8 months! I can't believe I haven't posted anything in 8 months!! Well, there really is no good way to catch you up on life here. I apologize for NOT writing. You see, if you know me well, you might know that I LOVE to journal. In fact, I journal almost every day. But, it is hard for me (for some reason) to get on the computer and type out things that are going on in my life. I'm not good at blogging like my love, Michael is. Not to mention my camera was smashed to PIECES in an accident I was in when we were in Tanzania.

Though I have no pictures to post right now, I want to share sad news and good news. As you might know Michael and I went to Florida for about 3 weeks, end of January to mid Feb. We had a wonderful time! It was so good to be back in the states for a while and to see my mom and Al and one of my best friends Katie Koz. It was also SO terrific to finally meet the rest of Michael's family and some of his closest friends. I love them all and can't wait to be NEAR them!! Well, if you want more details on our fantastic time in the states, you have to ask for it! ;)

I wanted to share with you quickly that good and sad news I mentioned earlier. (It did relate to our trip to America, haha that wasn't a total tangent, though it was...a little bit) So, before we left for America, I had been living in Morrumbala for over a year. In that time I became good friends with some of my neighbors in my community, my "bairro" of M'Bobo. I'm particularly closest with two families, the family that is directly next to my house and the family who lives right behind my house. The news all relates to the family that lives in the house behind mine.

I stop by their house everyday, sometimes for a long while, we sit and play cards and sometimes just a quick hello. I grew very fond of the two daughters that lived here with their parents. The oldest was Nina, she was 23 years old and her younger sister is Sarah, she is 19 years old. I used to just sit with Nina and Sarah, sometimes talking and other times just sitting. Silently enjoying one another's company under the mango tree. Nina was really into fashion and she would always ask me to bring her pictures to look at, and she was even a part of the sewing group that my other neighbor Lina and I had started. Nina was young, and so sweet. She was getting more and more sick as time went on. As her health was deteriorating, I was unsure how to approach the situation.

Working with Save the Children I am constantly going out with local volunteers, Activistas, and visiting people who are very ill. That has always been draining on me, very emotionally draining. But I was going out with the Activistas to try and see how they could improve their home visits with the ill people that they were weekly visiting because that is what Save the Children asked me to do. Though I was doing that 4 days out of the week, it didn't prepare me for how to deal with Nina. Nina was my friend. She was my age. From what I had seen of people living with HIV/AIDs I was convinced that Nina would test positive for it.

It was hard to ever get Nina alone, someone was always around. I wanted to talk with her. And when I finally managed to talk with her alone once, she said she took the test and was negative. She claimed it was malaria and she was taking medications for it. I tried to talk to her mom, her mom didn't want to talk though. What do you do? There is medication to help you live a good and long life, but you have to be willing to take the medication. You must be willing to accept what you have. Nina wasn't willing. I spoke with co-workers and friends (without giving away who she was) about what can I DO?! They all suggested to keep trying to talk with her and/or her parents and talk to a mutual friend, someone Nina has known longer who can talk to her. Ok, great, I thought. I will talk to Lina, my closest friend at site who is also so close with Nina. She knows the situation already and maybe Nina or Nina's family will listen to her.....

In the mean time, the good news is also happening. Sarah, Nina's younger sister is pregnant and she is getting ready to have the baby, this is in January and she is gonna pop soon. This will be her first child, and she is married and she is so excited. Sarah is young, but I'm thankful that she is married to a nice, young man. And Sarah is going to continue going to school, her family is going to help her take care of her baby so that she can finish up her education.

Sarah is pregnant, full of life and glowing. Nina is sick, and looks like she is wanting to leave this life. My heart was so torn when I was visiting them. On one hand I was so excited for the baby to arrive, on the other hand, I so desperately wanted Nina to start taking treatment.

I spoke with Lina, and she said she also tried talking to Nina. Lina said that Nina didn't want to take any medications. She was going to get better on her own or she wouldn't. My heart was so saddened. You can't force a person to do something they don't want to do. But I just wanted her to understand, that if she did NOT take medication, she would NOT just get better. Once we talked with Nina about that, I was at a loss.

One week till we are leaving for the states and out comes the baby. And here is the great news, that makes me smile to think about. The family asked ME to name the baby! I was so thrilled that they would give me the honor of naming their first baby. =) Often, people have many babies here, so after a few it might be more common to ask for someone else to name the baby, but their first child! Wow! =) So I thought about it for quite some time, and thought the babie's name should be....

Noah.

They loved it! They decided that would be his name, Noah. Still makes me smile. I say goodbye to Noah and the family as I am leaving for my trip back to the states. Not knowing what it would be like when I returned. I told Lina to keep trying to talk to Nina and her family.

Well, a month later, I was back. The first news I get was that Nina had passed away. I couldn't hold back the tears. My friend. I couldn't help but wonder what could I have done differently? What more could I have done? I miss her. Her presence is missed in the community. I know I did what I could, and it's not my fault, but maybe that is normal to think about when someone you care about passes away.

I still go to their house everyday. Noah is healthy and chubby. He brings joy to my life. Sometimes when I am feeling low, I go to the house behind mine and I go to hold Noah. He is so small, so fragile, so innocent, so beautiful. I feel so attached to him.

Life and death. Both are a part of life. It's just so hard when the person who dies is so young, and you know that they didn't have to die yet.....

And so there you have it, Nina and Noah. Two people whom I will never forget, not for the rest of my life.

Have you watched glee!? It is my favorite! Sometimes after a really long, hard day I go home, pop some popcorn (new fav snack) and I watch glee! It makes me kinda sad that a whole new season is about to begin and yet, I won’t get to watch it till prob 2011! =/ boo! Ok, I was also just listening to the soundtrack from the show, lol, hence I might be thinking about it as I write this…BUT I also feel glee in my life right now! Hence, I entitle this blog entry, glee!

Sometimes, so much is happening here in Mozambique I feel at a loss of what to blog about, which is silly because there is prob so much you want to know….that perhaps to me has now become ‘normal.’ Let me give myself some direction by coming up with a few topics below, to update you on (give me ideas for future ones!)

Random? For example, the typical meat people eat here in Moz is goat. And where I live, goats are in abundance, and you can get a good sized one for about 500 meticais (which right now = about $14.00), but for the average person living here, including us PCVs that IS expensive. So one buys a goat perhaps for a very special occasion (like when I bought one for my birthday back in April). Well, when you buy animals here, you buy them…alive. Yes, alive. This is a little different than going to the supermarket and getting all your meat in a nice, neat little package. So while you are here in Moz, you will see, most likely on a daily basis, a goat, or even 2 goats, strapped to a bicycle. =) At first, this seemed strange to me. Goats hanging on a bike? That looks silly! I have also seen a goat in the driver position of the bike and chickens hanging from the handle bars. Yup! Just normal here! Lol so, if those are some of the kind of stories you are looking for…haha…let me know! ;)

Work? Let me tell you about job stuff….things are good. I FINALLY feel like I have found a routine. I go out with Activistas, who are local volunteers who get paid a small stipend once a month. The Activistas visit beneficiaries of the Home Based Care branch of Save the Children. So, in the mornings I go and visit beneficiaries with the Activistas, usually chronically ill persons, and often people living with HIV/AIDs. I am doing basic monitoring and evaluation of the Activistas, trying to help Save the Children improve this area of Home Based Care. It’s emotionally and mentally super draining! Poverty is everywhere here, but going to then visit people who are so sick, who are just trying to survive, can’t afford medication often, is very challenging. The disparity in the world is beyond my understanding. Extremely rich people and extremely poor. I’m constantly praying for God to give me the strength or the words to visit these people in the mornings, to make someone smile. The role of the Activistas is basically them helping the beneficiaries in whatever way that means, could mean taking them to the hospital, making sure they take meds if/when they are supposed to, giving baths, they are the “helper” and they also are just there to offer support overall, even just to visit and talk with these people who are sick about…life. I can only handle visiting a few houses a day.

