the bad with the good

Written Wednesday, February 27, 2013

So I have bad news to share with you all. Ceu (my dog) has been missing for the past 3.5 almost 4 weeks now. He was doing so well with being off the leash, we had even sunk into a good routine of him coming back at night and sleeping in the house, I thought it was all going well. Then one night he just didn’t come back. I had the entire neighborhood/community out on the watch for him. All of my organizations, the doctors at the hospital, my neighborhood kids and I even went out and did a big search through town a few times. While I was gone, I had my landlord go to my house every day to see if he had come back to eat food/drink water. No luck at all. 

I have been deeply depressed about this, cried a few times, and have just generally been feeling very lonely around the house.

Then something wonderful happened. On Sunday this past weekend, the woman who helps me with my water, and washes my clothes – Sandra, brought me a puppy! She shows up in my yard with this tiny little creature tucked under her arm, clearly uncomfortable from being in that close of a proximity to a dog for so long (people in Mozambique generally don’t like dogs, even puppies). When I asked what she was doing with a puppy her response was “its for you Tia Taylor, so you aren’t sad and alone here at home anymore”. This had to be one of the kindest most genuine gestures anyone has done for me in this country.

At first I was uneasy about the idea of having a brand new puppy. I really loved adopting Ceu, because he was already trained, he was easy to take care of, and the neighborhood/my friends already knew him. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the responsibility of being a “single mom” in Africa. So I sat for a bit and looked at this tiny little creature Sandra brought to me. She was literally skin and bones, not playful at all –she kind of just curled up into a ball and looked at me - probably not a puppy I would have chosen for myself had I had the choice.

So I sat there and went back and forth in my mind “do I want this dog?” at first I said no, she was too small, probably sick and was COVERED head to toe in fleas and ticks (literally they were in every nook and cranny on her body). I thanked Sandra for the gesture, but explained that I wasn’t ready for a puppy, I was busy with work, etc. She said “that’s fine, but why don’t you play with her while I do the laundry” (with a knowing smile).

I elected to give her a vinegar bath to kill some of the fleas – it was the least I could do right? At least send her back a bit cleaner than she was.

A vinegar bath turned into 2 hours of picking fleas and ticks off her little body with tweezers, which lead to me giving her a bowl of milk and some rice. When I started thinking about names, I knew it was all over, and that I had a new puppy.

So yes. Ladies and gentlemen, I have a new puppy. Her name is “Lua” which means moon in Portuguese. I decided to stay with the celestial theme of dog names –Ceu meant sky.

I’m happy to report that she is flea/tick free, sleeping through the night, eating well (she already has a little belly) and this morning she barked for the first time! It was the most pathetic and possibly cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Welp – there ya have it. I’m a dog owner again. I waited a while to post news about Ceu, because I was holding out hope for his return. I still hope that one day he comes strolling back into my yard. I miss the guy. Also out of respect to Angela, I will be skype-ing with her later this evening to break the news. That’s not something I want to share over a text message, and will be posting this blog after our conversation.

So to recap my past few days – I have a new dog, my Moringa nursery project is finally taking off, I will be giving a few workshops with my community organizations about the seminar I attended last week, things at the hospital are going well – and my English Group continues to grow week by week.

All in all, things are very good here in Quissico.

This weekend I will be hosting probably close to 35 people here for a birthday celebration of some fellow Moz 18er’s. The theme is “create your own superhero”, so I’m excited to see what some costumes will be. We have a general itinerary, a menu, and will be spending some time down at the lagoon! Looking forward to having my friends see my site – although I will confess that having this many people here is going to be a somewhat stressful time. It will be wonderful though!

X’s and O’s

tay

home sweet home

Written, February 23, 2013

Finally home in beautiful Quissico! My little house is always so welcoming, and it’s a great feeling returning home to something that you know is yours, and that you are comfortable with. I love traveling, and seeing other PCV’s, but I really and truly love my site and home.

The seminar in Manjacaze wrapped up nicely, we all received seeds clippings of some of the plants we learned about, to plant in our houses and share with our communities. I caught a boleia (free ride) to Xai Xai with Geraldo, Evan’s supervisor who was heading to South Africa. I was thinking that it would be easier to catch another boleia from the big town than just standing on the side of the EN1 at the intersection to Manjacaze.

Turns out I was right! Not only did I manage to get a comfortable boleia with air conditioning, it was with three wonderful older men. They were around my father’s age, were highly educated, have traveled the world and were heading right to Quissico. It was meant to be. Apparently they were all originally from Quissico, and now live and work in Maputo. It was an afternoon travel spent with great conversation, free coca-cola and cashews, and new friends/connections made within my community. The one man, Thomas, is building a dream house (I say this even by western standards) a bit outside of town, overlooking the lagoon – no jokes this house is bigger than my parents home in the states, has an incredible view of the lagoon, and is close enough to my house that we are within walking distance. Hopefully this project, having gone on 5 years now, will be completed in the next year or so. It is a truly beautiful place.

That’s the thing I love about Mozambique, you never know where the day will take you, or whom you will meet.

So last evening was just a relaxing one around the house, I unpacked, talked with my neighbors, and just curled up in bed (at long last, a bed!!) with a movie and some crystal light. Life was pretty good.

