sort of cream on my face to make it so beautiful –pink and shiny. Ahh to be considered beautiful when I have lines of sweat pouring down my back. I love Mozambique.

Nothing too crazy to report here in Quissico, just going to work at the hospital on Monday’s out into the field on Tuesday’s, meetings on Wednesday and Thursday and then kind of a free day on Friday to do housework. I’ve sort of established a routine, but at the same time, my days are never quite the same.

I think it would be good of me to start verbally introducing you all to some of my friends here in Quissico, so bear with me here and try to use your imagination.

Friend of the day: Donna Julia. She is a shop owner here in Quissico, a heavyset woman who can be found daily behind the counter in her shop. She is intelligent in many areas, mainly in the kitchen, how to cook, how to improve dishes, and helpful hints and suggestions that only a seasoned chef knows. I am working on arranging a cooking lesson or two with her. Julia is a woman of great wit and humor, conversing only in Portuguese to those who enter her shop. Unlike many people here, her first language is Portuguese, not the local language of Chopi, therefore I can always count on her to correct me when I speak, or when I am searching for a word.  Almost daily I can be found sitting in her shop eating an ice cream or drinking some cold water letting the beautiful language of Portuguese wash over me. I never mean to stay in the shop for long, and yet hours pass by. She is incredibly warm-hearted, yet a boss lady at the same time. You don’t piss her off. Simple as that.

This past Sunday I had some visitors from the Moz 17 group pass through. They spent the night and left earlier on Monday morning on their way to Maputo. The original plan was to get down to the lagoon, unfortunately we didn’t really meet up until later in the afternoon, so we chose to just watch the sun set over the lagoons from a great vista spot.  I would just like to point out, that I had never actually met any of these people – they were total strangers when they stepped out of the chapa, and yet I invited them into my home, we cooked, listened to music and shared lots of laughs. . . in what other situation or life setting would that be possible?

I often think about that, if we (all the peace corps volunteers) were at home, with our respective friends, going to our usual bars/areas of entertainment, how many of us would be friends? Not that it’s a bad thing, people have different interests. But being here, we are all different – yes, but we are all connected by something much bigger than a genre of music, clothing type, or sports team.

Just some food for thought.

Speaking of food- mango season is in full swing now. And let me tell you, I am enjoying it to the maximum. I’m probably averaging about 3 or 4 mango’s a day. Jealous? You should be.

Although along with this incredible amount of good fruit, and fresh veggies, I still find myself indulging in small things. I have recently discovered this cereal here called Choco Max. as the name suggests its totally and completely unhealthy. And yet some nights I find myself eating that for dinner. From the box, while laying in bed, watching a movie on my computer.  Something about that, some nights just feels oh so right.

Today, after a meeting at my one organization I walked through town, bought some mango’s, peanuts, and some fresh veggies. I made a gigantic salad, using a lemon, some oil and salt for dressing, and had two mangoes afterwards, still warm from the sun. happiness inhabited my every molecule. Afterwards I took a nap on my grass mat.

I’m now sitting on my porch, watching storm clouds roll in, and looking forward to an evening of much needed rain.  The thought crossed my mind about people at home asking “So this is what you gave up everything for? This is why you said goodbye to everything you knew? For a few sticky mangoes and a reed house in the middle of Africa?”

I found myself replying - Firstly, I understand that not everyone will ever understand why I chose to do this, and secondly to answer your questions “yes”.

a typical thursday

Written November 30, 2012 – while my dog attempts to sit on my lap.

Sometimes I wonder how to start a blog post. . . do I say hello? Just jump right in with what’s been going on? Ask how things are going at home, when really its rare that I get a response? Not really sure. . . and so with that – this silly and somewhat pointless paragraph is done.

Yesterday was a bit of a frustrating day for me. It was my monthly meeting with Despertai – one of my community based organizations. I had talked with the president of the association, who is also my counterpart for it, about what we were going to go over/do during the meeting. My thought was, let’s make a calendar for December, that way everyone is on the same page as to what’s happening, and lets review our vision and mission statements. That way it’ll just be sort of a baseline for our goals and work in 2013.   –side note, Mozambique goes on holidays from about mid-december to mid-january. . . therefore I foresee a lot of lagoon days in my future.

So – we did a calendar for the month of December- that ordeal took about 2 hours. I cant even go into details about what made it take so long, because I just don’t know. It was just a process. An exhausting and frustrating process. But it was done. We have decided on our holiday dates, people know that my mom is coming to visit (mom get ready to eat a lot of food here) and know when our next meeting is.

So the next topic of our meeting was reviewing our vision and mission statement. I had been informed that the organization had both – something I thought you needed to go through the legalization process. . . apparently I was wrong. So doing each of those took another two hours. I don’t know why people don’t like getting involved during meetings. I saw a few people doze off and called them out on it. I think it stems from the educational structure/system here – people are used to sitting in a classroom and being lectured. There is no individual involvement, when asked a question, everyone responds in unison – so when I’m asking for individual involvement and personal opinion, a lot of the time people clam up. Adding to the frustration.