Then in the afternoons I have different projects, for example, on Monday afternoon I’m teaching English to a few people, it’s open to anyone, but only the dedicated come. Then this month and the next I’m working with 5 kids and 2 counterparts on an English Theater Project, where the theme is “Be the Change.” We are doing a play on HIV/AIDs and we will be performing it in early October in front of lots of people. And also me and Lena, my best friend and neighbor here, are trying to start up a small sewing project for women, to encourage and teach women ways of earning money other than selling their bodies, which is sadly VERY common here…..So that is kinda what my days look like. I try to do Save the Children related things in the mornings, and my own, personal projects in the afternoons. Job stuff is going good

New? I had a cat, for 3 days. I don’t like cats. But Bobo, he is good =)

ps. I will write a reminder to myself, to write a whole blog entry on our time in Tanzania! That is something important, new, and just, FUN!! =)

I don’t think I remember how to blog. I journal every single day, and yet I’m at a loss when it comes to blogging. Maybe it is because when I journal I don’t have to censor anything, whereas with blogging, I feel the need to censor…everything! =) Then I find myself wondering, who IS reading this anyways? I know that Michael is, hey Michael how goes it? For everyone else, I suggest that you don’t go to Michael’s page after being on mine, because mine will look so sad in comparison. I haven’t written anything on here since when? Definitely before my birthday, but really there is no way I can try to catch you up on everything that has been going on since the last time I blogged….so I’ll just tell you about most recent events, how’s about it? Let’s start with today, May 24, 2010…. I met the President of Mozambique, Mr. Guebuza himself. That is one way to start off the work week! Mr. Guebuza has been going all over the country, visiting different Provinces and Districts. Some of his visits are longer than others. I didn’t even know I was going to get to meet him until this morning. I got to the office and saw the boss of my office here at Save The Children, Morrumbala, looking very dressed up in his suit. I inquired why he looked so “chique” (good-looking basically) and he said he was going to welcome the President who would be arriving in an hour or so by helicopter. “O” I say, “Can I come?” Baslucas’ replies, “Sure.” =) I quickly remember I didn’t bring my camera to the office, and I know that I’m going to want to snatch some photos up, so I ask if we can stop at my house on the way to where Mr. President would be landing. Within 20 minutes, my camera is in hand and we are driving to the open field where thousands of people are flooding to get a glimpse of Guebuza. When we get there it is packed! People have come in from all over, and there are groups singing and dancing, holding huge banners, and cameras are filming everything for the news program that will come on later today. Basilicas asks where we should stand, and we are led through the crowd, and we are directed to a certain location near the front of the line. The “line” is made up of people who hold different positions in the District, and I was surprised that we, Basilicas and I got to stand so near the local community leaders. Now that we are that close I KNOW without a doubt that I would be shaking hands with Guebuza himself. Chants grow louder and louder as the helicopters begin to stream in. 5 huge helicopters land near us, and there is a 6th one coming in, Mr. President’s helicopter. I was so excited to get to be a part of this day, and I felt a rush of excitement as the last helicopter landed and the doors opened. After greeting the Administrator of Morrumbala (yes the one who came to my 23rd birthday party!! Haha) and other government leaders here, Guebuza began to make his way down the line. He shook hands with everyone, as the person proudly said their name and what/whom they represent….he’s getting closer…ah the President of Mozambique is two people away from me…Basilicas reminds me to say my name, first and last, and to say that I’m with Corpo de Paz, Peace Corps. He shakes hand with Basilicas, who is on my right, first, Basilicas introduces himself and says he is from Save the Children. Now Guebuza is in front of me, haha, and I was able to say, Amanda James; Corpo De Paz, even WITH the cameras in my face! I hope I can see the news later on because I’m so sure that my face is going to be on the National News! =) haha too bad TV’s are hard to come by here in the village. The morning came and went. He made his way down the line, and toured the village with the Administrator and the other high ups. And then after his tour, he was driven by the crowds once more as he was waving goodbye. As quickly as he came, he was gone. The helicopters left one by one, and they were off to the next District. It was a really great experience. Mozambican flags flying everywhere. Songs about uniting the country. Chants about freedom from the Portuguese. People were lit up with joy. It was a really cool thing to witness and I felt honored to be able to be in that line, and get to greet the President of Mozambique. I have my political opinions, but I’m not going to share them here, this is me censoring! =) I can put my personal opinions aside, and say that is was another amazing thing that has happened in my experience in the Peace Corps Mozambique, something I will never forget! I met the President Guebuza of Mozambique…and I’d say….that is pretty awesome! Ok, that all happened just this morning! So now you understand half of the title of this entry, but what about the second part, “Monkeys”? =) Well, maybe you have recently seen my status on facebook? It says, “Someone offered me a monkey today. I went & saw it & it’s awesome! It grew up w/people. Opinions on Amanda accepting the offer of the monkey?” and this post of mine has received more comments than anything I’ve ever posted (I think!) haha I guess lots of people had opinions on the subject! Well, let me start off by saying, that in the Peace Corps we aren’t supposed to have a monkey. So…it would live at my neighbor’s house, but then I’d be the one feeding it and I’d get to see it every day. I could babysit it….right?! Is it right to take a monkey? I mean isn’t that mean? Well, if someone doesn’t take this monkey it’s going to die. See, the woman who now has it took it from the mato because she said she found the monkey alone, and it was so little that she didn’t want to just leave it there because she thought it’d die there. But, as you know, poverty is a big problem here in Mozambique. This woman who took the monkey barely has enough money to feed HER family, let alone a monkey! So this cute little thing goes days sometimes without eating, which is why the woman wants to give it away to a home that can provide better for it. I went to see the little guy, and it is SO cute! It is so human like it is crazy. It’s little hands and the way it guarder (keeps) food in its’ lower cheecks….o so cute! But, Amanda, you can’t have a monkey! You can barely care for your dog Bobo. I remember reading that if you ever wonder if you’re ready for kids or not, you first must get a plant and keep it for..a while..keep it alive and well. I now have a rather successful garden. Ok, great. Then, after you can keep a plant, you are supposed to be able to care for a dog…well I got the dog =/ but Bobo has helped me learn (what I already knew) I’m nowhere NEAR ready for kids! Haha I don’t have the patience to train Bobo, so he is a bit unruly. Have you seen the movie “Marley and Me”? Bobo reminds me of Marley! Haha so we now know 1. Amanda is NOT ready for children! 2. Amanda having another pet, let alone a MONKEY…might be not the smartest idea. I hear that they throw poop, and I definitely wouldn’t have patience for that kinda shit (literally! =) But I also don’t want the monkey to starve to death….so I’m open to your suggestions on what I should do. It is habituated to living with persons and eating people food at this point. So if we put it BACK where it was found, in the mato, it would die….not to mention…what if the thing BIT me!? Do vaccines for monkeys exist? Here in Mozambique? No, probably not, which is probably why the Peace Corps forbids us to have a monkey…. Presidents and Monkeys. That is the news on my end! =) Bobo is fine; he likes to make a bed out of the trash pit in the back of my house. I continue to find ways to decorate my house even though I keep saying “I’m done!” I can’t help it. I never knew how much I enjoy it! English class this afternoon, people keep wanting to PAY me for the classes! But I say no, I tell them to give me fruit instead! =) O in case you didn’t know…I’m going to Tanzania in July!!!! Yup, its Peace Corps approved so it’s official. I’m going with another Peace Corps Volunteer, Michael (the guy with the really good blog that makes mine look sad!) and we are meeting up with his mom, Laurie. I’m SO excited! We are gonna be there for 2 WEEKS! We are going to fly from Nampula, as opposed to taking a bug mostly to save time. We are going all over Tanzania, including Zanzabar and a 6 day safari in the Serengeti! =) Ah that is what I’m MOST looking forward to! I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go on a safari! And my first one is going to be in the Serengeti, I couldn’t have planned it on my own better! Instead, everything has fallen into being, so terrific! Well, my reader, my time of writing for now is over. Hope you enjoyed reading this; I’d hate to think I write all this and NO ONE reads it! =/ I would probably cry and never blog again! This might be the longest blog I’ve written yet, so hopefully it didn’t bore. Goodbye Mr. President, Ate Logo Mr. Monkey, Ciao todos!

Ok, so...there is good news and bad news. Bad news first? Ok well....I havent gotten any packages from friends or family that was sent to me, well I did get ONE from my mom but that was back in November. I almost gave up on the mailing system here, but I had friends who were getting packages, so I decided to test a diff address. Michael let me use his address to see if a package my mom sent would go through...and here is the GOOD news...IT DID!! The package my mom sent got here in TWO MONTHS! It made my MONTH to get this package!! So, please, I hope you havent given up on the system because getting ANYTHING in the mail is SO wonderful, truly it is. And Im sorry for the fact that I havent gotten the other things that you prob put much love into, lets pray those are just...delayed and I will eventually get them (pray they werent TOO lost or stolen!) BUT the new address is:

Amanda James, PCVCorpo da PazC.P 130Quelimane, Mozambique So, send me something to this, and I bet Ill get it soon!! =) Will of course let you know!! ps. sorry this is a brief message but I will try to write a better, more detailed blog next time (like my friend Michael, who is so good at keeping up with his blog, even adding crazy things to it, like a chappa clock, things im not nerdy enough to know how to do) =) lol all in love...all in love!

