'Good morning':
Rain has never been more beautiful. It gives life to all things- nourishes the ripening avocados and mangos, the pink and yellow plumeria, the tall lemongrass, the dancing palm fronds...and sustains the people, who hurry to line their buckets and basins under the steady trickles of the tin roof. The air is cool and clean, a welcome change from the sweltering dusty heat of African winter. No pestering flies today.
The rain makes winding rivers and tiny craters in the orange, orange sand. Everywhere, mangos dot the landscape- some fallen from trees, others half eaten and discarded. Every once in a while, a heavy thud as another one hits the ground. A mozambican woman walks by carrying an enormous pile of sticks on her head. 'Li xile' she says, good morning. Local language.
Overhead, the rain has stopped. The gray is breaking up, the blue sky and heat struggling to break through. Two children run by, mangos in hand.
Yup, this is Africa.
'Good afternoon':
I've been here approximately two weeks and have yet to spend a single night in my own house. The problem is, I don't have water, which makes it impossible to take a bath, wash clothes, wash dishes, or even cook.
I've been on the search for an empregada, a maid, to get water, sweep the yard, and clean the latrine for me once I move in. Cooking and cleaning indoors are things that I can do and want to do for myself (although many people, assuming that I have a lot of money, have tried to convince me otherwise). For a while, I figured it easier to just hire the same empregada as Erica/alycia (who im currently still house sitting for)-Luise, a single mother with four kids, who happens to be my neighbor. However, I was reluctant because Luise has a tendency to ask for money (despite getting a steady and hefty paycheck from Erica/alycia), which I find awkward and annoying. That, and from what I've seen, her less than stellar work ethic.
Anyway, my counterpart Irma (sister) Daulisa has been helping me get situated in my house and community. She suggests we go talk to a woman that she knows, the mother of a child who attends the day care.
'She lives close,' Daulisa assures me. We walk together past my house, past the escolhina, down a path I'd never noticed before. Past mango trees, past a red house, past mozambican women sitting in front of humble houses. We finally stop in front of a tiny straw hut, the size of my latrine. An old woman is cutting vegetables outside, a group of children playing in the shade of ever-present mango trees. A thin, worn out woman steps out of the hut and hurries to lay out the straw mat (the nice one, not the tattered one I see next to the door) for us to sit on- she has no chairs to offer. Her name is Maria. She is a widow with four kids, all with stick-like arms and distended bellies- a sure sign of malnutrition.
'Boa tarde,' (good afternoon)I say in portuguese as I shake her hand and sit. Daulisa begins conversing earnestly with Maria, in Changana. Maria listens with her brow furrowed, and then bursts out laughing and leans against Daulisa, who is also laughing. Daulisa beams at me. 'She says she is so happy. She will work for you. She says she wasn't sure how they were going to continue to survive. She wants to start tomorrow!' I apologetically explain that actually, im still living at the other house so I can feed the dogs, so it's best that she start in a few weeks, in January. She agrees, but says that she and the children will start sweeping the yard this week, so that it will look nice when I move in. She is so eager to work.
As we leave, Daulisa says to me,'You see? Do you see the way they live? The children eating mostly mangos? We have had to give that child milk at the escolhina so he can continue to grow. He is slow at learning, they all are because their development is stunted by lack of nutrition. That woman will work hard for you. For someone who has nothing, a chance to work and earn money is everything. You see?'
I see. Empowering a woman to care for her family- well, that's 300mets a month well spent.