This morning I did some major house/yard work. I planted 3 new Chaya plants (will explain about chaya in a bit) trimmed my Moringa plants so they grow more branches, planted two Katuk plants, cleaned my house, built a new shelf in my shower area, and did a general clean of my casa de banho. Having trimmed my Moringa plants, I have also started to dry the leaves, if you remember once the leaves are dry, one can grind them down into a powder to put on top of food, adding a great amount of nutrients to your food. Busy busy!

Ok, so its time for our “palestra” (information session) – Chaya.

            Native to Central America, Chaya has a huge potential to add nutrients to the average Mozambiqe diet. It is a large shrub that produces insane quantities of very nutrient dense, and tasty green leaves. It thrives in seasons of drought – it is in the same family as Mandioca (Cassava), however Chaya produces more leaves, and withstands seasons of drought much better. To plant Chaya, you take a clipping, and put it in a hole “3 buttons” deep, with some fertilizer, and let it be. Watering occasionally if you can. But it is the type of plant that doesn’t need any sort of care.

Last night when I got home from my travels, I distributed some chaya clippings to my landlord, and some neighbors, giving a mini palestra in my front yard. Hopefully the plants will flourish here, and we can distribute it around our local neighborhood here, and have it and the information about it, spread around Quissico.

The counterparts I took to the seminar also received clippings of plants, so between the three of us, our neighbors, and our connections through the community, soon everyone should be eating Chaya! Woo!

So I had a great night of sleep in my own bed, did house and yard work this morning, am currently sipping on some real coffee from my coffee press. I have plans to workout in a bit, having just started the “Insanity” workouts, give myself a pedicure and manicure, than wander around town a bit. It’s a Saturday, so I plan to take it easy today.

Xo

t

finally found internet!

Written Wednesday, February 20, 2013

My goodness it has been a very long time since I have posted a blog!

To my loyal followers and friends at home, firstly – don’t you have other more interesting things to read than this silly blog? Haha secondly, I am sorry for the delay. I have now purchased a modem (looks like a small zip-drive) that will allow me to access internet on my computer anywhere there is a signal for the service. This should mean that I am also able to skype! So let me know if anyone is interested in getting some face time with this sweaty mess over here in Africa. I miss you all like crazy.

Ok so lets chat about what I’ve been up to these days!

Last week I was around Quissico, getting some work done with my organizations, I’m finally getting my Peer Educators a bit more organized at the hospital. It’s my hope that we can get the “buscas” started sometime this month or next out in the field. “Buscas” are when the Peer Educators spend a day out in the field visiting those people who have abandoned treatment, encouraging them to come back to the hospital, to get retested and to get back on their medication. There was much confusion and delay about this process, so after one of our Cha Positiva’s (a monthly support group for people living with HIV/AIDS) we all sat down to discuss what days people work at the hospital, and what days they would spend in the field. As they are required to do one day each a week, we organized a new schedule and talked about how to fill out the busca cards, and answered any other questions they had. All in all I think it was a very good and productive day.

The work with my other organizations has been going well also. I am working on a combination project, involving the hospital and one of my community based organizations about starting a medicinal plant garden in/around the hospital grounds. That way we can reach out to more people, hold workshops there, and hopefully distribute more of these amazing plants out to those who need it most.

Speaking of plants, I am currently in Manjacaze, Gaza Province for a weeklong seminar about agriculture, plants, nutrition etc. I am staying at my good friend Linda’s house (a fellow Moz 18er) as she was kind enough to let me crash on her floor. So far we have had many interesting seminars about varying topics including hygiene, medicinal plants, different types of gardens, how to plant different forms of plants, etc. I brought along two counterparts with me, one from each community-based organization that way they can then take the information back, and it can disseminate through the various clients/other volunteers/ their neighbors and what not. There now, is that “sustainable”?

The past weekend was an adventure for the books- I traveled northwest to a small town in inland Inhambane Province called Panda. It is out there. No electricity ever, super rare to see white people, and just a very small community in general. Needless to say when twenty white ‘mulungu’s’ rolled in (white person) the whole town was interested. We spent Friday night hanging out around town, ended up at the local bar area where a hugggggeeeee crowd amassed to watch us dance and just be goofy. We tried in vain many times to get people involved to no avail. They preferred to just stand on the sidelines and watch the crazy white people shake their booties. After a while I did get tired with this though, feeling like an animal at the zoo, so I rested my laurels and laughed alongside the locals at my crazy friends.

The next day we loaded all of our things into a rented chapa (small bus thing) that drove us out into the matu (bush) we were about a 30 minute drive from the closest house, in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere. It was awesome. Super wide open spaces, sky as far as you could see, wind rushing through your hair. It felt good to be alive.

We set up tents, and just hung out with our sangria and bean stew all afternoon, playing games, singing songs, and just enjoying each others company. A pretty cool Valentines Day weekend if you ask me.  Side note; I spent valentines day with my good friends in Inharrime (the next town north of Quissico) we had market food, beers, and watched a girlie rom-com. Life was good.

