Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Journal Entry April 6
While we were hiking Mount Binga (pictures soon) I had and interesting discussion with J about development and aid. I forgot how we got on the topic – at one point she mentioned Jeffrey Sachs and when I said I liked reading his articles she was alarmed. His perspective, if I understood right (I know close to nothing on foreign aid), was that all underdeveloped countries and communities need is for us to pump money and effort into them. If you put in enough money eventually the people will bring themselves up. At least that is the idea. However, J argued, this does nothing to build the capacity of the people. If you give people new homes and schools and wells so people can get clean water that may be good in the short term. It may save lives. But if you come back 10 years later the community will look the same. There won’t be any new wells because no one can pay for it or knows how to dig one.
J’s view was that change must come from within the community. I played devil’s advocate and asked her to propose a project to develop a community if she were in charge. First she described the importance of assessment – not just a survey of HIV prevalence or literacy rates but an in-depth, multi-dimensional assessment of the level of development of a community which you could use to measure the community’s progress, understand inter-relations of different problems, and use to encourage inter-community rivalry and progress. This might take a couple years but it’s still an important step. The problem is that no sponsor wants to fund a 2 year foreign aid project that can’t claim to save a single life.
The next step is for the people of the community to elect a council. I missed the details of it (damn ADD I was probably distracted by some ant behavior I had never seen before) but basically the people need a place and organized meetings to report a problem. Example: is it difficult for the people on one side of town to get water? The council can add this problem to the list, decide to build a well on that side of town, and devise a plan to acquire money to do it. If this requires everyone in the community giving a little bit of money per week or giving up one chicken, apparently people are willing to do it. I imagine the council could deal with more abstract problems as well, such as giving a presentation or having a meeting to discuss domestic violence. That’s the just of the idea. However again, no one wants to fund this kind of project because when you compare the numbers it looks like an ineffective strategy.
In Peace Corps, sustainability is the magic word. It’s all about applicability, thinking small and building people power. However sometimes it can be hard to put a number on that type of progress. This seems to contrast other foreign aid which revolves around numbers (the type of aid Jeffrey Sachs supports): how many mouths did you feed and how many lives did you save? That’s where the money comes from. People like to give money and think that they saved a life. They probably did, and I’m not completely against that kind of aid. But a crucial part of the solution to poverty and underdevelopment is building the capacity of the people.
I got excited today when I heard my JOMA counterpart, Nelson, talk to the kids in our journalism group. He was obviously inspired by the training-of-trainers conference last weekend (completely organized, and temporarily funded – until grant money came in - by PCVs). He reminded the students that the province of Manica doesn’t yet have a newspaper, and that one day they might become journalists. He planted the idea of giving talks in all the churches in town about issues such as gender equality and domestic violence. We also talked about how to fund the group – after the aid money stops flowing. Nelson’s new attitude is the type of progress I like to see because the change is coming from within. It would be impossible to measure. It also may seem like a small difference in a country crippled by poverty. However it’s all part of the bigger picture. Maybe the kids in my journalism group will help pave the way to more jobs or increase the transparency of the government.
I’ve thought a lot about the amount of difference Peace Corps makes. Overall it would be really hard to say because the effects may not be felt until many years down the road (perhaps when my favorite students become teachers?). It can’t be accurately measured or estimated, not even to the right magnitude, so I have to go off of what I believe to be true to justify me living and working here for 27 months. And in terms of building the capacity of the people… well there aren’t many programs like it. Some days are difficult, and often times I can be pessimistic, but in the end I truly believe it makes a big difference and will change the lives of people for the better. I’m glad to part of it. It’s just too bad the entire Peace Corps budget is smaller than that of the Army’s marching band.
J’s view was that change must come from within the community. I played devil’s advocate and asked her to propose a project to develop a community if she were in charge. First she described the importance of assessment – not just a survey of HIV prevalence or literacy rates but an in-depth, multi-dimensional assessment of the level of development of a community which you could use to measure the community’s progress, understand inter-relations of different problems, and use to encourage inter-community rivalry and progress. This might take a couple years but it’s still an important step. The problem is that no sponsor wants to fund a 2 year foreign aid project that can’t claim to save a single life.
