LAST BLOG

Watching ants eat a lizard is a wonderful pastime.

Before.
3 days later.

Somehow 2 years have come and gone in what feels like the blink of an eye. I am currently in Maputo doing all the paperwork/exams necessary to leave Peace Corps. Naturally, I have spent most of my time reflecting on everything that has happened during my service. Here is a list of things that stick out in my mind, both good and bad, as memorable moments:

• My first long distance trip, hitching in the back of a truck with the wind in my face, being in awe of how gorgeous Mozambique is.
• Being diagnosed with arthritis and put on bedrest for a month
• Bungee jumping
• Tutoring Mohammad, and slowly becoming a part of his family which led to spending my last week in Monapo at their mansion in Chocas (best beach EVER, eating the world’s best seafood)
• Living with Esther
• Doing nothing all day except collect rainwater and going to bed feeling accomplished
• Visits from home!!!! Mom, Marti, and Mich, love you guys.
• Receiving packages/letters from home
• Sitting in 4 hour long meetings at school that accomplish nothing
• Having a stack of 500+ exams to grade
• Catching kids cheating
• Teaching math basics during physics and feeling like I changed lives
• Pica Pau (restaurant) with the “real Monapo girls”
• Volleyball!!!!
• Hitching up and down the country (2x the length of California)
• Going to S. Africa and Malawi…the food, the views, the lake, the ocean, cliff jumping, drinking, the company, you name it.
• Sporting Monapo games (big soccer team in Monapo) and supporting my students that were on the team
• Going to the market every day to buy whatever I wanted to make for the day
• Amazing students. RIP Nelson Sabonete.


Clearly this is only the tip of the iceberg. Mozambique has been so good to me and will definitely be missed. One thing that eases the sadness of leaving Moz is knowing that I'm going home to family and friends. I'm so ready to see all of your beautiful faces. In 2 days I will be boarding the plane...brace yourself LA.

New Things...

There was a giant millipede hiding in my running shoe, I forgot to bang it before putting it on, and stepped on it. I freaked out, took off my shoe and realized that the millipede stained my toe. It was like this for a couple of weeks. Seriously weird.


View from Cape McClear, Malawi. Great trip. Did you know you can get peanut M&Ms and Snicker bars there? Just about had a heart attack.


In general, I think people would say that hanging out with any group of Peace Corps Volunteers is BORING. I’m pretty sure it stems from that fact that all we do is talk about 2 things: 1. Crazy health problems that we have had happen to us and 2. The food from back home that we miss. Number one is just crazy and never really gets old (also, you’d be surprised/disgusted with some of the stories). Number two is probably the most popular topic. My guess is that it is because most PCVs eat really poorly their two years of service. I’m not too sure what it is like in other countries, but here in Moz, the standard foods are rice and beans or spaghetti. Somehow, I managed to hit the jackpot when I was assigned to have Esther Gweon as my roommate. She is known for a few things here, but she is most famous for being a PHENOMENAL cook. This means that while others are suffering, I’ve been living the high life and trying to rub it in as often as I can. Little did I know I was just storing up a bunch of bad karma. A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip without Esther and realized what it is really like to be a PCV in Mozambique.

I was headed to Mocimboa, a site so far north that I decided to layover in Chiure (about 4 hours from my house) with my friend Sam. Chiure is something else: no electricity, food is scarce, the school is falling down…pretty much as mato/bush as it gets. Well, come dinnertime, Sam and I had to figure out something to eat. He had messaged me a few days before my visit super excited because ‘rat season’ had just kicked off and some of his friends had caught 18 rats from their first burn. I sent back the standard ‘haha,’ which I’m pretty sure he took to mean that I was equally excited. Back to finding something to eat. We were hanging out in his yard when a neighbor came over to pick some plants from his yard to cook with. Sam took advantage of this and politely asked her to make enough for us too…perfect. We went for a walk while dinner was being cooked and came across his friends with the rats. I wasn’t paying too much attention, but either the friends or Sam insisted on us eating rat for dinner as well. I’m not one to say no without trying it, so that was it, rat for dinner. We went back to do dinner number 1 with the neighbors (I made it a point to get as full as possible), then headed back for our rat. The boys brought us out a metal bowl filled with 5 charred rats and another metal bowl FULL of xima (Esther describes xima as congealed grits…seriously gross). I had never seen anything less appetizing in my life. A little bit on the rats first. You eat them with the furry skin still on. At first, I thought that would be the worst part, but it wasn’t. The worst part was that you have to eat the bone too!!! Luckily, Sam set me up with the meatiest part of the rat, the hind leg. Not bad. At least that’s what I thought until I was done chewing and swallowing and found some rat bone hiding out between my cheek and gums =/. 20+ months in Mozambique and I’m still trying new things…pretty cool.

A quick update on everything else here in Monapo: life is GOOD. I had a chance to visit my college friend/roommate Jamie in Malawi...so much fun. Still playing volleyball every weekend with a great group of kids. Esther and I started an English Club with our standout students and it has been a huge hit. I’m really enjoying teaching just bio and physics this year (only complaint is that my biggest class has jumped to 130 students). We are in the home stretch, and my COS (close of service) date has been announced as December 16th. And last/most importantly, Michelle Diane Britten is coming to visit in just over a month!!!!!!!!!!!! Def can’t complain.

Important shoutouts: Happy early first birthday to Kellen Rece Verners and congratulations Nico and good luck in Boston!!!! Miss you Nic and can’t wait to meet you Kellen!

