thankgiveness

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving (or thankgiveness, as the Mozambicans like to call it)! Mine was very strange but still pretty wonderful. I spent the week before Thanksgiving in Nampula for a workshop on "best practices" with the entire SCIP Nampula team. The workshop was led by a young woman from Boston. While she did an amazing job facilitating the workshop, she does not speak any Portuguese so another American who works for SCIP, the 3 other PCVs who work for SCIP and I acted as translators all week. It was pretty exhausting.

At the workshop in Nampula I was asked to attend and help facilitate another workshop on stigma and discrimination, especially focused on HIV/AIDS. So me and 2 other SCIP PCVs went to Ribaue (a district in Nampula west of Nampula city) to help our fellow volunteer, Patty, who had coordinated the workshop along with the rest of her SCIP co-workers in Ribaue. The workshop was a huge success. Many of the community leaders that attended had no idea what the words "stigma" or "discrimination" even meant. But after the 3-day workshop, they were able to define the words, describe how stigma and discrimination can be displayed in their communities, and create plans to disseminate the information they learned to the members of their communities. Along with Jack (a PCV from my group, Moz 16), I led a discussion on "modes of transmission" and "portals of entry" for HIV and was pretty surprised by how much the community leaders knew on this subject.

After the workshop ended on Wednesday afternoon, a SCIP car took me, Jack, and Bethany (another Moz 16 SCIP PCV) to Malema, which is Bethany's site. Two of my friends from the province of Cabo Delgado came to Malema on Thursday and another Moz 16er from Niassa province came on Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving. We cooked ALL DAY on Friday. Literally. From 8am-6pm. We started with a delicious breakfast- fried eggs, hash brown potatoes with peppers and onions and french toast with banana and mango syrups. Afterward, we started the preparations for dinner. What's on a Mozambican Thanksgiving menu, you ask? Here's what we were able to come up with- mango salsa, cornbread, chicken parmesean, Jamaican macaroni salad, macaroni and cheese, curried vegetables, Mozambican beans (feijoada), rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole (with fried onions), beef roast, pumpkin cake, apple crumble, and ginger cookies with lime icing. We ate like kings.

Bethany invited several of her Mozambican friends over to eat with us and before eating we all stood in a circle and went around saying what we are thankful for. It was a little emotional, but the general consensus among the PCVs was being grateful for the amazing opportunity to be in Mozambique and to have each other to share the holiday with.

On Sunday we all left Malema and I rode the train back to Nampula. The scenery was absolutely amazing, riding through the lush mountain range. But it was nearly a 7 hour ride and we were all exhausted by the time we arrived in Nampula. Now, I am back in Monapo (finally!) and am still pretty exhausted. I have so much unpacking and setting-up to do in my new house. Not to mention house repairs and building furniture. And with Christmas right around the corner I am feeling overwhelmed! I never, ever thought I would be so busy as a PCV. But I would take this over having nothing to do any day.

Here's what my life looks like for the next month- spend as much time as possible with Vonnie (my sitemate) because she leaves to go home on Dec. 7th, work with Edmundo (my supervisor) to supervise the community distribution of birth control pills and condoms with our team of promoters and animators, get OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) from two neighboring communities legally registered and enrolled in school, welcome the Moz 17 Education PCVs (I'm getting 2 in Monapo!), go to Nampula for a week to work with the SCIP Monitoring and Evaluation official, travel South to Inhambane province for Christmas, and finally, celebrate the New Year in Maputo! 2012 will be here before I know it!

changes in addresses

The Peace Corps branch office in Nampula has moved locations and now has a new address (see right). The caixa postal (post office box) is still the same, so I should still get anything that was sent recently with the old address.

After an amazing week in Maputo for our Reconnect conference, I'm back in Monapo. While it was great to get away and spoil ourselves in a beautiful hotel, I'm happy to be back. This weekend we'll be saying goodbye to Megan as she leaves Monapo on Monday. Unbelievable. Then I'll move out of the irmas and into her house! I'm very excited but also a little nervous to be living on my own for the first time in my life. So wish me luck!

time flies when you're having fun

It has been quite a long time since I’ve officially updated on my time in Monapo. But things are going great, much better than I ever could have expected during Pre-Service Training! I am still living with the nuns and try to remind myself daily that come mid-November I will no longer have running water or a flushing toilet. Not to mention the delicious meals and desserts the nuns whip up! Still, I am looking forward to having more independence and being able to cook for myself. I have definitely gained weight since coming to Africa, and living with the nuns has not helped in this area! I know I’ll regret thinking this, but I’m looking forward to “tempo de fome” or “time of hunger.” Rumor is, come December, the only produce you’ll find at the market is tomatoes and onions.

