Anyway, I am now living in a really nice house in Guija, in Gaza province, in Southern Mozambique. My post is essentially the opposite of what I was hoping for, [I specifically requested a super 'matu'(rural) site in the north, and requested to live in a Muslim community with hopes of learning Kiswahili or another language spoken in Eastern Africa] but you never really know what you want until you get there right? My town is tiny but I am only a few miles away from a much larger town where I can buy just about anything I need, and as a bonus, there is also a pizza restaurant? Awesome.
I lucked out because instead of living on housing that is part of school property (like most volunteers) I am renting a house from a Mozambican woman who lives/works in South Africa. This means my house is actually furnished with nice furniture and is in good overall condition. It is a 2-bedroom house, with another large room that is split between a cooking area and a living room. One of the bedrooms is mine, and I have a large queen size bed (for the first time ever I might add!) along with a small dresser and a mirror! There's even a table in my room with chairs that I can use as a desk to do lesson planning! The other bedroom is filled with my landlord's furniture so I don't actually use that room but its tidy so that's all that matters. In the common room area I have another large dining room table, a small cabinet with pots and pans and lots of delicous spices that the previous volunteer left me, and then there is also a full size fridge, two small couches and a huge bookshelf. There's even a small room in the back where I can take my bucket baths, which is awesome because during homestay I had to take them outside and I'm not going to lie it was kind of scary. Finally my house has a large porch that I can sit at and read or people watch. This is also where I keep Amendoim (see later...) tied up. It's really nice and I am totally spoiled compared to most volunteers. My house even has electricity and I think I am going to purchase a gas stove so that should make things even easier. For the past week I've been cooking on a small charcoal stove and it literally takes FOREVER, this morning it took an hour to make oatmeal, so yes I'm excited to upgrade my cooking situation.
My new home for the next 2 years. Isn't it big and fancy?
My common room...complete with two couches, a big kitchen table, a full bookshelf and plenty of cooking supplies left from the previous volunteer. Like I said, I am lucky this is the Posh Corps.
My bed room. Already looking pretty cozy. Also I have more clothes than those few dresses they're just all in a pile in the corner because I need to do laundry...
This is a small room in the back of the house where I can take bucket baths. There's a tiny hole in the middle of the floor where all the water drains and it's very convenient because I don't have to go outside and use an out house to bathe.
The actual town of Guija is really cute. There's just one road and the town itself stretches for about a mile. There are two markets where I can buy produce and bread and then a couple of other small stores/stands that sell things like eggs, flour, vinegar, pasta, rice, beans...etc There are also a few small baracas and a huge Catholic church. Finally, there's a small hospital right in the middle of town. The HIV/AIDS rate in Gaza province is the highest in all of Mozambique (estimated around 30%) In Guija, the rate is even higher, somewhere between 50-60%. The reality that just about every other person I meet here is likely to be HIV positive is kind of unreal and hasn't really sunk in yet. There is another PCV living in Guija and she is a health volunteer, I am hoping to shadow her one day at work so I can see a little more firsthand how the epidemic is treated here. A little more about Guija, I live about 20 meteres from the secondary school where I will be working...and I am pretty sure I will be teaching 11th and 12th grade English there.
So far, after living at site for a week I really have not done much. I unpacked, organized and cleaned and also did a ton of laundry but otherwise have just been sitting around reading and studying Portuguese. I have the next couple of weeks off to start my lesson-planning because it's summer vacation right now so there's really no work to be done. I haven't met that many people here, it's kind of tough because it's the holiday season, so all of the teachers are out of town and because most of the students commute from other towns the school is empty. PC warned us these first few weeks would be rough though and somehow I haven't gotten bored.
I have a dog at site too, and I think I could write an entire blog post just about him because he is already my best friend. His name is Amendoim, which means Peanut in Portuguese. I adopted him from 2 of my friends who were COSing (Close of Service/done with PC) and needed to find him a new home. He's really cute, he follows me everywhere, wags his tail whenever I look at him and is also just really spoiled because I let him sleep in my room every night instead of outside like most dogs. I take him running every morning and for another walk in the afternoon, and I cook him xima (boiled cornmeal sort of like grits) with canned fish--like I said he is spoiled but he's also great company and a great security addition to have to my house, people are terrified of him.
My side kick Amendoim.
Aside from the excitement of moving to my site, I just got back from a beach weekend in Xai-Xai, where I got to meet a lot of other volunteers in Gaza province (and a few from Inhambane as well!) It really was a perfect weekend because after spending an entire week alone I was anxious to see some of my friends and hear about their sites. It was also great to meet some other volunteers that live close by to me. I traveled to Xai Xai all by myself, it took 4 different chappa (broken down minibuses that are the means for public transportation) rides and totaled almost 6 hours of traveling but it was totally worth it. It also felt really cool to do that trip alone, it was a good test of my Portuguese language skills and general comfort with my independence here. On the way home our chappa got a flat tire and everyone got out of the car to help lift it, while another person changed the tire, it was truly awesome teamwork! Next weekend, a couple of friends are coming to stay at my house for Christmas and I could not be more excited! Anyone that knows me understands that Christmas is my favorite day of the year, so even though it does not feel like Christmas at all, I think once I have friends around and we blast some holiday tunes and start cooking it will begin to feel a little better.
All in all I have been enjoying my past week. I've gotten to cook some great vegetarian food, and haven't had to eat any rice!! Although cooking on charcoal takes forever it is also kind of relaxing, because I have no current commitments there really is no rush to get things done. The weather here has been so hot but its okay because it makes taking cold bucket baths actually enjoyable. I forgot to mention that I am so lucky because I have a water pump right outside my house! I might finally be able to do some push-ups by the end of these 2 years because lugging water jugs from the pump into my house is serious work-the buckets weigh around 40 lbs when they are full! I actually don't fill them all the way but still they're heavy.
Random but I also feel the need to share that my host family has checked on me every couple of days just to make sure I am okay. My mae was worried when she found out I was living alone so she calls or texts to check in on me and ask about my day, it's really really sweet. Sorry this was such a long post, I feel like I left so much out but it's already super long so I'm going to stop BUT I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the holiday season...until next time!
*oh and I will add I did just make some friends, the criancas that live next door wandered (bravely) into my yard and asked me to practice english. I got out my Beauty and the Beast book (the only children's book I have, thank you so much Christina!) and read it to them in English and Portuguese, switching off each page...then afterwards we played frisbee and chatted in Portuguese and some Changana...I also calmed Amenduim down enough so that the oldest boy, who's 13, could pet him a little. SUCCESS. The end.
Haleigh, you inspire me. I can't wait till we all visit
ReplyDelete