Hey
I forgot my address for everyone
Mail cards to this address ~
Michelle Kramer
Escola Secondaria de Nametil
A\C DPE
Nampula, Mozambique
And packages can still go to the Maputo address
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Hey everyone~
Well I am in Monapu, I am visiting friends and will be going to tthe Isle de Mocambique tomorrow for Christmas. So far everything is great. We have been in our town for 1 week and everyone there is awesome. We had a nice little welcome lunch and pretty much have met everyone in town. It is funny though, some little kids that are 1 or less see us and cry cause we are white. Its entertaining to say the lleast. Well we havenºt done much. WE have slept and walked and went out to the bar and discoteca. We live in an old colonial house that is huge. It is a guest house because our house is not ready for us. When we arrived they showed us 3 different houses and we chose the one that was in the bairro, bascially the center of where everyone lives and not one of the nice cement houses. We chose the dirt house. To get this house we had to compromise and we will be getting a girl that comes in from another town to go to school, she will live with us. We pay her tuition which is nothing, buy her notebooks and feed her. She in turn helps us cook, clean and get our water. It should be a decent trade off. They also tried getting us to hire a security person which we shot down. We donºt want to stand out anymore than we do. The girl living with us happens alot here, a lot of the teaqchers or wealthier people have the kids in their home as a way to help them and help the kid get their education. Traveling can be quite expensive and a pain in the ass, especially where we live. We are in the booniess, to say the least.
Lets see we have become good friends with this lady Ilda, she is a doll. She is 23 and works for the school. She lives with her 3 siblings, the youngest being 5 and she so fun to play with. We have also met the owner of the bar and discoteca which has opened her home and calls us her kids. Within the first 2 minutes of meeting her she showed us her house which is gigantic and she has a monkey. She has 5 kids and is a reeally good person. She has just been a real nice perosn to be around and her family is great. Her son speaks pretty good english which makes life a whole lot easier for me. I can actually carry on a real conversation with someone. Me and Helana are getting along great. PLus she is the way that I get through the days. I have depended on her portuguese a lot. Which I have to stop or I am not going to learn anything new. I just keep saying that it will come, in time.
So our town is small, we donºt have much available. We have basic things in our market like potatoes, tomatoes, riice, coconuts, beans onion. In the bar you can get beer, soda and stuff like that. We have very limited things to choose from, we can get fish which we have eaten a lot, chicken only once and i refuse to kill it and goat which neither of us will kill. So our diets will be rather bland, but that is ok. Our school is fairly big, relatively new and has a computer lab which is awesome. All the directors seem really nice and I canºt wait till school starts, doing nothing all day is really boring. I have made lots of jewelry and some curtains. I will make more when I return to town. We have went to the bar almost everyday, not to drink but to socialize. We have a housekeeper that really urks me cause we canºt have males that he doesnºt know at the house at night. Which sucks when you want to sit around and chat with friends. So that means we have to leave to do anything. He constantly wants to know where we are goiong and why and it is just annoying me. Anyway thats the only down fall so far. Me and Helana walked to the river which was a good 45 minute walk there just ot do something. Anyway I should go, this is costing me an arm and a leg. I will write more as soon as I can, aat least once a month. If anyone wants to call, my phone will work now. It should be on for the next couple of days, maybe till sunday. I donºt know about my battery cause the girls we are visiting dontºt have electricity to charge the phone. Other than that, i donºt know.
WEll I hope everyone has a merry christmas and a happy new year!!!!
Be safe
Love,
Shells xoxoxooxoxox
Well I am in Monapu, I am visiting friends and will be going to tthe Isle de Mocambique tomorrow for Christmas. So far everything is great. We have been in our town for 1 week and everyone there is awesome. We had a nice little welcome lunch and pretty much have met everyone in town. It is funny though, some little kids that are 1 or less see us and cry cause we are white. Its entertaining to say the lleast. Well we havenºt done much. WE have slept and walked and went out to the bar and discoteca. We live in an old colonial house that is huge. It is a guest house because our house is not ready for us. When we arrived they showed us 3 different houses and we chose the one that was in the bairro, bascially the center of where everyone lives and not one of the nice cement houses. We chose the dirt house. To get this house we had to compromise and we will be getting a girl that comes in from another town to go to school, she will live with us. We pay her tuition which is nothing, buy her notebooks and feed her. She in turn helps us cook, clean and get our water. It should be a decent trade off. They also tried getting us to hire a security person which we shot down. We donºt want to stand out anymore than we do. The girl living with us happens alot here, a lot of the teaqchers or wealthier people have the kids in their home as a way to help them and help the kid get their education. Traveling can be quite expensive and a pain in the ass, especially where we live. We are in the booniess, to say the least.
Lets see we have become good friends with this lady Ilda, she is a doll. She is 23 and works for the school. She lives with her 3 siblings, the youngest being 5 and she so fun to play with. We have also met the owner of the bar and discoteca which has opened her home and calls us her kids. Within the first 2 minutes of meeting her she showed us her house which is gigantic and she has a monkey. She has 5 kids and is a reeally good person. She has just been a real nice perosn to be around and her family is great. Her son speaks pretty good english which makes life a whole lot easier for me. I can actually carry on a real conversation with someone. Me and Helana are getting along great. PLus she is the way that I get through the days. I have depended on her portuguese a lot. Which I have to stop or I am not going to learn anything new. I just keep saying that it will come, in time.
So our town is small, we donºt have much available. We have basic things in our market like potatoes, tomatoes, riice, coconuts, beans onion. In the bar you can get beer, soda and stuff like that. We have very limited things to choose from, we can get fish which we have eaten a lot, chicken only once and i refuse to kill it and goat which neither of us will kill. So our diets will be rather bland, but that is ok. Our school is fairly big, relatively new and has a computer lab which is awesome. All the directors seem really nice and I canºt wait till school starts, doing nothing all day is really boring. I have made lots of jewelry and some curtains. I will make more when I return to town. We have went to the bar almost everyday, not to drink but to socialize. We have a housekeeper that really urks me cause we canºt have males that he doesnºt know at the house at night. Which sucks when you want to sit around and chat with friends. So that means we have to leave to do anything. He constantly wants to know where we are goiong and why and it is just annoying me. Anyway thats the only down fall so far. Me and Helana walked to the river which was a good 45 minute walk there just ot do something. Anyway I should go, this is costing me an arm and a leg. I will write more as soon as I can, aat least once a month. If anyone wants to call, my phone will work now. It should be on for the next couple of days, maybe till sunday. I donºt know about my battery cause the girls we are visiting dontºt have electricity to charge the phone. Other than that, i donºt know.
WEll I hope everyone has a merry christmas and a happy new year!!!!
