future plans?

Written January 16, 2013

So I was awakened this morning by the sound of cows passing by my house on the road. . loud noisy creatures. I don’t think I’m a fan.

I’ve been doing some thinking lately about what my Peace Corps experience means to me, and how I can use this experience to shape my future life. Like I said I am leaning towards going back to school for a Masters of Public Health, maybe with an international focus. That way I can incorporate international development, but in a health related aspect. Which means I’ll probably have to take a few science classes when I come home – considering I took none during my undergrad career (the beauty of being a political science major).

So, I’m going to use down-time here in Moz  to study for the GRE’s and re-take them when I get back to the states. I can take them here in Maputo, but something about traveling 6 hours to take a 6 hour test, just doesn’t really do it for me. I figure I will have about a year between Peace Corps and grad school. . . I COS in August 2014 (assuming that I don’t extend my contract) I want to do a bit of traveling before coming home – maybe a yoga retreat in India, go surfing in Australia, go to Indonesia or Vietnam? Who knows. . the world is so huge, and I do want to see a lot of it before I have to “grow up”.

So that tentative plan brings me home a bit before the holidays of 2014. . . during that time I’ll take my GRE’s start getting application things together (letters of rec, transcripts, personal essays etc) together, and look into community college courses to fulfill any missing requirements. At this point I’ll probably need to find some sort of job, hopefully I wont have to go back to waiting tables. . but you never know.

Then I’ll turn everything in, and hold my breath for a response for the fall class of 2014. . .

Thoughts on this plan?

Sheesh.

“We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

After having said that, I feel overwhelmed. I’m happy I have the next 18 or so months to really hash that plan out a bit more.

So life here has gotten back into the normal routine. Up, coffee/breakfast with the pup, off to work (today I have a meeting with Acomuza), to the market for some stuff for lunch/dinner, then hanging out around the neighborhood until dinnertime. Cooking, dancing with the dog, and some tv shows/a movie with dinner.

It’s a simple life here. But I dig it.

No big plans for the weekend, if the weather holds up, maybe going down to the lagoon with the pup. . if not, a movie weekend with the pup it shall be.

I was at the hospital yesterday, organizing paperwork, and registering people for their antiretroviral medication (a bit depressing) when my one supervisor from ICAP showed up, great people, I just wish I had a more defined role with ICAP, rather than “paperwork organizer”. Anywayyy, I talked to him about my idea for a project with the Peer Educators. The hospital has some space in the front, and the center (its shaped like a doughnut) that would be perfect for a small garden. I was thinking about planting Moringa, medicinal plants like eucalyptus, lemongrass, garlic etc. . .that way the peer educators can teach people about these simple, free yet effective ways of staying healthy, or helping to combat the side-effects of other drugs.  Just one of my ideas.

With Acomuza, today we are going to get to talking about our Moringa/juice project. And with Despertai tomorrow, we are going to plan out the rest of this month and February. We didn’t get on the mango-drying thing fast enough, most of the mango’s are gone now (sad but true) but I suppose we could dry pineapple, and other fruits. . . stay tuned.

You cannot plough a field by turning it over in our mind. ~ Unknown

Dream big, and dare to fail. ~ Norman Vaughan

Normal everyday life...

Written January 15, 2013

Morning all!

Well I’m back into the swing of things, as they say. Went to the hospital yesterday morning, was there until about noon doing work (helping organize and file paperwork – thrilling stuff), and then I went to Acomuza to hash out my schedule for this month.

Walked around town for a bit, of course hung out with Dona Julia for a while – all of this was going on while it was torrential down pouring. . . .ahh rainy season! Gotta love it!

So because it was rainy and crappy outside, I decided to make myself busy inside my house. I changed my sheets, having just bought new pretty purple ones in South Africa (yay!), re-arranged my mosquito net –Ceu (my dog) likes to sleep under my bed, especially when its rainy, so I have started tucking up my net around the edges of my bed to allow him easy entrance to his cave haha – and some other general housekeeping things.

I wanted to wash laundry, but that’s impossible seeing as I have no place to dry my clothes. . . damn rainy season! Luckily people here don’t judge you if you wear the same thing two days in a row, so I’m safe for a while!

Later, I did a great yoga workout. Moz 18 is starting this “Mozational Fitness Challenge” (if you say mozational right, it sounds like Moz, Motivational and 18 all together). Its going to run from January 19 to August 19, around the time of our mid-service conference, and our one year mark as PCV’s. it’s a great way to support and motivate each other, using Google Docs, we have a Group Workout Tracker, that we record our number of weekly workouts, comments, healthy recipies, workout photos etc. That way we can share and motivate even from a far distance!

