Written August 27, 2012

Hopefully posted later today, seeing as we finally have cell service again.

Hello hello, nice to see you all again haha.

These past few days have been extremely busy and at times overwhelming, but never fear, all is well here in beautiful Quissico!

So Thursday, I made a day trip up to Maxixe (about a 2 hour drive) with Angela to run a bunch of errands for the festival this past weekend. Although my town is right on the EN1, it is not very big, therefore it lacks a lot of things that we needed for the festival. For example, we wanted to laminate some photos and signs for the booth, and that can really only be done in a big city, we also had t-shirts made, and needed to buy fruit in a LARGE quantity for the smoothies we made on Saturday.

It was a long day in the city, but we got just about everything accomplished, I bought some mustard (yum, forgot how much I missed that) and we headed home. We decided to rent out a chapa, because we were carting home a lot of stuff, all the fruit, a lot of buckets for trash, rakes/brooms, some esteras, and all sorts of other things. We also picked up two fellow PCV’s and a JICA volunteer. So it was money well spent, and made transport of everything much easier.

That evening, Kyle (a fellow volunteer in my group) and I folded origami hearts and put condoms inside them to be passed out during the festival. It was a cool way that the JICA volunteers promoted safe sex, while sharing some cross-cultural experience. It made me think of the one Christmas when my mom decided that our tree was to be decorated entirely in origami, my brother and I weren’t thrilled because it wasn’t our normal tradition, but in hindsight, it was a really cool experience. So yeah, Thursday night Kyle and I spent the entire evening folding, catching up about our first two weeks at site, and watching a movie (Zombieland). It was really nice to spend time with him, and I’m happy he is only about 2.5 hours away.

Friday was just another big day of preparation for the festival on Saturday, many other volunteers arrived in Quissico, I would guess that we had about 25 volunteers here for the weekend. We finished the origami hearts, ate some lunch, I showed Kyle around our small town, we worked on signs, setting up our booth (we couldn’t put anything but the frame out overnight because things would get stolen) and in the evening, those who stayed in my house cut all of the 200some oranges that we had purchased earlier in the week. Lets talk about that little adventure here for a minute, so we had 6 people Friday night at my house, 3 people were the “peelers” and the other three were the “cutters”, after about 3 hours of peeling, cutting/dicing the oranges we made a sizeable dent, though there was still some oranges left. . needless to say, we were all very sticky, there were a few puddles of orange juice on my floor, and we were all really sick of oranges by the end of it.

Oh- I guess I should explain why we were cutting oranges. . . for our booth we had a few things representing what Peace Corps, and American culture is. So we decided to make smoothies as our “American dish” – 2 cups of diced oranges, 4 small bananas, some ice, a spoonful of sugar, and a spoonful of moringa – this amazing plant that has an insane amount of nutritional value. Easy enough, and it tasted really great. Buying the blenders was an adventure in itself, finding a place that made ice/having to buy that, drying out the morina leaves, to then have to crush them into a fine powder etc. . . it was a LOT of work to make these smoothies happen, but everyone really loved them, it got the information about moringa out to people, and was a general success! So yeah, we had smoothies, earrings/jewelry that was made by REDES groups, jams, cashews, t-shirts, and a cool table where kids could write to American kids about their life in Moz, and what they thought life was like in America.  I’m trying to upload some pictures from the festival to facebook- so you guys will have to check them out.

Saturday started really early to set up the booth at 6am, we had it all going well up until the electricity part for the blenders. We knew that we would need it, and had positioned our booth in an area that it would be easily accessible, but then we had to wait for the guy to set it up for us. And of course he had to finish his beer first, hit on me and some other volunteers, talk to his friends, have another beer, and then find his “work shirt” before he could set up the energy supply. ANNYOING. But it happens I guess. We got the smoothie part of the stand up and running about 9am, and it ran until about 4pm. It was a great success!! A lot of people were a bit quizzical about the color of the smoothie, or how it would taste, but those who were most skeptical turned out to be the ones who loved it the most!

After the festival, we did a massive clean up, and dropped all of the things off at my house/Angela’s house. At this point, everyone was hot, tired, and very dirty (and or sticky) so we all went back to our respective houses to rinse (there was a lack of water, so full bucket baths were kind of out of the question) and just relax a bit. We all met up at the local restaurant/bar for a well-deserved beer. But after one beer, I was absolutely exhausted, so some of us headed back to my house. The next morning, many left at an ungodly early hour, and those who remained here made a quick trip down to the lagoon to unwind, enjoy the beach, and the water. After the lagoon, we got some lunch at a booth that was still set up from the festival, and just called it a day. Everyone else left after lunch, and I finally took a nice long bucket bath (meaning I took my time – its not like a long shower where you have endless water haha) and just went to bed.