I started local language classes with a boy in SCIP’s theater group as my instructor. I’m really trying, and Abel is a great teacher, but Macua is just really tough to learn. I know enough to greet people and introduce myself, and can pick up on words/phrases here and there when people are talking, but that’s about it. And unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll get much better. We just don’t have Macua sounds in English! Or Portuguese!

I spent the month of September working long hours Monday-Friday and enjoying the gorgeous beaches of Nampula province on the weekends! I spent a weekend in Ilha de Moçambique (Mozambique Island) and another weekend in Chocas. Ilha has 2 parts- one in which the locals live, full of mud and straw huts; and the other, the “tourist” side, filled with dilapidated buildings from the Portuguese colonization. You can easily see that Ilha must have been a really beautiful place during the colonization. And parts of it still are quite beautiful, but so much is just run-down. We didn’t spend much time on the beach because it is filled with trash and human waste (the majority of the locals’ houses lack latrines), so our trip was centered mostly around food. This, of course, was absolutely fine by me  Ilha has tons of great restaurants with food you can’t find in Monapo- pizza, pasta dishes, lobster, squid, club sandwiches, chocolate cake, etc. You can also get a gin and tonic or a glass of red wine! It was such a treat to eat such delicious food, but also very expensive on a PCV’s budget! Chocas beach was a completely different experience. The town of Chocas is this quaint little beach town with houses owned mainly by ex-pats and wealthy Mozambicans. There is a resort called Carrusca (see photos on my Facebook, if you haven’t already!) that is about 3K from the town. The only things you’ll find by Carrusca are a handful of bungalows, a restaurant, and beautiful, never-ending white sand. It is without a doubt the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. My friend, Caitlyn, and I rented a boat to take us to an island right off of the mainland. The ride out was absolutely terrifying. We even considered what we would do if the boat capsized. I knew I’d be able to swim to shore but was panicking about all of the electronics onboard! Long story short, we made if safely to shore and the experience on that island was well worth the nightmare we went through to get there. We spent hours just walking around collecting shells and staring out into the beautiful turquoise water. Even now as I write this, I cannot believe a place so incredibly untouched exists. They are in the works of building a restaurant on the island (knowing Mozambique it will probably take another 10 years to complete, if ever…and how would they regularly transport supplies, anyway?) but I really hope that never happens! Some places need to be left alone.

While Ilha and Chocas are probably the closest beaches to me, they are also the most expensive. Well, really any beach is expensive because their target populations are tourists or rich Mozambicans on vacation. So I obviously cannot afford to be at the beach every weekend. Nor would I want to because I like spending time in Monapo! We have a soccer field and I went to several games during September. Teams from all over Nampula province come to play. And my supervisor, the coordinator of SCIP Monapo, coaches a “health team” that plays other Monapo rec teams. The experience of a Mozambican soccer game is, oddly enough, very similar to being at a Manheim high school football game. The soccer field is THE place to be while a game is being played. Everyone at the game knows each other and all of the players by name. You can buy snacks to eat during the game- hard boiled eggs and weird little bean cakes. And guards walk in front of the bleachers with huge shotguns. Ok, so not everything is the same.

I am lucky enough to have 2 sitemates- Vonnie, an education volunteer and Megan, the health volunteer that I’m replacing. We also have 2 education volunteers, Jenn and Lauren, in a town about 15 minutes outside of Monapo, called Carapira. So I usually spend my weekend nights with them. Monapo has a few restaurants but we always go to one called Pica Pau. Along with all of the other restaurants in Monapo, Pica Pau serves one thing: Meio Frango (Half a chicken). My sister, Janine, thinks this is the funniest thing but the plate is really good! Half a grilled chicken, French fries, and a cabbage salad. But the whole experience of Pica Pau is really what makes the food so good. We usually go around 5 or 6pm, knowing that our food will show up 2 hours later. We always take card games to play while we are waiting. And when our server brings over a teapot and basin for us to wash our hands we know its only another 5-10 minutes until we have our chicken! But I’m certain the food would still be really good even if you weren’t completely starving.

