Its starting to get hotter here….and lately all I’ve been doing was sitting and complaining about how hot it actually is! I’m grateful however for electricity to power the fans, and for ice cold bucket baths. Yesterday I took a bath and was feeling so nice, THEN after hmmm…..5 minutes, I felt sweaty and gross again! It only gets hotter as time goes on. I remember Dec – Mar last year were extremely hot…..but ya know, I’m getting used to it.
One thing I still am NOT used to however, are those big spiders that look like little aliens. They’re orange. They’re fast, and they’re BIG. I called the neighbor boy who lives next door to come over and kill one yesterday. He laughed and said, “Oh Nana, nao fica medo.” (Nana, don’t be scared). I told him to stop laughing and kill the thing before it crawled in my bed. So he very casually found the thing in the corner of my room, PICKED it up, threw it back on the floor and squashed it. GROSS. I would’ve preferred he take it outside then kill it bc now my floor has spider juice everywhere, but its fine. Thank God for lemon scented bleach.
Monday, November 21, 2011
What happens when someone “shats” on a Chapa…..I wish I was Making this up
There is nothing predictable here in Mozambique. Ya can’t just wake up every morning and say to yourself, “everything will go as I plan today, I just know it!” Umm….yea, no ya don’t. Let’s take the experience I had on a chapa THIS morning. I try to avoid chapas as much as possible, but its pretty much the only means of transportation. I needed to do some errands in the city today that were necessary, so I did a few things at site then headed to the chapa stop. Surprisingly the second I got there, not one, but TWO chapas were waiting there. I looked at both to see which one I wanted. I choose the one who had the less ppl in it. I hate standing in chapas. I sat in the last row windown seat – in my opinion the best seat in the house. Its relatively comfortable and you don’t have to move outta the way when someone behind you is getting off. Score. About five minutes into the ride, we picked up a woman carrying two babies – one across her arms, the other one walking. They sat in the row in front of me. Her children were super cute. I love kids, so most of them are super cute…..hmmm but then I noticed the little girl walking didn’t look too happy. She looked like she was mad at the world. “Its ok,” I thought to myself, “its tough being a kid.” I go back to starting out the window, headphones on, while making sure no creepy Mozambican guy starts chattin’ it up. Next thing I know I smell something FOUL. Like the type of smell that is damaging to your health. It wasn’t just a “normal” poop, it smelled like there was something else going in in there. Everybody in the chapa got rowdy, and started their “Eii…Ughh…Sheeeeiiii,” noises. The lil girl who didn’t look so happy apparently didn’t want anyone else this morning to be happy either – bc she decided to “number 2” ALL OVER the place. I felt bad for her, cuz ya know….she’s young, she probably couldn’t help it……but I was also worried about my lungs and what type of gastromic fumes were entering my body. Her mom started yelling at her, “What is wrong with you, eh!?” The girl started crying. (Awww poor baby.) It didn’t end there.
A couple of ppl were yelling at the mom and asked her why she let her baby do that. Yikes, well I don’t think she asked her daughter,”pls go poopy on the chapa” this morning. The poor mom was doing everything she could to clean up the girl, but it literally covered half the third row. Her mom picked her up, and that’s when the fumes hit us HARD. I almost gagged, and at the same time I felt so bad for this lil girl though. I did, however, wanted to get outta this chapa asap, but we were only halfway there…..and I didn’t wanna pay again, so I breathed in and out of the window, making sure the breeze from the ride hit my face. When my stop came up, I literally ran out of the chapa……ANYTHING is possible in Mozambique.
A couple of ppl were yelling at the mom and asked her why she let her baby do that. Yikes, well I don’t think she asked her daughter,”pls go poopy on the chapa” this morning. The poor mom was doing everything she could to clean up the girl, but it literally covered half the third row. Her mom picked her up, and that’s when the fumes hit us HARD. I almost gagged, and at the same time I felt so bad for this lil girl though. I did, however, wanted to get outta this chapa asap, but we were only halfway there…..and I didn’t wanna pay again, so I breathed in and out of the window, making sure the breeze from the ride hit my face. When my stop came up, I literally ran out of the chapa……ANYTHING is possible in Mozambique.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
GHANA!
September 2010
The Journey toward home away from home….
I could almost make a book about all the events that led up to all the events before boarding the plane to Ghana. Let’s just say that everything happens for a reason and God is truly always on my side! I arrived in South Africa a day before my flight and spent the night in a cute lil guesthouse right by the airport. Not only did I get a private ride to the guesthouse, I paid LESS than half the price for one room. Why, do you ask? I don’t know. They treated me like a queen. Then it was the next morning and I checked into my flight and was in the best of moods. My flight wasn’t until evening at 6pm, so I enjoyed walking around SA with one of my friends and getting a look at Joburg for a bit before heading out. And the BEST part of hanging around Joburg was EATING MCDONALDS. I hate mcdonalds in the states, but when y've been living in Africa for a year and havent tasted a greasy burger n fries, YOU GO BIG. Before I knew it, it was time to catch my flight. I haven’t been to Ghana in almost 3 years, and after unnecessary delays and disturbances, I was more than ready for this vacation! And everything went the way it should’ve.
