Friday, September 30, 2011

MozamBUFFETS?!? MozamBUSINESSCASUAL?!?

Oh Man, I just had this whole post written and the internet went out and deleted it all. Ugh, I'll start again. Here's an update of my journey to Mozambique.

Milwaukee to Philadelphia:

After a tearful (mostly Anna and Mom) early morning airport goodbye to my family and Matt, I hopped on a plane to Philadelphia. The flight was uneventful because I slept the entire time (surprise!). At the Philadelphia baggage claim I met a fellow Peace Corps Chemistry Teacher named Anna from Milwaukee. She's sassy, went to UW Madison, and fills lulls in the conversation with her words. It's like I never left my Anna! They even have the same scarf. We shuttled to the hotel together. Next came a frenzy of storing our suitcases in a sketchy back room until our rooms were ready, filling out dozens of forms, and changing into our business casual outfits (yeah, that's right, I can be business casual). Six hours of getting to know the Education volunteers and rules of Peace Corps later, we were given debit cards to use for dinner. Then drama struck. The ATMs refused to give us our $160.00 and after many confused calls we realized there was only $120.00 on each card. After whining about our first world problem of being short changed $40.00 we went out to an Asian fusion tapas restaurant for our final American meal. By midnight I was asleep.

Philadelphia to New York to Johannesburg to Maputo:

The alarm went off at 2:00AM so we could check out by 2:30AM so we could board a bus by 3:00AM. We hopped on the bus in a downpour and decided it would be a good idea to watch Super Troopers instead of sleep. It was a poor idea in retrospect. By 5:30 we were at JFK International. Why did we get there so early? I can't know. Unfortunately, we couldn't check in until 7something and our plane didn't leave until 11:40 so that permitted plenty of time for naps and final calls. Then came the 15 hour flight. Although there were good movies and decent food, the woman next to me did not let me out of my seat nearly enough so I could have to wait for the 2 people on my other side to get up. Luckily, they were Peace Corps volunteers. What seemed like FOREVER later we landed in Johannesburg where we immediately got onto our plane to Maputo. At sometime during the hour flight, an MP3 player was stolen out of a backpack and a purse was taken completely. I made it with all my luggage. Apparently my bags don't scream "Take me!" I guess people aren't interested in stealing underwear and coloring books. Whatever. It Maputo we were greeted by the Country Director and whisked away on a Chapa to the hotel. For those who've read my Peru blog a Chapa is like a Combi. We drove past shanty towns a barefoot children until we arrived at our super swanky hotel. Hello pool and air conditioning and toilets and toilet paper! Fancy. The first day of orientation was just an epic lunch buffet and vaccinations. I still can't lift my arm above my head after all of those shots. Wimpy. I think I was in bed by 10.

Day 2 in Maputo to Home Stays:

Today we sat through 8 hours worth of talks. Safety talks, medical talks, host family talks. Thankfully every meal in this 4 star palace is a gourmet buffet, which takes the sting out of talk after talk. Fresh seafood, fresh fruit, and curry? It's like a dream come true. It's also a big tease. Tomorrow we meet our host families in Namaacha. I'm both excited and nervous. None speak English and we will be separated from our fellow volunteers. I've been told our host families will most likely treat us like infants. They will try to hold our hands, feed us until we burst, and even try to bathe us. I guess now is the time to practice my "no thanks" in Portuguese. Starting Monday, we will have both language and technical training. We need to be at the intermediate/advanced level for Portuguese in 5 weeks. Easy, right? Luckily, we are arriving just in time for rainy season. This means not only will i be sweating through my business casual dress shirts, but I will also be caked in bright red mud. Yum. I just want these 10 weeks to fly by so I can be placed at my site so I can get a puppy! The Peace Corps advises volunteers to get dogs not only because they are cute and cuddly, but because Mozambicans are afraid of them and you're less likely to have your house broken into. Hooray! I already have 10 names picked out. This either means my dog will have one really long name or I'll just have to get 10 puppies. We'll see.

Bah, I'm all MozamBLOGGED out after typing all of that a second time. Hope this post tides you over until I find internet again! Wish me luck!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Holy MozamBUTTERFLIES!

