Mexican in Mozambique

This past weekend, we hosted a Halloween/ Despedida for the 17ers here in Central. I didn't take many pictures but here is one: "the man you can count on," a Mango Tree, Helga, and Dylan as himself On Sunday, Joanna and I took a day trip to Serra Shoa with Zach and Carolyn. Serra Shoa is located in the mountains of Catandica and is home to this beautiful waterfall: Joanna, Zach and Carolyn ahahahah not a bad way to spend Sunday afternoon :)

About three weeks ago, I went up to Cahora Bassa lake with a few friends. Cahora Bassa is Africa's fourth largest artificial lake which was created by the construction of a damn. The dam is the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa and much of the power it produces is sold to South Africa. The lake sits in Mozambique's eastern Tete province, which I had not yet been to before this trip. Here are some pictures: pit stop in Catandica before heading up to Tete Moringabay Lodge, Tete: Sunset view from the chalet baobab tree! Cahora Bassa: Cahora Bassa Dam w/ Z&C

Sunday afternoon, 4:12pm. Sitting on my veranda and relaxing on the wicker furniture that I inherited from previous volunteers... Chavela plays in the background ... " se me hizo facil...  borrarte de mi memoria,  a esa mujer a quien yo amaba tanto...  se me hizo facil,  borrar de mi este llanto..  ahora la olvido ...  cada dia, mas y mas...." Other sounds include the sounds from the welder's tools that works out front and the traffic passing down the national highway (EN6), which sits just a few feet in front of my house. "Voy a buscar otro amor,  que me comprenda..." iTunes switches it up to the Black Eyed Pees, "the Way you make me feel." "this aint no attempt to get up all up in yo jeans even tho I wanna make you scream to extremes... you got me feelin' like Im suppose to feel, just you and i, up close & personal Ill be gentle while you lettin your emotions spill" ... I've been...

This past weekend, Peace Corps volunteers throughout Mozambique organized regional English Theater Competitions. In my province, we had 10 schools participate and present pieces with the shared theme: “The choice is mine, the future is ours.” My JUNTOS group prepared a piece and presented it at the competition. JUNTOS is another secondary project here in Mozambique that engages youth in positive behavior change through various art forms; some groups are involved in journalism, photography, photojournalism, music, theater, and a variety of other activities. Although my group did not place, I think it was a good experience for them to be a part of and I hope it motivates them to practice harder for next year.  Presenting the jury Dombe put on an amazing piece! My Kids:

A few months ago, I ran in the national elections for the upcoming leadership of REDES and I was elected National Coordinator. REDES is one of our secondary projects and its something that I have been involved with during my time here.  On the 7 th , I traveled up with my site mate Anna (she is the National Financial Coordinator) to Nampula for the REDES Handover. The Handover was a two day event in which we met with last year’s leadership and five Mozambican facilitators to discuss and plan the direction in which we want to take REDES in. We planned out the upcoming year and set out a timeline for the things we want to accomplish. One of the bigger goals for this upcoming year is trying to legalize REDES as a non-profit. To be honest, I was kinda overwhelmed throughout this whole process. There was a lot of information thrown at us and at one point I thought, “what did I sign myself up for?! Coming into this position was nerve wrecking from the start due to the si...