So we finally got our vision and mission statements done. By now the meeting has run for about 4 hours. I’m exhausted, and about at my whit’s end. . . I needddddd to be more patient, I know. Ugh – I’m frustrated just writing this blog. Because it doesn’t really describe the meeting at all. Things were accomplished, and I’m trying to be very forceful that I’m not the one running meetings. That it should be my counterpart, and I was forcing people to get involved – like writing on the calendar, writing out the mission statement etc. I want them to be sustainable and have the skills of doing simple things like making a calendar even when I’m gone.

Then after all of that was said and done, we took attendance. There were maybe 15 people at the meeting (understandable because of the holiday timeframe, and it being Mozambique and all) and yet 20 some were marked present. I asked why? And was told that those people, who weren’t actually there, had told the president that they weren’t going to be able to make it. I then kindly explained that they were “excused” from the meeting, but they weren’t “present” because they were not actually there. Again, something so simple – yet so new/foreign.

My next goal (probably starting next year 2013) is to get people to start documenting what they are doing in the field. How many patients they see. During what day, how many kids they help etc. because as of right now, we don’t have a funder – if we want to get one, we need to be organized, and be able to show statistics of our work. I’m almost a bit afraid to start this new project. . . but know that it has to be done.

Also – this organization always says that they do “Cuidados Domiciliarios” (certified home visits) – which is wrong. Yes they do home visits, but are not certified in the area of it – much like someone who is watching a child swim in a pool, unless they have gone through the training and classes, they are not a lifeguard. It’s the same thing. The training process costs money though, and without a funder, it would be very hard to get all 30some volunteers in this organization certified. So in the meantime, I have to be the bad guy and constantly cut in, reminding them that we don’t actually have the certification, so we cant say that we do. I feel like an asshole.

And to top off this feeling like a total ass – after the insanely frustrating meeting, the volunteers brought out pots of food. . . . they made me a thanksgiving meal.

I’m officially the worst person ever.

I had explained to them a few weeks ago about our holiday, and how we always have lots of food, and we sit around and talk and we are with friends and family. They saw that I would get really sad when I mentioned/explained this (its hard to be away from you guys) and decided to try and make me a Mozambique Thanksgiving. Of course the food was traditional Mozambique food and people didn’t actually sit at a table and talk – people don’t talk during meals here, but it was still good and the thought was very very nice.

So yeah. . . .that was my day yesterday.

Tomorrow is World Aids Day – I’ll be spending it at the hospital, and in the town square with my organizations.

I should go to the hospital today, but there is nothing for me to do, so I’m going to work on my VRF (volunteer reporting form) and then wander over to my other organization to talk about our plans for tomorrow.

Hugs and kisses from Mozambique.

td

Written November 27, 2012

How to spend Thanksgiving in Mozambique:

First you have to decide last minute (two days beforehand) to travel halfway across the country. Secondly you can only take a backpack and a purse because you will be hitchhiking and can’t carry a lot of things. Thirdly I suggest bringing sunscreen or a baseball hat (both is advisable) because more than likely you will be sitting in the bed of a pickup truck for countless hours.

With those tidbits of information, I’m going to tell you about how I spent my first Thanksgiving (Dia de Peru –day of the turkey) in Mozambique. My adventure starts last Tuesday afternoon after work – I was standing on the side of the road on the edge of Quissico, trying to flag down a ride to Maxixe where I was going to spend the night, and meet up with some other volunteers traveling north. What do you know, but a pickup truck full of other volunteers stops to pick me up! We take that truck (with people heading up to Gorongoza as well) to the crossroads of Maxixe and Inhambane City (there is a turnoff to go to the beach) we hop out of the bed of that truck, and flag down a nicer looking car that takes us into the town center of Maxixe. Our friend who lives there meets us and we head back to his house to drop our bags off. 

I should clarify this right now, when I say “us” I am referring to myself, my friend Morgan, and my friend Heather. We kind of became travel buddies by total chance on this trip. I love Africa.

So we spent the night in Maxixe at our friends house, getting up at 4am to get to the side of the road by 4:30/5am.  –To catch a good “boleia” (free ride) you need to walk a bit out of town, to catch the cars/trucks/semi’s that are actually leaving town. Around 6am (this process can also take a while) we flagged down a bit semi truck that was heading north to Tete Province.  Although he was passing the town we were going to, because we weren’t willing to pay he said he would only give us a lift to the border of Inhambane Province and Sofala Province. No arguments there – that’s a 7/8 hour ride and gets us about halfway.

So we piled in and proceeded to try and get as comfy as possible in a hot (semi smelly) cab of a semi-truck. The roads north of Vilankulo are not paved, and somewhat shitty, so it was a bit slow-going for the big truck. The trip to the “Ponto Save” (a bridge over the river Save dissecting Inhambane and Sofala) ended up taking about 9 hours.