So that’s pretty much my life. Honestly, things are starting to feel so normal that I just don’t know what to even blog about. Very few things shock me anymore, like they did in the beginning- grown men wearing Hello Kitty T-shirts, infants riding on motorcycles, a woman squatting to pee in a grassy area across from the market, grilled rat for sale on the side of the road, “Justin Beiber” written on the street in chalk, and so many exposed breasts (because of breastfeeding, not lack of clothing). But, I promise to do my best to start doing a better job of taking note of the things that are different here. Also, I apologize if that sentence, or any others, doesn’t make grammatical sense. I rarely write in English anymore!

just another day "at the office"

This past Tuesday was definitely my favorite day at work so far. An M&E (monitoring and evaluation) specialist from SCIP Nampula came down to work with our team. We spent all day out in the field visiting communities that collaborate with SCIP Monapo. The objective of our visits was to focus on the monitoring and evaluation systems that are currently in place for the comités de agua (community water committees) and clubes de jovens agricultores (youth agriculture clubs). The specialist from Nampula randomly picked 4 communities in Monapo district for us to visit. For 2 of the communities, we focused only on the comités de agua and for the other 2 communities, we looked at the M&E for the clubes de jovens agricultores.

The first community we went to, called Napala, is the one I am the most familiar with. It is the closest community to Monapo vila (where I live), only 9K, so I’ve been fortunate enough to attend many meetings and trainings there. One of the community members actually recognized me from a previous training I was at and greeted me, “Bom dia mana Adriana”. It made my day! We met the secretary of Napala’s comité de agua and walked with him to his house, where we sat on an esteira (large straw mat) underneath of a huge cashew tree. The M&E specialist and Duado, the M&E team member from my office, talked to the secretary and looked over forms. The specialist pointed out places where forms were completed incorrectly and Duado translated this information into Makua (the local language) for the secretary. The forms are really basic. They are written in Portuguese and are created by the leaders of SCIP Nampula. For example, the first page asks you to list the names of all members of the comité de agua. Pretty easy stuff. But things become tricky when you are asking an elderly man, with very limited schooling and Portuguese, to fill them out. So the specialist and Duado spent a lot of time going over the forms with the secretary, pointing out what he did correctly and what he needs to revise. Because Napala is so close to our office, team members are always making visits for trainings, meetings, or to simply check up. Therefore, the comité de agua is really organized and well-documented. The comités de agua and clubes de jovens agricultores of the other communities we visited that day were not nearly as organized or well documented. In one case, there was evidence of false reporting. Our SCIP Monapo records showed that the youth agriculture club had 38 members, which are required to be 10-24 years of age. But when we arrived to the community, their ledger only showed 20-some registered members, many of which were over 25 years. Additionally, the club was basically non-functioning. They had only received 1 visit from our clubes de jovens agricultores team member since the creation of the club. That visit was over a year ago. They hadn’t received seeds, gardening tools, or technical trainings on plant cultivation. So even though our documents showed a large, functioning club, in reality it was anything but.

The rest of our day continued in the same manner: traveling out to the communities, searching for the chefe (leader) or secretary of either the comité de agua or clube de jovens agricultores, and looking over and comparing our forms. We finished around 4pm and were treated to food and drink at a restaurant in the neighboring town. We ate conchs, fresh from Ilha de Moçambique, and cabrito (goat) with chunks of bread. Not your typical “happy hour” fare, but it was delicious with a cold beer after a long, hot day. Afterwards, we returned to the office for a brief and awkward meeting. The specialist informed our coordinator (my boss) of our findings and explained the severity of false reporting.

This was a special day. Not every day, in fact most, are not like this. First of all, when we go out into the communities almost everything is spoken in Makua. Fortunately, the M&E specialist is from Zambezia province where the local language is not Makua. It’s frustrating not understanding what is going on during meetings or trainings, but its more important that the community members understand. Some days I go to the office, wait 30 minutes for somebody else to show up, and then proceed to sit and play on my phone for several hours while they type away on their computers. Then, someone says “let us go” and we hop into the SCIP 4x4 truck and are out in the field until 5pm. Some days my “work day” is over at 10am. Some days I get to go back to the nun’s house for lunch. Some days we’re out in the field all afternoon and I’m famished by dinnertime. You just never know. So I make sure to wear comfortable clothing and shoes everyday (which is easy because jeans are considered “business dress” in Mozambique) and lather up with sunscreen before leaving the house.

a little bit about my job

In an effort to increase synergy across USAID/Mozambique’s programs in order to amplify their collective impact in Nampula Province, Pathfinder International, Population Services International (PSI), World Relief (WR), CARE (Cooperative Assistance and Relief Everywhere) and the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA) have established a partnership to implement the Strengthening Communities through Integrated Programming (SCIP) Project. Pathfinder will lead this seasoned Team that has more than 35 collective years of experience working in Mozambique.

