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 =)