Written July 12, 2012 (happy birthday mom!)

Hopefully posted tomorrow!

Hey everyone! Sorry its been so long since I’ve posted anything on here, life has been kind of busy. So last week we spent most of our time in tech training sessions and language classes, the week culminated in two tests to rate our language aptitude and tech skills we have learned thus far. Good news is- my language is at an intermediate medium level (surprising right??) and I scored perfects on all of my technical training aspects. Small victory for me! I am internally very happy, and have found continued motivation to learn this language.

Soooo the big exciting news – I traveled to Quissico this past weekend (Saturday through Tuesday) and got to see first hand how a Volunteer lives and works. Needless to say, the experience was everything I wanted it to be and more. The woman I visited was beyond helpful both in communicating directions for transportation, advice on things to do during service, travel tips, how she goes about work on a daily basis etc. The town was about 7/8 hours from namaacha, we left at 4am on Saturday to get to Maputo around 6am. We arrived at “Junta” the place where all big buses (comparable to greyhounds) are stationed for departure, and go to for arrival into Maputo. Now, don’t get any ideas you organized Americans, this place is far from any semblance of a greyhound station. In fact it is the most unorganized thing I may have ever seen, people running around, screaming yelling etc trying to get you to get on their bus. Either way – I found a nicer looking bus heading to the Inhambane province got on, and began the nice long trip to Quissico. It cost me 400Mts to travel there, in reasonable comfort – I had my own seat, near a window that opened on a bus the size of a greyhound. It took about 6/7 hours to get there, and the bus basically slowed down to a gradual roll and I jumped off, backpack in hand. Oh yea- that’s the other thing, packing here is pretty great, I remember using a nice duffel bag or old sports bag for a trip lasting 4/5 days, I can now fit anything and everything I need for that time into a small daypack. (small victory again).

Ok so jumped off the bus in the center of this small town, and just kind of hung out near the center waiting for my host volunteer to meet me. I made friends with one of the women at a food stall, and bought a juice off of her. That cold liquid after a hot bus trip felt great, plus the lady was nice, and I was pretty impressed with myself that I could semi-speak to her in Portuguese. Suddenly there was this white girl walking towards me! I was engulfed in a nice bear hug and introduced to possibly the coolest person I’ve met outside my training group. Angela Francis- you are fantastic.

We walked a bit through town- its not super huge. Which I loved. And then headed to her house. Holy amazingness. Its so tiny, but so perfect. Its so Peace Corps. Its exactly what I imagined a house would look like- two rooms in total, a bedroom and a main room that acts as a living room, kitchen and dining room, a small porch and a bathroom/shower detached from the house on the other side of the yard. The house is constructed of half reeds and half cement, it has lots of windows (all have screens) and the front porch has a nice partition perfect for kicking up your feet to read or relax.

She has a great tall fence around her ‘property’ which secludes her from the neighbors. I had originally not understood why people wanted to build these, thinking that it would be a means of isolation from the community- but when I sat down on the porch, with some tea, my book and my fellow volunteer I realized that her site is exactly what I want. Its nice to be removed from everything, to have that safe bubble of comfort, to just have quiet, to not have eyes on you all the time. I immediately felt myself slip into a sense of relaxation I have yet to feel here. I think that’s when I fell in love with Quissico.

Ok so enough about her house (oh and she has a great dog named Ceu – sky). She works in a few places in her community, her official placement is with ICAP in the local hospital, which is brand new and absolutely wonderful, and with two CBO (community based organizations) of which, one parteners with the hospital. Her work is very cool,  and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what she does, meeting the people she works with, and getting a general sense of the town.

One of the days I spent with her, we hiked down to the lagoons – about a 7km walk that took us about an hour and a half (about two hours on the way back as its all uphill). Holy gorgeous stuff. I felt like I was at my own private resort or something. It really is what one thinks of when they think tropical paradise. Only there are no snobby tourists, no hotels that have fenced in beaches and swimming areas, nothing at all. Just us and the cows (yes cows). Occasionally there was a passerby with a basket of fish or some firewood, but other than that, it was me, her our ipod and the cows. I think they loved our music selection.

I took that time to really get to know this inspirational woman, about her service, any advice she had for me, listen to her travel experiences etc. Words cant describe how fortunate I am to have met her. I know that we will stay in touch over the years (she is from Virginia Beach area) and am happy to have made another friend.

Among the many things we did in the community some of my favorites were; eating at a local restaurant, buying fresh out of the oven bread (can someone say YUM?) seeing the incredible constellations above her house, buying some capulanas (the colorful fabric) and walking around town. Its small, but that’s exactly what I want in a site. Something that is easy to integrate into, where people know me, and I know them. I want that grassroots, person to person experience, I want to spend weekends at site, getting to know my community and the people in it. Sure I want to travel and spend time with my fellow PCV’s also, but my main focus is going to be spending time in my community. That’s the whole reason I’m here- to experience an entirely new culture, to have a life changing experience, to learn from them, and teach them about me and my culture, and then of course to report back to all of you.

