Bon dia!
Hello everyone! The date is now October 9th and I have been living in Africa for about two weeks! It’s crazy how time flies. For the past few week I have been living in Namaacha, Mozambique and it has been quite an adventure getting acclimated to a whole new culture, language, and environment. Right now I’m in training (and will be for the next 8 weeks) so that I am prepared to start teaching in January. The family I’m living with is super nice and consists of a married couple and their four month old daughter named Kiarra (who is adorable!). They’re just a few years older than I am and have been amazingly helpful with my acquisition of Portuguese. Using my Spanish I haven’t had too much of an issue communicating and I can feel like my Portuguese is getting better every day. I have enjoyed getting to know the other Peace Corps volunteers as well it helps to have people who are going through similar experiences to help through the emotional craziness that is moving to a different country.
We (the other volunteers and I) arrived in Maputo (the capital) Mozambique on Thursday September 29th after a 15 hour plane ride that wore us all out. We then proceeded to pack into a bus and head over to a hotel where we spent a few days getting acquainted with each other and the Peace Corps in general. After a few days in the capital (getting very spoiled at our hotel, which was probably the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in and one of the only hotels in Maputo big enough to hold our 50+ group of people) we headed off to Namaacha, a town about an hour west of Maputo right on the boarder of Swaziland (I can literally walk to the boarder of Swaziland from my host families house in less than 30 minutes). Since then we have spent the last few weeks settling in, and taking classes)
So here is what I’ve been up to this past week or so. Every day, I’ve been getting up around 5am either going for a run with a fellow PC volunteer, or working out in some way. After working out, my host mother (or host sister has she prefers to be called) usually has already boiled water for my bath (something I will be taking charge of shortly). Bathing was quite an adventure the first day or two because there is no running water here for the most part you basically just boil water and then mix it with cold water until it reaches a preferred temperature. After doing this you take a cup full of water and get yourself wet, soap up, and then rinse yourself off with a few more cups full of water. I feel like I’m doing my part to cut down on water consumption these days considering, I only need about 2 gallons of water to take a bath :-P. After I “Tomar banho” (take a bath) I eat breakfast and head out to class. Classes usually consist of either language lessons, or informational sessions on health, Peace Corps policy, or Mozambican culture. After class all of us Americans leisurely walk back to our host families and sometimes grab a drink at a local bar before heading home. We are quite a spectacle as we walk through town and we turn a lot of heads. There is not that much tourism in Namaacha(though there should be, because it’s beautiful) so a large group of white Americans walking around town is quite an event. Everyone I meet is wonderfully friendly and curious about what I’m doing here in Mozambique, and it has been quite an adventure trying to have conversations in my broken Portuguese. After classes, I usually head home and chat with my host family and I am in bed and asleep by 8:30 or 9pm.
The food I have had thus far has been great, and fantastically simple to make. The main ingredients for all of the dishes are some combination of coconut, tomato, onion, peppers, potatoes and other green leafy plants. They do a lot of sauces using the above ingredients and put it over either rice, cassava or Xima(It’s like thick grits). There are also a ton of banana and papaya trees around so for dessert there is usually some form of fruit. Part of training is learning how to cook with local foods so I have enjoyed the evenings where my host mother (Minda) teaches me how to make some of the most common dishes eaten around these parts.
Overall I am having a great experience so far (minus the fact that I’ve been a little sick with a head cold for the past few days) and I have been learning a ton. The people I have met so far have been wonderful and very helpful in getting me settled in. As for my mental health I think I’ve been keeping in good spirits (I’ve already achieved a reputation of being abnormally happy and content all of the time :-P ) We still have about 8 more weeks of training here in Namaacha and I’m looking forward to using it as a time to get to know my fellow volunteers better and to improve my Portuguese. Take care! And I hope everyone is doing well!
Ps. For the few weeks of training I won’t be posting a ton just because they keep us so busy and when I’m not in class I’m usually hanging out with people around town. Also if anyone wants to call me (it’s only 13-15 cents a minute using google voice!!!) my cell phone number here in Mozambique is 82-354-8433 . Remember there is a 6 hour time difference (12pm in America = 6pm here in Mozambique) I love to receive calls!