Yesterday was a good day. I went to church with Ofalia, a neighbor of mine, her son Sameul (2) and another neighbor, Angela (8). The church was a typical mud hut that is very common around here. It is small, has one window, and two doors. Not too much ventilation inside of it for the 60 or so people who grew to fill it. And oddly, right when the singing and dancing started up, they CLOSED the doors =/ Air? Not much! But, the music being made, by the two drums and the voices of the congregation were so beautiful that no amount of sweat could have distracted me. It was truly music to my ears, in the most wonderful sense of that saying. When I was in there I thought, these folks get it. It's not about the building, the decorations, the equipment, your clothes, how many bible studies you've led, or how many passages you memorize. Faith is simple. Or at least, it should be. Faith is singing and dancing because you know that you are Beloved and you know that your neighbor is as well. Faith is recognizing the Divine and the Divinity in each and every individual. Why must we so often complicate everything? Stop focusing on WHAT we call God. Stop aruging about everything there is to argue about and let LOVE.

Ok, tangent over =) They had Ofalia, my friend I came with, introduce me to the church. She did and then came my turn to speak. Surprisingly, they all somehow understood my Portuguese. I told them my name and that I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer from the United States of America working as a Community Health Volunteer at Save the Children. The reaction I got lit up my face and still makes me smile! Hallelujahs and Amens and Xena the Warrior Princess' type cries filled the air. People in the room were unfamiliar with Peace Corps, since I'm the first Volunteer at this particular site, but they know Save the Children well and obviously appreciate the work they do in Morrambala. After the cheers were over, I took my seat back on the wooden bench. Soon after they were collecting offering, and I saw very poor people going up to the front, giving. Though what they gave might appear small, I realized how large a sum it actually is for most. And of course, being me, I forgot to bring my bag, thus I had no money, not even ONE met (which = LESS than 1 penny! And ps. you CAN buy food for ONE met.) Well, during the offering many people went to the front to give one or two mets. I sat and quietly took it all in. And then a man came up to me. He smiled and handed me 1 met. He motioned for me to go up to the front to offer this piece. He included me. It was a small act, but it showed so much beauty.

3 hours later from the time it began, goodbyes started. Every single person was greeted and wished blessings with a hand shake. I felt so welcome by this church, by these people. Though I'd only been there one time, I felt connected. It was a good morning! =)

Ok, now if I may, I would like to jump to last night. Let me paint the picture. I'm laying in my bed, under my mosquito net, feeling so glee that the bugs can't reach me in there. Then, I hear...a noise...from up above...on my tin roof. Incase you are unaware, let me rewind to the night where I became easily jumpy thereafter.

Over a week ago now, my friend Zach's brand new MAC laptop was stolen out of my bedroom during the wee hours of the morning. The robber cut through the mosquito netting on the window, opened the latch, then the window. He slipped his arm in through the grates ever so quietly, reached inside and grabbed the silver prize, which was where it never should have been in the first place, by the window, a very tempting place for all robbers around here. All of this was occuring about 4 feet from where I lay...SLEEPING!! =/ That experience scared me enough to get a dog, who is actually a small child locked in a puppy I've named Bobom not much of the ferocious, scary type of canine I was hoping for. I also decided to pay to get better grates installed on all my windows, harder for someone to reach in their arm, even a hand. Ok, house = more secure. BUT I hear this noise on my tin roof get louder and LOUDER. My first thought is...someone is ON my roof. Then, No, it'd be much louder if it were a person. But what IS it then?

Note: I have two lights that I turn on every night, one in the front of the house and one in the back. The lights are supposed to help keep robbers away. Well, thankfully it has been raining here, but the downside (besides the fact that the downpour continues INSIDE my house =( ) are the bugs that come with the rain. First, the mosquitos come and God only knows how much I loathe them! But, these OTHER bugs, apparently there is no name for them in Portuguese, but I was told that in Sienna, the local dialect they are called SIEENA WORD FOR BUG. I also learned the other day that peop le eat these bugs, a snack, similarly to the way you'd pop some trail mix in your mouth =) nice and crunchy! I will try it...and let you know how tasty they are! These bugs ONLY and ALWAYS come after the rain and they have a love obsession with all lights, particularly the lights around MY house. They must be blind, so they see this bright light, and they must get to it.....they gravitate to the light like people gravitate towards turkey on Thanksgiving. That noise grows louder...what is it? What do I do?

I get out from under the safety of my bug trap around my bed, tip toe to the front window, and move the curtain just enough to peak outside. In the darkness of night, with the only visible light being the one in front of my house, a cloud of white, moving back and forth is so large that I can't believe my eyes. Can it be? I squint my eyes to make the view more clear. Thousands of these bugs are swarming my house. I go to the back window and there too peak out. There are so many of these bugs here too that I can't see anything else. The noise that frightened me, was in all actuality thousands of bugs flying around, on, into my house. =/ Gross! These bugs are so strange! Their wings fall off and their bodies completly disappear, no joke. I decided to turn off the outdoor lights, hoping that they would leave in search of new light. As I had guessed these dumb bugs must have been so confused...the clatter grew quieter, till it was just a whisper. Smiling, I crawled back into my net, thinking I'd outsmarted them! =)

The next morning when I opend the doors, leaving the grates with the net still closed of course - I wasn't too surprised to see their leftovers. Thousands upon thousands of WINGS decorated my yard. Where did their bodies go? Who knows-it truly is a mystery. But my yard nonetheless did become their tombstone (note the picture!)

On the topic of bugs, would you say I've adjusted to life here if I've come to accept the bugs accompany my oatmeal every morning? Daily I pour the oats, add some honey and water and little, dead bugs float around. I still have to eait it though. I think if I didn't eat food that didn't have at least some bugs in it, I wouldn't eat at all. It is extra protein right?! Life in M'bala, Zambezia, Mozambique-it's quite the love/hate relationship. Reminds me of Katie Perrie's song "Hot n Cold" yup, that is how I feel about being here...=) Until next time

Love the bug killer,

Amanda

I just re-read that blog from almost two weeks ago, and as true as it was at the time, things have gotten better. Like I said, it is truly the ultimate rollercoaster! Right now it is Sunday, and it's been a lazy morning. I am in the Save the Children guest house in Quelimane laying in bed in the comfort of air conditioner, stepping out of this room feels like I'm entering a sauna! =/ I got here yesterday and leave tomorrow for Mopeia, the other site that has an office in Zambezia besides mine. Those of us in the Home Based Care branch are having meetings and trainings there for the whole week, mostly for the new activistas.

Things in Morrambala have improved a lot! I finally moved into my house, and started to decorate asap. I started to meet a few neighbors, and one of them so happens to be a carpentar, Paulino, and he helped me hammer nails into my walls to hang things. I know how to hammer, in America, lol, but here it's not so easy, of course! When I nail things into the walls all the nails bend, sometimes they bend even when Paulino is pouning them in, but for the most part they obey his better trained hands. Tape doesn't stick to the walls at all, I realized that after taping up a bunch of pictures of friends and family. I'd wake up and find 5 pictures on the ground. Decided it was time to hammer them into the wall. They haven't fallen down sense. With Paulino's help my walls are no longer bare naked, I have things to stare. And I have more pictures hanging up then I ever have before. Ha-that reminds me, Paulino was looking at my pictures, and he asked me if everyone in America was beautiful because everyone in all my pictures were! =) So if you're up haning in my living room, "hallway," or bedroom (which you prob are if you're reading this) people here think you are beautiful! ;)

Then there is this other neighbor, her name is Lena. She lives alone in a mud house, with a straw roof. I haven't met many people up to this point who live alone, I assumed she was def older than me, she seems to mature. Find out one night as we went on a walk, she is only 22 as well! Crazy! She is very sweet, always asks me to come sit in the shade at her house and offers me mangos. PS mangos are overwhelmingly in stock here in Zambezia. Lots of other foods are hard to find, everything depends on the season. I hear we are coming up on avacado season though, o how I hope my site has some! But ya, mangos are everywhere! I wish apples and bananas were everywhere, they are hard to find outside of Quelimane. Plus it has just been so darn DRY here, so hot! No rain, so everything is drying up. People's machambas, which is their plot of land that they grow food on for their families, and hopefully have left overs to sell on the street, well their machambas are dying. Pray for rain, people here need it. And when I say they need it, they don't need it like I need Starbucks, they need it to feed their kids, themselves, they need it to survive.

