emotion, perception, life

Emotion: a conscious mental reaction subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body.

I would like to take a moment to try and explain the multitude of emotions that I have experienced here in Mozambique. I know in some of my blogs I have touched upon feeling lonely, angry, frustrated, anxious, happy, and sad. I do not know if I have expressed that all of these intense emotions can happen in a very short time span, leaving you so exhausted that you don't want to move from bed or care about a day just passing by.

To regress our time frame a bit, I left training in Namaacha in a great mood, the new volunteers are very ambitious and a have great motivation. Talking with them helped me realize how far I had come in a year, made me consider extending my contract, and left me so happy for this next year of unknown adventures. I came back to site in the midst of planning for this workshop. After the REDES workshop ended, there was such a feeling of relief that it was finally OVER. This overwhelming weekend that had me in such a panic state of stress the week leading up to it trying to get everything done. 

Within this week of feeling so stressed out, I also reached a state of panic that not everything would get done, combined with anger (the bakery man refused to sell me bread unless I dated him) at how ridiculous this culture can be. Knowing fully well, that no matter how hard we work to try and create something nice- someone will always have something negative to say.

The weekend passed leaving me more exhausted than before. All of the hard work was finally over, it was my birthday, lets celebrate! Celebration here, means a few close friends and some wine- which is actually how I prefer it. I prefer having one on one conversation, and spending time with people I truly care about. During this time, we had some very great talks about our work and about some things happening in our lives here –but I feel something was lacking. And I feel this way often when having conversations with PCV’s – nothing against us as conversationalists. . . its just that we live in a bubble here. There isn’t really any outside stimuli or culture besides Mozambique. In the states, you could go to a museum, a play, a poetry slam, the Rocky Horror Picture Show. . . anything really. Its all at your disposal- a range of cultural options to expand your mind. Here, we have our work, and our interpersonal drama/relationships. There is no discussing the latest news article, or how our favorite sports team is doing. So while the conversations are great, I feel it always is lacking something, or is never fully there.

So there we were, sipping wine, hanging out, just relaxing from the weekend. I was celebrating my 24^th birthday, which brought to mind the crazy notion that the entire 23^rd year of my life was spent in Africa. 22 wasn't the best of years for me, there were a lot of up’s and down’s and even more unknown going into Peace Corps. I remember turning 23 in training with my new volunteer friends. Sitting there, overlooking my lagoon I had to stop and think about how far I have come in this year. How many emotions I had run through, the good times, the very bad times, and all of the others in between- and the fact that I have experienced them, for the majority, on my own. Yes fellow PCV’s are always here to help and to talk to, and vice versa- but the majority of my experiences here are solitary. This past year has really taught me to be self-reliant, and to deal with the horde of emotions that accompany this life journey.

The final emotion that I would like to touch upon is that of uncertainty. Not knowing what is going to happen tomorrow, not knowing what news you may get from home (be it good or bad) that just reminds you that life moves on, even if you are not there. I oftentimes feel that I am missing out on my life, not being at home with my friends and family. This is a variation of homesickness, brought upon by big life changes that many of my friends are going through- and looking at it all through a computer screen, via a social media page or whatever. These alterations remind me of just how far away I am, how I am powerless to do anything to celebrate, comfort, or experience these joys and losses with the people in my life.

I am so very far away.

Know that I think of many of you often throughout my day, and wish that I could be at home with you, but at the same time, wish more than anything that you could come here and see how fantastically frustrating, how wonderfully absurd, how delightfully silly, this beautiful country is.

xoxo

REDES Workshop 2013

This post is meant to be a summary about how the REDES Workshop went this past weekend, but I am finding difficulty to put what happened into words.

Essentially this was party planning, Mozambique style. We had 12 groups registered and confirmed to come – unfortunately, having to turn one group away the night before because that's when they called to RSVP… the night before. . . really? So 12 groups of 3 girls, 11 Mozambique counterparts/facilitators, and 5 PCV’s were all confirmed for the REDES Workshop here in Quissico, Inhambane Province.

This Workshop happens once a year usually at an “internato” (a boarding home) at a school when the students are on break. It's a chance for all of the REDES groups in one province to get together, have information sessions, dance, sing, create friendships, and see that there are other groups around. This experience helps to show that there are other girls going through the exact same things they are, and that together they can be a cohesive new generation of empowered girls and women.  In theory, it's a fantastic idea.

In reality, it was a bit more stressful, hectic, and lackluster than the vision of the on-paper theory may describe. As you all may recall, I was in Namaacha at PST (training) the week leading up to this Workshop. I was not present for my weekly REDES meetings, in town to do shopping, or available to go to the school to see what their internato looked like, and what the conditions were with the school. I came home on Sunday, to find no stores open as per usual, no girls/coordinators around to help me start the preparation of this conference. Monday it was the same luck, my two facilitators/counterparts were MIA from Sunday to Tuesday (the one never actually bothering to show up) leaving the heavy lifting, running around town and frantic-ness all to me. Luckily I had some amazing fellow PCV’s that helped me talk through some things over the phone while I was doing all of the errands.