'Good night':
You're sitting on the veranda in front of the house as night rolls in, bringing with it an army of mosquitoes. You're thinking about how today went. Pretty well, considering you didn't get that much done. That's how life is here, life in the slow lane. The days are filled with unending housework, mangos, reading, getting bothered by neighborhood kids, and otherwise a whole lot of nothing. For a go-getter like yourself, Mozambique can be a very frustrating place to be... At the end of two years you should have acquired an infinite amount of patience. You're thinking about how lucky you are to have the things you do, and how countless others live unimaginably simple lives. You're thinking about the puppy you've kind of adopted. A neighborhood kid asked you to look after it for the weekend and seems to have forgotten to come back and claim it. Typical child, to only want a plaything without the responsibility. That's how Erica/alycia ended up with their second dog. You've renamed the dog Xima, because he's fluffy and chunky from all the Xima and dried fish he eats. You're thinking about all the things that still need to be done to make your house a home: hang up clothesline, buy a fridge, build a fence, get a bed frame, build a bookcase and shelves, paint the walls...a plethora of projects that gets to be overwhelming unless you take things one day at a time.You're thinking about how you forgot to take a bath today. Oops. You're thinking about your organization, the escolhina, and the project ideas you have for the next two years. They've asked you to give English lessons to the children, and English/ computer classes to the community (as an income generation project). Part of you is worried about the sustainability aspect of your work here. You're thinking that you're pretty comfortable with Portuguese, maybe you should tackle Changana soon. Five languages under your belt is, of course, better than four.
You're thinking there's so many damn cockroaches in this house, and it's not uncommon to find one crawling on you in the middle of the night. You're thinking about how excited you are that your wonderful boyfriend is coming to visit in March, and how you are going to put him to work building things for your house. You've told every mozambican you've met that you're married, so they don't start wagging their tongues later. And so the creepsters back off, although that has been met with limited success (creepsters will be creepsters). You're thinking about your sister, it's her birthday, and you're thinking about how much you miss your friends and family. You're thinking about all the people you love, these blogs are for them. You write because you love to write but you share because others care to listen. You're thinking and thinking and thinking, but it's just about bedtime. Go to bed at 9, wake up at 530, that's just life in the slow lane. So then, li pelile! Boa noite! Good night :)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Chimundo
"Whatever tomorrow brings, I´ll be there, with open arms and open eyes" - Incubus
So much has happened in the past week! Last Friday, 70 Peace Corps trainees became official Peace Corps volunteers. The swear-in ceremony was held in Maputo, at the super sweet house of the ambassador. We all wore our capulana outfits and everyone looked, as they say here, chique [sheeky], despite several setbacks…
First of all, when we first arrived at the hotel at noon, they would not allow us to check in yet so we lounged around in the lobby until 2. We then had approximately 30 minutes to get ready for the swear-in ceremony. My roommate jumped in the shower first, so by the time she was done I had 15 minutes left. After the shower, I was at 10 minutes. At 5 minutes until departure, I asked my friend to zip up the back of my dress and the zipper promptly broke. My response: “You’ve got to be f-ing kidding me.” While my friend Amanda frantically tried to fix the zipper, and my roommate Jen went to beg an extra few minutes from the Training Director, I was scuttling around the room in my underwear putting on the rest of my makeup and accessories. Eventually, my dress was literally pinned onto me with half a dozen needles and our Training director Claudia, smoking a cigarette and cursing at traffic, raced us to ambassador’s house because we had, of course, missed the bus. Ironically, as my friend was getting out of the car, her capulana skirt ripped and Dress Emergency #2 commenced- we had failed to bring the remainder of the needles. Claudia efficiently resolved the issue and we were able to make our grand entrance.
Afterwards, the volunteers returned to the 5-star hotel Cardoso and stayed up all night hanging out, our last night together as a big group- the first group (north) departed for their supervisors conference at 5am. In stages, Moz 15 was separated. My group, the 16 health volunteers of north/central Mozambique, headed to Bilene. We got very lucky with our hotel accommodations here as well: my single, air-conditioned room had a fridge and running water, and was right on the beach. We had buffet-style meals three times a day, plus two snack/tea times. Crab /shrimp curry! Salad! Chicken! Beef! Fruit salad! Flan!
After a relaxing weekend on the beach (mental health break times two, minus the heavy drinking and 50+ volunteers), we had our supervisors conference with our organization counterpart(s). My counterpart was a woman named Irma (Sister) Daulisa, a nice plump woman who likes to laugh a lot and is currently helping me set up my house. Not much to say about the conference, we went over policies and had discussions of what to expect from each other, etc.