One more thing I want to tell you about, as I have been meeting more people at site, slowly adjusting, moving into my own place has def been a huge part of being overall more sane, I have made a close new friend. Her name is Ali and she is actually from Barcelona. I hang out with Mozambicans too, obviously, she is the only non-Mozambican friend of mine at site in fact. Anyways, she is wonderful and her and I have been hanging out often, her friendship has made things feel more normal in Morramabala. Plus, she has been there longer so she has been introducing me to other cool people in town. =) I have hung out at night, many a time now thanks to her. And sometimes actually have weekend plans! ;)

Well, in a little bit I will force myself out of this amazingly cool room and walk to the office where I can post this. I hope this finds you well. Thanks for reading it, leave your comments, it makes me feel more connected to home when I hear from people! And what your responses are to what I'm saying, almost as if we are talking! =) Wish me luck in Mopeia, I will be going back to my site next Saturday, back to my new home. =)

One love,

Amanda

January 4th, 2010

What am I doing here? You think this is all one huge adventure. Maybe that is because I put up the pictures where I am laughing, not where I'm crying. You see me with friends, not me alone in the guest house room for what feels like the billionth time. Someone I talked to recently said my pictures and my blogs show the good times, not the bad, so here I am to write the other side of how things are REALLY going.

Well, I'm back at site, alone. The closest volunteer to me is a 3 hour, stressful chappa ride away. And let me tell you, the chappa experience is unlike anything I can even try to describe to you. So, I'll save that till next time....I live in a small, rural village, and when I walk around I feel like a complete outsider. Everyone stares at me, and I know it's because of my skin. I feel like I'm the only white person the people in my village have ever seen. They stare, but don't say hello. I have never felt like such alien in all my life. Sometimes I don't want to leave this guest house because I don't want to be stared at, I don't want to stand out. I don't have any food in the kitchen here, since I just got back from being with other volunteers for New Year's, but I dread walking to the market to buy any food. It takes so much out of me to walk around here. Not to mention it is blazing hot, and I'd rather sit here by the fan, the coolest place I can be. I don't want to sit here and complain about everything, but at the same time I want to be able to be honest and real with you, whoever you are who is reading this and know that life here is HARD!

I have definitely had many moments of "Why am I here? I want to go back home!" And we are allowed to early terminate whenever we want. Last week, over the phone I helped a girlfriend NOT go back to America. And now I sit here and am wishing I could go home. I choose not to though, because I know I would eventually regret it. So, today the office I work at re opened after break. I sit in there, and then I sit some more. Right now, I'm unsure what to do, and my colleges are unsure of what to do with me as well. I am the first volunteer at this site, and the first volunteer with Save The Children. Lately I have been regretting the fact that I didn't request to REPLACE a past volunteer. If you replace someone you often get a home that isn't bare ass naked at least. They have someone already lined up to help them get water. On that note, let me tell you DON'T take your running water for granted! You might think that if you were me you would want to go and walk 10 min to the nearest well, to get water for cooking, bathing, cleaning, laundry; trust me you wouldn't want to. So after sitting for 3 hours in the office, I'm told we are going to go look at my "house" that has NOT been ready. Mind you, I believe I might be the LAST volunteer who hasn't moved into their house yet because it hasn't been ready. We walk over there. The yard is CHAOS! Trash everywhere, bricks, millions of bricks in tons of random piles everywhere is the only "decor." The house is grey, because the owner of the house ran out of the money they were given to fix it up. Yes, Save the Children paid in full for two years. And surprise surprise the owner "ran out," though that was impossible because he was given more than enough money to fix up the inside and the outside. So the outside=a sad, ugly mess. Ok, go inside. It looks better than the last time I saw it, at least its been pained, and its not the ugly gray. Its white, better than nothing. Though whoever painted it left dirt marks in many places of the white wall. Two men I work with were inspecting the house to see if it was ready to be moved into.

Paint this picture. The house is four walls. It has 3 rooms, bigger than one person needs, particularly one person who has NOTHING to furnish the place with, nor the $ to buy things to furnish this rather large home. This casa, which maybe one day I will actually move into, is totally and completely EMPTY! You think empty and still might think of closes ts, drawers, your basic storage places, ya?! NO! When I say "EMPTY" I mean that there is nothing but the walls and the floor. Zip. Nada. Zero! lol I laugh, in a this is gonna be my home for the next two years...what am I doing? O and I mentioned no water in the house ya?! So, I am now on the scout for someone to help me lug water to my house. And my colleagues are trying to help me find such a person, but they want a trustworthy, good person. I would like that too, BUT this is gonna take more TIME! TIME TIME TIME TIME! Everything here takes TIME! and then o wait...MORE TIME! If you know me, I'm not the most patient of persons, so this only adds to difficulties that life present me with here. I cry rather randomly, for example, after that visit to my empty, bare, dirty walled, messy yarded house, I just had to come back to the guest house and let out a good cry. I should prefer to stay in this guest house. It has furniture, it has running water, and a refrigerator (a luxury I will NOT have here in Moz). But all I want to do is try to make a "home." To hang some pictures of those I love, to hang up my Beatles poster I brought from home, or the California license plate I took from my mom and Al's garage (an old one!)

The newness, the excitingness of everything being so incredibly different has died.Maybe the Peace Corps won't like me posting this, because it paints things to be "bad," to be honest, I wish I would've read something like this though, to at least mentally prepare me for how HARD it would be! I knew it's gonna be an adventure, but I didn't quite understand that that meant I would be on an extreme roller coaster ride of emotional ups and downs, highs and lows, so content and wanting to quit. No one told me the intense amounts of loneliness I'd go through, the horrible frustration of feeling so isolated, I just didn't know. I think my frustration has calmed down some, I just took a break to make some lunch. All I had here was pasta and butter, lol, it was not a very good meal, but drowning it in seasoning made it eatable. =/

I think this is the end of this little entry. I'm not quitting, I was just letting you know that it's far from being all fun and easy here. You know that saying, "Don't just sit there, do something!"? Well, to survive here you have to learn the motto a tad differently, "Don't just do something, SIT there!" I sit a looooooot.....that is what people do here! Anyways, I prob should read something positive right now, prob should also meditate, did I mention I bought a guitar over the weekend in Quelimane, so that I could not just SIT and do nothing. So that I could learn to play? Did I mention that I was tuning it here at site yesterday and broke a string, cuz I don't know how to tune it, they sell guitars here but of course they don't sell strings or tuners, silly to think they would! And I could play the 5 remaining strings, but they are also out of tune, and I'm too afraid of breaking another string. =( so my blue guitar sits there in front of me, wishing to be played, but it can't be. lol it is learning to just SIT, just like me! Ok, wish me luck, luck that I will focus on one day at a time. I can't think of life in a two year span, or I might go even more crazy. What's interesting, is that I won't be able to post this for at least a month. So shall see what all has changed, if anything, by then. O God I pray things will have moved along somewhat though...o how I pray...

Love,

Roller coaster junkie,

Amanda

ps. One more thing, if all of this wasn't stressful enough, don't forget this is ALL happening in a foreign language. Yes, I can communicate in Portuguese, but when things are stressful plus the heat, it's like my mind completely forgets any Portuguese and everyone sounds like those teachers from the "Peanuts" where it's just noise coming out, but nothing makes sense. =/ and there is also the local language to learn, Senna, and lots of people talk in that around me, and it isn't anything like Portuguese or any other language I've ever heard. Just thought I'd throw that one more LOOP at ya! One day I'll look back on all this and laugh, right?!

It has been a while since my last blog entry, but that is because it has been a while since I've been in a place where the internet works well enough for me to upload things! =) Right now, it is Wednesday, December 16th 2009, 7pm and I am eating the third meal that I have made all by myself since being in Mozambique! What did I make for dinner tonight? Beans! And besides the fact that they are incredibly salty, they taste ok, I did refill my bowl. They taste better than the soupy sphagetti I made last night. A lot has happened since I last wrote. And I don't blog as my journal, so it is thus hard to bring to mind what exactly to tell you. I do suggest that you look at my pictures on facebook, because there you will find more than my words express.