The next step is for the people of the community to elect a council. I missed the details of it (damn ADD I was probably distracted by some ant behavior I had never seen before) but basically the people need a place and organized meetings to report a problem. Example: is it difficult for the people on one side of town to get water? The council can add this problem to the list, decide to build a well on that side of town, and devise a plan to acquire money to do it. If this requires everyone in the community giving a little bit of money per week or giving up one chicken, apparently people are willing to do it. I imagine the council could deal with more abstract problems as well, such as giving a presentation or having a meeting to discuss domestic violence. That’s the just of the idea. However again, no one wants to fund this kind of project because when you compare the numbers it looks like an ineffective strategy.
In Peace Corps, sustainability is the magic word. It’s all about applicability, thinking small and building people power. However sometimes it can be hard to put a number on that type of progress. This seems to contrast other foreign aid which revolves around numbers (the type of aid Jeffrey Sachs supports): how many mouths did you feed and how many lives did you save? That’s where the money comes from. People like to give money and think that they saved a life. They probably did, and I’m not completely against that kind of aid. But a crucial part of the solution to poverty and underdevelopment is building the capacity of the people.
I got excited today when I heard my JOMA counterpart, Nelson, talk to the kids in our journalism group. He was obviously inspired by the training-of-trainers conference last weekend (completely organized, and temporarily funded – until grant money came in - by PCVs). He reminded the students that the province of Manica doesn’t yet have a newspaper, and that one day they might become journalists. He planted the idea of giving talks in all the churches in town about issues such as gender equality and domestic violence. We also talked about how to fund the group – after the aid money stops flowing. Nelson’s new attitude is the type of progress I like to see because the change is coming from within. It would be impossible to measure. It also may seem like a small difference in a country crippled by poverty. However it’s all part of the bigger picture. Maybe the kids in my journalism group will help pave the way to more jobs or increase the transparency of the government.
I’ve thought a lot about the amount of difference Peace Corps makes. Overall it would be really hard to say because the effects may not be felt until many years down the road (perhaps when my favorite students become teachers?). It can’t be accurately measured or estimated, not even to the right magnitude, so I have to go off of what I believe to be true to justify me living and working here for 27 months. And in terms of building the capacity of the people… well there aren’t many programs like it. Some days are difficult, and often times I can be pessimistic, but in the end I truly believe it makes a big difference and will change the lives of people for the better. I’m glad to part of it. It’s just too bad the entire Peace Corps budget is smaller than that of the Army’s marching band.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Journal Entry March 22, 2011
I solved a mystery this morning, unfortunately. I’ve been leaving site about every weekend and when I come back I notice something is changed with my house. The first couple times it was small – someone had moved the nail in my window, perhaps to look inside, for example. But two weekends ago I came back and the shelf in my room had been moved and the headlamp was disassembled and the batteries were on the floor. Since the grates had been closed, it meant that someone had reached through the window in my bedroom. I didn’t notice anything missing, but it still was strange and I don’t want anyone messing around my house or looking inside. So this last weekend, before I went to Mangunde, I moved everything away from the windows, locked the grate with two locks, and took a picture of my shelf to make a record of its position and the few remaining things on it.
Yesterday when I came back home I put my backpack and other things down and then walked up to the banca next to the school to get a quick breakfast. On the way I ran into Jemusse (my new empregado – employee - after Chris and Caetano – I need someone to cook lunch for me before noon and Caetano has classes in the morning) and asked how his weekend was. I complimented him on the job he did outside my house with the lawn and then as we parted I noticed he was wearing my sandals with the scorpions on them. I asked him about it later and he said he was sorry he didn’t ask. I asked him how he got the sandals and he said he had taken them before I left and he was going to clean them along with the clothes. I was a little confused, but didn’t think much of it for the rest of the day. Then as I was going to sleep I remembered I had taken the picture.
I woke up, still curious about whether the picture would reveal anything. Sure enough, in the bottom right corner of the picture was one of the sandals… which meant Jemusse had opened my window while I was gone and used a stick to fish them out. I decided to confront him about it first thing. I grabbed a chair from inside and told him to get the other in the kitchen.