The wonders of technology.

My peace corps experience in some ways is nothing like what I expected it to be. I was fully ready to live in a reed house, with a pit latrine in a small community – yes. But I was also expecting to be a bit more “disconnected” from the western world. . .  at first I was disappointed, no that’s not the right word. . . disillusioned perhaps? That I wouldn’t have the same experience as some friends and family did in past years/experiences. But now I’m realizing the beauty of this communication – I can share my experiences with you all at home so much easier, when people come to visit planning and organizing is also much easier, getting information for organizations, project ideas, staying in touch with fellow pcv’s its all so much easier. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t one day like to just unplug from it all and hang out somewhere with my own thoughts, but for now, I am very happy that I can be in contact with friends and family, on this continent and others.

To do, have done, and other types of lists

While mom and I were on our safari in South Africa, we met these two wonderful people, Jan and Nina. Jan had a funny way of always saying “check!” after we saw a new animal, and then would promptly check it off in the travel book of animals he had. Which got me to thinking. . .what if I did sort of a check list of things I’ve done thus far, things I want to do, and things I miss from home. Maybe go back to these lists every few months, to see what has changed, and what has remained the same.

So here they are. My rough draft of lists. I’m sure I’m missing many things on each.

Things I have done since being in Africa:

-       learned a new language

-       traveled to some world renowned beaches

-       integrated into a local community

-       watched a meteor shower

-       owned my own house and dog

-       traveled 5 of the 10 provinces in Mozambique

-       spent Thanksgiving in Gorongoza National park

-       spent Christmas at Tofo Beach

-       spent New Years Eve in Quissico with local friends

-       went to Kruger National Park

-       saw an insane amount of amazing animals

-       went jet skiing at Tofo Beach

-       learned to surf at Tofo Beach

-       survived my first hot season

-       met some really incredible people in my travels/life here

-       planted moringa trees in my yard

-       swam in the Indian Ocean

-       drank real coffee on my porch while watching the sunrise

-       cooked/baked in a dutch oven

Things I want to do while being in Africa:

-       travel the remaining 5 provinces of Mozambique

-       go to Tanzania

-       go to Victoria Falls

-       get some new projects started with my organizations

-       teach my dog some new tricks

-       get an herb garden started

-       get a refrigerator

-       make more capulana clothes

-       decide what I want to do with my future

-       eat more matapa, couve and feijao

-       learn to play the guitar

-       get in shape

-       travel to Kenya, and Egypt

-       take the GRE’s

-       figure out what it is I should do with my future

-       have more people visit me!

-       see a lion

Things I miss from home:

-       family and friends

-       running water (hot showers)

-       grocery stores

-       cheese

-       yoga classes

-       going to the gym

-       wine from bottles

-       men

-       convenience of travel

-       friends and family

-       Sunday mornings at the Dorstop/Eat’n Park

-       good beer

-       coffee shops

-       high-heels and skirts/dresses (feeling girlie)

Holidays - Mozambique style

Written January 14, 2013

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the holiday season found everyone in good health and spirits, and that the New Year came in with high hopes and lots of smiles!

So as many of you know, I just had a fantastic visit with my mom, a short but absolutely wonderful time spent together. Our first week together was spent in Mozambique at my site here in Quissico, then in Tofo Beach, then the second in South Africa on a safari. I recently uploaded a bunch of pictures onto facebook – feel free to check them out! The safari was incredible, saw so many animals (but I’ll get to that).

Her travels started off a little rough, missing her connecting flight from Johannesburg to Maputo, she had to spend the night there. I was waiting at the airport for her, when I got a call from a strange number (a nice person let her a phone) –it was mom saying that she’ll be getting in the next morning around 10am. So I went back to the backpacker I was staying at and just crashed for the night.

The next morning, I went quickly to the Peace Corps office, got my WHO card, and some other things I’d need for our travels. Then went to the airport where I waited anxiously to see her! Her plane had landed, but her bags had arrived the day before, and were locked in a room. In typical Mozambique fashion, one person had the key to this room, so the next 45 minutes were spent looking for this person – finally mom got her bags, and I was hugging her like crazy!

We spent the day having a mini-christmas in the backpacker, mom unloading all of the gifts everyone sent – again, thank you so much, your kindness was overwhelming. After the chaos subsided, we walked up to the craft market, and just wandered around a bit, mom got a few things, and I enjoyed talking with some of the artists. That night we went out for dinner at a great Thai place with Sota. I’m happy mom got to meet him – he got a job in Maputo with the Japanese embassy, so he’ll be back in Moz in Feburary! Woo!