This morning I’ve spent time really cleaning my house, mopping my floor to get rid of the sticky juice, washing some underwear, cleaning my dishes etc. just trying to get this small “bungalow” back into some working order. I’ll be here for another 4 weeks or so I think. Today is a day off here in Quissico for everyone, so I am taking the opportunity to clean, write this blog, I’ll go into town to buy some groceries, maybe do some laundry etc. just a general day of rest and recuperation.

The festival was a great success, people worked really hard, and I think our booth was a great example of what Peace Corps is. But with that said, I am really looking forward to things being calm here, and actually getting into the work I’m supposed to be here to do. I didn’t sign up to be a party/event planner, and yes I know there will be exceptions to that (for example next years festival) but it was a bit overwhelming for me. My first two weeks at sight, and things were just wild and crazy? Wow. This experience is hard. At times a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have self-doubt often, but then I have personal successes as well. Its going to be a rollercoaster like I’ve said before.

Keep the email’s coming. I love hearing from everyone at home. This weekend, because of the number of people here in town, the cell phone service – called “rede” was down. Making it all the more difficult to organize everyone, get in touch etc. I didn’t receive any calls/texts all weekend – so to my parents who tried to call on Sunday, I am sorry I didn’t hear from you. I look forward to those weekly phone calls more than I could ever put into words. Missing you all at home – lets talk about people coming to visit! I want to share this experience and my beautiful site with anyone who wants to come!

I’ll have some more blogs soon about how things are going in a normal life setting here soon!

Xoxo always

t

Written August 21, 2012.

Posted soon.

Good morning all! Its about 7am here on this lovely Tuesday morning, just got done with some yoga, and wanted to jot down some of my thoughts from my day yesterday. I was far too exhausted last night to even think about writing.

The morning started off just like every other, wake up, do some yoga, take a bucket bath, eat some breakfast (remembering to take my malaria meds. . .) nothing really interesting there. I was supposed to meet up with a volunteer from one of my organizations to go on my first set of “home visits” out in the field – which here is called the campu. The basic idea behind this is that the organization helps to educate people about HIV/AIDS and other diseases here, gets them to the hospital, on treatment, and then goes to check on them at their homes throughout the year.

Days out in the campu are long, hot, and involve a lotttt of walking. Did I mention that this is all done in loose sand? Needless to say, it’s a workout in itself just getting to these houses! But we made it to two yesterday, we sat and talked with the people, asked them how they were feeling, how often they take their meds, what they are eating etc. and reminding them that they need to get back to the hospital to get their next set of treatments. The people usually have a small piece of paper with dates on it that tell them when to go back, but sometimes a friendly verbal reminder helps too.

Walking through the campu is possibly one of the most beautiful things/places I’ve ever been. Palm trees everywhere, lots of really cool agriculture, the homes of constructed out of reeds with thatch roofs. Its really a totally different world. Hard to describe in words, but I’m trying to take as many pictures as I can. Its really quiet too, no sound of passing cars, music etc. just really peaceful.

So after our two visits, the volunteer I was with wanted to show me her house, and introduce me to her children, because we were “close” to her house. Hahah! Close meaning a 30minute walk down towards the lagoon. But its all relative here, so I just went along with it. Her house is really cute and quaint, she has a nice yard and lots of animals around her house. I also got to see the garden she has down by the lagoon (another 25min walk). Its gorgeous! Not only is the lagoon a crystal clear blue, but the number of gardens along the edge just adds this color contrast and beauty to it. Again, I found this place to be very peaceful. There were a few other women working in their gardens, watering and tending to the plants. Again, I tried to take pictures, because words just wouldn’t do this place justice.

