Welcome to Africa! ....oh wait, my host family WHAT?!

Hello friends and family!  I'm in Maputo, Mozambique...and I'm ALIVE! Thank goodness. As for being well....only time will tell. 

(WARNING: the text below is overly dramatic and possibly takes a deranged undertone due to sleep deprivation, extremely recent rabies vaccination, and setting foot on a foreign planet)

It's been a long road here, but we finally made it. After two solid days of traveling like wandering nomads, pitching up our tiresome and oppressive luggage in all sorts of crevices in JFK, Johannesburg, and Maputo airport we have arrived in paradise. Sort of. If not for the threat of possible theft of personal items, unsafe drinking water, possible food poisoning, and the ever present danger of getting bitten by a Malaria infested mosquito, it has been absolutely beautiful at the Hotel Cardoso. We showed up in time to watch the sunset with a GRAND view over the Indian Ocean with palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze. We then had an amazing and very luxurious dinner with all kinds of goodies: salads of all varieties, soup, rice, chicken, pork, fish, bread, freshly grilled kabobs, chicken, cakes, choc mouse, fresh fruit, and one of the most amazing bread puddings I have ever tasted. Could we have even asked for more? 

And yet, I DO! We got our host family information today, and we were all just so stoked to see what our families would be like. We were given a booklet with our names assigned to a family, consisting of the number of family members, their names, their professions, their ages, the languages they spoke, and whether or not this was their first time hosting a volunteer. Many people got a cute family anywhere from 4-6 people, with a husband and wife, and lovely children, the average ages you would expect a young family to be. About half the volunteers received families that have hosted before and know what to expect. 

This is my host family's description:

Family Members (name/age/relationship/activity):
Ricardo Canza/63
Leonilde/18/daughter/student
Elidio/15/son/student
Miriama/13/student
Languages Spoken:
Portuguese and Changana (local language)
Observation
First year with volunteer

My first reaction to my host family's description:
WHAT?!!!! YOU MEAN THERE IS NO MOM?! I HAVE NO MOM!????????????? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITHOUT A MOM????!!!!!!!!!!!!
 (***To my real mom: Please don't freak out after reading this. Me going crazy over this is quite tramatic already. Just tell me it's going to be ok, even if it is a lie. I'll believe you because your my mom, and I love you and trust your judgement***)
 

My second reaction to my host family's description:
And it's their FIRST time with a volunteer??!!! OH NO, OH NO OH NO!! I'm living in a MAN'S house, with NO WOMAN FIGURE of the house to show me the ropes. OH NO! He's going to make me cook, and clean, and wash clothes, and collect the water, and clean and manage the kids, and OH NO, OH NO, OH NO!!!! And what am I supposed to do if I don't know how to use the bathroom, or get the water and set up the bathroom for a bath, or anything womanly?!!! There's NO WAY I'm going to ask him about that kind of personal business. And then my mind wandered to living alone in a house with just A MAN and his kids and as you can imagine my mind ran away to the worst of possibilities (I've also been reading "The Color Purple" which made this so much worse). Unless "Ricardo" is really a woman, I'm in for a tough 3 months folks. Peace Corps, really? You thought it was a smart decision to put a naive American girl into a first time host family without a woman? OH NO!!! And they don't speak a lick of English?! OH NO! 
(***P.S. Every OH NO, was really taking the Lord's name in vain. I'm sorry God. I blame the drugs.***)

In all honesty though, it's not even my first full day here, and already I need to remember the title of my blog "In God, We Trust." I can't imagine the reason for this insanity, but I trust that you know God. That you have a purpose for it that is beyond my comprehension and beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I know this is going to be hard, but I know that I am not alone. God, only give me the strength and perseverance to be able to do it! I hope that whatever Sunday may bring when I meet my host family, I can look at the positive in it, and be thankful for such a learning experience to grow me into a stronger more resilient woman.

....but for the next two days, I'm seriously going to be praying hard that the description of my family is inaccurate and that I really do have a host mom after all. 

More shots to follow tomorrow, and hallucinations from malaria meds.
Time for sleep.

P.S. The best part of my day? The ride from the airport to the hotel. It was everything you've ever seen about Africa, but to see it with mine own eyes was UNREAL! Dirt covered roads, sides littered with rubbish, people everywhere, crazy driving, women with heavy bundles on their heads, brightly colored skirts, slums made with collected trash, roofs made from metal embarkments held on to the roof by discarded bricks, children playing in the streets in abandoned rusty old cars, music jamming, shops of all kinds, bra stands, shoe stands, children on the side of the road selling chips, officers carrying AKs, the smell of cool ocean water, the palm trees, etc. etc. This is really Africa, and I LOVE EVERY BIT OF IT! I want to soak it all in. A jaw dropping WOW for this southern girl.