So I went from one interior town in Inhambane province, to another interior town in Gaza province on Sunday. That was a very very very long day of travel, in the hot sun, while hung-over. I don’t recommend that to anyone. Long gone are the lazy hangover days of a couch, fast food/cold pizza, and a movie. Now, its heat, crowded hitchhiking, and long days of travel. How I miss being hung-over in the states haha. But I digress. . . . back to “peace corps” mode.

I’ll be here in Manjacaze until Friday or Saturday, depending on transportation options and when our seminar comes to a close. I am sincerely looking forward to getting back to site, my bed, my friends and neighbors, and my work. I think its awesome that I love my home/community here so much.

So as its almost the end of February, I have started getting together my social and work calendar together for the month of March. Coming up next month; I am throwing a “create your own superhero” party for a friends birthday at the lagoon/my house, then we have St. Patrick’s day, and our PDM (project design management) conference with Peace Corps at the end of the month. Stay tuned to see how it all goes.

Keep the emails, facebook messages, and any other forms of communication coming. I really appreciate them!

Let me know if/when anyone is interested in trying to Skype!

Xo

t

friendship

Written Tuesday, February 12, 2013

I know its been about a month since I’ve posted a blog, sorry about that. I just haven’t had internet access aside from on my phone. Hopefully I will have procured a modem by the end of this week, which will allow me to post blogs and even Skype! Stay tuned.

So today’s post is going to be about a few topics that have been swirling about in my mind the past few days. The first, is friendship. Because of my integration in to the community, the time I spend with my neighbors, doing community activities, and with my organizations I like to think that I am very well integrated into my town. Obviously I am still the white girl who has a dog and lives alone (which defies so many cultural norms in itself) but I hear more calls of “amiga” (friend) or “mana” (sister) than I do “mulungu” (white person). So yes, I am integrated, people know me, and I them – but that brings me to the word of the week: friendship.

“If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello” – Paulo Coehlo

It is hard some days to know that all I will talk about (in Portuguese) is sickness/disease, food, or the weather. I miss having both deep intellectual conversations with family and friends over dinner and chatty gossip with a girlfriend over a chai tea latte in a coffee shop. It is an interesting experience, to be surrounded by my local friends here in Mozambique chatting about what we are each making for dinner, and yet feeling so alone because there are so many other things I want to talk about but really cant.

I have tried to broach the subjects of politics, religion, other countries/cultures, but it ends up being a one-sided conversation with the other party losing interest or my information falling on deaf ears. I cant talk about how much I miss going down to the Strip District in Pittsburgh for a biscotti and coffee on a Saturday morning. I cant really relate to my good (and probably closest) friend/neighbor Thelma very much, although we are the same age. She has two children, Daisy, 7 and Wilma age 3. I enjoy her company more than I can say, she is a wonderful person who I can laugh with, and sit under a tree with for hours. But our conversation always revolves around children, marriage, why I am not married/don’t have a boyfriend, and why I don’t have children. Sometimes she will break off from these questions and talk about a telanovella (tv show) she watched last night, asking if my life was anything like it. I also answer many questions she has about my life in the states. I do my best to answer in full and complete detail, but truthfully she has no point of reference or anything to compare my stories of skyscrapers and houses to, having never left Quissico. So when that happens, she usually pauses for a bit, we sit in silence, and then return to talking about babies. Ahh . . . full circle.

So when I say that I appreciate emails, facebook posts, and packages from home, please know that I really mean it. Reminding me that people care, and that I’m not being forgotten is a really nice thing to know. Obviously lives are going to move forward and people will change while I am gone, my life will do the same here, but an update about these changes is really appreciated. So with all of that said I’ll say thank you to those who have made the effort to remain in contact, it really means a lot.

This past weekend I remained here at site, Friday working till around noon, and hanging out with the neighbors in the afternoon/evening. Saturday I literally did not leave my house/yard all day – it was glorious. I took an entire day to do things around the house, nap, cook and watch movies. I didn’t even bother to put pants on because I knew I wasn’t leaving my fenced-in yard. It was relaxation at its finest.

Sunday I went to church with the neighbors, it was the one year anniversary of the Pastor’s service to the church, so there was a lot of singing, celebrating and smiles. Mind you the service itself lasted 4 hours and was in local dialect, so I didn’t understand anything and was bored out of my wits. But afterwards there was a great lunch of traditional food and conversation. It got me face time with friends and members of the community, and kept me in the good graces of the neighbors. In the afternoon I went down for my English Group meeting, to find that one person showed up. . . I was a bit disappointed, not going to lie, but decided to have the meeting anyway. So Raymond and I had about an hour long broken conversation in Porto-Glish, a mixture of Portuguese and English. It was during this session that it hit me. . . it doesn’t matter if I teach 20 people to speak English, if I can get this boy speaking correctly by the end of my two years, I will have made that bit of difference, that bit of good, that I wanted to do. Being bilingual with English in this country opens up so many doors for people. Scholarships become available, jobs in bigger cities etc. Raymond is a hard worker in the carpentry with my organization Despertai, he also studies very hard in secondary school, and is determined to learn English and make something of himself. I want to help him in any way possible.