Team Member & Project Area of Responsibility

1. Pathfinder- project management

monitoring and evaluation

capacity building

reproductive health, family planning and maternal health

subgranting and subcontracting

2. PSI- communication (Behavior Change, Interpersonal)

3. World Relief- HIV and OVC (orphans and vulnerable children)

interventions, child survival, linkages to non-health programs, FBO (faith-based organizations) networking

4. CLUSA- training of youth farmers in conservation farming

household handling and storage techniques

5. CARE- potable water and sanitation

The SCIP Project aims to strengthen capacity of the public health system, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to reach the seven results defined in the RFA. The Project will work at the provincial, district, and community levels in 14 districts of Nampula in a coordinated and complimentary manner with other USG (US Governemnt)-Funded development activities, especially with the Food for Peace Title II Multi-Year Assitance Program (MYAP) Cooperating Sponsor. So for me, the respective areas are: Province- Nampula, District- Monapo, and community- all those within Monapo district, which are many, but the ones we work with the most often are located within 50K of Monapo city.

Pathfinder and its partners are well positioned to rapidly implement activities that will assist the Government of Mozambique and USAID/Mozambique to achieve three Strategic Objectives: rapid rural income growth sustained in target areas; increased use of child survival and reproductive health services in target areas; and transmission of HIV reduced and the impact of the epidemic mitigated.

The Project Goal: SCIP will improve quality of life at the household and community level by improving health and nutrition status and increasing household economic viability. Project results are described under four synergistic objectives: 1) Strengthen and sustain facility health services; 2) Facilitate and promote community health and hygiene behaviors; 3) Enhance livelihood capacity; 4) Increase availability of multi-use water systems for health and wealth. Implementation of interventions supporting these objectives will transform communities and achieve the goal of: Healthier, stronger families, less vulnerable to disease, contributing to increased economic productivity and involved in civil society activities.

swear-in ceremony, supervisor's conference, and first day in Monapo

Sunday, August 14^th, 2011

Surprisingly, I wasn’t as sad as I thought I would be when I left my family on Friday morning. I know I’m going to miss them like crazy, but they are really only a cell phone call away (when the phone lines are working correctly!). Also, I didn’t have to say goodbye to all of them in Namaacha because my host dad was invited to attend the swear-in ceremony.

We walked to the ambassador’s house from the PC office in Maputo on Friday afternoon. The ceremony was held in the backyard, around a beautiful pool, and with the Indian Ocean in the background. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of PC staff members in attendance, along with our language teachers, some Mozambican government and health officials, and tons of people in high positions in international government agencies (like USAID) and international non-government agencies (Family Health International, Pathfinder International, etc). The PC Country Director (Carl Swartz) and The US Ambassador gave speeches before we were officially sworn in as volunteers. Then a fellow MOZ 16er, Maddy, gave a speech for our group. Finally, the director of Mozambique’s National AIDS Council gave a speech. We sang the “Home” song we performed at the Homestay celebration and there were Mozambican dancers and musicians. For the rest of the afternoon, we were able to mingle and speak with the many important people there and eat some delicious appetizers! Such a lovely afternoon, we all felt like royalty by the time we left.

Things only got better the rest of the day as we checked in to the gorgeous hotel Girassol. I’ve stayed in some pretty nice hotels, and this place was right up there with the best of them. I only had one roommate and our room was huge! It looked more like an apartment than a hotel room, and the view was incredible. Since the ceremony at the ambassador’s house ended in the early afternoon, we had a lot of free time to enjoy Maputo. So a group of us found a gelato shop and some fancy grocery stores to get the essentials before heading up north. Then, we ordered in Thai food for dinner and enjoyed our last night together (at least until our Reconnect Conference in 3 months!).