Water

Here in Mozambique, I’m known as ‘the crazy water lady.’ I don’t think it is worth the time/effort going into why, but in the end this is what’s important: I LOVE COLLECTING RAINWATER. In all honesty, what’s not to love about it? The water is a million times cleaner/tastier, it’s easy, it’s something to do, and it takes minimal effort!!! Anyway, when I returned from vacation all anyone would talk about was the ‘falta de agua’ (aka NO water) that exists in Monapo. Not good news. I assumed that maybe they were all overreacting and went about life. The problem with trying to live life without water is that it’s impossible. If you walked around our town during the day, you’d see tons of people meandering with empty buckets trying to find a place they could get water. There was one place in town that you could get water, but the waiting line during peak hours topped 12 hours! There were tons of people and hundreds of buckets all queued waiting for water from 1 spigot. The price of water soared. A 15 liter bucket normally costs 1 Metical to fill and at the height of our problem it cost 15 Meticais. People were taking showers less often (really not good) and resorted to drinking very questionable water. This led to a cholera outbreak. Once, when I was at school, I saw a lady walking around with a bucket filling it from puddles on the ground (really hoping is was not to drink, and I have no idea how there was a puddle on the ground =/). Monapo has not had any water come out of the ground since before Christmas, and there are rumors that this will continue through sometime in March. To make matters worse, we were also going through some sort of drought! Well, I’d like to say it is because of the million rain dances I did, but we finally started getting some great storms. Now, all of our buckets are OVERFLOWING with clean water almost to the point where Esther and I complain about the burden of too much water…almost.

One Long Break = One Long Blog

'Jump' starting the new year...so punny =)


Best bungy crew EVER.


Our wonderfully dangerous hike...cameras could not be reached during the life threatening moments...sorry.



The biggest thing that has happened since my last post is that school ended which meant one thing, VACATION!!! And boy, was I ready.

I consider myself very fortunate for everything I was able to do during the ≈2 months of ferias from school. A quick recap: back to Namaacha to help with training, Maputo (the capital of Moz), Ponta do Ouro (the southernmost tip of Moz), Ilha de Mocambique (an island very close to my site, the first capital of Moz before independence from Portugal), Cape Town, Kruger National Park!!!, more Maputo, Johannesburg (spent all Christmas day in the bus terminal, actually had a blast), Coffee Bay (wild coast, South Africa), Plettenberg Bay (Garden Route, SA), Jeffreys Bay (Garden Route, SA), Tofo (beach in southern Moz), Massinga (southern Moz and Mike’s site), Gorongosa (central Moz, where 2 sensational PCVs live), and back home to Monapo!!! Needless to say, I logged some kilometers. Now for a few of my favorite parts…

GETTING TO SEE MOM AND MARTI!!!! Unbelievable and so so so much fun. We had too many good times, but if I have to choose one specific event, it is definitely the fish market in Maputo. Our trip started in South Africa with Cape Town and then Kruger, and let me tell you, they loved “Africa.” From our lodge in Kruger, we were driven across the border to the lovely country of Mozambique. They quickly realized that what we had been vacationing in a beautiful bubble. Maputo is a typical African capital full of people, poverty, problems, and prawns. So, we took a visit to the fish market for lunch one afternoon. Upon entering the outdoor market, you find stand after stand full of prawns, fish, squid, lobster, etc. People are tugging on you from each direction guiding you to their seafood, which they demand, is the best seafood. Waiters from the restaurants behind the counters are also tugging, wanting you to get your fish cooked at their restaurant. The hustle and bustle of this market makes it notorious for pickpockets and petty crimes. Best place to take your family? Probably not, but hey, I wanted them to see what life here is really like. We bought a kilo of prawns and a kilo of grouper (4.4 pounds total) and headed to the back. There are a ton of tables set out encircled by about 7 different restaurants that cook your newly purchased fish. We picked one and sat down to relax. That’s when I got my first good look at my mom and Marti. They looked beat: sweat dripping, faces flush (whether it was from the insane heat or all the commotion, I’ll never know). We opted on the best remedy to relax, Mozambican beer sampling. After eating the delicious food and drinking Laurentina preta, Laurentina clara, and 2M (winner: Laurentina preta), we left that fish market in the highest spirits feeling accomplished. What an experience.

The Coffee Shack in Coffee Bay, South Africa. Talk about a backpackers that has customer service down. Quick example of how: we arrived on a Sunday to a complimentary drink and a memo that on Sundays they have a free, delicious, dinner for all guests. Not too bad. They also had these day trips planned that were relatively cheap that most guests took advantage of (beach day, hiking, cliff jumping, walk to hole in the wall, day with the locals, etc.). While relaxing the first night we kept hearing these stories about a tour guide that took people hiking insisting it was easy, when in reality it was far from it. One girl ranted about how her life was repeatedly in danger. I didn’t pay too much attention because I didn’t have any intentions of hiking while I was there, and, who knows, she was probably a bit crazy and overreacting. Well, on day three of our stay, the activity was a hike ending with a cliff jump. Esther, Diana and I were really interested because of the jump. The guide said it was an easy hike to the cliffs so we were in. Having forgotten her close-toed shoes, Esther was hesitant. The guide insisted that it was so easy she could go barefoot, so we signed up. Having no idea it was THAT guide, we laced up our shoes/took off our flip-flops and were off. My goodness, was it tough. We hiked along countless slate cliffs that dropped off to gigantic rocks and a tempestuous Indian Ocean. I can recall 3 times that I legitimately worried for my life. Being told “don’t step on the grass at the edge, it WILL fall away” isn’t exactly what you want to hear while walking on a foot wide ledge. In the end, we jumped off a 10-meter high cliff into the Indian, saw some of the most incredible views, got a great workout, and had a blast. Looking back, that hike was one of the most memorable parts of my whole trip. Worth risking my life? Yes, but I probably only think that because I survived =).

BUNGY JUMPING the world’s highest bungy bridge!!!! Insane. Half way between Plettenberg Bay and Jeffreys Bay lies the Bloukrans bridge, a whopping 215 meters high. You sign up, get strapped up, and make the walk out to the middle. The most energetic crew is out there to greet you, rocking out to some pump up music, ready to make your experience all it can be. We were 5 to jump and we all had one goal in mind- to have the best form when we jumped. Looking back, we all agree that was the best idea any of us had. Right after I jumped, with sensational form, was when I realized what I had done…thrown myself off of a bridge. Luckily, it was too late to freak out, all there was to do was enjoy it. With nothing to grab onto, I fell (they say it’s a 7 second freefall), bounced, fell again, bounced, and so on. What a rush! Definitely another unforgettable part of the trip, and a heck of a way to kick off 2011!

