Here is a picture of Kevin with some of the kid's in his singing group

A lady with her baby on the back of our orange truck adventure.... I couldn't resist this picture.

one year in the moz

Our Moz 11 group has just marked our one year anniversary since arriving at staging in Philadelphia. It is hard to believe that we have been here a full year already. I have had a great year... I don't think I've every been challenged in so many different ways on a day-to-day basis, but in all I think it has really been worth while. I am pretty exhausted though, and am looking forward to the break coming up to recharge myself a bit, and see my family and friends.
The last few months have been pretty busy. We had a month off from school in July and August because Mozambique was doing a census. In order to do this census, they needed everyone to go back to their districts to be counted, and they also needed a lot of teachers and students to act as the counters... As you can imagine, its not so easy to get a head count on people in a country like this... Although I live in a fairly developed area, there are many parts of the country that are very difficult to get to. People are just spread about in small little villages all over the place and roads are more often then not in poor condition. Mozambique is a huge country, and people had to be hired to go to all of these little towns to get an idea of how many people are living here. I have no clue how they are going to organize all this information, but it should be interesting to see the results. The last census was done ten years ago, and I think the population count has changed dramatically since then. I have a feeling, as with everything, we will be waiting a while to see the results.
Over my break I got to do a bit of traveling. I went with my friend Katie on a trip from Vilankulo up to Nampula City in the north. We stopped and stayed with a bunch of volunteers on the way. We made it up to Chamoio, then to Caia, after that to Zambezia province. In Zambezia we went to Macuba, and then to an absolutely gorgeous town in the mountains called Gurue. Finally, we spent a day in Nampula City before flying back down. We did the trip up by chappa.... it took a long time, and we had a lot of interesting rides. We were gone about 2 weeks. I will say that I am on my way to becoming an expert traveler. I remember the days when I used to complain about the greyhound bus from Boston to Hartford... and those rides often had movies playing! Those days are no more. The way that people get shoved into chappas here is unheard of... they have at least 25 people sitting in a 15 passenger van... if there are children, and there are always children, they are placed on any and every unoccupied lap. To be sure there are always various food items that are being transported to resell in towns along the way, and there are usually a few chickens stuffed in as well. For my own well being I have learned to strategize about my seat placement in the chappa... tips for travel: do not sit by the door under any circumstances... you will always have at least 6 people crowded into a space designed for just 3... discomfort is nothing if it means more chappa fares. Despite the discomforts of travel, the traveling was at times kind of fun. At one point we got a ride from a guy in a pick up truck that was stopping at every possible location to buy oranges from ladies on the side of the road so that he could resell them in Malawi. He kept on dumping all these oranges on top of us in the back of the pickup. We were sitting knee deep in oranges, stuffed with chickens, and babies... I mean how can you not rejoice in the comedy of life in a situation like that...
The trip was too jam packed to relay all, but a couple of highlights were visiting my friend Kevin in Caia, and a 3 day hike that I took up to the highest peak in Gurue. Caia was nice just because Kevin is an excellent and thoughtful host. He did a great job showing us around his little river town. He has just been dealing with a lot of the backlash from the flooding of the Zambezi river at his site. There were thousands of people who lost their homes and farms during the flooding. By the time we got there, however, things were starting to get back into place. Kevin took us around the railroad and train yard that were abandoned during the war. He took us on a great walk through some of the local neighborhoods. We ate great food, and got to see him meet with his group of little neighborhood singers that come to see him every day so that they can sing with him as he plays the guitar. It was absolutely adorable. He is doing a great job in Caia, and it is nice to see someone so enthusiastic and settled into their community.
The hike we took in Gurue was also fabulous. Katie and I met up with some other volunteers, and we took a hike up Mt. Namuli. I didn't realize quite what I was getting myself into at the time, but I'm glad I did it. The hike in to the base of the peak was about 7 hours... most of it up hill... not easy (I have to admit I am a little out of shape). We got to the base and spent the night camping at a local woman's home. She is actually referred to as a queen, because her late husband was the chief of this mountain area. We had to ask her for permission to climb the mountain, and then do some traditional ceremonies in order to keep us protected on our hike up. We also had to give quite a bit of money, which may or may not have been part of what is required of hikers passing through, but in the end I think it was worth it. We made the climb the next day... a really tough climb, with a lot of scrambling and pep-talks between Katie and I so that we wouldn't quit before reaching the summit, but all of us made it, and the views were gorgeous. The hike out was a bit shorter... we did it at 2 am with a local guy (we had to get back in to town that morning) and he took us on a shortcut (which included hiking through a freezing river at about 4am, which did the trick of waking us up). In all, it was just a really beautiful walk through an amazing part of the country. I love hiking, so I was in heaven.
Now I'm back at site. We are already coming to the end of our third trimester. We are giving final exams next week. After that, I get to turn in my final grades, and then they do more exams for the 10th and 12th grades. These two grades have to take national exams that determine whether they pass or not. I'm not really sure what's entailed, but I guess I have to take part in proctoring and grading. My roommate, Josh, is winding down his last couple months of service, so next year will be quite different without him around. I'm not sure quite what to expect once I am back from my trip home... apparently they might be rearranging the schools, and maybe moving some of our students over to the old school. They are supposed to be putting a university agriculture here in Vilankulo, and they are probably taking up residence at our school until they have a place of their own... Anyway, it should be interesting and full of all new adjustments. Hopefully I'll be full of energy from my break, and be ready to take them on.
All in all, life is good. I have some great friends here, both in other volunteers, and people from my community. I do have moments of frustration and loss of patience, but I think that is fairly typical. Today is a holiday, so I get to relax a bit... wash some clothes, grade some papers... maybe walk with my dog to the beach. Not so bad.
I hope all is well at home. Happy birthday Dad. I will see lots of you in just 2 short months!