Settling In

It's a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning here in Mozambique. I started my day by cleaning my room and washing my clothes by hand...the new norm for the next two years. I also washed my shoes as Namaacha is very dusty and in just one short week, the white on my shoes had quickly become reddish brown. My clothes and shoes are currently drying in the warm Mozambican sun and light breeze.

For lunch, I'll go to Shoprite, a farmer's market/flea market type event on Wednesdays and Saturdays. My host mãe (mom) makes chicken, shima, rice, salad, etc. on these days and has a spot at Shoprite. My mae’s chicken is a favorite of Peace Corps Volunteers and staff because the chicken is to die for. I can tell it's Tuesday or Friday when I wake up and see galinhas (live chickens) in the backyard which will soon become the famous frango (cooked chicken). Wednesdays and Saturdays are busy days for my family as they awake early to make the 15-minute walk to Shoprite and don't arrive back home until after dark.

The last week has been filled with a lot of Portuguese lessons and introduction sessions on various topics. My Portuguese is improving each day, but it's still a work in progress. I'm still working on “forgetting” Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish. Last night we had our first Ngoma session which is a cross-cultural exchange. Mozambicans share aspects of their culture with us and we share our American culture with them. Last night we had a local dance group, Estrela de Namaacha, teach us a local dance. After dancing we sampled various dishes such as matapa, mandioca, couve, etc.

During the past week and a half the relationships of all the trainees have grown from strangers to family. We have also been welcomed into the Peace Corps family by other currently serving volunteers. While we all come from different parts of the US and have different backgrounds, we have more in common than we don't. Most importantly, we're all Peace Corps Volunteers. As we discussed this week, often times people don't understand why we chose to give up everything in the states and move across the world. However, between volunteers, we all have a mutual understanding and respect.

One of the things we've all come to realize is how accepting our host families are. From the moment we stepped off the busses last week, our families considered us part of their family; their filho (son), irmão (brother), etc. The families have such pride and joy from being able to host an American in their home. Without a doubt, it's no easy task so I'll always be thankful for my host mãe, siblings, and family.

Some accomplishments/successes from the first week:

• Took first bucket bath
• Learned to do laundry by hand
• Made a coconut and a chocolate cake
• Learned to make peanut butter
• Taught my family the trick using your hands for multiplication by 9
• Explained the game of baseball to my sister in Portuguese

It's time to enjoy this beautiful day so until next time, até logo (see you later)!