Getting back to Monapo was really something else after that long of a vacation. I got home and was back at school within the hour. This year, I will be teaching 9th grade physics, 11th grade biology, and 12th grade biology. I’m really excited about my schedule and have some grand plans for this second year. I feel like getting away was just what I needed to clear my head and get motivated for my second year.

I hope everyone had the best Christmas and New Year!!! I miss you all more than ever, and will see you this year!!!! Can you believe it? I can’t!

<3 Von

Happy Halloween!!!!

At least once a day, Peace Corps Volunteers lament how glorious American food (used loosely) is. Pretty much anything can bring it up: watching a movie and seeing a Taco Bell in the background, attempting to make favorite foods from home, talking about the weather, etc. It’s crazy. My point from this is that we talk about some pretty ridiculous things, and by ridiculous, I mean ridiculously boring. This is important because a couple of days ago, I found myself talking to Megan, my sitemate, about something completely absurd. It was so silly it deserves a blog.

So deodorant here is precious. The only d.o. you can come by is that roll on stuff that has an insane scent and doesn’t work. You can buy sticks of deodorant at Shoprite, but it is super expensive and way far away. Anyway, I’ve made it a point to have my mom send me a stick anytime I find myself about ¾ way through mine. I still get paranoid that I will run out of deodorant before that lifesaver of a package gets here. So, I’ve just started extending the lifetime of my sticks. You know when you get to the bottom of a stick and you start rubbing that plastic thing on your pit? That’s when I know I have about one more month left of deodorant. I pop that plastic thing out, use a pen to push each section of d.o. out and rub some on each morning. It has definitely led to some funny looks from Esther. A couple of days ago, Megan was over and, for some reason, I felt compelled to tell her about my new method of conserving deodorant. Where anyone else would look at me like a crazy person, she just nodded her head and gave me the most sincere “nice.”

Enough about that. Life’s great out here! This week is the last week of school and doesn’t involve giving any real lessons. I’m headed to Savane (rumored to be one of the prettiest beaches in Moz) on Thursday with some friends to celebrate the world’s best holiday!!! Should be a blast. Then, I’m going to return home for a couple of weeks before setting out on about two months of travelling! Soooooo exciting. Some things I’ll be doing: returning to Namaacha for training, Maputo, Ilha de Moz, Massinga, Cape Town, Kruger, more Maputo, more S.Africa, and the southern coast of Moz before heading home.

Miss you all. Hope you guys are celebrating Halloween in a way that would make me proud!!!!

<3 Von

Bruised and Battered, Far From Broken

Seeing as how tomorrow is the one year mark in Mozambique, I guess it’s the perfect time for a little reflection. If you asked me what I expected out of my Peace Corps service before I left the United States, I’m pretty sure my answers would have been pretty typical: learn a new language, experience a new culture, make new friends, travel, learn to cook, read some books, change the world, and so on.

I’d say for the most part, I’m right on track. Portuguese (more or less), check. Learning about Mozambican culture, check. New friends (Mozambican, American, and more), check. Read books, check. Learn to cook…..ehhhh….

As far as travelling goes, I definitely feel like I have experienced Mozambique. Two weekends ago, I had a whole new adventure on my way to Ribaue. The easiest/cheapest way to get there is via train. There were two options for tickets: 2nd and 3rd class. I’m sure you’re all asking the same thing I did, what happened to 1st class? I never got to the bottom of that question, just that it definitely doesn’t exist and hasn’t existed for a while. Anyway, wanting the true experience (or 2nd class being sold out, I don’t really remember) I rode 3rd class. I didn’t have to sit by any goats or anything so it really wasn’t all that bad. I just spent all my time in the dining cart snacking. Paying 25 Meticais (about 70 cents) for one of the best egg sandwiches to secure a place to sit is a price I will happily pay. My only question is, since there is no 1st class, why not call each class one higher? Add it to the list of things that just don’t make any sense. I just can’t wait to explore S. Africa in December!!!!

Change the world. Hmm, I just think that one was just a bit too ambitious. I think I’ve changed Esther’s world, so that’s a success, right?

So, there are some things that have happened since I’ve been here that were completely unexpected. Being paired up with Esther has made “roughing it” in Mozambique a breeze. I honestly believe that if Peace Corps advertised our lives together absolutely everyone would join. Bad days are easy to weather when you’re in such great company. I also never thought I would be diagnosed with arthritis at the ripe age of 23. Shooting pain in my hips eventually made walking without a limp impossible. A couple of specialists and a cocktail of meds later I’m seeing some improvement. I’m even thinking about jumping on the exercise boat again. Don’t worry, Mom, I promise to ease back into it. Making new friends was a goal, but I don’t think anyone could anticipate meeting such winners. You know you’ve made some real friends when you’re willing to hitchhike 600km each way to spend a weekend celebrating someone’s birthday. And…becoming a godmother!!!! Woo hoo!!!! To my little (used loosely) Kellen Verners, I can’t wait for the second I get to squeeze those chubby chubby cheeks. Btw, I’m still waiting on that photoshopped pic Marti =).

The next class of Mozambique volunteers (Moz 15) arrived yesterday. They will be headed to Namaacha in a couple of days to start their three months of training. It’s so bizarre to think us 14ers are going to be the “experienced” ones here. Have we even learned that much? Could we possibly offer any good advice? I really hope the answer is yes. I’m heading down to training Thanksgiving week to help out and would really like to be able to offer some words of wisdom. Well, success or no success, at least we will all get to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving meal together. =)

All's well...

So, apparently I waited waaay too long to write this blog. I don’t even know where to start.