It was nice to see my family and see friends that I haven’t seen in awhile! Family makes a world of difference when you need ppl to be there for you. I stayed at my Uncle’s house, and had a nice room and bathroom to myself. I love staying with my Uncle bc he’s the cool one! Unlike my other Aunts, he doesn’t treat me like Im 14 lol, and he acknowledges that Im an adult. Every morning he and I would have breakfast together – which was nice. Some mornings he’d talk about random things – family history, fun things about Ghana, and how he and his brothers used to shoot boomerangs when he was little. And its so nice to just sit and listen to him tell his stories. Trust me folks, take advantage of talking with your family! They have so much knowledge and experiences to learn from. Speaking of which – I learned that my Grandfather’s parents spoke Portuguese! What a coincidence. My Uncle wasn’t sure of the country they were from, but he thinks its Cape Verde or Angola. How cool is that? I’m hoping one day I get a chance to meet them, then I can have someone to speak Portuguese with.
Besides hanging out with the family – eating dinners, going to church, and prancing around town – I was also excited to see some friends, and hang out with my favorite cousins. My family is in Accra, but I also went to Kumasi for a bit as well. It was wonderful, and the FOOD was even better. I miss Ghanaian food the most here in Mozambique. Food here doesn’t even compare to back home. If you ask my Uncle he’ll tell you I don’t eat enough, but I beg to differ. One thing about Ghana – YOU GET SERVED WAY TOO MUCH FOOD at once Im 125 pound girl, and while I love to go hard on a meal, I cannot however eat a 3 person serving. My Uncle would get mad if I didn’t finish…..ahh memories. So I had to tell my Uncle to tell the cook to PLEASE serve less. Oh and there’s this amazing drink “alvaro” I think is how you spell it, with different flavors. Its addicting. Best thing since lemon Fanta. And I also relaxed n chillaxed on the beach, had some drinks, and of course did some dancing. In my perfect world I’d go dancing on the beach everynight.
I remember before boarding the plane that I immediately didn’t feel an ounce of stress. I had a rough start to Peace Corps, and well, this vacation was long overdue. And funny thing is, I was at peace while I was home. Of course there was the random cases of diarrhea due to overeating and ordering sides of Shito and hot “peppa,” but overall I was happy. I woke up every morning not having to worry about the issues in Mozambique. I got to eat anything I wanted, go wherever I wanted to go. I didn’t have any awkward Mozambican drunk men moments, and BEST PART OF ALL – I didn’t have to take a chapa to get anywhere! I haaate chapas (in Ghana they’re called tro tros) and everytime I sat in a taxi or in the backseat of my Aunt’s hot ride – I laughed at the ppl sitting in them. Is that mean? I think I deserved to amuse myself considering taking a chapa here is the most hot mess experience one could ever have. But at least in Ghana they ONLY sit THREE ppl to a row, and NO ONE has to stand! Can you imagine what that’s like? Here is Mozambique they’d put three people on the roof tied around a rope if they could. Anyway, point is, I was happy face. I felt wanted by friends and family, and I felt like they all supported me. Im not super close with everyone in my family, but just having them all around felt good. Growing up me and my brothers never really had a “big” family, and so for me to continuously get to visit them in gh was nice……and then…..I came back lol.
But I will return very soon…..Ghana needs me ;)
The Journey toward home away from home….
I could almost make a book about all the events that led up to all the events before boarding the plane to Ghana. Let’s just say that everything happens for a reason and God is truly always on my side! I arrived in South Africa a day before my flight and spent the night in a cute lil guesthouse right by the airport. Not only did I get a private ride to the guesthouse, I paid LESS than half the price for one room. Why, do you ask? I don’t know. They treated me like a queen. Then it was the next morning and I checked into my flight and was in the best of moods. My flight wasn’t until evening at 6pm, so I enjoyed walking around SA with one of my friends and getting a look at Joburg for a bit before heading out. And the BEST part of hanging around Joburg was EATING MCDONALDS. I hate mcdonalds in the states, but when y've been living in Africa for a year and havent tasted a greasy burger n fries, YOU GO BIG. Before I knew it, it was time to catch my flight. I haven’t been to Ghana in almost 3 years, and after unnecessary delays and disturbances, I was more than ready for this vacation! And everything went the way it should’ve.
It was nice to see my family and see friends that I haven’t seen in awhile! Family makes a world of difference when you need ppl to be there for you. I stayed at my Uncle’s house, and had a nice room and bathroom to myself. I love staying with my Uncle bc he’s the cool one! Unlike my other Aunts, he doesn’t treat me like Im 14 lol, and he acknowledges that Im an adult. Every morning he and I would have breakfast together – which was nice. Some mornings he’d talk about random things – family history, fun things about Ghana, and how he and his brothers used to shoot boomerangs when he was little. And its so nice to just sit and listen to him tell his stories. Trust me folks, take advantage of talking with your family! They have so much knowledge and experiences to learn from. Speaking of which – I learned that my Grandfather’s parents spoke Portuguese! What a coincidence. My Uncle wasn’t sure of the country they were from, but he thinks its Cape Verde or Angola. How cool is that? I’m hoping one day I get a chance to meet them, then I can have someone to speak Portuguese with.