I'm sitting in the guest house for Save The Children, in Morrumbala, Zambezia. Zambezia is the Province, Morrumbala is the District and Save The Children is the organization that I am working alongside with. Yes, I found out on Thanksgiving Day that this, Morrumbala, would be my site for two whole years. And my "job" well, let me tell you a little bit about that, what I know of it thus far. Save The Children is an NGO that you might be familiar with, it is very large. The main office for Zambezia is in a city called Quelimane, about 2 hours from here by car (about 4 hours in a chappa-the normal form of transportation here in Moz) and one of the two smaller offices that work more "hands-on," in the community, is here in Morrumbala, my new home. All Moz 14ers (health) from the Peace Corps have been paired up with an organization, from community based, to faith based, to large NGOs all throughtout the country. The director of the health program, Crisiti, along with all the trainers that were working with us the last 3 months decided which volunteer went where. They paired us up according to a couple interviews they had with us, our skills, and what they thought would be a good fit. And so far, I'm definetly feeling that they placed me well! =)

A short description: I will be working with a home-based care program, a pilot project in child-focused home-based care. I will be working with community activists to carry out Home-Based Care (HBC) and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) care activities and support the staff of Save The Children in planning activities. The community activista's activities include visits to patient's homes at least twice per week, the provision of first aid and home-based health care activities for the acutely ill, the referral of patients and family members to public and program supports. They also accompany patients to the hospitals and/or provide references for patients' hospital visits, supervise patients' adherence to medication (especially in the case of patients on ARVs or who are being treated for TB) and participate in the distribution of food baskets to patients who qualify for food support. Activistas' responsibilies include the provision of psycho-social support to patients and their children. As part of this attention to psycho-social support in the provison of Home-Based Care, the activistas of each neighborhood work as a group to coordinate and run weekly or bi-weekly activities for children or parents with chronic illnesses, choronically ill children, and other neighborhood children. These include football and other games as well as dance, singing,, and theatre workshops.

Ok, did you get all that? =) My job, is assisting in all those things, because I work closely with the activistas! The main goals of Save The Children-Mozambique are

1.) Mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDs in communities, especially children

2.) Food security and nutrition

3.) Education, support to improve instruction, and the quality and participation of communities in schools

4.) Responding to emergencies (ie: floods)

This is a NEW site, as in I am the first person from the Peace Corps to live in Morumbala. Also, I have NO site-mate. The closest PCV to me is Jordan, and she is about 2 hours away. I have been here for 3 days now, and things are definetly different. But, this is the Peace Corps I imagined. The last 3 months have been wonderful! I learned a new language, which I am communicating quite well in; I gained so much knowledge about public health from amazing trainers (thank you Caroline and Sonia!!), specifically about HIV/AIDs, malaria, cholera and TB (those that affect Mozambicans the most). I lived with a terrific host family, who I grew to love and plan to visit in the next two years. And I made amazing friends, whom have impacted me in ways that I didn't think could happen in such a short amount of time. And now...I'm far away from my host family, seperated from all my new friends. I've been dropped off, in what some would call the middle of no where, with all my many bags, ready to make a new home. It won't be easy, it wasn't easy when I first arrived, but at the end, 3 months into it, Namaacha had become my home. I truly believe that the same will happen here, not immediatly, but in time. I pray that in 3 months I will feel at home here in Morrumbala. My house is going to be ready to move into next week (so they say). I'll let you know about that another time.

For now, I think I shall leave you. I've told you about my job and my new "home." Next time I will share culturual stories, and get to more of those great questions posed by wonderful Lisa! =) But I DO want to tell you how to send me letters/packages/ect. the address now to send me things is:

C/O Amanda James

Save The Children-Maputo

Rua da Tchamba 398

C.P. 1854

Ciadade de Maputo

Mozambique

What to send you ask? Well, you can NEVER go wrong sending BOOKS, any book! I have a lot of free time on my hands and not enough to read. MOVIES, can always watch another DVD, I do have my comp and sometimes have found watching a movie to be very theraputic! =) GROUND COFFEE!!! O yes....I brought my french press (thank you Lord) and yet sadly ground coffee is very hard to come by here. And from there, just think, what would YOU like to recieve when you were so far away from home, what would you miss? Cuz I prob miss it too! Let me tell you, Target, I have come to the realization that Target is by far the best store ever! If I could go back to America I would go on a quick shopping spree there! lol (but really!) But really, there is just SOOO much joy to be found in getting ANYTHING in the mail!! Thus far I have gotten 2 packages (remember it takes a LONG time for things to get here, so maybe you sent one and I just haven't gotten it yet) and it made my MONTH!! =) o as a side note: I am practicing yoga a lot and incorporating meditation into my prayer time, and I am learning a lot through these two new practices, and also enjoying them very much! So, that is to say, anything related to either of those two things; yoga & mediation, books, dvds, incense...be creative, would be O SO APPRECIATED!! ;) yoga hasn't quite caught on here yet!! Ok, ok, one more thing I WISH I would've thought of before coming here, that I'm just gonna throw out there, since we are on the topic, I wish I would've thought of buying a kit to start me on some new HOBBY! Anything really, knitting, hemp, something that I don't know how to do and usually don't have the time to learn and now have ample time. I am starting to garden though, well, ok I plan to start, once I move into my new home. So just throwing that out there, if you see any cook starting kits for...anything that you wish you had the time to learn to do, I prob wish I could learn to do it and thus you can live vicariously though me! ;)

NOTE: If sending a package, check into the flat rate boxes @ the post office, its the best deal! And you can fill it up w/heavy things like BOOKS!! ;) And remember it's best to lie about the value/whats actually in the box AND lastly decorate the box in some kind of religous manner (get creative!) lol these are just ways that will HOPEFULLY keep things from being stolen.

I hope this long amount of writing finds you happy, well, and in good health. Thank you for taking the time to get all the way down here to the bottom! =) That makes you a true friend! lol ;) O and my new motto here, "Don't just do something, stand there!" You should try it out to, hard to adjust to, but you notice things that you never saw before!

So much love from Morrumbala, Mozambique to you, wherever you are reading this

XoXo Amanda

I can't believe that I have been here in Mozambique for over a month now! Sorry I haven’t written and/or posted any pics sooner. Things take longer here, including the internet, which is difficult to come bye! To set the mood for you, it is 9:43pm, and I am so tired! Bedtime here is usually around 9:30pm, later than that is def pushing it. I wake up when the roosters start to crow, no I'm NOT joking! They seem to be loudest around 5am-lol-it seems funny as I type this, but in the mornings I'm not laughing! Things are so good here right now. I don't know how to describe life here, but I will try to tell you some of the things that I believe you should know.

My host family is wonderful. It consists of my mae (mom), Belena, my irmao (brother) Mendis-14 and my little irma (sister) Amanda. Yes, there are two Amandas in my casa, we call my sister "Amanda Pequena." =) The people in Mozambique are so very friendly, I can't count how many times a day people say "Ola," as I walk bye, or ask, "Como esta?" And when you ask it in return you often get a big smile with a "Muito bem, obrigado." It is a very communal culture, family and friends, neighbors are the most important thing. Everyone is incredibly hospitable. It could be the poorest of families and they will offer food and drink to everyone and anyone who comes into (or simply near) their home.

I am currently in a city about 1 1/2 hours from Maputo, the capital, called Namaacha. We have been here basically the entire time. We have gone into Maputo 2x-and the capital is def a much different feel than out here. Namaacha is a rather rural city. Lots of goods we buy here actually come from our neighboring country of Swaziland. My current favorite thing to buy? COCUNUTS! One coconut cost 10 metical, and right now 28 metical=$1 (more or less). I have officially learned how to open a coconut with a rock, lol, I think it's my favorite snack because how often did I open one in Cali? Never! =) Weather? It is bipolar! It is raining buckets one moment and squalling hot the next! =) Rainy days here are...something else! I live in a part of the city with other health volunteers where we basically HIKE to and from class. I get my work out literally from walking around; everything is up hill, down hill, and then all over again...all day long! In my barrio dirt and rock are in surplus, and when it rains, walking around becomes quite the adventure. On these days our shoes gain about 5lbs each, of mud, and this is not me being over exaggerating! Many have fallen up and or down the slippery slopes, I haven't...yet. =/

What have we been up to? Well, Monday-Saturday (yes Saturday!) we have classes. There are about 69 of us volunteers, which you will be hearing referred to as Moz 14, because we are the 14th group of Peace Corps Volunteers to be here. So, Moz 14 is split into two; education and health. Only 1 day a week, Hub Day, is all 69 of us together, besides that we do separate training. Regardless of which group, we all start @ 7:30am everyday and go till about 5pm. We all alternate between Portuguese lessons and then tech lessons (either health or ed). I have learned so much, in what feels like much longer than just a month. Sundays, our one day off, is often spent cleaning! Doing laundry-this is obviously all done by hand, so it takes some time. Our families like to hang out with us on these days, since we are so busy throughout the week. The last two Sundays I have gone to fiestas (parties) with my family. One was a baptism party, and the other was a birthday party. Our days here are rather filled up.