I proceeded to tell him about how someone was messing around my house every weekend and that I decided to take a picture as a record. Then I showed him the picture.
“So do you want to change your story about how you got my shoes?” I wanted to give him one last chance, but I had made my mind up in the bathroom that if he lied again he was out.
“Maybe the picture was taken before?”
“No, Jemusse, I took the picture and locked the door.”
He pretty much repeated the same excuse. I was pissed. “I don’t like it when people lie, Jemusse. I know what you did, you know what you did. You need to speak the truth.” At this point I think he still didn’t get it. “How can I invite you now?” (I meant to say “trust” but said convidar instead of confiar. God damnit why do I still suck at Portuguese?).
“I’m sorry I won’t do it again. I was afraid.”
“Well now you’ve lied to me twice, and I’m not sure whether I still want you as an employee.” I told him to go home, he was done for the day. I was going to decide if he could still work for me and he could come back the next day to discuss. I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted to scare the shit out of him so he could get it in his head that lying isn’t OK. I’ll have a talk with him tomorrow about trust (now that I know to use the actual word in Portuguese) and having the courage to tell the truth. And if he does anything like that again he’s fired for good.
This is certainly not my first experience with kids lying to me. My students lied to me recklessly before, trying to redeem some points on their test, before I chewed them out for doing so. The ones I caught didn’t seem remorseful at all, in fact some of them laughed it off, which bothered me more than them actually trying to cheat in the first place. So I’m making it my goal to change Jemusse.
As Jordan said to me earlier, I certainly didn’t foresee parenting my empregado in my Peace Corps job description.
-------------
I’ll mention science fair real quick. I offered to be the regional coordinator in central and the provincial coordinator for Manica… which is crazy because it feels like the most responsibility I’ve ever had. It’s not out of my league, just more than I’ve had. Erica (national coordinator) just sent some info about it and it’s a little overwhelming. I’ve looked over a lot of it but I’m still kind of processing –
I need to get organized and take notes on everything, including a calendar of when I need to get started working on some of the stuff. Some of the jobs include: inviting schools to the provincial fair in Chimoio, finding judges, inviting an organization to come do HIV tests and counseling, and setting up accommodations / meals for students and teachers.
Yesterday when I came back home I put my backpack and other things down and then walked up to the banca next to the school to get a quick breakfast. On the way I ran into Jemusse (my new empregado – employee - after Chris and Caetano – I need someone to cook lunch for me before noon and Caetano has classes in the morning) and asked how his weekend was. I complimented him on the job he did outside my house with the lawn and then as we parted I noticed he was wearing my sandals with the scorpions on them. I asked him about it later and he said he was sorry he didn’t ask. I asked him how he got the sandals and he said he had taken them before I left and he was going to clean them along with the clothes. I was a little confused, but didn’t think much of it for the rest of the day. Then as I was going to sleep I remembered I had taken the picture.
I woke up, still curious about whether the picture would reveal anything. Sure enough, in the bottom right corner of the picture was one of the sandals… which meant Jemusse had opened my window while I was gone and used a stick to fish them out. I decided to confront him about it first thing. I grabbed a chair from inside and told him to get the other in the kitchen.
I proceeded to tell him about how someone was messing around my house every weekend and that I decided to take a picture as a record. Then I showed him the picture.
“So do you want to change your story about how you got my shoes?” I wanted to give him one last chance, but I had made my mind up in the bathroom that if he lied again he was out.
“Maybe the picture was taken before?”
“No, Jemusse, I took the picture and locked the door.”
He pretty much repeated the same excuse. I was pissed. “I don’t like it when people lie, Jemusse. I know what you did, you know what you did. You need to speak the truth.” At this point I think he still didn’t get it. “How can I invite you now?” (I meant to say “trust” but said convidar instead of confiar. God damnit why do I still suck at Portuguese?).
“I’m sorry I won’t do it again. I was afraid.”
“Well now you’ve lied to me twice, and I’m not sure whether I still want you as an employee.” I told him to go home, he was done for the day. I was going to decide if he could still work for me and he could come back the next day to discuss. I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted to scare the shit out of him so he could get it in his head that lying isn’t OK. I’ll have a talk with him tomorrow about trust (now that I know to use the actual word in Portuguese) and having the courage to tell the truth. And if he does anything like that again he’s fired for good.