Wednesday morning, our volunteer group was split again by region. We said our final goodbyes and left on a private chapa- 6 volunteers, their counterparts, a PC staff member, and a lot of luggage. One by one, the volunteers were dropped off at their sites. Meghan first, Caitlin next, Anne, Naa.. At each site we got off the bus to check out our peers’ new home and I took a picture of each volunteer standing in front with their counterparts, ready to start their new life. At Anne’s site, she was greeted by a crowd of people (her organization? Community members?) who sang songs as she approached, and presented her with a lei of flowers. The chefe then ceremoniously cut a ribbon of flowers strung across her door so that she could enter. It was intense.
Finally, it was my turn. There was still another volunteer, Jess whose site is 5km away in Chibuto, who had yet to be dropped off. We arrived in Chimundo, stopped in front of a large gray house, and unloaded my luggage. I stepped inside the filthy, completely empty THREE-bedroom house and... almost began to cry of disappointment. All the other volunteers had quaint little houses, had at least some furniture- a bed maybe, or perhaps a table and chairs- and had been greeted by at least a few excited community members. I had a grumpy landlord who hadn’t even put locks on the doors or the front grate, fist-sized spiders on the walls, and torn window screens to let all the mosquitoes in. Irma Daulisa and PC staff Rogerio began to argue with the landlord about the locks, which should have been in place already. The landlord responded that he didn’t know when I was supposed to be moving in, and he hadn’t had time to do it. So we sadly loaded my luggage back on the chapa. My house wasn’t ready for me.
We dropped Jess off and went to buy locks for my house. I was asked to front money for the locks and get reimbursed later, which almost made me break down again. Peace Corps, for reasons beyond me, does NOT give volunteers more settling-in money even if they are opening up a new site. So, I get the same amount of money as a volunteer who moves into a previous volunteers’ house which will naturally already have many things such as furniture. A nice mattress itself, with a box spring, is approximately 6/7 of the settling in allowance I get. Frustrating much? I’ve resigned myself to buying things in spurts, and hoping that eventually, it will actually feel like a home.
Anyway, I balked at the idea of fronting even more money (tables/chairs/bed frame are items that I will be reimbursed for, but are hefty chunks of my allowance that I don’t feel comfortable spending… especially since I'll be missing the money in my account for at least a couple weeks). Rogerio fronted the money and the landlord promised to change the locks. Meanwhile, I went to stay with Erika and Alycia, my two Moz14 Education sitemates. Thankfully, they live just one street over and their house, on the polar end of things, is absolutely cluttered with anything and everything. Their house has had PC volunteers since 2002; there are even beach murals on the walls! They have bookcases full of books, a kitchen full of dishes and pots, two dogs, two cats, blah blah blah. Oh, and a lot of cockroaches. (Side note: This story is kind of disgusting but last night, as I was sleeping on their couch, I dreamt that I had a cockroach crawling on my leg so I instinctively squished it between my knees. This morning, discovered it wasn’t a dream)
Unfortunately, this is travel season for them so they actually left for South Africa two days after my arrival. I am, however, house sitting and feeding their pets (Interesting: in terms of feeding animals, you can either buy scraps from the butcher or, as Erika and Alycia do, mix dried fish with xima. Xima, as a reminder, looks like mashed potatoes but is essentially like corn meal grits). They have two dogs and two cats, and a mangy neighborhood dog who sneaks in the house to steal food and beg to be adopted.
During the day, I am out and about in the community and in the city buying stuff for my house. The Chibuto market is a 1.5 hour walk but it’s very easy to catch a ride on the main road. And, unlike other markets, this one is rather large and comprehensive. A fridge and a mattress I will need to buy in XaiXai, but the rest I think is available here.
