Settling.

Ola voces todos!!

I begrudgingly admit, Oscar Wilde was onto something when he wrote, “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read.” I’ve been at site in Mapinhane a full week now, and flipping through the last couple dozen pages of my handwritten notes, it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster week! As I hinted at in my last post, when the Peace Corps van drove away, leaving me alone in my hut in Mapinhane, I was left with literally two duffel bags, a trunk, a taped up box, a good mattress and a desk.  Since then, I’ve used the last week to start collecting all the necessities for everyday life – no easy task when all you have are your own two feet and the kindness of strangers. Still, such things have proven to be worth a lot here – after all, strangers quickly turn into friends and with the vibrancy of the local grapevine, suddenly the whole village knows everything about the new “Mulungu” (white girl) in town. And apparently, I’m quite a strange Mulungu – I wear the traditional capulana while doing chores like every Mozambican woman, I (kinda) speak Portuguese, and I can wash my own clothes.  No one thinks that a Mulungu like me can cook, but in my defense, I haven’t really been given a fair shot at proving my worth, haha. Having bought and hitchhiked a gas stove home from the neighboring town only two days ago (which is a story by itself!), and still needing to buy propane, I still don’t have the ability to cook for myself. The consequence is that I’ve essentially been adopted by the Director of my school and his family in the meantime. Awesome, yes, but as much as I loved the homestay experience in Namaacha with my host family, one overbearing (yet wonderful) Mozambican host-mother is enough for anyone. There is only so many times you can be told that you’re cutting a tomato “wrong” or washing a dish “wrong” before you really just want to run your own house and ultimately your own life.  The day of my independence cannot come soon enough!

Yet, of course, all good things take time. And in general, time is viewed as indefinite, intangible, or perhaps as Captain Jack Sparrow would say, “more of a guideline than a rule” here in Moz. Patience is something I thought I had a lot of… and yet everyday I'm finding out how much more I can muster in order not to go crazy with frustration sometimes.  I don’t want my antsyness for independence to be misconstrued as a lack of gratitude however.  I am very much indebted to the unhesitating warmth and hospitality of the local Mapinhanian community. A prime and perhaps my favorite example?  Being welcomed into the circle of cheeky local criancas (children, rugrats, etc). Whether I start a game of tag with them, play futbol with a green mango, or just wave like a madwoman shrieking “Gye chile!” (good morning in Chitswa)  to them on my morning runs, I’m always met with eager smiles, giggles, and even a supportive, easy-to-please, good-humored posse.  I went to collect water at the local pump yesterday, a bucket in one hand with my capulana wrapped around my waist, and instantly, 10 little hands whisked away my bucket, brought it to the front of the queue, and pumped the water for me!  Then after watching me wrap my capulana into a head cushion, they all helped me pick up the 20lbs bucket of water and balance it firmly on my head.  I walked away to cheers of “Wow, Teacher! Wow!” and perhaps the biggest boost of confidence and belonging I’ve felt here yet. I’ll admit, I’m a softie for kids anyways, but I also think I just feel safer interacting with kids. Portuguese is as much their native tongue as it is mine, so when I mess up a conjugation they don’t look at me like I’m stupid. They’re quick to forget transgressions or mistakes. Overall, criancas just want to have fun. It makes for a generally easy crowd to start practicing and applying the cultural adaptations necessary for the next two years I’ll spend here.  Hanging out with the criancas a bit everyday reminds me to be patient and not worry so much about the daunting task of Integration. They remind you that on those tougher days, an enthusiastic grin goes a long way. J

And so, I find a lot of things to smile about! I have to! For one, I finally have been able to unpack my bags, and with a bit of creative jury-rigging to the soundtrack of Christmas carols (weird!) a few days ago, I’ve situated my hut into a very livable, if not comfortable, space.  There are some curiosities of course.  Mainly, I’ve discovered that my hut literally rains sand, covering me and everything I own 24/7 in a light granular powder. Not even kidding.  The first few mornings I woke up, I woke up with sand in my eyes and a crusty facemask, haha! Seriously though, it’s slightly ridiculous. I complained to another volunteer (from Sequim interestingly enough!) about my problem and she was like, “oh yeah, about that… don’t worry! You’re not crazy! That’s a totally normal and expected thing for living in a hut.” She met my incredulous stare with a laugh of her own, and added, “Oh and don’t worry, you’ll give up trying to clean up after it. I give you only a month. Just wait.”