A very popular pastime here, PASSEAR!! Which is really “walking?" We passear to visit other amigos around the city, and to explore the area. I already mentioned that the Mozambicans are friendly, and let me tell you, so are the other Americans I am here with. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many great, talented, smart, fun, adventurous, brave and all in all awesome men and women here. There are lots of us, and it is fun getting to know them all-and since there are so many of us it can be difficult to hang out, 69 of us can't all go to one place after Hub Day, we would overwhelm the community! So.....myself and a very lovely young woman from Oregon, Jordan, organized a Halloween PARTY!! There was a lot of work and some stress that went into planning it, but it was FANTASTIC!!!

There were 2 parts to the party; the first part involved our families. Costumes were of course required. And our host families had a great time, they thought our costumes were ridiculous, but they had fun laughing! =) Then after a few hours of eating, roasting marshmallows, and trick-or-treating, we said goodbye to the younger kids and all went dancing! There was a dj and there were tons of lights, oh, it was o so much fun! =) We are already working on ideas for Thanksgiving! It was a hit of a party!

Yes, there are lots of things I haven't mentioned, like how I bath in a bucket, outside, sometimes under the stars even (my fav!). My bathroom is outside, right next to the "shower," but late at night we all use something wonderful called a xhi-xhi bucket, and you def pee in a bucket, in your room. Sounds crazy maybe, but I'm telling you, it's pretty great. I don't wanna walk outside in the middle of the night and deal with the insects and animals in the latrin (bathroom) area! =( No! Xhi-xhi for sure!

There are so many other things I could say, but it's way past my bed time, I'm currently in my room typing this and I will save it and go to the internet cafe tomorrow to put this up, save some $$ that way! I have had ONE melt down day, which is expected, and normal. That happened @ the end of week 2. lol but besides that I am truly doing so well. Let me leave you on the most current of news; this Saturday-Wednesday Moz 14 is going on "Site Visits." That is where we are all assigned a site of a current volunteer to go and visit. Moz 12 and Moz 13 are the current volunteers that we Moz 14 will be staying with. And they are all spread out in this large country....and us Moz 14's were so excited to find out where we were going to be going! This isn't nec where we will be placed for 2 years, BUT there it is a possibility that they are placing us where they are to "test" their thoughts on it being a good match for us or not. We found out today where we are all going!!! And I got EXACTLY where I wanted to go!!! =) Can you guess?? Nope...PEMBA!!!!! Pemba is WAY up north; check it out on a map. The only way to get up there is by plane!!! (Or a car, which could take 1week+) Pemba is where people go to vacation!!! It is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL!!! I can't wait!!! We all leave Saturday, some earlier than others. I am leaving Namaacha at 4am with some other people to get to Maputo to catch our flights.

I hope that this all gave you some insight into my life. Let me know what other kind of details you are curious about, and what you want to hear more of. I am putting some pics up on facebook too for you to check out! I hope all is well with you, thanks for reading this. =) Lots of love from Namaacha (soon to be PEMBA) Mozambique!!

Amanda

Ola!! So a quick update on my mail situation…

If you already have sent me packages or letters to the previous address, the Peace Corps staff members tell me that I might or might not end up getting them. Sorry! The address you should send things to, effective immediately, is:

Amanda James, PST

Corpo da Paz Nº 345

Av. do Zimbabwe

Maputo, Mozambique

However, this address is only good until the 5th week of training or so (mid November). After that, please hold off on sending packages until I get my permanent site address for you all.

ALSO, the current Peace Corps volunteers have suggested that if you have to estimate the value of the package when sending something, never estimate it to be worth very much (>$20-30) because I’ll be the one who ends up having the foot the import fee when I try to pick the package up. On that note, if you have to indicate what is inside the package, don’t write things that are easily recognizable and make the package a target for thieves (ie. write ”Snacks” instead of “Food” or ”Educational materials” instead of ”movies/dvds”). Finally, if you want to increase the probability of the package not being tampered with EVEN MORE you can (apparently this works) write ”Jesus Saves” and/or put crosses all over the package/envelope.

Once again, the communication I´ll have with all of you for the next several weeks will be spotty at best. Thank you for the support! I love you all!

It has been much too long since I've last blogged. But I don't have time now to catch you up on how AMAZING this summer was! I got to meet tons of amazing people through being a Roadie for Invisible Children, and go on the biggest road trip for a great cause that I will probably ever be blessed to be a part of. Then I got to spend the remaining part of summer with my family and closest friends. I couldn't have asked for a better send off to Mozambique!

If you are reading this right now you probably already know that I have joined the Peace Corps. Yup, after a year of not knowing the news of the year came, I was offered the opportunity to serve in Southern Africa, which is where I wanted to go. The Peace Corps invited me to serve in Mozambique as a Community Health Promoter for the next two years. I was so excited! And I am more so now, as I sit in my hotel room in Philly after our day of Staging. There are 65 of us volunteers who sat in a room all day today, learning about one another, the Peace Corps and our soon to be new home. Everyone I have met so far is so wonderful, and I have no doubt now that I will make incredible friends among these other volunteers very quickly.

It is around 10pm here, eastern time, and we are checking out in the lobby at 2:30AM!! =/ Ah!! lol yes and then all 65 of us are getting into 2 buses to head to JFK and we leave there Sept 30th in the morning. From there we have a 15 hour flight to South Africa (hopefully a good get to know one another time), and then only an hour flight to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. It's gonna be a long night/day! We arrive in Mozambique October 1st! =)

And for now, that is that! =) I will write when I can. I do not know yet how often I will have Internet access. What I DO know is that for the first 3 months, during Pre-Service Training all 65 of us will be together in a city about an hour from the capital, and if you would like to EVER send some love

Amanda James, PCT

Peace Corps C.P. 4398 Maputo, Mozambique

This is my last night in America for who knows how long! Crazy! So for now...goodbye...talk to you again from Mozambique!!! =)

I look at my blog, and I realize that I haven't written one in far too long. I mostly started the blog so that friends from college could stay some what updated on my life in MO for the summer, traveling in Europe by myself and then while I was studying at Oxford in Spring 2008. Once I got back to APU I was with those that I had mostly been writing the blogs for, so I stopped writing.

I thought that I should start up again, since I am not with those people that mean the most to me in the world, particularly my girls from APU. If you're reading this you probably know that I'm working with Invisible Children right now, and I wanted to tell you about it. Then I realized there is so much since my last blog I could talk about....but...I won't. There is too much! All I will say is that I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE!!!

I can't really begin to say what that was like. The only word that comes to mind still, is surreal! College flew bye, and I honestly feel like this is just another summer so far. We said our goodbyes, and we all do our own thing for a few months, and then we come back together....right? Well, no. Not this time. My head knows this, but my heart is still disconnected from this reality I believe. Besides this surreal feeling of being a college graduate, I know that I am so incredibly lucky to have made such amazing girlfriends. Even if we aren't all together again at APU in the fall for classes, I know that all of our paths are going to overlap, and connect, somehow, someway...and some WHERE! =) I love these 9 girls!! XoXo

!!INVISIBLE CHILDREN***

Ok, so the update that I wanted to share before I went off on a tangent, as always, I must refocus! ;) As you probably know I am a Summer Roadie for Invisible Children (IC). Funny thing? Go back and read my August blog, and in it I mention how I met some Roadies from IC at Warped Tour when I was with Murf, and I say casually "Maybe I should do that next summer" lol who would've thought I would actually be doing it? Not me! I am not going to be touring on Warped Tour this summer, but I will be traveling in the south east! Who doesn't love southern hospitality and cooking?!? I got here May 31st and it has been a crazy ride since then! In a nutshell, I have been living in a house very much like one you have perhaps seen on Real World: co-ed, roughly 30 people, maybe more, not too sure. All in one house, sharing little space. This in itself is an experience!