Besides hanging out with the family – eating dinners, going to church, and prancing around town – I was also excited to see some friends, and hang out with my favorite cousins. My family is in Accra, but I also went to Kumasi for a bit as well. It was wonderful, and the FOOD was even better. I miss Ghanaian food the most here in Mozambique. Food here doesn’t even compare to back home. If you ask my Uncle he’ll tell you I don’t eat enough, but I beg to differ. One thing about Ghana – YOU GET SERVED WAY TOO MUCH FOOD at once Im 125 pound girl, and while I love to go hard on a meal, I cannot however eat a 3 person serving. My Uncle would get mad if I didn’t finish…..ahh memories. So I had to tell my Uncle to tell the cook to PLEASE serve less. Oh and there’s this amazing drink “alvaro” I think is how you spell it, with different flavors. Its addicting. Best thing since lemon Fanta. And I also relaxed n chillaxed on the beach, had some drinks, and of course did some dancing. In my perfect world I’d go dancing on the beach everynight.
I remember before boarding the plane that I immediately didn’t feel an ounce of stress. I had a rough start to Peace Corps, and well, this vacation was long overdue. And funny thing is, I was at peace while I was home. Of course there was the random cases of diarrhea due to overeating and ordering sides of Shito and hot “peppa,” but overall I was happy. I woke up every morning not having to worry about the issues in Mozambique. I got to eat anything I wanted, go wherever I wanted to go. I didn’t have any awkward Mozambican drunk men moments, and BEST PART OF ALL – I didn’t have to take a chapa to get anywhere! I haaate chapas (in Ghana they’re called tro tros) and everytime I sat in a taxi or in the backseat of my Aunt’s hot ride – I laughed at the ppl sitting in them. Is that mean? I think I deserved to amuse myself considering taking a chapa here is the most hot mess experience one could ever have. But at least in Ghana they ONLY sit THREE ppl to a row, and NO ONE has to stand! Can you imagine what that’s like? Here is Mozambique they’d put three people on the roof tied around a rope if they could. Anyway, point is, I was happy face. I felt wanted by friends and family, and I felt like they all supported me. Im not super close with everyone in my family, but just having them all around felt good. Growing up me and my brothers never really had a “big” family, and so for me to continuously get to visit them in gh was nice……and then…..I came back lol.
But I will return very soon…..Ghana needs me ;)
This is the “let’s catch up” blog
July – August
I believe the last time I had the pleasure of writing to you about my life’s adventures was about three or four months ago! YIKES! Writers block much? My fans have been wondering where I’ve been so I have I owe you all some major updates!!!
Things have been kind of crazy since the last time we met, and my experience thus far has been night and day! I’ve been living here in Mozambique for a year and a month, and time has flown by! I can barely believe it myself. Things have changed, I have changed, and well…..I’m feelin’ good. Its been a crazy past almost-year,….. Let me catch you up since June…..
End of June…..Sunshowers so to speak.....
We left off around the 11th of June, and trying to remember what has happened in pc since then has been a lil fuzzy. The rest of June was kind of one big blur that leaded to a series of emotional rollercoasters and a heavy addiction to watching seasons 1 and 2 of Modern Family. The main cause of all of this was lack of work and feeling like this whole thing was somewhat pointless. Now we’ve talked about how my organization has no real work for me to do before, and how it’s been a struggle for me since I got here. For a second, I thought everything that was going wrong with work was somehow my fault, but then I said to myself, “this cant be me.” I was really at the point where I felt like enough is enough! I’ve sat at my org every day and done little next to nothing, and for some reason my boss was ok with that. It hindsight its very hard to stay at a place when you feel unproductive, and useless. I have other projects and outside work that I do which make me feel good about site, but there was still an issue with the org. So I started to involve PC Staff in my issue, to let them know what was going on at my site. The response I received was two fold – on one hand I was told to venture out to other work in the community and focus on outside projects. On the other, I was told to “make it work.” Well I liked the first hand better, and I didn’t know what “make it work” meant.
I try to take everything with a grain of salt. So getting back to the reflection stage – I decided to talk to the previous volunteer before me, to ask him about things that were bothering me about work and this org. He told me that unfortunately, yes, I’d have a harder time at “integrating” than he did because of the issues of gender and race. He also said he as well struggled a lil bit with our org in terms of work – and it took him about a year and a half to start “digging into” the job. That part made me feel a lot better, because then I was certain that it wasn’t just me! Then he told me that my org asks for a volunteer because 1. It’s a status symbol and they try and make themselves look good, and 2. They think I’m going to do big projects and bring in lots of money-which I won’t. He advised me to hang in there, that we’ve all had those moments of wanting to leave, and to take things one day at a time. So while I sat, munching on grapefruits and granola, I thought about everything – about how I could turn a negative into a positive. There is something about Mozambique and about having this experience, that made me not want to give up quite yet. Truth be told- I’m still not a huge fan of my org – but there were other things and people that kept me here – mainly my amazing REDES girls. They look up to me, so I thought about what would happen to me if I left without getting the chance to work with them just a lil while longer. Yet still, July was definitely a month of stress…..and it was also a busy month with 2 conferences, 1 training, and a hell of a lot of bad surprises…….shall we?
