So, this year for Christmas vacation, instead of traveling back home to visit friends and family I decided to take the opportunity to travel around Africa some more and see things that I have never seen. My trip started out on November 17th. I traveled across Malawi to get to Lichinga in northern Mozambique for a Thanksgiving celebration, then took a train to get out to the coast and enjoy some shrimp and beach time. Then it was off to Tanzania where I went on a 5 day safari and logged some hours on the beaches of Zanzibar. Then another cut back down to Malawi to get back to my house here in Mozambique. That’s the short version of things, and if you want the full details, continue below….

Amazing beaches, amazing food and no giant buses, oh my!

Zanzibar was a paradise---literally and mentally. After our bus accident, we still had to take 2 10-hour bus rides to and from our safari starting point. It was such a relief to finally be beyond our buses, and onto a ferry ride. We stayed at a lodge on the eastern side of the island which felt like our own island paradise far away from the tourists. We spent 1 day on the beach, did the Jozani Forest tour to see the only-on-Zanzibar Red Colubus monkeys, and then did a spice tour combined with a tour of Stonetown. We got some amazing seafood with some very westernized cooking styles that were delicious, and really cheap when compared to being a tourist in Mozambique. In the forest we got to see the monkeys up close and personal. They literally hit us jumping from branch to branch. Then we saw a red mahogany forest as well as a mangrove forest. Also we visited some sea turtles! Stonetown is the old part of Zanzibar from back in the sultan days and all the buildings are made out of limestone. We watched the sunset at the big central park and ate seafood fresh off the grill that they had hauled in that day. A great and relaxing end to a somewhat stressful trip.

What time spent in Africa could be complete without a safari?! I, along with 2 fellow volunteers, booked a 4 night/5 day camping safari and it was fabulous. We spent 1 day in Tarangirie National Park, 2 days in the Serengeti and 1 day in Ngorogoro Crater national park. In the Serengeti and the crater we actually camped in the park. There was giant elephant poo outside our campsite in the Serengeti and you couldn’t leave your tent at night because there were hyenas. That I did not expect. It was great fun. The safari vehicle has a pop top so you can stand up and see the animals really well from the vehicle, but still close it in case it rains (which it did a little). They also took care of all our meals for us, and we had our own personal driver and cook for the week. Highlights were: A giant family of elephants crossing the road 10 feet away from us in Tarangirie and just sitting there watching them for 45 minutes; having to be careful to not hit the giraffes that run across the road between parks; A lion popping her head up just as I took a picture so that she didn’t just look like a rock; talking our driver into being the first people to arrive at the crater and feeling like we had it to ourselves for an hour; a momma cheetah sunning herself on a rock while her 4 cubs played in the grass around her; being in the middle of the great migration and having wildebeest, gazelles and zebras as far as the eye can see. I am so glad that I am here and had the opportunity to experience the Africa that everyone envisions.

The first language of Tanzania is Swahili. Pole Sana is Swahili for So Sorry. Unfortunately this was the first phrase we learned in this new language. Continue reading….

Tanzania is an entirely different world. It’s really remarkable that just a few days travel away is a giant city (Dar Es Salaam) filled with tons of people and modern development. However, to get to this developed city, you must cross the undeveloped part of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania. My trip started out with a 3 am open back chapa ride to the border. This road was very undeveloped and bumpy, and I was sitting on some sort of spare car part. Needless to say the next day my butt and back were pretty sore. The border is the Rovuma river which is an important landmark in Moz. When talking about the country of Mozambique, the saying is “from Rovuma to Maputo”; it’s even part of the national anthem. (Rovuma River is the northern border and Maputo province is in the southern border). We arrived in Mtwara, which is the first big town in Tanzania after the border. We stayed there for the night, and bought some bus tickets to head out in the morning. The main form of transport, we discovered, are giant greyhound-esque buses. However, they are generally painted crazy colors and have a personalized horn. What we didn’t realize is how dangerous some of these companies could be.

Our bus was scheduled to leave at 6 a.m., and we almost missed it. For some reason, Tanzania and Mozambique have 1 hour of time difference (who’d a thunk since they lie north and south of each other). But we were still in Africa so of course they didn’t leave on time and we made it. Little did we know that it was not our lucky day to catch it. The roads in southern Tanzania are still being paved so it was all pretty much one giant construction zone, with you driving on a dirt road running parallel to the in-progress paved road. These buses travel pretty fast, and sure enough, on one of the dirt turns our bus lost control and we shot out into the countryside, bumping along all the way. We were in the second to last row and got bounced around pretty good. Luckily the bus didn’t tip over, and there were only slight injuries, the worst being my friend cutting his forehead and needing stitches. We got to the hospital surprisingly fast for Africa standards. We also got in contact with Peace Corps Tanzania and their medical officer drove down to meet us and check us out personally that night. We got a nice ride into the capital (we only made it about half way when the bus crashed) and were set up to stay with an American family living in Dar Es Salaam while doing D.C.-mandated tests at the hospital there. I repeat, everything turned out fine. I just have an ugly black eye in all my vacation photos to help me remember. Like I could forget…

Thanksgiving this year was one of the most true to the spirit Thanksgivings I have ever been involved in. Volunteers up north in Lichinga teamed up with the local Doctors Without Borders to put on a joint American-Mozambican Thanksgiving and it was amazing. Thanks to packages from the states, we had tons of Thanksgiving window stickers, table confetti, table cloths, wooden ornaments and home-made hand turkeys straight from your Kindergarten craft days. Plus Indian and Pilgrim headwear for our 5 minute play explaining the first Thanksgiving. We gathered everyone, served some drinks, and then put on our play. Goal 2 of the Peace Corps is sharing America’s culture with the host country, and that is just what we did. It was a super-cheesy Kindergarten play that we put on for all the Mozambicans to help explain how the tradition started for our country. There were Indians with headdresses, Pilgrims on a Mayflower and “Paulo the Peru” (the Portuguese way of saying “Tom the Turkey”). I, of course, was a pilgrim since according to my genealogy-loving grandmother I actually had a relative that came over to the Americas on the Mayflower. Then it was time for the food. We had 2 turkeys, mashed potatoes and gravy (shout-out to my dad for the gravy), cranberries (canned from a care package), green bean casserole, 2 versions of stuffing, sweet potatoes, Canadian maple-syrup (from fellow ex-pats) glazed carrots and bread. THEN for desserts there was apple pie, sweet potato pie, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. I have never hurt that bad from overeating EVER. It was a great Thanksgiving.

So, since February we haven’t had any real rain to speak of. Maybe once or twice is all. This means that by September everything here is D-R-Y. There are 2 paved road in the entire town which means any slight breeze and you have giant dust daredevils spinning all around you and nothing you can do to stop it. It gets in your hair, sticks to your lip-gloss, and coats your feet in the red dust that is the dirt here. Ugh. Luckily our water situation was never awful. I know of others who could only take baths every other day because of a lack of water in their town. We just complained when there wasn’t enough water to water the vegetables in the garden.

Suffice to say, we just got our first big downpour yesterday, October 5th. Huge torrents of muddy water came off the roof (washing off previously mentioned dust), the slight hill we climb to get to the town was a mini-creek, and an umbrella was a necessity, not an option like I’m used to in Oregon. I am now over my umbrella shame and carry around a giant one everyday now.

Now, we will have the opposite problems of the dry season. Our clothes will start taking days to line dry in the humidity, I’ll have mud caked to the back of my legs and all over my feet and shoes, the power will go out inexplicably for hours everyday. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 am—if the power’s on you cook whatever food you want to cook because you never know when you’ll have power again. Also bathing whenever the electricity is on unless you want a cold-water bath (which some days you do).

Number one plus of rainy season---Mangos! Papayas! Pineapples! Oh my 

September 28th marked the 1 year anniversary of my departure to Africa. In some ways it seems so long ago and in others it seems like just yesterday.

Some of the things I miss:

--Reliable and familiar foods. I can no longer imagine walking into a grocery store and having thousands of items to choose from (just think about it—how many different chip options are there? Ruffled or plain; flavors; white corn, yellow corn, the options are endless!!). I get really excited when I get to a store in the city that has potato chips (tomato, chicken or beef flavored). I miss: boneless skinless chicken, ground meat, sour cream, tilamook cheese, corn chips, salsa, ready-made tortillas, skim milk, broccoli, asparagus, bacon, lean meat, constant access to every vegetable needed for any dish you want to cook, sausage, and different spices.