Be safe
Love,
Shells xoxoxooxoxox
Hey everyone
Well So far what I have seen of Nampula is very interesting. It is not flat like Maputo, it has some curves to it and in places there are these huge mountainous like rocks that just jut out of the earth. It is definitely interesting. ~I really hávenºt seen anything else. I think I am in the city but I really donºt know, if I am its really small. It is supposedly the 3rd largest in Moz so I don´t think i have seen what this place has to offer yet. I will see more when I go shopping after I write this email. We have to get everything for our house today and then take it for a 2 hour road trip to our house. How not fun, but it has to be done. So it seems more and more like the town that we are going to is rural. They said it was and continue to tell us that it has nothing. I found out we have a nice school, our school has a computer and a vehicle, which means we can catch a ride into Nampula with whomever is going into town, which saves us money on chapa rides. We are also the first female teachers in our school. So I am not sure how that will work. Not only are we women but we are American. I Am sure there will be plusses and minuses.
So today our PC director that is with us to help us get settled in was telling us how our school director was saying that he is thinking about a different house for us to move into, I guess because he thought this one wasnºt good enough. Who knows, the Peace Corps is just like we dumped a lot of money into this house what are you doing. I guess this guy didnºt realize that he was really getting volunteers.
Okay I am going to end this here because this computer is taking so long to load pages and I really want to be able to read my emails that I received. So sorry mom for not sending you a personal email, Jeannette and the kids and Scott is was nice talking to you guys last night. It definitely brightened my night. I love hearing all of your voices. Farhana thanks for the advice. Cor I got your package and thanks a mil, I am waiting to open the gifts!! Mom you know i got your package and am waiting on one more.
So I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I will be thinking about all of you.
Love and Miss you all,
Shells xoxooxoxo
Well So far what I have seen of Nampula is very interesting. It is not flat like Maputo, it has some curves to it and in places there are these huge mountainous like rocks that just jut out of the earth. It is definitely interesting. ~I really hávenºt seen anything else. I think I am in the city but I really donºt know, if I am its really small. It is supposedly the 3rd largest in Moz so I don´t think i have seen what this place has to offer yet. I will see more when I go shopping after I write this email. We have to get everything for our house today and then take it for a 2 hour road trip to our house. How not fun, but it has to be done. So it seems more and more like the town that we are going to is rural. They said it was and continue to tell us that it has nothing. I found out we have a nice school, our school has a computer and a vehicle, which means we can catch a ride into Nampula with whomever is going into town, which saves us money on chapa rides. We are also the first female teachers in our school. So I am not sure how that will work. Not only are we women but we are American. I Am sure there will be plusses and minuses.
So today our PC director that is with us to help us get settled in was telling us how our school director was saying that he is thinking about a different house for us to move into, I guess because he thought this one wasnºt good enough. Who knows, the Peace Corps is just like we dumped a lot of money into this house what are you doing. I guess this guy didnºt realize that he was really getting volunteers.
Okay I am going to end this here because this computer is taking so long to load pages and I really want to be able to read my emails that I received. So sorry mom for not sending you a personal email, Jeannette and the kids and Scott is was nice talking to you guys last night. It definitely brightened my night. I love hearing all of your voices. Farhana thanks for the advice. Cor I got your package and thanks a mil, I am waiting to open the gifts!! Mom you know i got your package and am waiting on one more.
So I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I will be thinking about all of you.
Love and Miss you all,
Shells xoxooxoxo
Hey everyone~
Well today is Thursday and I swear in on Saturday night. We had our going away party yesterday with our families and we have just been living it up at the hotel. Boy do I love running water and air. I tried sending an email last week with no success. Life has been happening here. I am moving to Nametil, Nampula. It is a northern province. Think of Moz as the east coast. I have been at the bottom and am flying to the top. It is a 2 hour flight with a 2-3 hour chapa ride. I am so excited. This will be the first time that PC is in Nampula and there are 2 groups of us going-all girls. I will be living with Helana which people have commented is an odd pair. I think we will be good together-she is a bio teacher. I met my supervisor today-I am kind of weirded out by him-that may just be me. But it is supposed to be awesome where I am going. I can't believe I will be the first in the town-but I did request that. The northern province has a big muslim community. Which may or may not have an impact on how the school is-I will find out soon. I will be living in a mud house with a cement floor-this is mandatory. I have electricity but do not have cell phone capabilities-I am told within a year this should happen. I am keeping my phone and figure I will use it once a month when I go into the city. I will let everyone know when that is so that we can keep in touch. Basically if you want to talk to me, I suggest calling....now. I don't guarantee anything after sunday. Oh one thing chega-which means no more packages for now. Since I will be in Nampula I will only be coming to Maputo every 3 months. Which means my package would be here and I won't see it for that long. So when I get an address in Nampula I will send it out. Letters definitely I want sent to Nampula, the thing with packages is that the PC pays for them to get out of customs. If they are sent to my site then I have to pay out of pocket. So maybe send the packages just remember that it will be awhile. The next time I will be in Maputo is late April.
Anyway I am really excited. I can't believe training is over. We have a big party at the ambassadors and then we're off. Well thats all for now. I will write some time soon...maybe. Who knows.
Love you and miss you all,
Shells
Well today is Thursday and I swear in on Saturday night. We had our going away party yesterday with our families and we have just been living it up at the hotel. Boy do I love running water and air. I tried sending an email last week with no success. Life has been happening here. I am moving to Nametil, Nampula. It is a northern province. Think of Moz as the east coast. I have been at the bottom and am flying to the top. It is a 2 hour flight with a 2-3 hour chapa ride. I am so excited. This will be the first time that PC is in Nampula and there are 2 groups of us going-all girls. I will be living with Helana which people have commented is an odd pair. I think we will be good together-she is a bio teacher. I met my supervisor today-I am kind of weirded out by him-that may just be me. But it is supposed to be awesome where I am going. I can't believe I will be the first in the town-but I did request that. The northern province has a big muslim community. Which may or may not have an impact on how the school is-I will find out soon. I will be living in a mud house with a cement floor-this is mandatory. I have electricity but do not have cell phone capabilities-I am told within a year this should happen. I am keeping my phone and figure I will use it once a month when I go into the city. I will let everyone know when that is so that we can keep in touch. Basically if you want to talk to me, I suggest calling....now. I don't guarantee anything after sunday. Oh one thing chega-which means no more packages for now. Since I will be in Nampula I will only be coming to Maputo every 3 months. Which means my package would be here and I won't see it for that long. So when I get an address in Nampula I will send it out. Letters definitely I want sent to Nampula, the thing with packages is that the PC pays for them to get out of customs. If they are sent to my site then I have to pay out of pocket. So maybe send the packages just remember that it will be awhile. The next time I will be in Maputo is late April.
Anyway I am really excited. I can't believe training is over. We have a big party at the ambassadors and then we're off. Well thats all for now. I will write some time soon...maybe. Who knows.