We collected some things from the garden for lunch, and headed back up the hill. This woman maybe came up to my shoulder, and probably weights 120lbs soaking wet – she carried a 5 gallon bucket full of veggies, and water on her head, uphill in loose sand for 30 minutes. Hat’s off to her. That’s something that I don’t think will ever cease to amaze me – the strength of the women here. Well, people in general, but women especially because often they do these insane tasks for the home and usually have a baby strapped to their back. They have my full respect. I thought yesterday of the different types of mothers in the US, some who hire teams of nannies to take care of their child because they are just too ‘busy’, single moms who work during the day and go to school at night while trying to provide for their kid, and all the other sorts. I’m extremely lucky to come from a house where my parents were a team, supported by friends and family. They did an incredible job with my brother and I. I wouldn’t trade my childhood (or my life now) for anyone else’s. (momentary pause for the “aweee”) haha. Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff.

We had a great salad for lunch, with some tea (yes hot tea in the middle of the afternoon. .. ugh) and bread. No complaints here, it was good stuff. I hung out there a bit longer, just talking and enjoying the shade. One of her son’s scaled a palm tree to pick some not yet ripe coconuts (I think its spelled lanya) that we drank for dessert. YUM. You drink the coconut milk, and then you can eat the inside, its not fully ripe, so it peels off and has kind of a consistency of jello. Really really really good. And again, back to the strength of these people here, I watched a 15 year old boy scale a palm tree with his bare hands and feet, machete between his teeth to chop these coconuts down. Madness.

After lunch (around 3ish I’m guessing) I started heading back up to the town to help Angela and Sota with some things for the festival. Another hour walk uphill in loose sand, and I arrived in the town, pink faced and sweating like a pig. Yum yum yum. We pained a sign for the festival, worked on plans for the remainder of this week, and had dinner together. By the time dinner was over, I was just about falling asleep a the table, so I headed home. Don’t judge me, but I passed out at 8:30pm haha.

I have another full day today, tomorrow and Thursday. . . Friday people are going to start showing up for the festival, and its just going to be a crazy weekend from there. Hopefully after this week, I can have a bit of down time to go to the lagoon, or just take a nap! Whoever said PC would be a lot of hanging around must have been referring to later in service. Because as of now, I’ve kind of been going non-stop. Not that I’m complaining, its just a totally different life here. Little by little I know I’ll get totally acclimated to it.

Alright kiddies- I’m off like a prom dress. Keep it real, keep it cool. . .keep it real cool.

Alright. . .i’m done.

Keep the emails coming! Love hearing from everyone at home.

Miss yinz – come visit haha!

t

Written August 19, 2012

Posted sometime soon I think.

Hi all!!

Wow so this week has been a whirlwind adventure – chock-full of all kinds of treats and surprises! Are you ready to hear about them? (responding chorus of “yes!”)

So Sunday and Monday you all know about from my last two blog posts. . . I’ll start this one on Tuesday. The day of insane amounts of walking.

So my day started off with a bit of confusion with where/when I was meeting my counterpart because there was no cell service (a fact of daily life here), but all was good, we found each other and proceeded to walk to all sorts of places.  I saw all 3 of the schools in town, the two secondary ones and the one primary one. Not only were these schools a far distance to walk to, once we got there, walking through the property and waiting for the directors to have time for us was another issue. Needless to say, the whole process took from 8am until about 2pm. . .lots of walking, lots of talking, lots of sunshine. I was sweating like no one’s business – this summer I’m literally going to melt into a puddle of sweat. Gross.

After the schools, we walked around the town a bit, I bought some other stuff like olive oil, an electric kettle, spices, eggs etc. just some basic essentials. Needless to say, I was exhausted after that day of walking in loose sand for many hours, so my evening was really laid back, I made dinner with Angela and Sota (he’s the JICA volunteer here) which is a really cool time. Sota does not speak much English so therefore whenever we are with him, we speak Portuguese, which is just continuing to help me with it. – I spoke more Portuguese this week, than I think I did in my entire 10 weeks in Namaacha haha.

Wed was the general assembly meeting of my one organization ACUMUZA, I think I met maybe 35 or so people in that timeframe. Again, that went from like 9am until noon or 1pm. Afterwards, I went to help Angela with a moringa (look it up) project that we are doing for the upcoming festival this weekend. Afterwards I went back to my little house, and made soup – it was really tasty. And the best part about my soups here, they are all veggies, so they don’t need refrigerated, and I can just reheat them and eat again the next day.

Thursday was the general assembly of my other community organization Despertai, before that, I went up to the Hospital for “Cha Positiva” it is supposed to be a support group for those who are HIV positive- a time to sit, drink cha (tea) and talk about their problems. . .however this isn’t exactly what I witnessed. Instead its now a packed room of people listening to a doctor lecture at them. Kinda the opposite of what it was originally meant to be. But hopefully with time we can get it back on track . . stay tuned.

