Namaacha, Mozambique
June 5th, 2012
“a palavra na rua”
I have arrived in my training site, the border town of Namaacha. We have been here only 2.5 days and already, we are finding small ways to amuse ourselves. My language group was trying to figure out how to say ‘word on the street,’ in Portuguese and we ended with “a palavra na rua.” “A palavra na rua, Wendy lives is a palàcio!”
This has been the running joke in my language group since…. they came over to my home stay house. It’s true. I live in a very nice house. We have electricity, a gas stove, a refrigerator, and two TV’s. Overall, it’s a pretty modern house. The house is well insulated, has 3 bedrooms, and two indoor bathrooms. These may sound like pretty standard amenities back home, but here in the town of Namaacha, many homes (from what I have been told) have outside latrines and outdoor coal stoves. We were told that this town was where the Portuguese built their vacation homes for the weekend back in the day- that explains the colonial style of the houses. Although many houses have indoor bathrooms, sinks, and faucets- running water is not always guaranteed. My host mom (my Mãe) was trying to explain this to me, but frankly, I don’t have the language skills to fully comprehend the reason for this water shortage. Even though I live in a pretty modern house, I still have to take bucket baths (which I am completely OK with). Luckily, my prayers were answered and my host family is great. My Mãe (“Mom”) is about 50 years old and lives with her husband, granddaughter (6 yrs.) and niece (15 yrs.). My Pai works long hours and I have yet to really see him around. But then again, I have only been here since Sunday. My Mãe is really nice and accommodating, so I feel really lucky to have her. She has hosted trainees before, so I think she has a good handle on the situation. As far as my language skills go, I understand most of what I hear. My Mãe is really good about talking slowly and making sure I understand what she is trying to communicate to me. I feel pretty good about my level of comprehension; it’s responding that is the problem. But, I will give myself some credit, I’ve been in the country for 5 days, and from what others say, I am already ahead of the curve :)
The last few days have been a whirlwind of information and new adjustments, but at the moment, I am feeling pretty good. Yesterday was the first day of training and my host cousin (?) walked me to the “Hub” (the location where we meet for technical training/info sessions). It was a little after 7:00am when we left the house, and it was during this walk that it began to really hit me, “I am in the Peace Corps!” Well, technically, I am not a volunteer until after training, but you guys get the gist! It seems like this process has been a long string of “I’m in! Well… technically… technically… technically…” …. Ahhhhh, fucking 10 more weeks of technicality!
Anywho! There I was, walking through this (semi) rural border town with dirt roads and it really entered my mind, “I am in AFRICA.” Perhaps I sound like a broken record, since I keep saying “it hasn’t hit me, it hasn’t hit me,” but now that I am here, it is slowly starting to settle in. On Sunday and yesterday I felt pretty neutral. I was nervous about finding out my living situation, meeting my family, and settling in. I kept wondering, “shouldn’t I feel more excited?” Now that I am finding a groove to things, getting acquainted with the town, feeling more comfortable with my family, and feeling more self-sufficient, my excitement level is starting to rise again. I am happy with my living situation, and definitely grateful for a welcoming host family, but I know that I can’t get too comfortable here. These 10 weeks of training are temporary, and my main test in adjusting to my environment is going to come after I get placed in my site.
I know this is getting pretty long- but for those of you who care to read about my first two days of training- I will keep writing! Like I said, on Monday we met at the Hub and had a formal opening procession with the Country Director and a representative of the municipality, and some Peace Corps staff. We had another safety/security presentation and a Water and Food Preparation power point. After the Safety & Security presentation, our Country Director gave us a breakdown of the incidents that have occurred in Mozambique in the last 5 years. Statistically speaking, Mozambique is a very safe country. After all these technicalities were done, we were separated into our language groups. I believe there are about 8 language groups (with 3-4 trainees each) and throughout these groups, there are 2 levels.
Today, all language groups met at designated houses throughout the community. We have lessons in one house for one week and then we rotate until we have had lessons at all of our houses. It was a long day of introductory Portuguese lessons, but we got plenty of breaks, and we even took a little field trip around town and practiced greeting others and presenting our friends to our families (or the maids that were home. Yes, people in Africa have maids, “embragadas” in Portuguese. Having help here is pretty common, especially for those who are more middle-to-upper class… from what I know. Which is not a lot).
After our language classes were done for the day, a few of us met up and went to a bar. It was nice to chill in an informal environment after all the information that has been thrown at us during the last few days. Overall, my group is full of fun and chill people. The more I get to know the people in my group, the more excited I become about what we’re about to experience. During our walk home, I looked up at the sky and for the first time in my life, I saw a sky full of stars. I have never seen so many stars, not even on camping trips. As cheesy and corny as this sounds, it was really nice.
