Gorongosa National Park used to be the one of the places with the highest species diversity in the world. In the 1960s, there were over 500 lions in the park and countless numbers of grazers such as zebras, wildebeests, and buffalos.

The Portuguese worked hard to protect the park throughout the war of independence, but by 1983, in the midst of the civil war, the park was shut down and abandoned due to violence in the area. Opposing forces met on park lands in fierce hand-to-hand fighting and aerial bombings destroyed buildings and roads. Hungry soldiers and locals entered the park and shot thousands of animals (zebras, buffaloes, etc...) and eventually, the lions and other big game died off due the lack of prey.

By the end of the civil war, 90% of the animals in the park were gone. Today, the Carr Foundation (http://www.carrfoundation.org/) in partnership with the Mozambican government is working to restore the park to its former glory. Camille, Courtney and I with Greg Carr, the savior of Gorongosa/the guy who invented voice mail (genius - if only he would bring it to Mozambique...). It was really inspiring to hear Greg and his head of tourism, Vasco Galante, talk about the park. They both truly believe that restoring the park will not only bring safari tourism back to Mozambique, but will also create jobs in the community. After living in a touristy area for the past two years, I have watched thousands of tourist come and go and never give anything back to the community. I truly believe that this type of development, which creates sustainable jobs for locals - along with the building of schools and health centers - is the kind of development work that really makes a difference. The people of the surrounding villages are being hired, through the government (so important as to ensure sustainability), as guides, wait staff, and anti-poaching units. By demonstrating the potential impact of the park on local peoples´lives, they are ensuring the local people take a vested interest in the well being of the park.

A warthog trying to stay cool on a hot day

A pensive baboon

A water buck

The three of us in the game drive vehicle. We hiked about 5k to a waterfall in the park. It was incredibly beautiful and incredibly cold!!! Check out Gorongosa´s website http://www.gorongosa.net/ for more information and look for National Geographic´s film Africa´s Lost Eden!

After we left Simon´s Town, we drove for about another hour to Cape Point.

Looking over the point. I was rockin the USA jersey all day.

The Atlantic and Indian oceans meet at the point where the warm-water meets the cold-water and turns back on itself – a point that fluctuates between Cape Point and Cape Agulhas.

The Cape of Good Hope

We really wanted to hike down to the Cape, but it was about a two hour hike and we wanted to return to Cape Town to watch the USA vs. Algeria game. We ended up going to this bar called the Dubliner and watching the game upstairs in a room packed full of Americans. I even ran into a guy I went to junior high with! Small world.

Courtney and I celebrating a USA victory in the last minute of overtime in the game!!! Needless to say, the everyone went crazy - beer flying everywhere!

Simon´s Town is a small town on the way to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. It is famous for its abundance of African penguins that settled in the area in 1985. We rented a car and I was the only one with a drivers license so I got to drive! It was amazing to drive (I am not allowed to in Mozambique) and pretty scary to do it on the right side of the road.

When we arrived at Table Mountain we were a little worried because there was a huge cloud over the mountain. Since the weather is pretty unpredictable in June, we considered taking the cable car up to the top since climbing to the top is dangerous when the rocks are slippery. Luckily, we chose to climb the mountain instead and we not only got to enjoy a beautiful hike, but we also made it to the top of the mountain before the people who arrived at the same time as us, but chose to wait in line for the cable car.

It was about a two hour hike to the top. We took the path right behind the cable car station which goes straight up for about 20 minutes, levels off into switchbacks for about an hour, and then a final 40 minute push straight up to the top.

I conquered Table Mountain!

If you look left of the small mountain, near the water, you can see the Green Point Stadium.

Another gorgeous view of Cape Town All over the city, there were signs encouraging tourists to go online to vote for Table Mountain as one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. While I agree that it is a must see/must do climb and it is, by far, the largest table-like formation I have ever seen, wonder of the natural world? I think not.

Green Point Stadium: it rained most of the game, but only the players got wet during the game.

Our seats were pretty high up, but right at mid field.

My first Bud Heavy in two years and it is at the game in Cape Town?!?!?! Seriously? I will admit, it tasted pretty good. The lady at the concession stand would not give me the bottle cap (plastic) for my beer or my water. People must throw them into the field? Weird.

The beginning of the North Korea scramble. When the game started, we all thought it was going to be a normal game. Zero to one, maybe two to one, if we were lucky.

Portugal won 7 - 0!!!! Força!!! After the first half, I would have told you that Cristiano Ronaldo was a lazy, not as attractive as everyone thinks he is player, BUT after rolling the ball off the back of his neck and scoring, I re-evaluated the situation and have determined he is definitely still on the list of my top ten favorite footballers.

The earplugs were for the Vuvuzelas which are not nearly as annoying as they sound on tv. By the end of the week, I was pretty fond of the South African tradition.

Fairview Winery: our first (and my favorite) stop on our wine tour.

We met a lot of Americans during the wine tour, including Jess who was staying with us at our hostel. When I walked in the door of the hostel, the guy working the desk congratulated me on being the second girl to walk into the hostel since the World Cup started (Jess was the first). Throughout our stay in Cape Town, I saw more Americans than I have seen since living in Africa. Cheering for the USA during the Algeria game with all of the people we had met, was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

I learned a lot of interesting things on the wine tour. . . but cannot seem to remember any of them. Oops.

The first winery we visited is known not only for their wine, but also their varieties of goat cheese. Yum.

We also visited a Cheetah reserve.

After the worst bus ride of my life (after living here, that is saying A LOT), we (Courtney, Colin, and I) met our guardian angel, Gloria. Our bus ride from Maputo to Johannesburg was so cold that I could not feel my fingers or my toes or my arms or my legs. As soon as I got my bag, I put on every single piece of clothing I had with me, but was still miserable. Gloria, our angel, saw the three of us huddled in a corner and invited us into to her space heater heated office and made us a cup of tea. If you are ever in the bus station, in one of the roughest areas in Johannesburg, look for Gloria in the tourist information booth. She is truly one of the kindest people I have ever met.

After hanging out with Gloria for about 8 hours we boarded the Shosholoza Meyl train and left for Cape Town. During the 27 hour long train ride we saw everything from mountains, to what Court and Colin swear looks just like eastern California, to vineyards. Needless to say, South Africa is beautiful.

The DEVELOPED WORLD!!!! Looking at Table Mountain and the interesting cloud formation which the Green Point Stadium was modeled after.

The Fan Walk on a normal day. On game day, the street is blocked off and filled with thousands of crazy fans making their way towards the stadium.

The Waterfront where the big tourist trap mall is located. We went to a movie (SATC 2), ate Subway, and window shopped.

Another surprise houseguest...

Gato do Matu(wild cat) According to wikipedia, Genets can be house trained and kept as pets. Not sure how Simba and Cooper would feel about that, but Simon (yes, I named him) is really cute.

