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