Go Forth and Set the World on Fire...or just sunsets.

To supplement my sunrise pictures, I decided to add a few sunset ones of my back yard.  Enjoy! 

Votes on which is your favorite: the first or the second.  Also, do you like the sunrise or sunset pictures better? 

I also have a few new room renovations!  Since my room is pretty small and I had no place for clothes, I decided to make my own hanging closet.  I went outside, found a bamboo stick, used some wires and nails, and hung it from the ceiling.  It's been working fantastically!  

I was also a little bored and decided to make a few quotes to put on the wall: here's a sample. 

Oh I can't forget this!  Since it is the Christmas season and it's summer here, I decided (with my hours of free time a day) that I wanted to make it feel a little more like home.  6 hours and 36 snowflakes later, here it is! And yes, you can judge me for the time spent on these puppies.  

                                                     Here's a close up of my favorite one! 

Tis the season to make banana bread (in muffin tins because there aren't bread pans for sale in the country of Mozambique) for your directors and neighbors!  Hannah (my roommate) and I spent a few hours making batches of these puppies to give to the people in our community who have graciously taken us in.  

I'm really loving Invinha, but I can't wait for school to start. Speaking of, I found out great news!  I'll be teaching 11th and 12th grade math.  This is really exciting, but slightly filled with pressure.  My director fired two math teachers because they weren't the...best professors, and she is expecting great things out of me.  I hope I can live up to the expectations because she wants me teaching every math class.  Yikes!   That's 35 hours a week (the maximum allowed by PC is 24).  Her and I will have to have a little talk about my hours.  

grumble kerfumble (sigh)

If you know me well, you know that I am NOT a happy camper in the mornings.  (And that's an understatement.)  Getting me out of bed is harder than pulling teeth.  That being said, here we go. 

CRASH BANG BOOM BANG BANG BANG was what I heard.  I glanced at my watch on my bedside table: 4:38 AM.  ‘What in he…oh!' Was all I could think.  I was absolutely mesmerized. 

The sun rising over the mountains, the mist in the foreground.  Sigh

You should be (slightly) jealous

No, actually I lied. You should be very jealous.

               My neighborhood covered in mist. 

This is my community.  These are the professor's houses for the school.  

I'm the fourth one down on the right. 

Okay, Hannah and I want to wake up early tomorrow to see this.  She missed out on this the first time.  Bed time! 

 P.S. Mozambique has ZERO Christmas decorations.  If anyone would like to email me pictures of home and snow, and america being america this season, I'd love it!  I want to make snowflakes and hang them from our ceiling. 

Home Sweet Home

I have moved into my house!  Well you know that, but I mean really moved in, as in I put all my stuff away and set my room up.  Here is a before and after of my room…for real this time!  I moved around my bed so I could have a better wall space for home sweet home. 

Before...boring!  A bed and a shelf with no hooks

My fun new African sheets with Africa and giraffes.  

The bed is also turned 90 degrees to have more functional space. 

I put hooks on my shelf which helps a ton with spacing.  I also strung up my hiking backpack.

I wouldn't be home without constellations.  

There's 3.  See if you can figure them out!*

The view when you first walk in. 

Home Sweet Home.  Miss you guys! 

Note: Grammum, one of the materials you gave me is what I used to make the photo boards! 

 Next project: the common room. 

The last few days have been good with plenty of home improvements and a trip into Gurue (the big city 15 km away).  We were invited into the city by a current health volunteer named Leekresha ‘Lee’.  She’s great and has tons of energy and spunk.  She’s been living in Gurue for 6 months now working at the hospital there.  We also meet three other health volunteers that were staying the night travelling through the area and a native Zibwabwean who has very good English.  We all had a lot of fun getting to know each other and I’m looking forward to the next two years. 

            The next day Hannah and I went into Gurue in search of necessary things for home: a hammer, nails, food, buckets, lights, etc. We were extremely successful on all accounts and found our way around the city no problem.  It’s a pretty easy city to figure out, which helps.  We also stumbled into a store which looked promising, and came face-to-face with Ian, an ex-Pat from South Africa who spent a good portion of his life living in Chicago and Phoenix.  We had a really great conversation and he told us all the good places for everything in town.  Apparently the ex-Pat and English speaking community in Gurue is much bigger than I originally thought which will be fun to have that little community in Gurue and then our own Mozambican community up here in Invinha. 