Dad,

Shopping for you is a nightmare so I thought you would enjoy this:

It will be on its way to you by next Sunday and thanks for being the best dad in the entire world! Happy Father's Day Love you! S (your African Tiger Wiger) www.okaycamille.wordpress.comThanks Camille for your beautiful work!

Bushfire Music Festival is an International Music Festival located in the Milwane Nature Reserve close Mbabane and among His Royal Highnesses Pineapple Fields. The festival's theme is "Call to Action" and every year, local Swazi artists are invited to sell their products, most of which are produced by disadvantaged women (I, of course, did my part in supporting those women). I am my mother's (and grandmother's) daughter. Caitlin, Emily and I at the Swazi-Namaacha Border

House of Fire

The venue for the Bushfire Music Festival

They even let us participate!

The sign advertising Vilanculos at our hostel

Sara - One and a Half Years Old She is old enough to eat solid food, walk, and run screaming and crying away from the Mulungu (aka me!!!)

On my way back from Swaziland, it was raining and pouring and Camilla was snoring...She went to sleep and almost bumped her head when out bus slid off the road. The Vilanculos Express Bus(My first thought: there is no way in hell we are getting out of this mess)

Side View

Bulldozer to the Rescue

I don't even know why I doubt Mozambicans. They are so incredibly resourceful. I can only hope a little of it will rub off on me.

One of my cousins recently asked me to share with her girls group what HIV means in Mozambique and I thought it would be nice to share with all of you!  Especially since I have not been writing in my blog every month like I wanted to. Before I get into it, I would just like to say that everything here is from my point of view.  As an American (an outsider in many ways), I often feel like I can never fully understand the impact of HIV on my friends and people in my community.   So first of all here are a couple facts about HIV and Mozambique: ü      16.2% of the population (ages 15-49) is estimated to have HIV (Moz has a population of around 22 million people) ü      Young women ages 15- 24 have an estimated prevalence of 10.7% while young men in the same age group have an estimated prevalence of 3.6% When I look at these statistics I kind of pass over the 16.2% population prevalence rate and get stuck on the fact that young women are so much more likely to contract HIV than young men.  Everyone knows that the prevalence rate in Africa is really high, but for most countries in Sub Saharan Africa this rate is leveling off and even declining.  Mozambique is the ONLY country where the rate is continuing to increase.  Scary right?  Especially when I start to think about the girls in my girls group and how much more likely it is for them to get HIV than it is for the boys in their class.   Why is it more likely for young women to get HIV?  The most obvious reason is that our bodies are different.  In most relationships in Mozambique, women are the “receivers.”  Our bodies are designed to “catch” sperm and go on to produce as many babies as possible until our biological clock gives out.   Backing up a little.  When a person has HIV, the virus lives in all bodily fluids: blood, tears, saliva, breast milk, etc….  The four fluids with the highest concentration in order from greatest to least are:  blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk.  All of the other fluids produced by our body contain HIV, but the quantity is so low that you would have to drink 5+ gallons of saliva in one sitting to get HIV (this is an estimate to show how unlikely it is for a person to get HIV by kissing, for example).   So when a man and woman are having sex, either one of them could contract HIV from the other.  But, because of the way women’s bodies are designed and the higher concentration of HIV in sperm, it is more likely for a woman to contract HIV than a man.  If either partner has a cut or sore (Sexually Transmitted Infection, STI), the chances of passing HIV to the other person increases dramatically (somewhere around 4 times more likely).   Moving on to the less obvious reason why young women are more likely to have HIV: social and cultural norms.  In Mozambique, the estimate age of sexual debut (when someone has sex for the first time) is 12 for girls and 15 for boys.  I was SHOCKED when I first heard that.  At 12 years old, I was still wearing umbro shorts and no where near thinking about boys.   Here, it is normal for young girls to have relationships with boys their own age (not too surprising), but also with men much older than them.  In the States, we have four different bases (everyone’s definition is different, but the idea is the same), but here in Mozambique there is really only one: home plate.  This means that when a man approaches a young girl and says “Eu gosto de ti” (I like you), there is a good chance that a sexual relationship begins.  Since there is not a culture of foreplay, most people just get straight down to business which leads to early pregnancy and the quick spread of HIV.   Why would young girls want anything to do with older men?  To sum it up in one word: money.  Don’t be too quick to judge.  These girls are not prostitutes (which is a really mean word – sex worker is better).  They are just like you and me.  The only difference is we have more options available to us.  In high school, if I wanted a pair of designer jeans, I picked up some extras shifts at the pharmacy where I worked.  In Mozambique, these kinds of opportunities are rare and it is much easier to have your “namarado” or boyfriend pay for your nice clothes and hair.   From here stems the biggest problem.  These men have relationships with young girls while at the same time have a wife at home and maybe another woman on the side.  These young girls also want someone to be there for them and tend to also have a relationship with a young man around their same age.  This is one of the main reasons why HIV has spread so much in Africa.  In development terms: concurrency.  This basically means that a person is having a sexual relationship with more than one person and each of those people is also probably having a relationship with one or more other people.  You have probably heard the expression: when you sleep with someone, you are also sleeping with all of their previous partners.  When you put it in terms of HIV and STIs, it’s true.  It becomes this interconnected web of sexual relationships, where it is likely that a person is connected to several people at the same time even if only one of them is their actual partner.  When you add HIV into the equation, it is not surprising the virus to able to spread so quickly.   So what about condoms?  Condoms are the best way to protect yourself against HIV and other STIs (besides abstinence, which is the only 100% effective way).  Luckily, condoms are sold almost everywhere here at a really low cost and are available free of cost at all health centers.  Unfortunately, that is where the easy part ends.  One thing that a lot of young women struggle with is getting their partners to agree to use condoms.  Because of the unequal distribution of power between men and women, women often feel unable to stand up for themselves and condoms are forgotten.  A lot of times women worry about losing their partner if they try to make any “demands” (like using a condom).  There is also stigma that comes with suggesting condom use.  If a woman asks to use a condom, her partner will inevitably ask her why.  Is it because she doesn’t trust him to be faithful?  Or because she is the one who is not being faithful?  In my opinion, this is an extremely unfair question.  The real issue here is not about who is sleeping with who, it is about protecting yourself and living the healthiest life possible.   One great thing that is beginning to show up more and more here in Mozambique is the female condom.  It is the same idea as the male condom, but the female wears it.  Another advantage is that some brands are not made out of latex and therefore it feels more like there is nothing between you and your partner.  It can also be reused up to five times (again, depending on the brand). This is a good way for women here to take responsibility and provide and wear the protection.  There is, however, another big challenge to overcome.  A large majority of the population (especially the older generations) do not trust condoms (male and female) because they believe some condoms have HIV put in them to infect the African people.  If they thought about the biology of HIV or if it had been explained clearly to them, they would realize that the virus can only survive in humans (hence the name: Human Immunodeficiency Virus).   “But wait?”  They would ask, “what about mosquitoes?  If malaria can be transferred from mosquitoes to humans, then why can’t HIV?  They are both illness of the blood.”  This is a question that ALWAYS comes up every time HIV is being discussed.  The most important thing to remember is malaria is a parasite and HIV is a virus that needs a host (human) to survive.  Therefore, the two cannot even be compared, but will always be lumped together because they are the most high profile illnesses in Moz.   “But what about needles and other sharp objects?  HIV can survive on those right?”  This question is a bit more complicated since Injection Drug Use (IDU) is, in some parts of the world, the main method of HIV transmission.  In these cases the needle or other sharp object has gone straight from one persons arm to the next, injecting “live” blood (not dried) directly into another person.  Most Mozambicans put a lot of emphasis on sharp objects transferring HIV instead of focusing on the fact that heterosexual relationships are the main method of transmission.  It is easy to understand why they would choose to focus on sharp objects (like barber shears or needles used at the hospital) because it puts the blame on someone else.  It is also hard to blame HIV transmission on sex since it is one thing that every person on the planet has in common (besides maybe priests) and you and I exist because someone somewhere had sex.   So now let’s move on to mother to child transmission.  This is another area of HIV transmission that can lead to a little confusion.  There are three ways in which a child can get HIV from its mother: during labor and delivery, breast feeding, and any time during pregnancy.  The first two methods are widely known by most Mozambican women.  If a woman takes the necessary precautions (taking anti-retrovirals (ARVs), etc…), there is less than a 2% chance that her child will get HIV during delivery.  The issue of breastfeeding is a little more complicated, but basically the children can only eat/drink breast milk for the first 6 months (this amount of time varies) of life and the mother needs to continue taking ARVs to keep her viral count (amount of HIV in her body) low.  The third and final method of transmission is any time during pregnancy.  This is also the reason why people are fighting to change the acronym PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission) to PPTCT (parent instead of mother) because technically HIV would be transmitted from the father (or any of the mother’s sexual partners) to an HIV negative mother and to the baby.  There is also the possibility of a HIV positive woman passing HIV to her baby if she has advanced HIV disease, which would increase the level of HIV in her bloodstream.      

