The Past Two Weeks

This blog post will be written by both of us because of the intense emotions and amount of information we want to share…

Lately, I can’t help but think back to a year ago when we were in the application process for the Peace Corps, Laurie and I would go for long runs in the cold snow on the Olentangy Bike Trail in Columbus and talk about the challenges that we would face during service, the people that we would become as a result, and the sacrifices we would have to make in the end. And although it was good that we tried to prepare for the experience, I realize now that no amount of preparation could really have done us justice for what was to come.

My father, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, told me in the months leading up to our departure to sit back and enjoy it, because the time will go fast, and with this experience there is going to be the loss of innocence. Sitting here writing this blog, a day after my 30th birthday I realize now that I have only begun to understand what he meant by this.

On December 20th, Laurie and I spent the day cleaning the last room in our house. We had been at site for eight days and the realization of just how difficult living with no energy, water, or a personal bathroom was beginning to sink in. But, we were feeling optimistic that we could soon become comfortable with this life. We watched an episode of Mad Men, using the last of our precious computer battery knowing we had plans for the next day to go to Vilankulos, the nearest city, for some pizza, errands, free internet and access to power. We fell asleep around 8:30 pm, as living with no energy makes for an early bedtime. We were awoken in the night by several phone calls, none of which we picked up in our dreamy state.

The next morning on our rickety Chapa ride to Vilankulos we received a distressing phone call from a fellow PCV that there had been an accident in the Southern Region. She went on to give us the news that the night before, several of our friends were being medically evacuated to South Africa and two had died during the night. While this news was disheartening, we took it with a grain of salt since it was only hearsay. However, later that morning it was confirmed by Peace Corps that Alden Landis and Lena Jenison, two vibrant, beautiful, young women in our training group had passed away while three others were in the hospital. They had all hitched a ride back from the beach at night (hitching is common place in Mozambique) and the car swerved off the road. As you can imagine we were instantly stunned, confused, and saddened. The full details of the accident are still being investigated; we are all waiting anxiously to hear about the events that took place that night. Peace Corps issued the following statement here.

The tragedy has caused a ripple for our group as a whole. We all left training excited and optimistic to get to our sites, begin integrating, and start teaching and in just a matter of a few weeks, most of us are now feeling broken. Aside from Chris and I, we learned that many people had different expectations about their sites and were having difficulties adjusting. While Peace Corps makes it very clear that the first 3 months at site tend to be the hardest for PCVs serving anywhere in the world, it still comes as a bit of a surprise that things aren’t easy when all you wanted was to be on your own after 10 weeks of intense training with a homestay family. Of course, this terrible event has only intensified emotions during an already vulnerable time. Peace Corps is trying to accommodate the grieving process with memorial services (which we are attending this week) and counseling, but the fallout is still great. We have learned that a few of our fellow volunteers will be heading home to the US for 45 days to revaluate how and if they will continue their service, and that many others are now questioning if they want to be here at all. And for those that are still here, many want to switch sites in the hopes that the flurry of emotions they are facing right now will subside with a change in scenery.

On a personal level, it has certainly made us question our commitment. When all of the comforts you know have been stripped away, the relationships you make become your comfort. And now, that consistency has been taken away too. In honesty, these last couple of weeks have been some of the hardest of our lives. At this point, we still don’t know how or when Mozambique will start to feel like home, or understand how we will fit in here. What we do know is that we both still want to be here and our passion for living this experience continues to motivate us. We know it will take time for this to pass, and our lives to become more comfortable. With school beginning shortly, our assignments will start and our purpose will become clearer. We’re optimistic that our next blog posts will talk about the massive sized bugs in our home, or how to use a dutch oven to make mint brownies on a charcoal grill. :)

We wanted to end this post with the notes we shared with Lena and Alden’s families for their memorial services at home.

