the goodbye tour

There are so many ways to say goodbye, but there is nothing to prepare you for how you will feel after you actually leave.

Although it has been almost a year since I’ve left Quissico, my latest adventure/vacation to the south of Mozambique was the actual last time I will be there, and that, my friends. . is a harsh realization.

But I digress.

Southern Adventure Part I –

Remember that last post, where I mentioned why I was traveling in the south? Bushfire music festival! It was everything that I was hoping it would be and more. An excellent line up of bands some of my favorites included --

True Vibenation - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV2dQFBIV_A    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK2r7CYCKO0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGsyUjKkMco

Freshlyground - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEvnkrp-o_I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smzA1V-57oI

​and lastly this guy named Stelth Ulvang - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy7Y9p2PKo4​

there was running water in the campsite, a wonderful mix of international people at the festival (musical groups included) and Peace Corps volunteers from Moz, and various other Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Bushfife was one big international party in a beautiful location, great music, delicious food, and beautiful arts/crafts.

moz 18 reunited! 

I traveled into the Kingdom of Swaziland (that’s right kids, a kingdom) with some friends from Maputo, which allowed us some freedoms to explore, stop for a snack/water etc. Along the drive, we cut through a national park/wildlife reserve where we saw a giraffe cross the road right in front of us!! I kid you not. A giraffe.

proof of giraffe

We checked into the festival ground, and set up our tents, but as it was still pretty early in the day we decided to go for a hike at a nearby geographical landmark - Mt Sibebe. It’s a granite mountain in Swaziland located 10km from the capital city Mbabane. It is the second-largest monolith in the world and the largest exposed granite pluton, rising 350m above the valley of the Mbuluzi River. We hiked for a few hours, to the top, around and back down to the car. An excellent adventure that allowed me to see more of the beautiful countryside of Swaziland.

hiking! 

That night was the first night of the festival.. lots of great music, good food, and dancing. The only downside was how cold it got at night!! I am not accustomed to being able to see my breath, and had to layer up on clothing and sleeping bag/blankets when we finally turned in for the night. Fortunately Peace Corps volunteers are always down for a group snuggle, so the four people in the tent was a blessing in disguise.

The next day was spent all on the festival grounds, music, food, arts and crafts, a nap and dancing into the night. A truly wonderful day.

Sunday the group I traveled with left mid-day, after enjoying some morning music on the lawn of the main stage and some lunch. From the festival grounds we went to a hot spring called the Cuddle Puddle. I kid you not.

This Cuddle Puddle is a famous spot in the kingdom - - after the ceremony where the king chooses his new bride from numerous eligible women (after lots of traditional singing and dancing, of course) the women who were not chosen travel to this hot spring to participate in a ‘cleansing’ and provide solace for one another. In my mind I was expecting sort of a sacred spot, in the rocks with all sorts of flora and fauna around. However, due to modern times, the hot spring has been converted into a cement pool haha! It still is the natural hot spring water used, flowing from a few different fountains throughout the pool, but it is hardly what I had been picturing after reading about it. Either way – it was a great way to end the long weekend and I’m happy that I was able to see another landmark in Swaziland.

the ladies at the puddle of cuddles

yes, thats the real name

Crossing the border that night was a very time consuming process, many people were returning to Mozambique/Maputo city, and they only had one guard at the border working immigration . . . needless to say we spent lots of time waiting in line. Fortunately we kept ourselves entertained with the game ‘heads up’ on my friends iPhone. If you’ve never played that game. . . I suggest that you do.

new stamp! 

Southern Adventure Part II –

Giving myself a full day in Maputo to relax from the Swaziland adventure, I traveled to Quisisco on the following Tuesday. In pure Mozambique fashion, the bus that was to have left the terminal at 8am, didn’t depart until past 9, and then we were stopped by police . . numerous times. The first time was the worst – we actually had to return to the city to get permission from the Police Chief because the driver refused to pay a bribe to the officers on the road. Fortunately we were only about a half hour outside of the city, so it didn’t consume too much time. . .however it was just another reminder of how broken the transportation system is here in Moz.