Love you and miss you all,
Shells
Hey Everyone~~
Well another week has finished and I can't say it was anything because I missed school for three days. I was however able to teach for 2 days and next week will be full of teaching. I've had a major headache and finally yesterday I was given migraine medicine which seems to be doing the trick. Nothing like having migraines in Moz. It sucks and all I have done is lay around the yard all day and sleep, talk and eat. What more could I possibly want.
I did get mail yesterday which was awesome. Thanks mom and Scott. Scott~~I received the money you sent thanks. Mom I will send those stamps back to you, thanks for thinking of me. I love fridays mail and money what more could you want....running water-oh how I miss you.
So last night during dinner we lost power. I had to take my flashlight to the latrine which I have stopped doing and I realized why I had stopped. Its so much nicer when you don't see all the wonderful critters. But without the flashlight when there is no electricity you can't see your hand in front of your face-I am not quite sure what happened to the moon light.
So for the most part my week has been blah. I have spent lots of time at home and have learned a lot about my family. I was able to fill out a form that stated where I wanted to go-it may not happen but I have hopes that it will. I stated the beach-but I am sure lots of people said the beach.
I spent a lot of time with my host sister-whom I really admire. She seems to have her head on straight and I want to help her but I run into this problem of whether or not too. I mean I help where I can but there are so many other families out there that need more help than my family. I mean my host sister is in the process of getting her own house built and there are so many other families that can't even feed there children let alone pay for a home. There is so much need and so little money. What my host mom makes in a month the P.C. pays her in a week for having me. And we're only talking about $40 a week for me. Thats what she makes in a month-to me that is outrageous-we would crab if thats what we made in a day let alone a month. So different-so very different.
Oh I wanted to say that if you don't receive mail from me don't feel offended. What it costs to mail one letter is more than for an hour of internet. And it takes a hell of a lot longer. I know some of you wanted my web site address but I have no idea what it is...sorry- but really my emails are what is on my website. I do however have my address :
Michelle Kramer, PCT
Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo, Mozambique
Other than that-the food is well rice-always, beans-sometimes, mboa and coulve-which I like a lot, fish which I don't like, some chicken stew thing which is pretty good, some skin of some animal which I won't touch.
Speaking of not touching things-I found a kitten last night and I fed it lots of fish. I think it was very happy though it wasn't moving a whole lot this morning. I think I may have over fed it. It is crawling with fleas-oh yeah mom can you send me a few dog flea collars, cat flea collars and I was also thinking about those things you put in the nape of the animals neck that liquid stuff. Don't worry about when you send it, I just figure with some package taht you will send. Dogs are a great thing to have to protect the house-when they decide to stay around and not pasear--which means to walk around, cats are good for the little rodents that seem to be everywhere. I wanted a monkey but that is against peace corps policy. I want to give the kitten a bath but my family insists that when you bathe an animal it dies. I am not quite sure why-but I will let them have their beliefs.
WEll thats all for now, oh yeah I will not be writing anything more for about 2 1/2 weeks. Next weekend we are celebrating thanksgiving, and the following weekend will be the last with our host families. We leave around the 9th or 10th for Maputo and we will be staying in a luxurious hotel for 4 nights. Air conditioning and running water I couldn''t ask for more. WE will be swearing in some day I think the 13th at the ambassadors house which I hear is nice, with swimming pool. So we get it made for a few days and then we're off on our own.
Anyhow I will send emails out in a few weeks. I hope all is well in everyones life. Oh- I want to say that if there is anyone out there that is still puffing on cigarettes-Quit please. Lung cancer sucks and I'd like all to be around when I get home in two years!
Ok, thats my advice for now,
I miss you all and love you guys lots,
Shells xoxoxoxoxoxo
Well another week has finished and I can't say it was anything because I missed school for three days. I was however able to teach for 2 days and next week will be full of teaching. I've had a major headache and finally yesterday I was given migraine medicine which seems to be doing the trick. Nothing like having migraines in Moz. It sucks and all I have done is lay around the yard all day and sleep, talk and eat. What more could I possibly want.
I did get mail yesterday which was awesome. Thanks mom and Scott. Scott~~I received the money you sent thanks. Mom I will send those stamps back to you, thanks for thinking of me. I love fridays mail and money what more could you want....running water-oh how I miss you.
So last night during dinner we lost power. I had to take my flashlight to the latrine which I have stopped doing and I realized why I had stopped. Its so much nicer when you don't see all the wonderful critters. But without the flashlight when there is no electricity you can't see your hand in front of your face-I am not quite sure what happened to the moon light.
So for the most part my week has been blah. I have spent lots of time at home and have learned a lot about my family. I was able to fill out a form that stated where I wanted to go-it may not happen but I have hopes that it will. I stated the beach-but I am sure lots of people said the beach.
I spent a lot of time with my host sister-whom I really admire. She seems to have her head on straight and I want to help her but I run into this problem of whether or not too. I mean I help where I can but there are so many other families out there that need more help than my family. I mean my host sister is in the process of getting her own house built and there are so many other families that can't even feed there children let alone pay for a home. There is so much need and so little money. What my host mom makes in a month the P.C. pays her in a week for having me. And we're only talking about $40 a week for me. Thats what she makes in a month-to me that is outrageous-we would crab if thats what we made in a day let alone a month. So different-so very different.
Oh I wanted to say that if you don't receive mail from me don't feel offended. What it costs to mail one letter is more than for an hour of internet. And it takes a hell of a lot longer. I know some of you wanted my web site address but I have no idea what it is...sorry- but really my emails are what is on my website. I do however have my address :
Michelle Kramer, PCT
Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo, Mozambique
Other than that-the food is well rice-always, beans-sometimes, mboa and coulve-which I like a lot, fish which I don't like, some chicken stew thing which is pretty good, some skin of some animal which I won't touch.
Speaking of not touching things-I found a kitten last night and I fed it lots of fish. I think it was very happy though it wasn't moving a whole lot this morning. I think I may have over fed it. It is crawling with fleas-oh yeah mom can you send me a few dog flea collars, cat flea collars and I was also thinking about those things you put in the nape of the animals neck that liquid stuff. Don't worry about when you send it, I just figure with some package taht you will send. Dogs are a great thing to have to protect the house-when they decide to stay around and not pasear--which means to walk around, cats are good for the little rodents that seem to be everywhere. I wanted a monkey but that is against peace corps policy. I want to give the kitten a bath but my family insists that when you bathe an animal it dies. I am not quite sure why-but I will let them have their beliefs.
WEll thats all for now, oh yeah I will not be writing anything more for about 2 1/2 weeks. Next weekend we are celebrating thanksgiving, and the following weekend will be the last with our host families. We leave around the 9th or 10th for Maputo and we will be staying in a luxurious hotel for 4 nights. Air conditioning and running water I couldn''t ask for more. WE will be swearing in some day I think the 13th at the ambassadors house which I hear is nice, with swimming pool. So we get it made for a few days and then we're off on our own.