For Alden:
I was drawn to Alden from the fist day that I met her. Her charisma, beautiful smile and lust for life were contagious. I was so amazed by how adventurous her life was and even more so, what a strong and independent person she was for being able to follow her own path. She had an insatiable thirst for knowledge; She always wanted to know more, learn more. Alden wanted to live life to the fullest and from the short, but precious time I got to spend with her, she did it better than anyone I had ever seen. She was dearly loved here in Mozambique, and her memory will forever remain.
-Laurie Williams

A beautiful girl with a wonderful smile, full of adventure with a zest for life. Always beaming with positive energy and excitement. When I first met Alden, I was struck by how easy she was to talk to, I was amazed about how much traveling she had done and how comfortable she was with herself. Maybe it was because she appreciated the simple things in life, sunsets over the ocean, Mozambican a cappella women singing, coconuts and the beauty of the natural world. I feel blessed that I was able to share in these things with her. A bright spot in my life!
-Christopher Williams


For Lena:
I remember the day I arrived in Philadelphia to start my Peace Corps journey, I was struck by this beautiful, blonde, stylishly dressed girl with funky glasses who was sitting at my table for our first orientation. Little did I know that I would find so much more underneath the surface from my initial draw to this lovely person. Lena was caring, smart, relaxed and funny. SO funny! That’s what I think of most when I think of Lena. She had the best sense of humor and comedic timing! I remember so many times where our group was tired of an activity or a training session and she would find a way to make us laugh. I am so privileged to have had her in my life for 3 months, and her memory for a lifetime.
-Laurie Williams

I sat next to Lena during Peace Corps Staging in Philadelphia, she was dressed very well and stylish with bold glasses. When I first met her I thought she was quiet and reserved, boy was I wrong… Over the next couple of months I got to know a girl who was friendly, open and adventuress. She would tell us stories about her Mozambican home stay that would have us all gripping our stomachs with laughter. All 51 of our group (Moz 17) took Meyers Briggs personality tests, Lena and I had the same classification, ENTP:“The driving quality in an ENTPs life is their attention to the outer world of possibilities, they are excited by continuous involvement in anything new, whether it be new ideas, people or activities. They look for patterns and meaning in the world and they often have a deep need to analyze, to understand , and to know the nature of things. ENTPs are typically energetic, enthusiastic people who lead spontaneous and adaptive lives.” She was a special person and is missed by us all.
–Christopher Williams

First Week At Site

I am sitting in a cafe in our closest biggest city, Vilanculos, so I wanted to post something quickly while I have free, fast internet! I will write about more details soon but I wanted to say so far it's been a bit more difficult than anticipated. :) 2 hours of power a day is actually 0 hours for at least the next month because the professors on our mission did not want to pay for electricity this month since most are on their summer vacation (remember, seasons are opposite here in the southern hemisphere!), My bathroom is a publicly shared one on the mission and it is super gross, it's rained daily and we are in massive move-in/clean up the house mode. But, we are able to eat, sleep, speak a little Portuguese, meet some really nice people in our village and I know soon enough, we'll get used to this and be comfortable with the challenge! Unfortunately, we won't be able to Skype at our site but we will be able to set up Skype times when we come to Vilanculos again after things get settled. In the meantime, I would love to get a phone call from anyone to chat during this crazy transition! Set up Skype to call cell phones please! Ok, hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! I will write more details about our site when I have some time to write more!..

Package Wishlist

Hi All! Just wanted to let you know there is a new tab on our blog titled "package wishlist" for all you kind souls who have asked what kinds of things we want in packages. We'll add/edit as the years go on I am sure...Mapinhane in almost a week! Much love! XO

Mop-In-Yahn-EE

The ever dramatic site announcement day came on Wednesday, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. All of us 51 trainees lined a basketball court with a giant map of Mozambique drawn in chalk. We were told to wait patiently while everyone was handed an envelope and after a seemingly endless 10-second countdown, we tore open our fate. The packet included a map of our new location, our job assignment and a letter from the volunteers we are replacing. As soon as we saw the dot on the map, we knew it was Mapinhane, a site Chris had visited last week and felt like it could be our new home. We were overcome with excitement, then walked to our spot on the giant map only to be even more pleasantly surprised to see some of our closest friends will be living in close proximity. We are so excited to get the real experience started!