While I was at home, several people gave me a lot of crap for being so horrible at keeping up with my blog entries. My original goal was to write one a month, but obviously, I have failed miserably. One of my New Years resolutions this year is to try to keep up with it better, but like most resolutions, this one will probably only make it to February. One question that came up over and over again while I was at home was how has my perception of the States changed after living in Mozambique for a year. Great question. Someone told me before I left for Moz that most PCVs come back to the States after two years disliking (I am pretty sure he said hating, but I think that is too strong of an emotion in this context) Americans and our way of life (wasteful, overindulgent, lazy, etc…). Personally, I feel like I have developed a great respect for "our way of life." I can honestly say the things he thought I would grow to resent, ended up being exciting parts of my trip home. For example, on my road trip I stopped at Sonic, Arby’s and Taco Bell (not all in one day of course) for lunch. It was incredible. So easy and convenient. I will admit though, the wrappers and the paper bags everything came in hurt me a little inside, but I guess all I can do is hope that they eventually end up in a recycle bin. Or I could open up my very own fast food restaurant or grocery store where everything is sold wrapper less and Tupperware is a requirement for entry. Any financial backers? When it comes to food and lifestyle choices, however, I would have to say I prefer my way of life here. This has nothing to do with America as a whole. This is all about me and the choices I make everyday. In the States, I love TV and tend to watch way too much of it. What can I say? It is seriously addicting. While I am watching TV, it is so easy for me to put clothes in the washing machine, throw a premade meal into the microwave, and run the dishwasher all at the same time (I am incredible at multitasking). Here, I still watch movies and TV shows on DVD, but there is not an endless list of options that keeps me coming back for more. Or commercials that make new TV shows and movies look too good to pass up. I also do not have the luxury of a microwave or even a car to jump into if I want to pick up fast food during a commercial break. Whenever I go shopping here, I have to think about what exactly I want to eat for the next few days because getting to the market is not as simple as turning a key. I do love, however, the amount of walking that comes with not having a car. Not only have I reduced the size of my carbon footprint, but I am also in the process of reducing my pant size. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. On to a more serious note: While I expected to be wowed by the endless number of luxuries in the States, I was completely taken back by something I experienced driving underneath I-10 in New Orleans. Let me preface this by saying that I see extreme poverty almost everyday here, but I have not been hit so hard and so fast as I was when I was driving past the homeless shelter on that cold and rainy night. There was something so incredibly sad about all of the people huddled together trying to sleep outside in front of the shelter that tugged at my heartstrings. I kept going over and over this scene in my mind to try to figure out why I had such a strong emotional response and finally came to the conclusion that it was because it was basically unnecessary for people to have to live in those conditions in the US. Yes, the economy is bad. I understand that, but where are these people’s families? And I don’t mean nuclear families. I am including extended family in this too. In Mozambique, if a child’s parents die (HIV related or not), there is someone to take them in and provide at least some kind of family life. This not only applies to children. If you are an adult and traveling down to the capital city, you just call one of your distant (I mean like really really distant) relatives and crash on their floor. Why would you ever need a hotel if you have relatives? Family takes care of family. I will get off my soap box now, but I do hope I always remember this simple statement and take a hint from Mozambicans: being a part of someone’s family does not always mean you are blood relatives. Okay back to a lighter note. So how has living in Moz changed me over the past year? According to my lovely friends from college, it has turned me into more of an observer rather than the person who always has to be in the middle of everything. The contributor (or one of them), if I may. In their exact words: I am more “subdued.” At first, I wasn’t sure whether to feel offended by what they said and add it to my list of things I need to work on (another New Years resolution like trying not to interrupt people when they are speaking – I just get so excited though!). The more I thought about it, the more I understood why living in Moz has turned me in to more of an observer. I have concluded it is because I am living in a place where people do not speak my first language. Understanding Portuguese is not a problem for me anymore. Trying to verbalize every single thought that comes in to my head still is. I have learned that body language and just listening to a person’s tone of voice and other subtle clues goes a long way. Even just a gentle squeeze on a person’s shoulder sometimes speaks volumes. I have also learned that sometimes less is more and that saying what I mean in one brief sentence can just as easily get my point across as a 5 minute long monologue.

It has been almost four months since my last blog entry and so much has changed and yet it feels like nothing is different. The season has changed (Feelin' hot hot HOT), I have a whole new set of responsibilities at work, there is a new and exciting person in my life, and I traveled thousands of miles to be home with my family and friends for the holidays.