Here’s where things get funny – the driver originally said that he would take us into Sofala – when we got to the bridge, he made us get out saying he was worried about the police charging him money, or that he was transporting us (blah, blah, blah) we tried to explain that we had proper documentation and whatnot, but he wasn’t having it really. So we got out, and proceeded to walk across the Ponto Save. I’m actually kind of happy for these turn of events, I got some really beautiful pictures of the river (or whats left of the river, considering there is a drought) and it was a cool thing to say I’ve done.

From the bridge we walked a bit of a ways and proceeded to wait a few hours for our next lift – a younger Portuguese man who was nice enough to give us a lift about halfway to Inchope (the town before Chimoio). He was cute too.

From this random town, we got in a chapa that was going all the way to Chimoio (where we were staying for the night) for 125Mtz. We decided to pay that, as it was getting to be afternoon-time and we didn’t want to be stranded on the side of the road at night. We pulled in to Chimoio around 6:30pm, and met everyone for dinner – I had a Manica beer in the Manica Province. Life was good.

I crashed that night at my friend Wendy’s house (she’s a Moz 18’er too) and the next morning (Thursday) we were up and back on the side of the road trying to catch boliea’s out of Chimoio to Gorongoza National Park. I got one to Inchope, and then one right to the entrance of the park.

We got to our campsite, pitched out tents, took showers (with running water in the bathhouse) had some beers and dinner (pasta, salad and garlic bread) and all crashed. Friday was our “Thanksgiving” some went on nature walks in the morning around our campsite, others decided to dip into some early morning sangria, either way it was a laid back day, full of friends, food, and much needed fun. We had grilled turkey (killed that day), garlic rosemary mashed potatoes (made by yours truly), a cheesy carrot casserole, green beans, and homemade cranberry sauce (made from jelly haha). It was basic Thanksgiving food, other volunteers had much more where they celebrated, but considering we had to pre-plan everything, and lug it all the way into this park, I’d say we did a really great job.

The next morning we went on a game drive through Gorongoza National Park. We saw elephants, warthogs, and all kinds of other gazelle like animals. Unfortunately my camera died, so I was only able to get a few pictures. The scenery was amazing though, we drove through lush forest, to then be in the dry flood basin a minute later. That was classic Africa in my mind. This open stretch of land that you could see the heat ripples rising up, the animals slowly walking across it. Unfortunately we didn’t see any lions, but the elephants were pretty cool in and of themselves.

That afternoon we packed up, and headed back into Chimoio – had dinner, and again crashed at my friend’s house. The next morning was the earliest of all – a 3:30am wakeup, to be on the road by around 4. We caught a nice boleia into Inchope, and walked through town. The boliea gods were smiling down on us, because we caught THE BEST ride down south. This nicer pick-up truck of media/journalism people were traveling to Maputo, we asked to sit in the back of the truck and they agreed. The ride was smooth and quick. We stopped every now and then for a drink/pee break, a we only got a little bit sunburned in the back. For the most part it was comfy, laying on our bags, napping, and talking.

On the trip home, Morgan, Heather and I talked about what we were thankful for. My list was pretty complex but the basic components of it would be; I am thankful for my family and friends, my amazing colleagues here in Mozambique, to be in Africa, capulana’s, hard-boiled eggs (a staple here when traveling), clouds, nice people who give boleia’s, Obama winning the election, music and movies, and the fact that I now have two homes –one here in beautiful Quissico, and one back in the states where my friends and family will always be.

With all that said, I am back at home, sipping on some instant coffee, while some neighbor kids play in my yard with the dog.

I hope everyone had a filling, and happy Thanksgiving – remembering that holidays are not about where or when you celebrate, as long as you enjoy yourself when/where you do celebrate.

Gobble gobble.

Written Thursday, November 15, 2012

Good mid-morning everyone- I hope the week is passing along nicely, and that you are all getting excited for thanksgiving next week! I’m sad I wont be around to celebrate that wonderful American food-fest with all my loved ones.

So I’ve been trying to get back into the swing of things here, after being away for a week. Its kind of tough to pick up where I left off with my organizations because we were somewhat out of touch, and people here don’t keep calendars. For example, today was the day of our “machamba” (aka- garden) at Despertai. There was a group of about 8 women who decided that the 15^th would be the best day, and if we showed up at like 6:30/7am we could get our work done early before the hot sun hit, and temperatures rose dramatically. So I showed up at 7am with my hoe, water barrel, and some seeds to plant – only to find that one other person showed up. So together her and I re-arranged some of the beds, planted some corn, beans, and peanuts – things that will be good during this hot time.