            On a side note I cannot wait to hike Mt. Namuli and walk through the tea fields in the outskirts of Gurue!  It has rained every day here so far which means lots of mud, but it also means that all the mountains surrounding our house constantly have waterfalls.  (sigh)

Okay this one was short and sweet! Beijinos e bracos

*Daniel, you don't count! 

Invinha baby!

I have a new number, and this one should be permanent!  258-866209064

Finally, I arrived.  Invinha!  It is beautiful.  Every day it has rained which means that everything is covered in a nice layer of mud, but I can’t really complain because when the storm clouds are rolling in, it is breathtaking.  I am surrounded by mountains on all side, and I couldn’t really be much happier about site placement.*  Being from a small town back home I am used to travelling for hours on end to get anywhere, so Invinha is nothing new; only the mudslides and bumpy roads are.  I live 15 minutes way from the district capital, Gurue, in the Zambezia Province.   Gurue has basically anything we would really need, pots and pans, a big market, a place to buy energy, hardware stores, bikes, banks and supermarkets.  Invinha itself has small pickings in the food department (tomatoes, onions, mangoes, pasta, and that’s about it), but it’s enough to get by if need be. 

I live in a neighborhood of teacher’s houses about a two-minute walk from the school.  Our house is identical to everyone else’s—white with brown trim and a tin roof—except for a few ‘minor’ differences…bars across all our windows, a walkway up to our front porch, a tiled porch.  It’s all a lot of people talk about, the extra security measures.  It’s really hard because while this is a really safe community in comparison to many others across Mozambique, I am still well off.  I have a laptop, an ipod, a rain jacket, a kindle, and a camera.  These are a few things that 97% of people don’t have here and it’s tempting for them to want them.  While these extra measures on our house are here to protect me, it also hinders me from getting to know my community when they think I don’t trust them. 

As for my school, wow.  There are three sisters that run my mission school, one of them being my director.  Irma Isaura (sister Isaura) is my director, and she’s hilarious.  She’s quick witted and has no problem telling people what is on her mind.  And not in a strict way like she’s scolding people, but more in the get the hell out of my way, your’e driving too slowly type way.  It’s great.  The first night we arrived (me and my roommate Hannah) the sisters made dinner for us, well what we thought was dinner.  This was at 4:45.  After we were done eating, they told us to come back at 7 for dinner.  Apparently we had just finished lunched.  Hannah’s Portuguese is infinitely better than mine, and she thought they said they would pick us up, so we were waiting around the house for them.  At 8 Irma Isaura comes over with 2 pots of hot food….oops!

The next day, Sunday, we were invited to the school for food again…for a late breakfast and dinner.  Holy smokes, this is GREAT!  This time it was a church meal with probably 80 people sitting at two rows of tables.  There were the fathers and priests sitting at the head table, and then the other 70 something.  Hannah and I were asked to sit directly to the right of the men of honor…oh boy!  We were two of four women sitting down at the tables.  The other women were packed around the outside of the room eating rice and beans while the people at the table had chicken, French fries, and then the rice and beans.  Even young boys were allowed to sit at the table over their mothers.  This will be something to get used to.

            Moving in was/is a slight challenge because the last three years only one volunteer has lived here…I can see why.  My bed takes up 2/3 of my floor space, and that’s without bringing in my two fully sized suitcases, a hiking backpack, and a regular backpack.  The only thing my room had when I walked in was a bed, a 2-foot long shelf, a basket with coat hangers (where am I supposed to hang these?), and a beautiful view.  I refuse to unpack my bags until I can put things somewhere, so this is what my room looks like after two days.  (I know…don’t judge.)  Once I go into Gurue, I’m buying wood slats to make shelves, a thick bamboo rod to hang from the ceiling, which will then be where I hang all my clothes, and I’m going to hang my bulky suitcase from the ceiling.  Right now there is literally no place for my to put anything, so like the last two months, I’m living out of suitcases. 