......
Its always nice to have a break away from site and see all the other volunteers in my group during conferences n stuff. We all get together, talk, laugh, chill, talk about mosquitos….but it was hard for me to stay focused during July. My body was physically present during these events, but my mind was far……faaaaar away. I’ll tell you why.
Training 1- REDES. During July14-17th there was a REDES meeting to prepare for the upcoming conference that took place in Barra, Inhambane, a small group of about 8 volunteers. (Redes – Raparigas em Desenvolvimento, Educação e Saúde – is a girl’s development group and one of my secondary projects) Even though I was already stressed about lack of work at site, and other non-important drama that encircles my day to day life, I was actually looking forward to spending a few days in Maputo and hanging out with some peeps. It was a short time period, but the first two days went by just fine. Everyone participated in the agenda and plans for the girls, and it felt good to have a positive distraction. And then right when the sunshine spreads its rays, a damn rain cloud comes bursting through outta nowhere! Sadly to say, my sweet, beautiful and favorite dog in the world, Pepper died in a bad car accident while I was away in Maputo.
(Moment of silence………….) Long story short, someone entered my house, stole my food,and my dog followed after him all the way to the main road. Apparently a car came down the road, hit Pepper, and he died three hours later. I could go into detail about what I thought happened, or what people told me happened, but I wasn’t there and don’t even want to think about if something else happened that night too. Anyways I was so upset. Not only was he a rare looking dog – all black with brown spots, clean, healthy, and smart- he was also my security. Its already tough sleeping alone at night in a creepy house with rats, crickets, and occasional tarantulas, but its even worse when your “guard” isn’t laying outside your doorstep anymore. Some of you reading this probably think its silly to cry and be upset over a dog, but it was a big deal. I couldn’t’ really talk to the guy about the incident in detail, but I had to suck up the tears, filter my face, and go back in the conference room. It was at that moment though, that I wanted to just go back to the hotel room, eat some ice cream, and be alone.
When the REDES conference over, I went home, checked on my house, and unpack and repack for the most dreaded conference I was not looking forward to – PDM – Project…development…..i don’t know, something. Not only was I not in the mood for this, but I didn’t want to go to because you needed to bring a counterpart –and mine bailed out a week before. But I found a replacement at the last minute. I only had 2 days in between Redes and PDM, so I was tired and ms.crankypants. But I made through it!
Last trip away from site – mid-August PSN Training (Peer Support Network). Ok, so this one I actually loved. So PSN is a group of volunteers who are peers to trainees and other volunteers. Kind of like a buddy system type thing. Its actually ironic that I out of all people who applied, got chosen for this, because even though I seemed like I could handle everything, I myself felt like at times I needed someone to talk to. But as it turned out I got in, I was just happy I did. And believe it or not, being a new PSN actually was my therapy and my way to deal with my own emotions. A few people told me, “oh yea, you’d be perfect for psn…..that’s so you,” and I thought, maybe you’re right. Why not? And I absolutely love the new group of volunteers that have recently arrived at their sites. I’ve met most of them, and seeing a new group come into Mozambique has actually gave me more motivation, and then I thought about how I was when I first came here. I’m talking like a grandmother haha, but it’s the truth. Its been a lil over a year that I arrived here looking like a lost puppy not knowing what the heck was about to happen – but if I made it this far, who or what is going to stop me from going further? So……..further I went….
I believe the last time I had the pleasure of writing to you about my life’s adventures was about three or four months ago! YIKES! Writers block much? My fans have been wondering where I’ve been so I have I owe you all some major updates!!!
Things have been kind of crazy since the last time we met, and my experience thus far has been night and day! I’ve been living here in Mozambique for a year and a month, and time has flown by! I can barely believe it myself. Things have changed, I have changed, and well…..I’m feelin’ good. Its been a crazy past almost-year,….. Let me catch you up since June…..
End of June…..Sunshowers so to speak.....
We left off around the 11th of June, and trying to remember what has happened in pc since then has been a lil fuzzy. The rest of June was kind of one big blur that leaded to a series of emotional rollercoasters and a heavy addiction to watching seasons 1 and 2 of Modern Family. The main cause of all of this was lack of work and feeling like this whole thing was somewhat pointless. Now we’ve talked about how my organization has no real work for me to do before, and how it’s been a struggle for me since I got here. For a second, I thought everything that was going wrong with work was somehow my fault, but then I said to myself, “this cant be me.” I was really at the point where I felt like enough is enough! I’ve sat at my org every day and done little next to nothing, and for some reason my boss was ok with that. It hindsight its very hard to stay at a place when you feel unproductive, and useless. I have other projects and outside work that I do which make me feel good about site, but there was still an issue with the org. So I started to involve PC Staff in my issue, to let them know what was going on at my site. The response I received was two fold – on one hand I was told to venture out to other work in the community and focus on outside projects. On the other, I was told to “make it work.” Well I liked the first hand better, and I didn’t know what “make it work” meant.