Friday I didn’t have really any plans, which was nice, because after that whirlwind I was really and truly kinda exhausted of meeting new people and having to be “ON”. It doesn’t help much that my house, being a giant circle, with two windows on either side is, in essence, a giant fishbowl. Of course there are a lot of kids in the neighboring houses, and I have made good with most of my neighbors, but at some point in the day, I do like retiring to my house to just decompress, listen to music, do yoga, ya know? And I’m finding it really hard to do here in this temporary house. Needless to say I am really looking forward to moving into Angela’s house, with the nice fence for privacy, and puppy dog for some loving comfort.

So Friday, I was a bit down in the dumps about this whole living in Africa for 2 years thing – it’s a feeling that I know will come and go. So I went over to Angela’s house to just sit on a front porch, removed from the kids etc, and just read. It was really nice. Relaxing and exactly what I needed. That night, her Sota and I went out to dinner. When I say “went out” I mean there is a small place with tables behind this one bar, that has a small menu. Its really really tasty though, and relatively inexpensive.

Saturday was possibly the coolest day yet. So as I mentioned, this upcoming weekend we are having a big festival here – something that happens every year in Qussico, so in preparation for it, we are making posters, tables crafts etc. So on Saturday, Angela traveled to Xai Xai to pick up something for the festival, and I went over to Sota’s house to help make tables and other things. About 12 other JICA volunteers showed up too, and some locals of Mozambique as well. It was the coolest mixture of cultures, and language! Technically none of us use Portuguese as our first language, as those here in Moz prefer their local language, but somehow, the day went really really well with everyone communicating in Portuguese. I just kept thinking “how strange is this??” but in such a cool way. There was a lot of questions about culture from everyone, and a really good cross cultural experience, stories, information was shared and traded. The evening ended with some Moz food, some food with a Japanese influence, and I made some salsa for everyone to try. It was all delicious, the day was beyond awesome, and I’m sad to say that this paragraph does nothing to really describe it. It was that day that I felt my language was doing better, and that I would be ok with this life here, because of how smoothly it all went, and how much fun I did have.

Today was Sunday, the day of rest (and for many the day of church). So I did some yoga, walked into town to buy some bread for breakfast, and came back to just read for a long bit. No energy this morning, which isn’t an issue really, I sat outside in the sun and read. It was really nice. About mid-day, one of my other counterparts showed up and asked if I wanted to join him and his family for Sunday lunch. . .of course I did! So I got to eat some really tasty food, meet a whole new family, see a different part of town, and feel like I was part of some nice weekly family thing. At home in the states when I was growing up, almost every Sunday evening was our unofficial/official family dinner night – especially during the summer, dad would make steaks, brother and I would set the table, and we would all just have a really great dinner and talk. Its those things that I miss the most, hanging out with loved ones. You are thought of often, and missed more than that. I wouldn’t be on this adventure if it wasn’t for you all. Xoxo always.

Anyway, my day today ended with a dinner with an Islamic family here in Quissico. As many (or not so many) of you know, today was the end of Ramadan. One of the shopkeepers here is probably the nicest person in this town, and he and his wife have quickly become some of my good friends here. They invited Angela and I over for dinner/party this evening, so we went and had some REALLY GOOD food, and again, I got to meet a whole new set of people and experience some new cross culture stuff. I’m stumbling my way through the language, but people can understand me for the most part, which is all I really care about right now. Trying to get my point across, introducing myself, and making new friends.

I have a full week ahead of me again, and this weekend is the festival, so we should be expecting some other PC volunteers to show up Thurs/Fri for the festivities. I’m excited to meet some new Volunteers! And really really looking forward to this upcoming festival. After that, its already September! How the time is flying.

Keep the emails coming! I love hearing from you all!!

X’s and O’s always and forever

t

Written August 13, 2012.

Posted. . . who knows – as steve miller band would sing “time keeps on slipping into the future”

So first full day at site. . . things went surprisingly really well. Well maybe surprisingly isn’t a good word to use – I need to stop thinking that things will be negative. It was a great day.

I spent the morning walking around the town with my one counterpart from the organization that I’m basically living with. I have my own house/room thing – it’s a giant circle with an indoor bathroom (not a fan of the indoor bathroom thing) but its on the property of the one organization. But that’s ok with me, its an added safety bonus, and it is a constant presence of people. So yeah, we walked all over the town today, I saw some things I had remembered from my visit, and saw some new things too. Talked with a lot of people on the trip around, which is good the more people that recognize me the better- that’s the point of immersion and integration.