The lucky Northerners got to wake up super early to leave the hotel by 5:30am. PC cars took us directly to the airport for our 8:00am flight to Nampula. Upon arrival, we were sent straight to our hotel, Hotel Milenio. It’s a very nice hotel, but we were all a little bummed after being spoiled in Hotel Girassol in Maputo. By the time we checked-in and settled into our rooms everyone was starving. So Kristie (the Assistant PC Director for Health) led us to a nearby restaurant where we ate a lot of pizza, burgers, and lasagna. We wandered around Nampula and got to see the PC regional office, but everyone was exhausted from our long day of travel so we returned to the hotel to take naps before dinner. Hotel Milenio has a wonderful restaurant with Portuguese, Chinese, and Indian food. We are definitely very spoiled at mealtime!

Sunday morning we all met in the hotel’s restaurant for a delicious buffet-style breakfast. Then, a large group of us headed to Nampula’s craft market. I was a little disappointed with the selection of crafts. There wasn’t as much variety as in Maputo, but I probably should have expected that. I was, however, very pleased with a black and white wrap dress I found for $2!! Later, we walked around trying to find a decent grocery store since the Shoprite (a South African chain of fancy grocery stores) burned down a few weeks ago. We weren’t very successful as nearly every store was closed. Again, I should have expected that, since most stores in Namaacha are closed on Sundays. We ended our afternoon with a cold beer in the shade of a restaurant’s deck. We really needed to cool off because Nampula is HOT. I wore a light skirt and tank top and was sweating all afternoon. And it’s winter! I am so not looking forward to the summer heat!

In the evening we had a meeting to introduce the “peer support network,” which is basically just a resource for PCVs to use when they need someone to talk to about cultural differences, isolation, feeling homesick, relationship problems, etc. Afterwards we were supposed to meet our counterparts/supervisors, but mine had not yet arrived. So I will just have extra catching up to do with them tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 17^th, 2011

Today I left Nampula for my new home- Monapo. Edmundo (my counterpart) and I rode with Paula (SCIP’s driver) on a beautiful road with scenery very different from Namaacha. It looks less tropical here- not as lush and more mountainous. I fell asleep during the drive and woke up right as we were turning down the road that leads to Monapo. After speaking with Irmã Belinda for a bit, everyone helped me move my things into my new room. I took some time to arrange my things and I must say, my room looks great! I cannot believe how happy I am right now and I am just praying that this feeling doesn’t change.

Later in the afternoon, I met up with Vonnie and Jenn (2 education volunteers. Vonnie lives in Monapo and Jenn lives in the next town over). They showed me around town, introduced me to some vendors and store owners. We also treated ourselves to ice cream, popcorn, and apas (tortillas with an egg, ketchup, and mayo…sounds weird but they’re pretty delicious).

Then I went back to the irmãs house took a SHOWER inside of our indoor bathroom and met the irmãs in our dining room for dinner. We ate shrimp, rice, sautéed vegetables, egg noodle soup, and papaya for dessert. Very delicious! I’m going to be so spoiled with all of this Asian food. Each irmã takes turns cooking and cooks food from her home country. So I will get to experience Indian, Filipina, and Indonesian food while I am here.

I read my mom’s note right after dinner. It was in my big suitcase that I’ve had with me this whole time. I think just too strange that I’ve had it with me but have never found it until today. It just popped out of my suitcase while I was unpacking. I’m glad it remained hidden while I was in Namaacha, because I wouldn’t have been able to keep myself from reading it and I really wanted to save if for the first night at site. Just like my dad’s note, mom’s made me cry. But it was a good cry, because her words were so beautiful and meaningful, not because I felt sad/lonely/homesick like I did when I read the note from dad. This is just such a great feeling- to know that everything is gonna be ok. I’m going to be ok, better than ok, and complete my service successfully and come out such a better person, personally and professionally. I am so excited for my new life and this amazing journey that lies ahead!