Work yesterday frustrated me to no end. I was at the hospital helping out in the reception area (or in my mind- the land of lost paperwork, disorganization and dysfunction) registering people for their ARV medication. As usual the hospital was PACKED because it was a Monday, one day I will try to take a picture of the place on a Monday, words cant describe just how insane it can get there. – and yet, because all of the women are wearing different capulana’s (colorful fabric) it is a thing of beauty, all at the same time.  Sigh – the dichotomy of this country.

I have decided that the only way I will be able to get through my work with/within the hospital will be to navigate the politics and disorganization. That is, after all, what this experience is all about – experiencing a totally different culture.

I hate hospitals in the states with a passion, mainly because I spent so much time in them as a child with my countless injuries. . but working in the one here, although it is a brand new structure less than two years old, makes me long for the structure, and organization of hospitals in the states. Sigh. See you in August 2014 haha.

Which brings me to my last point – its already mid-February?? When did that happen?

Happy Valentines Day everyone, go eat some chocolate.

t

work, work, work

Written Friday, February 8, 2013

Happy Friday everyone!

I hope the week passed by without too much hassle. Crazy to think its almost mid-February right? Anyone have special plans for Valentines Day? I’d love to hear what you lovebirds are all up to.

So this week passed by quickly for me, getting home from traveling on Monday, and then work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday made it completely worthwhile. I had some very productive meetings this week; on Wednesday I met with ACOMUZA, my one community based organization for our weekly meeting. First we dug a new pit latrine and reinforced the sand surrounding our office structure – it had started to erode due to the massive amount of rainfall (I plan to do this to my house this weekend). Afterwards we talked about some ongoing projects, we are teaching the community about food security, how to dehydrate food with flame and a pan or the sun. Teaching the preparation of these things, then how to properly store them. We dried things like fruit, moringa, matapa leaves, tomatoes, grated coconut etc.

After this, we talked a bit more about our Moringa nursery that we want to start in the hospital. I’m still trying to work out details with the higher-ups at the hospital. Sadly its always a bit of a clusterfuck there, and lots of things get lost in translation . . .but I will succeed. I just need lots of time and patience.

“Patience” a word I am learning to use a lot here in any situation I find myself in, be it transportation, meetings, talking with people, or simply passing the time on my front porch. Its becoming a mantra for daily life, which is good, because I didn’t have much of it in the US. I was constantly on the go, looking for the next good thing. Yes I did yoga and whatnot, but even that was a constricted amount of time of ‘peace and breathing’ I don’t know if Americans truly know how to relax. Who knows. Just something to think about.

So yesterday I had my bi-monthly meeting with Despertai, my other community organization. During this meeting we started collecting our data and statistics about the clients we visit – something they had not been doing, but I feel is worthwhile, especially if we want to eventually search for a donor. The better organized we are, the more we can accomplish. We also started discussing the workshops we want to give in the community/local schools about HIV/AIDS and other health related topics. Next week, my counterpart and I are going to go talk to the school director about this possibility. If we hold small informational sessions about condoms, how to use them, sexual transmission of HIV and how to prevent sexual violence, etc, for the students hopefully we can reach out to some.

In addition to all of this work – I say that somewhat sarcastically because my work days usually last until noon or 1pm – I have been experimenting in the kitchen! Last night, I made rosemary black bean burgers with sautéed green beans and fresh pineapple for dessert. Tonight is going to be a thai version of bean stew – going to add in some peanut butter as the beans simmer and some extra garlic and cumin. Boom. Delicious.

In other news, I have started to let Ceu off his lead a bit these past few months, let him run around town and get out and about. He seems to be enjoying it, and I haven't encountered any problems with the neighbors thus far. I don’t like keeping him cooped up in the yard all day, plus I am hoping it will help calm him down a bit, lately he has been acting even crazier than usual. My mom can attest to just how much energy the puppy-boy has, so I’m hoping that this will help.

With all that said, I would be eternally grateful if anyone from home would be generous enough to send some more flea meds (be it drops, powder, shampoo etc) for my child. If he’s going to run around and play with others, I want him to be clean and safe.  Just a single mom looking out for her baby haha.

Just hanging around site this weekend, housework and cooking tomorrow, going to my next door church on Sunday with the neighbors because it’s the Pastor’s birthday, going to make him pineapple upside down cake.

X’s and O’s

t

a trip to the beach

Written February 6, 2013

So its February?! When did that happen??

Time has this funny way of feeling that it is passing by so quickly here, yet at times I feel like I’m standing in a stagnant pool of days, hours and weeks. 18 months to go. Buckle up kids, its going to be an interesting ride.

So to help pass the time and ease the monotony of life here at site, I have been doing a bit of traveling. I try to get out every other weekend or so, to see friends, see a new beach/area of the country. This past weekend I went about 7 hours north of my site to a beach town called Vilankulo. It is possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I think my preferences for beach life is still Tofo (about 3 hours north of me) because it has waves, and a nice big beach to lay out on. But Vilankulo is much bigger, and has a very different appeal.

For me, this weekend consisted of what the nightlife at a beach town here in Mozambique has to offer. I traveled north on Friday, catching a ride with a lovely pair of South Africans. We had a great trip north, I told them about my work here, and they thought it was really interesting that I was giving up my time like this. For the record, I don’t consider it “giving up my time” it just seems like the right place and thing to be doing in my life at the moment. We got to Vil around 2pm where I met up with some PCV’s and their local friends. Our home base for the weekend was a local friends house right on the beach. A great spot close to a lot of things, and very generous of our friend to let us crash there. 