Since the beginning of September, things at work have become a little crazy. I was asked by my boss and one of the high ups in the CARE Maputo office to take over all of the responsibilities of the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for my project. I agreed as long as it was understood that I have other responsibilities and commitments outside of the CARE office like to Peace Corps and REDES (I am the National Financial Director and I still have a girls group that meets twice a week). Now, I find myself busier than I ever thought possible and missing the days of asking "are you sure there is not anything I can do today? Please give me SOMETHING to do!!!!" I miss the days of going to smaller communities and sitting under a tree while the ATSC counselors test people for HIV or driving out to local businesses and chatting with the owners while their employees took tests. I also miss the impromptu English and Xitswa lessons that always seemed to happen during lunch or slow points in the day.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the challenge that comes with my new responsibilities and I am really grateful for not only the professional experience I have gained but also for the opportunity to learn new and interesting things. Recently, I have been working with the data entry people in the hospital because Mozambique is striving to go digital with the HIV + clients' records to ensure everyone can receive consistent and quality treatment. Last week, I facilitated a training of four new data entry people who will head out to the more rural districts and begin the process of digitizing their hospital records. I will be joining them this week to monitor their progress and work side by side with them, entering patient information to speed up the process a little bit.

So moving on to the new and exciting person in my life… Camille.

In the middle of October, another redhead worked her way into my life. So now, not only do I share a home with one (Courtney), my closest neighbor inside the compound is also a redhead. I have come to conclusion that I am destined to be surrounded by good looking redheads. I guess there could be worse things. Not only is she a redhead, but she is my age, American AND a southerner! Pretty sweet deal if you ask me! Now there are four American southerners living in my community. I feel like we should start our own cult or something. Write Odes to the Good Ole Southern way of life. Okay, that may be taking things a little too far.

Finally, my journey home to the States

On December 17th, I hopped on a plane in Johannesburg, landed in Atlanta, missed my flight to Little Rock (no surprises there) and saw my grandma for the first time in over a year. Needless to say, it was glorious. I ate almost all of the things I wanted to, drank probably more things than I needed to, saw as many friends as possible, successfully completed a roadtrip in three states after not driving for over a year and even went to a NFL game. Three weeks later, my flight gets cancelled the morning of to ATL, but I did, surprisingly, make it on my flight back to Africa. Mission accomplished. I am officially ready for the next exciting year of life in Mozambique!!!

Boa Entrada para todos!!! Happy 2010 everyone!!

Bairro SEED Lena, Courtney, Me, Caspar, Flora, Andreas, Camille, and HelgaMy Vilanculos Family

As of yesterday, I have been in Mozambique for a year. I am not really quite sure how I feel about that statement because it doesn’t seem real, but it is a fact. I arrived in Mozambique on October 2, 2008 and went from staying in a luxurious $450 USD a night hotel in Johannesburg to flying into the Maputo airport and driving through the slums surrounding it. One really interesting thing that has changed in the past year is my perception of the Maputo Airport. When we first flew in on Oct. 2, I thought “THIS is the LARGEST airport in the WHOLE COUNTRY?!?!?!? It is a total dump.” Then in July, when my family was visiting, we flew to and from the same airport and I found myself really impressed on how nice and comfortable the airport felt.

I can honestly say the past year has not only been a great experience, but it has been really fun and everyday I thank whoever decided that Mozambique would be a good placement for me. At times, living here has been a challenge, but the good moments always outweigh the trying ones and I am really looking forward to my second year.

In a few months, I will be returning to the States and I have already made a list of everything I want to eat (too many restaurants to list), drink (imported and light beers and frozen drinks), and all of the places I want to go (I am pretty sure Pat O´s piano bar is on the top of this list or maybe it is my parents´ house). Thinking about home has really made me appreciate everything I love about the States and everything I love about Mozambique. So here is my list of 4 of the best things about Moz and the U.S.:

What Mozambicans do right:

Enjoy Life

The clock in Mozambique definitely moves slower than it does in the States. After being here a year, I have learned to appreciate (or at least accept) the hours I spend waiting for things that would take less than 5 minutes in the States. I am beginning to understand why things move as slowly as they do. Mozambicans take every possible chance they get to enjoy life and if that means waiting for a store to open/chapa to leave/someone to use an ATM, they take the opportunity to get to know the person waiting with them. One the weekends (or during the week if a person is unemployed) Mozambicans spend hours “passear-ing.” Passear means to go for a walk with no specific destination in mind. They pass through the market and chat with anyone and everyone and then visit their friend’s houses or the local barraca (bar). I found this really great quote in a book I was reading set in Botswana and written by a Zimbabwean.

“and every morning she could sit in front of her house and sniff at the wood-smoke and look forward to spending the day talking with her friends. How sorry she felt for white people, who couldn’t do any of this, and who were always dashing around and worrying themselves over things that were going to happen anyway. What use was it having all that money if you could never sit still or just watch your cattle eat grass?”

pp 162 “The No. 1 Ladies´ Detective Agency” Alexander McCall Smith

Say it like it is.

Some people find this a less than attractive quality, but I really appreciate the acceptance that comes along with it. If you are fat, people call you fat. Here is the best part: to your face. There is no hiding it. It is the honest to God truth. If you are ugly, they will call you “aquela mulungu feia” (that ugly white chick). The only small hint of trying to soften the blow is when they add “inha” to the end (e.g. gordinha – a little fat). Which leads to:

Appreciate what their momma gave them.

Negative body image is something Mozambican women only read about in the South African version of Cosmo. Women here love their bodies. Short. Tall. Fat. Thin. It doesn’t matter. They take what they get and flaunt it.

Ask and you shall receive.

One of my favorite things about Mozambique is that if you ask a person to do something for you, they will. Sometimes this comes for a price (usually somewhere around $0.20 USD), but most of the time, it is done with a big smile and a “até a próxima” (until next time). If you are willing to pay for convenience, then this is the perfect country for you. You can pretty much pay anyone to do anything for you. If I want a set of specially carved coasters (they are beautiful FYI) then I come back the next day and they are ready (for a slightly higher price than we agreed on the day before). If I am looking for this one really special capulana I have had my eye on for months, I can ask anyone in the market and they will help me find a stall that sells it. If I want a coke/cashews/piece of bread/beer/egg sandwich/orange on the chapa, I just ask one of the kids hanging around to go get me one. The downside: transactional sex (exchange of goods and services for sex).

After being away from “America” (which is what everyone here calls the U.S. with a sense of awe and wonder in their voices) for a year, I have really had the chance to think about all of the things I really miss/appreciate about the “land of plenty” (which is what I have started to call it).

What The U.S. does right:

The Service Industry

Free water and refills at restaurants and good quality napkins. Enough said.

Customer Service

It is nice to know there are people out there who actually care (or at least pretend to care/get paid to care) if I am satisfied with what I bought or the manner in which it was given to me. This is not really a problem on an individual level in Moz, but just with the huge monopoly companies that could care less if people are satisfied with their company’s product or service. For example, the telephone service provider I use is so unreliable and ridiculous. I spent 20 minutes on the phone (which is really expensive here) with customer service and traveled 12 hours roundtrip because my text messages were not working. I ended up waiting for two minutes while the clerk at a store that looks just like the one I have in my town, punched a 5 digit code in and magically my texts were working again. Please tell me why the customer service lady could not have told me the exact same thing in under 5 minutes?!?! This leads to:

Complain

Let’s face it. Americans are whiners. This statement may offend you, but I strongly believe it is the reason why the U.S. has such great customer service and a helpful service industry. Complaining gets stuff done. I wish that more people in Moz would complain about anything and everything. If people here complained about the crappy cell phone service instead of just accepting it as a way of life in Africa, maybe things would get better. This is not to say that complaining by itself makes things better. If a person complains, they need to make a commitment to see it through to the end.

