Written June 23, 2012

Posted – stay tuned.

Crying babies . . . don’t like them in the states, don’t like them much more here in Moz either. Just being honest. Kids aren’t my thing. They are cool for maybe a few hours, and then they can go home to their parents. It’s the constant crying here of the kids that kind of starts to get to me. And its not normal crying that can usually be soothed either. It’s the uncontrollable, body shaking, screaming sobs, tears down the face, boogers out the nose. The one baby that lives in this house, was crying so hard, she peed herself. I wish I was kidding. And its really for no particular reason. At least not that I can tell. They are beyond adorable, don’t get me wrong. Its just the incessant crying that drives me to my room, to plug into my iPod, and attempt to study this complicated language.

Thank goodness for the support network we have of the staff, other volunteers etc. it makes this entire process so much easier. For example this afternoon, after gardening, my friend and I went to “shoprite” a local outdoor market held every wed and sat. It is exactly what one would imagine if I were to say “outdoor African market”. Its kind of perched on a hillside, and there are many stalls made out of wood and tin. They sell everything from food, to shoes, to sweaters. I wanted to buy a capulana today, but it was a bit expensive, and the women weren’t willing to barter. So I am just going to hold off until I go to Maputo again, and buy some there. By ‘expensive’ I mean 150Mts here in Namaacha, whereas in Maputo I can get 2 or 3 for that price. Really that’s only like 5 dollars, buttttt it’s the principle of the matter haha.

After our “shoprite” experience, we just wandered through Namaacha for a bit, deciding to return to our respective houses. Mine was filled with crying babies, so I found a semi-quiet corner of the yard under a tree, and read my book for a few hours. Then helped cook dinner (bean stew stuff, and some xima with salad) and retired to my room for a bit before dinner to do some yoga and get a quick meditation session in. Basically I needed to get away from the babies haha. Although living in this family setting is a daily challenge, and I complain about it, I am chalking it up as a life lesson, of which I will grow and learn.

I was very fortunate to have a good friend (another volunteer) stop by tonight, I had about reached my breaking point with the crying children, and lo and behold, there was my friend. It couldn’t have been better timing if we tried. We went for a brief walk under the African stars, and just had a conversation about nothing. Yet we talked about everything. Don’t you just love talks like that? I know I do. In addition to the mental support, my friend was nice enough to bring me two avocado’s which I have here on my desk for breakfast and a possible snack tomorrow.

I try to eat at least one avo a day, it’s a great form of protein and healthy fat. Plus, if I’m eating that, I’m not eating crackers or bread or any other form of carbs. They are kind of my enemy here haha. I’m doing my best to focus on mainly eating proteins, with veggies and fruits and a small amount of carbs. I think my friend and I are starting a daily running routine next week too, now that we really have this schedule down pat.

Good news – I scrubbed my feet today. Thrilling stuff right? Haha, but yes, that was basically the highlight of my evening, getting all the grime from the week off my feet, and applying lotion. Host mom was very proud – they take pride in clean feet here for some reason – but she was very confused about my Teva tan-line. I tried explaining a suntan to her, but I think it fell on def ears. She just insisted that my feet weren’t fully clean, because there was a change in skin tone. “sigh”

She is a very interesting woman, over dinner tonight, (which was eaten in our ‘kitchen’, because the lightbulb (yes just one) in the dining room/living room area had burnt out) we talked about her work, and they type of work I want to do in my next two years. So while we ate in the semi-outside kitchen area, which was kinda a nice change of pace, we discussed HIV/AIDS, mothers who are positive and pregnant, different foods and treatments, the importance of breastfeeding etc. The standard dinner talk really haha.

Its helping me practice my language skills (which I desperately need to do) as well as providing me with information from a first hand perspective. She works with people living with HIV/AIDS on a daily basis, as she is an activist. Like I said, fascinating woman. Not to mention, she doesn’t take any crap from anyone, she runs a tight ship here at the homebase, and everything is always done in a neat orderly fashion – as neat and orderly as things can be in Africa haha.

The one thing I have really noticed here, in kitchens, in bedrooms, in general are the lack of shelving units and wall adornments. In America, we have cabinets and shelving units for everything, especially in the kitchen. Here not so much. That is one thing I want to have in my house, lots of hooks in the wall, and plenty of counter space. Not to mention an incredible garden. Basically I’m pretty excited about getting my site placement and getting my own place.

Well friends, my water has been boiled for my filter (I’ll fill it tomorrow morning when it is cool) my feet are clean, hair is in a braid (standard hairstyle for me these days) and my underwear is drying over the mosquito cube. I’d say its about time I say goodnight.

We are taking a nice long hike to the waterfalls tomorrow morning, then soccer in the afternoon again I think. And of course, laundry and cooking, with maybe some room scrubbing again if I’m lucky.

“Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there, with open arms and open eyes, yeah” – Incubus

td