So we decided to have some beers and wait for others to arrive at a spot right on the main street in Vilankulo. That evening, after everyone had arrived we decided to hear out to a local dance club – this was after the power had been out for a few hours, forcing us girls to do our makeup by a buddy system, one person holds a flashlight and a mirror while the other applies mascara, etc. nothing like being a resourceful PCV to make the night complete.

Side note: I thought it was hilarious when I heard the power went out during the Superbowl. . . clearly no one there was a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV). Hilarious.

Needless to say the evening was very fun, dancing the night away with friends. It feels good every now and then just to spend a weekend dancing. Just letting go of all the stresses of life here in Mozambique.  So I did just that. Staying out until the wee hours of the morning (I watched the sunrise Saturday night/Sunday morning on the beach) and sleeping out on the beach during the day. I met a really cool new group of people, and had a wonderful time. The only damper on the entire weekend was that unfortunately my iPod did go missing. I had it put away in a very secure spot, so I don’t know if it was housekeeping, or what. . . but I now officially am without my iPod. Very depressing.

So after a long weekend of merriment with friends, my day Monday wasn’t all that great. Hitchhiking in the heat while hung-over. . . I don’t really recommend that to anyone. But I made it home safe and sound. I returned to a town that hadn’t had energy for the past 2 days, luckily I had made sure to empty my refrigerator before I left so nothing went bad. The energy issues continued into Tuesday, which meant I had no work at the hospital. So I spent the morning cleaning my house, wandering around town, and hanging out with the neighbors.

Last evening I had my English Group meeting, so far it is going very well. We have decided to have a meeting on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. That way if I am traveling I can plan to be home before the meeting on Sunday. We shall see how this plays out.

The remainder of this week is life per-usual here. Meetings today and tomorrow, then off to the hospital for work all-day Friday. This weekend I am hanging out here around site, maybe going down to the lagoon on Saturday, and Sunday I promised the neighbors I’d go to church with them – its Pastor Day. I don’t know if that means its his birthday, or just a day to celebrate him. But either way I’m going to make my new favorite dessert – coconut ginger brownies. The combination of all these flavors in a smooth chocolate brownie are amazing and addictive haha.

Oh, and in other news of what’s coming out my kitchen these days – avocado ice cream. Yeah, that’s right. It happened, and it is AMAZING. Avocado, condensed milk, some fresh milk, and I tossed in some lemon juice for a bit of a zing. Freeze, and mix often. It helps if you put it in a blender, but I don’t have one of those. Soooooo I mix it the best I can by hand.

I have also mastered a great homemade teriyaki sauce.

So I suppose that’s all for now. Off to drink my coffee and hang out with the dog before my meeting.

Toodles

t

Written February 6, 2013

So its February?! When did that happen??

Time has this funny way of feeling that it is passing by so quickly here, yet at times I feel like I’m standing in a stagnant pool of days, hours and weeks. 18 months to go. Buckle up kids, its going to be an interesting ride.

So to help pass the time and ease the monotony of life here at site, I have been doing a bit of traveling. I try to get out every other weekend or so, to see friends, see a new beach/area of the country. This past weekend I went about 7 hours north of my site to a beach town called Vilankulo. It is possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I think my preferences for beach life is still Tofo (about 3 hours north of me) because it has waves, and a nice big beach to lay out on. But Vilankulo is much bigger, and has a very different appeal.

For me, this weekend consisted of what the nightlife at a beach town here in Mozambique has to offer. I traveled north on Friday, catching a ride with a lovely pair of South Africans. We had a great trip north, I told them about my work here, and they thought it was really interesting that I was giving up my time like this. For the record, I don’t consider it “giving up my time” it just seems like the right place and thing to be doing in my life at the moment. We got to Vil around 2pm where I met up with some PCV’s and their local friends. Our home base for the weekend was a local friends house right on the beach. A great spot close to a lot of things, and very generous of our friend to let us crash there. 

So we decided to have some beers and wait for others to arrive at a spot right on the main street in Vilankulo. That evening, after everyone had arrived we decided to hear out to a local dance club – this was after the power had been out for a few hours, forcing us girls to do our makeup by a buddy system, one person holds a flashlight and a mirror while the other applies mascara, etc. nothing like being a resourceful PCV to make the night complete.

Side note: I thought it was hilarious when I heard the power went out during the Superbowl. . . clearly no one there was a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV). Hilarious.

Needless to say the evening was very fun, dancing the night away with friends. It feels good every now and then just to spend a weekend dancing. Just letting go of all the stresses of life here in Mozambique.  So I did just that. Staying out until the wee hours of the morning (I watched the sunrise Saturday night/Sunday morning on the beach) and sleeping out on the beach during the day. I met a really cool new group of people, and had a wonderful time. The only damper on the entire weekend was that unfortunately my iPod did go missing. I had it put away in a very secure spot, so I don’t know if it was housekeeping, or what. . . but I now officially am without my iPod. Very depressing.