We returned to the organization where I talked with some people in the org, and discussed with the one man about fixing my window, that broke in the middle of the night. . it was SUPER windy yesterday. Not fun when you live in a place covered in sand lol. After that I went back into town to buy some food and other things I need for the house. . . sadly I still need more things, so tomorrow I will be making a return trip. Today I bought an electric hot water kettle, some spices, bread, tomato, onion, couve, egg, bananas, olive oil and instant coffee. On the list for tomorrow is bleach, peanut butter, onion, and some other stuff that I cant think of at the moment.

I came back, did a nice yoga workout, talked a lot with my neighbors – one of them has a huge garden kinda out of town, so I’m going to go with her some day to check it out! Really excited about that, then talked with some other people in the organization, I sat in with this one class that was being held in the yard of the organization. Older women who are learning to read, and do simple math – they were all really receptive of me, and we talked a while, many offered to help me cook or to have me over for dinner, which I willingly accepted. Thumbs up for cultural integration. In addition to the fact that these women were super wonderful.

I walked a lot back and forth from the town and back to my house today, and talked with some people on the street too. That’s what these next two years are going to be. . . lots of walking, and lots of talking. Gotta walk the walk and talk the talk – if you will. I cooked dinner with Angela tonight, we made this really good lentil soup with couve and some other veggies. I am going to be a huge fan of the ‘toss everything in and add heat” soups. They are really easy, with the right spices super tasty, healthy, and cheap.

That’s really all for now. I’m hitting the hay early. . another long day tomorrow. Xoxo -t

Written August 12, 2012

Posted when I find a source of internet here at site.

Bem Vindos Todos!

Welcome to Quissico, Inhambane! A lovely little town right along the EN1, it has beautiful lagoons, a small marketplace, and many other things that make it an absolutely wonderful place for my home these next two years. I have had a lot of thoughts about this entire experience thus far. . if you care to read, I will tell you about them.

Firstly, this language thing. . .its hard. I knew service would require a language aqusition, but not in a sense that I would be fluent/would need to be by the end of training. So I feel that puts me at a disadvantage. How else will you communicate with people about anything really. . .you need language. But it is coming along day by day. And hopefully these first three months won’t be too incredibly frustrating with the language (fingers crossed).

Secondly, I know that PST is supposed to help us, and in many ways it did – introducing us to the culture by staying with a homestay family, intensive language classes that were really helpful for yours truly, some really interesting technical sessions about health related topics in a Mozambique context. . .but at the same time, I had my life scheduled out for me, I had a family making me three meals a day (sometimes. . .but that’s another story entirely) I had a safety net of other volunteers who spoke English, among many other things that both helped and hindered me. These things helped me sort of slowly immerse into the Moz culture, but at the same time, acted as a crutch. . .I personally now feel super unprepared for my life here. I haven’t cooked a meal alone in a very long time, I haven’t gone to bed in total silence in 10 weeks, etc. . it’s a whole different game now. I was essentially being taught how to swim in a classroom without ever dipping my toes in the water, to suddenly be thrown into the deep end, in hopes that my classroom knowledge will help me win an Olympic medal. . . .*sigh* it’ll all come with time I suppose. I keep saying that – and I know it will. But at the same time, I don’t want to finally catch on to everything too late to really get a great experience out of these 2 years. . its hard to explain. But hopefully someone gets what I’m trying to say here.

Thirdly – this whole “moving your life” around in segments is slightly frustrating. I haven’t lived in a permanent residence since I was 17 years old. . I went to college, so every summer/fall I packed up my life to move, then I was house-sitting, and then I moved into an apartment – now I’m not faulting any of these experiences, they were all wonderful and really a great time in my life, but since then I have yet to find a place to really call home. And now here I am, my life packed away in two duffel bags, one trunk and a cardboard box. I have moved from a hotel room starting May 28^th, to a single room in a home for 10 weeks, to then another hotel room for 4 days, to now a temporary housing situation for 6 weeks. After mid-October I will finally be in the actual structure I can call ‘home’ for the next 24 months. Again, I am not complaining about any of these experiences, just trying to express what I’ve been thinking about in my down time. Most people get their first apartment and stay there for a year or so. . I’m getting my first house (which is smaller than most apartments) for 2 years, in Africa. . . go figure haha.