Needless to say I was a little disappointed in everyone – something I’ll talk about on the 29^th during our monthly meeting (again, depending on attendance). I know I was away for a week, and I couldn’t remind everyone that we had our gardening project today, but then again, that’s not my responsibility. They decided on the date and time. . . meh. Frustrating.

So yeah, after some back breaking work in the garden this morning – I came home, took a cold bucket bath, and am going to relax with some water and maybe an afternoon movie. I have a delicious mango for lunch, and am thinking about making an egg scramble for dinner.

Yesterday I had a wonderfully interesting day – like I think I said before, I never know what my days have in store for me, and enjoy seeing where they go. For example, I showed up at my one org, ACOMUZA, yesterday at 9am, thinking we had our weekly meeting – instead to find that they are having a training with IRD (another international organization), so I sat in on that for a bit, and left around 2pm with one of my colleagues. We went to her house, and hung out there for a while. She has a baby (named after my mom) so most of my time was spent pretending I liked playing with and holding babies. . . as most of you know – babies aren’t my thing. But I went with it, and that was that. She’s a cutie – baby Diana, huge eyes that mirror back anything she is looking at because they are so dark, always smiling, and curious as to what is around her.

After hanging around her house a bit, we walked down to her neighbors, were I was presented with a HUGE bunch of banana’s and some sugar cane. YUM. I then proceeded to get into a discussion with her other neighbor, a nice well-meaning guy, about religion and science. . . .again, as many of you know, my ideas about religion is that its silly and has caused more bad than good in the world – to each their own. I cant say that I’m shocked that so many people here have strong ties to religion, it’s a form of education in some ways- just not the correct form.

For example during this rather heated discussion, I touched on some subjects like evolution, space travel, shifting tectonic plates (describing Pangaea) and then last but not least other countries in the world and other religions. He kept asking why I didn’t want to have a religion, and I explained that in my opinion, religion is just another thing to fight about, and that it has caused so many wars, hate, and death. He tried to dispute that – so I asked him what he thought of the Islamic faith, what he thought of Catholics, those who were Buddhist etc. (for the life of me I cant remember what religion he said he was) but he would respond that “those people” were wrong, and that his religion was the only one that would provide salvation after death. Thus proving my point entirely. I think I shocked him, I shock a lot of men here – I’m not afraid to speak my mind, constantly advocating for women here, for better education, stating that – no I don’t want children, the fact that I play soccer, live alone, drink a beer every now and then, know how to play checkers etc. . the list goes on.  I’m hardly a demure lady in the states, why should I be any different here?

Anyway – with that being said- I bit you all adieu.

td

Written Monday, November 12, 2012

Why hello there!! It has been quite sometime since I’ve updated everyone about my life here- sorry about the delay, its been a busy few weeks.

So when we last left off, I was preparing to head down to Maputo for our IST Reconnect conference, after 3 months all the volunteers in my group met up in the capital for a conference to discuss how site has been, work/counterparts/housing/life etc.

It was SO good to see everyone. After training was over, everyone was ready for site, ready to set out on our own and see what life was like here in Moz. But after 3 months, it was incredible to catch up, hear about everyone’s experiences, the good and the bad. I really missed my friends.

Last Saturday (the 3^rd) I went down to Bilene – a beach near Macia in the Gaza province. We had a great time at the beach there it was a collection of people from my group of Moz 18, and other volunteers that came in for the weekend. Its really awesome to meet other volunteers who have been in country for a while, everyone seems to get along really well and its interesting to hear of everyone’s experiences.

Sunday I headed down to Maputo, I’ve become a fan of using “boleia’s” aka- hitchhiking for travel purposes. Not only is it free, it also usually is much quicker than a chapa or a bus because they don’t stop to pick people up. So I made it down to Maputo in decent time, arriving early afternoon. The entire group went out for dinner that night at a wonderful Thai restaurant – can you say YUM?  And the fun kicked off there. Most of us were really beat from a day of traveling, so nothing major happened Sunday night, just the dinner and catch up. There was a lot of hugging, yelling, and loud exclamations whenever a new person would walk in. I’m pretty sure I jumped on 3 people to hug them. Haha yep, I was that girl.

So Monday kicked off with an all day session about our lives, everyone gave a 10/15 min presentation about what they had been up to, what life was like for them etc. we had lots of sessions throughout the week about counterparts and supervisors – and how the role of the volunteer works within organizations here in Moz. Or “should work” haha. Not everyone had as great of an experience as I did. I have been really fortunate with work, my housing situation and many other things in my life here so far, of which I am very grateful.

I’ll spare you all the details about our conference and the sessions we had throughout the week and just tell you about our evenings. Tuesday we were invited to the US Embassy to watch the election – it was a bit overwhelming to say the least, lots of Americans, tv’s playing CNN, etc. It was a really cool experience, just a bit different from my life here in Quissico. Oh! Let me just tell you about my supermarket experience. . . .Monday night, we went into this great supermarket called Spar – I’d say it’s the same as a Giant Eagle Market District. . . my mind was blown haha. I just walked around looking at things for a while, and ended up buying a bottle of wine – because there was that option. No boxed wine all week! It was great haha.