I try to take everything with a grain of salt. So getting back to the reflection stage – I decided to talk to the previous volunteer before me, to ask him about things that were bothering me about work and this org. He told me that unfortunately, yes, I’d have a harder time at “integrating” than he did because of the issues of gender and race. He also said he as well struggled a lil bit with our org in terms of work – and it took him about a year and a half to start “digging into” the job. That part made me feel a lot better, because then I was certain that it wasn’t just me! Then he told me that my org asks for a volunteer because 1. It’s a status symbol and they try and make themselves look good, and 2. They think I’m going to do big projects and bring in lots of money-which I won’t. He advised me to hang in there, that we’ve all had those moments of wanting to leave, and to take things one day at a time. So while I sat, munching on grapefruits and granola, I thought about everything – about how I could turn a negative into a positive. There is something about Mozambique and about having this experience, that made me not want to give up quite yet. Truth be told- I’m still not a huge fan of my org – but there were other things and people that kept me here – mainly my amazing REDES girls. They look up to me, so I thought about what would happen to me if I left without getting the chance to work with them just a lil while longer. Yet still, July was definitely a month of stress…..and it was also a busy month with 2 conferences, 1 training, and a hell of a lot of bad surprises…….shall we?
......
Its always nice to have a break away from site and see all the other volunteers in my group during conferences n stuff. We all get together, talk, laugh, chill, talk about mosquitos….but it was hard for me to stay focused during July. My body was physically present during these events, but my mind was far……faaaaar away. I’ll tell you why.
Training 1- REDES. During July14-17th there was a REDES meeting to prepare for the upcoming conference that took place in Barra, Inhambane, a small group of about 8 volunteers. (Redes – Raparigas em Desenvolvimento, Educação e Saúde – is a girl’s development group and one of my secondary projects) Even though I was already stressed about lack of work at site, and other non-important drama that encircles my day to day life, I was actually looking forward to spending a few days in Maputo and hanging out with some peeps. It was a short time period, but the first two days went by just fine. Everyone participated in the agenda and plans for the girls, and it felt good to have a positive distraction. And then right when the sunshine spreads its rays, a damn rain cloud comes bursting through outta nowhere! Sadly to say, my sweet, beautiful and favorite dog in the world, Pepper died in a bad car accident while I was away in Maputo.
(Moment of silence………….) Long story short, someone entered my house, stole my food,and my dog followed after him all the way to the main road. Apparently a car came down the road, hit Pepper, and he died three hours later. I could go into detail about what I thought happened, or what people told me happened, but I wasn’t there and don’t even want to think about if something else happened that night too. Anyways I was so upset. Not only was he a rare looking dog – all black with brown spots, clean, healthy, and smart- he was also my security. Its already tough sleeping alone at night in a creepy house with rats, crickets, and occasional tarantulas, but its even worse when your “guard” isn’t laying outside your doorstep anymore. Some of you reading this probably think its silly to cry and be upset over a dog, but it was a big deal. I couldn’t’ really talk to the guy about the incident in detail, but I had to suck up the tears, filter my face, and go back in the conference room. It was at that moment though, that I wanted to just go back to the hotel room, eat some ice cream, and be alone.
When the REDES conference over, I went home, checked on my house, and unpack and repack for the most dreaded conference I was not looking forward to – PDM – Project…development…..i don’t know, something. Not only was I not in the mood for this, but I didn’t want to go to because you needed to bring a counterpart –and mine bailed out a week before. But I found a replacement at the last minute. I only had 2 days in between Redes and PDM, so I was tired and ms.crankypants. But I made through it!
Last trip away from site – mid-August PSN Training (Peer Support Network). Ok, so this one I actually loved. So PSN is a group of volunteers who are peers to trainees and other volunteers. Kind of like a buddy system type thing. Its actually ironic that I out of all people who applied, got chosen for this, because even though I seemed like I could handle everything, I myself felt like at times I needed someone to talk to. But as it turned out I got in, I was just happy I did. And believe it or not, being a new PSN actually was my therapy and my way to deal with my own emotions. A few people told me, “oh yea, you’d be perfect for psn…..that’s so you,” and I thought, maybe you’re right. Why not? And I absolutely love the new group of volunteers that have recently arrived at their sites. I’ve met most of them, and seeing a new group come into Mozambique has actually gave me more motivation, and then I thought about how I was when I first came here. I’m talking like a grandmother haha, but it’s the truth. Its been a lil over a year that I arrived here looking like a lost puppy not knowing what the heck was about to happen – but if I made it this far, who or what is going to stop me from going further? So……..further I went….
