Two Months In

It has been forever since I last wrote a blog post. Or at least it feels like it. It has really just been a little over two weeks. But, it has been a busy couple of weeks. Since my last post a lot has happened. I went to Chibuto to visit my PCV friend Alden; Grupo Amizade, the group of jovens I work with, came in 3^rd place at the English Theatre Competition; I baked for about three days straight in preparation for Vivienne’s Despedida; we held Vivienne’s Despedida at CACHES, which was an epic water balloon/water gun extravaganza; I went to Xai-Xai Beach; learned to pickle beets; started Portuguese and Changana tutoring; moved into my new house and went to Chidenguele. Yeah, I guess you could say things are in full gear here in Chicumbane. I am finally on my own at site and really getting a feel for what it is like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. I am so grateful for all of the preparation I had in training in Namaacha and for the past two months with Vivienne here, but I am definitely ready to “spread my wings” if you will.

I spent the last few weeks helping Vivienne prepare for her Despedida, but she started preparing months ago. Despedidas here are the customary thing to do when someone is leaving. We all had a despedida when we left our host families in Namaacha. Despedidas typically imply a lot of food, drinking and dancing. Vivienne’s Despedida was not your typical despedida. The despedida was held at CACHES with all the kids, she wanted to do things a little differently. She bought about 40 water guns along with hundreds of water balloons and then we made six piñatas and countless baked goods. It was pretty epic if you ask me. We started baking days in advance. The Sunday before the Despedida, we made 300+ donuts with a recipe from Plautilia, my host sister in Namaacha. I called her just after making them and she was so proud. The next day, I made no bake cookies and brownies that I turned into a whoopee pie type cake with peanut butter frosting in an attempt to disguise the burnt outside from baking in my pot-inside-pot-with-sand oven. I am still getting the hang of this whole pot oven thing. And then I made rice krispie treats and popcorn. The days leading up to the Despedida were spent not only baking, but also making piñatas. Vivienne, Nelio and I made two huge piñatas. We used punching balloons Vivienne had. And then that Monday before the Despedida, we brought basins, flour, water and balloons to teach the kids how to make piñatas. They had a ball. The following day, we gave them paints and they all painted the piñatas. They had never heard of piñatas before. I guess you could say we were completing Peace Corps Goal #2, to teach host country nationals about American culture. I guess it could be argued more Mexican culture, but Americans have adopted it. On Wednesday, at the Despedida, the kids went crazy with all of the activities. We split them up into two teams to complete the various water balloon activities and then have the water gun fight. Vivienne and I were the captains of the two teams. When all was said and done, no one made it out dry. Following the water activities, we hung the piñata and chaos ensued. The kids went crazy. I was so nervous that someone was going to get hurt because all of the kids were so excited. We were set up in the outside concrete rotunda at CACHES so every time someone broke the piñata, the kids would dive onto the floor in an effort to grab as much candy as possible. Several water guns broke in the process and a few tears were shed, but luckily that was it. Following the piñatas, all the kids had popcorn and donuts before heading home. During the time Grupo Amizade meets, we brought out the rest of the baked goods. They read a letter to Vivienne and presented her with a t-shirt with a picture of the group and “We love you. Kanimambo” written on it. Kanimambo means “thank you” in Changana, the local dialect here. Vivienne then gave each of them a picture and we spent the rest of the time just hanging out. The next day at CACHES was pretty anticlimactic, but most of the kids had brought their water guns so they had a water gun fight of their own.

Baked goods galore at Vivienne's Despedida.

Leo is ready for the water gun fight!

Team "Wrong Turn". The activistas chose the name. Don't tell Vivienne, but I would say we won the water gun fight! J/K

ATTACK!!!

What else? BEETS! One of my neighbors, Dona Rachel, gave us two HUGE beets. By HUGE, I mean each one is the size of a person’s head. I always have to pass by her house on my way to the center of Chicumbane and she is usually always outside and gives me a big, “Ola Amiga.” One day she invited me to have a soda with her in her barraca (stand). One day she presented Vivienne and I with a HUGE beet from Manjacaze, another site in Gaza where my friends Linda and Evan are PCVs. When she gave us the first beet, I first boiled it, then tried to fry some of it before deciding to make a salad with shredded beet, shredded carrots and onion. Still having more beet left, I looked up how to pickle it. All it takes is just water, vinegar, sugar and garlic. A week later, we had a jar of pickled beets in our fridge. Who knew it was that easy? So when she presented me with another beet a week later, I was more than excited to pickle it. The other day, I brought over a jar of pickled beets for her to try. She opened the jar and took a big sip. I explained that it was not a drink, but rather the beet she gave me and she should eat with salad, by itself or really however she wanted. She said next time she goes to Manjacaze, she will bring back another beet. Pickling beets might just be a new hobby of mine.

And most recently I have spent the last week moving and rearranging my new house. Woot! Woot! It has been pretty excited because aside from three months in Boston University’s South Campus housing, I have never lived on my own. Vivienne left early Monday morning. Dona Rachel, our empregada, and Nelio, one of CACHES activistas, came to see her off. After she left in the chapa, Dona Rachel offered to help me move in. Mind you, this was just before 5:00 a.m. I thanked her kindly, but figured I would go back to sleep for an hour. But, after she left, I changed my mind and decided to just get the move over with. After all, I had three hours before I had to be at the hospital. Little did I know, this was just the beginning of a weeklong project. That morning I moved everything into my new house. I then spent the next four days cleaning out and rearranging everything. Since this house has been inhabited by Peace Corps Volunteers for at least the last four years (maybe more), it has accumulated a fair amount of stuff. I found everything from Oregano spices from 2008 to expired medicine from Peace Corps, from an entire bookcase of books (before Kindles, PCVs just had paperbacks) to travel size chopsticks. My empregada Dona Rachel was instrumental in helping me clean out some of the surprises we discovered in our cleaning together. In the end, she made out pretty well because I gave her a box of things to take home. I also gave a box to Nelio and then made a box for other PCVs to go through. Needless to say, a week later, I think I have gone through every corner of my new house. I definitely made out pretty well in the end though, inheriting countless kitchen supplies, arts and crafts supplies, books, spices, sheets and furniture. So much for having the typical PCV experience starting from scratch on my own, but I am okay with that. There will be enough challenges down the road. So I am just going to be extremely thankful for how fortunate I have been over the past few months settling into Chicumbane. 

A big thank you goes out to Mana Vivienne for basically supplying me with a fully furnished house. I truly feel spoiled. I have to recognize how lucky I am and remember these blessings to help me through the tougher times ahead--because I know they are coming. Thank you to Vivienne for also being so patient with me as I learned the lay of the land here in Chicumbane. She was not just the PCV I replaced, but a friend and mentor. I will always remember my first two months with Mana Vivienne. And like a kid taking off the training wheels, I am now starting to ride the two-wheeler. There will be bumps and bruises, but I am grateful for the support network I have built over the past two months.