and so it begins

So for the past 2 and a half months, I've been living in Mozambique, eating mozambican food, taking bucket baths, and hand washing my clothes among other things...but I have yet to know what it's like to really be a Peace Corps Volunteer. Tomorrow I will leave Nampula and all of the other volunteers. Tomorrow I will start speaking Portuguese all day, everyday. Tomorrow my service officially begins! Obviously, I'm ridiculously nervous but also very excited.
Yesterday I met my counterpart, Edmundo, for the first time. He is a very nice man and I think we are going to work very well together.He is from Maputo but living in Monapo in order to work for SCIP: Monapo. During the conference, we discussed the expectations we have for one another and I learned a lot more about the work of SCIP (Strengthening Communities through Integration Project). I think I hit the jackpot as far as Peace Corps jobs go! But I still have a lot more information to find out so more details to come :-)
Edmundo and I are leaving Hotel Milenio tomorrow morning for Monapo, where he'll help me settle in to my new home. The MOZ 14 volunteer I'm replacing is not leaving Moz until November and unfortunately her home (which will eventually be my home) is too small for the 2 of us. So, I'll be living with 3 nuns in Monapo until November! Apparently they are from India, Indonesia, and the Phillipines! Although I was really looking forward to living on my own, I am so excited for this experience. I'm just hoping they don't feed me too much because I definitely need to start losing the 10-15 lbs I gained during PST!
Hopefully, I'll be able to blog again soon to update on my living situation. Let's keep our fingers crossed for internet/wireless availability in Monapo!

I'm finally a PCV!!!

Thursday, August 11^th, 2011

Today is my last full day in Namaacha. Tomorrow we leave at 8am for the Peace Corps Office in Maputo. Then we’re walking to the Ambassador’s House for the swear-in ceremony where we will officially become Peace Corps Volunteers! So amazing how the time in Namaacha flew by.

The Sunday after my birthday Castro came home with birthday gifts for me, including a black kitten! I named her Peanut Butter after gato preto, of course. He also gave me a wooden bracelet and wooden candle holder. Both are so beautiful! Week 9 was pretty uneventful, although very busy. We had a lot of free time to prepare our Practicum activity. However, most of this free time was used to go to the modista (seamstress/tailor) and practice our song for the Homestay celebration and swear-in. I got a skirt and dress made at the modista. The dress is made from a capulana that all the PCTs have to wear at swear-in. It’s a tradition to have everyone in the same training group wear an article of clothing made out of the same capulana print. Most of the guys got shirts or ties made, and the girls got skirts or dresses. The skirt I had made was from a capulana I bought on site visit in Xai-Xai. Going to the modista is so much fun. You get to design the article of clothing and it is custom made for your body. And all for about $5! Such a deal and so much better than scanning the racks at the mall. Although, I do miss Forever 21!

Week 9 was also the week of festas (parties). On Friday, we had a party to thank the organizations who worked with us on our Practicum activities. Each language group made a food item (we made butter cookies with icing) and we just ate and talked for a couple of hours. Then on Saturday was our Homestay Celebration. What a good time! There was SO much food. The host moms started cooking at 4am! We ate pasta salad, potato salad, regular salad, beet salad, olives & feta (bought specially in Maputo), coleslaw, chicken, pork, beef, sausage, french fries, and of course, rice and xima. Tons of sodas and beer and champagne and cake for dessert. The party started with a lot of speeches by important government officials and administrators in Namaacha. Then, we performed the Mozambican National Anthem, US National Anthem, and “Home.” Peace Corps called each PCT and their host family to recognize the families and also for them to receive a certificate for completion of homestay. After eating, we had special music and dance performances by local groups. It soon turned into a giant dance party. I went home to change and visit with my family since not all of them could come to the party (Peace Corps limited it to 4 family members per PCT, so my Dad, Castro, sister Atalia and Pedro came). Then I returned to the health hub for an extended dance party with some of my favorite PCTs and their host moms and dads. We had such a great night.

Sunday was a bit of a disappointment, thanks to the weather. It was so rainy and cold outside I was unable to lavar roupa (wash clothes). So I set my computer up on the dining table and watched the movie “Up” with my brothers and sisters. They didn’t understand all of it, and I did my best to translate the important stuff, but overall they loved it. The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and packing my huge plastic trunk and a cardboard box to go to site. We have accumulated a lot of educational materials, including tons of books, which have to be sent to our sites separate from our other luggage.