Friday, June 17, 2011
Stepping outside for a swim
Sometimes we have problems. Problems that need to be solved by taking a step back and taking a moment to assess the situation. My organization is a CBO (Community based organization) and I have been trying to find my role there for quite some time. Its been about 8 months and I've still been trying to push my org in a new direction - but sometimes this doesnt work. The problem with my org, is they are used to the volunteers just being there....sitting around....maybe doing a project, maybe not. Well, I've explained to my boss at work that I didn't drop my life in the states to come to a country where my help wasn't wanted. Again, this is a common challenge that many volunteers face. So I've made the decision, along with the amazing help of Ilidio from the pc staff, that its better for me to venture out into the community and work on other projects in Chongoene. At first, I thought that this would be kind of like a slap in the face to my org, but then I thought about how frustrated I'd be sitting in an office and doing absolutely nothing. That isn't why I joined peace corps. So now, I have a new focus, new goals, and motivation. I will continue working with my REDES group (go to the fb page for more details!), going to the hospital, and helping out other organizations in Chongoene and Xai Xai that need my help. Its not only a way to stay productive, but also a way for me to feel good about what I'm doing. And yes, my boss will probably not like it that I'm doing work with other organizations, but that's something she will also have to accept. I'm not ready to just give up yet, my site has potential, and I am hoping things will turn out on a positive note.
There will be more updates to come, for now I need to roll out!
bjs.
There will be more updates to come, for now I need to roll out!
bjs.
Let's talk about a lil trip to the farm.....and how YOU can donate to my travel fund =)
The Rice Farm
I’ve never really been on a farm quite like this one. It was a really random day, and I was with Mallory and two other Mozambican friends. One of them was like, “I’m taking you guys to see something.” We’re like, “um ok.” Not too far off from where we live, there’s a farmland that is way behind a bunch of houses and buildings. I’m in the car, and the road seemed to get more bumpy as we went on. To my left, was a big white building where the Chinese live. I learned that they own one of the farms that we were about to see. My Mozambican friends weren’t too fond of the Chinese owners, might I add. They told me they sometimes beat the Mozambican workers, and treat them poorly. I just nodded and continued looking out the window…..not really sure what I was about to see. So we all get out the car and take a look at the view. “Wow,” I thought. This is a beautiful scenery. Apparently as far as my eyes could see was nothing but rice. Rice, rice and rice. Literally the biggest farmland of RICE I have ever seen. The guys start walking and me and Mal follow. It was a very narrow road with rice fields on both sides. We could see a few people in the distance working in the fields, and also saw a few small houses which the workers lived in. I actually was kind of in aww, because I actually felt like I wasn’t in Mozambique. I felt like I was in a storybook or something, one of those old plantation history books. We all just stood there for awhile, looked at some of the rice grains, and eventually found this young man who was willing to talk to us. My friend was asking him all sorts of questions, like “What time do you get up every morning? Who owns these fields? You have a family? How much do you get paid?” The man was willing to answer everything. He said he wakes up at 5am every morning, and stops working at 5pm. He explained in a very “careful” tone that the Chinese people own it, and a Mozambican man owns the other one. He has a family, 5 kids I think he said, and receives 1,000 meticas a month – which is about 27 usd. He didn’t elaborate on any of his answers, but was very nice to talk to us. Mal said to me, that sometimes she feels that Mozambicans will kind of sugar coat their answers bc she’s standing there. And she could be right. Maybe if her presence wasn’t there, he might talk to us differently. Afterall, on most days I’m a Mozambican, so it might have been easier to have a more in debt conversation with him. After we talked, my friend gave him 20mets, and told him to go buy bread for his family. The man happily accepted, and we continued on our walk.
Visiting this farm one time just wasn’t enough for me. I want to go back, and maybe talk to one of the Chinese farm owners. Do I have my own opinions about foreign influence in African countries? Absolutely. But what I want to do is learn more about it, and do so with an open mind. Its such an interesting place…..I felt something while I was there. So with that said, there is more to come next time I pay a visit to the rice fields. There’s a story there waiting to be written. Just wait….you’ll see.
BY THE WAY......Upcoming Travels!
Traveling is what I do. There’s so much to see around these parks, so I’m in the process of planning where I want to go and when. Here’s some of my ideas:
1. GHANA – yes that’s all in caps. I miss my family and friends. I hate to sound bias, but Ghana really is the best country in Africa, sorry Moz. I planned on going there in June, but time won’t allow it. So I’m planning to go 2nd week in August. I’ll have accumulated more vacation days, and its really windy and cold here in Moz during that month, so I figure it’s a perfect time to leave. To all my fans in Gh, don’t worry. I’m coming.
2. Sofala, Zambezia, and Tete! – Mozambique is HUGE, and so me and my bff Mallory have decided we want to do our best to see as much as we can! By the way, Mal is my left shoulder I lean on, oh, and Caitlin is my right. Without those two I would crumble ;) Anyway, Mal is a GREAT writer, and she an I share that in common. So we plan on taking our pen n paper, computers, and cameras, and head out to other regions on Mozambique. First stop on the list is Gorongosa National Park! Mal and I signed up to help out another volunteer with her conservation project. There’s also a lot of wildlife and animals to see, so I’m looking forward to that. Then, we plan on visiting other regions. Mal doesn’t want to go to “touristy” places….I think she’s all about the matu (farm) areas, but I’m hoping to convince her we’ll do a lil bit of both.