This is certainly not my first experience with kids lying to me. My students lied to me recklessly before, trying to redeem some points on their test, before I chewed them out for doing so. The ones I caught didn’t seem remorseful at all, in fact some of them laughed it off, which bothered me more than them actually trying to cheat in the first place. So I’m making it my goal to change Jemusse.
As Jordan said to me earlier, I certainly didn’t foresee parenting my empregado in my Peace Corps job description.
-------------
I’ll mention science fair real quick. I offered to be the regional coordinator in central and the provincial coordinator for Manica… which is crazy because it feels like the most responsibility I’ve ever had. It’s not out of my league, just more than I’ve had. Erica (national coordinator) just sent some info about it and it’s a little overwhelming. I’ve looked over a lot of it but I’m still kind of processing –
I need to get organized and take notes on everything, including a calendar of when I need to get started working on some of the stuff. Some of the jobs include: inviting schools to the provincial fair in Chimoio, finding judges, inviting an organization to come do HIV tests and counseling, and setting up accommodations / meals for students and teachers.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
cOOKing tErMitES
Here are few pictures from the brief time I was at site. The rains bring waves of winged termites out at night - they coordinate their leaving from the nest and dispersal to minimize getting eaten by predators (like hatching sea turtles). A couple posts ago I said I was too lazy to catch them and eat them, but I think really it was more nervousness about eating them in large quantities. I can eat one bug - but can I eat a handful of them? Turns out I really like them... like potato chips. Just another lesson taught to me in the Peace Corps experience: how your perception about something can be skewed simply because of your culture. My culture tells me we don't eat bugs (except snails, which I think is 1000x more disgusting). But why not eat bugs (I think there is a recent TED talk with the same title)?
The pictures of the kids are my friend Caetano's family. It's going to be so awesome when they grow up and see themselves in the lineup picture - they are like the little rascals.
There's also my dog, Shumba (or Chumba, as some people have started spelling it, depending on if you want his name to mean "Lion" in Shona or "he fails" in Portuguese) who is much too small for his puppy bed but decided to curl up in it the other day nonetheless.
The pictures of the kids are my friend Caetano's family. It's going to be so awesome when they grow up and see themselves in the lineup picture - they are like the little rascals.
There's also my dog, Shumba (or Chumba, as some people have started spelling it, depending on if you want his name to mean "Lion" in Shona or "he fails" in Portuguese) who is much too small for his puppy bed but decided to curl up in it the other day nonetheless.
Journal Entry 15 December
I woke up and the room was totally dark and silent. It was like being in a sensory deprivation chamber. Half awake, I laid there for a while, trying to figure out where I was. I was definitely in Mozambique: many times I have had the same disorienting feeling and my gut reaction is that I'm still a PCV in Africa. A couple weeks ago I had woken up with this feeling and I had figured out I was in Maputo, Mozambique, in the house of a friend who works in the U.S. Embassy. About a week later I had woken up and figured out that I was in Nicoadala, Mozambique, about 800 km to the north, underneath a mosquito net which was a crucial barrier between me and the multitude of bugs which had plagued the small town in the recent rainy days.
But now I was confused again, in the dark, and the answer wasn't coming to me. Somehow, suddenly, the light turned on, and I was instantly reminded that I was back “home” in Sussundenga, Mozambique, in my bed after a long vacation. I didn't understand how the light came back on by itself and, remembering Chris's story of how the electricity surged and made the light bulbs pop, I closed my eyes expecting a shower of shattered glass. The bulb didn't go out, however, and then I remembered I had fallen asleep with the light on and the electricity must have gone off and on.
My fan had fallen over and was on the floor in the off-position, which was strange because it had been on the dresser in the on-position when I had went to sleep. Maybe someone had placed it there? I looked around my room and beside me on the bed, but I was obviously alone. (The scene from “Ernest does Halloween” where the little girl checks under the bed for monsters and then rolls back onto bed only to find the monster lying next to her still haunts me.) The only explanation I can think of is that the fan lost balance when the power went out and fell without me waking up. I'm a pretty light sleeper though, so I'll file this mystery under “unsolved”.