Monday morning we had our second LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) and Round Robbins. I achieved my goal of getting Advanced-Low on the LPI! Afterwards, my language group had to do our Practicum activity at our organization, Congregação de Precioso Sangue. We taught the kids a bunch of games and talked to them about basic hygiene (hand washing, teeth brushing, etc). We had a great time playing with them and I’m pretty sure they did, too! On Tuesday we spent all day at the Peace Corps Office in Maputo. What a beautiful place! I had never been to that side of Maputo before and it looks like a completely different city. The office is located amongst tons of other international government offices and embassies. Apparently, the US Ambassador’s House is within walking distance of the PC Office…I’ll soon find out for myself when we go tomorrow! Like Tuesday, Wednesday was another full day of sessions, only we were back in Namaacha instead of in Maputo. Abby and Caitlin (two of the third year PCVs in Namaacha) invited us all over Wednesday night for burritos. And that was our final MOZ 16 festa in Namaacha.

Sunday, August 14^th, 2011

Surprisingly, I wasn’t as sad as I thought I would be when I left my family on Friday morning. I know I’m going to miss them like crazy, but they are really only a cell phone call away (when the phone lines are working correctly!). Also, I didn’t have to say goodbye to all of them in Namaacha because my host dad was invited to attend the swear-in ceremony.

We walked to the ambassador’s house from the PC office in Maputo on Friday afternoon. The ceremony was held in the backyard, around a beautiful pool, and with the Indian Ocean in the background. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of PC staff members in attendance, along with our language teachers, some Mozambican government and health officials, and tons of people in high positions in international government agencies (like USAID) and international non-government agencies (Family Health International, Pathfinder International, etc). The PC Country Director (Carl Swartz) and The US Ambassador gave speeches before we were officially sworn in as volunteers. Then a fellow MOZ 16er, Maddy, gave a speech for our group. Finally, the director of Mozambique’s National AIDS Council gave a speech. We sang the “Home” song we performed at the Homestay celebration and there were Mozambican dancers and musicians. For the rest of the afternoon, we were able to mingle and speak with the many important people there and eat some delicious appetizers! Such a lovely afternoon, we all felt like royalty by the time we left.

Things only got better the rest of the day as we checked in to the gorgeous hotel Girassol. I’ve stayed in some pretty nice hotels, and this place was right up there with the best of them. I only had one roommate and our room was huge! It looked more like an apartment than a hotel room, and the view was incredible. Since the ceremony at the ambassador’s house ended in the early afternoon, we had a lot of free time to enjoy Maputo. So a group of us found a gelato shop and some fancy grocery stores to get the essentials before heading up north. Then, we ordered in Thai food for dinner and enjoyed our last night together (at least until our Reconnect Conference in 3 months!).

The lucky Northerners got to wake up super early to leave the hotel by 5:30am. PC cars took us directly to the airport for our 8:00am flight to Nampula. Upon arrival, we were sent straight to our hotel, Hotel Milenio. It’s a very nice hotel, but we were all a little bummed after being spoiled in Hotel Girassol in Maputo. By the time we checked-in and settled into our rooms everyone was starving. So Kristie (the Assistant PC Director for Health) led us to a nearby restaurant where we ate a lot of pizza, burgers, and lasagna. We wandered around Nampula and got to see the PC regional office, but everyone was exhausted from our long day of travel so we returned to the hotel to take naps before dinner. Hotel Milenio has a wonderful restaurant with Portuguese, Chinese, and Indian food. We are definitely very spoiled at mealtime!

Sunday morning we all met in the hotel’s restaurant for a delicious buffet-style breakfast. Then, a large group of us headed to Nampula’s craft market. I was a little disappointed with the selection of crafts. There wasn’t as much variety as in Maputo, but I probably should have expected that. I was, however, very pleased with a black and white wrap dress I found for $2!! Later, we walked around trying to find a decent grocery store since the Shoprite (a South African chain of fancy grocery stores) burned down a few weeks ago. We weren’t very successful as nearly every store was closed. Again, I should have expected that, since most stores in Namaacha are closed on Sundays. We ended our afternoon with a cold beer in the shade of a restaurant’s deck. We really needed to cool off because Nampula is HOT. I wore a light skirt and tank top and was sweating all afternoon. And it’s winter! I am so not looking forward to the summer heat!

In the evening we had a meeting to introduce the “peer support network,” which is basically just a resource for PCVs to use when they need someone to talk to about cultural differences, isolation, feeling homesick, relationship problems, etc. Afterwards we were supposed to meet our counterparts/supervisors, but mine had not yet arrived. So I will just have extra catching up to do with them tomorrow!