Science Fair. My school’s science fair came and went and was a complete success. I had 7 participants, 3 judges, 2 counterparts, and a lot of fun. All of the kids that participated really got into the spirit of science and exceeded my expectations. Some of their projects were: testing different soils, dissolving Styrofoam into different kinds of fuel to make glue, using citrus to power a lightbulb, making different kinds of ointments, learning how to emit radiowaves using local materials, and learning the best way to start a fire without using matches. I had two neighboring volunteers come in to guest judge as well as one of my school’s directors. Two of my students won (I had absolutely no say in that!!!) and we are in Nampula at regionals as you’re reading!!! Anyway, some things that I will work hard to improve next year are: increasing the number of participants and improving community involvement.

Travelling. Since I was fortunate enough to get placed in such a gorgeous country, this is ALWAYS a highlight. During the break between 2nd and 3rd trimesters, I had a chance to head to Ilha de Mozambique and Pemba. They are both insanely beautiful beaches, and paired together with great company, turned out to be one of the greatest times in my service so far. Being the only people on the beach as far as you can see each way, reading books, eating delicious seafood, cold beers…let me tell you, life in the Peace Corps is tough.

Esther. Esther had the nerve to leave me for 2 weeks so she could meet her sister in Barcelona. Seeing as how I have only cooked about 3 meals beginning to end, I was worried about how I might survive without her. Luckily, a lot of my travelling was during that time, so I really only spent 3 nights home by myself. After a disastrous first meal, I still don’t get how I messed up boiling eggs, I figured it couldn’t get any worse. I sucked it up and attempted to make Mexican rice and I succeeded!!! Okay, the texture wasn’t all that, but the flavor was definitely on point…Mom, you can be proud. Anyway, one important thing I did while I was in Pemba was pick Esther up from the airport. Her sister was nice enough to cart a million requests from LA to Barcelona, so saying Esther had tons of baggage to bring home is an understatement. Among all the goodies (countless tv shows, movies, snacks, etc.) was a new camera (loaded with pics from home), external hard drive and stick of deodorant for me, jackpot.

Volleyball. I remember writing a long time ago about getting staff volleyball games going…well, it is finally happening! I’m super excited, minus our practices are at 5am on Saturdays. Crazy people.

December. Not only does December mean that my first year of teaching is over as well as half of my Peace Corps service, December means I get to see my Mom and Marti!!!! Wooo hooo!!!! They have booked their tickets and are my inspiration for pushing through the hard work.

Rats/Bats. Esther and I always knew we had a rat, but after our first big catch we figured our problem was over…so wrong. We have now caught 5 rats, and aren’t seeing an end in sight. Not good. We also used to get about 1 bat in the house each week, but then it kind of slowed down. Well, I’ve been waking up the past few nights hearing and seeing them flying around. I can’t tell if it’s a hallucination or not (side effect of the malaria meds), but I swear one is living under my bed. Also, not good.

Anyway, life is great over here in Moz, just miss the heck out of you all back home. Hope everything is amazing. Keep the emails coming, they are always highlights of my days.

<3 Von

É assim…

Sunset in Nacala
After too many fails this is what we ended up with.

Not too much has happened since my last post, just realizing that mid-trimester is full of work, work, and more work.
I have finally started the science fair project that I have been looking forward to for a long time. So far I have taught the kids the scientific method, had them choose their topics, develop their questions, and write their hypotheses. One of the best things I did was recruit two Mozambican science teachers to help me: Egas, a math and physics teacher, and Consula, a chemistry teacher. What I have learned so far is that even though my Portuguese is good enough to teach and converse, it is not good enough to know what some of the kid’s ideas are. Here’s a highlight from our last meeting: I asked a kid what he had in mind for his project, he responded using about 15 words I have never heard of, I nod trying to disguise my perplexed face, pass the idea on to Egas and Consula, and then add as many of those words I can remember to my ‘words to look up’ list. The goal is to hold our school science fair at the end of July and have the winners compete in a regional science fair in August. Some of their ideas are pretty impressive, and I can’t wait to see what they can do!
Esther has been giving Ana Paula, one of our colleagues, English lessons. She teaches French, has a real knack for languages, and has quickly become a good friend. She is ‘chique’ to the max and is somehow more in the loop with popular culture than we are. We invited her over for dinner one night and made a delicious Mexican meal. Fitting right? We made beef taquitos, chips and salsa, and Mexican rice, all from scratch! Those of you who know me know I’m useless in the kitchen. Thanks to Esther, this is slowly changing. I have officially mastered making tortillas and tortilla chips!!! Great skills to have.
A little over a week ago, I was really disappointed by one of my favorite 11th grade students. I had assigned my English class a dictionary project to do, he did it, and received a decent grade. Esther had also assigned her 9th graders a similar dictionary project. My 11th grader gave his dictionary to his 9th grade brother to turn in to Esther. Esther discovered my students work and gave her student a zero. I felt as though I had to make an example of this kind of cheating to my students. In the process of making an example out of one of my favorite kids, I ended up embarrassing him. I held him in after class, apologized for embarrassing him, and explained why I had to be so mean. He forgave me and we moved on. The next day, he gave me a letter he had written to apologize for his behavior. This letter confirmed why I think so highly of him. Here’s one of my favorite parts: “I like you too much, and your love is not compare with nobody. I never forget you because you are teaching good behavior, you’re affable and I say thanks.” Not sure I’ve ever been called affable before…
Here are few things I am looking forward to: Teaming up with a P.E. teacher to organize a teacher volleyball game. Some visitors: from America and other Moz volunteers. Another trip to Pemba? Esther returning from her vacation in Barcelona. Teaching my class the cha-cha slide. Mozambican teacher’s day trip to the beach. Science Fair. Starting a teacher English club.

Ehale

We don't know how to act around other Americans anymore =/

Taught the kids all about slang using Mo' Money, Mo' Problems. Turned into a full on dance party.