So that was Monday and Tuesday evening. Wednesday we went to dinner at our Country Directors (Carl) house. He made us this delicious risotto and broccoli, and we had a really nice evening with him, it was a relaxing environment, and we played some fun games that included the entire group. All in all, it was an excellent evening. Not to mention his apartment is absolutely beautiful. When I grow up, I’d like to live in a place like that haha.

Thursday evening, our APCD (Rachel) held a Halloween party for us. I didn’t have a costume, sadly, but again it was really nice to hang out with everyone in a collective area, and have some yummy dinner. I ate really well this past week if you haven’t picked up on that yet haha.

And then suddenly it was Friday evening – somehow the week just flew by, and we were all preparing to leave the next day. Everyone met up for a drink at the neighboring restaurant, and two girlfriends and I broke off to go have dinner at a different Thai restaurant. We wanted an evening just the three of us to catch up, chat, and have a good meal. We had a pitcher of sangria to celebrate the week, and a really delicious meal. . . am I in Africa?? Haha

Saturday I was up bright and early – actually I didn’t sleep at all that night, I was up late trying to Skype people – the internet at the hostel we were staying at SUCKED, so that was annoying. I was really looking forward to chatting with a lot of people. But unfortunately due to time constraints with the conference and the changing of hours (you all are now 7 hours behind me) it just didn’t work out. . . better luck next time I suppose. So Saturday I headed up to Inharrime for a friend’s going away party. Again, it was a late night of fun, wishing her well and congratulating her on completing 2 years here in Moz.

Came back to Quissico on Sunday with a friend who was passing through to Maputo – we decided to hike it down to the lagoon and spend the afternoon there relaxing and swimming. Last night I cooked a really good veggie curry and had Sota and one of his friends over for dinner. A great way to end an incredible week. A good dinner with some nice visitors. What more could a girl ask for?

Needless to say, today was totally and completely dedicated to domestic chores, and napping. I did all of my laundry, dishes, and even gave the puppy dog a bath. Then took a 3 hour nap haha. Its going to be an early night for me as well, because tomorrow I go back to the “grind” of my working life here. HAHA working life. I’m such a kidder. But really though, I have some cool things planned this week, and am looking forward to seeing everyone again.

So I suppose I should explain my facebook status from the other day to everyone. Yes I did go to the hospital in Maptuo. Yes I am ok. But I do have a nice set of stitches on the back/nape of my neck. I had been having a problem with dry skin/what I thought was dandruff during my time here – and it seems to have gotten worse as the weeks go by. The medical officer looked at it, and sent me to the Maptuo hospital to have a dermatological consult. The doctor decided she wanted to do a biopsy, so Thursday afternoon I went and had the procedure done. She shaved part of the back of my neck, and numbed the area, then removed three samples. I have some lovely stitches now, that itch like hell, and hurt in an awkward way. I have to keep my hair up in a ponytail/bun, and was given a cream for the rest of my scalp. I go to get the stitches out at the end of this week, and the results from the biopsy should be received in about 15 days. Vamos ver- we will see.

And so it goes.

But tonight finds me here back on my porch with my pup. He smells good from his bath, and my yummy veggie curry leftovers taste even better day 2.

Life continues to be good here, and the crazy experiences just get better and better. I’ve also really enjoyed getting to know fellow volunteers. Such a cool networking system. I’m a lucky girl to be here in Moz.

Mom comes to visit in just about a month! So so so so so excited!

Anyway- sorry again that I’ve been out of touch. But I’m back home now with my evenings mostly free! So hit me up with emails, phone calls whatever! I’d love to hear how everyone at home is doing!!

Hugs and kisses always-

td

Written Thursday, November 1, 2012

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

Wow… November already. Tara’s birthday, Thanksgiving, the kick-off of the “holiday season”. . . . and its summertime here haha. So I hear we have been having crazy weather at home? Is everyone ok? Staying safe and dry I hope. It’s been really rainy and stormy here too this past week, so I feel your pain. Maybe not as much, but living in a reed house, with a tin roof during an insane storm with wind, rain and loud noises isn’t a picnic, let me tell you.

So! Its been a while since my last post- sorry about that. Sunday turned out to be a really great day for me. I went to the Methodist church right next to my house, and ended up getting invited back to a friends house to celebrate a birthday. My friend is an ex-Technician from the hospital, and he was throwing a party for his namesake – who just turned 93. I will repeat again – 93 years old.

That is UNHEARD of here. The typical lifespan is low 40’s. . . people are thrilled to get to 38 here. Could you imagine? So here we are, at the neat little house way out in the bush, celebrating a 93 year old’s birthday. This man was totally with it mentally, physically he moved a bit slow, but still held his own, ate and drank normally. I had a pleasant conversation with him – he told me he remembered when the first group of PC volunteers came through Moz, and how we have been helping this country, as well as all the other international-aid organizations here. I wanted to talk to him more about his life, but it was hard to get a word in edge wise with everyone else wanting to talk. I’m just happy I had that kind of experience.