In the last week and a half we have been training like none other, to get us ready to go on tour. We launch, which means we all peace out of San Diego for our particular regions this Thursday afternoon, in 2 DAYS!! My team consists of 4 people, Annie-she's from Virgina, Cory-from Louisiana, and Brian-who's from Oklahoma! The four of us are going to be with one another 24 hours a day/7 days a week for 5 weeks straight! I'm thinking we are going to get close! =) And I'm really excited for that.

I have met lots of great people, interns, other roadies, as well as staff- it really is so wonderful to be a part of this organization and all these lovely people. O and there has been plenty of fun stuff that's gone on amidst the crazy training days- in case you were wondering! For example; this last Friday night we went to a "Future" themed party!! So much fun, just getting ready for it-just check out the pic and you can tell!

Spent a beautiful Saturday at Ocean Beach and I went to Sea World with a couple of amazing girls on Sunday. I could def spend time getting to know San Diego, but the road calls! We will have some time after tour, for de-briefing, to be here again. But this is it for now, the update. Wanted to some before we launched, who knows when/where we will have Internet. Most of our screenings are at summer camps and at churches, it's going to be lovely, I feel it! =) And my uniform? IC apparel! If I'm wearing it, you can buy it at the merch table-makes getting ready that much easier!

12:07 pm now-I'm off to bed! Big day tomorrow-so next time you hear from me...I'll be in the SOUTH EAST!!! o ya...=)

I really do need to stay more on top of this blogging thing. I just realized I never even wrote about Ireland! How horrendous is that? Life is busy these days, but I’ll get to that after I say a few words on Ireland. So, Sarah and I left the 26th a Friday night and got back 6 days later on Thursday night. It was incredibly fun! We went all over the South West. Dublin, Kilarney, Cork, Dingle and Galway, more places too but these were the main stops. If you have seen the movie “P.S. I Love You” you will understand how breathtaking the countryside in Ireland is. Everything is so green. Which is why it had to rain on us everyday we were there! Dublin was a fun city, very industrial. If you go to Ireland it is a must see, but you have to go to the country side as well. If you only go to Dublin you will be disappointed and miss out. My favorite city we stopped in was Galway, it was very quaint and full of character. We were on a tour for the majority of our time there which I definitely recommend. It was not too pricey and you meet loads of people, of course they were all Australians! Haha Seriously, everyone I have met during my travels is Australian! But really, the tour is great. They take care of everything for you and you just get to relax and enjoy. This was a huge change to when I had been traveling alone, where I had to do all the logistics on my own. Nice break! I would love to go to Northern Ireland one day as well, didn’t have time to make it up there this time around. We definitely had our fair share of Guinness, which is officially my favorite beer now, we had at least a pint a day! =) lol We ate loads of Irish Stew as well as Potatoes. I always want to be as “authentic” as possible. Our last night was our best night! We met the coolest people ever. A guy in our hostel named Will who had sailed from America to Ireland, along with an American-Irish couple. Sarah, Will and I met the couple at a great pub in Temple Bar. There was live Irish music, though it was in English a lot of it was difficult to understand. Fortunately our Paddywagon Tour Guide had taught us a few traditional Irish songs and we were actually able to sing along and that was wonderful. The couple we met at the pub had to be in their 50’s and they were in Ireland on “research” for the Irish pub they own at home in Indiana! They bought us rounds and we all hung out, dancing and singing along until 2am. We returned “home” to Oxford the next day. O did I mention how WINDY it was all the time, especially on the coast, I think this pic shows you!! Since being back in Oxford: Wow..I don’t know where to start. I will tell you the things I am more or less involved in as of now (hopefully the list doesn’t grow, I don’t know where I’d fit much else!) Sundays: Church in the morning, fencing in the afternoon, the Oxford Union debate teachings at night; Monday: free; Tuesdays: small group dinner and hang out at night, loads of international persons; Wednesdays: photography lessons at night; Thursdays: Oxford Union Debate at night, Friday: and Saturday: rowing in the daytime, while the nights are up for debate! ;) O and I am also a member of the Oxford Caving Community-yes it is so! We are going on an adventure sometime soon I hope and we will have “social gatherings” once a week or so, that is IF I can manage to fit it in. I study during the day, like a job 9ish-5ish (well that is my goal anyways!) I am in 2 tutorials, Sociology of Gender and Human Emotion, yes I meet one-on-one with the Profs, it is wonderful! And then I am in one seminar-C.S. Lewis. This seminar is great, it is a “break” from the rest of my readings. All in all, things are great. Oxford is a beautiful city and overly crowded I must add. During the weekends I feel like I’m at Disneyland on the streets, where everyone is walking incredibly slow, you feel like a sheep! I am meeting great people and getting involved, probably more involved than I am in Azusa even… Last thing, how could I forget? I went to THE Abbey Road! It is in London, though some like to say it is in Liverpool. It is NOT! We tried our best to replicate the infamous pose, but mind you this is an extremely busy street, so it is hard to do with cars honking at you! Ugh! I even forgot to take off my shoes in the rush of it all! Lame! Though it is definitely far from perfect, it turned out rather well. This was one of the highlights of the last few weeks, I walked where the Beatles walked! =) Yes! That is all for now. Hope you aren’t too tired of reading this! Thanks and I will write again soon!

As you might already know, I ended up traveling alone in Europe for 2 weeks just before coming here to Oxford. I should have written a blog during that time but I was having way too fun to sit down for long enough to do such a thing. =) Before August 25Th I never would have imagined myself traveling around Europe alone. I saw myself much too unorganized, irresponsible and having the worst sense of navigation in the world. These things and more combined=no chance of traveling alone. And really the idea of solo travel had not even crossed my mind much. It was that day in Cologne, Germany when I was with the person I was suppose to travel with that the idea popped in my head. I tried to ignore it, but it didn't go away.

Before night fall I knew 100% in my mind I was heading out ALONE the next day. Talked to the guy, and there were no hard feelings. He is really nice don’t get me wrong, it's just we wanted to see and do very different things than the other. I set out to Berlin at 7am the next morning. It was the beginning of THE craziest adventure I have ever had! I loved Berlin! I was my favorite city that I spent time in. I could definitely live there for a while. The history, the culture, the people, the buildings, I loved it all. I will spare you of all the details of the many different people I met while I was traveling. Usually I met people in the hostel I stayed in, but sometimes I met them randomly too. Like, the group I hung out with in Berlin, I met them on a bridge on my first night there. We were inseparable after that. In Vienna, I met a group I got along fantastically with on the train. If you know me, I am a rather outgoing person. But I was much more so because of being alone. If you want to have friends and not be solo all the time you HAVE to put yourself out there. Then once you do it a few times, it becomes second nature to strike up conversation with new people. We always traded emails as new friends and I departed, as I did travel without a phone. I am sure that some of the people I met I will never see again. And that is what makes it all the more beautiful. They are persons I won’t forget, and that I will always look back on and smile and wonder where in the world they are. =) It was interesting how close you could get to someone after only knowing them a day or two, I suppose it is due to the circumstances we are under while traveling. Interestingly though, I made a few friends who I WILL be seeing this semester. My favorites were Jo and Rob; I met them in Vienna and hung out with them the entire time there. Jo GOES to Oxford! How crazy is that? So she and I will most definitely be hanging out here and I can’t wait for her to return. Rob doesn’t go to Oxford but he lives nearby. Then there is Tim, I met him in Munich. He is from Australia but he is studying in Manchester this year. We are going to go to a Manchester game together this term, can’t wait! In order of my adventures, I went to; Cologne, Berlin, Prague, Salzburg, Vienna, and Munich. Like I said Berlin=my favorite. I thoroughly enjoyed Germany. I didn’t think I would like it so much. But I love Munich too! Munich is a very different feel though than Berlin, because it is Bavarian there, which is a different culture all together. Prague is such a romantic city, I vowed to never return there unless I was with the man I was in love with. Cologne you can do in a day, if you don’t have a ton of time in Germany I would skip it actually. Salzburg was beautiful; it is where they filmed the Sound of Music. I was supposed to go to Zurich, but I couldn’t get myself to leave Munich, so I never made it to Switzerland like I had intended to do. All to say, traveling alone was fantastic! It is hard to put into words what it was really like. It is something that I really wish everyone would try. I didn’t think I could do it, but I did it and I did it good! It grew me and it challenged me and it most definitely made me more independent ;) My next adventure you ask? I am actually going to Dublin tomorrow and I am traveling all over the south and the west of Ireland. I am so excited! I was planning to go alone, but a friend here from Oxford decided she wanted to do what I was doing too. So Sarah and I are embarking on this adventure together. Until next time….CHEERS!!