And so, I suppose if that’s the worst of my problems thus far, and can keep a laugh ready in my back pocket, I can take on anything this new life will throw at me.  

And there will definitely be more.

Ola from Mapinhane!

Ola minha familia e meus amigos!!

For those of you not on Facebook, I’ve been woefully out of touch! My apologies! I hope to bring you up to speed on everything over the next week – there is much to tell!

Today, as I write, I am kept company by the micro-ecosystem living within the hut that has become my home for the next two years… the geckos, the spiders, and the other unseen critters scuttling about in my thatch roof send their warmest wishes to all of you freezing through a snowy Christmas holiday. I on the otherhand am most often found sprawled out across my concrete floor, trying to find as many cool spots as possible in order to bear the Mozambican summer heat.  For a Pacific Northwest girl, anything above 75 is getting toasty, and given that the last few days have averaged in the mid-90s (without AC or even a fan mind you!), you can imagine how creative I’ll have to be to stay cool the next few months.  I suppose it’s just another piece to the capital “I” of the Peace Corps’ “Integration” pie ;)

In any case, the last time I wrote I described the awesomeness of visiting the sites of other Peace Corps volunteers and the corresponding anxiety with the ever approaching deadline for receiving our site placements for service! Well that time has definitely come and gone, and I’m pleased to announce that I will be serving for two years in the same little town I wrote about in my last post – Mapinhane!

The day we received our assignments was one I’ll never forget… Peace Corps staff ushered us out onto this big concrete basketball court where they had drawn Mozambique and all its provinces out with white chalk. Then all 67 of us huddled in a big circle and waited as one-by-one we were handed big manila envelopes – envelopes that held the answers to all our questions about the next two years of our lives –  with the explicit accompanying instruction from our training coordinator Claudia: “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL WE SAY GO!” All I can say is that when that order came, we all ripped open our envelopes (there were some screams of course) and we all practically ran to our sites on the map, checking to see if we had the good fortune of having our friends posted nearby.  [Just for perspective, Mozambique is so big (at least double California) that Peace Corps has to divide the country into three regions – South, Central, and North. To get from a site in the South to a site in the North takes a minimum of three to four days by public transit. So essentially, it’s very likely that people who get placed in different regions may not to see each other until Close-of-Service (COS) ceremony two years from now. Given the tight bond of our group, this remains a reality that none of us are too thrilled about]. Afterwards, of course, there were hugs and tears alike. Some people got “exactly” what they wanted for a site (ex. mountains, electricity, a site mate etc), and others got exactly what they didn’t want (ex. a roommate, super rural, super urban, etc). That being said, I think it’s important to note that no one really knows if what they “wanted”  in a site will turn out to be all that important. As many volunteers I’ve talked to explain, the site you get is your site – whether it is horrible or amazing, you have to make it work. If you get your “dream” post, it may not turn out so dreamy. If you get your “nightmare” post, it’ll probably turn out to be not so bad. Either way, it’s up to YOU to make the most of it!

Perhaps what the hardest part about site placement was for me was the fact that I had very little control over the process.  Many volunteers work for YEARS (sometimes decades for some of the older volunteers in our group) to make their dream to serve in Peace Corps a reality. The fact that despite all your concerted efforts and planning you have absolutely no ability to influence your final placement is one that is difficult to reconcile without a learned sense of patience and serendipity.  As for me, I’ve wanted to serve in Peace Corps since middle school and dreamed up corresponding romantic ideas of freedom and solitude – living in a hut, somewhere in Africa, with daily encounters with lions and elephants.  I share this story not only to get some laughs, (because it IS ridiculous) but because I think it’s very easy to find ourselves with a certain image of who we’ll be and how we’ll live during our years as a volunteer.