The next day was a rough one, even by Peace Corps standards. It was our day to travel up to Quissico (my site), to do so, you must go to the “Junta”, the big bus depot that is crazy and full of half-crumbling busses, screaming people, women selling bread, drinks etc. We found a nice(ish) bus that was still a bit empty, which worked because we had massive bags that we had to fit in by our legs/on top of our legs. This is when things got fun. We didn’t pull out of the Junta for another hour and a half, and then our actual trip (which should take at max 6 hours) took about 8 hours. Soooo we were in this small bus from about 6am until 2pm. . . it was a bit much for both of us. Feet and butt cheeks kept falling asleep, crowded, hot , smelly. It was a perfect introduction to public transportation in this country for mom. (sorry mom).

The next few days were spent at site, exploring the market, meeting my friends, seeing where I work, and admiring the lagoon. Unfortunately it did rain a few days that we were here (welcome to the rainy season!) so our outdoor activities were limited and wet. But never fear! We had a wonderful time having mommy/daughter time watching some great movies, and hanging out with the dog – who is currently sleeping on my feet.

New Years Eve was spent with Dona Julia and family at their house. So much fun! Great food, great people, plenty of booze, fireworks, music, dancing. . . .It was a fabulous way to ring in the new year! And to top it all off, my mom was there with me. Too much fun.

We headed up to Tofo Beach on the 2^nd – one of the worlds most beautiful beaches (lucky us right?). Had some trouble with our original backpacker reservations, so the first few hours at the beach were tense. But once we got everything sorted, we were able to relax on the beach with our beers and books. Watching the sunset, the waves crash on the beach, and afterwards a nice dinner together. We spent the next day at the beach, having cocktails at lunch, going jetskiing (I think I scared mom half to death), playing in the ocean, having ice cream, doing a bit of t-shirt shopping for those at home etc. pretty standard day at the beach. That night mom packed it in a bit early, and I went out with some new friends from the backpacker we were staying at.

Needless to say, the next morning was a little rough for me, but nevertheless we got out early enough, took the bus into Inhambane City, and then the ferry back over to Maxixe, where we hitchhiked back to site. – on our trips through Mozambique, we had great boleia luck (boleia is hitchhiking).  It was a quick and easy trip back home, and we had another relaxing night at site.

On the 5^th we headed back down to Maputo, again having wonderful luck with a boleia, we were dropped off right at a chapa stop, hopped on that, and got to our backpacker quickly. By pure chance, two other peace corps volunteers were staying at that backpacker the same evening – so mom got to meet a few of my friends, which was nice.

The next morning we caught the Intercape bus down to Neilspruit, South Africa, encountering some problems with our tickets and whatnot, but it was all sorted in the end. Our safari company picked us up right from the office, and we were promptly introduced to a wonderful Norwegian couple Jan and Nina. They were great, each so full of life, humor, and kindness.

Our safari was AMAZING. I’m sure some of you have seen the pictures on facebook, but the amount of animals that we were able to see was incredible. Elephants right next to our truck, a leopard, zebra’s, giraffes, buffalo, impala, moneys, hippo’s etc. . . it was way better than any National Geographic show, or zoo that I’ve seen/been to, because it was wildlife. Actual wild animals, right there 5 meters from my body. Wild!

Our accommodations for the safari were excellent, the first night we spent it in a lodge/hotel type thing, and the next two nights in a treehouse with a great view over a river. That’s right, a TREEHOUSE, with monkeys everywhere, impala all over the pathway etc. we were in the bush, and it was fantastic. No complaints about the safari, I learned so much about animals, plants and had a fantastic time meeting the new people in our group (there was one guy who was from Brazil so I got to speak Portuguese with him!) and spending quality time with Mom.

The last day and a half of our trip were spent in Neilspruit, in this AMAZING, and I will say it again, AMAZING, guest house. Air conditioning, running water, free wify, a comfy bed, and possibly the nicest owners one could ask for. Breakfast was included, and we had rented a car for the two days, so we did a bit of exploring around the area, mainly to local shopping malls/grocery stores etc. I got a functioning blackberry, some fitted sheets for my bed, contact solution – and mom and I got cheese and wine that we enjoyed pool side at the guest house. 

I was able to skype with some friends and family from home which was WONDERFUL. I miss you all so very much. I was also able to start looking into graduate school programs. . . I am thinking about doing a masters of public health. . still trying to decide on a school – preferably one that helps out peace corps volunteers with fellowships/scholarships etc. So any suggestions are welcome!

Before I knew it, I was hugging mom goodbye (tearfully) and getting back on the Intercape bus, at 2 in the morning mind you, and was back in Mozambique on a bus back north towards site.