“errands” include, but are not limited to; planning an entire menu for Thursday-Sunday, being sure that food matches the specific, and rather limited, palette of our host country nationals here. Making sure that each girl, and facilitator receives a plastic folder with; all of the handout materials, the workbook, a notebook, a pen, soap, individual packets of laundry detergent, etc. buying all of the necessary materials for the workshop itself; capulanas, giant paper to make signs, markers, sticky tack etc. LOTS of running around my town, haggling down prices, carrying things back to my house to only go back into the market to buy more. I spent a few hours every day in the photocopy shop in town- to the point that the woman there was trying to fix me up with her son.

I think that's the hardest thing about Moz…. Planning for something like this, knowing that no matter what, people are going to complain about every tiny, last, little detail (they always do when its something free), and having to deal with the politics of everyday life when trying to arrange everything. Prime example- I’m at the bakery, trying to coordinate for 60 loaves of bread to be delivered at 6am the mornings of fri/sat/sun, and the baker says that he will only deliver them if I agree to go on a date with him . . . . hardly amusing. I told him that my husband would be very upset by this, and I would just have to take my business elsewhere if he didn't comply in a businesslike fashion. – its shit like that, which makes daily life here in Moz annoying.

So, running around town, trying to get all of my purchases done, get the plastic binders filled for each participant, cleaning the internato (it was possibly one of the most unfortunate locations to ever host this workshop) all the while fending off calls from groups around the province about transportation issues, money, and whatnot.

The money for lodging and transportation was supposed to be given from the Department of Education here in Inhambane Province . . .again, a great idea “in theory”.  What resulted from this brainwave was transportation money distributed to various schools in the districts where REDES groups existed, with almost no explanation about what it was to be used for. Now, this does creat some problems – 1) not all REDES groups are facilitated through the local schools, for example, I am a health volunteer, and have almost no interaction with the school here, so how would I know to go get my groups money for transportation? 2) for Mozambiquean run groups (without a PCV) the same issue arises. Considering we have a few of these types of groups, and some groups in the transition phase between volunteers (having a 16’er COS, and waiting for a 20’er to arrive from training) there was issues receiving the money as well. 3) because there was no formal REDES documentation sent with this money, just an invitation for a “girls/women’s empowerment conference” the male directors of some schools chose female community leaders and told them to select three girls to come to this workshop. . . .

This resulted in me having to turn away 5, yes 5, random groups of women who showed up at our door on Thursday. Talk about uncomfortable situations…. As much as I wanted to just welcome them into the folds of REDES, and encourage new groups to form- we had a specific number of beds, food, and workshop materials that was set on the final attendance number. Fortunately 3 groups were able to go home in the same day, two of the random groups had to spend the night at the internato because they came from so far away. – this means that, many of the girls were sleeping 2 to a bed, and that we almost ran short of food that first night.

So, with all of this confusion we realized that the money for transportation for each group either went ‘missing’  from the schools or was used by these random 5 groups, forcing me to work in the cost of transportation into my budget. That's how I spent my first night, re-hashing the budget, what I had already spent, what I needed to budget for, and how much any little incidentals were going to cost me.

The actual Workshop sessions went extremely well. The girls were very involved, the counterparts facilitated each session with aplomb, forcing retention of the material. All of the girls seemed to get along with one another, new friendships forming with each exchange of smiles and laughter. So all of that was a big “thumbs up”.

It was the politics of the actual conference that forced such stress and anxiety. Outside of the sessions, the facilitators were NIGHTMARES! Acting like such diva’s when it came to every little thing. Rather than putting on a happy face, and trying to set a good example for all of the girls, they were the ones that complained about every meal (though many got second servings each time) the housing conditions, the snack not being enough etc etc etc. . . .  I eventually started hearing the soud that Charlie Brown’s teacher makes ‘wommmp wooo woommpp’ every time they opened their mouth to complain about something else. Rather than being part of the solution, they just continued to be part of the problem.

Whatever.

Friday and Saturday went decently, like I said, the sessions ran well, which is what the entire workshop is about- imparting knowledge on the girls and creating a safe space to have open dialogue about anything and everything. Saturday afternoon, we had sessions about income generation projects. This is going to be very important in the future here with REDES, considering our budgets have been, and will continue to be cut. The program needs to start being self-sustainable, and each group can help to make that happen. After the sessions on Saturday, the pcv’s and I went back to my house and had a small feedback time, to discuss how the material was presented, and how we can better it/change it. A bit idea that was thrown out, was having a national brand of something like peanut butter that is created by, and distributed by REDES. Using the money from that to not only support our individual groups, but also on the national or provincial level. We will see what comes of that.

Sunday, everyone departed bright and early, giving me most of the day to unwind, and just relax. Considering it was my birthday, that was very much appreciated.

In hindsight, I would have made MANY MANY MANY changes to the way the Workshop was prepared for and run. But because we were working on such a short timeframe, and there were numerous variables to take into consideration, I feel that we pulled it off just fine. Was it the greatest? No. Was it the worst? Also no. I’d say it fell somewhere in the range of a solid, yet lackluster workshop.

