mail

Ok, so im retracking my no packages no mail statement- im ready for letters!!! send letters to the address on my blog and packages, you can ask me or my mom about that one :)

Babies with babies

I never seem to get used to the young kids who are taking care of babies. I’m not talking 7 year olds babysitting- that happens too- but I’m more referring to the 4 year old that looks after his two year old sister, or the 5 year old that has an infant strapped to her back. I don’t know who anyone’s parents are, and it doesn’t really seem to matter who the biological parents are because kids in my neighborhood are kids of the neighborhood, children of us all. I do get frustrated every once in a while when I hear a mother or neighbor say “go play at mana Ana’s” or “go ask to draw,” because I get tired and sometimes don’t want a heard of children screaming and fighting on my doorstep, but then again it’s not like it’s hurting me to give them something to do. And these babies watching babies- it’s insane! I have to take a picture of this little brother-sister duo. The little girl is terrified of me but the boy loves to visit and draw, so they’re over here often, and they’re always hand in hand. When she gets freaked out when I say hi to her, he’s right there to make her calm down and explain I’m not a monster. And when the other kids try to take her paper or colored pencil, he’s there at her defense. They are absolutely adorable. Michael, Will- they make me miss you guys more and more everyday.

Field Trip!

The other day Prof Silvino invited me to come with him and some friends up to Massingir district. At the time I had no idea what we’d be doing but I said yes because I wanted a chance to get to know more of Gaza. Turns out it was a provincial gathering of the catholic churches. Anyways- I was told to be at the chapa stop at 5am on Sunday morning. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER! After eight months here and I still take people on their word in regards to time. Well, I was there at 5, I was still there at 5:30 when another chapa full of people left, I was still there at 6:15 when the sun came up, and I was still there at 7:00 when the second bus load of people left. At 7:15 Silvino, Fenias, and Abel showed up. I climbed in the chapa, FINALLY warm, and we immediately got off because the chapa driver wanted more money and we weren’t going to pay. So, I was still at the chapa stop at 8am when our new chapa pulled up. Finally, at 8:15, we were on the road out of town. I wasn’t, nor am I, angry with anyone but myself for actually thinking anything could happen on time.
The three hour ride up was pretty enjoyable. There was lots of singing and chanting and some napping. When we arrived, we saw the last five minutes of the sermon before communion. I was pretty bummed we missed it, but I got to meet up with another volunteer who lives there. She showed me around her town, introduced me to her friends in the village, and we went home and attempted to cook lunch just as the power went out. Such is life. The town was quite enjoyable and I intend to go back again in the near future so I can visit the national park and see a bit more of the town when I’m not quite so sleep deprived.
It was a great day, even with the bumps in the road. And what really made my day was driving back into town as the sun was setting. I spent sunrise and sunset at the chapa stop. At least it was gorgeous- red, orange, blue, purple, all setting over giant bushy trees. I love where I live.

Cultural Festival

Saturday, after work (yes I work Saturdays too), I went to my neighboring town for a cultural festival. I had no idea what I was walking into when I got there and was extremely surprised at what I saw. It turns out, once every two years Mozambique has this kind of cultural festival with theatre, dancing, singing, and food competitions. They have provincial competitions (like the one I saw), the winners go to regionals, and those winners go on to nationals. Some of the dancing and singing was so-so, but some was fantastic! My favorite were a group of guys who were dressed in what I can only imagine was traditional hunting attire, with leather, feathers, and bones attached to them, carrying shields and spears, and dancing to drumming. As usual, I didn’t have my camera but I’ll consiguir pictures from someone soon to post. Anyways, the dancing was definitely my favorite part- the food would’ve been but they wouldn’t let me eat any until after the judges. Not only were the guys dancing, there were old men, old women, a man with one leg, and women with babies on their backs. It was great.
The ride home was quite fantastic as well. I met up with some professors from my school, so during the chapa ride back we got to talking about politics and some difficulties Mozambique is facing. I was sitting between two of my pedagogical directors, two very educated, motivated men in my community, and I was a bit disappointed when both of them conceded that there was nothing they could do to change this problem. They spoke about how if they try to talk about politics in the classroom they could get fired. I used this golden opportunity to explain to them it’s not the knowledge about politics their students need, it’s the capacity to think critically and develop their own ideas. I think after the hour trip home I saw at least one light bulb go off, and it felt really good to finally get through to someone who is more than capable of making a significant difference here in my village.

SWAZI!!

The weekend of May 27th I went to Swaziland with several other volunteers for a music festival- AMAZING!! I started my weekend by going to visit my host family from training. I was a bit hesitant at first to stay with them because I didn’t feel like we had the best relationship while I was living there, but it was an absolutely great night. It was really nice to spend time with Mae and Pai and Valdo again, and to catch up on what they’ve been doing for the last few months. My host dad and I talked a bit as well, and my host mom was surprisingly fun to be around. And walking through the town made it feel like I’d never left. I didn’t spend as much time there as I’d liked, but the time I did spend was quite surreal. So, on to Swaziland. Crossing the boarder was fun for the sole reason that it was my first time leaving the country since arriving here- finally stamped my passport! Swazi was beautiful and complete culture shock. We were all floored at how developed it felt. Every little thing seemed to surprise me- there were trashcans, no wondering goats or cows, people spoke English (for the most part), yet we were still the only white people. The whole speaking English thing actually turned around to nip us a few times- we’ve gotten so accustomed to being the only people to understand our conversations that it was a little embarrassing every once in a while when someone behind us would laugh or raise their eyebrows at what we were saying. Anyways, Scooter, Ann, Emma and I finally made it to our hostel at about noon or so. It was beautiful- not only did it have a pool and an outside bar but also hot, running water, flushing toilets, comfortable beds, and extremely friendly and helpful staff. We were in heaven! We sat down for a celebratory Swazi beer which turned into an 8 hour meet and greet with other travelers staying that the hostel. We met Americans, British, Irish, South Africans, an Australian, a Canadian, an Israeli, and other PCVs from other countries. It was quite a mixture. The festivities started Friday night and once we arrived to the concert, we met up with other PCVs from Mozambique. Saturday morning we woke up with the sun, as usual, and made the trek into town to find a Chinese restaurant we’d seen on our way in the day before. Of course it was closed because it was still breakfast time. Anyways, we spent Saturday afternoon at the hostel chatting with people, napping, and planning our night. The concert that night was amazing- on the main stage during one of the performances men got on the roof and started dancing with giant ropes on fire- it was wild. The music was great of course- performers from all over- Swazi, South Africa, the US, England, everywhere. I was having such a wonderful time on Saturday that when it came time to leave the hostel on Sunday morning I negared. I ate breakfast with Ann, Emma and Scooter, but when they left for Mozambique with a Canadian friend we’d made, I decided to stay and go to the concert for the afternoon. And I’m so glad I did! I hung out with people from the hostel and, even though it was raining all afternoon, the concert was a blast. We drank spiced wine, ate delicious fair food, talked about our experiences traveling, and danced all day. It was very refreshing to meet new people and hear about other stories from Africa and traveling. I will admit, at one point when one of my new friends suggested I just dechar Peace Corps and keep traveling with them, I hesitated before I declined. The people that go backpacking in Africa are definitely of a different breed than those who backpack through Europe. I liked what I found out here. Well, after an absolutely amazing and eye-opening weekend, I made the trek back to Moz. I met up with Clancy, Val and Jenna on the bus to Maputo so that was perfect. We swapped stories, talked about what we bought, who we met, what we ate, and how we can’t wait to go back again next year. The entire weekend was a laugh-fest and I know I’m going to keep the memories I made there with me for a long time.