HAPPY 4th of July!!! Missing everyone and the fireworks!!! 

Written July 2, 2012

Posted soon, I promise.

Greetings all, hope all is well in the states.

Sorry its been a few days since my last update, but I promise all is well here, I’ve just been very busy with all the work here. Between the endless language classes, studying/making notecards, the tech training, and then the other duties of daily life, I have a tough time getting to internet and or finding time to write these entries.

So the past few days have been kinda rough physically for me. Experiencing my first GI problems, but never fear, all is well. I am drinking lots of water, sometimes mixed with rehydration salts, eating somewhat bland food – I ventured into eating Couve tonight, stay tuned – and getting lots of sleep at night. It’ll pass soon. Like I said, it wasn’t a matter of if, but when. All of the volunteers are very supportive when one another falls to the GI issues. We have dubbed it “Victoria Falls” or “the number 7” (we were given the Bristol Fecal Indicator chart – google it). I don’t think I need to go into much more detail than that. We are strangely open about everything in our health and lives, creating such a great support system. At the end of these 10 weeks, I will be very sad to part with everyone.

As I type this, the cat of the house Paciencia – meaning patience in Portuguese (there should be an accent over the e, but my computer speaks American) is wandering around my room, she comes back to check on me every now and then, but I’m letting her feast on the dead cockroaches and spiders. Thank goodness for both the cat and my bed net, they keep the bugs out of my bed. I know many have cats here in Moz, and I am considering getting one once I get to site. Many people inherit a cat, if they replace a volunteer, and if you start your own site, you can pass the animal on. I would never bring one back to the states because it would need to be in quarantine for a few months, something no animal should ever go though. But it’s not hard to find someone who wants a cat here, whereas dogs are hated and feared, something to consider as a deterrent for crime, but after 2 years it’s a bit harder to find a nice home for Spot.

We had our second written language test today, I did much better on it than the first one! Yayy! My brain is starting to come out of it’s year long hibernation, when I was just working random jobs, its nice to utilize it again haha. I feel that things are starting to click. I’m sure getting to site is going to be another harsh reality, but I’ll work through it, and before ya know it, I’ll be bilingual. Hot diggity dog.

This weekend coming up, we have our “site visits”, it’s a chance for current volunteers to host a trainee, and it gives us as trainees, a chance to see real world Moz. Away from the comforts and trainee bubble here in Namaacha. I am really excited about it! I am going to stay with a Moz 15-er (I’m Moz 18) who lives in Quissico/Zavala, Inhambane if any of you care to be a bit map-savvy.

So its July already. . . when did that happen? Last I checked it was May 28^th and I was all sorts of worried about a simple plane ride over an ocean and continent. It seems like so long ago that I was saying goodbye to friends and family, simply because of everything that I’ve experienced and learned already. But at the same time, it seems like only yesterday. Time is a very skewed thing here, days seem to melt away in our training sessions and the weeks have literally flown by.

Ouch! I wasn’t paying attention to the kitters, and she nibbled my toe! What a little attention skeeker. She’s super cute though, so I guess its ok.

This week is 4^th of July! Yay!! Happy Birthday America! Sadly I have classes all day, no one realized when making the schedule that its kind of an important day for Americans. No big deal though, I am sure that we will all get together to do something fun after class, and by something fun, I mean sit around until it’s dark – because we need to be home soon after that.

With all this free time at night, I have been creating notecards for the language, studying verb conjugations (a bit confusing, but I have faith) and reading lots of books. Currently I am engrossed in “The Fever” which talks about Malaria, “Breakfast with Buddah” a comical, yet wise novel, and “Haven, War of the Princes” a fantasy type that I read before bed on my Kindle. The other two are hardback, and I regret not packing more or putting more on my Kindle before leaving. I feel I am going to fly through books (hint hint for care packages). Books and shoes – its been about 5 weeks, and my tennis shoes and Teva’s have taken a beating. I know for a fact that every 3/5 months I will be ordering new ones. Shoes here suck, and they are super expensive, not worth it. I’ll wait for the mail to arrive haha.

I am learning more and more each day about this amazing country, the people in it, my host family and everything else you could possibly imagine. I am thankful for the loved ones I have at home who wish me well, and very grateful for this wonderful family here that I am slowly creating. What I would do without these people is unfathomable. You have made me who I am, and continue to shape me as an individual. I am forever in your debt.

Its about 9:30pm here, I’m exhausted both physically and mentally from today, and am looking forward to laying down (even though my bed really kinda sucks)

Sonhos Doce

-your