I arrived in Quissico early afternoon, and promptly felt right at home. The entire time spent in Quissico I stayed with my old sitemates – Sean and Kevin. It was great to have the Q-crew back together.

lagoon time

friends

My days there were spent visiting my local friends, going to ACOMUZA for the weekly meeting, stopping by the hospital to see my old colleagues there, and trips to the lagoon. The boys were incredibly welcoming, and I ended up staying a little longer than anticipated. . but it was the perfect vacation. I got away from Quelimane, was in a place where I felt safe and welcome, I was with friends and family, and it gave me a chance to say some final goodbyes.

The visit to ACOMUZA really tugged at the heartstrings. I hadn’t told anyone that I was coming to visit, so when I waltzed in before the weekly meeting started - - I caused somewhat of an uproar. The amount of arms holding me, and kisses on my face were too many to count. Everyone was so happy that I still remembered how to speak Chopi, and invited me to stay for the meeting, and then lunch afterwards. I have no words to describe how welcomed, loved, etc that I felt. Lots and lots of emotions and feelings. I love the people of ACOMUZA, that will never change.

Visiting Tia Julia was also incredible. I spent a solid few hours at her shop during my visit. I was able to see most of the family, and was amazed at how quickly her grandchildren have grown. The love and support that Tia Jula and Sr. Osmand have shown me, and continue to via phone communication is a great part of why I have had such a wonderful experience in Mozambique. Finding people like that in any walk of life is what makes adventures so special. Needless to say, there were tears and heavy hearts when I said my final goodbyes. I plan to stay in touch, and hope to visit Mozambique/Quissico later in my life.

Southern Adventure Part III –

The vacation still isn’t over?? Nope! There was one more place I had to go and despedir (to say goodbye). Tofo beach.

One of the most incredible and beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to. The sleepy beach town along the shore adds to the beauty, and the sun and surf top it off. I spent a long weekend there with the boys, we posted up in one of the many backpackers there, renting out dormitory beds (bunk beds). Which is always nice, because you are offered the opportunity to mingle with various people, who often are from other places in the world. We met some cool people, spent long days on the beach, swimming, napping in the sun, playing catch with our football etc. I couldn’t have asked for better weather, or people to spend the last few days in the south with.

Tofo is one of those places that will always hold a special spot in my memory.

I hopped the 4am chapa from the beach to Maputo Monday morning, and met an interesting individual who works for Doctors Without Borders who needed some assistance getting around Maputo once we arrived. I was happy to help, and showed him a bit of real Maputo life – always fun to see an American’s face the first time they get on a packed inner-city chapa, and the comments they make while sitting in the marketplace having a beer and some lunch. I was happy to help where I could, and enjoyed our conversation.

Rather than taking the epic bus ride back to Quelimane, I splurged and purchased myself a plane ticket with some of the remaining money I had from the travel stipend Peace Corps grants us for purchase of our plane ticket to the USA. Writing this from the airplane - - I am so happy that I made the purchase. 26 hours alone on a bus, verses 2 hours on a plane. . I arrive the same day, during daylight hours, and it was only about 3,000 meticals difference (less than 100 USD). Blame it on the third year, blame it on wanting some comfort, etc but I’m damn happy that I chose this mode of transportation haha.

In closing – I am not thrilled to be returning to Quelimane. I have some housing issues that I still need to attend to, and work has essentially come to a screeching halt – leaving me to find ways to fill my days. I only have 45 days until I’m back in Maptuo, and 50 until I’m stateside. The time is coming to a close, so I’m going to try and enjoy my last moments in Mozambique the best I can.

Upcoming events include Mozambican Independence day, June 25 – the Yoga Retreat, July 3-5 – our Despedida (going away party) for the 20’ers and myself, July 18 – and then my birthday, July 28.

We are starting our descent, so I will leave you to enjoy the remainder of your day. Beijos.

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

on the road again

Sunday Funday!

Taking the day to catch up on some emails, do laundry, clean the house, and just take it easy.

I was out on the road all of last week, doing the last round of site identification/development visits, which will continue next week as well. Osvaldo and I got a lot of great work done – identifying homestay families for the volunteers while they do their three-week at site integration during training, locating permanent houses for the volunteers for their two-year contract, and defining the job description/role that the volunteer will serve at each site.