I decided to take a bit of a detour and stopped off in Chicumbane (about 10 minutes south of Xai Xai) for “girls weekend” with some wonderful girlfriends from Moz 18. It was a great way to get back into “Moz life” after having just been in South Africa, which is basically a mini-America.

Got back to site yesterday, did a bit of cleaning, hung out with the dog, took a nap, and went to the neighbors house for dinner. It feels good to be back. I’m still really sad about having to say goodbye to mom, and feeling a bit strange about taking a bucket bath again – but soon enough I’ll get back into my normal routine here.

Goal for this month – find a refrigerator, and re-start P90X workouts.

I have a working blackberry now, my pin is – 29CDC4CD

And I will be working on downloading ‘whatsapp’ an application that uses data, and allows for free international texting. So if any of you are interested in staying in better touch, let me know!

X’s and O’s always

(mom got home safe by the way)      - until next time   ~t

feliz novo ano!

Written December 31, 2012

Happy New Years Eve from Quissico!

Written from my small living room – I’m cooking banana bread in a dutch-oven set up, drinking REAL coffee, and waiting for mom to wake up. That’s right. My mom is in my house. And I’m drinking REAL coffee. My mind is blown.

It has been so surreal to me to have her here. I’m trying my best to be informative without being overwhelming, show her things in small doses without things being too alarming. . . . I think I failed day one when I put her on a bus to come to Quissico. In typical Mozambique fashion, the bus took about an hour to pack up and leave, and then it stopped about 3 or 4 times before actually leaving the big city. Along the road we were traveling at a comfortable speed (unlike some break-neck speeds I’ve experienced) but made stops in just about every town. It was hot, crowded, and Mom obviously doesn’t speak the language. . . so I can only imagine what she was going through.

I try to put myself back in a mindset about what things were like for me here when I first started service, how anxious and scared I was, how overwhelming things were. Now I’m just jaded. The chapa ride sucked, but it wasn’t the end of the world for me, I would just pull my baseball cap down a little further and sleep. Its all part of life here. There is no reliable transport in this country, one of the things I had to come to terms with.

So yesterday I dragged mom all over Quissico. We went into the town itself, I showed her the one road of shops, and the other road of the open air market. We made some purchases, I introduced her to all of my produce ladies in the market (they LOVED her), mom bought a capulana, and some flip-flops for showering and that was that. I took her into the shop where my good friends are – I think you remember me mentioning Dona Julia in a previous blog? They were really excited to meet her, and I spent the next few hours translating back and forth, while we sipped on a 7Up. Something cold and sweet to beat the heat.

Came back home, where I did some things around the house, and mom took a nap on the grass mat. The baby (my dog) has taken to Grandma right away, and proceeded to nap on the mat with her. I took a picture. It was adorable.

Speaking of, they are both passed out right now. Mom over in my bed, and Ceu on the floor underneath. Too cute.

In the afternoon, we walked around a bit more, and I showed her where my old house was – when I was living with ACOMUZA. We checked out the overlook of the lagoon, and had a glass of wine while the sun was setting.

Came home to make some dinner – coconut beans and rice YUM. We watched a movie, and called it a night.

No big plans for the day today, making banana bread, maybe doing some landry, showing mom around a bit more – then the NYE party tonight!! I’m really looking forward to it, I think mom is a little anxious because of the language barrier, but everyone is very excited to have her here.

Quick story before I leave you- last night, after my bath right before I started cooking, my neighbor Amina came up to the house to check in on Mom. She wanted to know how the first day went, if she was ok, upset, sick etc. . . The thoughtfulness of this gesture was so heartwarming. I’m lucky to live here in Quissico with such wonderful neighbors and friends.

Happy New Year

Your friend (and her mom) in Moz

first christmas in mozambique, and a visit from my mom!

Written Friday, December 28, 2012

MY MOM IS IN AFRICAAA!!!!!! This is wild! Totally and completely insane. I keep thinking that this is just some strange thing- like a freak apparition or something. But NO! she is actually here! Jet lagged and everything haha.

Let me digress though – Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope the holiday season finds everyone safe and healthy, enjoying family time and all that the holidays bring. I spent my Christmas at Tofo Beach – one of the worlds top vacation spots (not to shabby right?). I left site on Sunday morning with some fellow volunteers who had stayed the night with me. We stayed in Inhambane City at a fellow Volunteers house Sunday night, and enjoyed everything the city has to offer.