Serial Monogamy

One of the factors that place Mozambicans at such a high risk for HIV is the cultural norm of concurrent relationships. A concurrent relationship is one where one or both of the partners are sleeping with one or more people on the side. This allows HIV to spread at a much higher rate than it does in the States because so many more people are involved in the sexual networks. Serial monogamy only puts two people at risk of acquiring HIV (until an infected partner begins a new relationship) unlike concurrency where pretty much anyone who is currently involved in a relationship is at risk.

So that’s all folks! Hope my first year of blog entries weren’t too terribly boring and I hope to see you all again in December! Happy One Year Moz 13!!!!!

One of my favorite Mozambican superstitions:

"There is a huge serpent that lives in the Atlantic Ocean and when it wants to travel it goes under Africa to the Indian Ocean and that is what causes an earthquake."

A snake is a very unusual birthday present (thank you Africa), but makes me feel like a real PCV!(In case you were wondering, the score is snake 0, guard 1)

If you had to tell someone that from this moment on, their life will be, now and forever, changed and it will affect not only their health, but potentially the health of their sexual partners and children, their ability to work and provide for their family, and then to top it off, their closest friends and neighbors may begin to look at and treat them differently, how would you do it? Do you apologize first? Or does that make it seem like you are apologizing to yourself for getting into a situation like this? Or do you act like it doesn’t mean anything to you to deliver life changing news? Would that make you appear callous and uncaring?

In reality, it isn’t about you. Does the manner in which the message is delivered make any difference to the receiver? Or do they only hear “your HIV test came back positive” and the rest just becomes background noise?

During training, 8 months ago, my language group took a “field trip” to the hospital to experience what happens before, during, and after an HIV test. I remember asking a lot of questions about the tests used and why you should get tested every three months, but I never thought that my curiosity in the nitpicky details of the process would be so incredibly useful. Little did I know, I would be the person explaining to another the process of taking an HIV test. First, pre-test counseling and then, the inevitable question: do you feel prepared for whatever the outcome of the test? (I am not even sure that is a realistic question. Can you ever be fully prepared for something like HIV?) Next, the finger prick and finally, the results of the test appear. One line: negative. Two lines: positive. If the test only has one line, the person is told to make sure they always use a condom, try to limit the number of partners they have, and to get tested again in three months. If there are two lines, however, the person is told the test came back indeterminate and a second, more accurate test is performed. Once again, one line means HIV negative and two lines indicate a positive test result. If two lines appear, then the counselor must tell the person in a sensitive, yet indisputable manner, that they are HIV positive.

Most of the time, this is just a process I observe, but when I was the only person who spoke English, I found myself looking for answers to all of those questions I addressed earlier. I wish I could say I thought only about the people to whom I was delivering this life changing information, but part of me kept thinking about how unprepared I felt. I kept thinking that I should have been taught how to say this the right way. How should I feel about the situation? How do I feel?

But, again, it isn’t about me. It is about the people who have an enormous decision to make. Do they keep living their lives as they did before they were tested? Or do they make the necessary changes and live a longer, healthier life with a few small sacrifices along the way?

It has been awhile since I have talked about what exactly I do every week day 8am – 5pm, but recently, I can finally say that I LOVE my job! I know that love (especially in capital letters) is a strong word, but what I am doing right now not only keeps me from being absolutely and totally bored, but makes me feel like I have the opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives. To be honest, my job description is still not perfect or complete by any means, but every month I am given more and more responsibilities and my boss seems to really value my opinion and gives me positive feedback.

Over the past few months, I have been responsible for contacting the lodges/resorts/hotels in the area to ask them to ask their employees if they would be interested in voluntary HIV counseling and testing. If the employees respond positively (they all have so far) then one or two of the ATS-C counselors (Aconselhamento, Testagem, e Saúde – Comunitário) aka Community Counseling and Testing counselors and I go to the lodges and give an HIV/health session (around 30 minutes) and then test people. My role in all of this is to contact the lodges and speak to the managers who pretty much all happen to be South African or Zimbabwean and therefore, all speak English. I also organize all of the ATS-C activities and make sure we don’t forget to bring condoms to hand out after the tests and basically supervise the team. The pre-session counseling is usually given in the local language which means that I just sit there and nod my head while the counselors do their thing. Occasionally the pre and post-test counseling are given in Portuguese, but the counselors are trained to give it in the local language since only a small portion of the population speaks Portuguese.

Community Counseling and Testing is, at the present, only facilitating activities in the Vilankulo District, but eventually, ATS-C will spread to Inhassoro, Mabote, and Govuro (there are four districts in the northern part of the Inhambane Province where CARE works). CARE works through the hospital which means that the counselors were hired by the hospital and trained according to Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines. If a person tests positive for HIV, they will be given a referral form to take to the hospital to have a CD4 count test taken. A CD4 count test determines if the person needs to start taking anti-retrovirals (ARVs) immediately or if their immune system is strong enough to delay treatment. One of my personal goals with this project is to determine if the people who test positive are actually making it to the hospital and if they are not, what are the barriers and how can we help them overcome them. Ideally, information that CARE collects will be given to the MOH and used in the 2009 HIV/AIDS report in Mozambique. In 2008, the prevalence rate of HIV in the Inhambane Province was reported to be 12%. Unfortunately, the data we have collected so far indicates that the HIV prevalence is higher than expected.

A random guy who wanted to be in the picture, one of the ATSC counselors, and me

So the STRANGEST thing happened to me yesterday and I find the timing to be as close to perfect as possible. This Thursday is my nine month mark here in Mozambique and whenever I hear anyone mention 9 months I think about the fact that I could have had a baby in that time. Yesterday, strangely enough, I "gave birth" (don´t get too excited/worried mom, it was not human).

My empregada Anita pulling out "pulgas" (fleas - well, technically flea eggs) from the bottom of my foot. TIA

A lot of people have asked me if I am one of the only mulungus in my town and the answer is: definitely not. Vilankulo is one of the top three tourist destinations in Mozambique which means that during the South African and Zimbabwean school holidays this place is full of white tourists (this doesn't even include the white ex-pats who own pretty much own all of the businesses here - don't get me started on why I hate this). The main reason why Vilankulo is such a popular tourist destination is because it is the gateway to the Bazaruto Archipelago. The Bazaruto Archipelago is a small chain of 5 islands (Bazaruto, Benguerra, Magaruque, Santa Carolina and Bangue) off the coast of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean. The archipelago is known as the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean" because it is one of the last (nearly) untouched paradises on earth.