So yeah, that basically sums up my extended-weekend trip to Quissico, in the Zavala district, in the Inhambane province haha. It was a great time. The return trip is even better- ready for this story?

Ok sooooo, Wednesday morning bright and early (5:15 or so) I headed back to the city center with my Volunteer to catch a Chapa home. Finally one rolled through around 6ish that wasn’t full or super expensive. Just as an FYI- There is no set time for chapa’s to come through, the bigger busses are usually more expensive, and drivers of both are often drunk (something to watch out for) so there I am, side of the road with my backpack waiting to pick up a chapa. One stops (oh, you flag it down kind of like hailing a cab) that doesn’t look too beat up and the driver relatively sober looking, so I get in. Unfortunately the only seat left for me is one in the middle of the isle (they have ones that fold down and out, to maximize the number of passengers) the seat was broken, so I spent my 7 hour journey half on my chair, half in my neighbors lap. Thank goodness there is no such thing as personal space in this country, or else things could have been awkward. The woman was nice, and permitted me to sleep on her shoulder while she slept on the window. Life was uncomfortable, but good. I finished another book on that chapa ride as well.

Book count as of now- I have read: The Fever, 50 Shdes of Grey (all three books), Breakfast with Buddah, All but My Life, Haven- War of Princes, and am starting The White Man’s Burden (why the west’s efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good) – so far very interesting, and ironic at times.

Anywho – yeah, had the great chapa ride to Maputo, it dropped me off at “Junta” again, and I had to grab another chapa to a place in the city called “Baixa”, so did that a 20 min ride or so later I was dropped off on the street (just like at Junta) and walked to the chapa spot where ones depart for Namaacha. The chapa’s to Maputo cost 300some Mts, the ones through Maputo cost about 10Mts and the one from Maputo to Namaacha costs 70Mts. I was very very proud of myself for figuring my way around town, using my language skills to haggle with the drivers when they tried asking for more money (simply because I’m white/American) and just finding my way around the city. This is a BIG city- I want you to all understand that. I really have no idea where anything is in it, don’t have a map, and had only spent one day in it (my first week when I was scared and lost most of the day) so needless to say, Maputo is not a place I wish to go to often. But I faced my fears, and made it back to Namaacha in one piece. Only having one attempted robbery (sadly they did get my flashlight out of a front pocket on my backpack) but that’s all I had in those, money was kept in a pouch inside my pant leg – thanks Aunt Sara for that great gift, phone was in an inside jacket pocket, and sunglasses were on my face. I acted like I knew where I was going the whole time, so I didn’t have to much problem. Like I said- I was mentally fist pumping to this victory. In the grand scheme of things, getting from point A to point B is simple enough, I’m just impressed with myself. This gives me encouragement and motivation to travel more without being too apprehensive about it. (though a good dose of nerves is always good – keeps you aware).

So yeah! That’s about it for now. My trip was great, the transportation was interesting to say the least, the food was excellent, music wonderful, spent some time at a beach . . .what’s not to love? I’m continuing to learn lots, with language acquisition, technical training, exploring the country, reading my personal books (send some suggestions!) and just gradually understanding the culture I am surrounded by – life is a-ok for me at the moment.

Next Thursday (the 19^th) we find out our Site Placements!!! That’s the day when I find out where I will be living for the next two years. Tomorrow, we are having interviews with the APCD to discuss what are some preferences of ours, what we want out of a site/organization etc. Just to get some semblance of where we would be best suited for. I want Quissico. The town/location/organizations/associations are all exactly what I am looking for out of this experience. So the interviews should be ok tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed I get a cool site!

If anyone cares to read, or has read “The White Man’s Burden” I would like to just say that I think I am a Searcher. . . not a Planner.

“In a single day, on July 16, 2005, the American and British economies delivered nine million copies of the sixth volume of the Harry Potter children’s book series to eager fans. Book retailers continually restocked the shelves as customers snatched up the book . . .there was no Marshall Plan for Harry Potter, no International Financing Facility for books about underage wizards. It is heartbreaking that global society has evolved a highly efficient way to et entertainment to rich adults and children, while it can’t get tweleve-cent medicine to dying poor children” pg. 4

just some food for thought.

That’s all for now – I have some hot tea, my socks are on, and I plan to cuddle up with my latest book and pass out for the night.

X’s and O’s all the way around – Happy Birthday to the best MOM anyone could ever wish for. You are my inspiration and strength. I love you with all my heart.

-t