guess who's on vacation?

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there –

Last time I left off, it was the weekend between site identification/development visits, round three. I am very happy to say that they finished up well, and Zambezia Province will be receiving volunteers in many different sites, that are prepared and expectant!

I’m really excited to see how the change of the program goes for the new trainees. I really do like the idea of getting to see your permanent site while in training, to get a general idea about where you are going to live, the feel of the town, the work environment etc . . .and am loving the new policy of hosting them with a local family for this time, to give them another resource and friend for when they return to live the two years. However . . . this is a very big change. One that I feel we are sort of pulling together last minute. Fortunately things are falling into place, but there have been many road bumps along the way, forcing us to find alternative routes  - - I’m laughing at this, because the literal roads I was on to get to and from these sites were incredibly horrible and bumpy and often times we did have to four-wheel it through fields, finding our alternative route. Haha how ironic.

This past Sunday, I climbed aboard a bus (greyhound in style), and proceeded to travel for 25-26 hours down the country on the national road, to get to Maputo. We left Quelimane around 2am, and got into Maputo between 2-3am on Monday morning. . . yes, it was a very long day. And that is a fuckload of time to be sitting on a bus. Legs cramped, feet became swollen, water consumption was kept to a minimum to avoid the full bladder issues, and food was limited to crackers and peanut butter, with fruit to go with. Not the fanciest or nicest way to travel, but in all honesty, it wasn’t horrible, and I have had MUCH worse in this country. Perhaps I’ve just become accustomed to many hours on the road, who knows.

Monday was spent with some friends here in the city, I treated myself to some capulanas, we had lunch at a nice outdoor spot for cheap, and I spent the evening hanging out and catching up with them. Naturally, I fell asleep pretty early, and awoke yesterday to come to the Peace Corps office where I’ve been happily downloading new software for my computer, updating things for graduate school, trying to find internships/part time jobs for the fall as well, and getting my life sort of ‘organized’. 

working hard at the office 

some of my new capulana purchases

The reason for my travels? Bushfire music festival!!!  The lineup can be found here - http://www.bush-fire.com/article/view/2015_line_up  and I will be traveling there early Friday morning with some friends. I brought my tent and sleeping bag, and am really looking forward to a new stamp on the passport, some great music, time with friends, and a much needed vacation from my daily life in Moz.

Xo to you all

Your friend in the big city