There are several companies that run day trips to the islands and one of the most popular ones, Dolphin Dhow, is owned by one of our (Mozambican) neighbors. A dhow is a traditional Arab sailing vessel that is really common in Mozambique and most of them have been equipped with motors so that people, especially tourists, don't get stuck in the middle of the channel during low tide. It takes about an hour to get to the islands (about 10km away) with a motor and without a motor I have heard of people being stuck for days. We went to the closest island to Vilankulo, Magaruque, for the day.

Our beach gate from the boat

(the one with the new wood posts and tall trees)

The dhow

Getting ready to go snorkeling.

My roommate Courtney and I

Magaruque

Raparigas em Desenvolmento, Educação, e Saúde Adolescent Girls (in Secondary School) in Development, Education, and Health REDES is a Peace Corps sponsored project that focuses on giving young Mozambican women the opportunity to participate in activities that teach them life skills such as leadership skills, how to implement and monitor programs in the community, and negotiations skills for safer/healthier relationships. REDES also concentrates on gender issues and women's rights. My education site mate Laura and I are in the process of starting a REDES group at her school (The Secondary School of Macoque). At our first meeting, we asked the girls what kind of things they would be interested in learning about and they came up with ideas ranging from sewing and photography to SRH (sexual and reproductive health) and women’s rights. In April, I attended the REDES conference in Barra. Barra is a beautiful beach town (well town is kind of a stretch, but beach community made up of fancy South African owned lodges) near Inhambane City and Tofo. Fifty-two girls and 12 (female) PCVs participated in the conference. The conference was set up a kind of a camp environment which was especially exciting for the girls because going to camp in Mozambique is not an option. The conference focused on issues such as self-esteem and setting goals for the future and more specific topics like early pregnancy, HIV prevention, and an in-depth look at the female reproductive system (which unfortunately is never addressed in schools). One of my favorite parts of the conference was getting to be a “counselor” with my friend Gracey. We had 10 girls in our cabin group from all over the southern part of Mozambique who really opened up to us after we let them braid/cornrow our hair. I was immediately reminded of why I have not done this since 8th grade when my family went on a cruise to the Caribbean. It hurts like hell. But, I have to say, I have never been hit on here in Mozambique like I was that day. I had Mozambican men following me around Inhambane City and Maxixe asking me to let them help me run my errands and carry my bags. Even the women in the market gave me the real price instead of the mulungu price without any negotiation. It was pretty surreal and almost made me want to get my hair re-braided every week for the rest of my two years. And then I remembered the pain and how my hair breaks off into this lovely little halo of short hairs around my head. Maybe I will just do the G.I. Jane look and buy fake hair like the women here do who can afford it. Or maybe not.

One of the highlights of the conference for the girls was our guest speaker this year. Dama do Bling, a famous Mozambican female rapper, came to the conference to speak and then gave a performance later in the evening. She was chosen as the guest speaker because not only is she a hugely successful performer (she is known as the Lil Kim of Mozambique), but she is a certified lawyer. There are very few female lawyers in Mozambique (very few female professionals in general) and even fewer female role models for young girls. One of my favorite things about her (besides being incredibly nice and patient with the shyest of girls) is that she is starting her own clothing line of highly fashionable clothes made partially with capulanas (large pieces of colorful cloth the women here use for everything). Chique Chique. (chic in Portuguese)Caitlin, Abby, Gracey, and I having a little too much fun with a cardboard cutout at TOT (Training of Trainers) for REDES

Gracey and I and our cabin group

The three 11th grade girls Laura and I brought with us to the conferenceDama do Bling let a couple of the girls dance with her to her song "Remexe"

Since I missed Mardi Gras for the first time in 5 years, I decided to turn my favorite week of debauchery into one night. Here is a quick recap of the evening:

The Vilankulo Girls hosting our first "official" party.

I made King Cake (and a hat)

We played Beer Pong

Like I always say: Mardi Gras is a marathon, not a sprint.

Some people just can't handle the heat

(or maybe it was the hurricanes).

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

Africa is a far off and mysterious land where cats know what it means to be a cat...

Meet Cooper. Yummy Rats.

So, I figured it was about time to give you an update on my everyday life and more specifically what I do at work. To be honest with you, these past four weeks were really the first real work I have actually done so you have not missed anything exciting. The first five weeks I worked consisted of me reading hundreds (seriously 100+) pages of documents in Portuguese, other documents in English, reacquainting myself with Facebook, and online shopping (just ask Mastercard – they threatened to shut me down). Apparently when you are in Africa you cannot buy things online from the States because it makes it seem like a) you are no longer in Africa or b) someone stole your card. I personally think that they were being a little close minded. Just because I am in Mozambique does not mean that I cannot be a proud supporter of the U.S. economy.

Like I said before, I work at CARE International which is a big NGO (non-governmental organization). I work 8 – 5 Monday through Thursday with a one hour lunch break from 1 – 2 and 8 – 1:30 on Fridays. CARE's mission/vision is, in simple terms, to help women help themselves, their families, and the community at large. I am working/going to be working on three different projects. The first project is called Comprehensive Civil Society Responses to HIV/AIDS (COCISO) and is part of the broader OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) project. COCISO works with local CSOs (civil society organizations) to help them build their capacity to better serve their beneficiaries (or OVCs and their families or guardians). COCISO provides financial backing to help the CSOs implement sustainable programs that focus on prevention of HIV and impact mitigation. I will mostly be working with the M&E (monitoring and evaluation) supervisor to form the tools needed to monitor the number and types of activities that take place in each of the CSOs and later I will be helping crunch numbers in the evaluation process.

The second project I will be working on is the CDC funded Mais Vida (More Life) project. Mais Vida is a HIV and AIDS treatment program that focuses on ARV (Anti-retroviral) treatment in both adults and children, PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission), treatment of OIs (opportunistic infections) like TB and PCP (pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) that tend to come along with the onset of AIDS, and a community counseling and testing component. I have not officially begun my work with this project, but I am going to be involved in the community counseling and testing which I think is pretty exciting and challenging at the same time. Right now, I am helping re-write and edit the continuation application for funding from the CDC.

Finally, the project which has recently saved me from eternal boredom (internet surfing tends to get old if you can believe it) is called Crescer Bem (Grow Well) or Ku Kula Kuatsi in Xitswa (the local language in northern Inhambane). This project falls under the larger HIV/Education project that CARE is working on all over the world. So KKK (I know, I can’t believe it either. It needs a new name) or as I refer to it as the HIV/Educação project is going to be my main project. The HIV/Educação project focuses on keeping young girls in primary schools (focusing on girls in sixth and seventh grade, somewhere around 11 - 15 years old) especially those who have married young or are pregnant. The project will work in 20 EPC (Escola Primaria Completo – complete primary schools which are those that include sixth and seventh grade) in the Vilankulo district.

