Innocent...dancing...?

So...I was eating dinner with my buddy and a couple of friends that we knew at the hospital came over. They were going to the discoteca and asked us to join them. "Sure, why not?" I thought.

After a couple beers, I started dancing. I'm not sure who was raping who, but a lot of guys started taking turns battling me...very closely...as if I was a girl...I'm not sure how I feel about that. Well, I'm pretty sure I raped them.

I danced some more, until a girl asked me to dance with her. We talked for a bit, danced a lot, and then...she started to lick my ear. "WTF," I thought...So, when a girl came over and distracted her, I left the dance floor.

I talked with my buddy, and he said that I had been dancing with a hooker. He had seen her around the other barracas and had noticed her odd behavior.

I need to go shower. I sweated a lot. And...I don't want any STD's in my ear.

Aw yeah...

Can you imagine going from extreme sadness to extreme happiness in less than 24 hours?

Well, that has just happened to me, and as a result I'm extremely hyper at the moment. I won't explain in details what's happened...actually, I won't explain at all since it's all very private and this is a public blog...but...mew. Muahaha.

Sooooo...what's new in my world?

I have some RPCV's from Namibia coming to visit next week, I'm trying to score some funds for one of the local HIV stigma groups (all of them are HIV positive, but they are freaking awesome and happy people), I have a couple of orphans next door who I'm quickly becoming a father-figure to, and...I just have to straight up say this (sorry to all the peeps at home)...all the people I've met here in Moçambique (especially the expats and PCV's) are the most amazing individuals I've met in my life. I could not have asked for a better country placement...and I'm loving this province as well...

Okay, enough of that shiz.

So, interesting stories...I visited a hospital in a comunidade several km away, and they had a trash pit where they threw the placentas and biohazardous stuff (to be burned later), but it was placed directly next to a corn field. The nearest corn plant was seriously within 2 feet of the pit. Yummy!

People here love to dance. It's freaking awesome. Sometimes I'll walk behind the central mercado and people will be dancing in the fruit aisles. Oh yeah, I had a lanya (baby coconut) yesterday and I had a pineapple today. It was a nice change from my bread and peanut butter breakfast.

I 'm planning on starting my garden soon...maybe tomorrow after I find some corn seeds...I'm going to have peanuts, beans, onions, tomatoes, corn...and a couple other things...I don't have time to make any compost and I'm kinda lazy to find some ash, so I'll see what I can do with just pure digging...hopefully my yard has some nice nutrients...but whatevs.

There's more that I'd like to say but I seriously can't tell you...I just can't.

Peace out yo!

A nice little trip...

It all started off with frogs mating.

I was itchy from bug bites and what not, and my bed was uncomfortable...so I wasn't sleeping very well. Then, when the loud music from the local barraca (which is normal and I can normally sleep through) finally stopped at 10pm, the mating frogs started up. Now, all you people in the states might think you've heard frogs before, but some of these frogs sounded like they were being murdered or something. High pitched squeals emanated between the barotone croaks. Then a cat screeched at my dog. Then a dog growled at my dog, causing Vaca to whine to me...begging to be let in the house. I drifted in and out of restless sleep until 4am, when the Mosque's call to prayer told me that the sun would be up soon and I would no longer score any more z's.

So, I spent the next night at my buddy's house (and by buddy, I mean my Mozambican-doctor-mulatto buddy...there are no other Americans in my town...the only one I know of in the whole district, besides me, lives out in the boonies and I only see her a couple days every month or so).

I woke up at 5am, pretty well rested...used his comp to upload a few pix...watched the new version of Ninja Turtles dubbed in Portuguese...took a three hour trip over a bumpy road to a beach 50km away...tomar'ed banho in my undies with four other mozambican dudes in the ocean (they were better prepared and had speedos on)...caught a few waves, with my underwear threatening to wash out to sea (I hope the crabs and clams got a good look)...had some lobster which was pretty dry and unsatisfying, but only $5 US...fries and rice included...then listened to classical rock on the way back home: "What is love? Baby, don't hurt me...don't hurt me...no more..." Our driver speaks only a little English, but he loves listening to American jams. I waved to kids who randomly waved at us on the bumpy roads. I started pondering whether or not I like my new life here...a leaf from a coconut tree falling as I contemplated if I'm still in awe at being in Africa.

Not so much in awe anymore...it's more like...an awakening for me. I am here...I've been wanting to be here for a long time, and there are many things I am planning to accomplish...and I am finally here to do it.

If you don't leave the safety and comforts that you're used to...if you just follow the ebb and flow of the society you've been caught in...you'll never discover what it is that your heart really desires...well, at least for people like me, that is.

I've always felt something missing, and I think I've finally found it. It took me a couple years and a trip to the opposite side of the world...and some intensive classes and social adjustments...but I feel pretty damn lucky to live the life that I have and be the person that I am. Crazy, neh?

Randomness

Since I'm so far behind in updating my blog, I'll just start writing random stuff.

Today at the market:
Dude (to me): Chinese man!
Me (to dude): American man!
Ingrid (to me): Sorry man.

Did you know that the quickest way to get from one moment to another is to pesada until time stops? Yes, it is quite true. (Pesada is a popular method of dancing here)

I lost count of the number of times I've been called "china" and the number of times people have asked me why I don't have a woman yet. I guess I get the china thing more, but they're both a little annoying.

My puppy is named Vaca de Plastico. He likes to play with plastic. And he's really cute. I feed him xima mixed with dried fish. Xima is kinda like mashed potatoes except it doesn't have butter and it's made with corn. It's more popular than rice here.