Anyhow I will send emails out in a few weeks. I hope all is well in everyones life. Oh- I want to say that if there is anyone out there that is still puffing on cigarettes-Quit please. Lung cancer sucks and I'd like all to be around when I get home in two years!
Ok, thats my advice for now,
I miss you all and love you guys lots,
Shells xoxoxoxoxoxo
Hey everyone~
I have had a smile plastered across my face for the last 40 minutes reading all of my emails. It sounds like everyone is doing great. Well this week has flew by and I have taught my first lesson. It was only for 20 minutes but I think I did really well. I have to teach everyday for 45 minutes for the next 2 weeks. I am scared but I figure I have been able to do it once I can do it a few more times. Its just scary because you have people watching you, if it were just the students it would be ok. So my language skills are slowly coming along, I am conversing more and more with my family and it is really amazing. Oh, I made pizza last sunday for them over charcoal and it came out awesome, I did burn the first one but otherwise it was great. I think my family really liked it, though I am not making it anymore because it was really expensive. I am goign to stick to mashed potatoes which I am goign to make tomorrow.
So in about 4 weeks we swear in. This sounds so exciting. We have this huge party with our families and then we leave and go to Maputo where we will stay for 4 nights at the hotel and be living the good life until we have to leave for our sites. WE find out what sites we will be going to the first week of december. I can not wait until then.
I put together this picture wall in Casa Grande (this is a place that is huge and has our library and also has air) it was from the first few days in Mozambique, wow was it interesting to look at. I remember all the anticipation and having no clue what I was getting myself into. It is really fun to look back. Also I am figuring out how to get things done here. I had to write up a little petition and have people sign it so that us females could get something that was supposed to be supplied but our wonderful medical officer keeps telling us no. So we went over him to our country director.
For some reason I love doing things like that, or at least getting things done. I would say in a timely matter but here nothing is in what we would consider a timely manner.
This past week it has been raining quite a bit. I woke up in the middle of the night when the rain started and I couldn't sleep because it was really loud on our tin roof. Yes our roof is tin. I actually had to put the pillow over my head, oh yeah mom you could send me my ear plugs-they are in my jewelry box or in my nightstand. You have to love moms that ship you tons of things including food to Mozambique. Well I lover her regardless of the awesome goodies.
So christmas is right around the corner, how weird. We are having a thanksgiving celebration in 2 weeks and then I guess for christmas we all go to the beach or something like that. Going to the beach for christmas-I would have never thought. Its exciting and knowing that next christmas I am goign to visit home and be able to see the snow that I dislike.
Anyway my diet here is still of beans and rice and my family keeps telling me how they want to be fat, I am like no you don't. Wow is it different than the US. I guess the families judge how their volunteers are doing by how much weight they have gained! With that note I am going to close this email.
So everyone have a good week and I will email you again next week
Love you all and miss you,
Shells xoxoxoxo
I have had a smile plastered across my face for the last 40 minutes reading all of my emails. It sounds like everyone is doing great. Well this week has flew by and I have taught my first lesson. It was only for 20 minutes but I think I did really well. I have to teach everyday for 45 minutes for the next 2 weeks. I am scared but I figure I have been able to do it once I can do it a few more times. Its just scary because you have people watching you, if it were just the students it would be ok. So my language skills are slowly coming along, I am conversing more and more with my family and it is really amazing. Oh, I made pizza last sunday for them over charcoal and it came out awesome, I did burn the first one but otherwise it was great. I think my family really liked it, though I am not making it anymore because it was really expensive. I am goign to stick to mashed potatoes which I am goign to make tomorrow.
So in about 4 weeks we swear in. This sounds so exciting. We have this huge party with our families and then we leave and go to Maputo where we will stay for 4 nights at the hotel and be living the good life until we have to leave for our sites. WE find out what sites we will be going to the first week of december. I can not wait until then.
I put together this picture wall in Casa Grande (this is a place that is huge and has our library and also has air) it was from the first few days in Mozambique, wow was it interesting to look at. I remember all the anticipation and having no clue what I was getting myself into. It is really fun to look back. Also I am figuring out how to get things done here. I had to write up a little petition and have people sign it so that us females could get something that was supposed to be supplied but our wonderful medical officer keeps telling us no. So we went over him to our country director.
For some reason I love doing things like that, or at least getting things done. I would say in a timely matter but here nothing is in what we would consider a timely manner.
This past week it has been raining quite a bit. I woke up in the middle of the night when the rain started and I couldn't sleep because it was really loud on our tin roof. Yes our roof is tin. I actually had to put the pillow over my head, oh yeah mom you could send me my ear plugs-they are in my jewelry box or in my nightstand. You have to love moms that ship you tons of things including food to Mozambique. Well I lover her regardless of the awesome goodies.
So christmas is right around the corner, how weird. We are having a thanksgiving celebration in 2 weeks and then I guess for christmas we all go to the beach or something like that. Going to the beach for christmas-I would have never thought. Its exciting and knowing that next christmas I am goign to visit home and be able to see the snow that I dislike.
Anyway my diet here is still of beans and rice and my family keeps telling me how they want to be fat, I am like no you don't. Wow is it different than the US. I guess the families judge how their volunteers are doing by how much weight they have gained! With that note I am going to close this email.
So everyone have a good week and I will email you again next week
Love you all and miss you,
Shells xoxoxoxo
Saturday, November 08, 2003
So one more week is down and I really only have four more weeks of training. The last week is more getting ready for us to swear in. Next week we start to practice teaching. I guess they round up kids from school that want to attend a bit of summer school for free. I'm kind of freaked out because I have written one lesson plan and am not confident in it. But I guess there is no time like the present to learn.
So I have a monkey friend. I think I mentioned the monkey before, he is tied to a tree. Well I started to feed him and now he likes me. He stuck his hand in my mouth and smelled my saliva. Then he proceeded to clean my hands and touch my face. Then he tried grooming my hair and I kind of backed off. The next day he started to sit on my lap. He is awesome. I want him. The guy asked me if I wanted to buy a monkey and then said not this one but another one. I want that one, not anyone else. Anyhow I go twice a day and feed him bananas. I buy the bananas and keep them in the house. My family thinks I am strange but oh well, I told them I really like animals.
I had my interview friday on how everything was going, I tried drilling it that I really wanted to go to the beach. I just think I would be very happy there, but wherever I go I will be happy...I hope. I also got more shots how fun. Rabies again..the last one and my 2nd Hep B which hurt like hell.
But I am going to end this...I will write more next week. I just have some webiste editing to do. Talk to you all next week. Oh yeah, don't be upset if you don't receive personal emails. I just dont have enough time. Though I read all the emails from you guys and laugh at most of them. I do enjoy reading them, so definitely keep em coming.