Going out in Chimoio, almost felt like home.

I feel like I start every blog apologizing for how much time has passed since the last blog, so why change now? I’m sorry it has been so long since the last blog. I am now in my second trimester at school and time has been flying faster than before.
Between the first and second trimesters we had a nice little break from school. Esther and I took this opportunity to travel a bit around Mozambique. After all this travelling, my conclusion is this: There isn’t anything that Mozambique doesn’t have to offer. Mountains, beaches, friendly people, rivers, waterfalls, check, check, check, check, and check. Here are some of the highlights in no specific order:
1. Hike in Gorongosa. Gorongosa is in Central Mozambique and is mountainous, green, and absolutely beautiful. We hiked along a river with the hopes of ended up at a waterfall. It had been raining for a couple of days so the water in the river was really high. By hiking, I mean we waded along the river. Most parts were tame, but there were a couple of areas that were tricky to cross. We ended up at the waterfall, but because the water was so high, it wasn’t as defined as it normally is. Either way, between the perfect weather, gorgeous scenery, and great company, it was a day that won’t be forgotten.
2.Beach Olympics. Some brilliant person had the idea of getting a bunch of recent college graduates together for a day full of drinking games. The setting: Vilanculos, a beach city in Southern Mozambique. The ocean is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The slope of the beach is so gradual you can walk about a minute out into the water and be only waist deep. Anyways, the day started with opening ceremonies, was followed by a shotgun race, flip cup, sloshball, dizzy bat, beer pong, and then ended with the closing ceremonies. There are two parts of the day that stick out in my mind. During the opening ceremonies, we all lined up and sang the National Anthem. This doesn’t sound like anything spectacular, but I can honestly say I have ever been so proud to be an American. As a teacher, I hear and participate in singing the Mozambican National Anthem two times each weekday. Since the song is about 5 minutes long, that means 10 minutes of each day spent hearing/singing the Patria Amada. That’s 50 minutes each week, 200 minutes a month, and 2400 minutes a year. Ridiculous. So, I guess my point is that after all the time spent singing about Mozambique, it was a great change in pace to get back to America. The second part of the day that sticks out in my mind is dizzy bat. This event includes chugging a beer, spinning around a bat 10 times, and then having to hit a ball. My epic performance during this event (along with Brian’s) put our team back in the competition. The north/central team eventually won the title.
3. The TCO bus. I’m pretty sure it stands for ‘The Classy Option.’ Travelling in Moz is a bit unpredictable. You can take chapas, buses, or hitchhike. All of these options can range from great to a really poor experience. Esther and I hitchhiked the majority of the time and had some sensational rides. But, one of our first rides of the trip, the Grupo Mecula bus, was so traumatizing we decided to splurge on our way home. We spent about 2 times the price of the awful bus to get home on the TCO. It was like a little bit of America here in Mozambique. The bus had a toilet, air conditioning, tvs, and served a meal!!! I did learn one lesson the hard way on the TCO: Even though there is a toilet, it does not mean you can go #2. The bus ride was 17 hours long, so I think the rule is ludicrous. Needless to say, I went on the bus. After I returned to my seat, the stewardess approached me and gave me an earful. After asking her what I could do about it at that point, she rolled her eyes, and walked away. Other than that, it was a lovely ride.
Getting back home meant returning to work. It was a new trimester and I was ready to get back. I decided to do one thing differently in my English class. Every Friday Esther and I choose a song to teach our classes. From the song, we teach vocabulary and a grammar point. It instantly became a hit. My kids have really opened up and we even had a dance party this last Friday. In the three weeks that we have been doing this I can already see my relationship with my students developing.
One last noteworthy thing happened recently, our house is officially rat free!!! My mom sent some of those sticky pads in her last package, and we caught Peter Pettigrew on night #1!!! Sweet success. Thanks mom.
Miss you all tons!!
<3 Von

6 Months!!!

Weekend at Ilha de Mozambique

9th graders...this is about 60% of the class. It was too big to get them all.

So I am almost done with my first trimester!!! Time really flies when school is in session. A couple of weeks ago, the volunteers from Moz 14 had our first reconnect. The in service training’s focus was evaluating our service thus far, forms, and problem solving. It was a helpful conference, but the highlights were not informational. To me, the best parts were seeing everyone, air conditioning, running water, hot showers, and delicious food for 5 days!!!!
Returning to school the next week was hard. Gathering the motivation to make 10 lesson plans a week, attend class in the pouring rain, etc. proved to be really difficult. But, I did it, and am officially back in the swing of things. =)
Okay, I’m about to make a big generalization, but according to my observations, it is not that far off. Mozambicans have an irrational fear of rain and snakes. Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE rain. My love has only grown exponentially since I’ve been here. Rain is absolutely lovely: it cools the hottest days, it lands in buckets and can be used for every need, it acts as a mini shower, etc. At the slightest sprinkle, Mozambicans feel it necessary to ‘fugir.’ I think people who don’t speak Portuguese can accurately guess what this word means. It doesn’t matter if they are in class, selling things at the market, or just walking down the street, after the first drop lands, they’re off in the sprint. I’ve been perceived to be a crazy person because I will walk home at a normal pace. Actually, I’ll walk home a bit faster so I can get my buckets out to collect water.
With the rain comes a rapidly growing yard. It never fails to have anyone who is visiting our house tell us to cut everything down so we don’t get snakes. No, I am not talking anacondas or boa constrictors, I am talking about little baby garden snakes (1-1.5ft long). Once any green is visible in the yard, even 2 inch long patchy weeds, we are in danger. It’s absolutely crazy. To me, the bigger threat is the crocodile that lives across the street that occasionally breaks loose. A close second are the million malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
I’ve discovered that I am one strict teacher. Some of the stories that stem from this are definitely blog worthy. Instead of bog you guys down with them all at one time, I’ll wrap up each blog with a fun story. Cell phones are a problem. They are constantly ringing, kids have them out all the time, and kids charge them in the class because their houses don’t have electricity. During one lesson, I heard a phone ring. I asked whose it was, and of course, no one owned up to it. I figured it would ring again, and was ready to pinpoint the source when it did. It rang again, and I found it. All Mozambican cell phones use the pay-as-you-go policy. I asked the students what the code is to send a designated amount of credit to another phone (my plan was to send my phone 5 Meticais worth of credit from his phone). Again, no one owned up to the code. I was upset. So, I did the next logical thing. I called my phone from his phone, answered the call, and left both phones connected for the rest of the class. Don’t worry; he only had 10 Meticais of credit on his phone (about 30 cents). Needless to say, phones haven’t been as bad in that class since then. Sweet success.
<3 Von

Mocambique Nossa Terra Gloriosa...