The morning after arrival, after some food (I forgot to mention that I didn’t get to eat breakfast or lunch before I got to site) and a good nights’ rest, I was feeling much better. I took a bath and went out to conquer the community. I introduced myself to Erika/Alycia’s neighbors (still useful, because I live so close) and was invited to tomar cha (drink tea / have breakfast). I imagine that the rest of my two years will look something like this, sitting under mango trees and conversing with the neighbors. I mentioned that I like mangoes, and I was offered several throughout the day. Later on, I was greeted by multiple people that I had met, which made me very happy to have initiated the integration process. The only problem is, I cant seem to remember their names although they always remember mine…
I already have an idea of what home improvement projects I will be taking on in the next few weeks. FIRST and foremost, build a backyard fence. This so I can get a puppy (Erika knows someone who is selling puppies) and so the annoying neighbor kids wont peek in my windows like they’ve done to Erika and Alycia in the past. The charming little kids here lack supervision, and spend their days wreaking havoc (I'm exaggerating, but only a little bit). They like to retrieve and sort through the trash of foreigners (us) and then leave the trash scattered everywhere- defeats the purpose of throwing the trash in the trash pit. They steal unripe mangoes from the tree next to the house, take one bite, and then discard the mango.
Erika and Alycia have a recently-constructed fence that gives them some backyard space and now they can leave the back door open to get some air in the house. Of course, the kids do like to push the limits by climbing the trees to peek over the fence, or as I witnessed while washing dishes, every once in a while a bold little booger will try to creep in the backyard just to stare inside. Really annoying. If the front door is open, same thing. They’ll stand right at the doorway and peer in, sometimes try to come in. The only way to get rid of them is to close the door and suffocate inside. These kids do not all speak Portuguese, either. The majority of the families around here speak Changana, the local language, and until these kids have gone to school, they will not know Portuguese.
So much has happened in the past week! Last Friday, 70 Peace Corps trainees became official Peace Corps volunteers. The swear-in ceremony was held in Maputo, at the super sweet house of the ambassador. We all wore our capulana outfits and everyone looked, as they say here, chique [sheeky], despite several setbacks…
First of all, when we first arrived at the hotel at noon, they would not allow us to check in yet so we lounged around in the lobby until 2. We then had approximately 30 minutes to get ready for the swear-in ceremony. My roommate jumped in the shower first, so by the time she was done I had 15 minutes left. After the shower, I was at 10 minutes. At 5 minutes until departure, I asked my friend to zip up the back of my dress and the zipper promptly broke. My response: “You’ve got to be f-ing kidding me.” While my friend Amanda frantically tried to fix the zipper, and my roommate Jen went to beg an extra few minutes from the Training Director, I was scuttling around the room in my underwear putting on the rest of my makeup and accessories. Eventually, my dress was literally pinned onto me with half a dozen needles and our Training director Claudia, smoking a cigarette and cursing at traffic, raced us to ambassador’s house because we had, of course, missed the bus. Ironically, as my friend was getting out of the car, her capulana skirt ripped and Dress Emergency #2 commenced- we had failed to bring the remainder of the needles. Claudia efficiently resolved the issue and we were able to make our grand entrance.
Afterwards, the volunteers returned to the 5-star hotel Cardoso and stayed up all night hanging out, our last night together as a big group- the first group (north) departed for their supervisors conference at 5am. In stages, Moz 15 was separated. My group, the 16 health volunteers of north/central Mozambique, headed to Bilene. We got very lucky with our hotel accommodations here as well: my single, air-conditioned room had a fridge and running water, and was right on the beach. We had buffet-style meals three times a day, plus two snack/tea times. Crab /shrimp curry! Salad! Chicken! Beef! Fruit salad! Flan!
After a relaxing weekend on the beach (mental health break times two, minus the heavy drinking and 50+ volunteers), we had our supervisors conference with our organization counterpart(s). My counterpart was a woman named Irma (Sister) Daulisa, a nice plump woman who likes to laugh a lot and is currently helping me set up my house. Not much to say about the conference, we went over policies and had discussions of what to expect from each other, etc.
Wednesday morning, our volunteer group was split again by region. We said our final goodbyes and left on a private chapa- 6 volunteers, their counterparts, a PC staff member, and a lot of luggage. One by one, the volunteers were dropped off at their sites. Meghan first, Caitlin next, Anne, Naa.. At each site we got off the bus to check out our peers’ new home and I took a picture of each volunteer standing in front with their counterparts, ready to start their new life. At Anne’s site, she was greeted by a crowd of people (her organization? Community members?) who sang songs as she approached, and presented her with a lei of flowers. The chefe then ceremoniously cut a ribbon of flowers strung across her door so that she could enter. It was intense.