I also miss (in no particular order):

Seatbelts, running water, high heels, cushy couches, constant electricity and phone network, full keyboard cell phones, chocolate, television, new episodes of tv, fast internet, constant access to family and friends, guaranteed original electronic products, driving, always knowing the correct social etiquette for any given situation, not being constantly stared at, marked prices at stores, fitted bed sheets, and not worrying about language ability (will this person understand Portuguese? Or do they only understand the local language?).

I have been spending inordinate amounts of money on the big C’s—cheese, chocolate and Coke Light. On a possibly unrelated note, I’ve gained back a few lbs…

Things that I love:

Dance parties can and will break out at anytime, anywhere; I have adjusted to my student’s poor English so much so that if they manage to stutter out even 3 words I get the general idea of what they’re trying to say; Everyone constantly talking to you and being (generally) super friendly and helpful; Not being stressed out by a job; Easy access to amazing beaches; Having a network of ~200 people that I can travel and stay with at the drop of a hat; after about 4pm the sun is a beautiful red; my kids carrying my backpack to class for me

Things I will never get used to:

Corruption, cheating, passive-aggressiveness, cows roaming free at out large market (seriously, Mozambicans are terrified of dogs but a giant cow with horns walks by and they don’t even blink), unscheduled transportation (the bus goes when it fills), unexplained power outages, eating goat meat, all the goats and chickens roaming free ALL OVER, people die frequently and usually you don’t really know exactly why, chefe syndrome (people in positions of power who let it go to their head), the amount of time it seems to take anyone to do anything here

What just happened to the last trimester? It seems like just a month or so ago I was finishing my first trimester and getting in some beach time. Now I am back at the hotel where we stay during conferences in Chimoio (the Central hub for us PCVs) and I have no idea where the last few months of my life have gone. Here are some updates about what I’ve been up to lately:

I have mainly stayed in my home town, only traveling down to the city for a birthday and to pick up some meds. And I know that life is starting to be normal for me considering that I haven’t written in my journal since my last vacation.

My roommate traveled down to South Africa to meet her family and go on safari and she brought me back some amazing coffee and a new kitten for our house. He’s super tiny, and I’m convinced that if it were in the states he would still have to stay with his mom. We named him L.O., short for Little One. It’s verrrry cold in Angonia now so he spends most of his time cuddled up with us under our sweatshirts or blankets and he’s really cute. I have been warned though that he needs to be watched carefully since the traditional communities where I live like to eat cats. Guess that explains why I’ve only seen 2 since arriving at site :/

The Third Annual Science Fair at my school took place, see my other blog post.

I am currently attending a conference learning about developing small projects to help develop my community and help with HIV/AIDS. And as always the best part of conferences is the amazing hot showers and great food that they serve at the hotel.

My vacation this time will consist of a meeting and training down in Maputo, with a few days of traveling in Maputo in between. I hope that it will be filled with Thai food and hope to make a quick stop in Namaacha to visit my host mom. I don’t quite know what my plans are yet for my off days. I will be in the land of constant internet access though, so I’ll be sure to keep you updated!!

I pulled off our local school science fair. And by I, I mean that I bought some pens and typed up a few documents while my amazing science teaching colleagues organized about 35 students presenting 20 experiments. It was a science fair unlike any I ever attended in the states, so I really was no help. Many of the experiments were not really experiments but demonstrations of scientific phenomenon (for example the fact that fire consumes oxygen so you put jars of differing sizes over a candle and wait for the flame to go out). It was a huge production with some amazing prizes provided by the school, and the best part was that I wasn’t needed. The main goal of the Peace Corps is to be able to transfer our skills to the people living here so that one day when the program is no longer in the country they can continue developing instead of losing a bunch of resources. I was very impressed by the initiative taken by my school to pull it off.

Then we took 4 winners from our school (two from primeiro ciclo (8-10th grade) and two from Segundo ciclo (11-12th grade)) to the provincial fair down in Tete city. Since Tete has not had many volunteers until my group arrived, it was a first fair for a majority of the schools as well as for the province. Long story short, my kids won 5 of the 10 prizes, and much deserved too. It was the third annual fair for my school and it was a huge event (even bigger than the provincial fair) so I feel the trip to the national fair is well deserved. The national fair will take place in Beira in August at some time with the Escola Secundaria de Ulónguè representing Tete province. Wish us luck!!!

June 1st marks Children’s Day here in Mozambique, and since I help out at a local pre-school it ended up being a pretty fun day. Every major holiday (women’s day, children’s day, any sort of government official visiting) is accompanied by a parade to the praza where important people make political speeches and they have dancing and singing. So, on Children’s Day I met with the kids at the newly built pre-school and we walked about one mile to the praza. My thoughts were that it would be chaotic and crazy and we would be chasing 3 year olds all over the road. My worries were way below standards. In actuality there were 38 three year olds, and they all got a balloon and whistle before leaving for the walk so not only were we yanking kids out of the road, but we also had kids chasing balloons into the road, super-annoying whistling, popping balloons and kids chewing on the remains. It was out of control, typical Mozambican style. Luckily we arrived at the praza late so we only had to keep the kids quiet through one speech and then we got to see all the dancing groups, including our own preschool showing off their English and singing skills.

Then it was time to head back to the preschool grounds. At this point the kids were so worn out and tired that there was no way they were making the walk back. They wouldn’t even sing some of their favorite songs. They ended up arranging a chapa to take us all back. I think that this 5 minute trip gave me the new chapa-record: 38 children and 6 adults. I had 2 kids on my lap and had to keep the kids next to me from shoving and biting each other because they were squished. Bottom-line it was hysterical.

It was great because it also marked the day that the pre-school is officially at its new location, all ready to go. It is amazing to see it go from a flat, barren piece of land to a fenced-in play ground with a building for eating and classes, a teeter-toter (another amazingly dangerous thing to let children play on here), and two sets of swings. Another building specifically for a classroom and an office are still to be built, but it really happened. It was done by a grant that the previous volunteer got, so it’s nice to see that the fruits of my labor here can actually result in something physical.

The end of April also marked the end of my first trimester here in Moz, and also my first opportunity to travel a bit and get to know the rest of the country. I took the free time to catch up on my beach time. I traveled to Tofo, Bara and Vilankulos down south. Bara is one of the most beautiful places I have every been--I felt like I was living in a post card. The south is definitely a different world from the Africa I know and live in, with all the tourists and development. It made me glad to know it was an option, but also that I didn't have to live down there and be mistaken for a tourist everyday of my life. Really made me appreciate what I have in Angonia. It was also great to get to see some of the PCVs I haven't seen since swear-in and catch up with them and their lives.

I also took the chance to try out scuba diving. Scuba is very big here in Moz since it is a ton cheaper than doing it in the states. They happen to offer a one-day course where they sit you down and make you watch a video and practice in a pool in the morning, then in the afternoon you go out on the ocean and do a 50 minute dive. It's the same philosophy as tandam sky diving--you always have an instructor right there by you. I never thought I'd ever be tempted by scuba, but the opportunity was there so I took it. Unfortunately for me the entire experience turned out to be a bit of a struggle, but I'm glad I tried. From getting the wet suit on, to jumping in the boat after pushing it out to sea, to motion sickness and vomiting it just was not my day. Unfortuantely once I finally started descending down, I could only make it 3 of the 12 meters before my ears felt like they were going to explode and no amount of nose plugging and blowing or jaw moving and swalowing was going to pop them. So, I did scuba dive, I just didn't see any cool fish or coral. Like I said, worth the experience.

Other than that, vacation was just filled with lots of sun bathing and great meals (sausage stuffed crust pizza, hamburgers, seafood chinese stirfry, prawns, ice cream, club sandwiches, etc. etc.) Needless to say when I get back to site I'm going to get quite a few "Esta a engordar!" ("You're getting fat!") but it was worth it. I'm excited to get back to site and back to teaching, back to what I now feel like is "life as normal".

April 29th marked the sixth month anniversary of my arrival in Mozambique. Hard to believe that it’s gone by so quickly. Living here is like living in a completely different world. I have adjusted to the way of life here, and sometimes it is hard to remember how I used to live. Like taking hot showers; having boneless, skinless chicken readily available; or that eggs in the states can be white. I wanted to list some of my most memorable moments so far:

-My first day arriving in Namaacha and all the host moms dancing into the gym singing a welcome song. It was such a moment—the singing was amazing and it was my first “Holy s—t I’m in Africa” moments

-Being stuck in Maputo for an extra day after swear-in and successfully negotiating Maputo. After the first time and being so overwhelmed by everything, the second time we spent going to the Museum of Natural History and tracking down Thai food and ice cream successfully. It was a great time of relaxation and a great way to celebrate officially becoming a volunteer.