The next morning we all headed to the beach! We stayed in Tofo Backpackers – a nice location right on the beach, cheap dorm room beds, friendly staff, and lots of fun. We had 20some people with us on the trip, so there was always a group around town, at the beach, or at the hostel. I took a surfing lesson, laid on the beach, spent all day in the water, and just totally enjoyed myself. It’s a tough life here I tell ya.

We had great cooks with us (some fellow volunteers) so we all ate really well this trip. The one night we did a huge set of appetizers – like hard boiled eggs, bruschetta, mango salsa, latkes, etc. and of cours e there was lots of alcohol involved. It was a holiday with a bunch of Americans after all. Tuesday it was the same thing, we went out surfing early in the morning, went back for breakfast (french toast, banana bread, apple sauce etc) then went back to the beach. I did a bit of exploring in the town that day (had to pull myself away from the ocean) but I’m glad I did, I talked with some really nice people, had an ice cream cone, and just enjoyed the laid back vibe of a beach town. Being at this amazing place made me forget that I live in a “third world country”.  I often forget that I do. . .well that’s a lie. I suppose it is hard to explain what I mean. I have all the necessities, I live in a BEAUTIFUL place, I can travel, I have no complaints for the most part.

So then on Wed I headed back to site (a travel day that was a bit rough) spent a quick afternoon there preparing for mom’s visit – did laundry, took the dog for a walk, cleaned a bit etc. Then Thursday bright and early I was on the side of the road trying to catch a boliea (hitchhike/free ride).  I finally caught one that took me to Macia (about 3 hours south of my site) but then they realized that I wasn’t planning on paying – although I was very upfront about it, they kicked me out of the car haha. So there I was stranded on the side of the road, in the pouring down rain, luckily a nice semi-truck driver took pity on me, and gave me a lift into Maptuo. I caught a chapa to my hostel here, and checked in. A fellow volunteer’s friend had just arrived in town, and his baggage was lost, so he needed a place to stay, so I helped him out a bit, got him a bed here at the hostel and we met up with some people for dinner right down the road.

I then hopped a taxi to the airport to meet mom – only to get there, wait 20 or so minutes, and get a phone call saying “missed my plane!”. So I returned to the hostel alone (sad face) – but had a really nice night here. The best part of hostels are the different clientele that they get. I sat and chatted with 3 people from South Africa, another PCV from Malawi, and another American who is living in Lesotho. Really cool group of people, interesting conversation, just an overall good time.

Oh and did I mention the running water here? Loving it.

So this morning, I took a walk up to the Peace Corps office, took care of some business there, chatted with my supervisors etc (all great people) and then caught a taxi off to the airport one more time. This time I was successful!! MY MOM IS IN MOZAMBIQUE! Madness. Pure and utter madness.

Took the taxi back to the hostel, we had a mini-christmas right there in our dorm room:

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE GIFTS!!!!!

I cannot even BEGIN to express how incredible you all are. Mom just kept pulling things out of her bag saying “oh this is from _____, this is from _______” my mind was BLOWN.  I will say it again

THANK YOU.

To know that I am that loved, that so many people were thinking about me over the holidays, that you all went out of your way to purchase me gifts is beyond thoughtful. If the postal system here was a bit more functional I would send each and everyone of you a personalized thank you note. So I am sorry that is a general blog post “thanks” but please know that I am very very very very thankful for everything.

So after we unpacked, and then re-packed everything into a more ‘moz’ travel friendly set-up, we went exploring through Maptuo. I gotta hand it to my mom, missing a connecting flight, having to spend the night in Johannesburg, to then get into a totally foreign country (did I mention it was seriously hot today too?) and let me drag her around this big, noisy, dirty city. . . . the woman is a trooper.

But we went up to the craft market, she got a nice wallet, and a cool purse, and we scoped out some really cool craft things. If anyone wants something, let me or her know! I would be HAPPY to send you all things back with her. . .the international Sherpa haha. So we wandered for a bit, I took her to one of my favorite local watering holes (I had a beer, she an orange fanta) then we headed back to the hostel. Which is where I am currently writing this blog post. She is taking a nap. . .not going to let her sleep too long (I know she is jet-lagged, but it’ll help to get on Moz time). We are going to grab some dinner tonight, thai food I think, then hit the hay early. Tomorrow is going to be another “experience” for her.

We have to take a bus up north to my site (Quissico) . . .about a 5 or 6 hour trip in a hot, smelly beat up greyhound type bus. God. This woman is a trooper. Hat’s off to her.

My mother is in Africa. Wild.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and a very Happy New Year.

Big hug and kiss from your perspiring friend in the big city of Maputo.

t

just another day. . .