It is a lot of work, and most days its absolutely exhausting, especially when driving on bumpy dirt roads - - and essentially having the same conversation over and over again at the different sites . . . BUT, it gets me the heck out of Quelimane, I have been privy to some beautiful sights, and have been fortunate enough to meet some really lovely people. One of the coolest things is that with this work for Peace Corps, I have been working alongside a counterpart as well who is Mozambican and it keeps the 'being in mozambique' thing going for me.

The pre-service training of this new group is changing from what it was for me (10 weeks in Namaacha with the homestay family) to a 6 week start in Namaacha, then 3 weeks at their site (living with a homestay family as well) then back to Namaacha for the last 4 weeks of more technical training. The newbie’s are already in country, having arrived May 1^st. They go to their sites on June 10-12 so we are all in crunch mode to get things prepared and settled.

I’m actually staying with the homestay families when possible during these visits, and have a fantastic story to share with you all from the family in Alto Malocue;

We pull up alongside a typical Mozambique house, with an outdoor seating area, similar to that of a gazebo, and are greeted by the family. Having visited once before, we all sank into a more comfortable conversation that the basic introductions. The family is comprised of a loving mother, two twin daughters (age 18) and a son (age 21). The afternoon is spent preparing dinner, a quick walk around town, and the mom showing me off to all of her neighbors and neighborhood leader - - I had forgotten what it was like to be an adopted daughter of a homestay family.

Evening rolls around, and we are all settled inside the house, eating (unfortunately what was a disgusting dinner), and watching “how to train your dragon” in Portuguese on my computer. All in all, a very relaxing and non-awkward evening. . . Or so I thought it was to be. Sleep time came, and everyone went to their respective rooms. The mom turned to me and said “Daughter, you may have my bed”  . . not wanting to rob this woman of her own bed, I insisted that I sleep on the floor, like I had in other homes during our trip – she instantly declined that option. So to come to an agreement (because I was very tired at this point) I said “why don't we just share your bed”, and so it was.

I can now chalk that up as a life experience in Mozambique. Sharing a bed, or rather, a mat on the floor, with a random Mozambican mother. We essentially had to spoon because the sleeping pad was so small, and as we laid together under the mosquito net, with her small flashlight on her phone lit to give us a bit of light – we had some lovely chats, and I began to feel more at ease. It was one of the most awkward and adorable experiences I may have had in a long time here. . . unfortunately I did not sleep all that well, because of a snoring issue from the other side of the mat hahaha, however, it was incredibly generous of her to accept my request of sharing.

That experience, reminded me of just how open and generous some people in this country are to complete and total strangers.

This upcoming week will find me doing the same work, back on the road until Friday. Returning to Quelimane only for a day- because Sunday the 24^th starts my trip to the SOUTH! That's right kiddies, I bought my bus ticket already, and have my mini-countdown going for these next 7 days until I’m back in Maputo.

My plan is to hang out in the capital city for a few days with my friends there, using the free internet at the Peace Corps office, etc. . .then Swaziland for the Bushfire Music Festival, and then a week in Quissico on my way back north. . maybe going to Tofo beach one last time as well. Its about time I had some sun and sand in my life. Anxiously awaiting the day when I can see my friends!

With that, I’ll leave you with some beautiful photos from the road this past week.

xo

one of those, life changing, sunsets

the mountains and tea fields of gurue

oh, the places i'll go

            

when the pavement runs out

Good morning Quelimane!

Finally back in the city after a couple of weeks spent on the road assisting with site development and preparations for the incoming volunteers. Exciting fact- they arrive on May 1. Our pre-service training is changing its style a bit this year, rather than spending 10 weeks in the homestay family of Namaacha and going to site afterwards, the trainees will spend 6 weeks in Namaacha with these families, 3 weeks at their site with a homestay family there, and then return to Namaacha for the final 4 weeks of training. The idea behind this, is to introduce the trainee to their site a bit sooner, while keeping the homestay family experience going. At their sites during these three weeks, they will begin the integration phase- find out where the market is, where they pay for energy, how the hospital is working, potential projects to get involved in, introduce themselves to the administration and other higher-ups of the town etc. Essentially getting a feel for where they will be spending their next two years rather than having Peace Corps drop them at a totally unknown location after the swear-in conference and wish us ‘good luck’.

