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