Written Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Good Morning! And I really mean that – put yourself in my shoes for a moment. You awaken under a white mosquito net to the sun, your fan is bathing you in a cool breeze, your dog lazily stretches in anticipation for the front door to open. You open the front door to another beautiful day, the sun caressing the palm trees in your front yard, the sand still cool from the night under your feet. You make yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy a fresh mango for breakfast on the front porch while listening to a bit of music (this morning it was Dave Matthews Band) and scratching your dog behind his ear.

Now that we are all on the same page, I will bid you again, a very good morning!

Yesterday was an excellent day here in Quissico, I had a nice slow morning at home, then wandered down to my one community-based organization (Despertai) where I discussed a project with the president. I have asked them to construct a small dehydration box for me, so that I can dry mango and other fruit. My organization seemed very interested in this (another form of income generation), so tomorrow and Friday we will be constructing these boxes. We talked a bit about what we would do with the money, I checked in on the Jackfruit tree’s that we have planted (they are germinating!) and then headed back towards town.

I went to Sota’s house to pick up some Moringa plants he had left behind for me, and proceeded to plant them in my yard. I also gave a few to my neighbors, taking the time to teach them about the incredible nutritional benefits of this plant, and how to use it. One of my neighbor’s daughters knew about the plant, so she helped me out with the explanation. I felt really great after all of this, knowing that my neighbors will take good care of these trees, and hopefully spread the word of Moringa to others. I also suggested that once they are a bit more grown, sharing the seeds and cuttings with friends/family and other neighbors. The more people we can get eating this amazing plant, the better.

For those of you who don’t know what Moring is – a plant of India/Ethiopia descent, grows like a small tree (the idea is to trim it so it grows more horizontally and produces more leaves) has a growing rate of 6-8 months, and you can use ever part of it. The leaves can be dried and then ground down into a powder that can be added to prepared food (without altering the taste) or in a tea. Or one can eat the leaves raw in a salad. The seeds can be used to purify water.  This plant has Vitamin A and C, calcium, iron, and more protein than eggs. It is indeed a magical plant. It grows in areas where people need it the most. It can grow in sand, doesn’t need a lot of water, and likes sun. Basically it’s the all-encompassing plant for those here who are suffering from mal-nutrition, and illness.

So after I did a bit of “work” I wandered into the town, chatted with my shop owner friends, and helped out some lost South African’s who wanted to buy vegetables and fruit. I realized that I’m at the point with my language where I could translate for people – that’s pretty cool. I never imagined that at some point in my life would I be bilingual.

Came back to my lovely little house to try out a new recipe: apple-carrot salad with toasted coconut. You toast the coconut in a skillet with some cumin, add it to chopped apple and carrot, and toss it in a dressing of lemon, salt, cayenne pepper and olive oil. Top with a bit of parsley and boom. Nummies.

It was good. I also made a coffee cake – dutch oven style, for dessert/breakfast this morning.

Today, I don’t have much going on – going to wander into town this afternoon to find some mosquito netting, I want to make a screen door for my house. I also have tentative plans with my friend Dona Julia (the shop owner) to bake and cook some things at her house tonight. I’ll probably wander around town a bit, give the dog a bath etc. just another day in the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I have friends coming in this weekend, Monday we are heading up to Tofo Beach to celebrate Christmas, then the 27^th Mom will be here. . . madness.

the indian ocean, crashing a wedding, and FOOD

Written Monday, December 17, 2012

Hello hello! Sorry it has been a bit since my last blog post. . . time has just been sliding right along, and I find myself busy in a manner of speaking.

So last week went as expected, had some meetings with my organizations (the last ones of the year due to holiday travels for everyone) and so Friday I packed my backpack and headed down into the Gaza Province.

Friday afternoon I met some friends in Xai Xai, a large city that has just about anything you could possibly want or need. The market there is about as big as my town as a whole, and the produce possibilities are endless. I stocked up on some dry goods in another store (lentils, yeast, popcorn, brown rice etc) that I cant find here in Quissico. I also took a walk through the seemingly endless rows of second hand clothes – I’m telling you, this town has everything that any western-style lifestyle could ever possibly need. We had lunch at a small barraca (stall) for 25Mtz, a giant plate of feijao and rice (beans). It was delicious. We then headed down to the beach.

We had rented two small cottages for the weekend, fri and sat nights. I elected to just stay Friday night. It was a “welcome” party to the new volunteers who were just sworn in two weeks ago. Very nice to meet some new faces, and see some old ones. It was a fun  day and night spend at the beach. Lots of laughs, dancing, some soccer on the beach, swimming in the ocean etc.  I couldn’t believe that I’ve been in this country for 6 months and this was my first trip to the OCEAN! Yes I go to the lagoon just about every weekend, but its totally different than a beach with waves, the salty breeze etc. It was a fantastic evening. The stars at night were incredible. I sat in front of the surf, staring at the sky for a good few hours just thinking. I saw some shooting stars, and made a wish on every one.