3. Tanzania!! – Just the name, Tanzania, gives me the chills. I have heard so many great things about it,that it’s a MUST that I go there, and I get to practice my Swahili! What I really want to do in Tanzania is see their beaches, and eat their amazing food. I love to eat. I also want to learn how to dance their traditional dances there. Give me a cute dancing outfit, some drums, and a crowd, and I’m good to go. Yay for Tanz.
4. Botswana! – Mal and I reeaaaallly want to go to Botswana. Apparently its one of the most amazing South African countries, so we’re going there to investigate. I’m hoping we find a good story to write about there, Bots is an interesting place, and I’d love to visit there. If Mal and I are lucky, we can make it before the end of this year.
5. Cape Town and Jo’burg! – So surprisingly I’m not that excited over South Africa – I feel like I meet enough South Africans here in Moz lol, BUT, I want to meet Nelson Mandela and talk to him for 5 minutes. (Oh what, you think its not possible? It so is.) Despite my reservations about SA, I’d love to see what the hype is all about. I do want to see the “Americanized,” places, but also the neighborhoods that people don’t talk about. I want to meet new people, talk to families, and learn something new that I didn’t know before. Plus, if I’m lucky, Mandela will ask me to stay there and become one of his personal writers.
That’s all that’s on the radar for now – so I’ll keep you posted. And please if you’d like to donate to the “Naa wants to travel” fund, that is a-okay with me!
I’ve never really been on a farm quite like this one. It was a really random day, and I was with Mallory and two other Mozambican friends. One of them was like, “I’m taking you guys to see something.” We’re like, “um ok.” Not too far off from where we live, there’s a farmland that is way behind a bunch of houses and buildings. I’m in the car, and the road seemed to get more bumpy as we went on. To my left, was a big white building where the Chinese live. I learned that they own one of the farms that we were about to see. My Mozambican friends weren’t too fond of the Chinese owners, might I add. They told me they sometimes beat the Mozambican workers, and treat them poorly. I just nodded and continued looking out the window…..not really sure what I was about to see. So we all get out the car and take a look at the view. “Wow,” I thought. This is a beautiful scenery. Apparently as far as my eyes could see was nothing but rice. Rice, rice and rice. Literally the biggest farmland of RICE I have ever seen. The guys start walking and me and Mal follow. It was a very narrow road with rice fields on both sides. We could see a few people in the distance working in the fields, and also saw a few small houses which the workers lived in. I actually was kind of in aww, because I actually felt like I wasn’t in Mozambique. I felt like I was in a storybook or something, one of those old plantation history books. We all just stood there for awhile, looked at some of the rice grains, and eventually found this young man who was willing to talk to us. My friend was asking him all sorts of questions, like “What time do you get up every morning? Who owns these fields? You have a family? How much do you get paid?” The man was willing to answer everything. He said he wakes up at 5am every morning, and stops working at 5pm. He explained in a very “careful” tone that the Chinese people own it, and a Mozambican man owns the other one. He has a family, 5 kids I think he said, and receives 1,000 meticas a month – which is about 27 usd. He didn’t elaborate on any of his answers, but was very nice to talk to us. Mal said to me, that sometimes she feels that Mozambicans will kind of sugar coat their answers bc she’s standing there. And she could be right. Maybe if her presence wasn’t there, he might talk to us differently. Afterall, on most days I’m a Mozambican, so it might have been easier to have a more in debt conversation with him. After we talked, my friend gave him 20mets, and told him to go buy bread for his family. The man happily accepted, and we continued on our walk.
Visiting this farm one time just wasn’t enough for me. I want to go back, and maybe talk to one of the Chinese farm owners. Do I have my own opinions about foreign influence in African countries? Absolutely. But what I want to do is learn more about it, and do so with an open mind. Its such an interesting place…..I felt something while I was there. So with that said, there is more to come next time I pay a visit to the rice fields. There’s a story there waiting to be written. Just wait….you’ll see.
BY THE WAY......Upcoming Travels!
Traveling is what I do. There’s so much to see around these parks, so I’m in the process of planning where I want to go and when. Here’s some of my ideas:
1. GHANA – yes that’s all in caps. I miss my family and friends. I hate to sound bias, but Ghana really is the best country in Africa, sorry Moz. I planned on going there in June, but time won’t allow it. So I’m planning to go 2nd week in August. I’ll have accumulated more vacation days, and its really windy and cold here in Moz during that month, so I figure it’s a perfect time to leave. To all my fans in Gh, don’t worry. I’m coming.
2. Sofala, Zambezia, and Tete! – Mozambique is HUGE, and so me and my bff Mallory have decided we want to do our best to see as much as we can! By the way, Mal is my left shoulder I lean on, oh, and Caitlin is my right. Without those two I would crumble ;) Anyway, Mal is a GREAT writer, and she an I share that in common. So we plan on taking our pen n paper, computers, and cameras, and head out to other regions on Mozambique. First stop on the list is Gorongosa National Park! Mal and I signed up to help out another volunteer with her conservation project. There’s also a lot of wildlife and animals to see, so I’m looking forward to that. Then, we plan on visiting other regions. Mal doesn’t want to go to “touristy” places….I think she’s all about the matu (farm) areas, but I’m hoping to convince her we’ll do a lil bit of both.
