September 20, 2011
Let's have a moment of silence...for my Blackberry. It died a horrible death a few days before my birthday.
Let's have a moment of silence...for my Blackberry. It died a horrible death a few days before my birthday.
Why have I been so silent? Well, I had about 5 saved blog entries on my Blackberry, that I cant manage to get off. They were good ones too. About being African-American in Mozambique, my take on women's rights and the current state of women in Mozambique...stuff like that. Oh well... One day I'll get the energy to write some meaningful posts, but for now, you just get a random update
Here's whats been going on:
1. A few months ago, in June, a kitten appeared on my doorstep. I fed him, and he never went away. I named him Pfifer. He was cute, until he became an attention whore, and always wanted me to pet him and hold him. He was really loud and obnoxious. Especially if I wasnt paying attention to him. So I made him an outdoor cat, which really meant he just hung out in the yard until I let him come inside to eat. Two weeks ago, he fell down the well in my yard and drowned. I'm a horrible mother. And thats the end of that story...
2. My landlord got two puppies. They were so cute. He sold one, and we kept the other, Whiskey. I dont know what I did to that dog, but she WILL NOT leave me alone. And she's figured out a way to get out of the fence when I leave so she can follow me. Whenever I try to leave. For work (or whereever else I may be going). Its cute that she loves me, but I literally cannot leave my house without this dog running after me. So I've been late to work a lot lately...
3. I started a REDES group, which is going well. What is REDES, you ask? Well, it stands for Raparigas Em Desinvolvimento, Educacao, e Saude...which in English means Girls in Development, education and health. Its a national Peace Corps project that essentially creates groups of adolescent girls in the community and we meet and discuss all different types of issues related to these 3 topics, as well as self esteem building, critical thinking and life skills. Some groups also do income generation or computer classes or other activities. My girls do theater and singing. And lucky for us, our first performance is coming up! I have about 13 girls, and they came up with a skit about HIV/AIDS that they will be presenting next Sunday. We even made matching headbands out of capulana fabric (with little flowers!) that we'll be wearing. I'm so proud of them!
4. The general consensus around these parts is that at first glance, people automatically think I'm either Mozambican, South African or Brazilian (Brazilian especially if my hair isnt braided). Those are what I get the most...but here's a list of other countries that people have guessed I'm from:
-Angola (The new Miss Universe is from Angola!)
-Malawi
-Zimbabwe
-Zambia
-Tanzania
-Sao Tome & Principe
-Cabo Verde
-Cuba
-Nigeria
-Guinea Bissau
-Portugal (I know right? WTF?)
-I have also been asked if I speak French, which I assume means people are thinking I'm from West/French speaking Africa
One guy (a cab driver in Maputo) guessed American. He got a gold star (no...he didnt really. But I was impressed) Most people just think I'm from Maputo, even people in Maputo are shocked that I'm not from there, but the further out I go, people automatically know I'm not like them, and start with their random guessing. I think most people just guess the countries they know of, and its not really based on how I look at all (like Nigeria...and Portugal...I dont look Nigerian at all. And I sure as heck dont look Portuguese...)
5. I GOT A BIRTHDAY CARE PACKAGE! My college friend Brian...it was right on time too! So happy...
6. I was walking the other day to the store in my community. I usually cut across the primary school because I'm lazy and dont want to walk around. I heard this little boy talking to his friends in Portuguese "I'm gonna do it! Watch! There she is!" I kept walking. His friends were giggling, and the little boy walked up to me, with a big smile on his face, and said, in English "How are you today, friend?" I responded "I'm good, thank you, how are you?" and in one breath, he said "IAMFINEANDYOU!" then he ran off, squeeling to his friends in Portugese "I DID IT! I DID IT!" I thought it was cute.
7. Further proof that I am crazy - I just finished a cross country trip, overland, from my site to Maputo. All so I could see the opening ceremony of the All-Africa Games 2011. Did I make it? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes! 3 days of traveling, each way. (with stops to visit friends of course). I had so much fun. Yes, I would do it again.
8. There are times when I feel like I am going to die from boredom. That was just a random thought.
9. We just got 30 new health volunteers. And in a few weeks, we're getting new education volunteers. In total, there will be around 170 volunteers in Mozambique.
10. As of the end of this month, I will have been in this country for a full year! Yay me! (I did it...somehow, I actually made it...)
Anyway, you people reading this should send me things.
I will hopefully post my other blogs soon, or at least rewrite and post soon.