I would also like to point out- whoever made up the statement “finish your dinner, there are starving people in Africa” has clearly never been to a birthday party in Mozambique. I was so full after I left there, that the only thing I could do Sunday evening, was lay in my bed. Sheesh!

Monday came and went- business as usual. Went to the hospital, finished organizing the paperwork for the people who have abandoned their ARV treatment (anti-retroviral treatment) and discussed how we can start doing “buscas” or searches for these people out in the field. I’ve also toyed with the idea of trying to start a GAAC group (I think that’s the right acronym) – the basis of these groups is to send one person every 3 or 6 months to the hospital or pharmacy to get all the ARV meds for their community. So say there are 12 people who are on the medication, one person will go to get everyone’s meds, and the next time, someone else will go. This helps to cut down the cost of transportation, helps to save time for people, helps to reduce the social problems (there is still a great deal of sigma related to HIV/AIDS) etc. I’m going to talk about this idea next week at my conference in Maptuo. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some more information, and see where this can take me.

Tuesday, went to the hospital again – and again did some paperwork dealing with the “abandono’s” (people who have abandoned treatment). That afternoon, I hung out with the neighbors, and was asked if the girls could braid my hair. I said yes, and again, have a head of cornrows haha! They get such a kick out of playing with my hair, and it feels nice to be included in such a normal activity for them, that I say go for it. The braids only stay in about a day or 2. I need to wash my hair much more often than my neighbors – but I like having the braids, it keeps my hair off my neck, and out of my face. A great thing when its hot outside.

Yesterday was super cold and chilly, I went to ACOMUZA in the morning for our weekly meeting – we had a visitor this week from IRD (and international development organization I think from Ireland). So most of my morning was just sitting there listening to the meeting. After they left, we touched on the topics from our past weekly meeting – the SWOT analysis about our home visits – and how we are working on changing some of our problems related to that. Overall it went well, and everyone wished me a great trip this coming weekend so that was nice. Yesterday afternoon was rainy, and chilly. I spent my afternoon in bed with the puppy, watching a movie and drinking hot chocolate. Sometimes you just need an afternoon/evening like that.

I made some really great food dishes this past week – 2 really good veggie curries with rice, and last night I made this stuff called Kusherie its lentils, rice, with a tomato/veggie sauce, topped with sautéed onions and garlic. Yum yum yum. That’s how my evenings have been lately. I cook starting around 5ish, once my stuff is done, I make the puppy food, and then we eat together, most times I watch a movie and have a glass of wine. Not a bad lifestyle if you ask me. Aside from the dog, it sounds like my life at home when I wasn’t working dinner shift at the restaurant haha.

So yes- that has been my week in a nutshell. I’m heading down to my other CBO today – Despertai, we are going to talk about this months plan, and I may go out into the field to do some home visits. Tomorrow I’m headed to the hospital for a bit, but have to make a trip up to Inharrime as well – the modista has some of my clothes that I want for Reconnect conference. Then its doing laundry and packing for me – Saturday I’m headed to a Halloween party – sadly I don’t have a costume. Didn’t really have the time or energy to make one. Oh well, there are bigger problems I think.

Then Sunday I’m headed into Maputo for the week! Running water, hot showers, and hopefully an internet café to skype with some people!

Life continues to be good here, there are some times when I’m sitting on my front porch at night- looking at the stars (and milky way galaxy) that I think “damn, I’m a lucky girl to be living here in Moz”.

Hugs and kisses - td

Written Sunday, October 28, 2012

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a pleasant end to your week and a nice weekend!

This week went by really quickly again, and the work continues to go well. The SWOT analysis on Wed with ACOMUZA went really well. People got involved, and we were able to do a full analysis and discussion on one of the projects they have. This coming week we will be doing another about a different project. Continuing this course of action until we have done an analysis on all of the different projects. After that, the goal is to put some of the changes we want to make into action, and follow through with them.

My palestra about purifying water on Thursday with Despertai went really well. Again, people were involved, interested, asked a lot of questions, and at the end of our meeting everyone said they were proud of me for giving my first solo palestra. I was surprised how well it went, and we even talked about some plans for the future. This week coming up we are going to overhaul the garden, and get some things planted that will last through the hot season. And the next big meeting we are going to continue to talk about water, but this time things like how to make homemade oral rehydration salts, the importance of washing hands etc. My next goal with this organization is to get them meeting more than once a month. I’m thinking after the holidays would be best.

It seems like come December time, a lot of people go traveling, because there is time off from school/work etc. sound familiar? Haha

So its almost Halloween time! Does anyone have a great costume idea? Anyone having a Halloween party??