Love ya,
Shells xoxooxoxoxxo
So I have a monkey friend. I think I mentioned the monkey before, he is tied to a tree. Well I started to feed him and now he likes me. He stuck his hand in my mouth and smelled my saliva. Then he proceeded to clean my hands and touch my face. Then he tried grooming my hair and I kind of backed off. The next day he started to sit on my lap. He is awesome. I want him. The guy asked me if I wanted to buy a monkey and then said not this one but another one. I want that one, not anyone else. Anyhow I go twice a day and feed him bananas. I buy the bananas and keep them in the house. My family thinks I am strange but oh well, I told them I really like animals.
I had my interview friday on how everything was going, I tried drilling it that I really wanted to go to the beach. I just think I would be very happy there, but wherever I go I will be happy...I hope. I also got more shots how fun. Rabies again..the last one and my 2nd Hep B which hurt like hell.
But I am going to end this...I will write more next week. I just have some webiste editing to do. Talk to you all next week. Oh yeah, don't be upset if you don't receive personal emails. I just dont have enough time. Though I read all the emails from you guys and laugh at most of them. I do enjoy reading them, so definitely keep em coming.
Love ya,
Shells xoxooxoxoxxo
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Yesterday marks the end of month one and today the beginning of a new one. Next week is my fifth week which is the half way point of training. To say the least I am very excited.
So this week I have been trying to really integrate into my family-though I don't think spending 2 nights in a row in a baracca really helped. Though I had fun and didn't stay all night. I have noticed that 1 beer is pretty good at getting me a little tipsy. They are about 20-24 oz bottles and cost less than $1.
On sunday I helped cook dinner and made mashed potatoes. I think they enjoyed them. We went to the market and I took a pair of pants to get hemmed and a capulana to get made into a pair of pants. That was an interesting ordeal. They talked so fast and I didn't understand half of what they said. But I left my stuff with them in hopes that they would do it correctly-I only payed 45,000 MT which is less than $2. Though on my weekly allowance of 270,000Mt, I will soon have to stop converting.
Anyhow I went to pick up my pants on Tuesday and they definitely hemmed my jeans...about an inch too short. Can't really do anyting and they didn't have my pants made. I went back and got my pants which are really nice but a little too big. I figure the jeans are too shorts the others a bit too long, together they are perfect, which seems to be the way things are here in Moz. T\he pants are so comfy and cool that I love them to death.
Last saturday was sooo hot. I attempted to sleep on my floor but it didn't help. I am glad I didn't because the next morning I found a scorpion on my floor. Otherwise the weather has been descent. When teh sun is out it is hot and when it isn't it tends to be pretty nice.
The highlite of this week has been the water filter P.C. gave us. We boil the water and then filter it. It doesn't taste like dirt anymore...I couldn't be happier!!
On thursday my stomach started to get upset. I talked to mom and after that I told my family I did not feel well and that i was going to sleep, without eating dinner. Wrong thing to say, they were trying to send me to the hospital. Mind you there are only 500 doctors in this massive country and none of them are really capable treating us adequetaley, which I totally believe P.C. tells us. So I went to bed and woke up in the morning-stomach still upset and they asked me what I wanted for dinner-to make my stomach feel better. I said chicken and rice...wrong thing to say-especially wehn fhere in Moz wehn you want chicken you get chicken...from the market alive. WEll I got home early from school yesterday just as the chicken and rice were being delivered to the house. I felt horrible. They asked me if I wanted to go to the market and I said yes. I wanted out of there while they did what they were about to do. I have realized I will be becoming a vegetarian when I get to site. Cause if you want meat here you kill it. No thanks. I will stick to fruits and v eggies. I can live very healthy without meat.
Today wehn I get back to Boane, I have to come to Maputo for the internet, I am going with a few other volunteers to an orphan/street kid place. We are going to play games and what not with the kids. Just to give back to the community that has accepted us. It gives us something to do, the kids something to do and we get to practice portuguese at the same time. I am excited cause most of us know how much I love kids.
Well thats all for this week though I want to say thanks to mom, angie and family and scott for the mail. I love having mail to open on fridays. This will be my address for as long as I want, mail sent here will always (hopefully) end up in my hands. I may get a PO box when I get to site, I may not, who knows. AS far as me sending mail, I am sending 2 letters a week. Its kind of expensive on what we get paid. So 2 letters and thats it to various people.
Anyhow I will write more next week.
Love,
Shells
So this week I have been trying to really integrate into my family-though I don't think spending 2 nights in a row in a baracca really helped. Though I had fun and didn't stay all night. I have noticed that 1 beer is pretty good at getting me a little tipsy. They are about 20-24 oz bottles and cost less than $1.
On sunday I helped cook dinner and made mashed potatoes. I think they enjoyed them. We went to the market and I took a pair of pants to get hemmed and a capulana to get made into a pair of pants. That was an interesting ordeal. They talked so fast and I didn't understand half of what they said. But I left my stuff with them in hopes that they would do it correctly-I only payed 45,000 MT which is less than $2. Though on my weekly allowance of 270,000Mt, I will soon have to stop converting.
Anyhow I went to pick up my pants on Tuesday and they definitely hemmed my jeans...about an inch too short. Can't really do anyting and they didn't have my pants made. I went back and got my pants which are really nice but a little too big. I figure the jeans are too shorts the others a bit too long, together they are perfect, which seems to be the way things are here in Moz. T\he pants are so comfy and cool that I love them to death.
Last saturday was sooo hot. I attempted to sleep on my floor but it didn't help. I am glad I didn't because the next morning I found a scorpion on my floor. Otherwise the weather has been descent. When teh sun is out it is hot and when it isn't it tends to be pretty nice.
The highlite of this week has been the water filter P.C. gave us. We boil the water and then filter it. It doesn't taste like dirt anymore...I couldn't be happier!!
On thursday my stomach started to get upset. I talked to mom and after that I told my family I did not feel well and that i was going to sleep, without eating dinner. Wrong thing to say, they were trying to send me to the hospital. Mind you there are only 500 doctors in this massive country and none of them are really capable treating us adequetaley, which I totally believe P.C. tells us. So I went to bed and woke up in the morning-stomach still upset and they asked me what I wanted for dinner-to make my stomach feel better. I said chicken and rice...wrong thing to say-especially wehn fhere in Moz wehn you want chicken you get chicken...from the market alive. WEll I got home early from school yesterday just as the chicken and rice were being delivered to the house. I felt horrible. They asked me if I wanted to go to the market and I said yes. I wanted out of there while they did what they were about to do. I have realized I will be becoming a vegetarian when I get to site. Cause if you want meat here you kill it. No thanks. I will stick to fruits and v eggies. I can live very healthy without meat.
Today wehn I get back to Boane, I have to come to Maputo for the internet, I am going with a few other volunteers to an orphan/street kid place. We are going to play games and what not with the kids. Just to give back to the community that has accepted us. It gives us something to do, the kids something to do and we get to practice portuguese at the same time. I am excited cause most of us know how much I love kids.