I opened my door to go outside to take a whiz and found a thousand termite wings on my porch. The termites had been attracted to the porch light and, after flying around for a couple hours, dropped their wings and went to copulate and create a new colony, that is unless they were eaten by my dog first. (I'm too lazy to collect them in huge quantities but I eat them too – they are great slightly cooked with a bit of salt...) There was a thunderstorm in the distance and the familiar landscape in front of my house was periodically illuminated by a flash of lightning. I did my business and went back inside. I turned off the light but then got startled when I bumped the door and it creaked a bit. I calmed myself down and reminded myself that a side-effect of the malaria medicine is anxiety, which I notice most in the middle of the night.
After one year of being in site, I now consider this my home. I'm use to my house and being alone and dealing with the bugs and the dirt. But having been away from site for a while makes it feel alien again, almost like I just came to Mozambique. The “model” peace corps volunteer is happy to return to site, and although I am, in the big picture, personally, it doesn't feel quite right to wake up anywhere in Mozambique.
But now I was confused again, in the dark, and the answer wasn't coming to me. Somehow, suddenly, the light turned on, and I was instantly reminded that I was back “home” in Sussundenga, Mozambique, in my bed after a long vacation. I didn't understand how the light came back on by itself and, remembering Chris's story of how the electricity surged and made the light bulbs pop, I closed my eyes expecting a shower of shattered glass. The bulb didn't go out, however, and then I remembered I had fallen asleep with the light on and the electricity must have gone off and on.
My fan had fallen over and was on the floor in the off-position, which was strange because it had been on the dresser in the on-position when I had went to sleep. Maybe someone had placed it there? I looked around my room and beside me on the bed, but I was obviously alone. (The scene from “Ernest does Halloween” where the little girl checks under the bed for monsters and then rolls back onto bed only to find the monster lying next to her still haunts me.) The only explanation I can think of is that the fan lost balance when the power went out and fell without me waking up. I'm a pretty light sleeper though, so I'll file this mystery under “unsolved”.
I opened my door to go outside to take a whiz and found a thousand termite wings on my porch. The termites had been attracted to the porch light and, after flying around for a couple hours, dropped their wings and went to copulate and create a new colony, that is unless they were eaten by my dog first. (I'm too lazy to collect them in huge quantities but I eat them too – they are great slightly cooked with a bit of salt...) There was a thunderstorm in the distance and the familiar landscape in front of my house was periodically illuminated by a flash of lightning. I did my business and went back inside. I turned off the light but then got startled when I bumped the door and it creaked a bit. I calmed myself down and reminded myself that a side-effect of the malaria medicine is anxiety, which I notice most in the middle of the night.
After one year of being in site, I now consider this my home. I'm use to my house and being alone and dealing with the bugs and the dirt. But having been away from site for a while makes it feel alien again, almost like I just came to Mozambique. The “model” peace corps volunteer is happy to return to site, and although I am, in the big picture, personally, it doesn't feel quite right to wake up anywhere in Mozambique.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Epic Vacation -- with details
Here is a summary of what I did:
1) Mom arrives in Sussundenga, day-trip to Mount Zembe.
After talking to the Chefe of the Administrative Post, driving to the Queen of Zembe's house and picking up her and her sister, then participating in a ceremony to appease the spirits of Mount Zembe, we were able to climb the mountain.
2) Rio Sevani, Vonnie and my b-day.
After buying several flats of beer and a bunch of food we headed to the closest beach in our region, Rio Sevani. We were all done with classes at this point, so many of us were glad to sit on a beach, drink a beer or many, and unwind. One night after drinking a bit my friends came into my parent's bungalow and met them for the first time. I walked outside with my mom who turns to me and says "this would be a good sobriety test!"
3) Go to Gorongosa park with the parents.
My Mom, George, and I spent two nights in Gorongosa National park, one of the few places that still has wildlife in Mozambique after the civil war. Many of the animals were killed by hungry soldiers. Some of the elephants were alive during the war and are now terrified by humans. The biodiversity is low, however the population of some species (waterbuck, impala, warthog, and baboon) is bouncing back quickly.