Ummmm....oh yeah, Vaca is cow, and Cao is dog, so...that's why he's named Vaca.

I ate some of the xima with dried fish that I made the other day before feeding it to Vaca, and then as I was spooning it out to give to him, I found some insect larvae. I thought the mixture tasted a little bitter. Oh well, more protein.

I was walking in the rain yesterday and a girl asked me if I wanted to share her umbrella with her. I told her that I was fine, but she said I would get a fever if I didn't. I said it was still very hot and so I was good...but yeah, anyway, a friend later told me that she was trying to hit on me. Did I ever mention that I met a girl at a discoteca, exchanged numbers, and then never called her? Yeah, I see her around town a lot, and it's a little awkward. Maybe I'll just say hi next time. But whatevs.

Dudes here are really touchy. And open...did I mention that...*content omitted...I'll tell you when I get back to the states*

Uh...I saw a huge snail today. They make me laugh.

Vaca likes to bark and pounce on insects. There are a lot of insects in my house. A lot of times, I'll get home and find a bunch of dead insects in my house. I don't know why they die...they just die in the middle of my floor for no apparent reason.

Ah, the insects here are crazy. I'd like to start a bug collection, but I don't have any pins or a case to stick them in.

The rainy season has started. It's very pleasant. Lalalalaa...

Uh...Did I talk about new year's yet? Well, Christmas sucked...I just stayed in my house alone. But new years was freaking awesome. Have you ever heard of Hankey Bannister? Cheap, but good. Ah...the stories I have to tell but can't...so sad, so sad...

Yesterday a gang of kids came to my house and started playing with Vaca. Then we all started dancing and they started clapping to my beat. It was pretty cool.

Okay, here's a soap box moment: I am here doing exactly what I wanted to do for a long time and I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. Life here is super tough, I lost a lot of amenities, and I'm getting paid nothing, but there is nothing I would rather be doing right now. If you never take a leap into the great beyond and search for your own true calling, you will never find out what heights you may reach.

Okay, that's done with.

Ummmmm....I've become somewhat of a celebrity here. I am the only person in town with glasses, and the kids have started making makeshift glasses out of wire and other trash...

Dude...I have no idea when I'll be able to write another post, but it's tough to think about things I haven't written yet...and can write about...uh...

Okay, I guess that's it for now. Chao-der! Miss all ya fools back in the states! Eat some fast food for me! I'm getting skinny again. The market has lots of dried fish though. Yum. With worms. Double yum. (Don't worry though, it's just the off season. Vegetables and other goodies will come back in Feb.)

Um poco mas

So...since I have very little time and I´m not sure when I´ll have more time to write, I´ll just write random stuff from PST.

- I had classes 10 hours a day, five days a week...and then every Saturday we had an activity that would normally take the whole day.

- The capital city of Maputo is a pretty big place that is full of buildings that have not finished construction (and won´t be finished any time soon...I´m not sure if I can tell why in a public website...so I won´t write it now...by the way, writing in a blog is kinda annoying when I have to censor so many things...anyway...)

- I visited some beautiful waterfalls...

- I learned the ins and outs of HIV and we talked about sex every single day...I´m pretty sure most of the people in my group are mentally scarred...at least for a while.

- There were 66 trainees in the beginning, three new trainees came a week after training started because the program in the country they were supposed to go to was cancelled and they got bumped to our country...but two people ETéd (early terminated...and both of them were in my language group...that I was the group leader of...which made me really sad...and by the way each group had 5 or 6 people in it...so there are only three of us left from our original language group...sad, eh? But we were the language group that was the worst at Portuguese, so I guess it kinda makes sense.)

- I saw a baboon.

- Giant millipedes roam wild here. They´re as common as squirrels back in the states.

- All the insects here are huge. I saw a sun spider a few weeks ago. I´ve seen ants three-quarters of an inch big.

- Mosquitos are vicious, but they don´t really start biting until after 6pm and stop by around 5am.

- I have mosquito bites on my butt. Because I had a diarrhea session at 2am (which is the prime time for the Malaria carrying mosquitos to bite...they usually bite between 1am and 3am)...but I don´t have any Malaria symptoms yet, so I think I´m ok. Maybe.

- I am going to be working in conjunction with a rather large non-government organization

- My Portuguese still sucks. But at least I can communicate with crianças (that means children, pre-teen but after five years old) pretty well

Okay, gotta go. Ciao!

Finally, a post!

Hello! I finally decided to write a post. Well, more like i finally found a chance to write one. Pre-service training is over and all of us (that made it through training) are now volunteers. Woo hoo!

I left my host family way behind and am now over half of the country away from them. To give you a visual reference, Mozambique is roughly twice the size of California. So long host sisters who I had grown so attached to.

My life back in that village was so different from the way it is going to be for the next two years, and I have so much to write about the past 10 weeks, so I'll just write about training for today.

Entao...

I arrived in the training town (I'm not supposed to give the names of towns in my blog) along with all the other new trainees and we were met by a swarm of our host parents. After wandering around for a few minutes, I finally saw a man holding a piece of paper with my name on it. I went up to him and said awkardly, "Ola! Eu sou Josh."

He replied, "Oh yeah? Voce esta Jochua?"

Then he promptly grabbed my hand and didn't let go for the 15 minutes it took us to walk to his abode. I walked into the house and thought, "Wow...this is a small room." However, it didn't take long for the house to feel like home.

Okay, no more time to write. Maybe I'll get around to it some day?

The last few days in my hometown...

Heh, I was going to write stuff, but I forgot what I was going to write.

Whoops.

It's official...

I'm leaving for staging on the morning of the 28th.

It's crunch time!