My birthday;

It was this past Sunday, I turned 24. I spent the afternoon/evening with 3 very good PCV friends that were kind enough to come to my site/stay an extra night after the conference. We relaxed at the bar overlooking the lagoons, and just enjoyed one another’s company. While sitting there, we saw these two white men ride past on laden down bicycles. When they stopped, I went to introduce myself and find out what their story was. Turns out, they are Mexican tourists, who are biking from cape town to cairo. . . WHAT?! Haha madness. I offered my front yard for them to camp out, and they joined us for dinner. A simple, yet amusing and nice birthday evening.

To my friend;

There will never be just words to describe how very sorry I am for your loss, but from so far away, that is all that I have. I wish more than anything I could be there to give you a hug, and hold your hand through this hard time. Stay strong, keep your chin up, and know how much you are loved. Sending you all of my love, and good vibes from Mozambique. Hang in there RFF. I love you.

the start of a new week

Happy Monday! It is the start of a new week, lots of new work activities on the horizon, a bit of stress and of course some great sunrises from my front porch.

So, last week I spent time in Namaacha for Pre-Service Training (PST) for the new group of volunteers. What an absolutely fantastic, diverse, intelligent, and motivated collection of people!! I was there visiting with my fellow Moz 18’er Colin Hartke, another inspiring person who I don't see all that often – he lives in Cuamba, Niassa Province. Our week started off with a Ramadan party Sunday cooked totally by one of the new volunteers. Others helped out chopping veggies and such, but the majority of it all fell to him- and by golly good gracious was it delicious!! Hummus, tabouli, goat curry, etc. . . you name it, we had it. I had to stop and question where I was often (is this really Mozambique?) haha! All of that amazing food, great dinner conversation, and the coming week of interesting sessions, and getting to know the new volunteers, how could I not have a fantastic time?

The week slipped by quickly, days jampacked with sessions about Organizational Development, Professionalism in the Moz Workplace etc, language classes, visitors, and Thursday was Site Announcement day! It was strange, in a good way, to be on the other side of the festivities. Seeing everyone gather around the gigantic map of Mozambique drawn on the ground, opening their envelopes and running to their spot! There were only tears of happiness, which is commendable. It's both an exciting and terrifying time in a PCV’s life! After the reveal, we had some snacks (I made tortilla chips, guacamole and onion rings) there was cake and pop, and some other finger nibbles. That evening we all went out for a few drinks and dinner. Such fun.

I remember all of the feelings that were running through me on that day, the anticipation leading up to it, and then after the reveal the insanity that I had a HOME in Mozambique for the next two years. Absolute insanity.

Looking back, it has been a year filled with lots of up’s and down’s (more good than bad) and now that things are really moving and shaking, the time is slipping by even faster! It's the end of July already? What?!

I have been fortunate to have both of my parents visit, see some really incredible places here in this country, meet new people and have some pretty intense life experiences. I am thankful.

So some changes have happened in the past few weeks, so as a quick recap here are some of the biggies;

-the 16’ers are COS (close of service)- ing, meaning that many of my friends that have been a integral part of my first year here in Moz are leaving/have left

-the 20’ers got their site placements, meaning I have new neighbors, and some new adventures on the horizon

-I was elected as the Inhambane Provincial Coordinator for REDES, meaning I oversee/take care of the TOT (training of trainers) and Workshop, as well as financial and administrative responsibilities for the province. Its an immense responsibility, but I am up for the challenge, and am excited (and a bit daunted) by the work.

-this Thursday start’s the Inhambane Workshop for REDES

-my 24^th birthday is happening this weekend

-in one month, all of Moz 18 will be in Maputo for our mid-service conference (our official 1 year mark as PCV’s)

-the end of August is our big Timbila Festival here in Quissico

-September 7^th I am being flown to Nampula city in the north for the REDES handover

etc. . . .

and this is all on top of my normal work schedule, including weekly meetings with my CBO’s and NGO at the hospital. Oh, and my REDES meetings haha!

I am happy to be busy, its much better than the alternative (being bored out of my mind). The time slips by quickly, my mind is occupied by other things so I tend to not think too much about things happening at home – it seems that every time I log onto Facebook, someone else is engaged, married, or has had a baby – and is giving me great work and life experiences.

With all of this said and done, I bid you farewell. I am off to kick today’s butt. Many errands around town prepping for the workshop, and a quick meeting at the hospital to talk about next month!

Beijos-

t

back to where it started. . .

(this was written last saturday morning, july 13th)

Greetings from Namaacha! It has been a while since I've said that, hasnt it?

Almost a year has passed since I was in training here in this beautiful, yet very chilly, part of southern Mozambique called Namaacha. I can tell that many things have changed, including the HUB itself (our training center here). Permanent structures have been put up, new things installed and it seems to be a very streamlined system now. Way to go Peace Corps!