Anyway. Those are just some of my ramblings about thoughts that have crossed my mind. There are many others, but I will spare you all the gory details.

So my first (half) day at site! I am currently sitting on my bed in my temporary house. It’s a small circular building with a bathroom inside. Its all cement with a thatch-type roof. Two windows and a door. Its on the property of one of the organizations I am working with, so from what I hear it is very secure/safe. There (again from what I hear) is even a guard that watches the property at night. So hopefully all will be good here in these upcoming weeks.

We left Maputo this morning at 6:30 (in typical Mozambique fashion we were an hour and a half late) – two people forgot their suitcases at the hotel, and we stopped every time the drive took a phone call (peace corps policy) so it took us a bit to get here. But I arrived probably around 11:30am. I had traveled with my counterparts from the conference, so I was immediately taken to the house I’m now in. everyone was very helpful about getting my things off the top of the car/out of the back. It is still amazing me that I have already amassed more things than I came with . . . not sure how it happened.

The really good news is, I have had the chance/ability to hang my mosquito net, so I can now sit up in bed!! Woo!! It’s the small things in life really lol. So I did a bit of unpacking, when I say “a bit” I really mean a small amount, I don’t want to get too settled in here, to then pack up and move again. So I’m trying to keep most things in my bags/boxes, save for my bedding/shower/cooking stuff. Speaking of showers – cockroach kill count for my bathroom is at 2 for the day. I will keep you updated on how that goes.

So I settled in a bit, changed my clothes, and had lunch with the organization. It was a nice hearty meal of xima, couve, salad and of course, bread. I opted out of the bread (and got some funny stares) but all in all it was really tasty. After lunch we just chatted a bit, I went and tried to settle in a bit more, working out the water situation – people were really kind, and have lent me two pots, some plates, spoons etc to use while I am here. Mozambique is really an incredibly friendly country. So after that, I hopped a boella (free ride) into town to meet up with Angela. Before meeting up with here, I walked around a bit, just exploring on my own. It’s a really small town so it should be pretty easy to get to know (fingers crossed). We went down to the soccer field to watch our friend, a ‘peace corps’ volunteer from Japan- they have a similar program that is also a 2 year commitment, play soccer. It was great to see some of the teams – I am looking to join one – mom! Send my cleats! And wanted to see if I would be able to keep up with the team. Good news is, as a team most suck, because the individual talent is so high and people tend to not think in a “team” mentality. So I think I would be able to play alongside these men, even if I am the only girl. That’s something I’m going to wait a bit to see if its culturally acceptable.

After the game, the three of us made dinner – we cooked up some ground beef (found in a big city- not here) with some green peppers and onions, and had that with some rice over lettuce. It was a taco salad in a sense, as we used some southwest seasoning on the beef and chipotle seasoning on the veggies. . . can you say yum??

I have a basic outline of my first two weeks here at site. Tomorrow and Tuesday are dedicated to wandering around the town, getting to know the sites, buying things I need etc. Wed and Thus I have meetings with my organizations, and Friday . . . off the top of my head I can’t remember right now. But coming up the last weekend in August there is a huge festival here, of which we are all trying to prepare for. So that’ll be a really cool integration experience for me.

I cant think of much else to tell you all/tell myself. I’m going to snuggle down in bed with a Portuguese book, and get some sleep. Busy day tomorrow.

X’s and O’s to all

t

(As a preface, i did not know that the last blog was posted, i was constantly getting error messages, so i apologize if in this one, some thoughts are repeated)

 

Written August 9, 2012

Posted in the near future.

Hi guys! I hope all is well at home. I am now officially a United States Peace Corps Volunteer! The 28 of us went through the swear-in ceremony yesterday afternoon and it is officially official haha! I can go out into the community and help people. I was surprised by the ceremony, they had asked us to sing the national anthem for both Mozambique and the USA, the latter we didn’t have a problem with. The Mozambique anthem posed a different challenge though. We were all pretty versed with the chorus, but the actual verses of the song, we were at a loss for. It was a very uncomfortable and rather embarrassing experience to say the least. We were promised lyrics, but that never came to fruition.  Oh well. . .so it goes.