3. Tanzania!! – Just the name, Tanzania, gives me the chills. I have heard so many great things about it,that it’s a MUST that I go there, and I get to practice my Swahili! What I really want to do in Tanzania is see their beaches, and eat their amazing food. I love to eat. I also want to learn how to dance their traditional dances there. Give me a cute dancing outfit, some drums, and a crowd, and I’m good to go. Yay for Tanz.
4. Botswana! – Mal and I reeaaaallly want to go to Botswana. Apparently its one of the most amazing South African countries, so we’re going there to investigate. I’m hoping we find a good story to write about there, Bots is an interesting place, and I’d love to visit there. If Mal and I are lucky, we can make it before the end of this year.
5. Cape Town and Jo’burg! – So surprisingly I’m not that excited over South Africa – I feel like I meet enough South Africans here in Moz lol, BUT, I want to meet Nelson Mandela and talk to him for 5 minutes. (Oh what, you think its not possible? It so is.) Despite my reservations about SA, I’d love to see what the hype is all about. I do want to see the “Americanized,” places, but also the neighborhoods that people don’t talk about. I want to meet new people, talk to families, and learn something new that I didn’t know before. Plus, if I’m lucky, Mandela will ask me to stay there and become one of his personal writers.
That’s all that’s on the radar for now – so I’ll keep you posted. And please if you’d like to donate to the “Naa wants to travel” fund, that is a-okay with me!
Monday, May 16, 2011
It's not all sun and roses....
Safety in Mozambique is the most important thing to me. So when this incident happened a few weeks ago, I was a little bit scared, annoyed, and frustrated. I'll leave the minor details out, but I was walking down the street around 11:15am on my way to the store. I had just gotten off a three hour chapa ride from Maputo and just wanted to get home and relax. I was already irritable because sitting in a chapa for 3 hours isn't a fun experience. Anyways, there's this crazy woman who lives in Xai Xai, or better use of words, she's mentally ill. I think she's a bit schizophrenic, but she's always angry and cussing people out. I saw her up the street and took more caution than usual because she was giving me "the eye." I don't know why she chose me, but she made some gesture at me, then decided to push me against a pole and slap me across the face. I screamed - bc that was just my first reaction - and I immediately started bleeding. She just kept on walking, and a police officer who saw the whole thing, also decided to do the same. Interesting. Glad he helped. Anyway, in the midst of some people laughing, some staring, I went across the street to the pharmacy to get something to stop the bleeding on the left side. I then called my friend Mal to come and meet me bc I needed someone to calm me down. Let me tell you, I wanted to hit somebody - mainly bc nobody in the streets, especially Mr. Policeman, didn't seem to care. Anyway, Mal showed up, we went to file a police report (which was pointless bc police here don't do anything about mentally ill people), and then I went home. I couldn't understand why I was so angry. surprisingly I wasn't angry at the woman bc she couldn't really help what she did - I mean she's mentally ill, but I was upset at the people and how the officer reacted at the police station. its amazing how nobody here cares about crazy Jane and Joe that walk the streets who say and do anything they please. What if that lady hit me with a weapon, or used a knife or something? We think things like this can't happen to us, but they do. I was thankful it wasn't worse than it was. At least she only used her hands.
Anyway, the point of this story is to let anyone know who's reading this and living and working in an environment different than their own - always, always keep guard. I felt I was pretty cautious, but I guess there was nothing I could've done to avoid the situation. Mozambique can be dangerous, depending on where you are and who you're with. I never walk alone at night, never take a chapa alone at night, and am usually always with a friend when I'm walking around the city. Its unfortunate that the police feel they can't do anything to Jane. They say to me, "What do you want us to do. She's mad." For all of you in the states, you're very lucky that if anything like this happened to you, you'd have somewhere to go. For example, back home we have mental hospitals, and while there are some here in Moz in the capital, Maputo, I don't live there. So its a problem when I try to express to the police here that its dangerous for these people to be on the street. Unfortunately they don't understand.
So I've become more irritable here, and I realize that even if its broad daylight I could be in danger. I don't want to scare anyone either, but don't worry. I'm fine now. Today is another day, and well, I'm still here.
Fica bem.
Anyway, the point of this story is to let anyone know who's reading this and living and working in an environment different than their own - always, always keep guard. I felt I was pretty cautious, but I guess there was nothing I could've done to avoid the situation. Mozambique can be dangerous, depending on where you are and who you're with. I never walk alone at night, never take a chapa alone at night, and am usually always with a friend when I'm walking around the city. Its unfortunate that the police feel they can't do anything to Jane. They say to me, "What do you want us to do. She's mad." For all of you in the states, you're very lucky that if anything like this happened to you, you'd have somewhere to go. For example, back home we have mental hospitals, and while there are some here in Moz in the capital, Maputo, I don't live there. So its a problem when I try to express to the police here that its dangerous for these people to be on the street. Unfortunately they don't understand.
So I've become more irritable here, and I realize that even if its broad daylight I could be in danger. I don't want to scare anyone either, but don't worry. I'm fine now. Today is another day, and well, I'm still here.
Fica bem.
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