The trip south to Namaacha started at Jasmin's site in Inharrime. I had gone to spend one last night with her on Friday, we went to our usual chicken spot, had some laughs, shed some tears, and just enjoyed the last moments together in Inharrime. Seeing her house so empty, putting her suitcases in the car, watching her say goodbye to her dog. . .it was a lot to handle. I cant imagine that I will possibly be doing the same thing in a year's time. Maybe. . .as of now, I am seriously considering extending my contract for another year. Why not right? I like my work, I like this country, and its not like I have anything that I need to rush home for.

So we packed up the personal car our association let us use for the trip (winning!) and headed south, stopping at my house to grab my bag for the week, and to drop off a nice wicker chair that I bought from Jasmin. (I'm probably going to do a big rearrangement of my living room/kitchen/dining room space when I return.) Anyway. . we were on our way to Maputo. Of course we had to stop in Xai Xai to meet our driver's family, meaning we were also served lunch and pop. Not a bad deal! Unfortunately we were pressed for time upon our arrival in Maputo, as the chapa's for Namaacha stop running towards the later part of the afternoon. Luckily we were able to catch one that left almost immediately upon our boarding it. I loathe chapa's. Every fiber of my being just goes into a negative place when I am so squeezed, cramped, sweaty and just generally uncomfortable. Unfortunately it is the one of the only options of transport to Namaacha, so I had to suck it up and deal. Luckily it only took about two hours, and the Peace Corps driver met us in town to give us a boleia back to the HUB (training facility).

I was on my own here last night, a fellow 18'er is joining me for the week here for PST, so that shall be a lovely time! I took full advantage of having this nice little house to myself here, took a long bath (well, as long as a bucket bath takes), made some tea, put on my wool socks and leggings, and snuggled up in bed. The house here is very cute, and I am already liking the set-up for the week. I was fortunate enough to meet a few new volunteers last night, and from what I can tell the group seems to be very diverse. I am truly looking forward to meeting all of them.

Work wise, Wed, Thurs and Fri of last week were VERY BUSY. I am throwing together the REDES workshop that is to be held in Quissico the weekend after my return to site, then I have my mid-service conference in August, followed by the big Amizava Festival in my town. Sheesh!

Send me some good thoughts and some good vibes :) they are always appreciated.

Quick shout-out to my Mom; it was her birthday on the 12th of July. WOOOP! Happy Birthday Momma. Wish I could have been there to celebrate with you!

xoxox always

t

kickin butt, takin names

It has been a very, very busy few weeks, and the fun isnt even close to being over! Where did I leave off? Dad left, and real life caught up to me in a very real, very fast way. That Saturday after his departure, was my very good friends "Despedida", or going away party. It was a fantastic party, going into the early hours of the morning, a combindation of PCV's, and her various friends and coleagues made in Inharrime during her two years there. Admist all of this partying the underlying factor of my very good friend leaving Mozambique hit home, some tears were shed, lots of hugs given and many glasses of wine were consumed haha. All in all, an excellent party and chance to say goodbye (though I have seen her many more times since then).

The first week in July raced by, sadly I did not participate in any sort of festivities for the 4th of July, but I did enjoy looking at all the merriment in the photos from home. Work went well, I'm currently juggling 3 big projects at the moment, hoping they all come together smoothly. Then it was Saturday, and I recieved two site visitors - new volunteers who are currently in Namaacha for PreService Training. To those who do not diligently read my blog (thank you to those that do) last year, while I was in training, I came here to Quissico and had a fantastic visit with Angela, the volutneer I would end up substituting. It was really cool to see how far I have come in a year, both in a personal and professional aspect.

I hosted two lovely gentlemen from Saturday until Wednesday morning, we did a variety of things; visited some local friends/coleagues of mine, toured the hospital, saw my organizations, went to the lagoon, wandered through town, met up with other PCV's in town for dinner, listened to good music, and made great food. All in all, I'd like to think they had a nice time here - its kind of hard not to enjoy Quissico, this place is incredible. The guys had a crazy travel experience to get here, a big semi-truck fell off a bridge, blocking half of it right outside of Xai Xai (about 2 hours south of me) so they had to leave their bus, walk across the bridge on foot, and try to get out of that crazy town and get here. Mind you all, this is thier first time out of Namaacha, remember how intimidated I was, where my language skills were at? It was an interesting day for them to be sure. Only to be matched by their return trip, not an hour outside of my town, did their bus get a flat tire. It was replaced and they were on their way again . . . .to get another within 5 minutes. Sadly that was not able to be replaced- so they had to find another bus. Thankfully there were 3 of them together, and they all made it to Maputo safely.

Yesterday I didnt leave my home really, I did all of my laundry (it had been piling up since my trip with dad), washed all of my dishes, did a big clean of my house, and sat down to try and organize my life a bit.

I was elected as the Inhambane Provincial Coordinator for REDES, so I and the other PCV's in Inhambane with REDES groups are assigned with the task of organizing the annual REDES workhop. This year it will be held here in Quissico and all the groups/PCV's in the Inhambane province will come here to learn, celebrate, and participate in the workshop. It should be a great time. Hopefully.

