(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