Thus, when I opened my assignment letter, I was simultaneously thrilled, relieved, and disappointed. Thrilled because I absolutely loved Mapinhane when I visited it last month - relieved because I didn’t have to wait in Peace Corps bureaucratic limbo anymore…I had a plan! - and disappointed I suppose because this dream I’d spent so much time constructing had come to fruition. It’s hard to explain but so much of having a goal is the pursuit. Now, I’ve realized that this is it. I’d made it. My service to the community in Mapinhane going to define my Peace Corps experience. This is now my life!

That is why during the Peace Corps swearing-in ceremony at the Ambassador’s residence, there have been fewer prouder moments in my life than taking the oath of office – the same one as every President of the United States has taken and will forever take.  It was so humbling, and just so awesome!

After swearing in, I was dropped off at site on December 8, 2012 with a trunk, a large duct-taped up box, and two duffel bags.

I am living in a straw hut that’s smaller than any college dorm room I’ve ever lived.  

I will live the next two years without electricity or running water.

I have a desk, a good mattress, and a water filter.

I live literally one minute from the school where I’ll be teaching ninth grade English.

I’m learning both Portuguese and now also the local language of Chitswa.

This is my Peace Corps reality, and I’m loving it!

(More to come about Mapinhane in my next post!)

Week 6 Recap!!

Ola minha familia e bonitos amigos!

Time flies when you’re having fun! No, seriously.  With six weeks of PCV training completed, our swearing-in date of December 4 inches ever closer.  In only three weeks and three days (but who’s counting right?), I’ll be raising my right hand and taking the Peace Corps pledge at the ambassador’s residence.  Thankfully there’s still much work to be done – the continuation of language classes and model school sessions remain a wonderful distraction from the weight of what us new volunteers are about to take on. As of now, I’m in the middle of that blissful honeymoon stage where everything is wonderful and frankly I’m totally fine with that. Over the course of two years, I know I will encounter incessant challenges to not only my day-to-day happiness, but also to the reasons that motivate me to serve. I imagine it’s common to find ourselves at points in our lives and wonder what crazy ideas compelled us to make such big decisions. However, as of now, I still wake up and find moments to marvel at in my everyday life, like watching the sun come up on my early morning runs along Namaacha’s rolling green hills, or the huge thunderstorms that tear across the night sky and whip the red earth into sticky sheets of matope (mud), or even the simple fact that I can navigate life “mais or menos” in Portuguese (and even tell a few jokes/poke fun at myself) - it feels so surreal to be living in the constant beauty that is Mozambique. I am grateful.

Yet the realization of how little time is actually left until we’re thrown into the thick of Mozambique’s toughest problems (a struggling, under-supported school system, high drop out rates, corruption, poverty, gender discrimination, and HIV/AIDS amongst other things), has spurred a scrambling of sorts amongst the ranks of PCV trainees. There are soooo many things we don’t know yet – where we’re living, how we’ll be living, what access to other volunteers we’ll have, how large our classroom sizes will be… Juxtapose the list of things we don’t know, to the rumors and info we’ve acquired through the vibrant PCV grapevine and you can imagine the type of electric uncertainty that is sparked.  Undoubtedly, the “Greatest Unknown” remains to be our site placements, and given that volunteers are largely excluded from the assignment process, it has of course become the hottest topic to gossip about.  The fact that we’re receiving our placements on Wednesday only heightens peoples obsession with the unknown. After all, it’s the unknown that can prove most exciting ;) While we all love conjecturing however, I am definitely trying to remain as open-minded as possible. Inevitably, no matter what I think the most “perfect” site would be, essentially the next two years will be determined by someone in the Peace Corps office in Maputo, not me, and that’s probably for the best. Whether I get placed in the “mato” middle-of-nowhere village and live in a hut without electricity and running water, or am placed in a beach town and live in my own house, I’ll have to adapt to the different challenges each scenario entails. And, it’s about at this point in sharing my logic with other volunteers at the bar that I reach this diplomatic conclusion for the millionth time and subsequently change the subject and order myself another beer ;)