Okay, I lied, you can judge me a little, but this is my room for the next two years. 

View (through the screen) from my room!

            Also, around the house I’ve been pretty handy.  I helped Hannah create a temporary closet, I fixed one of the hanging shelves, I fixed the table in the living room, I made photo holders (three sheets of cardboard surrounded by a capulana that I can pin pictures to in my room), and I organized our entire common room.  I really like living in a place that needs a little work to it.  It gives me exciting new challenges to figure out and fix each day. 

We have a fully stocked library (well at least for Peace Corps standards!)

            Tomorrow we’re heading into Gurue to meet the health volunteer that lives there.  She’s having some other volunteers come over and she invited us down to meet everyone! 

*Pictures of Invinha will come.  I don’t want to be flashing around any expensive electronics in the first few days, before I get to know my neighbors at least. 

On the Road Again

On the road again, and this time for real!  On Saturday, Peace Corps took us from some pretty amazing hotels to our sites.  Invinha, here I come.  The trip took about 9 hours (6.5 hours on a good day).  Our driver is my new best friend…not.  He decided that he wanted breakfast an hour into the ride, pulled over and disappeared for about 40 minutes.  We all figured he was just grabbing something and would bring it back to the car.  This was while we waited inside the 90+ degree car.  We stopped off in Alto Molocue to drop off another volunteer, picked up the driver’s ‘girlfriend’, (she’s at least ten years younger than he is and was probably 16 or 17) had lunch and tried to continue on our way.  Wait, where’s the driver again?  …another 20 minute wait. 

            We’re off again.  The chapa passed by mountains upon mountains, termite hills everywhere, palm trees, and mango trees.  It was really amazing.  The roads alternated between dirt and paved the entire trip.   After Alto Molocue the driver had the decision to choose paved roads, which would take 4+ hours or dirt back roads that would take about 2 hours on a good day.  Of course we took the dirt roads.  It was all great and dandy until we saw the storm clouds coming.  Travelling up and down mountains on a dirt road when it’s raining isn’t my ideal choice, but it was too late to turn back. 

Here are some good condition roads! 

The driver had never driven these roads before, and it appeared he had never driven on wet dirt roads either.  When we skidded down mountains, he would slam on his breaks and make us tail out and slide even more.  When he was going up mountains he would drive in the depressed ruts where all the cars had driven before…that’s also where all the water was streaming down the mountain, so there was absolutely no traction there. 

The people in the car suggested that we wait out the storm, but the driver refused…obviously he (and his girlfriend) had somewhere to be.  Yes, I’m only a little bitter about my new friend.  Thankfully, we somehow made it and the sister’s (the nuns that run my school) gave us (my roommate Hannah and me) a warm welcoming.  Invinha, here we are. 

Hidden pleasures, be jealous Brubakers!

Oh and this is the secret hidden fruit of Mozambique.  5 Meticais to the person who can identify it.  That's about 18 cents.  

Going away parties and hey, I'm not a trainee anymore!

The last few nights in Namaacha were great.  I did in fact climb that rusty old water tower, to the dismay of some of my friends.  But hey, here I am writing this blog with no broken bones so something worked out well! 

Last Sautrday (Dec 1) was World AIDS Day.  How many of you actually knew that one?  In Namaacha we celebrated it, a government official came and made a speech, there was a service and then a parade, which many of the volunteers walked in.  We walked to the local market and there they had free HIV and AIDS testing and food baskets to give to those people that are already infected.  Once infected, it is much harder to absorb and get enough nutrients to keep your body healthy. 

We got free handouts...to hand out

I figured some of you would be interested in the older Portuguese houses that were abandoned    
            after the war and then taken over by the locals.  

And the local market.  Namaacha is a big village, and my market will not nearly be this size or have this variety.  Because Namaacha borders the crossing into Swaziland, there's a lot of traffic in and out, which means we've been pampered with reasonable prices and variety. 

Okay, back to Dec. 1.  After the parade, the volunteers left to go to our going away party.  We met our family’s there and had a nice ceremony with many traditional dances and foods.  The food was great and it was fun dancing with our families.  They also provided four kegs, and let’s just say it wasn’t the best idea to give free alcohol to one of the world’s most alcoholic countries.  Mozambique is in the world’s top ten from people dying of liver failure from alcohol. 