The first two weeks of “real work” I had were spent working on the baseline survey in seven of the twenty schools. Week one consisted of several days of training in interviewing skills for the group of eight men and women in their early to mid 20s hired to partake in the interviewing process. During this time all of the instruments (surveys) were translated into Xitswa. On Wednesday and Friday of week one, we went to two pilot schools (one rural and one urban) to test the instruments and get down a routine of how week two would work. During week two of the baseline survey, we went to a different EPC everyday (three rural and two urban schools). My primary role in the baseline survey was to help the consultant keep things running smoothly (she was American who spoke perfect Portuguese, which was pretty exciting because there are not that many Americans floating around in Moz or very many ex-pats in general are able to speak the local language). I was also able to take part in the classroom observations which was really fun and exciting. The main point of classroom observations is to try to get an idea of the gender relations in the classroom and how the teacher reacts depending on whether he or she is interacting with a boy or a girl. During the two weeks, I sat in on two math classes, one visual arts class, a class on natural fabrics vs. synthetic (?), a morality and civil duty class, one Portuguese class, and two English classes. My favorite classes to watch were definitely the English classes. I think it was so good for me in so many different ways. First of all, it gave me an idea of the pace and level the kids were learning English. Secondly, it was fun to watch and listen to the students interact with each other in English and to see them actually enjoying doing so. Finally, I realized that when people come up to me and begin every conversation with “my sista” (which really annoys me to no end) it is not because they are trying to speak some version of American slang to be cool, it is because it is what they learn in school. That was a needed reality check and is a huge relief (well kind of, except how many generations of Mozambicans will learn to call mulungu women “my sista?”).

Here are a few pictures of some of the schools I visited over the past two weeks. I have even included a little multiple choice question for the end in case you are losing interest.

Which of these classrooms is the most suitable for a group of 40-90 Mozambican students?

A)

B)

C)

D)

Correct Answer: D

Not only is this building material (wood and canhiso) much cheaper than the concrete fancy classrooms, it is 100% cooler. The temperature in week two hovered right around the 40°C (104°F) mark. Granted, these classrooms will have to be replaced sooner than the concrete ones, but I easily would trade 50 minutes of intense sweating (the kind where sweat rolls down from your forehead, into your eyes, down your nose, and onto your notebook where you are trying to listen and take notes, but all you can think about is escaping the hot oven you are being forced to sit in all day) for one week of rebuilding a classroom. No contest.

p.s. February 2nd was my five month anniversary of my arrival in Moz.

My Hut/Home

The top of the grassy hill in my compound (my "frontyard")

and my colleague´s house

The beachgate (there is a coral patch right in front, but there is a swimming

area about a two minute walk from my house)

Photo by Courtney Alev(she also took the photo in my blog headline at sunrise) Simba

Christmas Dinner (From left back to right: Vic, Anthony, Courtney, and Emily)

My house in Namaacha where I spent the first ten weeks of my life here in Moz

Casa de Banho

My "Toilet" (which I secretly loved)

My mãe, Brigeta, in the sala (living room/dining room)

My brother Chris, his wife Zelia, and their children Wilson (5) and Sarah (1mo)

Sarah (or as I like to call her Sarita)

Zelia and Sarah

Tia e sobrinha

My family (they insisted that the wheelbarrow I bought them be in the picture)

Bettie (one of my favorite Bairro 25 de Septembre kids)Casa Dos Dois - our favorite hangout spot after "school"Swearing InAbby, Gracey and I with our two language teachers: Carlos and EmidioCourtney (my roommate), me, Michelle, Laura (my sitemate), Caitlin, Abby (bottom row) Liz G., Little Liz, Gracey, Charlotte

So you are probably wondering “what does happen when you get exactly what you want?” Well, I now have the highest authority to answer this pressing question for you . . . you get mugged. Yes, that’s right, you get mugged. Before I indulge you with the dirty details of this incident, let me back up three weeks. Like I said before, on November 22, a beautiful baby girl was named after me. Crazy right? I am so lucky. Then on our pseudo-Thanksgiving on Wednesday November 26 (weird right? Why couldn’t we have it on Thursday?), I found out I get to live in paradise (not even my own word for it) for the next two years. Again, I am super lucky. So, as you can probably tell, training had been going really well for me so far. Then, on the night of our huge homestay party, it happened. It was a dark and rainy moonless night and one of my friends and I were walking back home around 8 p.m. I was using my cell phone as a flashlight because we couldn’t see anything and our walk home is down a rocky dirt path. When I say we couldn’t see anything, I totally mean it. All of the billions of light bulbs and streetlights in the States have ruined my night vision. To top it all off, I was wearing my Rainbows (leather flip flops) which are the most useless shoes when it rains even on paved roads. So we were about ten minutes away from my house when a guy wearing a jacket with the hood pulled up (typical right?) walked past us going up the hill. I glanced over my shoulder and watched the guy turn around. As this point, I pretty much knew what was coming. All of a sudden, he grabs me and I, like any other sister who use to wrestle constantly with my brother, tucked my cell phone under the crook of my arm and rolled to the ground. We struggled for about a minute before I had the rational idea to just let go because he obviously wasn’t going to and my cell phone was really crappy and not worth all of the trouble. Probably the funniest thing about the situation was that I was screaming my favorite choice words to this guy in English (really helpful, I know) and my friend was slapping him across the back and yelling “deixa, deixa” or “leave it, leave it” at the top of her lungs. Afterwards, she looked really freaked out and I stood up, wiped the mud off the left side of my body, and was suddenly pissed off because instead of hand washing my clothes the next day, I had to go to Maputo and buy a new cell phone. Really rational thinking, I know.

Since then, I have moved into my very African-looking large canhiso hut, equipped with electricity and running water (including a shower with good water pressure) and celebrated Christmas on the beach with some of my new friends. It was a very merry Christmas, although it did not really feel like Christmas.

Although it may not seem like it, I am trying really hard to post pictures, but I emailed my parents two pictures and it took 40 minutes. Needless to say, internet is expensive and I am not exactly high-rollin’ right now, but I am hoping to upload some pictures at my office within the next few weeks.

Hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My new address for the next two years:

Sarah Hedges

Corpo da Paz

Vilankulo

Mozambique

On November 22 in Namaacha Mozambique, a beautiful baby girl with the longest curly hair I have ever seen on a newborn was born with the fabulous (albeit slightly overused) name Sarah. She weighs just under 4 kilos, which I am told is really good, and has big beautiful brown eyes. It is such an incredible honor that my family named their newest bundle of joy after me even though it has only been a little over two months since they have known me. It's amazing that it only takes two months and a lot of laughing through awkward miscommunications to really feel like part of a family. It is also really funny to think that I am an "aunt" and that my 21 year old brother was the one who made me one!! Obviously, this is not Jeff, my 21 year old brother in the States, but Chris, my brother here. And no, in case you were wondering, my biological clock is not ticking any faster. I am content with playing the "hold her when she is happy and give her back to mommy when she a. cries or b. fazer xixi (makes pee)." So needless to say, my homestay family experience has been extremely successful and I don't think I could have ever been placed with a more loving or generous family.

P.S. I have a new address coming in the next week or two that will be my permanent address for the next two years! My future site/home is in Vilankulos in the Inhambane Province. I will be working for CARE (yay!!) and my backyard is the beach!!! I swear-in as a real PCV(olunteer) on Wednesday and move into my new home with my new roommate, Courtney, next Monday!