Well, I'm stuck at the Amtrak station in Chicago waiting for the train to Milwaukee. Apparently they don't let you on the train two minutes before it's about to leave even though you ran across downtown in a rainstorm. Lame. Fortunately, this gives me time to ponder life's mysteries, blog about my last few days in America, and post inappropriate things on my brother's Facebook wall.

I'm down to my last 24 hours in Wisconsin and the one thing I'm regretting is not eating more cheese. Besides the lack of dairy, I think I've had a pretty sunny final week in the Midwest. Sunniest part of my week part 1: today is family Thanksgiving. I told my mom I was most upset about missing my favorite holiday so today we're gathering the troops (mostly just getting Anna from Madison) and celebrating the most holy of holidays, Thanksgiving. I'll probably make a corny speech and eat more gravy than actual food, but that's what Turkey Day's about, right? Other than food, however, I'll be thankful if I get everything packed and ready to go by tomorrow morning...

Sunniest part of my week part 2: Matt surprised me with tickets to the Packer/Bears game in Chicago this weekend. OMG AARON RODGERS IN STRETCHY PANTS DROOOOOOOOOL. Not only did it not rain on us, but the Packers won (duh) and we got to watch a fight from its most early stages to the knock down drag out finale. Cloudiest part of the game: I didn't get to run my fingers through Clay Matthew's luscious golden locks :(

Mozambique is getting realer by the minute, but I'm still not sure how I feel. Antsy? Excited? Nervous? Overwhelmed? Hungry? Definitely hungry. It's really just too big of an adventure to wrap my head around at this point, so I won't right now. I'll just keep dreaming about stuffing and pumpkin bread pudding and Donald Driver while I wait for this train.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Let's get down to MozamBUSINESS!

On Wednesday September 28th I leave for Mozambique, Africa to begin my training as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer. I’ve been bombarded with questions regarding the details of my upcoming adventure so instead of tattooing the answers on my forehead, I’ve decided to answer a couple of frequently asked questions.

1. Lena, have you graduated? Are you a real person yet? What are you doing with your life? Answer: Yes, I graduated from UW-Madison in May with both Biology and Spanish degrees. In July I was officially invited to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique.
2. Uh, where is Mozambique? Answer: Mozambique is located in Southeast Africa, north of South Africa on the Indian Ocean.
3. And what will you do? Answer: Although it is subject to change, I am slated to be a high school Chemistry teacher.
4. You’re teaching in English, right? Answer: No silly, that would be way too easy. The official language of Mozambique (and the language I’m pretending to learn right now) is Portuguese. Yes, I will be teaching Chemistry in Portuguese. Piece of cake, right? So far I’ve learned useful phrases like “Leave me alone!” “Take me to the hospital!” “My brother is an IT Specialist.” and “I don’t eat meat.” To be honest, I don’t plan on using the last three…
5. How long will you be there? Answer: 27 months (I’m telling you, Mom, it will fly by).
6. But where will you live? Answer: For the first 3 months I will be living with a host family about an hour outside the capital city Maputo during training. After training I will be placed and will either live in a reed hut, a mud hut, or a concrete hut in need of repair (a.k.a. the Fixer-Upper).
7. When are you leaving? Answer: Tuesday, September 27th I fly to Philadelphia and the next day they ship all 53 of us Education Volunteers to Mozambique.
8. Are you crazy? Answer: Duh.

Besides that basic information, I don’t know many details. I have no idea what to expect and I’m strangely okay with that. I’ve made a little list of useful websites for my curious friends and family:

This is the Mozambique group on facebook where we ask each other seemingly ridiculous Peace Corps related questions because none of us know how to pack for two years. http://www.facebook.com/groups/105935326163686/

Here is the Peace Corps Wiki page with basic information about Mozambique. http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Mozambique

This is just the Peace Corps website where you can read up on Peace Corps safety or about what volunteers do. You can even apply to be a volunteer with me! Think about it. http://www.peacecorps.gov/

No explanation necessary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azVqekQBK8g

I love all kinds of questions, comments, rantings, sweet nothings, and advice so feel free to post your thoughts here! The best way to contact me will be lenajenison@gmail.com, facebook, or this Mozamblog.

Also I apologize for all the Mozambique jokes I'll probably make over the course of these next two years. Mozambear with me.