Finally, it was my turn. There was still another volunteer, Jess whose site is 5km away in Chibuto, who had yet to be dropped off. We arrived in Chimundo, stopped in front of a large gray house, and unloaded my luggage. I stepped inside the filthy, completely empty THREE-bedroom house and... almost began to cry of disappointment. All the other volunteers had quaint little houses, had at least some furniture- a bed maybe, or perhaps a table and chairs- and had been greeted by at least a few excited community members. I had a grumpy landlord who hadn’t even put locks on the doors or the front grate, fist-sized spiders on the walls, and torn window screens to let all the mosquitoes in. Irma Daulisa and PC staff Rogerio began to argue with the landlord about the locks, which should have been in place already. The landlord responded that he didn’t know when I was supposed to be moving in, and he hadn’t had time to do it. So we sadly loaded my luggage back on the chapa. My house wasn’t ready for me.
We dropped Jess off and went to buy locks for my house. I was asked to front money for the locks and get reimbursed later, which almost made me break down again. Peace Corps, for reasons beyond me, does NOT give volunteers more settling-in money even if they are opening up a new site. So, I get the same amount of money as a volunteer who moves into a previous volunteers’ house which will naturally already have many things such as furniture. A nice mattress itself, with a box spring, is approximately 6/7 of the settling in allowance I get. Frustrating much? I’ve resigned myself to buying things in spurts, and hoping that eventually, it will actually feel like a home.
Anyway, I balked at the idea of fronting even more money (tables/chairs/bed frame are items that I will be reimbursed for, but are hefty chunks of my allowance that I don’t feel comfortable spending… especially since I'll be missing the money in my account for at least a couple weeks). Rogerio fronted the money and the landlord promised to change the locks. Meanwhile, I went to stay with Erika and Alycia, my two Moz14 Education sitemates. Thankfully, they live just one street over and their house, on the polar end of things, is absolutely cluttered with anything and everything. Their house has had PC volunteers since 2002; there are even beach murals on the walls! They have bookcases full of books, a kitchen full of dishes and pots, two dogs, two cats, blah blah blah. Oh, and a lot of cockroaches. (Side note: This story is kind of disgusting but last night, as I was sleeping on their couch, I dreamt that I had a cockroach crawling on my leg so I instinctively squished it between my knees. This morning, discovered it wasn’t a dream)
Unfortunately, this is travel season for them so they actually left for South Africa two days after my arrival. I am, however, house sitting and feeding their pets (Interesting: in terms of feeding animals, you can either buy scraps from the butcher or, as Erika and Alycia do, mix dried fish with xima. Xima, as a reminder, looks like mashed potatoes but is essentially like corn meal grits). They have two dogs and two cats, and a mangy neighborhood dog who sneaks in the house to steal food and beg to be adopted.
During the day, I am out and about in the community and in the city buying stuff for my house. The Chibuto market is a 1.5 hour walk but it’s very easy to catch a ride on the main road. And, unlike other markets, this one is rather large and comprehensive. A fridge and a mattress I will need to buy in XaiXai, but the rest I think is available here.
The morning after arrival, after some food (I forgot to mention that I didn’t get to eat breakfast or lunch before I got to site) and a good nights’ rest, I was feeling much better. I took a bath and went out to conquer the community. I introduced myself to Erika/Alycia’s neighbors (still useful, because I live so close) and was invited to tomar cha (drink tea / have breakfast). I imagine that the rest of my two years will look something like this, sitting under mango trees and conversing with the neighbors. I mentioned that I like mangoes, and I was offered several throughout the day. Later on, I was greeted by multiple people that I had met, which made me very happy to have initiated the integration process. The only problem is, I cant seem to remember their names although they always remember mine…
I already have an idea of what home improvement projects I will be taking on in the next few weeks. FIRST and foremost, build a backyard fence. This so I can get a puppy (Erika knows someone who is selling puppies) and so the annoying neighbor kids wont peek in my windows like they’ve done to Erika and Alycia in the past. The charming little kids here lack supervision, and spend their days wreaking havoc (I'm exaggerating, but only a little bit). They like to retrieve and sort through the trash of foreigners (us) and then leave the trash scattered everywhere- defeats the purpose of throwing the trash in the trash pit. They steal unripe mangoes from the tree next to the house, take one bite, and then discard the mango.