-Waking up to my first Christmas morning without my family to a drawn-up Christmas tree hanging on the wall with our homemade stockings strung above it and our white elephant gifts laid out below. It was the best Christmas away from home one could ask for.

-Officially bonding with my roommate over our spider-ridden house. We didn’t know each other well and our shared opinion on cleanliness made me feel like we’d get along just fine over the next two years.

-The two days of travel hitching back from Chimoio to Angonia. The first ride was in a semi-truck and I spent it chatting with the driver about AIDS in America and discussing all sorts of different cultural aspects between here and there. Then my second ride on my own and completely missing my classes due to the loading of 400 lbs of bananas in the middle of nowhere along the way, the entire time not caring because the sky was so beautiful.

-Making a friend with a Portuguese professor who makes me feel like we’ve known each other forever. This also helped make Angonia feel like home and quieted my urge to travel and visit other volunteers every weekend.

At times it feels like I’ve been here forever and others it seems like just yesterday I was waking up late for my plane and struggling with my giant bags through 3 different airports. Its been an amazing trip so far with many more life-changing moments to come, I’m sure.

So, I have survived the first trimester of my first year in Africa, and it has been a learning experience to say the least. Each year I am required to give 2 tests and 3 “other evaluations” be that homework, oral exams group projects, or whatever else you can imagine. The year ended with finals tests being held in the 11th week, 2 weeks before the semester ended. This does not make much sense to me but I just do what I’m told. As thought many of my students stopped coming to class for the last two weeks, so I used these smaller classes to do fun activities like listening to music in English and group competitions. Once all was said and done my 11th graders only had 25% failing and my 10th grade classes had about 40% failing. Sounds shocking to Americans, but trust me that is an accomplishment. The grades here are on a scale of 0 to 20 and you need a 10 to pass. The average on my exams is usually an 8, and it’s rare for a student to get over a 15. That’s just how the system is here. I handed in my final grades and then it was off to Chimoio for reconnect conference.

Reconnect is meant to be a time to celebrate surviving our first 4 months at site and review and refresh on Peace Corps policies. It also means a few nights in a hotel with a pool and hot running water in the shower (I’ve never felt so clean!), a giant smorgasbord of food, and lots of quality english speaking time with 12 of my fellow trainees. I’m pretty sure I gained at least 5 pounds over my stay here. The fact that you do not have to make the food, there is cheese and drip coffee and CHICKEN makes it hard to not eat at every opportunity (3 meals a day plus 2 snacks). I’m so full it hurts, but I know when I go back to site I’ll be missing it. It has been a fun conference getting to share our own experiences and learn from others. I’ll be taking back a few tips to site and try to use them in my teaching for second trimester. Well, I’m off to enjoy the rest of my vacation! Talk to you soon

I have discovered to amazing-ness of slowly meandering while walking instead of American power walking my way all over Africa. Mozambicans walk soooooo slow, which is pretty much how they do everything. As I learned from an early age trying to keep up with my mom, I walk as fast as possible everywhere I go. It was brought to my attention by a local friend that at first he thought I was really mean because I speed walked everywhere and I always had my sunglasses on. Now, I refuse to give up the sunglasses because 1) the sun is INTENSE here and 2) Saleena has me concerned about developing wrinkles from squinting (thanks a lot Today Show). But, after another pair of people here from Cuba commented on my fast-walking I decided to slow it down one day on the way home from school. It was amazing. Kids played with me, adults greeted me and asked who I was, and I was meeting all sorts of new people. Crazy that it could make that big of a difference, but I’m totally embracing it. Now me and my roommate just go out and slowly wander and it has been helping a ton with integration. I don’t know if I’ll ever get down to Mozambican speed, but I’ll try my hardest.

My birthday was a great day. My roommate surprise got my packages arranged to be delivered to the house while I was at classes so it was a great surprise to come home to. Big shout outs to Mom, Dad, Aunt Anja and Uncle Rhom for the Christmas turned bday presents. Also to Lil Lindsay who sent me a letter from where she is teaching English in France. I was reading a letter sent from France from a college friend while I’m living in Mozambique. What has happened to my life?  I am now fully equipped with a GIANT box of candy (mostly Reese’s PB cups obrigada a deus) and I’m trying to keep it down to 2-3 pieces a day. Also got a great new journal (the one I came with is almost full), some spandex to wear under my above-knee skirts which fit perfectly and a bunch of office supplies (new sharpies Whoo Hoo!). Also to celebrate my birthday we decided to do chips, salsa, guacamole (it’s avocado season finally) and chicken fajitas (with real chicken, no fake soy protein!). We had a few friends come over and enjoyed outselves. And a lemon pound cake for the birthday cake. Sorry, I left my camera in Chimoio a few weekends ago so no photos to post, but my roomie has one on her camera that I’ll get posted later.

In regular-life news I just started a new schedule at the secondary school. The first one had way too many people having conflicts so they just entirely re-did it (what’s to stop it from having new conflicts all over again I have no idea) and so far it’s working out. The first trimester is almost at an end, and I’ve almost been in Moz for almost 6 months. It’s a pretty crazy life and I’m still loving it.

Wednesday will be my 24th birthday, and the first one I’ve celebrated outside of my country. I have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my life at this point. I am living in Africa, which is one of the coolest experiences of my life. I am teaching which I am actually finding fun because of my students. I am fluent in my third language, and have yet to get malaria or any other serious disease. Life in Angonia has really been coming around. My roommate and I have been making friends out in the community and so we are starting to feel really integrated. The kapulanas I buy at the market are now only 90 mts each (as opposed to 100 mts) which means the vendor is starting to recognize me and want my business. My school collegues are starting to realize that I in fact DO speak Portuguese (how they just assume I only speak English is beyond me). I am really coming to realize that I’ll be living here for the next 2 years. Crazy enough that is the longest consecutive time I’ll have lived in one place since I moved out to college at age 18.

To celebrate on Wednesday, first off I have to teach classes all afternoon. My wonderful roommate is a great baker so we’ll have a few of our friends over for some cake or some other yummy dessert. Then all of the Tete volunteers are going to come up to Angonia around the 18th for a joint my birthday/St. Patrick’s day party so the real celebrating will have to wait until then. Eddie is going to go check for packages in Malawi again on Monday so hopefully I’ll actually have some presents to open on the day of my bday, but we’ll see!!

Computer classes here are out of control. Mozambicans have no computer skills and those that they do have include playing music and DVDs and giving every computer every virus possible. In a country with minimal technology they sure do have their share of viruses. Hence, the teacher computer that has the projector is infected with a virus that makes a pop-up window block everything that you try to do, making it impossible for them to see anything I want them to do. Luckily enough my school is equipped with a large nice computer lab with A/C and about 50 computers. Unfortunately there is no specific program for me to follow and only about half of the computers are usable.

Then all the kids do is bring in zip drives and cds of music and dvds. There were boys watching rap videos with topless women dancing. Plus due to a scheduling confusion we had about 4 classes worth of kids coming in. The professor that got the scheduling confused then decided to leave since there were so many kids. I caught him going out the door and jokingly said “Esta a fugir? (Are you fleeing?)” and his response was “For sure. This is out of control”. Well, thanks a bunch for the support.

Oh, and I am also the “Delgada da disciplina” aka head of the department, so I’m thinking of abusing my power and laying down some laws. I’m going to go into the computer lab and re-organize all the computers so the functioning ones are together in one area. Then I am deleting all the downloaded music and videos off the computers and banning all CDs and flash drives from entering the room. Then maybe I could actually teach them some useful skills. Now I just have to get up the nerve to tell my fellow professor and get the time to do it. Ugh, and explain it all in Portuguese.

School is in full swing now. I have almost got everything figured out except for one scheduling conflict. I’m actually amazed that there was only one conflict considering that the schedule for 60 teachers was arranged by hand. And that’s 60 teachers over 3 different time periods (morning, noon and night) and 5 classes (8-12 grades). Scheduling is like a giant mind-blowing puzzle getting all the teachers teaching the correct subjects for the correct grades and not overlapping with others they’re teaching. Next year I will be bringing in the scheduling program that PC gave us to make it a much simpler process (and hopefully leaving me with Fridays off).

Each of my classes have 50+ students. English is going well and at times hysterical. Some of my favorite moments so far:

Talking about future professions and one student said “Pirate”. I thought well, we are kind of close to Somalia, laughed and added it to the list. Then the next class they said “pirate” again and so I asked what a pirate does, wondering if they meant something else. Sure enough my student says “Teacher, that is not how it is spelled”. They were actually saying “Pilot”.