The rest of my week went really well – Friday I was in the hospital until noon, then came home and made stuffed peppers (yep you read that right), and hung out with neighbors. Yesterday I did domestic thigns around the house – laundry, dishes, and a general clean before I went down to one of the churches to watch a choir competition. Listening to people sing here is one of my favorite past times. . . and to watch an organized event of beautiful singing. . .couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday afternoon. Not to mention I score a lot of points with the community and colleagues when I go to any church function here. So, with that said, my Sunday will be spent going to the Methodist church right near my house. Afterwards I have tentative plans to hang out with the neighbors. . . . I love hanging out with them, it always means free food and that I don’t need to cook haha. Plus, its better than sitting around my house alone doing nothing.

I tried to start re-teaching myself how to play guitar, but its so out of tune, that I need to find someone here with a tuner before I could continue. I am about halfway through watching the Soprano’s on my computer, have finished another 2 books, and go for walks with the puppy every now and then. I don’t really feel like I have a lot of down-time, listening to past stories of volunteers, and even current ones. . . I feel like I’ve been keeping busy with both work, and trying to be social here around site. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that I didn’t leave for an overnight trip the entire first 3 months. I did day trips here and there, but always was here for the nights. I want to travel and see Moz, but I also really like my site here, and the friends that I am making. And personally for me, that’s what this experience is all about. Getting to know the people in your community, and having them get to know you.  Plus, if anything, my language is getting better because I hardly speak in English throughout the day. And by hardly, I mean almost never – unless I am on the phone with a fellow volunteer. So I guess that’s a plus.

Anyway, not much else to report here- my hair is greasy, and I should take a bucket bath before church, but instead I’m going to put my hair in a braid, and put on a little extra deodorant . . . welcome to my life in Moz haha.

Missing you all-

td

           

Written Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Good morning!

Its an overcast and slightly chilly morning here in Moz, so this blog is being written from inside my house over a cup of hot instant coffee (yuck). The coffee sucks, but it does in a pinch I suppose.

The week has started off really nicely – spent time in the hospital Monday, working on organizing the paperwork of those who have abandoned their antiretroviral treatments for HIV. I am putting them in chronological order, from oldest to newest. The grand idea is that once this is all organized, I can create lists of Abandono’s (people who have abandoned treatment) organized by neighborhood/surrounding areas, and give those lists to the Peer Educators. The Peer Educators are supposed to spend one day in the hospital, and one day in the field looking for those who have abandoned treatment, and getting them to come back. Hopefully this list, and system of organization will help streamline that process/get it started, because word on the street is that the Peer Educators have yet to do these “buscas” (searches).  So stay tuned to see how that goes. Hopefully I’ll have the paperwork done by this week, and the lists by next week. I’d love to get this process started before the holiday season is upon us.

Tuesday morning was the same thing, hospital from about 7am until noon. . . I came back to my house and did a big clean – washed dishes, swept my yard, swept the house etc. We had our final REDES meeting for the year at my house, so the plan was to have a small party to celebrate. I made banana pancakes for the occasion. The girls LOVED them, and wanted to learn how to make them. I think that’s going to be incorporated into our future plans. During our little get-together we talked about what we wanted to do in the future. We have some girls heading off to a new grade level in Jan/Feb, so our thoughts were – start a new REDES group. Have one that meets in the afternoon one day out of the week with the younger girls (ages 12-14ish) and one that meets in the morning another day with the older girls (15-18ish). Older kids have classes in the afternoon, and vice versa, younger kids in the morning. So the general game plan is to create two REDES groups, and have different projects going on, getting more girls involved – to then have one general meeting with everyone once a month on a Saturday or something. I have high hopes for these plans. The girls seem really involved/invested, and hopefully we can get more on board and involved.

So the little meeting was great, we had some food – banana pancakes, some fruit, veggies and juice. It was an odd combo of food haha but it was good. It was “girl time” Moz style. We talked about boys, clothes, I showed them pictures from my life in the states, they even braided my hair haha yep –I have cornrows. Not the best look for me, but I indulged them. They aren’t super tight, so I can take them out later today, but it was a cool experience, and the girls got a kick out of it. Like I said, “girl time” Moz style. Music, chatting, and doing hair. Some things stay the same, no matter where you are in the world. It was a really cool bonding experience, and I’m happy that I have this REDES group to work with. I’m excited about our future.

Today I am off to ACOMUZA. . .hopefully to start the SWOT analysis of our ongoing projects. I will let you all know how that goes. I’m foreseeing a very long meeting – they usually run until 11ish or so, but with this project, in addition to everything we usually cover on a weekly basis… let’s just say I’m bringing a snack with me haha.

Tomorrow is my water talk with Despertai – I have some good material organized, ways to purify water, places to collect water from, and how to make homemade oral rehydration salts. We are also going to touch upon our future projects, and give a little attention to our garden.

