tudo está no ar

Good morning everyone-

Well… some big things have been happening here in Mozambique, which is why I have been lacking on blog posts- my apologies.

First off, I have been traveling around the southern part of Mozambique a lot recently. Taking a weekend trip to the beach, to Manjacaze, or going to visit friends to watch the Superbowl (yep, we found a live stream, a projector and had a cookout!)…. I just haven’t been around.

The Superbowl weekend was one of excellence here in Moz; we did it up right! Spent Superbowl Sunday on a local beach, took power naps in the afternoon, then had a massive cookout including wings, mac n cheese, tortilla chips/guac/salsa, corn dogs, and chili. . . all homemade. All DELICIOUS.  Its ok to be jealous. We had a live stream of the game online, and a friend brought her projector so we could watch it ‘big screen’ style. I only wish the game could have been a more interesting one to watch. . . after that fumbled first snap it was kind of just expected to be a ‘shit show’. Pardon my French.

Monday here was a holiday, which was wonderful considering that we were up until around 6am watching the game (hooray for a 7 hour time difference) so the boys and I slept for an hour or so, and then made the trip back to site. I spent the remainder of the afternoon in a coma-like state exhausted from the weekends activities.

This week has been a busy one for me – between planning the Regional Plannign Meeting for REDES (to be held in Maxixe on the 22^nd) and my normal work with CCS/ACOMUZA which has steadily picked up since the holiday break concluded. I am happy with my work, and have had a great week thus far, the weather has been beautiful, just very very hot, and I have once again found the motivation to cook delicious things like; banana ice cream, guacamole, etc. simple yet delicious.

So… on to the big news.

Some of you may know that I was no accepted to Emory for the Public Health Program.. very sad news. Butttt when life closes a door, it opens a window! I was accepted to Pitt’s Masters of Public Health Program of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences! Since 1948, as Pennsylvania's first fully accredited graduate school of public health and the 11th in the nation, Pitt Public Health has been translating research into public health practices and policies to improve the health of people regionally, nationally, and globally. I am thrilled to have been accepted into this program.

I am still waiting to hear from Johns Hopkins and Boston University… I don't have high hopes for Hopkins, truth be told, but Boston – hopefully it’ll be a yes as well.

What does all of this information mean for me? It means that I have to make a decision. Yikes. Most of you know, my decision-making abilities are almost non-existent, I prefer to just ‘go with the flow’ and figure things out as they come. However… if I want to extend my service another year here in Mozambique (applying for the National Malaria Coordinator position), if I want to return stateside to go to school (if so, where?)…. Sigh.

Silver lining is that all of these possibilities and decisions that I need to make are positive ones! Its not like I’m between a rock and a hard place at the moment, and all options are incredible opportunities to continue this life in the public health sector. I will be making a pro/con list of things soon to help me decide – and do appreciate input from friends/family at home.

Other big news, my mom’s company (usairways) has been bought by American Airlines, which means there will be some changes happening on the home front sooner than later. The biggest change will be my parents moving to the new center of operations in Dallas/Fort-Worth, Texas. I think this is going to be an excellent adventure for the two of them, I know it was not in their master plan for things, but it could be an exciting new opportunity to see a totally different part of the country. It did throw me for a loop when I first heard about this – having them pack up my childhood home and move while I am still here, to potentially come back to Pittsburgh and not have them around? Wild.

I was explaining all of this yesterday to Tia Julia (who of course wants me to stay another year, but also wants me to continue my education haha talk about mixed signals) and she had a phrase “tudo está no ar” which means ‘everything is up in the air’…. So so  so very true.

I have until March 20^th to make decisions about extension, what COS dates I want, which grad school program I will attend etc. so until then, I am essentially in limbo.

Fortunately, my aunt will be joining me here in Mozambique on March 1^st- 18^th which I am so unnbeeelieveably excited for!!

Welp.. I suppose that's everything for now. I have some decisions to make, and some guacamole to eat.

Fica bem

t