All this being said, the last two weeks since my last email have been eventful ones!  One major theme? Illness (boo!). After being taken out at the knees by strep throat, only a few days after I finished the antibiotics another nasty virus wreaked some havoc on my immune system.  It’s so strange to feel vulnerable to illness, especially since I rarely ever got sick back in the states. And as a side note, being sick in a county without basic amenities sucks. There’s nothing like having a high fever and having to squat over a bucket to pee because you were too weak to walk outside to the latrine. Perspective man, perspective.  On the bright side, I am very lucky to have not been hit with any gastrointestinal distress, a condition that apparently immobilizes 97% of volunteers in Moz at least once during their two years of service (seriously, Peace Corps collects stats on all this type of stuff and then feed it to us in endless power point presentations, no joke!) . That being said, if any one feels like sending me packets of Emergen-C, it’d be greatly appreciated!

For those not wanting to hear more details about the more unsavory realities of life, you’ll be pleased to hear that there were numerous other more palatable highlights  ;)

Most recently, I escaped Namaacha for six days to visit two active Peace Corps sites. Site visits provide PCV trainees with an opportunity to “job-shadow” the lives of current Peace Corps volunteers and essentially provide a short trial run for service life. I was sent to visit two sites in northern Inhambane province – Vilankulos, a semi-touristy beach town, and Mapinhane a very rural, rustic and dusty town along the national highway.  When we arrived in Vilankulos after a ten hour bus ride north, a stunning view met our tired eyes. Imagine a beautiful turquoise ocean lapping up onto white sandy beaches, palm trees rustling in a light breeze, and a blistering hot sun. We couldn’t have escaped Namaacha’s rain at a more opportune time (there was a point when even freshly washed (wet) laundry became moldy because it never dried out!), so of course, the first two days were spent lounging on the private beach of the Baobob Backpackers hostel, drinking fresh coconut with the locally made rum, and eating our first pizza (a rare find!) since leaving the USA. Such luxury quickly became a bit boring however, and I was excited to be moving on to Mapinhane, the village of our hosts Laurie and Chris.

Mapinhane couldn’t have offered a better contrast to the indulgences of Vilankulos. It’s rural with a typical small-town feel where everyone knows everybody, and even with new cell towers topping the horizon (a sign of an ever encroaching globalized world), most of the villagers live in thatch huts and cook over carvao (charcoal). Moreover, in not having electricity or running water, the village kids or their mothers collect water from a few communal pumps multiple times per day, carrying their heavy jugs of water home in wheelbarrows or on their heads.  It’s undoubtedly a life of continuous hard work, from sunrise to sunset.   While it was fun to have been a part of the “Po$h Corp$” (haha!) for a few days, it was a much needed reality check to visit Mapinhane and experience the more typical day-to-day life of the average Mozambican (and relatedly very often the life of a Peace Corps volunteer).  Just to provide some context: Mozambique is rated 184 out of 187 on the Human Development Index (HDI) – the lowest HDI rating of all Peace Corps host-countries. The HDI, developed by the United Nations Development Programme, is a comparative tool that evaluates factors such as health and life expectancy, literacy, education, and standards of living. Thus, while Moz may be viewed as a foreign aid “darling” receiving around $400 million per year from the US government alone, the HDI signifies to the Peace Corps volunteer that there’s definitely much more work to be done at the grassroots level.  That’s both a humbling and exciting role to be in, especially when Mapinhane modeled a town brimming with an incredible amount of potential. During our visit, we got to tour the first newly-built public secondary school and talk with the pedagogical director (aka, the Headmaster). He’s currently in the process of bending over backwards to get a Peace Corps volunteer placed at his school (free, skilled labor anyone??) – and he wants an English teacher no less!! I’m crossing my fingers…

In any case, we all returned to Namaacha not only refreshed and ready to take on the last few weeks, but with a healthy dose of perspective and readiness to take on the next phase of Peace Corps service. 

And now, all we can do is wait to receive our official assignments.

I’ll keep y’all posted about the big news!