Friday I’m back at the hospital to finish up the organization process. . .and then BAM! Another week in Moz over. Madness.

Hope all is well at home –

Smoochies- t

 

Written Saturday, October 20, 2012

Good afternoon everyone – written from my front porch after a lovely lunch of a papaya and a cucumber salad. All is well here in Quissico – me and the pup are hanging out today (shocking I know).

This week passed quickly, as they all seem to do here, my days are long, but the weeks seem short. I’ve settled into a semi-routine here, something that I was missing from since I arrived in Mozambique – surprisingly I really missed having a routine. I’m up around 5/530am, making instant coffee, and watching the sunrise with my book on the porch. I have breakfast with the pup, and get dressed for my day. By 7/730 I’m out the door this week, Monday and Tuesday I went to the hospital where I have started helping them organize paperwork of people who have abandoned treatment – its my hope that the Peer Educators can start using these papers to go out into the community and find those who have gone astray.

Tuesday I had a REDES meeting in the afternoon – I’m really getting to know the girls so that’s something that I am really enjoying. We are talking about our next project – they want to do something involving cooking, so I am thinking we may make jams or something along those lines, where they can then sell them, and use the money to do other projects. Stay tuned to see how that goes.

Wednesday I had my weekly meeting with ACOMUZA, my one community based organization – again that went really well, we started a loan project – every week people give money (any amount) into the collective account, that money will then be used to start new projects, help those in the community who need it, or help the volunteers involved in the project. It’s a really cool idea, and I did not do it justice explaining it here – but its not something I’m fully involved in, this is something they are doing on their own, so again, I’ll just see how this plays out. Next week we are doing a SWOT analysis on the current projects, and will use that to fine-tune any problems we are currently facing. That way we can strengthen our existing projects, and expand upon them.

Wed afternoon, I went up to Inharrime (I hitchhiked both ways – free rides – good stuff) to go to the modista (seamstress) and have lunch with fellow volunteers there. The one is from the Pittsburgh area, so her and I reminisced about Primanti’s and nights spend down South Side. It was nice to get away for a few hours, it makes coming home all the better.

Thursday I had “Cha Positivia” in the hospital early in the morning – its an opportunity for those who are HIV positive to come to the hospital, talk about their experience, problems, medication etc. . . basically anything dealing with living with HIV. Doctors are present for this to help answer questions, provide guidance etc. It’s all done in the local language of Chopi, so I just sit there and try to catch on the best I can. Its more of a cultural experience for me than anything, and I’m happy just to sit there and smile haha.

After the hospital (on Thursday) I walked down to Despertai, my other community-based organization, and had a really good talk with the president and a fellow colleague there. They have some cool projects going on at the moment, and we have some plans for the future. Firstly, they have a machamba (garden) that has kind of fallen into disrepair so we are going to focus on righting that, that way they can use it to produce food for themselves, the community etc. Also, this coming week I am giving a palestra (informative speech/presentation) about water, and the ways to purify it. I’m going to use that opportunity to talk about possible waterborne illnesses, and things like how to make rehydration salts from things around your house. The manners of purifying water for drinking are simple, as is the recipe for the rehydration beverage- all things that can be easily accessed here in Quissico – so hopefully it’ll go well. Also, starting in January/February we want to start doing health related palestras in the community and high schools, so we will be discussing topics for those.

Yesterday I went to the hospital and worked on the paperwork organization again – I arrive a little early so I can walk through and say hi to the Peer Educators and some of the doctors I like. I’m usually at the hospital from 730ish until maybe noon… rough work day right??

My afternoons and evenings are filled with things like, going for a walk through the market, buying things for lunch/dinner, going on walks with my dog (he is loving that) hanging out with the neighbors, watching movies/tv shows, or reading a book. It’s a really laid-back lifestyle here. At times I find myself thinking that I should be doing something, and then feeling guilty that I’m not – but that usually passes, or I find something to do.

For example – today is Saturday. . . I have no work today, and really didn’t need to do anything. But I was still up at 5ish, I washed my clothes from the week, did dishes, fed the dog, gave myself a pedicure, started a new book, went for a walk in the town – stopping in to talk with my favorite shop-owners, bought some things for lunch/dinner, and then came back to the house where I hung out with some neighbor kids, and my older neighbor. A lot of my day is just spent sitting around talking to people. Its about 2pm here, and my day is over haha.

My house is clean, clothes and dishes washed. . . I may go for a walk with the pup soon, then take a nice bucket bath and make some dinner. This place is starting to feel more like home – and while I still have my moments of “WTF am I doing here” (had one Thursday morning) I’m getting more comfortable with myself, the language, having a house, dog etc. . . I guess I’m growing up haha. Look at me go! I jest, I jest. I’m still as silly as ever, but the only one who ever sees it is the dog – I don’t think my neighbors would understand my eccentricities, there are some things that just don’t translate.

With much love for always- td s