4) Pick up Andrew, stay at Barra for two nights, Ocean Safari swim with whale-shark.
Barra is a great place to stay if you're not tight on money. We went on an "ocean safari" which means you drive around in a boat with snorkel and fins on waiting to see some animal in the water. The guides are pretty good at spotting them, and this time we were able to see a whale shark (largest fish in the world, this one was about 15 ft long) and swam next to it for a good while as it lazily fed on plankton. I can check the achievement off the list of "things to do before I die", however I'm still eager to swim with an even larger one...
5) Drop off Andrew at Jon's site, spend two nights in Kruger Park with my parents.
Spent two nights in Kruger with the rents. Kruger National Park in South Africa is the best park around and I highly recommend it. It has pretty much everything - from crocodile to wild dog, as well as the Big 5. We managed to see 4 of them: elephant, lion, rhino, and cape buffalo, but not leopard.
6) I part with my parents, spend one strange night in Maputo with some expats I meet.
Anyone alone in Maputo should get a room at Fatima's backpackers place. You can instantly find some interesting people to talk to.
7) I meet Jon and we go to Tofo for one night and cut a rug at a discoteca.
We also went to a super nice hotel in Barra called Flamingo Bay and had lunch there / swam in the pool. It makes me want to get married just so I can have my honeymoon there. Before hittin the dance floor Jon and I also talked about a plethora of topics, from the complex race issues in South Africa to female anatomy.
8) Jon and I return to his site. We drink lots of soura (coconut wine) and watch Star Wars.
OoO-tee-Nee!
9) Jon and I meet Mike in Maxixe, head south to Scooter and Ann's site.
10) We all head to Bilene, close to Xai-Xai, for the trainees' “site visit”. It was more partying than anything else.
The moz 15ers actually wanted to have more of a mellow weekend, I found out later. It was a strange way to meet the new volunteers (us trying to get everyone buck-wild), but I'm sure I made a good impression.
11) I go to the last week of training for the new volunteers. Work hard and play hard.
I was glad to help out in training as an Education volunteer with Vonnie, Sam, and Gabe. We managed not to screw up the diversity session (or the "Identity Formation" session, as we called it).
12) Spend a couple nights in Maputo and appreciate great food, music videos, and the hilarious family of a man who works for USAID.
13) Sam, Vonnie, Mike, and I go to Ponta do Ouro for some nar shredding, rockin out, and braying.
In English that would be surfing (I stood up!), dancing, and grilling. Ponto do Ouro is like South Africa's Nogales (it's in Mexico) and there were a lot of South African college students who were there on holiday. I also learned how to say "ice" if you are from South Africa (it really sounds like "ass" and I had to ask about 10 times).
14) I fly to Nampula, in the north. I spend a nervous night at a hotel waiting for seven of my friends who were on a bus from Beira. They end up spending the night on the road which made their bus-trip a total of 26 hours.
I got in a huge argument with the guy at the front desk when I found out my friends weren't coming and he wanted me to pay for all three rooms I had reserved. In my broken Portuguese, I say some things that I probably shouldn't have.
15) We all go to Mozambique Island for Brian's birthday party. We “roast” him on the night of his birthday which means we make him sit in a stool in front of everyone else and make fun of him until he cries like a baby.
That pretty much explains it.
16) Vonnie, Brennan and I return to central region. We barely make it when we get chased out of a small town by the residents holding pitchforks and torches (kidding!).
But we did get kicked out of a restaurant for refusing to pay 150 MTs for a plate of eggs, potatoes, and lettuce. I mean, come on, that's just ridiculous!
1) Mom arrives in Sussundenga, day-trip to Mount Zembe.
After talking to the Chefe of the Administrative Post, driving to the Queen of Zembe's house and picking up her and her sister, then participating in a ceremony to appease the spirits of Mount Zembe, we were able to climb the mountain.
2) Rio Sevani, Vonnie and my b-day.