Saturday, I had breakfast on the beach and hung out until about mid-day, than my friend Linda and I headed back to her site –Manjacaze, Gaza. A nice rural town about an hour west off the EN1 (the national highway). We walked around a bit that afternoon, and made an incredible dinner of peanut noodles, a veggie stir-fry with eggplant and green beans, and of course, brownies for dessert. YUM. It was so nice to spend time with such an incredible friend, cooking, listening to music, and just hanging out.

Sunday I was originally planning on leaving about mid-day to come back to Quissico, but what do you know, I ended up staying another day/night. Sunday started off with a breakfast of cinnamon/nutmeg pancakes with a banana compote, and coffee with coconut milk. . . .sensing a trend of incredible eating this weekend?  We wandered around town for a bit, going to her site-mate’s (and friend of mine) house. Evan is incredibly talented with plants, so his house and yard are full of interesting plants, fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, baby trees etc. He has recently started drying mango in a homemade dehydrator. I took pictures of it, and will take it down to my one organization that has a carpentry – dried mango with a chili pepper infusion anyone? That way I can continue to enjoy mangoes during the “winter” here. Also I want to see how people here respond to it. . .potential income generation project.

So after spending time at Evan’s house and organization, Linda and I walked back towards her house, stopping in at one of her neighbors houses. They were on their way to a wedding reception, and of course we were promptly invited to come along. Only in Mozambique can I feel comfortable going to a wedding reception in a pair of dirty jeans, sweaty tank-top, and hair in a pony-tail. Of course upon arriving we were immediately told to grab a plate of food, and were brought a drink. Wedding crashing – Mozambique style.

Good food, nice company. . . but we didn’t really want to stay long. We mingled for a bit, but felt a bit awkward, so we made a smooth departure. Running into Evan in the road, we went back to the market together and discussed what we wanted to make for dinner. (yes I get it, my days here revolve around food)

We decided upon some tortillas and salsa for an appetizer, a salad of moringa leaves, cucumber, tomato and onion in a homemade red-wine vinegar and mustard dressing, and a beefed up version of the Mozambique dish Couve. For dessert, there was papaya with lemon juice (try that combination, its incredible). Needless to say, it was another truly wonderful night of cooking, conversation, and eating. How I am so lucky to have such amazing friends, and the ability to cook such good food is still something I’m trying to figure out haha.

This morning, we made some coffee-cake and again, had coconut milk infused coffee. Delicious beyond words. I have started taking pictures of all the food dishes I make that are noteworthy. I will try to post pictures soon. . . internet has been very slow lately.

So I hitchhiked back to Quissico this afternoon, arrived at my home (so nice to be back) did some laundry, hung out with the neighbor kids and the dog, did a bit of reading – started a new book by Elizabeth Gilbert, and started cooking dinner. On the menu tonight were Coconut Beans. You cook beans in coconut milk (substitute for water) for about an hour, adding in sautéed garlic, ginger, onion, green pepper and tomato. I tossed in some cumin and cinnamon too. Let it all simmer for another 30 minutes or so and BOOM. Delicious nummies. Savory – that’s a great way to describe this dish. I will be making it again in the future.

Oh! Don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I finally had a new table/cooking counter built for my house! It is a game-changer. I can chop, cook, stir and anything else I need to at an appropriate level INSIDE my house. No more porch cooking haha. Yay!! I re-arranged the house a bit, and have been enjoying the new setup and cooking station very much.

There isn’t too much going on this week, work-wise. I will be going down to my one community based organization, trying to plant the idea of mango drying, and checking in on a Jackfruit tree that we planted a few weeks ago, I absconded with some nice plant bags from Evan’s organization, and will be using these to germinate some new plants with this organization, as well as some fresh basil plants, and hot peppers (called piri-piri) for my own personal use here at home.

Well –with this blog being mainly about food, I will leave you to go enjoy a nice juicy mango for dessert.

Big hugs.

Mom will be here in 10 days!!

aspirations, limitations, and a lagoon

Written December 9, 2012

I’ve been taking time to think about how incredible fortunate I am here in Mozambique. I have all of the necessary tangible commodities someone could ever need, a great dog (even if he is a bit undisciplined), I live in a beautiful location, and have had the opportunity to meet some truly wonderful people: PCV’s, JICA voluneers, host country nationals, South Africans etc. I’m a pretty lucky girl.