So after a long weekend of merriment with friends, my day Monday wasn’t all that great. Hitchhiking in the heat while hung-over. . . I don’t really recommend that to anyone. But I made it home safe and sound. I returned to a town that hadn’t had energy for the past 2 days, luckily I had made sure to empty my refrigerator before I left so nothing went bad. The energy issues continued into Tuesday, which meant I had no work at the hospital. So I spent the morning cleaning my house, wandering around town, and hanging out with the neighbors.

Last evening I had my English Group meeting, so far it is going very well. We have decided to have a meeting on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. That way if I am traveling I can plan to be home before the meeting on Sunday. We shall see how this plays out.

The remainder of this week is life per-usual here. Meetings today and tomorrow, then off to the hospital for work all-day Friday. This weekend I am hanging out here around site, maybe going down to the lagoon on Saturday, and Sunday I promised the neighbors I’d go to church with them – its Pastor Day. I don’t know if that means its his birthday, or just a day to celebrate him. But either way I’m going to make my new favorite dessert – coconut ginger brownies. The combination of all these flavors in a smooth chocolate brownie are amazing and addictive haha.

Oh, and in other news of what’s coming out my kitchen these days – avocado ice cream. Yeah, that’s right. It happened, and it is AMAZING. Avocado, condensed milk, some fresh milk, and I tossed in some lemon juice for a bit of a zing. Freeze, and mix often. It helps if you put it in a blender, but I don’t have one of those. Soooooo I mix it the best I can by hand.

I have also mastered a great homemade teriyaki sauce.

So I suppose that’s all for now. Off to drink my coffee and hang out with the dog before my meeting.

Toodles

t

just another day..

Written January 30, 2013

I’d like to return to the “swing” metaphor I was talking about in my last blog, its basically the perfect metaphor for daily life here. The amount of up’s and down’s in a single day is immeasurable really.

Yesterday I went to the hospital, and was there for about 5 hours, registering people for there ARV medication, that can get depressing quickly, especially when I’m registering 3 and 4 year olds who were passed the disease through their mothers. Oh and I saw someone die at work too. This person came in the front entrance, just totally and completely overwhelmed with sickness – huge boils secreting puss all over their body, they were puking, and weighed at the most 50lbs. this was a full grown adult mind you. The person collapsed and started convulsing, when it was all over, they covered the body in sheets and took it into a private room. It was a harrowing experience. So that was a low point in my day. I actually had to stop and mentally process what I had just seen, others just went about their daily activities – death is a very common thing here, and people in general are not as emotionally forward as we are in our western culture.

After the hospital, I walked through town, stopping in to say hi to Dona Julia  - a high point in my day. I had a cold coca-cola, and just chatted with her for a while.

Then I came home, to make lunch – another high point, because of my new fridge I have been able to keep my homemade hummus for more than a day, as well as veggies. I have started making bigger batches of things to eat throughout the week like hummus, tortillas, bean stew etc. it makes life so much nicer to be able to come home and just have a quick lunch.

After lunch I hung out with my 8yr old neighbor, helping her with math homework. This was a high and low point in my day. Low because she is 8, almost 9 years old, and still cant understand the concept of 0 + any number. She cant understand the concept of a number signifying nothing. That, and she is overall very behind in her education. I asked why she didn’t ask about these things during class, to find out that professors here often just write the homework assignment on the board and leave. . . . low point.

This little girl is so special, she is smart and wants to do well I can see that when we are working together, but if she is not given the resources to expand her educational horizons, she will be trapped in this cyclical poverty that diminishes future development. I thought back to the “start of school” time when I was her age, going out and buying notebooks, pencils etc. being stressed out about my book covers, the color of my backpack etc. I had a childhood where I wanted for nothing (which I am grateful for) and continued on with my schooling without delay or doubt – but the stark contrast between my experience, and hers. . . sometimes it just makes me stop and think.

To wrap up my day, I had an English Group meeting, a new club that I’m starting here in town. It is open to any and all who want to practice/learn how to speak English. We work on a specific aspect of grammar first, and then have conversation or work on English homework from school. To conclude our meetings we listen to a song in English, that way it leaves the meeting in an upbeat mood, and is sort of an exchange of culture. So far its been a good success. The amount of people showing up for meetings continues to grow. We usually have them Tuesday evenings, but may start having them Sunday mornings/evenings due to school schedules – but that would cut down on my travel abilities. . . something I’m going to have to think about.

I have a meeting with my CBO’s today and tomorrow, and Friday I’m back at the hospital. Going to cover a lot of things in these meetings, get on track for the next few months, talk about some projects and hopefully get some stuff started!

Friday I am off to Vilankulo, which is a beach town about 3 hours north of Inhambane City. I passed it on my thanksgiving trip to Gorongoza national park, but didn’t make the stop. Going to spend the weekend with some great girlfriends, sun, sand and good friends. This is going to be just what I need to push the swing into a “great” place.

If anyone has any good songs, quotes, or other inspirational things that got them through a hard time in their life, I’d love to hear about them. I’m always looking for new inspiration.

xo

t

the ups, and the downs

Written January 29, 2013

I wish I could say that the week started off in a positive, upbeat and happy manner – unfortunately it couldn’t have been more of the opposite. I don’t know if I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, listened to a song that has too many memories attached, or there was a full moon and I went loony because of it?  Who knows. All I can say is that the day was not great. It had its good moments, but overall I’m going to chalk it up as shitty.