So let me tell you all about Mapinhane (Sounds like mop-in-yahn-ee), our home for the next 2 years. It’s located in the southern coastal province of Inhambane (sounds like In-yahn-bahn-ee). Inhambane is known as the province to go to for beaches and islands in Mozambique, so I am one happy camper. Now, that is not to say we are living right on the beach. In fact, we are about 30k inland, but that’s close enough for an easy day trip! And let me remind you all that visitors are welcome any time!!! You’ll be able to see us living the Peace Corps way, but can also check out amazing beaches. :)… As I mentioned earlier, Chris was able to visit the couple who currently live here so I was he took some pictures of the cute house. They have 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and living room, a garden and dormitory style bathrooms outside. Our house is located on the compound of the secondary school where we will be teaching, Escola Secundaria Padre Gumiero . It is a private, mission school run by Brazillian nuns. Yes, this Jew girl is going to live on a Catholic mission! The mission is a good thing since there is less corruption than most Mozambican schools, there are smaller class sizes since it is private (40-50 students instead of 100) and apparently, it’s one of the best schools in the country. I am told that parents from bigger cities will send their kids to this school since it is known to provide great education. I am so looking forward to teaching motivated, eager kids! The only issue with being on a mission is that the actual town of Mapinhane is about 2k away from our house so integration in the community may be a bit of a challenge but in a town of only about 5,000 people, we’ll be able to figure it out! Also, we are told the market doesn’t have a great variety of foods, but our closest biggest city, Vilankulos, is only an hour away and apparently they have anything we’ll need. We know we will want to make the trip there often anyway to enjoy the beautiful beaches and have a night out on the town once in a while. :) We like the fact that we are living in a site where we’ll be able to have the quintessential Peace Corps experience, but can easily go into a bigger city and relax by the beach if we want. Oh wait, I didn’t mention the most interesting piece of information about our new living situation- We only have electricity for 2 hours a day! If it were up to Chris, he would like to be completely energy free but for my sake, I am glad we have a little something! We are supposed to get power 24/7 sometime this year but I have learned when you are on Africa time, you just can’t be certain about anything. But that’s ok because we really are looking forward to the challenge of living more simply. That’s one of the reasons we signed up for this! And it’s not like we will totally struggle since we will be able to cook on a gas stove, and use our own generator. Oh, and we will not have running water but that is a luxury here in Mozambique, so I wasn’t expecting that to be the case. We’re lucky since our pump is located only about 10 feet from our house. We won’t have to climb up a mountain and carry water back on our head. :) The married couple who lives their now absolutely loves this site, and is so enthusiastic about us taking over. When Chris saw their house during site visit, he said he could sense the positive energy and love, so it feels good knowing we are taking over for a couple who had a great experience. I’ll say it again, we are thrilled about our site and cannot wait to start our new life as official PCVs!

We now have our new permanent address so you can send any future letters or packages here! This is a mailbox in the nearest biggest city, Vilankulos which we plan to go into a least a couple of times a month as mentioned above. We can still receive mail at the original address we gave you in the PC Maputo office, however, we won’t be in Maputo as often. Also, remember to draw a few crosses and “Jesus loves you” notes for a better chance of delivery!

Our address is:

Laurie and Chris Williams, PCVs
C.P. 16
Vilankulos, Mozambique
Africa

Now that we have a vision for what life will look like for the next 2 years, we are growing more restless of training. We are VERY ready to live on our own again, make our own home and get started on our projects. But, we are appreciating the time we have left with our friends all together before we are spread across the country, and are excited for our group’s Thanksgiving dinner this Friday. Also, we’re participating in model school for the these last couple of weeks so that should make things move along. We are all teaching and observing 45 minute mock lessons in our disciplines to Mozambican students. It’s a great exercise in getting a feel for our teaching styles and gaining some feedback before we are all sent out to be teachers sozinho (alone)!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY TO ALL!!!!

Beaches and Boleias

This past Friday we came back from our 6 day site visits. I was sent to a beautiful part of Mozambique called Inhambane, a coastal province. Not only were the beaches amazing, but the landscape was stunning with palm trees and flowers blooming all over. The Indian Ocean has many colors to it, reminding me of the Caribbean. Never did I think that I would be visiting such a place while in the Peace Corps.