I asked “What did you do this weekend?” and one student said “I went to Musacama to eat chicken and po-taw-toes” and I said “no, it’s po-tay-toes. Well, actually po-tay-toe, po-taw-toe, to-may-to, to-maw-to” and laughed hysterically while the entire class just stared at me.

One day was about traditions and customs and when I asked for examples they kept throwing out all these local language words that I didn’t know, laughing at me the entire time. The first one was “Ngoma” and after I got it spelled right I said “Well, that’s a new word for Teacher Amanda”. About 5 minutes later I looked again and exclaimed “Ngoma!!” and started laughing (please see previous blog post) saying I didn’t realize that was a real word Mozambicans used. Their blank looks were priceless.

During my first day of computer class I was not really prepared since it was the first time I had been in the computer lab and I had no idea what to expect. I ended up making them draw pictures on paint to practice using the mouse (trust me, double clicking is hard for them). I walked by one kids drawing and it said “lame” over and over. I was offended, and asked him if they knew what that meant in English. His response was “Teacher, it is my name” pronounced “La-may”.

Just some of the gems I’ve experienced so far, with a ton more to come I’m sure 

Hello!! First of all, disclaimer—my province is pronounced like “Tet”, not “teat” as most of my friends and family like to snicker at back home 

Our little crew up here is the best. Not only do we have the seven of us in my group, but we also have a married couple that has been here for a year already. This past weekend we went down to visit Luke and Janet in their village about 2 hours from mine. First, in pure logical Mozambican form, the only chapas aka public transportation out of Angonia (where I live) is to the border about 20 km away or to Tete City. So our options to go visit their village was to pay a chapa and get out half way (big waste of money) or to hitch-hike. Option #2 it was. Hitching is actually very common here among the volunteers and is often a safer and cheaper way to travel. Many times the cars you hitch in are in much better condition and sometimes free (which when you’re living on less than $200 a month is a huge plus). We jumped up into a semi on the way down, grabbed another truck to the border and were there.

They live way into a neighborhood through all these twisting paths. They have a cute little house, not on a school campus like my duplex. As a consequence/bonus of this they constantly have Mozambican children in their yard hanging out, and their helper around the house is an 8th grade student Ramão that is there constantly. It was super fun to be there for the weekend, and Janet is an amazing cook. When we got there we had a lunch of homemade hummus and gazpacho with salad; dinner of bean burgers and fries; breakfast of coffee and cinnamon rolls; lunch of fajitas that really made me crave sour cream. Plus care packages from their holiday in the states. Mine had Jr Mints, a granola bar and Jelly Bellies!! Throw in a poster of Puck from the “All about Glee” special edition US magazine and I was in heaven. I sweated off the 5 pounds I gained from eating so much scaling a mountain to take some photos at the border marker between Moz and Malawi (my 4th African country!!). And by scaling, I mean I was looking for footholds on some of those rock faces—the closest I ever want to get to rock climbing. It’s Wednesday and my quads are just starting to feel not sore.

It was a great weekend of bonding with my Tete crew, swapping stories of the first week of teaching, comparing what lessons we were planning, lying on a grass mat in the shade reading, enjoying a beer, and sharing squatty potty maneuvers for aiming (my first experience with the squatty potty and aiming is hard when you’ve never had to do it before, trust me). I’m really enjoying my replacement family this side of the ocean 

So, school has started for all of us here in Moz. The school year runs the actual year so it starts in January and ends in Nov/Dec (depending on what exams you have to take). Jan 17th was our “opening day” and in true Moz fashion there was a big assembly where all the important people made their important speeches. Just imagine all that paperwork about rules and such that gets sent out to parents before school starts being read out loud instead of copied and sent out to everyone to read for themselves. That was 75% of this meeting. 33 rules of conduct…ugh…then some repeated in local language for the benefit of parents at the meeting. My personal highlight of the meeting was the dance version of “I’m in Miami Bitch” being the song choice for background music before the meeting started. I literally laughed out loud a couple times at the hilarity of it all.

Also Monday I finally got my schedule for teaching (nothing like waiting to the last minute). I’m teaching 10th & 11th grade English and 11th grade Technology class. Also I’m the head of the technology department for first cycle (grades 8-10). Still unsure as to what that’s going to entail, but I’ll find out eventually I’m sure. I have 3 classes of 10th grade English (making me the sole 10th grade English teacher at the school), 2 classes of 11th grade English and 2 classes of 11th grade technology. All of my English classes are in the afternoon and technology classes will be in the morning with a total of 20 hours of teaching (The max I can teach is 24 hours). The only thing that makes me nervous is 10th grade since that ‘s also a national exam year so there is going to be a lot of pressure on me to get the correct percentage of students to pass (usually by helping out with the test or bumping up grades which I refuse to do). Also, there is no curriculum for technology so I’ll get to teach them whatever I want to teach which should be fun and/or stressful.

Now, just because school has started, don’t be fooled silly rule-following Americans -- it’s Wednesday and I’ve only taught 1 of 4 classes that were supposed to take place and that class only had ~15 of my about 40 students. Over holiday everyone goes back home and helps out their families in the mato (bush) and don’t start coming to school until they’re assured that the teachers are actually having classes. A colleague told me that the 15 kids I taught today will spread the word to other students in the class and everyone will start showing up soon. We’ll see about that. My one class that I did have was actually pretty fun. I wanted them to ask me questions about English, America, even me (which had the potential to backfire). Unfortunately none of them had questions to ask so I just kept asking all of them questions like “what’s your favorite subject?” “How old are you?” etc. They know a lot of vocab and could fill in the blank to answer questions, but when asked “Why is green your favorite color?” they had some difficulty. Something to work on in class I suppose. It was fun to determine their level of English. Two more days of pseudo-classes and then we’re off to visit some volunteers this weekend. Chao!!

This Christmas marked my first ever spent away from my family and it was harder than I thought it would be, but it was made better by my awesome fellow Tete PCVs. Tete is a province of Mozambique, comparable to a state in the US. Tete is unique because it is almost practically cut off from the rest of Mozambique by Malawi so it can seem a bit isolated. They made a big push with our group into Tete so 7 people from our group are now in the province, plus an amazing couple from Moz14 (but they were state side for Christmas). We like to say “7 strangers, picked to live in Tete for 2 years…” Ironically 6 of us were brought in as Biology teachers so we all knew each other fairly well before site placements. I’m excited about our group because we’re all really different but we all get along well. There’s not anyone in Tete that I wasn’t excited about (and I’m not being cheesy, just honest ).

We all met in Moatize which is right outside Tete city and also our half-way point between all the sites. Two girls are staying in Moatize and their house is actually bigger than ours and has running water. We all crashed there on the floor, played a lot of card games, read books, drank a ton of mango sangria and cooked everything we could think of (lasagna, bean burgers, Mexican night complete with chips—what more can I say ?). For Christmas Audrey hand-sewed us all a stocking with our first initial on it and we stuffed each others stockings with candy, soap and matches (all necessities here) and also did a white elephant gift exchange Christmas morning. I ended up with a water basin, a kapulana which excitingly is the same as our new kitchen curtains so we’re going to make it into a table cloth and a USA belt complete with an Obama belt buckle. Quality gift Hannah, thank you. I gave a World Cup kapulana, peanut butter and a crystal light lemonade mix. All the gifts were good and it was nice to open something Christmas morning. Plus we woke up to a surprise Christmas tree drawn on paper in the corner so it was a fun Christmas morning. I called my sister (which was Christmas eve in the States) and got sung “We Wish you a Merry Christmas” by my Jones family which made me cry. I didn’t think missing the holidays would affect me that much, but I had that good cry with my sister and it was okay. I’m just glad that as a group we made a big deal out of the holidays and celebrated the best we could. Love everyone and happy holidays!!

And no it’s not yours. Or even mine (quite the opposite actually—mine’s amazing). Here in Mozambique the main form of transportation is a chapa. There’s a previous blog about my first experience that you can refer to for a refresher. Basically it’s a 12-15 passenger van that at a minimum 19 people get shoved in. Seriously, the chapa will not leave without at least 19 people on it. On average it’s about 22 people in this van. Over Christmas I heard of a new record from Derek of 32 adults, 8 children and 2 chickens (apparently people were sitting out the windows, unbelievable!!). Each seat has 4 people. Rows 1-3 have a flip up seat that can create an aisle for when someone from the back has to get out. I am now a pro at chapa maneuvers which are key so that half the van doesn’t have to empty out to get someone out of the back seat. It’s cramped and my American sense of personal space is out the window, trust me.