I went to the hospital as per usual, did my work there – getting very depressed in the process (I was registering children for ARV meds), then went to pay my energy bill – where I had to stand in a line for about an hour, with this sleazy man hitting on me. I don’t know what it is about men in this country, and why they think they are “gods gift to women” or that they have the divine power to speak to women in such a manner, but it is repugnant and demeaning. 

After all that, I wandered into the market. School is back in session so around 8am, noon, and 5pm the streets are PACKED with students, young and old. Needless to say I tend to try and avoid public areas at these times. Just to reduce the amount of staring, pointing and name calling – being the only white girl in town can be a bit exhausting at times. Unfortunately because of the time it took to pay my energy bill, my timing through town was off, and it was definitely a hassle and unfortunately annoying experience.

But then I came back to my neighborhood, and hung out with my neighbor friend and her adorable two-year-old daughter. We sat on the esteria (grass mat) and shelled peanuts, just talking and enjoying one another’s company. This was probably the highlight of my day.  We can talk about anything and everything (within reason) and she is generally interested in life in the United States, and vice versa. She was married with a child by the time she was 19.  I was entering into my junior year of college at that time. . . . my greatest concern was what theme the frat party was going to be that weekend, or if I was going to make the starting roster for the soccer game. She was here, cooking, raising children, and living in a reed house. How did I get so lucky to be born in the states? Do any of you ever ask yourself that?

Anyway. . . I had a lot on my mind yesterday, and felt very far from home, and that I am missing out on so many things. But I watched a funny movie, cooked and ate a good dinner, and went to bed with the hope of today being a better day.

So far, still a little down – but hopefully I’ll be on the upswing soon.

My friend Linda and I say that this experience is just a big swing, back and forth, high points on each side, low point in the middle “SWING”. We text one another that word often.

Love to all - t

par for the course

Written January 27, 2013

What a week!

I will never cease to be amazed at how many things happen in a weeks span here in Mozambique.

Now where to begin. . .

As you all may remember I was stuck in Inhambane City at the beginning of the week, finally making it home on Wednesday afternoon, with my new refrigerator in tow.

Thursday I was back on the job, going down to my one community organization for what I thought was going to be our monthly meeting. Unfortunately due to lack of communication, no one showed up, and the meeting was pushed back to this coming Thursday, the 31^st. I sometimes get very frustrated with things here, this organization is sometimes one of them. I put in a lot of work and effort to try to streamline our work process, stay more organized and become a more efficient organization. We make calendars, plans, have ideas for projects, and then there is no follow though. When this happens, and I call them out on it, there is a lot of “passing the buck” if you will, no one takes responsibility for their actions, and there is little to no accountability. This is something we are going to discuss in length next Thursday during our meeting. Hopefully some things will be straightened out. Stay tuned.

So after that failed attempt at a meeting, I headed up to the hospital where I have been working on registering patients for ARV and pre-ARV medications. This is not what I should be doing at the hospital, and have expressed it in length to my supervisors. So now we are looking for someone that I can train to do this work – thus giving someone else a job. During my meeting with ICAP on Monday, I laid out a few project ideas for the Peer Educators at the hospital.

I want to create a Moringa nursery in/around the hospital grounds. There is a lot of free space, plenty of water sources, and it is a great area to get information out to the masses. Next week I will also be starting a training with the Peer Educators about doing their field visits to those patients who have abandoned ARV treatments, and encourage them to get back to the hospital.

Later that afternoon we had a “Commit TARV” meeting, where the doctors, technicians and other hospital staff get together to discuss how to help people stay on their ARV medication, how to get more people tested, and how to help eliminate the stigma. The next time we have this meeting, I want to include some of my counterparts from my community organizations, seeing as they are the ones out in the community doing home visits and things. I feel it would help create a stronger bond between both hospital and community.

On Friday, I paid a visit to my other community organization, and talked with my counterpart about the Moringa nursery I want to start at the hospital. She has a really nice grouping of Moringa trees at her house, so she always has seeds. Together we planted about 15 that day to let them start germinating. We can plant them in the ground a bit later, once all the details get hashed out.

I also spoke with her about our project with Moringa Juice/Smoothies that we want to make out of seasonal fruit and dried/powdered Moringa. With the collaboration of this proposed nursery at the hospital, informational workshops/speeches given about the plants, and the Juice sold in town we feel that we can reach out to a lot of people about this plant. We also have the idea of making the juice for “Cha Positiva” a monthly meeting at the hospital for those who are taking ARV medication and living HIV+. It is a meting time for them to ask questions and talk about issues with their medication, its sort of a support group, but is run by doctors, which can be intimidating. So we were thinking that if we bring in this juice and have an informational session done in the local language, people may feel more at ease, and be a bit more involved in the process. Stay tuned for that one too.

So all of these work plans are coming together . . .hopefully many if not all will come into fruition.