So what have I been doing to help with the preparations for this new program? Good question – I’ve been on the road in the Zambezia, Niassa and Nampula provinces meeting with the health staff of communities where we wish to put volunteers, introducing the program, explaining a bit what it is like to be a volunteer here, what our skills and assets are, how we work etc. Giving the health staff a first hand view and example of a volunteer (touching on my experiences from the first two years a great deal) rather than just having someone explain what the organization does. It gives doctors and directors of the health centers a first hand look at what it may be like to have a volunteer working for them. I go into detail about what we may be like as Americans/foreigners/men/women etc. Habits of a different culture, how our language skills may not be up to snuff when we first get to site, blah, blah.

After our meetings with the health staff, we also meet with community based organizations if there are any around, and then meet with various homestay families, to conduct a mini-interview, assess houses, and end up choosing one after its all said and done.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this work over the past few weeks- it reminded me why I chose to stay in Mozambique for a third year. It was because of the people, the wonderful people I’ve met on this journey who open up their homes, want to know about other cultures, and want to work with volunteers to hopefully shape the future of some Mozambicans for the better. The country is so incredibly vast and beautiful. I’m going to post a bunch of photos with this blog from my time on the road that will hopefully show you some of the beauty that I’ve been privy to see.

I didn't really journal in a normal sense when I was on the road, instead, I penned down some words and quick descriptions that came to me as I was traveling. I’d like to share a quick few with you now – afternoons on the road; big huge sky that is a fluid combination of vibrant, rich colors, the trees reaching towards it, caressed in the setting sun, the mud huts set ablaze by the reddish orange light as it sinks farther down the horizon – the open road stretches before me, a lazy winding mixture of pavement and dirt that lead to unknown beauty, smiles and waves of children as we pass through a grouping of small buildings nestled together on the side of the road, those smiles, so pure and innocent, true beauty – the clouds create a proverbial ceiling between the hot earth and the crystal clear blue sky, how flat they are on the bottom compared the luscious tendrils that top them, the stark contrast between the sheer white and blue as they stretch over the brown road and green vegetation . . This is what I will remember most. 

It is hard to capture the true beauty of Moz in just words. And my words hardly do it all justice, as my photos will also not. . . but along this journey I was fortunate enough to view some truly majestic sights, and spend time with some wonderful peace corps staff- the first weeek was spent with Osvaldo, and the second was with Lucio. We traveled well together, I introduced them to some great bands from the states, and we got into some really great discussions that tested my Portuguese, and were enlightening.

While it is nice to be home in Quelimane, sleeping in my own bed (rather than a floor), not living out of a backpack, and not sitting in a bumpy car for 8+ hours a day -  - I’m not really feeling ‘at home’ here. For me, home is where you stand not where you sleep, where you are at that moment with your ever-evolving life, finding oneself in things that are totally and completely different than what you are-  bringing a glorious mixture to your personal world.

With that, I leave you with some photos from my adventures! 

Enjoy. And be well.

a classic shot of life on the road in mozambique

this is a protected tree, located about 2 hours northwest of Quelimane, its over 250 years old

chasing the sunset, one of the many i was privy to see

mountains in Milange, Zambezia, the dividing line between Moz and Malawi

Malawi peanuts vs Moz peanuts

smiles from Malawi! Yep, we hopped the border for a quick lunch, and a new stamp on my passport

one of the many sites I visited doing the development work

the view of stunning mountains, through a bug spattered window

dusty roads were the norm in Niassa

a beautiful forest in Massangulo, Niassa province

We drove from Mandimba to Ribaue in a day, and that was a small section of our journey

munching on sugar cane! YUM

love and memories

Do you ever get overwhelmed with a smell that instantly takes you back to a moment in your life? I had one this morning that left me with an immense smile on my face. 

It's a rainy morning here in Quelimane, which means its humid, but a bit cooler than normal (read, I’m wearing long sleeves and shorts rather than a tank top).  I ran outside quickly this AM to buy some phone credit and enjoyed some of the cool rain on my face as I greeted my normal credit vendor with a still-half-asleep smile. Thinking longingly about the coffee in my French press waiting for me upstairs. Taking the steps two at a time back up to my apartment I opened the door and was hit was the wonderful aroma of steeping coffee, rain, and a cool breeze from the veranda. The smells combined instantly took me back to weekends at The Cabin with my family and our close family friends. So many summer and early fall weekends were spent there, running amok in the woods, playing in the creek, building campfires, swinging in the hammock under the trees, and always the smell of coffee in the morning to go along with our eggs and pancakes.