Back on subject—the hardest job in the world is the job of the Cobrador (or trocador as Audrey likes to say which is only funny if you live in Moz/know Portuguese—sorry America). There’s the driver of the chapa who actually drives and the cobrador is like his assistant. He signals the driver to pull over to get people or let people off; he does really intricate hand signals to see if any of the ton of people standing on the side of the road need to get on that chapa; he keeps track of where people got on and where there getting off to charge them the correct amount; he can keep track of who has or has not paid. And he does all this generally without a seat (meaning his standing up leaning over the majority of the day). Sometimes if the front row is really packed and you’ll see a chapa heading down the road with the sliding door open and the cobrador just hanging completely outside the vehicle. Emily told me of a cobrador on a 5 hour bus she was on who sat on the curved bar that opens and closes the door the entire time. And SLEPT. In Moatize over Christmas we took a lot of chapas around town, and they just amazed me. I don’t think they get the credit (or most likely the salary) they deserve.

One giant cultural difference between the U.S. and Moz are local languages. These are languages have been being spoken by the native Africans for hundreds of years. A majority of Mozambicans learn Portuguese (the national language) only when starting school. Imagine growing up speaking English (like I did) and then going to school and having to learn and do all your work in Chinese. That’s what a lot of these kids have to do. The local languages are basically dictated by geography, so depending on what region of the country you live in you speak that certain local language. In Namaacha it was Xangana (changana) of which the only word I knew was “mulungo” which means white person. Since we are trying to learn Portuguese we are discouraged from learning Xangana during training. Now that I’m in Angonia the local language is Chichewa. All the languages are very similar—for instance now all the kids in the neighbor hood yell “muzungo” at me when I’m walking down the street. Also now that I’m living here for the next two years I’m free to start picking up the local language. In the case of my site since we are so close to the border of Malawi it is imperative that I learn at least the basics. The national language in Malawi is English, and Mozambique is Portuguese. When everyone comes together in a border town, what is their common language that they use all the time?? That’s right—their local language, Chichewa. On our chapa down to Tete city for Christmas the only Portuguese spoken the ENTIRE time was when they were specifically speaking to us. I would have liked to understand some of the stuff going on around me so I have an even stronger urge to learn it.

One of the funniest conversations I have with people is explaining that we don’t have local languages in America. I explain that recent immigrants from Asia or Mexico speak Chinese or Spanish, etc. but that’s not a local language. When I tell them that all I’ve ever spoken in school and at home is English they don’t get it. But what do your parents speak? English. Grandparents? Still English. I try to explain that our country is comparatively still pretty young and most people came from all over so they had to use English to communicate, but all I get are blank looks. The closest I get to explaining it is that Native Americans have their own language, and if we weren’t a country of immigrants from all over the world we probably would too. It’s just a mind-blowing concept to them, and really entertaining for me to try to explain.

I have a home!! I am living in Professor housing at a teacher training institute (IFP) with a fellow PCV roommate Arielle. Our house is pretty swanky by PC standards and it’s really starting to shape into our own home. We have a large countertop/sitting area in the kitchen with a separate room we use to cooking in and a pantry. We also have an indoor bathroom which is a big deal (no squatty potty in Moz for me!!). No running water though so no flushing (to flush we manually pour down water). There’s a living room with a sofa and chairs for hanging out. We’re lucky because the school has a wood shop and welding class so we have a lot of furniture provided for us. Then there are our two bedrooms, including built in closets which I’m loving . Since we are replacing two other volunteers we arrived to a fully stocked house which is nice. We have a fridge, dishes, pots and plenty of reading materials. After a heavy cleaning and purging of 3 years of built up stuff from the previous volunteers plus some new curtains and couch covers, we’re really enjoying it.

We inherited a guard dog who is really smelly but really on the job. His name is Wonder and he barks at everyone so we’re always aware if someone is around the house. (Also for the men in my life all the windows have security grates and every single door in the house has a lock (even the pantry) and there are bars that we can put up on the doors at night—VERY SAFE. Plus there’s a guard at the gate to the IFP and they lock the gate at night (as we learned trying to leave for Christmas at 4:30 am and were locked in)). Another amazing inheritance is our empregada (maid) Avelina. She’s a sweet lady and comes every morning to do laundry, dishes, sweep and mop the floors. Plus anything else we need like the massive cobweb removal that was necessary upon our moving in. She’s so great and I really appreciate the work she saves us.

I will be teaching at the secondary school (high school) and I had a chance to help out with end of the year grading with my new colleagues. My school is really nice and new (only ~2 years old) and all my colleagues are younger and are really welcoming. Plus they’ve been working with a PCV for the past 3 years so it helps that they know I’m going to be a bit strange in my ideas and teaching. I’m still not sure of what exactly I’ll be teaching yet but I’ll keep you updated.

My town of Ulongue is about the size of down town laurel. We can find basically everything we need (except I am still on the search for meat besides canned tuna) and there’s a giant market that you can get lost in. There is a ton of produce and a lot of variety which is key here. Also through the previous volunteers we’ve inherited the sweetest little vegetable lady and she always throws in free stuff like extra tomatoes or bonus carrots or something. She even has her kids trained to throw in extras. Really nice and it shows that she recognizes us as part of the community.

Everyone in town that sees me knows that I’m a teacher. Walking down the street all I hear is “Good Morning Teacher” or “Good Afternoon Teacher, How are you?” Also the previous volunteers close friends in town Eddie and Juliet have made us feel really welcome. They run a preschool (started by a grant from the pervious volunteers) to start teaching kids English at an earlier age and their house is always open for us to go hang out at. Funny enough we speak English with them since Juliet is from Malawi so she doesn’t know Portuguese. Also they are graciously letting us use their PO Box in Malawi so that I can get mail a little more securely and hopefully a little faster. My site is amazing and I’m going to enjoy the next two years.

So, I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. We (Moz 15) swore in yesterday at the U.S. ambassador’s house in Maputo.

Catching up on life since my last update…Thanksgiving was my first holiday away from home. We all had a potluck dinner complete with turkey and stuffing. After 6 weeks of a lot of rice, xima and fried potatoes with only salt for seasoning Thanksgiving dinner was a taste explosion in my mouth. Garlic galore. Salads not covered in oil previously used to fry previously mentioned potatoes. Steamed green beans. Freshly killed turkeys. (FYI you have to get them drunk to kill them; I hear there’s a funny video somewhere) Sugar-tastic cookies made by me and Emily. Cakes. Need I say more? I have to say that my first holiday from home was the best holiday abroad I could have asked for, and will be hard to beat next year.

Model school has come and gone. I ended up teaching about 6 classes of biology (some people got pulled out of our teaching rotation to keep practicing language) and we tested the kids. We had two classes that we rotated between, and they were very different. One was about eight 13-14 year old girls and one 11 year old boy, all host brothers and sisters. The other was a group was about nine 17 year old boys who were all friends and too smart for their own good. Talk about hard to control. Passing here is 10 (on a scale of 20) and all of our kids in the girl class passed (one was bumped up from a 9, but close). The boys class only had four of the nine boys pass. I gave one boy a zero. They were ridiculous and didn’t even try, but it was definitely good practice as far as class room management goes. It’s kind of fun here because you can mock your kids and tell them they’re bad and it shames them into behaving. For example, one of the boys I just called “Indisciplinado” (undisciplined)—I seriously didn’t even know his name. He was disruptive, asked me to be his “amiga” aka sleep with him, and I called him out and for the rest of the model school he didn’t say a word in any of my classes. Made me feel confident that I could lay down the law.

We packed up all our stuff from our host family houses. Somehow over the course of 10 weeks my stuff has multiplied into an additional two boxes of stuff. To give me credit, most of the boxes were filled with bed sheets, blankets and manuals provided by the Peace Corps. My Mãe made me a last dinner of grilled chicken, xima, fries, salad and sprite. This is the type of food they serve out at restaurants and is considered “fancy”. And she knows sprite is my favorite. It was really cute. I gave her a baseball cap that said “Montana” on it and got us both matching kapulanas. When Kikas got home he was trying to talk Mãe out of the baseball cap and I whipped out the CD mix I had made him. He got really excited and kissed me on both cheeks. Then he showed off his suit he just got for his graduation to be a teacher on the 10th. Overall a perfect night to end with the family. I’m sad to leave them.

I was sent off in the bus to Maputo with a giant Tupperware of food plus enough cookies to last me my entire week of traveling up to my site. To celebrate swear-in the Peace Corps put us up on Hotel Cardoso, a 5 star hotel overlooking the ocean. It was a glorious land of hot showers, AC, and there was amazing thai food right down the street. We got all fancy in our kapulana clothing (a pattern for each of the health volunteers, English ed volunteers and science volunteers) and were off to the ambassador’s house for swearing in. We did the deed, right hands raised, and were official. There was a reception following with little finger foods. Then we headed back to the hotel and celebrated our last night together. Overall the past 24 hours I have not felt like I’m in Africa.