During my trip to Inhambane I visited 3 sites of current Peace Corps volunteers: Vilinkulos, Inhassaro, and Mapinhane. All of them were amazing, some volunteers were living with electricity and running water, while others were living with as little as 2 hours of electricity a day and carted their water from a well. I was inspired by the volunteers (many of which will be closing service when I am sworn in). Not only did they have excellent stories about their experience, but were relaxed and able to occupy themselves with what little they had around them. We spent much of the time talking, laughing, playing guitar and enjoying one another’s company, sometimes by kerosene lamp light.

Having come back from my trip, I am even more excited to finish training and start my service. The most important thing that I learned was that no matter where Laurie and I will be placed for our site, we will be able to make it work. Mozambique is a large country with so much undeveloped beauty and so much variety in culture – there are so many things to get involved in and be a part of no matter where we are placed.

This was just a quick note from me. Laurie has more details as follows:

I am feeling refreshed and relaxed after a fantastic site visit! PC sent all 51 of us to current volunteer sites across Mozambique for 5 days so that we could see what it is really like to be a PCV in this country. Chris and I were split up so that we could see different parts of the country which worked really well. It was a good exercise for me to see that I could figure some things out on my own, and, it’s great to be able to draw on a range of experiences to get an idea of what our life here will be like. All of us trainees knew we had been sheltered by living in Namaacha, only one town in the country and a town very used to seeing westerners. But now we’ve all seen the possibilities and are just buzzing with excitement to find out where our permanent sites will be. We have an interview with the site placement peeps on Monday to talk about what kinds of things we would or would not want but it’s become clear that every site has its advantages and disadvantages and no matter where you are, you can make it work! By far, the majority of PCVs love their sites here in Mozambique so that is a good sign. The site announcements are going to be made on Wednesday, so we will finally be able to share the info on the city/town/village we will be living in for the next two years!

My site visit took me up North to a small town called Monapo in Nampula Province. After a plane ride, a night in a seedy motel in the capital city of the province and a 2-hour, hot ride in a chapa (packed mini-bus), myself and my fellow trainee traveling buddy made it to Monapo. My first impression of the North is that it was incredibly beautiful (Namaacha is in the far south of the country by the way). It looks like Hawaii at times with its bright flowers, rolling mountains and palm trees in an arid landscape. Monapo itself however, is mostly vast space with lots of sand, not really anything very pretty to look at. I stayed with an awesome volunteer who is currently in her COS (close of service) stage since she is done with her 2 years and heading back to the States next month. It was so helpful to be with someone who has already been through this crazy ride and was able to provide tons of insight and advice. So the first day, we were given a tour of her town and we checked out her home which is a decent size and well put together, the market which has all the basic necessities, and her school. I got to see the classroom where she teaches 90-100 students, which is a pretty common size for secondary schools in Mozambique. Her site had some pluses and minuses but all in all, it seems pretty decent. It is highly unlikely Chris and I will end up there since they plan to send 2 females to fill this spot. One of the best parts of her location is that she is only about an hour from the Ilha de Mocambique (the island of Mozambique), so for 2 of the days I was on a tropical paradise! I have seen a lot of beaches in my day, but Ilha was seriously one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. White sands, turquoise water and Portuguese architecture made me feel like I was in a Greek Isle. We stayed in an amazing hostel, had fantastic seafood and relaxed by the beach. After the craziness of training every day, it was a much needed break! I am definitely lucky since some people’s site visits were more inland and more in the bush, so they did not get an opportunity for a beach getaway. But, let me tell you about how we got to the beach…I am now educated on the world of Boleias (grabbing a ride by hitchhiking!). This is something in the States that we all know is totally not kosher so of course, the idea of hitchhiking to the beach initially scared the crap out of me! But my fearless host, the well-traveled and experienced volunteer, assured us that this is a very common mode of transportation in Mozambique. As long as the car looks clean and safe, the driver is not drunk and your gut tells you this person is not a psycho, go ahead and hop in! Seems a little nutty, right? Well, this was one of those moments where I decided to just go with the flow and hop in the back of the pickup truck of some stranger. With the wind flowing through my hair, looking at the African landscape and knowing I was on my way to a beautiful beach, I felt a moment of pure bliss. My ever too cautious self would have NEVER done anything like this in the States and I think that if it had been just Chris and I, I may have made a stink and told him that I did not want to do it. It felt so great to get out of my comfort zone, one of those clichéd reasons for wanting to do Peace Corps. Now, that is not to say there weren’t a few moments of terror :). Our first boleia to the beach was pretty low key, but the truck on the way back was going much faster than necessary and I contemplated the best position to be in if I were to suddenly get thrown! Our next boleia was a fancy, air-conditioned private truck owned by a South African businessman who spoke English and had once lived in my hometown, Columbus, Ohio so that was a boleia win! But, then our last ride to the airport was with a Mozambican dude who seemed harmless but weird, drove a little too slow and was saying things in Portuguese we couldn’t quite understand! I don’t think this is a mode of transportation I will take too often, but I’m glad to say I’ve experienced it and it’s good to know if it’s an option because let me remind you that the main form of transportation here, a chapa, isn’t exactly up to American safety standards either. :)

