We live in a house now with a yard on a street with lots of important and rich Mozambicans. Our backyard didn't have a fence until about a week ago (We paid three kids to use bamboo and dried reeds to close off our yard) but we have a guava, mango, and papaya tree in our yard! Not bad, right? Our mango tree in particular is enormous. Mango season is coming up in a few months, can't wait! Our house is a lot smaller than our previous place in Mariri. We don't have a table or chairs but our living room came with three couches! The bathroom is painted neon orange (No idea why) and it's indoors with a toilet. No running water so we get to manually flush.
The front of our house. The only house with grates on the doors and windows in the neighborhood. Thanks Peace Corps!
Our kitchen. We have a sink now!
Can't complain though, we have electricity now! It's fantastic. We have more time during the day to do other things besides cooking (we have an electric stove!) and I can actually use my computer at home (More time to blog! Woot!)! I think I'm going to be even more thankful when summer comes around and I can use a fan instead of a wet blanket to keep cool! It's the little things haha We now have a market that's a couple minutes away. We can buy bread and fresh produce (Lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes,onions, coconuts, green onions and fruit on certain days). Further down the street there are a couple stores with stuff like tomato paste and canned tuna too.
A couple weeks ago the Country Director of Peace Corps Mozambique, Carl Swartz, visited us! I had been sick again but Carl took us to lunch and brought us dark chocolate and fresh cheddar cheese (Rarities here in Meconta, thanks Carl!). He came with one of our previous language instructors during training, Macaringue, who is now working here in Nampula for the EGRA project. Liz and I are participating in the program along with many other volunteers throughout the country. We have a trunk full of elementary school level picture books in Portuguese to start a children's library here in Meconta but we just moved so we're still trying to work out the details. Can't wait till we can get everything set up! Books here are a such a rarity and I loved going to the library as a kid. I hope we can show students how fun reading can be. Liz brought out a book in front of the elementary school the other day and she was completely swarmed by kids. Super cute! Wish us luck with everything!
Carl left that day but returned the next to bring us a few more things! A care package had come from my mom (Omg thank you again mom. love yo!) and Carl also brought us a.... PUPPY! Two volunteers in Muecate gave her to Carl to bring to us. She cried most of the first night and can't stop chewing and destroying everything (Including my computer charger. Thanks puppy :/) but we're hoping she'll be a good guard dog. Most Mozambicans are scared of dogs.
This is Maluca. "Crazy" in Portuguese. Isn't she cute? :)
Four days later a group of kids appeared in our yard wanting to speak to us. I had been telling everyone I want a kitten (I miss my kitty in America!) and they pulled out the tiniest and cutest orange tabby from a bag. I couldn't resist him! So now we have two babies in the house: a puppy and kitten. The kitten freaked out on us the first night so I was worried I had made a terrible decision but he's calmed down a lot. We cleaned his eyes out (Thanks for the advice Mr. Oddo!) and he's much happier. The puppy and kittens are even friends now!
The kitten: Simba. It means lion in Swahili.
Baby kisses! Plus the huge moth that appeared on our doorstep.
One of my students also told me yesterday that they make dog and cat curry here in Meconta, which worries me a bit. Got to make sure the babies can defend themselves. At least our pets are friends? Carl is so nice and a great Country Director. He is always there for us when we need him and makes us feel important. I'm going to miss him when he leaves. Thank you for everything you've done for us!
Just wanted to talk about my job here in Mozambique. I am now no longer teaching biology. I am officially just an English teacher! Liz is teaching 8th, 10th, and 12th grade chemistry and I have 8th and 9th grade English. The walk to school is only about ten minutes and the teachers here are great. The director (Principle) of the school has been on vacation so I haven't met him yet but the pedagogical directors (Vice principles. We have 4) are very helpful and nice. Liz teaches in the morning and I have classes in the afternoon but the school also has night classes for the adults who want to complete their education and work during the day. Another perk of having electricity.
All the adults kept asking us to teach them English so we have an adult English class twice a week now. I am also working with a group of students every day to practice English. There is an English Theater competition coming up on the 28th of this month. 10 students will do a theater piece for 10 minutes. Volunteers from all over the province of Nampula will come and compete. It should be a fun experience for the students!
I'm really glad we moved. I'm a lot happier now and although we have to start all over again (Meeting new people and integrating into our community) we do have a fresh start. I have a chance now to redo all the mistakes I made in Cabo Delgado. Don't worry, I got this :)
Jaime! House looks great dude, and it sounds like you and Elizabeth are killin' it down there. Excited to eventually make it down there and get to know that kitten. You can make curry out of the dog though, I don't like dogs. Maybe mix in the moth too.
ReplyDeleteWe're missing you guys up north. The place seems smaller without you! Take care and good luck with the new site. keep kicking ass and see you soon!