The week passed by without any major going-on’s. . . I have decided to set little projects or goals each week for myself. Be it something making something for my house, learning a new verb tense (my language is good, but could be much better) cooking a new dish or discovering something new in the market.

For example – this past week my goal was to get a “ralador” something that I use to shave coconut into fine pieces. I can then use warm water with the shaved coconut to make “coconut milk” and from there the cooking possibilities are endless. I also had a table/cooking stand type combination made. I am currently working with a large blue plastic table, that while is ok and does its job, is ugly and too big for my small living room. So I designed a smaller one that I can put in the corner, that has a set of shelves underneath it, also allowing me to dispose of a plastic stand that I have in my house as well. . . not a huge fan of things that are plastic. I’d like to eventually get a smaller table to sit and eat at. But for now, I’ll continue eating on my front porch, overlooking Quissico and these beautiful sunsets.

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. Saturday was Sota’s ‘despedida’ (going away party). I arrived at his house early in the morning to help prepare some things for the food, we did shopping in the market, and I did some prep-work for the party. Mid-morning a good friend showed up in Quissico, he had wanted to check out what my life was like, so we went exploring through the market (that took about a ½ hour because town is so small) and went to the overlook of the lagoon. Beautiful day – beautiful view. Around that time I received a phone call from another volunteer from my group (I digress, both of these volunteers are from my group Moz 18) who had just arrived in Quissico as well! So we explored a bit more, went to my home, hung out a bit on the porch, trying to beat the heat. Eventually we took our respective bucket baths, and headed back to Sota’s house to commence the festivities.

Every despedida I have been to is the same. Same food, same music, same general flow of the party. Which got me to thinking (and was a topic of discussion with my fellow PCV’s all weekend) just how trapped people are here in their own minds. It is all well and good to have routines, and be comfortable in your life, but never wanting more, never thinking to want more – that desire to explore and learn- so many people here don’t have. If anyone ever had anything besides feijoada (bean stew) xima, and chicken at their going away party, people would have a hissy fit.

Walking down to the lagoon today with my friends we were discussing this, how close-minded people can be here when it comes to things like food, travel, people from other cultures etc. The ability to think about the future, plan, have hopes/dreams is in very short supply here. We were playing “what would you do with one million dollars/how much would your life change” on the walk down, each person had a very interesting response – but when we stopped to ask a local woman who was walking back to her house, she coulnt come up with a response. She just kept saying that she lived over the hill with her two daughters, and was going home to cook. Poverty doesn’t necessarily have to be a situation of tangible value, in my opinion poverty of the mind is where everything stems from. Lack of education, or educational resources, creates the lack of drive, motivation and freethinking. People here expect to be given things, international development companies don’t help either. Rolling in with their fancy cars, giving money and things to people. GIVING. Such a good word in so many ways, yet it can hinder and even cripple entire countries. Not teaching that to get something, you need to put forth an effort first.

Being asked for things here in town is a common place, everyday thing for me. Something I have gotten very used to. At first it annoyed me, then it saddened me, now it almost infuriates me  - why should I give you anything of mine? Why should I give you the mango in my hand, when I can teach you how to plant a mango tree, and then you could have mango’s for the rest of your life. It was the same idea last week with my organization and making our monthly calendar. Yes – I am here to help, but I am not here to do this work for you. I know how to make a calendar, I know that when I say “see you next Thursday at 9am” that I should show up next Thursday at 9am. I have that ability to pre-plan, and think into the future. It’s hard to help people who don’t want to help themselves, but are expected to be given things.

AND yet on the other hand, people here are so giving and generous. On the walk down to the lagoon today, some woman invited us into her yard, offered us about 8 mango’s and 4 unripe coconuts (you crack it open and drink the water inside – so good). Total stranger, but because we said hello, and she had these things, she offered them to us.

Ugh. Sometimes it all becomes too much to think about. The dichotomy of it all.

So I spent the day at the lagoon with my friends, a great day of interesting and stimulating conversation, jokes, swimming and sunshine. Reminding myself that yet again, it’s the little things in life.

Just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love. An excellent book that I recommend to all. I loved the author’s form of writing, often finding myself laughing out loud. I think a yoga retreat in India would be a cool thing to do after COS (close of service). I’d like to see so much more of this world, and would like to return back to school a well. Good thing I have my entire life ahead of me!

And again, with those few sentences there – I have thought about my future, the possibilities I have and will make for myself. Where people here can’t even fathom traveling up to the next province. And so it goes. . . 

Hugs and kisses all – your barefoot friend in Africa