Yes, I am in Abu Dhabi once again. Let me share a bit about how things ended though. Camp was officially done Aug 15th, and I was ready for that. It was a great summer, but it was a long one too. I made a few friends there that will last a lifetime, but most were just friends for a season that I'm none the less grateful for. I always knew I had a passion for persons with special needs, but I didn't fully understand how deep and strong that passion was. Being able to meet and work and befriend so many amazing campers there is really indescribable. So don't be surprised if one day I end up in some "job" that enables me to be one-on-one with person with mental and physical disabilities. =)

I arrived in California in the afternoon on the 16th. Being in the mid-west for so long made me appreciate Cali more than I ever had before. I am a city girl for sure, never will I be a country girl! Rochelle picked me up at LAX and that alone was fantastic to be together again. One of the first things we did was to go get my eyebrow RE-pierced! =) That night we met up with the girls; Damaris, Kelly, Katie and Leah. We all sat around, drinking wine, sharing our summer stories with one another. All the girls had such different, such fun adventures, it was great to hear them in PERSON! I'm so thankful for those girls. And our next reunion, in January will be even sweeter!

The next day I went to the Warped Tour with Murf. We had no idea what to expect-other than lots of music! We got to the concert around 1pm & it was packed! There were about 8 stages with bands continuously playing on each one. There were tons of booths at this place too. All the booths, including Invisible Children and To Write Love On Her Arms traveled with Warped Tour all summer long, they were considered "Roadies." Maybe I should do that next summer! =) That day, August 17th was the LAST day of the tour. My favorite two bands were "Forever the Sickest Kids"(got to hug the entire band!) and "Reliant K," of course they were my favs because I knew all the songs they were singing, unlike many of the SCREAMO bands! We left around 8pm. It was one crazy, but really fun day and I'd most def go again!

Then the 18th came, the day I was heading to the UAE. I got to see more people I care a lot about. The 2 1/2 days I was in LA were great! Being in Abu Dhabi has been HOT! An average day is about 118 degrees F! No joke! And it does NOT cool off, ever! Whatever we do, we do inside. The pool, it feels like a bath-tub, yuck! It's been nice to do...nothing. Just visit with my mom and Al and getting ready for OXFORD! I leave in 2 days for London! I'm meeting a friend in Stansted and we are flying to Germany the morning of the 26th. We got a Eurail for Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic! Our return flight to London is on Sep 8th. I've never been to ANY of the countries before, I am stoked! We're meeting up with another friend somewhere in Germany. I have no expectations for all that is about to come, just excitement, ready for all the adventures that are about to unfold! I've never even stayed in a hostel before. The fact that I'm actually going to Europe and staying there for 4 months has not really hit me yet. And I don't think it will until I'm alone at Heathrow Airport trying to figure out how to get to Stansted the cheapest way possible. Until next time.....

Well it has now been 3 weeks of campers and we have one week left. I will have been working with the animals and caring for them for 5 weeks! And guess what? NO ONE HAS DIED! Animal or person, no serious injury either. Yay! So the first week was all persons over 21 with disabilities, second week was all persons in wheel chairs and this last week this last week was autistic week and it was CRAZY! But wow so entertaining. There were also a lot of kids with down syndrome. I seem to fall in love every week with at least 2 campers. Term two was Joey, the cutest little boy you ever did see! This camp is truly a heaven to the campers that come here. So it is always hard to say bye, one cuz we miss them, but two because they share how most people outside of camp (other than family) treat them, or really how they DON'T treat them.

I was suppose to be a Wrangler for the second half of the summer, which starts July 5th-August 15th. And to be honest, I was dreading that, I was really praying God would open the door to some other job at camp that didn't involve animals. =) Again, great experience, but not my thing. And God totally answered my prayers. The manager at camp offered me the "Runner" position. So I will be the picker-upper of camp. I will be the one making Wal-Mart runs almost everyday to get..whatever campers need, like meds and such. I also will be picking up campers from the airport and driving them back. So 5 more days with animals and THAT'S IT! =) I should hopefully have more free time next session, which I'll use to hang out with the cabins, go to activities with them. They offer so much at this camp it's fantastic!

O and exciting! I am going to Walt Disney World from June 30th-July 5th! My dad is flying me from MO to FL and I am meeting up with him, Sarah, Lee, Craig and Chris! I'm so excited I can't even tell you! It is THE perfect break I need, family and Disney! Can't get any better! =) Well that's all for now. XoXoXo Thanks for caring enough to read my rabbles! ;) O and I failed to mention, we have parties EVERY night, different themes too! This pic is from Game Show Night, I was Vanna White, that girl from Wheel of Fortune! Much fun!

Coming to Missouri I was not too sure what to expect. And I was in for a surprise. Coming from the Springfield airport to camp there was a lot of hay bails, and a lot of farm life. I arrived at Camp Barnabas on May 21st. We had about 10 days of staff training before any campers came. I had been thinking I was working with horses all summer, but I was confused. I am working with horses the second half of the summer. The first half, I am in charge of a PETTING ZOO! No joke! Twice a day I feed, 2 goats; Marley (he has dreads), and Jenny, a sheep-Forest, a llama-Kallie, a miniature horse-Gracie, a calf-Lucky (with a HUGE bottle), a pig-Penny, an iguana-Rockie, three chicks-Moe, Curly and Goldie and a turtle-Owimboway! =)

Before getting here I thought I was going to be the most challenged by the campers. Turns out the campers are what keeps me sane! I run the funny farm BY MYSELF! The campers come down for 45 min 3x a day, groups are usually 10-15 people. The campers are AMAZING! We have finished one week of camp, this last week was adult campers, all over the age of 20. Ranging all the way to the 60's range!

I can't really describe how beautiful the campers that come here are. God is really opening my eyes and my heart to seeing His creation and purpose for their lives. I met some of THE most loving people this last week, and some couldn't even talk, well not verbally anyways.

We have parties here every night. The campers love to dance, which is great cuz I love to dance too! My day starts at 7:30 and ends at 11:30, it's hard, but worth it. MO is def very hot by the way and super humid! O and on a fun note, I typically pick about 4-5 ticks off of my body EVERYDAY! haha nice...

So, things here are good. We get 24 hours off a week, our short time to go to our nearest town of Monett, do laundry, go do a Walmart run, call people, do email stuff, rest, and work on deepening friendships here with the staff. haha yes, it goes by way too fast! ;) O and also, I had to take out my eyebrow piercing. I could have gotten a retainer for it, but I waited too long and then I couldn't find out here in the country. I am keeping my nose ring, I put it in when I sleep so it doesn't close too. I can always get the brow re-pierced, no biggie.

Well, that's all for now. No word from the Peace Corps, I just turned in my fingerprints to them last weekend though, so I am now really really done with my end of the application. (I think!) That's it for now friends. I miss Cali more than I thought I would. I don't know if I could live the farm life, or the Mid-West life to be honest...=) XoXo

FIRST BLOG! Sitting in our new, empty house in El Dorodo Hills. For the past week this has been my home. Sleeping on a Thermarest on the floor, with nothing in the house but a dining table and my parent's bedroom set. I have seen one episode of Desperate Housewives and this neighborhood in Sacramento reminds me of the place known as Wisteria Lane. Cookie-cutter houses, big parks, young, good looking families with adorable children and dogs. It is a very well kept area. Also, very white. Not somewhere I would want to one day live, but it works for my mom and Al. I might be living here next summer, we shall see.

I am leaving for the airport in about 5 hours! Then off to Camp Barnabas in MO. I'm anxious. I am so excited to get there, to meet new people, prepare for the kids, work with horses. I'm nervous though, I don't know much about horses. At dinner tonight Al told me about a friend of his who was killed by a horse while he was cleaning it! =( Cool....haha I'm stoked to work alongside the kids at this camp though!

I won't be able to use my phone OR go online, except once a week, or maybe it's every two weeks. So...what should you do? WRITE ME!

Amanda James

C/O Camp Barnabas

Rt. 2 Box 131

Purdy, MO 65734

Well, this is adios for now my friends. I will be somewhere in MO next time you hear from me. ;)