Well thats all for this week though I want to say thanks to mom, angie and family and scott for the mail. I love having mail to open on fridays. This will be my address for as long as I want, mail sent here will always (hopefully) end up in my hands. I may get a PO box when I get to site, I may not, who knows. AS far as me sending mail, I am sending 2 letters a week. Its kind of expensive on what we get paid. So 2 letters and thats it to various people.
Anyhow I will write more next week.
Love,
Shells
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Hey Everyone~
Well I am still in Africa, we have had 2 people leave already. Life has been going pretty good. I went on a site visit last week to Chicuque and it was awesome. The volunteers were literally 5 minutes from the beach. Talk about gorgeous, I want to live there and there will be an opening, so I can only hope. Anyway I finally got a dictionary and I have been conversing with my family a lot more. I will be cooking them mashed potatoes on Sunday since they have never had them before. So that should be fun.
This weekend I went out last night and had a blast. I have only had a few hours of sleep so I might not be very coherent in this email. Talk about feeling like you haven't left america. All american music with a few mozambican songs mixed in. But wow is it cheap, Beer is less than a dollar. I got up really early this morning so that I could catch a bus to come and buy a cell phone, yes I have one and write this email. Cor I need you to let my mom use your calling card until next week when I can email her the numbers to mine. My number is 258-82-294-663.
I can't wait till this training thing is over. It is long and boring. The sites seem like they will be more fun. But I have finished week three and am going into week four. So I am almost half way done. OH it is 11:58 am here and 4:58 am in Chicago, so when you call just take that into consideration.
So I feel like I just don't know what to write. Nothing much has been happening, besides school, school and more school. We have met a bunch of other volunteers and they are real nice and fun to party with. I am determined that everyone here likes to drink.
Mom and Scott I received what I am assuming is your first letters. I just got them yesterday. I almost started to cry and then I did.
So I have seen a lot of cows, chickens, dogs, cats and goats and a monkey tied to a tree. But otherwise I guess fmost of the game in Mozambique does not exist, supposedly because of the war and the land mines. It kind of stinks but I guess thats part of life.
So I have a funny story about the other night. My latrine is outside in the open air. Well I was getting ready for bed and decided to go to the bathroom before my family locked the house up. Well I always shine a light down the latrine so all the roaches will scatter and nothinbg jumps out. Well while I was hovering something jumped on my back, I just know it was a roach. I freaked and was paranoid the rest of the night. I have been seeing more and more roaches lately and I guess it is just something I have to get used too. At least I haven't seen rats like some of the other volunteers.
It is starting to get really hot here. Though the weather reminds me of chicago. One day it is sweltering and the next it is freezing. WE are going into summer which is supposed to be brutal. But hey I picked Africa so I am not going to complain.
So I figured out I really miss fast food. When you have been drinking at night and there is nothing but a 24 hour gas station, which I have heard will become our best friend when it gets hot because it is the only place that is air conditioned.
Cor have fun with Tom, Tom enjoy yourself at home. (Tom is finally coming back from hte middle east). Sorry I missed you but hey, life is calling.
Sarah sounds like your having fun in that little town that I can't remember the name of. But sounds like you miss henry loads.- you''ll see him soon
Farhana-you've only got a little bit more of school and good luck on the GRE. Tell me about it when its over. I have to prep myself at some point.
Raj-glad to know your cell bill doesn't exist since I left, call me in africa, I am sure that will help.
Jeannette-I am so pround of you. I am really happy to hear you are doing good. Give the kids lots of hugs and kisses from me and call me so we can talk.
Mom you sound like you are doing great and I am glad to hear that. Good luck with the jobs. I am glad to hear that you are keeping yourself bussy.
Scott thought the letter was great. I am looking forward to hearing a lot more.
I know there are a bunch of people I am missing but I can only mention so many with time constraints.
I hope everyone is doing well and I want you all to know that I love you guys dearly and miss you tons
Shells
PS do not send anything in envelopes, unless they are bubbled or something. People tend to tear the ends off and see if there is anythign good inside and there goes whatever was in the envelope. We get the envelope and letter but not the other goods.
Well I am still in Africa, we have had 2 people leave already. Life has been going pretty good. I went on a site visit last week to Chicuque and it was awesome. The volunteers were literally 5 minutes from the beach. Talk about gorgeous, I want to live there and there will be an opening, so I can only hope. Anyway I finally got a dictionary and I have been conversing with my family a lot more. I will be cooking them mashed potatoes on Sunday since they have never had them before. So that should be fun.
This weekend I went out last night and had a blast. I have only had a few hours of sleep so I might not be very coherent in this email. Talk about feeling like you haven't left america. All american music with a few mozambican songs mixed in. But wow is it cheap, Beer is less than a dollar. I got up really early this morning so that I could catch a bus to come and buy a cell phone, yes I have one and write this email. Cor I need you to let my mom use your calling card until next week when I can email her the numbers to mine. My number is 258-82-294-663.
I can't wait till this training thing is over. It is long and boring. The sites seem like they will be more fun. But I have finished week three and am going into week four. So I am almost half way done. OH it is 11:58 am here and 4:58 am in Chicago, so when you call just take that into consideration.
So I feel like I just don't know what to write. Nothing much has been happening, besides school, school and more school. We have met a bunch of other volunteers and they are real nice and fun to party with. I am determined that everyone here likes to drink.
Mom and Scott I received what I am assuming is your first letters. I just got them yesterday. I almost started to cry and then I did.
So I have seen a lot of cows, chickens, dogs, cats and goats and a monkey tied to a tree. But otherwise I guess fmost of the game in Mozambique does not exist, supposedly because of the war and the land mines. It kind of stinks but I guess thats part of life.
So I have a funny story about the other night. My latrine is outside in the open air. Well I was getting ready for bed and decided to go to the bathroom before my family locked the house up. Well I always shine a light down the latrine so all the roaches will scatter and nothinbg jumps out. Well while I was hovering something jumped on my back, I just know it was a roach. I freaked and was paranoid the rest of the night. I have been seeing more and more roaches lately and I guess it is just something I have to get used too. At least I haven't seen rats like some of the other volunteers.
It is starting to get really hot here. Though the weather reminds me of chicago. One day it is sweltering and the next it is freezing. WE are going into summer which is supposed to be brutal. But hey I picked Africa so I am not going to complain.
So I figured out I really miss fast food. When you have been drinking at night and there is nothing but a 24 hour gas station, which I have heard will become our best friend when it gets hot because it is the only place that is air conditioned.
Cor have fun with Tom, Tom enjoy yourself at home. (Tom is finally coming back from hte middle east). Sorry I missed you but hey, life is calling.
Sarah sounds like your having fun in that little town that I can't remember the name of. But sounds like you miss henry loads.- you''ll see him soon
Farhana-you've only got a little bit more of school and good luck on the GRE. Tell me about it when its over. I have to prep myself at some point.