P.S.S. I move to my host family's house on Sunday where I won't have access to internet often (maybe once a week) and maybe with service so poor that I won't be able to update my blog. I'll try and update it with at least a sentence saying I'm alive and ok. 

Love you all so much!
Saranya

2 Months of Packing, 2 Years of Service, and 2 Pieces of Luggage

Welcome friends and family! Hopefully I have time and internet access to keep up this blog so you know how I’m doing in Africa for the next two years. But for now, enjoy what I’ve been up to, pre-Africa : )

As you all know, I’ve been packing for this next step in my life for the past 2 months. 2 months of packing, for 2 years of Africa, all into 2 suitcases. Totally justified.

I wrote this post mainly to thank everyone who has helped me prepare for this journey. I’m touched by your help, guidance, advice, gifts, prayers, and time spent together. I feel incredibly blessed, and know that in the trying times ahead I can look back at these past two months, and know that no matter what I face or go through, I am well loved. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all that you have done for me!

Since I found out where I was being placed for the Peace Corps, you all have been kind enough to ask where I am going, what I’ll be doing, and what on earth I am packing for the move to Africa.

Just in case I didn’t get the chance to tell you, here’s the run down of where I will be and what I’ll be doing for the next few months:

I am going to be living in Mozambique, Africa for the next 2 years and 3 months in the hopes of being a high school biology teacher. I am departing on Tuesday, Sept. 25th to meet the other volunteers in Philadelphia and pick up my sweet new PC passport. We are all then catching a bus at 2AM on Wednesday morning to New York where we will fly out of JFK headed to Johannesburg, South Africa arriving Thursday morning. We will then fly to the capital city of Maputo for a 3 day orientation, a brief and in-a-flash Portuguese course for simple means of communication, and lots of vaccinations (ouch!). Then we are bussed to our host families in Namaacha, located on the border of Swaziland and about an hour (if all goes smoothly) from Maputo. We will be here in training for the first 3 months learning the language, the culture, and how to teach our specific subjects in Portuguese. Then we take a language proficiency exam, and if I pass, at the end of December I will be a sworn in member of the Peace Corps! From then on out there is site placement for where I’ll be for the remainder of my service.

In terms of what we are allowed to pack: we can bring 2 pieces of checked luggage not exceeding 100 lbs (50 lbs each) and a carry-on. The catch? We are only allowed one of the pieces of checked luggage for the 1^st 3 months, but we don’t get the other till after training!

When I first got “the suggested packing list”, I was overwhelmed with the number of recommended things to bring that I could only imagine trying to fit it all into 2 suitcases. Not only that, but that list continued to grow with people’s suggestions and my own. It should rightfully be named “THE BLOB” because it was an ever changing, shifting, heap that continued to grow in size and would amass more and more items in its ridiculous trajectory, charging in whatever direction it pleased, draining me of my sanity, floor space, and bank account. The buying of things has been endless, but finally it has come to an END, and I truly feel that I have everything that I could possibly need to keep me alive and well in Africa (except a snake bite kit and antivenom…but don’t even get me started).

Well this is definitely TMI, but it is as detailed a description I can give for what all I’m bringing with me to Africa (including an attempt at thanking everyone for their contributions)…so you know that I am as ready as can be! (And if I forgot something, please don’t tell me. It’s a lost cause at this point.)

Here are the three pieces of luggage I’m bringing: 1.“So long, farewell” large suitcase 2.“I hope this is all I need!” large backpack 3.“My own, my precious” small carry-on backpack.

Long-term suitcase, 3-month backpack, carry-on backpack

Long-term Suitcase Items

For my “So long, farewell” long-term suitcase:

1. Clothes-t shirts, skirts, tank tops, jeans, and one dress (thanks, Amma)
2. Cooking knife (thanks, Amma)
3. Moth balls (essential for warding off cockroaches and snakes, ugh)
4. Pressure Cooker Pot (thanks, Amma)
5. Journals
6. Instant Cappuccino and Chai Tea
7. Travel coffee Mug
8. Waterproof hiking shoes
9. TAMPONS! (thank you to everyone who gave me tampons! Molly, Kristen, Dominique)
10. Solar Camp Shower (After 3 months of bucket baths, If I can ever get this set up at my site, even a single use with this thing will be heaven!)
11. Single packets of coffee, Gatorade, and crystal light (thanks, Molly)
12. Hot chocolate and oatmeal
13. Packets of my favorite hot teas
14. Gum and delicious chocolate (thanks, Alvin and Soeir)
15. Motivations stickers and stationary for my students (thanks, Katie and Molly)
16. Notebooks (thanks, Molly and Katie)
17. Toiletries - thanks to everyone who gave me soap! Good to know you all value me being clean : )
18. Asthma medicine (thanks, Nadia)
19. Disinfecting wipes (thanks, Cassi and Molly)
20. Sandals
21. Sewing Stuff (thanks to the McMillians, and Molly)
22. Portable speakers (thanks, Christina)
23. Large Multitool
24. Bike repair kit (if I end up getting a bike)
25. Sharpies, pens, and pencils galore! (thanks Kristen, Katie, and Molly)
26. Steel and Flint (because I need to be able to start a quick fire to burn the Mozambique version of coal for cooking my food)
27. Emergency water filter (thanks, James)
28. Bug net for my hammock
29. Hammock (thanks, Nadia)
30. Sleeping pad

3-month Backpack Items

For my “Hope this is all I need!” 3 month backpack:

1. Fake but nice jewelry (thanks Amma and Cammy)
2. Travel towel
3. Duct tape
4. Sewing kit
5. Rope
6. Knife and Cat Claw (safety essentials)
7. Scissors
8. Small Multitool (thanks, James)
9. Whoops!
10. Portable Nebulizer (for emergency asthma care)
11. Second pair of glasses
12. Clothes
13. Travel toiletries kit (thank you to the McMillians)
14. Journal
15. compact 55 degree sleeping bag and mosquito net
16. Dry bag (thanks, Cammy)
17. Socks
18.  instant drinks and granola bars
19. More clothes
20. TAMPONS
21. Underwear
22. Electronic items: headlamp, batteries, I don’t even remember anymore
23. Hair accessories
24. Vitamins
25. Medicines for all possible ailments
26. Travel Purse
27. Pens, pencils, and more sharpies
28. Lots more clothes
29. More asthma meds, epi pen, bug spray, more toiletries, shampoo and conditioner (thanks, Christina)
30. Thanks, Vidiya for the backpack

Carry-on Backpack Items

For my “My own, my precious” important items pack:

1. Mad Libs: Peace and Love edition (for making friends on the 14 hr plane ride!)
2. Potable water pills (thanks, James), allergy meds, pain meds, wipes, handy mints (thanks to the McMillians)
3. My new friend “Hug”. Poor bear, he’s mighty allergic to lions, elephants, and tigers! I hope he can at least protect me from snakes. Wishful thinking, I know.
4. Portuguese verbs 501 and Portuguese grammer (also have the Pimsleur Portuguese thanks to Elizabeth)
5. Daily devotional
6. Journal (thanks sis)
7. Water bottle (thanks Kari)
8. Reeses cups - aka bounty demanded of us by current volunteers during training
9. Toothbrush
10. Travel size toiletries
11. Smaller water bottle
12. Passport imitating tissues- that will really fool em’ (thanks to the McMillians)
13. Money belt
14. External hard drive
15. Bible
16. Portuguese-English Dictionary (thanks, James)
17. Albums (thanks Christina, Becca, and Dominique for the pictures)
18. Flash light (thanks to the McMillians)
19. Steripen water purifier (thanks sis)
20. Address book
21. Measuring tape
22. Kindle (thank you Shantel, and thank you to the Stevensons and James for the Amazon gift card)
23. My precious UT wallet that I still have!
24. Flashdrives
25. Memory card for my camera
26. Sunglasses
27. Drop proof, waterproof, sand proof camera….let’s hope!
28. Deodorant (a must)
29. Rain boots (for the icky roads during training)
30. Chacos
31. Stamps
32. More TAMPONS
33. Money (thanks Dad, Christina, and Loyda)
34. Ipod
35. Glasses
36.  Voice recorder (for language learning sessions) and cords for my electronics
37. My computer (which is not pictured)

P.S. If you’ve made it this far, you’re a trooper. If you know me, you know that I sometimes get carried away, but fortunately for all of us, my recent fortune told me not to overdo it and I will be sure to have a promising future. So I’ll take that advice with me to Africa, and I’ll never again write a blog this detailed or this long!

So, thanks for reading! Hope I haven’t scared you away.

And please write back and leave comments, because there’s nothing more encouraging than hearing familiar voices so far from home.

Much love, Saranya