Erika and Alycia have a recently-constructed fence that gives them some backyard space and now they can leave the back door open to get some air in the house. Of course, the kids do like to push the limits by climbing the trees to peek over the fence, or as I witnessed while washing dishes, every once in a while a bold little booger will try to creep in the backyard just to stare inside. Really annoying. If the front door is open, same thing. They’ll stand right at the doorway and peer in, sometimes try to come in. The only way to get rid of them is to close the door and suffocate inside. These kids do not all speak Portuguese, either. The majority of the families around here speak Changana, the local language, and until these kids have gone to school, they will not know Portuguese.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
When life gives you an ugly capulana print... you rock that shit!
One last post before I go to site, just in case my internet is iffy there.
We have finally reached the end of PST! I have become very comfortable with Namaacha and im sad to leave my awesome host family, but im so ready to move on to the next phase of my service. I've been giving my family a few small gifts here and there- a bottle of piripiri because they're always asking for mine, photographs, a binder for my sister who is a teacher, nail polish for my younger sisters. My mae is already asking me when im coming back to visit! I won't be seeing Namaacha again for a couple of months at the very least. She makes me promise that I'll call often.
For the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow, all the trainees had capulana clothes made as a present from our host families- dresses/ skirts for the girls, shirts for the guys. The host moms picked out one print for all of health, one print for all english teachers, and one print for math/science. Let me tell you, our health print is pretty unappealing. It is beige and brown with stripes and a scale- like pattern, with green and blue bows everywhere. Well, determined to make the best of an unfavorable situation, I took the capulana to a seamstress, who promptly lost the drawing I gave her and decided to go ahead and make me whatever dress she felt like (without using the measurements she took). I am now going to my swearing in wearing an off the shoulder dress with satin ruffles around the collar and at the hem. Fortunately, however, she was willing to work with me and make the necessary adjustments (when I first tried it on, it looked like I was wearing a loose, frilly off the shoulder bag) so I actually think it may look kind of cute. I'll be sure to post pictures soon.
The last time I put my camera memory card in a public Mozambique computer, I got 6 viruses and now my photos won't show up on any pc. I cannot fix the problem unless I reformat the drive, which means losing all my pictures. So, for now, im backing up my photos on a friend's mac and im really kicking myself for not bringing computer or an external hard drive. While everyone else is exchanging movies and music, I am getting viruses on all my electronics from the crappy computers here. Eh pa! Thank God I have internet configured on my phone and I can do simple things like blog and check email.
I do have a physical mailing address at site but at this point im not sure if packages sent there will get to me faster than ones just sent to the Peace Corps office in Maputo. It might be interesting to do an experiment. So, if you're mailing something to me, please make sure to date it!
You can send mail to the shared address for the volunteers near the city of Xai Xai is:
Vivienne Chao
CP 85
Xai Xai, Mozambique
And once again, the address for Maputo office:
Vivienne Chao, PCV
Corpo da Paz / Peace Corps
Avenida do Zimbabwe
CP 4398
Maputo, Mozambique
A word on mail, it is very unreliable here and may not get to me in a timely manner. My first package had been torn open (by a person? By a rat?) and several packages im waiting for have not even arrived. If you are sending me something liquid or edible, please put it in a ziploc bag in case it spills. Do not declare expensive things on the customs forms. Some volunteers' parents have been writing things like 'God bless! Jesus saves!' and addressing their packages to 'Sister caitlin,' etc to minimize the chance of someone opening the package. Like I mentioned earlier, date everything you mail.