I got to skype with some family these past two days, as I am in a very posh hotel here in Maputo. I have a room to myself, because for the second time around, they thought that I was a boy. . . who knew that the name Taylor here in Moz would be so confusing. Oh well, I’m hardly complaining about having my own room haha. I haven’t worn pants inside my room yet! As most of you know me well enough, you know how much I detest pants. I have had to wear them constantly for the past 10 weeks. So its nice to have some freedom! Wooo!! Haha enough of my nudist tendencies though. . .

I have really loved getting all of the emails from everyone, it means so much that you all think of me, and wish me well. The support is overwhelming and wonderful. I had a thought the other day- when I am down in the dumps and feeling lonely (which I have already felt being here and know I will again) the reason I feel lonely, is that I miss people at home. People who I know love and support me. I have people to miss, which is why I feel lonely. So even though I am missing people, the fact that I have people to miss is a pretty wonderful thing.

Last week Peace Corps car came to pick up two big boxes they gave us to pack our massive amounts of books, water filter, blankets, and anything else we decided to put in them. This is great because somehow I have amassed a massive amount of stuff being here for 9/10 weeks. I mean yeah, they give us a lot of books and such, so the extra box was nice for that, but to think that we arrived with one bag and backpack to leave with two boxes and our bag/backpack is kind of hilarious.

In the final days of Namaacha, we had a few parties/last get-togethers with all the volunteers and an all day celebration with all the homestay families. There was food, music, dancing etc. it was a lovely time. Strangely enough, aside from language abilities,

I feel that training has left me a bit unprepared for my peace corps service. I have been shown hospitality, provided food (for the most part I guess) and hot water for baths etc. it was only by my request and countless demands that I was ever incorporated with the cooking process and or other household chores. It was such a change to go from living on my own in the states, to being treated like a 10 year old, to now on Sunday being thrown back into the solitary lifestyle. Its going to be another interesting adjustment. . .stay tuned. A note about my homestay family – they were wonderful people. That was never the question. It just wasn’t the correct environment for a volunteer. I did not have a great homestay experience, but made it through the 10 weeks, and am on to the next chapter of my life.

Speaking of- I move to Quissico on Sunday! This is really exciting!! I will be living in temporary housing for the first 6 weeks while Angela is focused on wrapping up her service. I am really happy that I am going to the site, it has everything I could want, and the work is going to be pretty cool too. I don’t want to lean too heavily on Angela for help during my first month there, this is my experience, I want to make mistakes (hopefully not many) but I do want to figure things out for myself. I want to be considered an individual in the community, not the same person. She feels the same way, so I have no doubt that it will be a strong transition! I will keep you all posted about my adventures, failures, and successes.

I have P90X waiting for me on my hard drive, my yoga mat in my 2 year bag, and some other yoga DVD’s. once I get to site, I plan on getting my butt in gear and getting back on track with a workout routine. It’s just been too difficult here in this homestay situation to make and stick with a routine. Once I am at site, I will be on my own schedule and routine, something I am looking forward to.

Today we had a free day here in Maputo, while some of our fellow Volunteers traveled to the northern part of the country for their supervisors conference (mine is taking place here in Maputo). So a friend and I went out to explore the city! We left very early this morning, right after breakfast, and walked all over the city. We stopped into a local fish market, had some really cool conversations with some of the vendors, some of the fishermen etc (its these small convo’s that are helping my language skills). We stopped for a coconut on the road – kind of a cool thing, they chop the top off for you, you drink the milk out of a straw, and then they fashion a spoon out of the shell for you, to eat the “meat” on the inside. It’s a delicious mid-morning treat. We continued on our walk, stopping in a cool craft market area- I bought a nice big purse that hangs across my body and has a great zipper. Perfect for walking around the city, safe and secure. We ventured in and out of some other stores/shops and just basically did a full circle around Maputo.

Its an interesting city, it kind of all looks the same, so its very easy to get lost (which we did) but there are always people around to help point in the right direction, and eventually we made it back to the hotel for lunch. I found cinnamon in my travels, and a great surge protector/extension cord that I will use at site. . . I love my computer too much to subject it to the unknown energy sources here haha.