“a palavra na rua”
I have arrived in my training site, the border town of Namaacha. We have been here only 2.5 days and already, we are finding small ways to amuse ourselves. My language group was trying to figure out how to say ‘word on the street,’ in Portuguese and we ended with “a palavra na rua.” “A palavra na rua, Wendy lives is a palàcio!”
This has been the running joke in my language group since…. they came over to my home stay house. It’s true. I live in a very nice house. We have electricity, a gas stove, a refrigerator, and two TV’s. Overall, it’s a pretty modern house. The house is well insulated, has 3 bedrooms, and two indoor bathrooms. These may sound like pretty standard amenities back home, but here in the town of Namaacha, many homes (from what I have been told) have outside latrines and outdoor coal stoves. We were told that this town was where the Portuguese built their vacation homes for the weekend back in the day- that explains the colonial style of the houses. Although many houses have indoor bathrooms, sinks, and faucets- running water is not always guaranteed. My host mom (my Mãe) was trying to explain this to me, but frankly, I don’t have the language skills to fully comprehend the reason for this water shortage. Even though I live in a pretty modern house, I still have to take bucket baths (which I am completely OK with). Luckily, my prayers were answered and my host family is great. My Mãe (“Mom”) is about 50 years old and lives with her husband, granddaughter (6 yrs.) and niece (15 yrs.). My Pai works long hours and I have yet to really see him around. But then again, I have only been here since Sunday. My Mãe is really nice and accommodating, so I feel really lucky to have her. She has hosted trainees before, so I think she has a good handle on the situation. As far as my language skills go, I understand most of what I hear. My Mãe is really good about talking slowly and making sure I understand what she is trying to communicate to me. I feel pretty good about my level of comprehension; it’s responding that is the problem. But, I will give myself some credit, I’ve been in the country for 5 days, and from what others say, I am already ahead of the curve :)
The last few days have been a whirlwind of information and new adjustments, but at the moment, I am feeling pretty good. Yesterday was the first day of training and my host cousin (?) walked me to the “Hub” (the location where we meet for technical training/info sessions). It was a little after 7:00am when we left the house, and it was during this walk that it began to really hit me, “I am in the Peace Corps!” Well, technically, I am not a volunteer until after training, but you guys get the gist! It seems like this process has been a long string of “I’m in! Well… technically… technically… technically…” …. Ahhhhh, fucking 10 more weeks of technicality!
Anywho! There I was, walking through this (semi) rural border town with dirt roads and it really entered my mind, “I am in AFRICA.” Perhaps I sound like a broken record, since I keep saying “it hasn’t hit me, it hasn’t hit me,” but now that I am here, it is slowly starting to settle in. On Sunday and yesterday I felt pretty neutral. I was nervous about finding out my living situation, meeting my family, and settling in. I kept wondering, “shouldn’t I feel more excited?” Now that I am finding a groove to things, getting acquainted with the town, feeling more comfortable with my family, and feeling more self-sufficient, my excitement level is starting to rise again. I am happy with my living situation, and definitely grateful for a welcoming host family, but I know that I can’t get too comfortable here. These 10 weeks of training are temporary, and my main test in adjusting to my environment is going to come after I get placed in my site.
I know this is getting pretty long- but for those of you who care to read about my first two days of training- I will keep writing! Like I said, on Monday we met at the Hub and had a formal opening procession with the Country Director and a representative of the municipality, and some Peace Corps staff. We had another safety/security presentation and a Water and Food Preparation power point. After the Safety & Security presentation, our Country Director gave us a breakdown of the incidents that have occurred in Mozambique in the last 5 years. Statistically speaking, Mozambique is a very safe country. After all these technicalities were done, we were separated into our language groups. I believe there are about 8 language groups (with 3-4 trainees each) and throughout these groups, there are 2 levels.
Today, all language groups met at designated houses throughout the community. We have lessons in one house for one week and then we rotate until we have had lessons at all of our houses. It was a long day of introductory Portuguese lessons, but we got plenty of breaks, and we even took a little field trip around town and practiced greeting others and presenting our friends to our families (or the maids that were home. Yes, people in Africa have maids, “embragadas” in Portuguese. Having help here is pretty common, especially for those who are more middle-to-upper class… from what I know. Which is not a lot).
After our language classes were done for the day, a few of us met up and went to a bar. It was nice to chill in an informal environment after all the information that has been thrown at us during the last few days. Overall, my group is full of fun and chill people. The more I get to know the people in my group, the more excited I become about what we’re about to experience. During our walk home, I looked up at the sky and for the first time in my life, I saw a sky full of stars. I have never seen so many stars, not even on camping trips. As cheesy and corny as this sounds, it was really nice.
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