I have a ton of things I need to buy because im opening up a new site. But in the meantime, here is my american wish list! :)
Wish list:
Dish sponges
Can opener
Spices?
Nylon thread
Vegetable peeler
Ziploc bags (diff sizes)- probably best to put everything in plastic bags
Neutrogena sunscreen (spf 50 or higher)
Nail polish in fun colors
Cheap watch
Dog/cat treats
Dog/cat flea drops
Books
Stickers (for kids)
Cheezits
Herbal tea
Gum
Starbucks via instant coffee
Maps! (US, africa, mozambique, world)
Blank cds
Flash drives
We have finally reached the end of PST! I have become very comfortable with Namaacha and im sad to leave my awesome host family, but im so ready to move on to the next phase of my service. I've been giving my family a few small gifts here and there- a bottle of piripiri because they're always asking for mine, photographs, a binder for my sister who is a teacher, nail polish for my younger sisters. My mae is already asking me when im coming back to visit! I won't be seeing Namaacha again for a couple of months at the very least. She makes me promise that I'll call often.
For the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow, all the trainees had capulana clothes made as a present from our host families- dresses/ skirts for the girls, shirts for the guys. The host moms picked out one print for all of health, one print for all english teachers, and one print for math/science. Let me tell you, our health print is pretty unappealing. It is beige and brown with stripes and a scale- like pattern, with green and blue bows everywhere. Well, determined to make the best of an unfavorable situation, I took the capulana to a seamstress, who promptly lost the drawing I gave her and decided to go ahead and make me whatever dress she felt like (without using the measurements she took). I am now going to my swearing in wearing an off the shoulder dress with satin ruffles around the collar and at the hem. Fortunately, however, she was willing to work with me and make the necessary adjustments (when I first tried it on, it looked like I was wearing a loose, frilly off the shoulder bag) so I actually think it may look kind of cute. I'll be sure to post pictures soon.
The last time I put my camera memory card in a public Mozambique computer, I got 6 viruses and now my photos won't show up on any pc. I cannot fix the problem unless I reformat the drive, which means losing all my pictures. So, for now, im backing up my photos on a friend's mac and im really kicking myself for not bringing computer or an external hard drive. While everyone else is exchanging movies and music, I am getting viruses on all my electronics from the crappy computers here. Eh pa! Thank God I have internet configured on my phone and I can do simple things like blog and check email.
I do have a physical mailing address at site but at this point im not sure if packages sent there will get to me faster than ones just sent to the Peace Corps office in Maputo. It might be interesting to do an experiment. So, if you're mailing something to me, please make sure to date it!
You can send mail to the shared address for the volunteers near the city of Xai Xai is:
Vivienne Chao
CP 85
Xai Xai, Mozambique
And once again, the address for Maputo office:
Vivienne Chao, PCV
Corpo da Paz / Peace Corps
Avenida do Zimbabwe
CP 4398
Maputo, Mozambique
A word on mail, it is very unreliable here and may not get to me in a timely manner. My first package had been torn open (by a person? By a rat?) and several packages im waiting for have not even arrived. If you are sending me something liquid or edible, please put it in a ziploc bag in case it spills. Do not declare expensive things on the customs forms. Some volunteers' parents have been writing things like 'God bless! Jesus saves!' and addressing their packages to 'Sister caitlin,' etc to minimize the chance of someone opening the package. Like I mentioned earlier, date everything you mail.
I have a ton of things I need to buy because im opening up a new site. But in the meantime, here is my american wish list! :)
Wish list:
Dish sponges
Can opener
Spices?
Nylon thread
Vegetable peeler
Ziploc bags (diff sizes)- probably best to put everything in plastic bags
Neutrogena sunscreen (spf 50 or higher)
Nail polish in fun colors
Cheap watch
Dog/cat treats
Dog/cat flea drops
Books
Stickers (for kids)
Cheezits
Herbal tea
Gum
Starbucks via instant coffee
Maps! (US, africa, mozambique, world)
Blank cds
Flash drives
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