So after seeing some people get care packages Namaacha, and scoping out the shopping scene her in Maputo I have started compiling a list of suggestions/ideas for items if people wish to send me things. Yes- I can get many of the things I need here in Maputo – but that’s a 6 hour travel for me, and things can get very expensive here (expensive in terms of Mozambique, they are relative prices in the States, but I’m being paid in Mts…. Not in $)

So here it is-

-       Any good shampoo/conditioner (or doctor braumer’s)

-       any styling product for curly hair

-       body lotion (a nice clean smell)

-       face wash/lotion

-       deodorant

-       razors

-       sunscreen

-       contact solution

-       mascara

-       ground COFFEE and a french press (or one of those drip-cones)

-       any foods that are “just add hot water” ie- oatmeal

-       sheet music for guitars (yes I bought one here)

-       spices, ie- cumin, pepper, crushed red pepper, thyme, rosemary etc

-       seeds for things like basil, lavender etc

-       GRE or LSAT study materials. . .i’m trying to figure out my next move in life

-       a good date book/calendar

-       pictures from home!!

really anything would be wonderful, I just know it can be a bit expensive to send things here. Therefore I want it to be worthwhile. . if that makes sense.

For my birthday my family sent me a “Ready Post/ Photo Document Mailer” thing. . sort of like a flat-mail envelope, but in it there were birthday cards. This made it to me, whereas letters did not. The postal system is tricky here, so if people want to send me letters, it may be best to save them up and send them all at once in something like that.

My address for the next 2 years is going to be:

Taylor Morsillo (sometimes it helps to add “sister” as people never go through a nun’s mail)

C.P. 5

Inharrime

Provincia de Inhambane

Mocambique

Kisses and hugs to all at home

t

Written August 3, 2012

Posted in the near future.

Hi guys! I hope all is well at home. Things overall are good here- just going through the motions of these last few days in Namaacha.

This morning, the Peace Corps car came to pick up our two big boxes they gave us to pack our massive amounts of books, water filter, blankets, and anything else we decided to put in them. This is great because somehow I have amassed a massive amount of stuff being here for 9/10 weeks. I mean yeah, they give us a lot of books and such, so the extra box was nice for that, but to think that we arrived with one bag and backpack to leave with two boxes and our bag/backpack is kind of hilarious.

I have really loved getting all of the emails from everyone, it means so much that you all think of me, and wish me well. The support is overwhelming and wonderful. I had a thought the other day- when I am down in the dumps and feeling lonely (which I have already felt being here and know I will again) the reason I feel lonely, is that I miss people at home. People who I know love and support me. I have people to miss, which is why I feel lonely. So even though I am missing people, the fact that I have people to miss is a pretty wonderful thing.

So this is it, the last week here in Namaacha. On Wednesday August 8^th we head to Maputo for our swearing in conference. I am really looking forward to a hot shower, and a mirror. Not that I am a vain person – in fact the amount of bread I’ve been eating here in Namaacha makes me second guess if I want to see a mirror haha, but it’ll be nice to be able to put in my contacts with a mirror, put on some makeup, and look nice.

In the coming days here in Namaacha, we are having a few parties/last get-togethers with all the volunteers. Tomorrow we are having a day celebration with all the homestay families, there will be food, music, dancing etc. it should be a nice time. On Sunday we are having a volunteer-only get together where we are having a pot-luck type thing. I will be making homemade onion rings, a very simple recipie here in Moz, get some flour, baking soda, and beer. Make a nice mixture, slice up some onions, dip in the mixture, fry for about a minute, dip back in the batter and fry again. Totally unhealthy, and yet totally delish.

I have P90X waiting for me on my hard drive, my yoga mat in my 2 year bag, and some other yoga DVD’s. once I get to site, I plan on getting my butt in gear and getting back on track with a workout routine. It’s just been too difficult here in this homestay situation to make and stick with a routine. Once I am at site, I will be on my own schedule and routine, something I am looking forward to.

So after seeing some people get care packages here in Namaacha I have started compiling a list of suggestions/ideas for items if people wish to send me things;

-       good shampoo/conditioner

-       any styling product for curly hair

-       body lotion (a nice clean smell)

-       face wash/lotion

-       deodorant

(sensing a pattern?)

-       any foods that are “just add hot water” ie- oatmeal

-       sheet music for guitars (yes I bought one here)

-       contact solution

-       spices, ie- cinnamon, cumin, pepper, crushed red pepper, thyme, rosemary etc

-       seeds for things like basil, lavender etc

-       pictures from home

really anything would be wonderful to get.

For my birthday my family sent me a “Ready Post/ Photo Document Mailer” thing. . sort of like a flat-mail envelope, but in it there were birthday cards. This made it to me, whereas letters did not. The postal system is tricky here, so if people want to send me letters, it may be best to save them up and send them all at once in something like that.

Kisses and hugs to all at home

t