My school. 9 classrooms. 3000 students.

We are now PROS at collecting water.

Bat on sharpies.

Different bat in our dish washing bucket =/

Since the last time I’ve had a chance to write, the biggest change over here in Mozambique is that school has started. I knew I was coming to teach biology, what I didn’t know was that it was only going to be a sliver of my work load. I am spending most of my time teaching physics and English.
I agreed to teach English because I figured, ‘hey, I speak that language and I was teaching kids to read English before I came, how hard can it be?’ It has proven to be waaay harder than I could have imagined. Teaching kids English as a second language is tough. It requires a certain level of patience that I just don’t have. Honestly, without my experience before coming to the Peace Corps, I don’t think I would have been very effective. Luckily, I learned some tricks at the Cullinan Education Center that have turned out to be life savers.
Physics is by far the biggest challenge. The main reason is because I have zero physics supplies. The only thing the school supplies is chalk. I bought a textbook in Nampula City so I could at least know physics words in Portuguese. This may sound helpful, but Mozambican textbooks are loaded with wrong information, misspelled words, and are extremely disorganized. My lifeline has been Portuguese Wikipedia, which really just makes me laugh. Another challenge is trying teach topics that require calculations to kids that don’t have a solid foundation in basic math. To be fair, this is a generalization, but because of it I have spent too much class time reteaching decimals. (It has kind of been a blessing in disguise because it has helped me clear up one very important thing in my mind. They use periods were we put commas and vice versa, and it took a little bit of time before it started to look correct).
Teaching biology is lovely. I am teaching 11th grade, which is the grade where kids can either choose to do arts or science. The students in my class are serious and love science. They participate, ask great questions, and are a breath of fresh air on a long day. As a secondary project, I am going to do the science fair. I can’t wait to get them all involved and see what they are really capable of!!!
We just finished week 5 of school, and our first round of tests. My English scores were all over the place. I am absolutely thrilled, though, because the average suggests that I may actually be doing a good job! =) Biology went even better! They are understanding the information and me!!! I guess that is the best part. I am able to convey what I want to about biology in Portuguese!! Woo hoo! I have no idea how my physics students did yet, because their ungraded tests are sitting in a pile on my chair. I’m scared for two reasons: 1. I have no idea if they understood a word I said and 2. I have 4 classes of 100+ students to grade (it’s a BIG pile).
On a completely different note, Esther and I seem to have a big problem with anything that ends in –at. At least two times each week, we get bats in our house at night. They come in through this chimney-ish opening in our back room. We open the doors and wait outside for them to leave. It’s not so bad, minus we get bit to death by mosquitos while we are out there. Bats also looove to hang out in our latrine hole. Going to the bathroom at night when they are flying around has become too difficult. We have resorted to going outside after dark. Our other problem is with a gigantic rat. It loves our veggies, spices, bread, etc. We are looking into getting a cat to help us with this problem.
My roommate Esther is wonderful. It is seriously like the Peace Corps did extensive research before they put us together. She cooks, I clean. We both LOVE games: board, dice, cards, etc. We are both obsessed with the same TV shows. The list goes on and on. She has started teaching me Korean, and it is amazing!!! I have mastered the vowels and consonants and have set a goal for myself: if I can master reading and conversational Korean by the time I am done here, I want to move to Korea for a year!!!
I miss you all like crazy!! Keep writing, it is always great to hear from all of you! I keep getting called “popular” because you guys are great at writing, but I just don’t think anyone understands how big my family is and how wonderful my friends are!! =)
Beijitos, Vonnie

My life according to the BRATT diet.

Since arriving to site, Esther and I were lucky enough to have Amanda stay with us for a couple of weeks because her house wasn't ready. We got to work on our house, made a few renovations, and watched A LOT of tv. We cleaned our place from top to bottom, constructed a kitchen counter, and made some necessary purchases (my favorite being our lovely refrigerator).

It was a bittersweet Christmas. It was my first time celebrating away from family and friends and proved tobe a lot harder than I thought it would be. Somehow, I managed to have a roommate who truly believes that the "best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." She has the most extensive Christmas music/movies collection on her computer that I have EVER seen. We spent most of December listening to Cmas music, watching Cmas movies, and making Cmas decorations. We hosted the Nampula province Christmas get-together and had ten volunteers staying at our site. We did secret santa, made stockings, played flip cup, made jell-o shots, and had some delicous meals (some even had meat!!!).

For New Years, we headed to the beach for a few days. It took an exhausting 11 hours to travel each way, but was definitely worth it. We were able to see more friends, a ton of Mozambique, eat AMAZING food, and ring in the new decade. We were so proud to stay up until midnight since we are all used to falling asleep before nine each night. Eating soft serves at the beach is undeniably one of my favorite times in Moz so far.

We only have one more week before school starts, so we have been pretty lazy the last few days. This has been especially easy since I have been pretty sick for about a week now. I can't seem to shake this cough/congestion/allergy medley. I'm just hoping for it to pass before I start working. Once school starts, my days of reading, watching tv and movies, and playing games are going to shift into Portuguese only lesson planning. Call me crazy, but I can't wait.