In other exciting news, we both passed our mid-training language proficiency test! After all that worry and telling myself I couldn’t do it, I did it! Those who did not pass have to continue to attend language classes every day while the rest of us will be in technical training from here on out to practice teaching. We will all be participating in “model school”, which means we prepare and teach individually about 3-4 lessons to a group of Mozambican kids in a classroom environment. Chris and I both know that we need more language tutoring despite passing the test, so we have voluntarily signed up for some extra classes in these last few weeks of training, and, we will definitely get a tutor once we get to site as well…Ok, off to hike to the waterfalls. Until site announcements!!!...

"Because You Are Lazy"

Before I get into the reason for the blog title and my main motivation to write it, I just have a couple of fun paragraphs first: 

I have been lucky to have people ask what kinds of things we would like in care packages. First of all, we are so thankful for ANYTHING that comes our way. Seriously. You could send us just about anything and we will be happy to see mail from loved ones on the other side of the world! But, if you are feeling like you want some specific suggestions, right now we are all about candy and chocolate (which somehow does not seem to melt as other volunteers have successfully received) hand sanitizer, oh, and I hear a can opener would be good. As the months go on, I know specific toiletries, clothing items and other food will be on the list but that’s really it for now! Also, if you are thinking about sending one while we are still here in training, I would suggest this be the last week you send it out or we may not see it for months. J While we are in Namaacha, mail comes to the main PC office but once I am at my permanent site, I will have a specific address to my house. Since mail can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks to get here, I am thinking that if mail is sent after this week, it may not come until I am already at my site. If my site is nowhere near the PC office, I may not have a chance to pick it up for weeks.  So moral of the story is, if you are kind enough to want to send a package to us after next week, wait until we can provide our permanent address.  And, don’t forget the religious symbols! And, PS, we would love just good old fashion letters too!!!

I am super pumped today because I plan to go to a baking session at a current volunteer’s house. She is in her 3^rd year with Peach Corps and is often sharing her words of wisdom for how to live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Today’s topic is specifically on how to bake yummy baked goods very far away from the ovens we are used to.  A gal needs to satisfy her sweet tooth once in a while, especially when your diet consists of the same 10 staples (i.e. onions, carrots, rice, beans, etc.).  Yesterday, Chris got to partake in the joys of killing our dinner, a chicken. It’s definitely an experience he’ll have to share since it was pretty intense for him. For me, I was just surprised that I was able to watch!  At the end of the process, I was staring at the familiar chicken meat I was used to seeing wrapped up in the Styrofoam carton in the grocery store. It was fascinating to see what it takes to get to that point.  It definitely made me think of the different ways that animals could be killed for food, and there are ways to do it without making the animal suffer. I could probably write an entire blog on this topic but I will stop there!...As the weeks go on, I am continuing to make good friends, becoming more relaxed about learning the language, hiking the waterfalls of Namaacha and practicing English teaching techniques. We are starting to settle into our lives here a bit more but every day. For me, is still a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows on an hourly basis. Here is a little tale about one of those rides…

