Free Internet, alright!

I am on my way to site and staying in a hotel in Maputo - and they have wireless internet.  This is a first in the ten weeks I have been in africa and very exciting.  However, I have things to do here in the big city and I am going to make this quick.  

I have been doing a lot of "passear" - ing lately, which a portuguese verb that means pretty much whatever you want it to mean here in Mozambique.  In this context I will use it to mean that I have been enjoying the company of my fellow Peace Corps Trainees before we are shipped all over the country never to see each other again (which is sad but true in many cases).

We have also had a few last minute sessions regarding things such as local language (there are sixteen local languages spoken here in Mozambique - these are the languages you see on national geographic channel with whistles and clicks - and only about 40% of the population actually speaks portuguese).  I tried to pick up a few phrases of Cimanika (my future local language in Gondola)  I quickly realized it was impossible.  We have also had some last minute information regarding cholera (due to the current cholera outbreak in neighboring Zimbabwae), Malaria (for which we always have to be vigilant as it is everywhere and can easily kill you), and of course HIV/AIDs which is very prevalent and obviously very bad.  

I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer last wednesday at the U.S Ambassador's house in Maputo- it was a formal affair, and nice ceremony.  From the looks of this house, being the U.S Ambassador to Mozambique (or the ambassador equivalent, which is what we have here) looks to be a pretty job.  

The next day we had a party for the home-stay families which turned in to a study in corruption in Mozambique.  Because the people that ran the party were quite obviously skimming money/food off of the top.  

But overall it has been a good, fun last week of training.  I am not ready to leave the friends I have made, but I am ready to leave Namaacha.

Namaacha kids
Namaacha

My Brother - Bapu

Near Namaacha

Nov. 18

I returned from site visit and learned that most of my fellow PCTs had epic visits (with either excessive drinking, excessive chapa riding – 20 hours plus – or both). The result was that we had a few days to recover and do nothing – which I did not need, but I took advantage of anyway. One day I took a hike to a nearby waterfall (which does not have water in it, even though the rainy season has arrived – more on that later). Than I just hung out until Sunday when I came down with a severe case of Mozambican Mudbutt (GI tract issues) from which I am currently recovering.

I think I should take this time to explain the PC medical care system in Mozambique. Medical care here is supposed to be a top priority, but this country of twenty million does even have an MRI (in the entire country). Our current PC doctor is a temporary PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) because our real one is on medical leave (which I think is kind of ironic). The current PCMO from the Kyrgyz Republic who reminds me most of Borat. He comes to training every week and gives sessions on the terrible diseases we can pick up in Mozambique, but every session is hilarious because of the combination of this guy’s un-mastery of the English language and his sense of humor.

We had our interviews with the people who are going to decide where we are going to live for the next two years. This is a big deal in a country larger than California with roads so bad that people actually drive on the shoulder because it is better than the paved road (which is more pothole than road). This is not a joke, the main road in Mozambique “the EN1” is more pothole than road for almost 2000 km, and if the main road is that bad you can guess what the other roads are like. Anyway, we had our interviews – and they were very anticlimactic. My interview was about five minutes long, I stressed that I wanted to be able to stand up in my house and the APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Country Director) who was giving my interview said “this is very interesting, we can’t guarantee you anything”. We find out our placement the day before Thanksgiving at our thanksgiving festa.

I mentioned earlier that the rainy season has arrived; since nothing is paved in Namaacha it means the muddy season has arrived. The entire town is mud, with an occasional pool of standing water to breed malaria-infested anopheles mosquitoes. Also, if you have been following along you know that I don’t have a roof on my casa de banho – so all my business is performed in the rain. This includes my showers (which I thought was kind or ironic).

11/28

I went to Maputo last Saturday and I spent the entire day at the Maputo Shopping Center (the only structure in Mozambique that even closely resembles the western world). All I did was eat food that I cannot get in Namaacha (everything) and walk around the grocery store. A few volunteers were accosted (and almost arrested) by Mozambican Police (who can be bribed) because they were not carrying their passports – it was exciting only because we got to gossip about the story. On the way back home the door on my chapa flew open (I was not wearing a seatbelt – because I am in Africa and they do not have seatbelts), a few miles later the chapa overheated - it was fun.

We had thanksgiving on Wednesday. Peace Corps booked the only restaurant in Namaacha, and we had our site announcements directly before dinner. Site announcement was very exciting/nerve racking. I was placed in a town called Gondola near the city of Chimoio in Manica Province (not on the beach – significant because 70 percent of volunteers are close to the beach). I do not really know anything about it, except that I am relatively close to Zimbabwe (I am hoping to befriend Robert Mugabe). I am going to live with an English teacher and we are going to be teaching at the same secondary school (Escola Secundaria de Gondola). I will be the first PC science teacher the school has ever had.

After site announcement we had a delicious meal (though it was not like thanksgiving at all). Our country director was nice enough to bring a pumpkin pie and cranberries from the U.S, but that was the extent of the thanksgiving-like foods.
I also just finished my first week of model school, which means that I have been teaching a chemistry class every day to 20-25 students. Although the peace corps rates my language skills at intermediate-high, I would not tell anyone that my portuguese skill level is high. The result is that it is very difficult to teach a forty-five minute lesson about chemistry completely in Portuguese. I am told that I will be a pretty bad teacher for the first few months – and I am okay with that.