I've realized that it's really hard to write these blogs trying to recap everything that has happened since the last blog. I think from now on, I'll just focus on one or two events in particular to write about. Something I'd like to write about in this blog is my love of collecting rainwater. I think I discovered this love after realizing how hard it is to cart water. Now, anytime I see rain clouds in the distance, I do a rain dance, put out every bucket and pan we have, and wait. My smile gets bigger and bigger with every drop that lands in them. All I can think about is how many trips of carting water it is eliminating. It is seriously one of the greatest feelings in the world!!!

So, of course, mail is still appreciated. Anytime you guys are feeling bored and don't know what to do, write a letter! You can either email me at voncontreras@gmail.com or write me at

Yvonne Contreras, PCV

Rua dos Continuadores #24A

C.P. 526

Cidade de Nampula, Nampula

Mozambique

This address is slightly different than the one in the last blog. Things will still get to me with the other address, but this one is a bit more correct. For packages, please remember to put Jesus saves, praise the Lord, etc. on them. Also, not claiming exactly what is in the package or their true value is a great idea to cut down on theft. If you're going to mail a postcard, please put it in a envelope. Moz is notorious for keeping postcards and putting them up in the post office.

This is getting lengthy, so I'd like to end with a huge congrats to cousin Steph and Brandon!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a little baby girl, but keep me updated!! Another congrats to cousins Teresa and Brisa on the weddings! I'm so bummed to be missing out on all the excitement =(. RIP my little Yoti-bear.

<3 Von

Officially a PCV!!!

Im in S. Africa, Swaz, and Moz!!!
We are science teachers!!

So we have made it to site!!! I’m an official volunteer and live in Monapo in the province of Nampula. I have been here for a total of about 4 hours and already love it. It’s in northern Mozambique and is completely different than the south. The only downfall is that it’s up to a 5 day chapa ride each way from some of my closest friends.

Since it has been so long, there’s a ton to catch up on.

Site visit was a blast. It was a much needed vacation from training. I took a 4 hour chapa ride from Namaacha to Chongoene. Chapas are the most readily available method of travel here in Mozambique. I would say they are roughly the same size and shape of a VW van. The only difference is that an average ride includes about 20-25 people. Chongoene is a little, dry town in the middle of nowhere. Some perks it offers are: being a short chapa ride from Xai-Xai (a big city where you can buy pretty much everything you’d need), being about 2 hours from the capital, being right off the main road that goes through Mozambique, and being relatively close to other volunteers. We went to the beach in Xai-Xai and there are no words to describe how absolutely beautiful it was. I’ve even heard it doesn’t compare to some of the prettiest beaches Mozambique has to offer, so I can’t wait to see more! I also had a chance to hitchhike and fell in love. It is faster, cheaper, more comfortable, and easier than other methods of transportation.

The education volunteers finished two weeks of model school. It was exhausting. It turns out that preparing biology lesson plans in Portuguese is hard work. I gave six lessons to 8th grade Mozambican students. Some were better than others, but I definitely felt more comfortable in the classroom by the end.

Thanksgiving came and went. The highlight of it was finding out our site placement which was followed by an AMAZING dinner. Corpo da Paz provided the turkey and we did a potluck for the rest of the meal.

As far as site placement goes, I consider myself one of the luckiest volunteers out of Moz 14. I will be living with Esther, one of my friends from training, and about ten minutes from another friend named Amanda. They are from LA and Pasadena. Go figure. It is beautiful in Monapo, and we are only about an hour chapa ride to one of the prettiest beaches Moz has to offer!!! I’m pretty sure I hit the jackpot with site placements.

It’s absolutely unreal to me that I’ve already had such amazing experiences here in Moz and it has only been a little over two months. What makes it even more incredible is to look at some of the stats for Moz: the average family income is about $350/year and it is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. The US invests about 400 million dollars in Moz each year. By next year, the goal is to get to an absolute poverty rate of 45%.

You can now mail me at a new address. Also, don’t worry about what you have sent to the other address. The previous address will always be valid, it may just take a little longer to reach me. From now on, this address will work best:

Yvonne Contreras, PCV
Corpo da Paz/U.S. Peace Corps
Avenida Rua Dos Continuadores #24a
C.P. 526
Nampula
Mozambique
Happy late Thanksgiving and early Christmas/New Years to everyone!!! I miss you guys like crazy.

Killing chickens and getting old.

He is pretty much the love of my life here...

I feel like I am doing something new with each day that passes. Here’s a couple highlights of the past couple of weeks:

1. I’ve officially killed my first chicken. It actually wasn’t so bad. The part I’m not that much of a fan of is depenar-ing, or plucking the chicken. It’s a bit too smelly/messy.
2. I’ve become REALLY good friends with my xixi (pee) bucket. Most of the time it is known as my balde, or bucket used for taking showers. The best part of this bucket, though, is its second job as a xixi bucket in my room overnight. A side effect of the malaria meds is an overactive bladder, so it has come in pretty handy.
3. I turned 23, and celebrated ALL weekend. On Halloween, Corpo da Paz held a Halloween party. We all dressed up and invited some members of our families to show them how absolutely ridiculous Americans can be. I was amazed at how resourceful all the trainees were with their costumes. We had a costume contest, limbo, snacks, trick-or-treating, and roasting marshmallows. The next day, my host family threw me the most amazing birthday dinner/dance party. My two brothers came into town from other provinces, along with some extended family members from all over Moz/South Africa. We had a feast, cake, and TONS of dancing. I also tried cow head for the first/last time. My family went above and beyond my expectations, and it was a birthday that will be hard to beat in the future. They also remembered that watermelon was my favorite fruit and had one brought in from South Africa as a gift.
Site visits are coming up this Saturday and we are all so excited to get out of Namaacha for a few days. We are going to stay with current volunteers at their sites. It should be a blast. I’m most excited about seeing different parts of Moçambique. I’m headed to Chongoene in Gaza. I’ll be going with a chemistry teacher and we are pretty much going to be on the beach. There are a few of us that are going to be in the same area, so we are all planning on meeting up a couple of the nights to hang out. This has been what we have all been waiting for pretty much since day one, so I can’t wait!!!
Thanks for all of the birthday wishes, and I’m sorry if I haven’t had a chance to respond to them. It means a lot to know all of you remembered/were thinking about me. I miss you guys and think of you often. Remember, if you’re ever bored, feel free to shoot me a letter.
Yvonne Contreras, PCV
Corpo da Paz/U.S. Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo
Mozambique
Most missed American item: a roll of Kirkland brand tp (actually any 2-ply would work).