As I mentioned in my last blog, Mama Maria is a tough Mozambican woman and is eager to teach us everything she knows about how to live in this country.  About 2 weeks ago, I was sensing a change in the way she was treating me. I was no longer the shiny new house guest; instead, I was starting to be closely observed. She wanted to see how I cut tomatoes on my own, if I boiled the water for my husband’s bath, how I set the table, etc. And many times, I was not doing it right in her eyes. But, I understand that I am here to learn from her and need to be open to her suggestions so I try not to let her (sometimes seemingly harsh) reactions bother me. Friday night however, the situation came to a head. Mama’s South African friend was staying over for the evening and joined Chris and I for dinner. We had met her once before a few weeks earlier.  She does not speak Portuguese, but can speak to Mama in the local language, Swazi, and to us in English. As soon as we sat down to eat, I could feel some sort of tension. Her eyes were fixated on my every move. As we started to serve ourselves, the South African Woman (who I will call SAW from here on out) said to me “You, you are so passive and your husband, he is so active”.  “Why do you say that?” I asked.  “I just always see your husband doing so much, setting the table, always doing things and you are more passive”. I knew where SAW was going, especially after knowing how Mama was feeling about me. I said “I wouldn’t quite say that, but ok”.  I decided to just let the moment pass and move on with the conversation. The rest of dinner was quiet, until I grabbed Chis’ plate to clear the dishes. SAW asks “So, who is going to do the dishes tonight?” Taken aback by this random question, I ask “What?”, she repeats the question but this time in very slow, annunciated  English. I tell her that I understood the question, but I want to know why she is asking. And then, she proceeds to tell me, “Because you are lazy”…Every part of my body started shaking with anger. I wanted to scream, cry, crawl in a hole and jump across the table all in that moment. Chris right away said, “Now wait a minute, there is no reason to be insulting here” at the same time I said, with hands shaking, “Lazy? I don’t think you have the right impression”. In the meantime, I am crushed, thinking about the fact that she has made this assumption from only 2 interactions with me and most likely, from also talking to my Mama who I would like nothing more than to make proud.  SAW continued, “Well, in my culture, the women do everything, they cook clean, etc., and the men just sit around.” Chris asked, “Well how does it make you feel that they just sit around?” She then said, with no expression and in a monotone voice, “I feel nothing.”… And that is when my emotions started to settle. The comment made me realize that these conversations are the reason I am here. These are the cultural juxtapositions I signed up to face. We went on to discuss how in America, things are different with married couples, not always, but generally men help out with things too.  We also explained that Chris has lived in other countries for years at a time, so this is very natural for him whereas for me, the adjustment and culture shock is more difficult.  Mama, in the meantime, did not understand what we were saying since we were speaking English, but I can only guess how SAW translated all of this to her later in Swazi.  We finished dinner, went into our bedroom, and I proceeded to have a little (ok, maybe big, cry). I journaled about it, I talked it out with Chris, and by the end of the night, I was able to sleep well. I feel like a stronger person from this experience because, first and foremost, I did not leave the table. I stayed and finished out the conversation. It took some of the most self-control I have ever had to not cry, freak out or leave. These are the moments that will make me stronger and feel like I can take on anything when I return.  Also, I am still here and with a smile on my face! I woke up the next morning and moved on with my day. I am testing my resiliency every day here, and opportunities are abound for self-reflection and improvement, something that I remind myself is not an easy experience to come by. But back to the topic at hand, the gender differences for married couples here in Mozambique. I may never gain the respect of SAW or more importantly, Mama because they see me as a lazy, spoiled American wife and that is ok. I need to be ok with that because I realize I will be coming up against that impression a lot here. I definitely thought because I was a married woman, I would have an easier time gaining respect in the community but I am finding the opposite to be true. In time, when I become more comfortable with who I am as the new African Laurie, I think I will be able to find the respect. In the meantime, with Chris’ guidance as a cross-cultural guru (I say again, he’s fitting in here like a glove!), I will do what I can to show Mama I want to learn from her, but I need to keep a part of the American Laurie too.

