Well, I well begin by letting you know that a now-official Peace Corps volunteer is writing this post. The group of Mozambique 28 swore in to service this past Thursday on the lawn of the U.S. ambassador's house (let's be honest, mansion) and will now be beginning their 2-year stints as health volunteers.
The last 3 weeks of training went well, but the energy had definitely changed from the first weeks after arrival in May. The last segment of PST was largely characterized by general restlessness and everyone scrambling to spend a little more time with various other volunteers who they would likely not see again for either 3 months or one year, depending on which area of the country they will be serving in. Peace Corps policy has it that volunteers so not leave their province for the first 3 months, as their presence better facilitates integration into their communities. However, at month 3 there is a conference called Reconnect in which volunteers from the northern, central, and southern regions of the country get together to break down there first months at site. Then at the year mark is a full-group conference in the capital city, Maputo, at which the entirety of our possé will reunite for a mind-service debriefing.
The end of training snuck up on me, as all important dates tend to do, and I find myself in some ways unable to comprehend that it is over. After so much moving around you enter a state of almost permanent adaptability and it's hard to believe that I'm at the location that I'll be living in for the next 2 years. I'm ready for it, though. It's going to be a huge challenge and I'm very excited to work my way through it. Peace Corps is "the hardest job you'll ever love" according to the organization and I have already been able to get a glimpse of both sides of that coin. That will be the subject of my next entry... But for now, here are some photos of the last few weeks.
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| The legendary Wimbe Beach of Pemba, where we were able to wait for our flight back to Maputo after our phase 2 |
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| The hotel-top view of a Maputo sunrise. We stayed one night in the capital before continuing back to Namaacha |
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| When I got home I learned that the family had a new member |
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| Learning some of the benefits of local ingredients during a nutrition session during our last 3 weeks is training |
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| We did a session on permagardening. Here Isabela and Essence are working on cutting up the brown material for the compost |
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| My tia, Aissa, and I having a last ShopRite chicken lunch. Many of the volunteers would go there every Wednesday to partake in this beautiful gastronomic experience |
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| Michelle battling my pai in Damas, a board game similar to checkers but with a much more anarchistic gameplay |
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| We went and gave practice health talks at a local neighborhood/school. No one spoke Portuguese, but it all worked out really well in the end. It was a great experience and showed quite well what our job was going to look like |
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We had a host family party and got all of our families together to thank them for taking us under their wings for 3 months. Part of the celebration
included a relay race of peeling coconuts, washing clothes, starting a charcoal stove and other activities we learned during our time there. Grandma, you'd be proud to know my team tied for first place! |
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| Mãe holding our new baby goat |
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| Pai and I posing for a photo during the homestay celebration |
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| These gorgeous little morsels were found in Maputo our last night. They were Mana in the desert. |
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| It's hard to describe how this burger made me feel. I wanted to weep, laugh, and fist pump at the same time. |
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| Billy and I sharing center stage at the ambassador's house after swearing in |
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| Michelle, the fearless Wisconsinite with whom the majority of my Pre-Service Training adventures were shared, represented our group at the swearing in ceremony and gave a brilliant speech in Portuguese about Moz 28's experience in the Peace Corps up to that point |
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| Marco, a good friend from my bairro and lingua group, and I hanging out at the Peace Corps office just after swearing in |