I cannot believe it has been over a month since I have arrived in Africa and moved in with my homestay family. So much has happened since then. October was probably the longest month of my life because everything I did and said (because it was in Portuguese) was new and some days seemed to just creep by. Speaking of Portuguese, I have a correction to make from my last blog entry. I did not, in fact, bomb my language test like I thought I did. Apparently, four and a half year old Spanish (I haven't taken it since my first semester freshman year of college) and a half-ass attempt at Rosetta Stone is enough to place me into the intermediate Portuguese class. Another really exciting fact is that I am now proficient enough in Portuguese to become an official Peace Corps Volunteer instead of just a Trainee and can begin to take a local language class. So once again, so far so good.

Over the past four weeks that I have been living in Namaacha, I have learned a few simple truths that I would like to share with you.

1. "Lancha" is not a cute word for lunch.

The very first day of school my sister-in-law (25 years old, 9 months pregnant, and married to my 21 year old brother - they have a five year old son) packed me a banana, a fried egg, french fries, and a juice box for lancha. So, like any rational human being (or so I thought), I assumed that this was my lunch because it was so much food. At noon, however, my brother showed up at school with a picnic basket full of rice, chicken, and bread. Needless to say, I felt so guilty when I sent him home with all of the food after he walked thirty minutes uphill to bring it to me.

2. Pouco janta means just that, "little dinner."

So once again, I made another food faux pas. In my experience (two very key words), going hungry in Africa is not something that I will be experiencing (Peace Corps pays our families extremely well so that they can turn us into healthy "um pouco forte" adults). The second day of school, I came home and "ate dinner" with my dad. We had tea, salad, potatoes, bread, and an egg. I was a little confused why only the two of us were eating, but I figured that everyone else was either busy or not at home (but, my mom and sister-in-law were at home so I was even more confused). After dinner, I got up to go outside and brush my teeth and my family was staring at me like I was crazy. Eventually, after they stopped laughing, they explained to me that I had not just eaten dinner, but the snack that comes before dinner. Luckily, I did not have to sit down and eat actual dinner, but ever since then I have been extremely careful not to eat anything substantial before dinner.

3. My open air banho is a nice place for reflection and my replacement weather channel.

Every morning in the States, I love to get up and turn on the weather channel so that I can dress appropriately. If you have ever lived in New Orleans, you will understand why it is so important. Sometimes, I would even do the significantly less trustworthy, hand against the window test. I feel infinitely lucky (and sometimes unlucky when it is cold out) to have a roofless casa de banho where I take my bucket baths. I have gotten really good at determining whether it is going to be a cold and windy day, when it will rain, or when it is going to be extremely hot. I also have this incredible view over the valley and across the Swaziland border to keep me occupied. There is a downside, however, that I try not to think about too much when I am banho-ing. I can see one of the other volunteer’s front doors when I look out to the right over the top of my casa de banho. Every time one of her family members (who happen to be my family too technically) walks outside, I get a pretty good look of exactly who it is. I keep hoping that my slightly bronzed farmer's tan keeps me from becoming a bright white beacon of light (keep you fingers crossed for me!).

4. One verb can change everything.

One day in class we learned this verb that I knew held great potential for the future. The verb, acostumar, means "to become accustomed to" or "to get use to." One thing that I have not yet become entirely accustomed to is waking up before 6:30 am every day of the week. The second weekend at my homestay family, my mom woke me up at 5:30 am to help with some of the household chores. When she first knocked on the door, I thought that it must have been a mistake because it was way too early to get up on a Saturday and I didn't even have class until 7:30. So about five minutes later she knocked again and I grudgingly got out of bed. That afternoon, I decided to take action and try to get a little extra sleep on the weekends (especially on Sunday when I don't have class). So I went home and told my mom that "in America it is customary to sleep in on Sunday mornings until right before church starts." The results exceeded my every expectation. That night, my mom asked me what time I wanted to be woken up the next morning and I said "9:30." She laughed and was probably thinking that she must have gotten the laziest PC trainee ever, but did not knock on my door at all the next morning. I ended up waking up before 8 am and helping around the house, but ever Sunday since, I have gotten to "sleep-in" as late as I want.

5. Sex Ed. is funny in every language.

You know that TV show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" I've only seen it once, but always felt really sorry for the "professional" adults who were, in fact, not as smart as a fifth grader. Recently, I have had my own similar experience. I really like to think that I am a lot more mature than I use to be in 7th grade when I had my first sex education class, but now, unfortunately I am not so sure. I remember when they split us into boys and girls and we all were sitting there trying not to giggle or feel too embarrassed. Of course, I had both giggled uncontrollably and felt super embarrassed. So 10 years later, I find myself once again in the same situation (minus the embarrassment) and I am, once again, giggling uncontrollably. In my defense, having sex ed in Portuguese is different than in English because of the extra spice that comes with every romance languages´ accent. But, the icing on the cake has to be the fact that our book concluded with this sentence: "A vagina e magico." Enough said.

Here's my phone number in case you ever want to call or text me: 011-258-82-819-8138

p.s. it would be really great to know who the new president is exactly when it happens since today is the first day I have seen CNN or any other U.S. news on TV and I am a election junkie

The strangest thing happened yesterday on the bus ride from the airport in Maputo (the capital of Mozambique) to the hotel we are staying in. I notice this kid walking down the street with a couple of his friends wearing a Razorback red shirt that said "Go Hogs!" So I, of course, being the spirited fan that I am, stood up on the bus, pointed out the window, and started calling the Hogs. It was pretty amazing.

So, as you probably guessed, I made it to Africa and even to Mozambique. So far everything is pretty much how I expected it to be. I have had a couple of shots (fortunately a lot less than most people), failed my language test miserably, and made some new friends. So far so good. Sunday, we move into our host family's home which should be really interesting and challenging. Then, ten intense weeks of cramming as much new information into my brain as possible. Should be pretty exciting!

A very wise RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) told me that I had to read Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist because it was on the top 10 book list of her PC group in Bangladesh. I decided that since she had passed down so much of her PC knowledge and wisdom to me, that I would take another piece of her advice and read it.

So here is an excerpt to help clarify the title of my blog:

"The boy didn't know what a person's "Personal Legend" was."

"It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend"

None of what the old man was saying made much sense to the boy. But he wanted to know what the "mysterious force" was; the merchant's daughter would be impressed when he told her about that!

"It's a force that appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your Personal Legend. It prepares your spirit and your will, because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth."

(The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho, pages 21 - 22)

So I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who made it to either one of my parties and to those who couldn't come, but wished me well. Thank you so much for taking the time to say goodbye and good luck! If you ever get bored or lonely or just feel like writing, I love mail!! Here's my temporary address from now until December 11, 2008.

Sarah Hedges, PCT

Peace Corps

C.P. 4398

Maputo, Mozambique

Don't forget to write par avion on your letters!