Life With Mama Maria

After living in African lala land for a couple of days (i.e. a lavish hotel in the capital city of Maputo), we have quickly learned what life is really like in Mozambique. We took another one of those overcrowded buses called chapas (say “shop-ah”) from Maputo to the town of Namaacha, where we are now officially Peace Corps trainees for the next 10 weeks.  As soon as we stepped off the Chapa, our Maes and Pais (Moms and Dads) were waiting in a line to greet us. We had about 2 minutes to sit down, let it sink in and allow ourselves to feel like we were about to pass out, and then it was time to find our names on a paper held by an unfamiliar Mozambican person. Our Mae, or Mama as she likes to be called, was the very first person in the lineup. We found out later this was because this women knows her shit! We are the 4^th volunteer she’s had, so she knows how to keep her American “babies” healthy and happy.  She quickly took our hands and led us to our new home.  That was only 6 days ago but it feels like we’ve been here forever. Mama has a way of making you feel comfortable, even if we often can’t communicate with words, so this has quickly become our casa as well.  We live with Mama, whose name is Maria, and her granddaughter, Lura and son, Julho. She has 5 children all together, but the rest are out of the house. With the language barrier, we don’t have all the details on this yet but we’re hoping to figure it out later!  Her daughter, Gillhermina, lives down the street and stops by often. Our living situation in the house is not too bad except that privacy can be an issue, which we are getting used to. We stay in a bedroom in the front of the house and use the bathroom that is across the hall. We are happy to say the bathroom is INSIDE! We are lucky, as many people have a latrine outside. We still have to take our bath and flush our toilet with a bucket, but it’s better than having to stand outside to bathe during the cold Namaacha mornings. The only issue is that the kitchen, which is where the main action of the house takes place, is between out bedroom and the bathroom (hence, the privacy issue). But we are getting used to the set up and how to live like a Mozambican in general. It’s amazing how quickly you can change your mind set when you are put in a totally different environment.  Things that would bother me in the US just don’t bother me here. Trash in the street is normal, getting your clothes and shoes dirty all the time is normal.  I don’t care as much about having my daily outfits in a rotation. You wear what is practical and that’s what matters. Vanity quickly goes out the window.  And, the lifestyle is slow, you need to take your time with everything. You aren’t able to just turn on the faucet and take a shower. It requires boiling water, then adding cool water and lifting up the bucket into the tub. If I did this in my normal quick, clumsy way, I would be sure to fall on my face and/or burn myself!  Taking things slower is a definitely something I will be able to take back to the US.  I have also found that here in Africa, I like tomatoes, beets and to drink tea every day, foods I was not into in the US. Mama is teaching us all about the food here and I have to say, it’s been great! Fish, potatoes, bread, rice, veggies and fruits.  Mama is teaching us everything about living like a Mozambican. As a married couple, we get to learn about the traditional gender roles for a couple including the fact that I should be helping my husband take a bath each day! We haven’t gotten there yet, but I do pour the hot water for him to show we are respecting the traditions. Each day, Chris and I go to our small language classes (we are in different classes) or our entire training group meets to talk about subjects pertaining to how to live in this new environment, what our jobs as teachers will entail, or Mozambican history.  In the evenings, we help our Mama around the house, eat dinner and study. We try to squeeze in a bit of social time with the other volunteers as well. The days are verrrry long. We get up around 5:30 and go to bed around 8:30-9:00 as is normal for this lifestyle. We will have classes on Saturdays and will only get Sundays off, but it really is necessary. We only have 10 weeks to learn how to live in a whole new world. Things are fantastic, we are both happy campers but I do have a dark cloud named “The Portuguese Language” over my head. The amount of things we learn in our language class in one day is insane and I am having trouble figuring out how to study since there is just soooo much to learn and not much time (and BTW, our language lesson is ENTIRELY in Portuguese!).  We get tested on our language proficiency in week 5 and I am not feeling very confident at this point, but, as they say, I will learn pouco a pouco (little by little)! 