Now the 70 of us have been scattered to the 4 corners of Mozambique. It’s funny to think that I didn’t know these people 10 weeks ago, and today there were tears all over saying our goodbyes. Depending on where you were placed, we may not see some of these people in person until the end of our 2 year service. Luckily Emily and I are both central so we have a few more days together. I don’t think I could’ve handled saying goodbye to Meagan and her on the same day. I am spending one more night in Maputo (at a much less nice hotel  ) and then heading up to my supervisor’s conference. I’m scheduled to reach my new house on Dec 9th. Love and miss you all!! (and new mailing address is coming, I promise).

Just a quick note about my site. I´ll be going to Angonia, Tete in central Mozambique for the next two years. I´ll be teaching english at a secondary school and living on an IFP campus (teacher training school). I have a roommate named Arielle that I´m excited to get to know, and inheriting a dog. It´s in the mountains right on the Malawi border so it´ll be cool and I´ll get to experience another culture as well. New mailing address is coming soon, so don´t send anything anymore to my old address. Love you all and happy thanksgiving!!

Well, training is winding down way sooner than I thought. I’m through my first week of Model School with one more to go. Model school is where we bribe children to come in during their summer break and let us teach them classes with the promise of free cookies and a certificate at the end of everything. As far as teaching training went, as of week 5 I had taught one section of a 10 minute lesson with three other people involved. Now all of a sudden I’m supposed to teach a 45 minute lesson solo?!...right. We practiced in front of our fellow PCTs first and I crashed and burned. The hard concept here is that they do not take active notes nor do they get any sort of text book so what ever I write on the board is what they are going to be learning and studying from. My lesson plan was a mess and I got about 10 minutes into it and had no idea so I just quit and re-grouped. Luckily I think I was able to re-group quickly and the next day I presented a clear and concise, well-organized lesson on the muscle system and exercise. Big relief. I did our very first class of rules and an intro to biology on Monday to 4 students which happened to be a fellow PCTs host sisters so it went great (they were already accustomed to crazy Portuguese). Then on Wednesday I did my muscle lesson with no major problems. I now feel like I can actually do this job. Although thinking about it, going from 4 students to 60 is going to suck. I’ll worry about that in February J Thursday we find out where our site placement will be. This is going to be where I’m living for the next 2 years (by the time I post this I will know where I’m going) and it’s a big deal. I could be living in a teeny tiny village with no electricity and no other volunteers in a 6 hour radius, or I could be living in a pretty good sized city with electricity and running water and a fellow PCV for a roommate. It all depends. My specific requests were: 1) safety whether that be living very close to other houses or with a roommate; 2) I would like to live on a school campus to be more accessible to students; 3) I would not like to visit Maputo very much because it’s so big and crazy; 4) If I am opening a new site (aka There has never been a foreigner in that town before) I would need a site-mate or someone very close for sanity purposes. I guess I’ll see what I end up with. This weekend I’ll be heading to a beach right by Xai-Xai for “mental health break”. It will be our last time to hang out as a group before swearing in and going to our sites. Once we go we could easily not see each other again for the next 2 years. Crazy to think that this little comfort zone I’ve created here is about to change once again. After mental health break we have one more week of model school and the next week is a whole bunch of administrative stuff, swear-in and then we fly away to our regional capitals. That means I have less than two weeks left here with my host family…which may break my heart. It’s so great. On the other hand I’m excited to be in control of what I’m eating when, and especially how much I’m eating. It’s about to be a whole new adventure, so wish me luck!!

One of the most unbelievable moments thus far, get excited:

This past Saturday we had a language class field trip to visit the “curandeiro” aka “natural doctor” aka “witch doctor”. First of all we meet to get driven there in a P.C. land cruiser because it’s located way deep in Barrio A in the mountains. We pile in chapa-style (we had 14 people in a place that would squish in 10 in the states) and head down into the barrio (aka neighborhood). I had mentioned to my Mãe the night before that I was going to see the curandeiro in the morning. I was slightly worried about her reaction because she is a stout Catholic, and she seemed to be fine with it. She asked what a curandeiro was to which I replied “natural doctor” and she was satisfied with that answer. We finally hike down to the huts where they do their business and all have to pile into one. It’s a round mud hut with a thatched roof about 8 feet in diameter. About half of that space is taken up with bottles filled with who knows what (we asked—it’s a secret), animal skins hanging on the walls and black, red and white kapulanas hanging up everywhere (the colors of the curandeiro). In this little tiny space we all pack in once again chapa-style (that’s right, all 14 of us). Only in Mozambique would you think there’s no more room—the Mozambican language teachers just kept piling in. We sit there waiting for about 10 minutes. I can see out the doorway, and I notice a familiar face: Fuse (pronounced foo-C). Fuse is my mae’s nephew. I met him in my first week here. He’s super patient and has some of the best Portuguese of anyone I’ve met yet. My favorite moment was the first time he met me my first week here “Este é um TEL-E-VI-SOR”. Yeah, I realize that’s a TV, thanks. I may not speak the language but I’m not oblivious. Just the weekend before this field trip to the curandeiro he taught me the word for “lukewarm”. Main point of this tangent is that I Fuse comes to my house and I chat with him on a regular basis.

Back to the hut: I notice Fuse out the doorway and my first thought is “what in the heck is he doing here?” Next thing I know he comes into the hut and sits down, bites a stick and spits it into this bag of sea shells and starts explaining the process of a consultation with the curandeiro. This is when it hits me: Fuse IS THE curandeiro. Coming from a western view point, you imagine this super gray and wrinkly old man with some sort of crazy bone and feather outfit on. Instead in walks Fuse, late 20s wearing cargo khaki shorts and a G-Unit t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Unbelievable. I am trying to control my shock and let Emily know at the same time that this is the Fuse I always talk about. Emily tries to control her shock as well. I’m packed in the back row of people so it’s a few minutes until he sees me. He just says “oh, uma conhecida” which roughly translates into “hey, I know you” and I say “hola” in wonder. He finishes his speech, we ask him some questions and then he’s off to the next group. How my Mãe failed to mention that it would be Fuse when I told her I was going to visit the curandeiro in Barrio A I have no idea. Upon leaving, I explain my shock to everyone and the reason I got that special shout-out in the hut. I get home and am like “Mãe, why would you not warn me that it was Fuse?!?” and she just laughs “It was Fuse that you went to see?! Hahaha” with no real response. Such is life here.

So, that’s my story of the visit to the curandeiro, and if you know me well (or ask my fellow PCTs) I won’t get over it for awhile. Crazy times in Mozambique J

So, it’s pretty common here to get a lot of attention as a white woman (especially with blonde hair). There’s the common pick up line of “we will meet again, and it will be a sign” or “I want to know you” and there are random marriage proposals (and other proposals) offered daily on the streets. I have, however, been initiated to the Mozambican male way. It happened something like this:

I was hiking to where the 3 borders of Moz, South Africa and Swaziland meet, and Emily, Jon and I were waiting for the rest of our group at the border before we went on our hike (a good 3 hours round trip). We were in search of a soda to take to drink at the top, and that’s where he was. I have no idea what is name is, so I’ll just refer to him as “Ernest”. He sees us and holds up his arms and yells (FYI this is all in portuguese) “Welcome to Mozambiqur!” to which Jon replies “We’ve been here for months now”. Ernest is wearing a border patrol uniform, and they are notoriously flirty and sketchy. He comes over to talk to us and tells us multiple times about the 3 border point (obviously Ernest has been going all night at this little bar at the border). We introduce ourselves and of course I get the common confusion of my name being “Portuguese” and having no ties to Brazil or Portugal. Ernest then asks Jon which one of us he is going to marry to which Jon replies “neither”. Ernest says that he would recommend marrying me. Jon goes to get his soda and Ernest goes away only to return about 30 seconds later, approaching me directly this time. “So, you know I’m not married. And I’m available next week if you’d like to marry me” to which I reply “No thank you” and he laughs and walks off. Jon comes back, and Ernest attempts to reason with us. He tells Jon “I’d like to marry her” to which I interrupt with “I came here to teach, not to get married” and Jon says “she’s not going to marry you”. Then Ernest goes something like “I don’t think you’re understanding. The first president of FREMILO married an American to show that there was no tension among races, and my goal in life is to follow in his footsteps. I saw you all walking toward me and felt a shock from God.” Jon still maintains “I don’t think she’s going to marry you”. Ernest “You’re not understanding me. There’s this American woman living in Gaza province that married a Mozambican. I saw her wearing a kapulana and carrying a bunch of bananas from the machamba on her head. They do it all the time” (random shout out to this girl: Thanks a lot) At this point we’ve been waiting for 20 minutes and he’s about to go for his third attempt at reasoning me into marrying him, so I suggest that Emily and I walk back up and meet the people that are coming which we do. And that’s how it happened: my first ever marriage proposal. Somehow not quite how I imagined it…..