It was one of those moments that I was instantly transported to a carefree time of natural beauty and loving relationships. Hence. . .the big smile on my face.

So as I sip my coffee this morning – I hope that you all take a moment to think of a happy memory.

Good friends are like stars...You don't always see them, but you know they are always there

tick. tock. tick. tock.

Good morning all-

In the ICAP office this morning, the entire team is in their weekly meeting, I was told that my attendance was not necessary about a month ago, so here I am hanging out waiting for my coworkers to be done.

Kind of a frustrating morning here in Quelimane – currently I feel like I’m in a gigantic waiting room . . .waiting for the DPS to get back to me about site development information, that I can then pass onto Peace Corps so then we can organize our travel schedule for this month’s visits. Waiting on ICAP to get their request forms for volunteers submitted to me (which should have been handed in, back in January) so I can then submit them to Peace Corps and we can add those locations to our site visits.

In addition to all of this, I’m waiting for responses from Peace Corps Medical Office regarding some severe back pain I’ve been having (I’ve been self medicating with Yoga, stretches, and ibuprofen), and waiting for news about scholarships and financial aid regarding graduate school.

Have you ever been told “no” in so many ways so many times that you eventually just stop caring? That's kind of how I’ve been feeling as of late. . . maybe that's the wrong way to say it. I’m still here and trying to be present in the moment, doing my work, and doing it well. . . Just not investing myself in things anymore because I’ve continuously been set up for disappointments.

Back in November it was- if things don't get better, we will consider moving you to Namaacha to help with PST and work there. Then when things didn't get better, it was – we don't need a volunteer in Namaacha, you are staying where you are . . .only to find out a month later they have a volunteer working full time there. (small slap in the face).  Found out this weekend that I’m not going to PST at all this year, and not being involved with the training of new volunteers in any way because they want to use current volunteers for the trainings . . .(so what exactly am I?).

I’ve been trying to organize a yoga retreat for volunteers, hopefully doing it the first weekend of July at two beach resorts here, one in the north, one in the south. . . just gauging volunteer interest at the moment and trying to determine logistics of it all. Peace Corps denied funding assistance to the proposed weekend, which is fine I suppose, just another semi-no. Hopefully it gains some traction and in the future it can be a PC organized and funded activity. Fingers crossed.

Recently I discovered that I have 45 unused vacation days here in Peace Corps. . . So I asked PC if I could use 30 of those days to COS early (close of service) allowing me a bit more time stateside to organize my life before school starts, see my parents before they move to Texas, etc . . . they said no. SO . . . I’m going to be using some of those days for my trip to Swaziland at the end of May and beginning of June to visit Quissico and other sites in the south.

That leaves me with many remaining days. . . and as of now, the idea is to travel to Myanmar to visit a Buddhist temple and see an old friend who is living there. I’m thinking travel dates of July 13-30^th or so, coming back in time to pack up, and get to Maputo by August 10 to start my COS process.

I am not meaning to bad mouth Peace Corps . . .when talking to other volunteers about potential extending I continue to be very positive about it all. I’m trying to be a positive influence in volunteers experiences here, and a good resource for them. When people ask me if I could go back and decided to extend again or not - I still would. That's the insane part about it. This year has by far been the hardest of the entire experience. I’ve encountered a lot of “no”, a lot of frustration and personal struggle . .. but. . .I've also learned a lot. And its forced me to look deeper into a lot of things, allowed me a chance to focus on my health and wellness more, and shown me another side of Moz.

I’ve experienced the good with the bad as in all aspects of life. I had an incredible first two years, and had a not so great third year, therefore giving me a full perspective.

Not too much going on this week – just work per normal, and working out. I started the Insanity workouts and have been interchanging one day of Insanity with one day of a good yoga flow. My lower back has been killing me, but I need the cardio and exercise to keep me sane. The yoga helps my back from fully falling apart, and my mental health in check.

Namaste