Raj-glad to know your cell bill doesn't exist since I left, call me in africa, I am sure that will help.
Jeannette-I am so pround of you. I am really happy to hear you are doing good. Give the kids lots of hugs and kisses from me and call me so we can talk.
Mom you sound like you are doing great and I am glad to hear that. Good luck with the jobs. I am glad to hear that you are keeping yourself bussy.
Scott thought the letter was great. I am looking forward to hearing a lot more.
I know there are a bunch of people I am missing but I can only mention so many with time constraints.
I hope everyone is doing well and I want you all to know that I love you guys dearly and miss you tons
Shells
PS do not send anything in envelopes, unless they are bubbled or something. People tend to tear the ends off and see if there is anythign good inside and there goes whatever was in the envelope. We get the envelope and letter but not the other goods.
hey everyone
well i have been living with a family for a few days and wow is it difficult to communicate. I will start first with my move from the Maputo hotel to our school. We took a chapa which is basically a van turned bus to school and our families met us there. Some local kids put on a really neat show for us with singing and dancing. They had some of the kids call out our name and give us a post card. It was definitely a nice welcome.
Next we met our families and my sister met me and her name is Anita and she is 21 and has a 2 month old named Vera. We tried communicating but it was difficult and we walked home pretty much in silence. At times I would point to things and say their spanish name and she would correct me. Out of that session I learned what a dog is called. cao pronounced cow. Definitely a weird language.
So i went to my new house which consists of three cement rooms. My bedroom, the kitchen-living room-basically the all purpose room and the parents bedroom. Outside is an addition made of reed that the 2 daughters sleep in. The kitchen is outside and the latrine where else is outside. Though my latrine does not have roaches crawling out of it like most trainees. And the wonderful bucket bath.
Back to the family, the mom-isabel, dad-paulo, sisters anita and maria and niece-vera. They are all really nice. We have electricity so its not too bad. my bedroom is the nicest room in the house. i am not allowed to have my window open at night, i guess they are afraid of someone getting through the bars, yes my bedroom window has bars on it and i have a mosquitoe net hanging over my bed.
well communicating with my family has been getting a little easier. I am understanding more portuguese but i canºt say i am able to tlak much more, though i try. Hand gestures mean a lot when trying to communicate. Last night me Anita and Vera went to the discoteca. I figure I donºt have to explain that one. I did find out trying to talk and understand portuguese when you are exhausted and have had 2 drinks is really difficult. ~
So school is long...weºre talking 10-12 hours a day. But they feed us a lot. There is always snacks and breaks and stuff like that. The kids are awesome here. They call us white people and we call them brown. They get a kick out of it and it isnºt a negative thing. The food isnºt bad, I get to learn how to cook and wash clothes tomorrow. Also how to plant a garden. The walk to and from school is a good 20 minutes. By the time I get home at night i want to sleep.
This is definitely an exhausting experience. So much to do and learn in such a short amount of time. Well I should wrap this up cause>I only have a few minutes left. I may not write for a week or 2 or so cause we are visiting volunteers next week so that we can shadow them and see how this whole thing is done. I will not write until I get back to Maputo and it is a good 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get here. Depends on how fast and how long we have to wait. So mom love you lots and miss you. Jeannette congrats on passsing the bar and swearing in. Sarah have a good time in Europe and donºt miss Hen too much. Farhana concentrate on school and send me emails venting when you need. Cor dontº stress tooo much, life will work out. Liz and Chris just keep being the brats you are(lol). And everyone else just be happy. ~
So to sum this up I am having a great time. I miss things but when there is soo much to do there is not a lot of time to think, which may be better. Though I hear after we swear in and move to our site there is a lot of down time. But I donºt think it will be a problem.
Anyway I will emial the next time I get a chance and I am safe and happy and not doing anything stupid. ~
Love ya all and miss ya~
From Africa~
Michelle
10/11/03
well i have been living with a family for a few days and wow is it difficult to communicate. I will start first with my move from the Maputo hotel to our school. We took a chapa which is basically a van turned bus to school and our families met us there. Some local kids put on a really neat show for us with singing and dancing. They had some of the kids call out our name and give us a post card. It was definitely a nice welcome.
Next we met our families and my sister met me and her name is Anita and she is 21 and has a 2 month old named Vera. We tried communicating but it was difficult and we walked home pretty much in silence. At times I would point to things and say their spanish name and she would correct me. Out of that session I learned what a dog is called. cao pronounced cow. Definitely a weird language.
So i went to my new house which consists of three cement rooms. My bedroom, the kitchen-living room-basically the all purpose room and the parents bedroom. Outside is an addition made of reed that the 2 daughters sleep in. The kitchen is outside and the latrine where else is outside. Though my latrine does not have roaches crawling out of it like most trainees. And the wonderful bucket bath.
Back to the family, the mom-isabel, dad-paulo, sisters anita and maria and niece-vera. They are all really nice. We have electricity so its not too bad. my bedroom is the nicest room in the house. i am not allowed to have my window open at night, i guess they are afraid of someone getting through the bars, yes my bedroom window has bars on it and i have a mosquitoe net hanging over my bed.
well communicating with my family has been getting a little easier. I am understanding more portuguese but i canºt say i am able to tlak much more, though i try. Hand gestures mean a lot when trying to communicate. Last night me Anita and Vera went to the discoteca. I figure I donºt have to explain that one. I did find out trying to talk and understand portuguese when you are exhausted and have had 2 drinks is really difficult. ~
So school is long...weºre talking 10-12 hours a day. But they feed us a lot. There is always snacks and breaks and stuff like that. The kids are awesome here. They call us white people and we call them brown. They get a kick out of it and it isnºt a negative thing. The food isnºt bad, I get to learn how to cook and wash clothes tomorrow. Also how to plant a garden. The walk to and from school is a good 20 minutes. By the time I get home at night i want to sleep.
This is definitely an exhausting experience. So much to do and learn in such a short amount of time. Well I should wrap this up cause>I only have a few minutes left. I may not write for a week or 2 or so cause we are visiting volunteers next week so that we can shadow them and see how this whole thing is done. I will not write until I get back to Maputo and it is a good 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get here. Depends on how fast and how long we have to wait. So mom love you lots and miss you. Jeannette congrats on passsing the bar and swearing in. Sarah have a good time in Europe and donºt miss Hen too much. Farhana concentrate on school and send me emails venting when you need. Cor dontº stress tooo much, life will work out. Liz and Chris just keep being the brats you are(lol). And everyone else just be happy. ~
So to sum this up I am having a great time. I miss things but when there is soo much to do there is not a lot of time to think, which may be better. Though I hear after we swear in and move to our site there is a lot of down time. But I donºt think it will be a problem.