-When there’s a storm with lightning you have to cover your mirror. When asked why my Mae thought I was joking and never answered (according to my language teacher it’s because the mirrors can attract lightning. -If I don’t cook when I go to site and eat sandwiches all day, my body will dry up so it’s important that I learn. -Mozambicans are crazy about being clean, but the buildings and houses haven’t been maintained in the last 30 years. The graffiti in schools is out of control. Paint would go a long way here.-There are free roaming goats and chickens everywhere, and everyone seems to know which belongs to who, and they definitely know if they’re missing. I see no order. -Small children are running free in the streets all the time, no parent/babysitter to be seen. -being able to turn on a computer makes me a technology expert here-they drive on the left side of the road, and if I teach English I’ll be teaching British English-no matter if you live in a little grass roofed hut, you’ll have a giant amp to blare music from-they were blasting Eminem “shake that” at my mom’s church party. I was sitting next to the pastor drinking beer. -they ask you for everything all the time. Like “can I have your water?” or even “can I have your hair?” or “can I have your nose ring?”-Amanda is a latin based name so it’s common in Portuguese too. Therefore everyone is confused that I have no Portuguese family or background. -Amanda is also the name of a butter brand here. -A woman wrapped in a kapulana (traditional clothing) will be walking down the street with a giant crate on balanced on her head and a cell phone at her ear-everyone here has a maid and doesn´t believe me that it is not common in the states.

Five weeks of training and 3 more to go…time is going fast. I’ve been keeping a daily journal and at first I was filling up 3 and 4 pages because everything was new and different. Now things are getting to be more and more normal, which is strange considering how short of a time I’ve been here. I took my LPI (language proficiency interview) and tested at the level they want for being able to swear in (which is Intermediate-mid). Less than 2 months ago I knew how to count to 10 in Portuguese. Now I can tease the kids that follow us in the street, and chat with my Mãe when the power is out (which happens whenever the wind blows or there is a slight rain). It’s really crazy to me. And there are some words in Portuguese that just work their way into our English because they’re more convenient.

This last week we got to work in the garden and learn how to grow bio-intensive gardens where you get a whole lot more out of a whole lot less land. Bonus it was all at my house since I live on a giant plantation (by Namaacha standards anyways). It was great to be outside all day and not sitting in classes. This next week is dedicated to planning model school (which is where students come in for fake classes to help us practice teaching in Portuguese and see how our methods work with locals before we actually go and teach at a real school). Then week 7 we have model school, then a 3 day weekend where I plan to go visit the beach with a ton of other volunteers and then another week of model school. Right before our 3 day weekend (on the 18th) I’m supposed to find out where I’ll be living for the next 2 years. I’m excited to find out and also see who is going to be placed around me. After the second week of model school we have a week of activities before finally swearing in as real volunteers on Dec 3rd. Then it’s off to our provincial capitals and our new lives (again). It’s coming to an end so fast.

Just wanted to send a shout out to those of you messaging me online. It means a lot and sorry I sometimes can’t respond. If anyone has any questions they want me to address in the blog just let me know. Now that things are starting to get “normal” it’s harder to think of what to write.

A word on NGOMA time (and no, I do not know what it stands for):

This is a one-hour talent-type show meant to help us have some fun and relax after an entire day of training and getting lectured at. I love watching it, and really enjoy it usually. Where I start having a problem is when we are forced to come up with something to present as a language class every week. Now, I’m all for jumping on the lead of another talented person who can play the guitar or choreograph a dance. I’ll follow along. The problem is that language groups are organized by your field of expertise. Therefore all the science people (me included) are in the same groups together. Last week in my group of 4 we had nothing. No ideas whatsoever. There is a reason most of us majored in the sciences and not in the arts. There are those exceptions, however in my group of 4 none of us were talented, and neither is my new language group of 3 people. Other science groups had similar problems coming up with something entertaining. Another big problem with this is that all of our language teachers are Mozambican. When you’re from Africa you come out of the womb singing, chanting and dancing. Seriously, Mandy’s 3 year old little brother can dance JUST LIKE Michael Jackson. It’s what they do here. So I’m pretty sure that my language teacher just thinks we’re being difficult.

In my first language group, we ended up making a little poem in Portuguese just to make our language teacher happy. Fortunately for us we were not on the list to perform nor were we called out at the end of NGOMA time so we didn’t actually have to go. Then when I got switched to my new language group and we still had no ideas we decided to join up with my old language group, use the poem, and also act it out to involve 2 more people. This last week time ran out before our group got to go so I have yet to perform and I’m fine with that. Not only are there 15 language groups, but the professors and other people from the community come and perform too so it ends up going at least 2 hours. Quite honestly after a HUB day I want to go and hang out with my friends, have a beer, and unwind after being talked at all day long. Ever since NGOMA time has started we haven’t been able to do that considering it goes until 6:30 pm and our curfew is 7 pm.

In conclusion, I enjoy NGOMA time and think its fun to watch people who are far more talented than me. I just think we should leave it to the people who want to perform and who are good at performing and as an added bonus it would help us stick to our 1 hour time limit.

Now that I’ve been here for about a month, I just wanted to write an entry to try and portray how I feel about Mozambique which is an emotion I find hard to describe. Sometimes I just get this feeling in my chest and tear up in awe of this experience. This country is still recovering from 26 years of war. First, the Portuguese left in 1975 after about 10 years of war. I remember my shuttle driver in Philadelphia talking about growing up in Africa (not in Moz) and watching on the news as the Portuguese left, smashing toilets, destroying buildings and planting land mines without regard on their way. They are still trying to find all the landmines—there was a news story last week on one exploding in near Maputo (the capital). And since the Portuguese made up the majority of educated teachers and medical people in the country, Mozambicans were left with a major shortage of teachers and doctors which they are still trying to recover today. Once the Portuguese were gone, a Civil war continued between the two predominant political parties that still exist today. Over the next 16 years war continued, with schools, hospitals and road systems destroyed in its wake. A peace agreement was signed in the mid-1990s, finally ending the years of destruction. Now with this history in mind, it really makes me think. Just tonight as we were watching the news, my host mom brought it up a little. She was talking about when the war was going on she would get off work at 5 p.m. and head straight home with her one grandchild she was raising tied to her back (the common way they carry their babies here) and dragging the other by the hand with her bundle of food on her head (also very common here J ). By 6 p.m. the whole family would be inside with all the windows and doors shut and zero noise and no lights. Not the TV, radio, nothing until about 10 p.m. She was talking about hiding out in one room of the house with two of her children plus two grandchildren and being completely silent, listening to people running outside and the gunfire going on. My host “nephew” (who is more like a brother since he’s 21) was included in this. If I had been born here I would have grown up in this environment until I was 5. Everyone that I’m going to be working with (majority, anyways) grew up in a time of war. My language teacher right now is 29…He was 10 or 11 before war in his country stopped. I can’t even imagine that, and I cannot help but be grateful for the luck I had to be born in the country that I was born in. On top of everything there is now a war against HIV/AIDS that they have to fight in order to develop. The newest data that just came out this month is that the prevalence rate of HIV here is 11.5% of the population. In the U.S. its around 2-3%. It is something that needs to get under control through education and behavior change, and is another thing that I’m here to try and help with. The U.S. has had over 200 years to develop; Mozambique has had less than 20. It’s actually impressive that they have the infrastructure they do. And it’s a humbling experience to be here and trying to help them develop further. It’s nice to have moments like this and realize that I did make the right decision in coming here. The hard times of my experience will come I know, but for now I’m amazed that I was given this opportunity.