Personal successes this week – I made calzones from scratch! Yep that’s right, I made the pizza dough and sauce from scratch, put in some cheese and some smoked sausages bought in Maxixe, and baked them in my dutch oven. Needless to say they were DELICIOUS! The next morning I had a cold one for breakfast thanks to my fridge. Yep. I had cold pizza in Africa. Boom.

Some other personal successes, I made a delicious stir-fry the other night, I am continuing to strengthen my friendships with the neighbors, I took Ceu (the dog) down to the lagoon, annnnnd have been putting together a small social calendar for the upcoming months. I find that it helps to have something to look forward to, the time passes quickly, and the next 18 months don’t seem so daunting.

I’m really looking forward to February 1^st when I can open the package my Aunt Maria sent to me! Ahh! Going to be so exciting!

Anyway, lots of work to be done this coming week. It was a lazy weekend around site, lagoon days, Mad Men marathons on my computer, and good food. Not a bad life here in Quissico.

Much love to all.

t

rainy days in the big city

Written Thursday, January 24, 2013

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.

That has been my internal theme song for the past few days here in southern Mozambique. This past Sunday, I made a trip up to Inhambane City (about 3 hours north of me) for a meeting with ICAP, my international ngo that I am partnered with through the hospital, on Monday morning. When I left my house Sunday afternoon the sun was out, it was dry and hot, standard Africa weather. I decided to leave my windows in my house open, seeing as I was returning the next day directly after our meeting.

The travel to the city was no problem. I caught a great free ride “boleia” up to Maxixe, stopping along the way to pick up my colleague in Inharrime. We waited in Maxixe for our other friend, and treated ourselves to some market food – a heaping amount of bean stew, rice and a cold coca-cola all for 30 Mtz? . . . doesn’t get much better than that.

After lunch we took the small boat over to Inhambane and headed to our friends house. I stayed with her that evening, while the other girls stayed in the hotel in town. We had a relaxing movie night, and went out for pizza a bit later. Tough life in the big city right? I love my home, and my town – but it is sometimes nice to escape to an area that has some of the western comforts of home. . . who knew that pizza would be such an incredible thing?

That night, the rain started. And boy did it rain. So much so that my friends ceiling started leaking, and the town of Inhambane itself was flooded. There was water in the roads up to our knees! The ICAP car had to come pick us up to take us to the meeting. The meeting itself was “productive” by Mozambique standards. . . a lot of unnecessary things, but we also got some good information, support, and ideas for the future. Stay tuned.

All throughout the meeting the storm continued to rage, so much so that the boats across to Maxixe stopped running, and roads were closed. There is one highway in southern Mozambique called the “EN1”, it stretches from Maputo to central Mozambique, where it splits off into two different highways. . . for a total of I think 4 or so main “highways” in the entire country. . .kind of makes me miss I79.  Anyway, I I digress. . the transportation options were a bit limited so we decided to stay one more night – at this point I called a friend here in Quissico to run to my house and close windows etc. only to get a response back that my house had flooded. . .awesome.

So Tuesday morning was spent at the post office, trying to argue for my package that arrived there, and not at the postal box in Inharrime. Shout out to Auntie Maria Casciato for sending me a “Daily February” care package – you are the best. I adore and miss you so very much! Needless to say, the postal system here can go suck a ___. Fill in the blank yourselves with whatever noun you choose. I know which one I would use. There is a happy ending to this tale though, we were able to get our packages (Jasmin, Maddy and I all had one) without having to pay the ridiculous customs fees. It only took 3 hours Monday afternoon and another 3 Tuesday morning of convincing to make this happen. “sigh”

So with our packages in hand, the three of us headed over to the ICAP office to figure out our transportation situation to our respective homes. I also really wanted to buy a refrigerator and since I was getting a free ride in an organization’s car, I figured this would be the best time.

We find out that the road is still closed, in some places water up to peoples knees, if not higher. Sooo we packed it in, and prepared to stay yet another night in Inhambane City. We took full advantage of the free internet at the ICAP office, watching all of the Inaugural celebrations on YouTube, and other news sources. I thought Obama’s speech was moving. Forceful, informative, and inspiring. Hat’s off to you sir, I look forward to these next 4 years.  

We had a relaxing movie night at the hotel, between the three of us, we had two rooms, and four beds. . . it only makes sense that for most of the evening the three of us were in one bed watching a movie on a computer screen. . .  Peace Corps volunteers, they are a little strange I tell ya.

Wednesday morning we were finally able to get out of the city! We took the car down to Lindela, and then over into Maxixe so I could buy my refrigerator – oh happy days!!! My life is about to change for the better. I can now have cold water, have leftovers, make cold salsa, ice tea, etc. ohmygosh. YES!

It even has a small freezer in it, so I could make (wait for it….) ice cream!!! Ahhh!!

So I got my fridge, had a free ride home and all was going well! Get back into Quissico, to my home, to find that my house had been flooded. . . not the best thing to come home to, but I suppose its only water, and slowly its drying out.

I’m happy to be home with my new fridge, a package from the states (that I am waiting to open until each day in Feb as assigned) and a puppy dog who greeted me with the biggest tail wag and slobbery kiss.

Off to a meeting today with my community organization. . . going to talk about future projects with them. Then onto the hospital to chat about my meeting on Monday and future plans with them.

X’ and O’s from a slightly soggy place in Moz.