This year I realized how thankful I am for two very
different things. One, that I was blessed to be spending the holiday with great
friends in a truly remarkable country; and two, that I would be at home with family for the
next Turkey Day. It probably seems contradictory, but that’s the best way to
explain where I’m at right now. I love Mozambique, love my life here and know
its going to be painful leaving but I am also missing the people and comforts
of “Americaland.” But I digress, and will now get to the tale of my
Thanksgiving. I'm including a link to a map so you can follow the trip from Monapo to Chimoio and back!
I
met a friend in Nampula city and we caught a ride (from the SCIP car!) to Alto
Molocue where another PCV lives. We spent the night at his house and the
following morning the 3 of us head out together. We got incredibly lucky and caught
a ride going the whole way to Chimoio, our destination. So after 9 hours in the
bed of a pickup truck we were in Chimoio eating falafel and hummus at a
Lebanese-owned restaurant. I had been to Chimoio twice before but had gotten in
late and left super early the next morning so I was never able to explore the
city. It’s a very unusual Mozambican provincial capital because it lies very
close to the Zimbabwean border and has a lot of ex-pat and non-Mozambican
residents (hence the delicious food at the Lebanese restaurant). We spent the
next day planning out our Thanksgiving Day menu and other meals while at
Gorongosa National Park. And then we got to do the shopping- which sounds like
it would be stressful but was actually quite fun as Chimoio has South
African-chain grocery stores that carry all kinds of exotic items not found in
Nampula province where I live! All of the other PCVs got in to Chimoio later
that evening and we went out for burgers (bacon and cheddar!!!) and beer.
We
traveled from Chimoio to Gorongosa National Park on Thursday and had a relaxing
day cooking, playing games and just hanging out. We all slept in tents which was the only “roughing
it” part of the trip because our campsite had bathrooms complete with running,
hot water. Who would have thought camping could be such a luxury! We had our
actual Thanksgiving meal Friday afternoon. Fresh turkey (killed that morning), mixed
fruit jam (meant to be cranberry sauce), green bean casserole, rosemary and
garlic mashed potatoes and cheesy carrots (made by yours truly). It was super delicious!
The only thing I really missed was Thanksgiving dessert, but we opted to leave
them out to keep costs down since we were a pretty large group. We did,
however, roast marshmallows! Early Saturday morning we piled into a van and
went out into the park for a game drive. Gorongosa was once a world-renowned
wildlife park but the 15 year civil war in Moz severely diminished the animal
populations, especially the elephant population. Still, the park is doing a
wonderful job working with the locals to reduce poaching and
environmental pollution to help sustain the remaining animals and support those
that are introduced into the park. On our drive we saw warthogs, elephants, and
many different types of deer. It definitely felt like I was in the part of
Africa that you always think of when you hear the word “Africa”- wild open
Savannah-like plains and lush, uninhabited forest.
We
left Gorongosa National Park after the game drive and headed back to Chimoio
for the night. The following morning we began the long journey back up North. After
several hours of bad luck and being stranded on the road in the blazing hot sun,
a friend and I finally caught a ride to Mocuba in Zambezia province. There is
currently no PCV in Mocuba so we got in touch with an American missionary
family who was nice enough to have us stay at their home. They surprised us
with a delicious meal (we hadn’t eaten anything all day except for a handful of
litchi fruit) of pepperoni and Hawaiian pizza, chickpea and vegetable salad,
mint iced tea, mango and banana ice cream and fresh pineapple which we picked
up as a thank-you gift on the side of the road. We took hot showers and worried about staining
their white bath towels and washcloths with our dirt-encrusted bodies. Again,
such luxury! I was able to make it back to Monapo (after a dog threw up in the
car I was riding in and the kids screamed bloody murder…long story) the
following day and I must say I was so thankful to be home. Roo greeted me at
the door with non-stop whining. I think that means she missed me. I was also
thankful to come home to a clean house stocked with water. My friend takes care
of the place for me when I leave and he was nice enough to cart water for me
since I was completely out. Now, I’ve got about 3 weeks to wrap up the work
year before Christmas vacation! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and recognized
the things and people in your life which you are thankful for :)