After buying several flats of beer and a bunch of food we headed to the closest beach in our region, Rio Sevani. We were all done with classes at this point, so many of us were glad to sit on a beach, drink a beer or many, and unwind. One night after drinking a bit my friends came into my parent's bungalow and met them for the first time. I walked outside with my mom who turns to me and says "this would be a good sobriety test!"
3) Go to Gorongosa park with the parents.
My Mom, George, and I spent two nights in Gorongosa National park, one of the few places that still has wildlife in Mozambique after the civil war. Many of the animals were killed by hungry soldiers. Some of the elephants were alive during the war and are now terrified by humans. The biodiversity is low, however the population of some species (waterbuck, impala, warthog, and baboon) is bouncing back quickly.
4) Pick up Andrew, stay at Barra for two nights, Ocean Safari swim with whale-shark.
Barra is a great place to stay if you're not tight on money. We went on an "ocean safari" which means you drive around in a boat with snorkel and fins on waiting to see some animal in the water. The guides are pretty good at spotting them, and this time we were able to see a whale shark (largest fish in the world, this one was about 15 ft long) and swam next to it for a good while as it lazily fed on plankton. I can check the achievement off the list of "things to do before I die", however I'm still eager to swim with an even larger one...
5) Drop off Andrew at Jon's site, spend two nights in Kruger Park with my parents.
Spent two nights in Kruger with the rents. Kruger National Park in South Africa is the best park around and I highly recommend it. It has pretty much everything - from crocodile to wild dog, as well as the Big 5. We managed to see 4 of them: elephant, lion, rhino, and cape buffalo, but not leopard.
6) I part with my parents, spend one strange night in Maputo with some expats I meet.
Anyone alone in Maputo should get a room at Fatima's backpackers place. You can instantly find some interesting people to talk to.
7) I meet Jon and we go to Tofo for one night and cut a rug at a discoteca.
We also went to a super nice hotel in Barra called Flamingo Bay and had lunch there / swam in the pool. It makes me want to get married just so I can have my honeymoon there. Before hittin the dance floor Jon and I also talked about a plethora of topics, from the complex race issues in South Africa to female anatomy.
8) Jon and I return to his site. We drink lots of soura (coconut wine) and watch Star Wars.
OoO-tee-Nee!
9) Jon and I meet Mike in Maxixe, head south to Scooter and Ann's site.
10) We all head to Bilene, close to Xai-Xai, for the trainees' “site visit”. It was more partying than anything else.
The moz 15ers actually wanted to have more of a mellow weekend, I found out later. It was a strange way to meet the new volunteers (us trying to get everyone buck-wild), but I'm sure I made a good impression.
11) I go to the last week of training for the new volunteers. Work hard and play hard.
I was glad to help out in training as an Education volunteer with Vonnie, Sam, and Gabe. We managed not to screw up the diversity session (or the "Identity Formation" session, as we called it).
12) Spend a couple nights in Maputo and appreciate great food, music videos, and the hilarious family of a man who works for USAID.
13) Sam, Vonnie, Mike, and I go to Ponta do Ouro for some nar shredding, rockin out, and braying.
In English that would be surfing (I stood up!), dancing, and grilling. Ponto do Ouro is like South Africa's Nogales (it's in Mexico) and there were a lot of South African college students who were there on holiday. I also learned how to say "ice" if you are from South Africa (it really sounds like "ass" and I had to ask about 10 times).
14) I fly to Nampula, in the north. I spend a nervous night at a hotel waiting for seven of my friends who were on a bus from Beira. They end up spending the night on the road which made their bus-trip a total of 26 hours.
I got in a huge argument with the guy at the front desk when I found out my friends weren't coming and he wanted me to pay for all three rooms I had reserved. In my broken Portuguese, I say some things that I probably shouldn't have.
15) We all go to Mozambique Island for Brian's birthday party. We “roast” him on the night of his birthday which means we make him sit in a stool in front of everyone else and make fun of him until he cries like a baby.
That pretty much explains it.
16) Vonnie, Brennan and I return to central region. We barely make it when we get chased out of a small town by the residents holding pitchforks and torches (kidding!).
But we did get kicked out of a restaurant for refusing to pay 150 MTs for a plate of eggs, potatoes, and lettuce. I mean, come on, that's just ridiculous!
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