I am leaving this Saturday for Namaacha to be a "visiting volunteer" for PST, where I and Colin (a fellow Moz 18er) will be talking about an Introduction to Organizational Development to the current trainees. I will be gone from site from Saturday the 13th to Sat/Sun the 20/21st. . . .Did I mention that the REDES conference is on the 25th?!

gah. stressed.

In addition to the madness of this month, is next month as well. August holds my Mid-Service conference, and our big festival here in Quissico. The calendar gods must have it out for me... my conference is the week before the festival. So I'm trying to work out a lot of the details now, in the weeks leading up to it, so I'm not totally swamped and stressed about it during the week before.

gah. again.

Today I have a REDES meeting in the morning- we have begun making earrings to sell at the festival in August, and are working out details for the workshop at the end off this month. Then I will be going to the hospital to work out some details with CCS about my work this month, and next month. A quick stop in to my one CBO, Despertai (who unfortunately I havent been working with very much) to see how things are there. I am so focused on my REDES groups, and the coming events that Despertai has somewhat fallen by the wayside. It also doesnt help that we havent had a meeting in 4 months, and every time I go down there, my supervisor/counterpart isnt there. . get this- she has the audacity to call me yesterday and ask ME where I have been and why I havent been working with them. . . the insanity of that statement is just baffling.

gahh.

Then a REDES meeting in the evening to round off my busy day.

Tomorrow, it'll be something of a similar nature, lots of running around, getting things organized, packing for the week in Namaacha - and going up to Inharrime for our final Frango Friday with Jasmin. . . .

I'm going to really miss her. She has made such an impact on my life here in Moz, I could literally not imagine my first year here without her. Jaz, if you ever read this, know how much I love ya girl, I'm so happy we came into one anothers lives, and am so excited to see what the next chapter in your life has in store for ya!

-xoxo always, your quase-sitemate

thats all for now kids. off to kick butt, and take name.

-tay

Dad's trip, pt 3

Dad's Adventure, Part III- Mozambique!

I know, I know, the part you all have been waiting for!

So I left you all with the cliffhanger of arriving in Maputo right? Never fear, the story only gets better from this point on. So, after a very long bus ride we were both looking forward to an easy night in Maputo with my friend at his house. Unfortunately he fell sick with Malaria the day that we were traveling, and his apartment was unavailable- but never fear, this PCV always has a backup plan. We stayed in a backpacker in Maputo, same one I took Mom to, and the same one most PCV's use. It’s clean, cheap, and centrally located.

We had some issues with our credit cards at dinner, and from that point on we had to use cash only, which meant I was in charge of the funds. . "monopoly money" I believe was the term used to describe these differently colored bills and coins haha! We got an early start the next morning, taking Dad to the Junta, picking out a good bus, and then squeezing in for the 5/6 hour trip north. The bus wasn’t too bad, very crowded as usual, and Dad was able to see why I was so shocked back in Victoria Falls when we had our own private bus from the airport to the hotel. . . Oh how far we had fallen haha.

Stopping in Chidenguele to pick up Lua from my friend Yuri, we were able to get off the bus for a bit, stretch our legs, and go for a small walk through his town. Yuri lives about an hour south of me, and is a volunteer in the Education program here in Moz, working in the secondary school at his site. Dad really enjoyed seeing a school, how the kids sing the national anthem, the set up of classrooms etc. Something I would not have shown him, seeing as I do not work in the schools here in Quissico. It was a great opportunity for my dad to have a bit of a cultural exchange, and for Yuri to show off his site! We had a beer, and then hit the road, bags and dog in tow. Luckily I was able to flag down a semi-truck heading north, and he didn’t have a problem that I had a dog with me. So the travel day was quick and easy, with a lovely stop along the way.

We got home, set our stuff down, and then took a walk through town. I introduced Dad to everyone and anyone he got to see the overlook of the lagoon, and we were invited to lunch the next day by Dona Julia. That evening I took him to the local "hot spot" and we had some chicken dinner, and beers with one of my local buddies. It was the perfect end to the day.

The next day I took my Dad to work. It reminded me of when I was younger, and went to "Take your kid to work day" at my Dad's office haha only this time the roles were reversed! It was kinda cool for him to see me 'in action' with my organization, singing our song to enter into our meeting, discussing problems, working through solutions etc. Of course I had to translate everything from Portuguese to English, but I feel he understood what was happening. That afternoon we had a lovely lunch served to us by Dona Julia. . . I don’t know if I have mentioned just how good her cooking is. . . but HOT DAYUMNNN is her food good. We had Couve, and Feijao with fresh shrimp. . . I had third-helpings and am not ashamed to admit it. Dad was basically licking his plate at the end of the meal. Our delicious food was accompanied by some fantastic conversation with Sr Osmand about his personal life history, and how he came to be in Quissico.

