Right now I'm sitting at hotel Kaya Kwanga in Maputo, where we've been for the past 3 days. There is a wedding reception happening right across from me, blasting a mix of African and American music. It's a really beautiful wedding, very similar to something you'd see in the US. The men are all in suits and ties, the women in fancy dresses. The bride's dress is gorgeous, your typical white wedding gown. I would take pictures, but that would be rude.
I guess I'm surprised because no one is really in any "traditional African" clothing. Then again, I'm in the capital city, So I guess that's to be expected. Tomorrow we move in with our host families in Namaacha. Namaacha is a village of about 40,000 people that sits on the border with Swaziland, and is about an hour and a half away from Maputo.
We got a lesson today on taking bucket baths, filtering our water, and using a latrine. Should be interesting. Our host families are responsible for helping us get acclimated to the culture. They are to cook for us (and pack our snacks), help us with the language, etc. They also said the host families have been informed that we dont know any of the language and we dont know how to do anything, so we have been warned that they are going to baby us and pretty much treat us like idiots, and offer to help us do everything. We were warned that the host mothers might try to offer to help us take a bath. It's not considered rude to decline, thank goodness. They also taught us how to say "No thanks, I can do it myself" in Portuguese. They just want to help...so...can't be too mad....
Today was also another day of vaccinations....today I got typhoid and rabies. Yesterday was Hep A and something else, I forgot, plus a weekly malaria pill. We also had a session on diarrhea and when it's an emergency and when it's normal. Fun times...both my arms hurt from the vaccinations, and the lady giving me the vaccinations kept laughing at me because of the faces I was making.
I've been calling people (maybe even you!) through GChat for free, but after tonight, we likely wont have much internet access. I will get a new SIM card for my phone next Saturday, so I'll have email, and I can email everyone (so mom, dad CHECK YOUR EMAILS, thanks)
I'll try to update when I can. I have to be up early to get to Namaacha. After 10 weeks there, I will move to my site, somewhere in the country. I wont find out for at least another 5 weeks. Until then, I'll be studying Portuguese hardcore, learning about Health & HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, spending time with my host family, and trying NOT to gain weight...
By the way...apparently, the host families have a competition to see who can fatten up their volunteer the most. Not to mention the fact that it's tradition to eat 5 times a day...hopefully I'll be fine. One of the doctors said I''d likely lose weight in Mozambique. Most of the current volunteers say otherwise. With dinner like the one I had tonight (grilled chicken, mushroom & cheese tortellini, salad, etc) I'm pretty sure they're right....
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