Anyway I will emial the next time I get a chance and I am safe and happy and not doing anything stupid. ~
Love ya all and miss ya~
From Africa~
Michelle
10/11/03
Hey everyone~
To say the last almost week has been overwhelming is to say nothing. We have moved from city to city, and country to country. In Philly we were just waking up really early and learning what we would be experiencing in general and what we should and should not do and learning about each other.
Then we took the long uncomfortable flight to JO-Berg. Well it was extremely long, I couldn't sleep, I was having a small reaction to my yellow fever shot and I watched some really cool movies. We had our own personal tv's and could choose whatever it was that we wanted. Tv shows, movies, music videos...you get the point.
When we arrived in Jo-Berg we were unable to leave the hotel, which was fine with me. We chilled out by the pool, met some rugby players from George (which were really cute) and had a few cocktails. When we got back to our rooms we pretty much had to get ready for more briefing and another move.
We took a flight from Jo-Berg to Maputo and we have been in this hotel for two days and we will be here just another night. The hotels have been really nice and air conditioned. We have talked to lots of volunteers and got lots of shots. My arms feel like someone has been continuously punching me. I got a rabies vaccine!!! I was shocked, but whatever to keep me in good health.
Otherwise, my experience thus far has been very pleasant. I am looking forward to moving in with our families tomorrow. Though I am concerned because I only know a few things like how to ask where the bathroom is, how to say good morning and all those basic things that really don't do much for you if you need something. And I guess it helps that you know what they are saying when they answer back. The language is like a mix of Spanish and French and I find my spanish impeding what I am learning in portuguese. I am sure after being with a family for ten weeks, I won't have tooo much of a problem.
So the cool thing is that I might not have running water, electricity but I will probably have a cell phone. What a contradiction. Basically its like everyone has one. They are starting up a new site in the Northern provinces which I think would be really cool, but soooo far from everyone. We pretty much are guaranteeed to be with at least one other volunteer no matter where they put us. Which I think is great so we can lean on each other when we need too.
Everyone here seems so nice. We have 42 volunteers, which is the biggest group mozambique has ever had. Everyone has been very nice and welcoming. This actually reminds me a lot of the Dominican Republic. That is what I have seen from the airport to the hotel which was about a half an hour drive. It is so weird to see people driving on the wrong side of the car and teh wrong side of teh road. I am not sure what signals they obey but they seem to know what they are doing. I understand why we are unable to operate any type of vehicles here.
Well I should go since there is a line of people waiting for the 2 computers they have. I have been on an hour emailing those I can. So I hope all is well in everyones life and I am doing awesome.
I will hopefully talk to some of you soon!!!!!
I miss you all and love you lots,
Shells
10/6/03
To say the last almost week has been overwhelming is to say nothing. We have moved from city to city, and country to country. In Philly we were just waking up really early and learning what we would be experiencing in general and what we should and should not do and learning about each other.
Then we took the long uncomfortable flight to JO-Berg. Well it was extremely long, I couldn't sleep, I was having a small reaction to my yellow fever shot and I watched some really cool movies. We had our own personal tv's and could choose whatever it was that we wanted. Tv shows, movies, music videos...you get the point.
When we arrived in Jo-Berg we were unable to leave the hotel, which was fine with me. We chilled out by the pool, met some rugby players from George (which were really cute) and had a few cocktails. When we got back to our rooms we pretty much had to get ready for more briefing and another move.
We took a flight from Jo-Berg to Maputo and we have been in this hotel for two days and we will be here just another night. The hotels have been really nice and air conditioned. We have talked to lots of volunteers and got lots of shots. My arms feel like someone has been continuously punching me. I got a rabies vaccine!!! I was shocked, but whatever to keep me in good health.
Otherwise, my experience thus far has been very pleasant. I am looking forward to moving in with our families tomorrow. Though I am concerned because I only know a few things like how to ask where the bathroom is, how to say good morning and all those basic things that really don't do much for you if you need something. And I guess it helps that you know what they are saying when they answer back. The language is like a mix of Spanish and French and I find my spanish impeding what I am learning in portuguese. I am sure after being with a family for ten weeks, I won't have tooo much of a problem.
So the cool thing is that I might not have running water, electricity but I will probably have a cell phone. What a contradiction. Basically its like everyone has one. They are starting up a new site in the Northern provinces which I think would be really cool, but soooo far from everyone. We pretty much are guaranteeed to be with at least one other volunteer no matter where they put us. Which I think is great so we can lean on each other when we need too.
Everyone here seems so nice. We have 42 volunteers, which is the biggest group mozambique has ever had. Everyone has been very nice and welcoming. This actually reminds me a lot of the Dominican Republic. That is what I have seen from the airport to the hotel which was about a half an hour drive. It is so weird to see people driving on the wrong side of the car and teh wrong side of teh road. I am not sure what signals they obey but they seem to know what they are doing. I understand why we are unable to operate any type of vehicles here.
Well I should go since there is a line of people waiting for the 2 computers they have. I have been on an hour emailing those I can. So I hope all is well in everyones life and I am doing awesome.
I will hopefully talk to some of you soon!!!!!
I miss you all and love you lots,
Shells
10/6/03
Sunday, September 28, 2003
So yesterday was my going away party, which was a lot of fun. I want to thank everyone who was there, you made my last few days enjoyable to say the least. I held up pretty good until my sister and the kids were leaving today. I was hugging the little one and imagining how big he would be the next time I would see him. That was the start of the sobs. I can't imagine not seeing my niece and nephew for a couple of years. They will be so grown up. By the time they left all of us were in tears. So it is finally hitting home that I am leaving. I know it will be fun and exciting but I can't help but think of the little things I will miss, like everything.
Eventually I will have a link for pics on here. Cor is figuring it out and then she or I will post it. Here is my address while I am in training, for those of you that don't have it:
Michelle Kramer, PCT
Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo, Mozambique
Eventually I will have a link for pics on here. Cor is figuring it out and then she or I will post it. Here is my address while I am in training, for those of you that don't have it:
Michelle Kramer, PCT
Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo, Mozambique
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
This will be my website for the time I am living in Mozambique. I am leaving in a week and am not quite sure of when this is going to hit me. I know I am leaving but it seems so unrealistic that I am leaving for 2 years. I know this will be an experience of a lifetime and am glad that I have a chance to experience it.
I have been trying to pack and am not sure of how you can possibly pack everything you will need in 2 bags for the course of 2 years. This is a task I will accomplish but it is definitely taking some time.
I will use this website as an update on how I am doing. I will not be sending out mass emails, I think that will take too long. So I think this will be the easiest and I hope you will check back often for updates.
I have been trying to pack and am not sure of how you can possibly pack everything you will need in 2 bags for the course of 2 years. This is a task I will accomplish but it is definitely taking some time.
I will use this website as an update on how I am doing. I will not be sending out mass emails, I think that will take too long. So I think this will be the easiest and I hope you will check back often for updates.
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