The next morning we went down to the lagoon, unfortunately due to shitty weather Mom and I were not able to make it down to my private beach. Dad got a kick out of it. The walk down is great, it’s about 45 minutes from my house, so you really get a feel for what life is like outside of town. Once we got to the beach, we just relaxed in the sun a bit, saw some people walking with their cows, women with big bundles on their heads as per usual, and got a chance to just relax and talk. The walk back up had us sweating like pigs, but it was a good hike without any issues. We spent the afternoon hanging out a bit, just doing the Quissico thing with my neighbors and friends in town.

That weekend I took dad up to Inhambane City, I had a work meeting with CCS (my NGO at the hospital) so Dad wandered around the city on his own for a few hours while I was taking care of business, if you will. We went for lunch with a few other PCV's who were in town, then hopped the chapa to Tofo beach. We stayed in Tofino, the beach alongside Tofo. Just as nice, a bit more tranquil, and not a far walk from Tofo beach. All in all, it was the perfect weekend at the beach. Sun, sand, surf, good friends, and good food.

The return trip we boleia'ed (hitchhiked) from Maxixe to Inharrime, then from Inharrime to Quissico. Of course we had to stop for some coconut milk while we were in Inharrime, and were fortunate enough that during the one boleia the guys sitting in the back of the truck with us, shared their sugar cane. Some great things for Dad to try!

Made it back to Quissico safe and sound, but unfortunately upon arriving in my house we discovered that my cat had drowned in my giant water tank. It was a bit of a crisis mode, as we had to empty out all of the water in the tank, scrub it out with boiling water, soap and some disinfectant. To add to the drama, water wasn’t running that day from the tap nearest to my house. So my friend had to go find someone who owns a donkey, to cart water from the next town over. . . .A classic afternoon here in Mozambique. I just looked at my dad and said "welcome to my life" haha. I'm sad that Sol died. . . and am worried that without her the rats will come back, so I am on the lookout for a new furry feline.

We had a chill day at site the next day, just kind of took in the last bit of Quissico before heading down to Maputo. Wandered around the market, went to my one organization. . usual stuff. The next morning we headed out bright and early to my boleia spot, and caught an excellent ride with some lovely Portuguese men heading to Maputo. They basically dropped us off right in front of the backpacker door, and were on their way. I'm so grateful every time I catch a boleia, it just shows how kindhearted people here are. That afternoon we wandered around Maputo with my friend from Quissico, Artur, who was in Maputo for a wedding. Dad got to see some really cool things, learn some stuff about the city, and see parts of it that we would not have been able to without the help of my friend’s car. Again, I am so grateful for the friends that I have made here.

The next morning, I dropped Dad off at his Intercape bus that would take him to Neilspruit for the last leg of his African adventure- a safari in Kruger park. Having done this already with mom, I thought it would be a waste of money, and I didn’t want to be away from site that long- seeing as these coming months are going to be quite busy here.

It was sad to see Daddy head out. . knowing that I won’t see him again for another year or possibly two... but our time spent together here will always be a fantastic memory and experience in each of our lives.

-dad, thank you so much for traveling across the world to spend time with your baby girl. its appreciated more than i can ever put into words (and you know how much i like writing). i find it hard to explain every bit and detail of my life here on the phone, or in my blogs. seeing it firsthand, and having some of the experiences that i have here hopefully helped explain things a bit better. i miss and love you so much!

 

xoxo to all-

t

Dad's trip, pt 2

Part II- South Africa

After spending the night in Johannesburg, we hopped the shuttle to the airport to rent our car that would take us down to Durban. After going through all sorts of license processes, credit cards, signing on the dotted line, we had a small but suitable Toyota Corolla to ride the open road! So we set out, two intrepid adventurers with only our Garmin, a pack of gum and some water to see us through (we stopped for snacks of course). The road from Johannesburg to Durban was a straight shot, I took many pictures for Dad of the geographical changes, and there were many times that we swerved off the road when he got too excited about something and would point and exclaim. That’s classic "Driving with Guy" for those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of such an experience. Growing up with said mannerisms and death-defying car acts, I have grown accustomed.

We arrived in Durban, after sitting in what I could only compare to Los Angeles traffic, a bit frazzled and bladders on the edge of bursting. Luckily our little guest house was easy to find, the owner pleasant, and the room a perfect size. That afternoon we did a bit of exploring around the small town - we stayed in Salt Rock, about 20km from the actual city of Durban. A great beach town, small, with good food, what seemed like decent night life, and right along the coast. Both dinners were filled with fish and shellfish, and in my case, paired with a glass of wine.

Our day there was spent on the beach, Dad of course got in the water and did some bodysurfing. . .I stayed on the beach with jacket and hat on. After living through a Mozambique summer, I have become very accustomed to warm temperatures. Basically I can’t handle cold anymore... it’s going to be rough goings whenever I do make it back to the 412 just in time for fall/winter. . .yeesh.

Either way, I hung out on the beach, read my book, looked at all the white people - for once I wasn’t an anomaly, I wasn’t really sure how to handle it! I forgot what it was like to just be another face in the crowd. It was kind of nice.