All of the public transportation is by Chapa. A chapa generally is a 15 passenger van that they stuff an average of 20 peole in (4 per 3 person seat at least). This past Saturday I went to Matola to Shoprite (the Moz Wal-Mart) and to get home we found that there is no direct chapa all the way back to Namaacha where we live, so I experienced a chapa bus to Boane. It was the most unbelievable thing I have experienced and I´m glad some of my fellow PCTs were there to witness it. This is a smaller bus with 2 seats then an isle then 1 seat. We were all shoved into the aisle. Of the people we could see we counted at least 45 on a bus made for maybe 35. I couldn´t move. They always say to never have anything in your pockets, and I´m glad I didn´t because even if someone had reached in mine I couldn´t have moved to stop them. It was unbeleivable. I was pressed full frontal on this stranger (luckily my bag was between us) and sticking my butt in this old lady´s face. At one point I was on tip-toe because someone shoved their feet under mine. And they just kept pushing more people on. Then the couple next to me were drinking beers and threw them out the window when they were done. Just another one of those moments that make you realize "I`m living in Mozambique".

Internet is not as easy access as I thought. Internet cafés are not exactly on every corner here like in Costa Rica. Then the town internet access was down and no one really knows how to fix it…but it’s back up now (or at least when I post this it will be J ). Just going with the flow. I actually enjoy being a little removed from everything. I have no idea what is going on in reality tv or with Hollywood and still feel completely normal. And I watch the news every night so I see all the important stuff (like the Chilean mine worker rescue). Just want everyone out there to know that I think I have the best host mom anyone could ask for. She is willing to sit with me and explain things slowly, makes me talk at home by telling her what I did all day and correcting me, and is hell-bent on teaching me all things Mozambican and getting me as independent as possible as soon as possible. She always says “do you know how to do this?” and my typical response is “In the U.S. yes but in Africa probably not.” She knows how to do everything and if you don’t do it like her you’re not doing it right. She even pointed out a better way that I should paint my toenails. Seriously, she knows everything. I’ve been painting my toes for probably 15 years and never once thought that it made more sense to do it another way. Unbelievable J. I get a lot of questions about what I eat everyday so here’s an average: Breakfast is usually bread with cheese or peanut butter or jam and tea. Then I have to bring a snack to class with me usually of a juice box and bread with peanut butter or cookies. Lunch usually has a salad and rice with beans or some sort of meat to go with. Then I come home after classes at 6 p.m. and have some tea and bread or cookies. Then dinner is usually at 8 p.m. with pasta or a rice dish with salad and more bread and papaya for dessert. For those of you thinking I’m going to come back skinny, so far no good. Many times I don’t want to eat at all, but my Portuguese is not quite up to the level that I can explain that to her without her thinking that I don’t like what she cooked. One of my favorite moments: she caught me blowing on my soup (it was hot and I didn’t want to burn my mouth) and says “Minha filha!! (My daughter!!) Why didn’t you tell me you don’t like food really hot?? All you have to do is say, I don’t like food really hot and I won’t heat it up as much” and then I got room temperature food for about a week until I explained to her that it’s not that I don’t like hot, I just don’t like to burn my mouth. Now I’m very careful to not blow on things or only blow when she’s not looking. Just know that internet here isn’t the most reliable and many of you that send emails or facebook posts know that I can usually read them but by the time I go to respond the internet is down again but I do see them. Keep me updated--Love and miss you all!!

Where to even begin?? I’ve only been gone for 2 weeks and officially in training for one yet I feel like so much time has passed. I got to Namaacha which is where we are located with host families to learn the language and learn how to teach. My first day I went to a birthday party with my host mom and was break dancing to really bad early 90s music (which is all over here) with the best break dancer I’ve ever met who happens to be about 8 years old and named Bruno. I couldn’t help but stop and look around thinking I’m going to love it here. I don’t even know where I’ll be for the next few years until Thanksgiving (I think) but it’s going to be great. I felt right at home right away. Training is very intense. I go to classes every day M-F from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm plus Saturday mornings. Right now it is very language intensive and we’re learning a lot about medical. I’m in a language class with 4 other people so it’s very one-on-one which is good. My host family is amazing. The house is HUGE which I was not expecting. Better yet we have running water and an indoor bathroom with a FLUSHING TOILET!! No squatty potty for me, obrigada a deus! The language is coming along well. It’s basically Spanish with a lot of shhhs and nasal sounds and no la’s. Which if you speak Spanish should make sense J. I’m buying a cell phone tomorrow in Maputo and I’ll get people the number if they want it (if you don’t get it just FB message me and I’ll send it to you).My favorite thing that has started happening the last few days is the giant herd of kids that follow me and my neighbor Emily home from lunch every day. Just whatever random kids that see us on the street will start walking with us and next thing you know it’s a parade of 12 lead by the mulungos (local word for white person). Some of them even remember our name so there will be random kids yelling out “Amanda!”. It’s pretty darn cute. Até logo!!

Hello friends and fam--

I have arrived in Mozambique after one of the longest plane rides in my life (15 hours). We get quarnatined at the hotel in the capital of Maputo right away, so I have yet to see any of the country. Tomorrow morning I head out to Namaancha to our host families. I've been trying to cram in the Portuguese and getting to know everyone. I won't have regular internet access from now on so I'll update when I can. I'll also be getting my cell phone next saturday so I'll get my # out as soon as possible. My computer is almost out of batteries, so Ate logo!!

I have officially taken the first step in my new adventure!! I spent my last week working Monday and Tuesday, and then packing and unpacking and repacking on Wednesday Thursday and Friday. I also had special dinner dates with family and friends every night, a bomb going away party downtown on friday and my final comedy night with Sarah on Saturday (which turned out to be epic).

I am now at the hotel in Philly with all the other early arrivals and tomorrow it's Orientation then a bus to JFK and my 15 hour flight to Africa. I'll keep in touch as I can!!

P.S.--feel free to start writing letters :) My address is to the right----->

Now that I have my invitation I'm going to cover some of the basic questions/information that everyone seems to want to know.

Applicant Timeline (aka--how much waiting around I had to do)

I didn't keep super track, but here's the closest I have:

June 2009--submitted application

~this time spent filling out the additional paperwork sent to me (including fingerprints!). And the packet had to be sent to me multiple times because they were confused about my address

August 26, 2009-- Interview and Nomination (happened simultaneously)

~this time spent on 3 separate trips to the Dr getting all the required paperwork filled out, and getting a stupid $400 mouth guard for night teeth grinding and sending a confirmation letter 3TIMES!!

February 2010--Officially Legally, Medically and Dentally cleared and ready for placement

~this time spent waiting...and waiting....and waiting

June 23, 2010--Request for an updated resume from the education office

~now more waiting

July 27, 2010--Received and email with 2 follow up questions.

July 31, 2010--Invitation sent

August 4, 2010--Invitation to serve in Mozambique as a Biology Teacher received!! (which happens to be what my original nomination was for)

Now, a little bit about Mozambique and the program:

Mozambique is located on the east coast of southern Africa, right across the ocean from Madagascar as I like to say (that one's for you Peter). It's roughly as long as the entire east coast of the United States and home to about 22 million people, with over half of them living below poverty levels.

The official language of the country, plus what I will be teaching in, is Portuguese. However, mostly local languages are spoken throughout the country. Popular question: Do I speak Portuguese? Answer: Not yet. I am fluent in Spanish and am encouraged that I can read a lot of Portuguese based on my Spanish knowledge.

I'll be departing September 29th (give or take 2 or so days) for Philadelphia where I will be meeting the 60 or so other crazies that will with me for this experience. We will head over the Mozambique together, as the 15th group of volunteers to arrive in the country. We will have biology, chemistry, math and english (?) teachers and teacher trainers as well as health volunteers that will work in communities promoting sanitation and HIV/AIDS awareness.

Speaking of HIV/AIDS I've read that Mozambique has a huge percentage of people (about 20-25% from all the different stats I've read) that are affected.

I've started compiling my packing list/wish list to buy before departure. I'll be working until I leave plus selling my car plus packing up everything plus spending tons of quality time with everyone so I'm expecting that I'll be on a flight heading east thinking "What am I doing?" sooner that I can realize after living in life limbo for over a year. I'll post my mailing address as soon as I get it and I'll be expecting lots of letters :)

Hopefully this answers some questions for people. Until next time Adeus!

Hello All!!

Welcome to my blog, and my first official posting as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have been applying for this for over a year since graduation and am really excited to finally be able to shout from the roof-tops that I will be moving the Mozambique come the end of next month.

Currently I am slightly weirded out that I am meeting people that I will be volunteering with on Facebook (I may be young but this whole technology thing is out of control!) but am looking forward to meeting everyone in person.

Until I leave I will be working my butt off until I leave so that I can get my bills paid off in time, hanging out with those I love the most, attempting to learn some Portuguese and trying to mentally prepare for cramming the next 2 years of my life in to 80 lbs of luggage.

Wish me luck and I'll be posting more as I find out more information.

Amanda