Bucket baths and latrines.

The mountain that's shared by Swaziland, S. Africa, and Moz.

Walking to morning class.
Our welcoming to Namaacha!!

The group!

A lot has happened since my last blog. First, I moved to Namaacha to begin pre-service training (PST). Namaacha is beautiful and high in elevation compared to Maputo. It is pretty cold and I have had to wear a jacket or sweater almost every day. There’s a certain scent to Mozambique that almost reminds me of home, the smell of campfires. The only thing that makes it different is that it’s trash being burned on a daily basis.
My host family has been absolutely amazing. I definitely don’t have the most luxurious house out of the volunteers, but it is great. I have a host mom, two sisters, 2 nephews, a neice, and a cousin. Everything is different here, which makes for interesting days and lessons. I have had to relearn how to wash my clothes, wash my hands, take showers, cook (not that I knew how to before), and pretty much everything you could think of doing.
Training is going well. The majority of the first five weeks are focused on language. Portuguese is a lot of fun to learn, but I’m a little bit bitter about losing Spanish. They are similar and it’s hard to get myself to separate the two languages. I live for our ‘hub days’ when all of the volunteers are reunited for group lessons. These are usually focused on safety or HIV awareness.
Here’s a couple of the biggest adjustments:
1. Showers: Because there is no running water, I have to take bucket baths. They are surprisingly easy to do and leave me feeling clean. The only downside is having to take them two times a day. It is a long process and I usually have to get up a couple of hours before our 7:30 lessons.
2. Food: It’s actually pretty tasty (with the exception of cow liver). The only things I haven’t liked so far had nothing to do with taste, it was more of a texture thing. Almost everything is fried or carbs, so I’m pretty thankful for all the walking that we have to do.
3. Adjusting to my host family’s schedule is challenging, but necessary. I get up at 5:30 every morning to do chores (sweep the dirt, clean room, sweep house, wash dishes, etc.), I have to eat 3 meals and 2 ‘lunchies’ everyday, take 2 baths, and so on. It is going to be nice when we get to our own sites and can set our own schedules. We find out on Thanksgiving where we are going to be placed!
It turns out that Halloween is another volunteer’s birthday as well. We are thinking about doing some sort of themed party, which should be a hit (maybe masquerade with all of our sleeping masks from the plane). My family is planning on making me a bolo and they want to have a little vino as well.
I got a phone and would looove to talk/text! The country code is 258 and my number is 82 27 71 536 (I think that’s how they separate the numbers =/).
Most missed American item at the moment: washer and dryer.

Quick Update

Okay, just a couple of things before we go a while without any communication.

1. Do not mail through DHL, use the first address only.
2. Do not send any packages after week 5 (Early Nov) until I get you guy a new address.
3. Put "save Jesus" or any other religious things on packages. Apparently it significantly reduces the chances of theft.
4. When you are claiming what is inside of a package, lie. Not completely, but change it up a bit. For example, if you are mailing cds/dvds, write educational material on it. Please don't let the value listed exceed $50(the real value can). We have to pay to receive these packages and it can get expensive.

I'm off to Namaacha to live with my host family. There will not be internet there, so chances are you will not hear from me until late December. I will try to mail a few things, but I don't have many people's addresses so I will mail it to somewhere close.

On a different note, we have started training for many things and it has been interesting. I can't move either of my arms well because of all the vaccinations we have received. I also started taking malaria meds and am eager to see what kind of vivid dreams or other crazy side effects occur.

Until later...

Finally in Mozambique

After a solid day of traveling, we have finally made it to Mozambique. We are staying the first three days in a hotel here in the capital, Maputo. The hotel that they are putting us up in is amazing. I feel like they are trying to butter us up a bit before showing us the true conditions of Mozambique.

Everyone in my group is amazing. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by people who I can learn from and have great conversations with. On Sunday, we check out of the hotel and head to Namaacha for 10 weeks of pre-service training. The training consists of TONS of language training as well as learning about the history and culture of Mozambique, teaching strategies, and ways to stay safe. It was pretty cold today, which forced me to wear pants and a sweater. I've been told Namaacha is at a higher elevation and tends to get even colder.

It hasn't hit me yet that I'm in Africa. I'm pretty sure that'll change as soon as we leave this hotel. But until Sunday, I'm going to enjoy my single room (I must have won some sort of lottery), warm shower, swimming pool, bed, pillow, and internet service.

Last Minute Post

I know, I have waited for the last minute to post this very important message. I have spent the last day and half here in Philadelphia and it has been a blast. I have met about half of the 65 people leaving as part of the Mozambique 14 group. Everyone I have met so far has been amazing. We come from every part of the US and from many different schools and majors.

Some important information: If you want to mail me (which I highly encourage) please send it to

Yvonne Contreras, PCV
Corpo da Paz/U.S. Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo
Mozambique

But, if you want to mail through DHL then send it to

Yvonne Contreras, PCV
c/o U.S. Peace Corps Mozambique
Avenida Zimbabwe 345
Maputo
Mozambique

Don't forget to number each letter you send. If one gets lost, I will know about it and start the search. Please don't hesitate to send mail asap...the last thing I want is to be the Harry Potter of our group =(

Thank you all for your support and an amazing last few months. I love you and will update as soon as I get the chance.

-Von =)