Unfortunately during his time frolicking in the waves, my Dad lost his wedding band. Not sure how it happened, but King Neptune really wanted it, so he took it. Leaving my Dad to be constantly fidgeting with his ring finger for the remainder of the trip.

That afternoon we went into the town of Salt Rock, and I GOT MY HAIR CUT! After over a year, of self cutting, and crappy personal dye jobs, I sat down in a spinny chair and had professionals cut, color and play with my hair. I had forgotten just how nice it is to go to a salon. One of the first world luxuries I may miss the most. Something about being in that comfy chair, having someone massages your head and care for your hair. . . sigh. I miss it already. The stylist just sort of clicked her tongue and shook her head at me when I took my hair out of its braids, "been a while eh?" . . . I explained my living situation, and the work I was doing, and you could just see the expression soften on her face. The woman who washed my hair took extra care to give me a scalp massage. I have never felt more pampered.

That evening, we drove into the city center of Durban, mind you it was a major holiday weekend, and the Top Gear festival was in town, so again there was a bit of traffic. Dad hit up the casino, losing a bit of money, but I still think he enjoyed himself. He never found a craps table, which upset him a bit, but he played blackjack in Africa, so I think he will live. I didn’t enjoy my time at the casino, but then again, I don’t gamble, nor spend time at them in the states, so why would I here? It was my concession for making Dad wait two hours for my hair to be done. We were even.

The next morning we were up brrrrriiiiight and early, the crack of 2am early. Back on the road, this time heading north. Destination? Pretoria. Mom had made most of the reservations for places in South Africa. . .hindsight I wish we had just stayed in Salt Rock for another night, and gone to Mozambique from there. . . but nevertheless we made the best of our trip. Pretoria was cold, we were exhausted, and I was very uncomfortable in the town. We got lost a few times wandering around, but eventually made our way. Had some breakfast alongside a rugby field, wandered through Church Square, and had a beer in one of the oldest pubs in Pretoria. It was an OK day. That evening at the backpackers we were able to skype with a few people, Dad went to bed early and I followed close behind. The Intercape bus trip the next day from Pretoria to Maputo was a LONG one. Let me stress that again . . .12 hours LONG.

But the end result was that we made it to Maputo, had seen some cool sights in South Africa, and had been spending all of these adventurous times together. Something we hadn't done in over a year. It’s never that bad when you have a loved one to hang with.

Miss you already Pops.

Dad's trip, pt 1

Dad's Trip, Part I- Zambia, a moment in Zimbabwe, and Victoria Falls

After spending a long weekend in Maputo, going to the Peace Corps office, seeing friends, and enjoying a bit of "life in the big city" I boarded an airplane on Monday, June 10th (first time in over a year on an airplane) to Johannesburg. I was indulged with my very own seat for travel, complete with a seatbelt, snacks, and cold refreshments. Is this what travel is like on the other side? I arrived in Jo-berg safely and easily, waited a total of 3 minutes in front of customs for my Dad, as we had decided that would be our meeting spot. Minding my own business, I suddenly hear "HEY GIRLIE GIRL!" that familiar nickname could have only been meant for me, my eyes quickly scanned the crowd, seeing my Dad, I drop my bags and break into a sprint, literally jumping into his arms and knocking him over. MY DAD CAME TO AFRICA!!

With glowing smiles on our faces we entered into the customs line, Dad pointing out and introducing me to all of his new friends he made on the plane. . . Like father like daughter, we have the gift of gab. That night we stayed in a lovely guest house in Johannesburg, complete with a free shuttle to the airport and everything. Hot running water, my own bed, and a TV with cable to boot! We were able to skype with my mom, my brother, and I got to talk with one of my best friends from college. It was an easy day of travel, with a fantastic ending.

The next morning we had our complimentary breakfast at the guest house, and then it was back off to the airport to catch our plane to Victoria Falls!! A quick and easy flight, with the falls visible from the plane as we landed - I don’t know what I was more excited about, a new country to check off my list, the fact that I was traveling with my Dad, or actually seeing Victoria Falls. Sensory overload! We had no problem getting through customs, collecting our bags, and meeting our very own private chapa back to the hotel. -when I entered the small bus, I looked around, asking the driver if we were waiting for more people? "No, it is just the two of you" he said with a smile, and proceeded to hand me a chilled bottle of water. Needless to say, you could have picked my jaw up off the floor. An entire chapa just for the two of us?! Chilled water?! What sort of fantasy vacation had I landed myself on?

And that was just the beginning. Pulling up to the hotel, we were instantly served a delicious drink at check-in (free cold drinks in Africa. . . I was blown away) and shown to our room. Now, the hotel we were staying in. . . wait, hotel is not the appropriate word - resort? swanky accommodations? a dream come true? yeah, those all seem a bit more fitting to what we had going for us.