           

The cake was AMAZING...this is why it deserves three pictures

          

Mozambicans don't enjoy smiling, but this is my mom and I with her award for completing 10 weeks of me in the house.  She should have deserved a check for $2,000 instead of a certificate for putting up with me, but hey. She was happy. 

                                                     We had friends.

My brother Miguel, who is awesome and really smart.  Also, that's my ukulele! 

Me with my family. Older sister, dad, mom, and Miguel.  I think you know which one I am.  

----------------------------------------------- ~~~~~ --------------------------------------------

            As a change of subject, I am officially a volunteer.  I have been in Mozambique for 2 months and 11 days.  This does not qualify me to be a teacher.  Every day I learn another way I’m insulting their culture whether it be pointing with my finger rather than my hand or sitting Indian style rather than with my legs (uncomfortably) straight out in front of me.  Apparently if your legs aren’t together at all times, you’re asking for “it”.   I can speak Portuguese and have people understand at least the jist of what I am saying but I still have a hard time understanding when locals talk.  They do not enunciate or speak slowly, both of which I need.  Back in Namaacha the locals knew who we were and coddled us, speaking to all of us at 3 mph.

Yesterday I flew to Nampula (a larger city in the northern end of Mozambique) to have a conference with all the other volunteers and a high official from our respective schools.  Here the locals definitely don’t coddle us.  Many directors came, but in my case a female teacher from my school represented my director.  Felizmina is the only female professor at my school (not including Hannah and me) out of 32 other professors.  This is going to be fun.  Each day I thank myself more and more that I have a female director; others are not so lucky as we all found out today when many of them met their directors. 

Here in Nampula city is our first taste of the ‘real Mozambique’.  Peace Corps is finally letting us walk through a big city without a babysitter, and it’s a learning experience.  We constantly have to ask directions, make sure we are in groups of at least five if one of us need to go to the bank, and we need to make sure that the products we are buying are actually the real brand names they say they are.  The knock offs here look great, but the moment you turn the product on or try using it, it falls apart. 

Even though this seems like I’m not enjoying myself from the last two paragraphs, I actually am.  I’m learning a ton and it’s really exciting.  I was learning slowly, in baby steps, you know, the Peace Corps protocol.  Now it’s sink or swim, and if I’m going to be honest, I’ve taken too many swimming lessons in my life not to try it out.  These are the times in your life where you learn quickly. 

Okay jumping trains back to being a volunteer.  Two days ago all 68 of us were bused to Maputo (the capital) and went to the American ambassadors house.  Let me tell you, wow.  The. Nicest. House. I. Have. Ever. Been. In. The ambassador, Douglas Griffiths, was incredibly welcoming, the house was beautiful and overlooked the Indian Ocean.  I was part of a small group to go up and sing both the national anthem of Mozambique and the United States to start off the ceremony.  The ceremony itself was short and sweet with speeches from the Country Director of Peace Corps, Carl Swartz, one of the volunteers being sworn in, the US Ambassador, and then finally a high ranking official from the Mozambican Ministry of Education.  After the speeches, another small group of us got up again and played our instruments and sang “Leaving on a Jet Place” for everyone present.   We changed the lyrics around to thank Mozambique for being so welcoming, being patient with us, and teaching us about their culture which we sang in Portuguese. 

I'll try to get some pictures of the ceremony and the house.  Someone, cough cough, forgot their camera.  As for Carl’s speech, once I get a hold of the final ‘modified’ quote, I’ll post that here too.  It was pretty witty.  Essentially he modified an old popular Irish (I believe) blessing to use Mozambican terms.  That was it.  After was about fifteen minutes of finger food and then ciao!  Off to the hotel for our last night together as a big group before we were split into the northern, central, and southern groups.  Out of 68 volunteers there are 32 in the north where I am.  It’s a great group of people that are around me, and I couldn’t be more excited to this next adventure.  Okay, the food here is great and it’s dinner time. 

Bracos e beijinhos!