That afternoon we had a private tour of the falls, complete with poncho's to shield us from the ever blowing mist. We started at the top edge of the falls on the Zambia side, walked around onto the Knife's Edge Bridge (where we got soaked) and saw the falls from every angle along the way. Victoria Falls is 1.2km wide, dividing Zambia from Zimbabwe. The sheer power of the ever pouring water creates a defining roar, non-stop mist that shoots upward, side-ways, and pours down on you at the same time. It forces a person to gaze upon its majesty, taking in the splendor of it all and realizing just how small and insignificant you are, compared to something like this. It is truly humbling.

Words cannot describe what it was like to witness one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Mind-blowing, incredible, extraordinary, fantastic, awe-inspiring - these all come to mind, but hardly do the falls and the feeling you have standing there on the Knife's Edge Bridge gazing at the sheer expanse of the falls, soaking wet from the non-stop mist, laughing with your Dad about how unbelievably amazing this experience is.

And that was only day 1.

Day 2; we spent another full day at the falls, doing a bridge tour, hiking down to the bottom of the falls -battling off crazy baboons on the way (true story, not a fabrication!) and in the evening we had a lovely sunset cruise along the Zambezi River, saw some hippo's, a beautiful sunset, and indulged in free alcoholic beverages! We met a nice mother/daughter duo who had been traveling in Southern Africa for a few weeks. Lovely ladies, who just couldn’t believe my living conditions here in Moz (which really aren't so bad, or I'm just jaded). It was nice conversation, the sunset was gorgeous, and life couldn’t have been better. But then, it did get better - one thing I have failed to mention about this wonderland where we were staying was the all-you-can-eat buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, for those of you in Americaland who may be rolling your eyes at this comment, please remember that as a PCV I don’t have access to insane amounts of food such as this. The first thought that ran through my mind was, "wow, that one part of the buffet there would feed my neighbors and their family for a week", and then my second thought was "mmm, I wonder what it tastes like". Needless to say, the workouts and eating healthy that I have been doing here at site, went out the window quickly, as I proceed to stuff my face with delicious things. Cheese and lox?! Dried fruit, yogurt, and granola for breakfast?! YUMM.

Day 3, back to the falls. The last morning we were there Dad and I woke up very early, and walked to the edge of the falls on the Zambia side, where we watched the sunrise. Now, there is constantly mist surrounding and rising from the falls, but in the mornings, before the sun burns of some of it, the cloud of mist is absolutely massive. As the sun rose, hitting the cloud of water particles turning it bright pink, it seemed as if it was a giant mass of cotton candy rising from the base of the falls. As the sun continued to rise, we were lucky enough to witness a full spectrum and arc of a rainbow. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Unfortunately this is when we had to say "tchau" to the first part of our adventure. Boarding our own private shuttle again, we headed to the airport where we returned to Johannesburg for the evening- staying in the same lovely guest house.

Thus ends the first part of our adventure!

 

a quick hello!

A great good morning to you all! For those of you who are blog-enthusiasts - I beg forgiveness for the lack of postings lately. my excuses range from; traveling with my dad, curing cancer, attending going-away parties for friends, work, fighting off a pack of wild elephants, and of course the big one- not having a computer.

But all of that is changing! Dads trip went incredibly well, it was very different for me to see, on a personal level, how much more comfortable I felt here in Moz, not only with the language but my surroundings as well. I had been more places, knew more things to do and see, and was just generally more comfortable in my own skin. All of these things, combined with my Dad's love of adventure and meeting new people really transformed what was planned to be a good trip, into an absolutely incredible adventure.

So, for the next few blogs, I will be dedicating time and effort into transforming our 3 week-long adventure around Sub-Saharan Africa into a witty, yet eloquent blog post that I feel will be most pleasing to the eye.

Just a quick shout-out to the family and friends I was able to skype with in South Africa, it was so great seeing your faces and hearing your voices. For those of you who missed out, never fear! Dad was gracious enough to bequeath upon me a small netbook computer for the time being. So let the skype-ing commence! Send me an email, or whatever about time/date if you are at all interested in seeing my face, and the living room of my house haha!

I will be trying to post pictures today as well onto my Facebook account. Lookout!

Life update; everything is good here, I have been out of the "work" mentality for a bit now because of Dad's trip, and my friends going-away party, but this week I will be going into work every day. Hopefully some projects can be revised, and will actually come to be in the future months.

On Saturday I am getting two site-visitors! Remember a year ago when I came here to Quissico to visit Angela? How time just slips by. Then the following weekend, I am heading down to Namaacha to be a 'Visiting Volunteer' with the new group of trainees. I am very excited to meet the two coming to visit me, and the remainder of the group the following week!

Then it’s my birthday, then in August we have our mid-service conference with Peace Corps, and at the end of August it’s our Amizada Festival here in Quissico. . . .Lots to do, and seemingly NO time to do it in.

Lua continues to grow at an alarming rate, she really loved my Dad, and has been wandering around my house in the mornings looking for him. She is full of energy like any puppy, and has a great personality- I lucked out with this one.

 

So with that said, I will begin crafting the posts about the most recent adventure with my Dad. Hold on to your seats! It’s a good one.

 

xoxo

 

tay