Love to all!

PS- More information on sending packages: It’s been confirmed that if you write religious terminology on the package, it is much more likely to get to us without being opened. So I would just go ahead and pretend we are brethren of the church! It’s best to address us as Sister Laurie Williams and Brother Christopher Williams as well as drawing crosses and writing things like “Jesus is Lord”. I know, this sounds ridiculous. But we will be really happy when we actually receive the goodies you send!  Oh and if the post office makes you claim a dollar amount on the package, do not claim over $5.00 (even if it’s more) or there will be customs fees that we’ll have to pay out of our very small PC salary. Ok, thanks for listeningJ. We would LOVE letters or packages!!!

PPS-My apologies for the absolutely horrific grammar on my last post. I will blame that on jet lag and adrenaline! I am making a commitment to you, dear blogger, that I will review my postings before looking like I should not be an English teacher.

We Made It!

We are here in Mozambique and the amount of things we have done in the past 48 hours is astounding (I think it’s been that many hours anyway! Considering the strange sleeping and eating patterns these past couple of days, I’m not really sure. ) So we are sitting here in our beautiful hotel room in Maputo where we can take advantage of the internet for the next day until we head off to Namaacha (say “nah-mah-sha”) for training. Ok, let me give you a quick rundown of what’s occurred…We made it to the airport in great timing for our 9:30 flight to Philly for orientation. That would have been awesome except it didn’t make a difference because we ended up being FOUR hours delayed due to weather. Normally,  I would have been a nervous  wreck but I had one little pout and decided it was time to roll with PCs whole philosophy of practicing patience and flexibility and it actually worked! I was at peace with the fact that we sat on the tarmac for hours before taking off however, it still meant we were an hour late to our orientation session.  We were the very last people to walk into a room of fresh-faced, wide-eyed trainees who were intently listening to information about the PCs mission and goals. As we quietly took our seats to not interrupt, I felt kind of bummed that I didn’t get to be a part of the initial chatter and excitement of the group meeting in person for the first time. But my feelings have completely gone away as spending the last couple of days with everyone has actually felt like weeks. We already feel such great connections with everyone, really, the group is awesome and we are enjoying getting to know these people who will become our family over the next 27 months. Just a little statistics on the peeps- there are 51 of us total in the 17^th training class in Mozambique. Aside from Chris and I, there is only one other younger married couple. We are all in our 20s except for one person who is 32, and no retirees which is surprising! Everyone has a unique and impressive background and it’s so exciting that we get to be a part of this group! So back to the logistics...after the training session in Philly, we all went out to our last American meal and slept for an hour or two (or some decided staying out would be better! :)) before boarding the bus to NYC at 2:30 am.  We made it to NYC oh, I don’t know, like 6 hours before our flight, but it was great. It gave us another chance to chat with everyone. We got on our 15 hour flight to Johannesburg which surprisingly, was not nearly as bad as we thought it would be. It was basically a pattern of eat, watch movie, chat, and repeat. And PS- they served big, hot meals and they were quite delicious! Thanks South African Airlines for still providing free meals on planes! Once we landed in South Africa, we took a very short flight to Maputo and were all gitty with excitement when we landed in our new home.  However we did quickly get a taste of the hazards of being in a developing country.  Our larger carry-ons had to be put under the plane from Johannesburg to Maputo and many of us did not have those bags locked assuming we would be able to hold on to them the entire trip. Sure enough, many people found things to be missing once the bags reached Maputo, myself included. Two of my necklaces were taken, but I was lucky they did not take all my jewelry so I can still accessorize! Really though, I packed everything with the understanding that something may happen to it when I came here, so it is what it is and I know I can find similar looking jewelry here for a replacement. This was another situation where I realize I really am shifting my energies on what to focus on and get upset over.  I feel really bad for someone who got his entire wallet, including all of his cash, stolen and someone else whose sentimental jewelry was taken. And, it showed a great display in our group’s camaraderie as we all chipped in to add a few bucks to a cash pile for our friend whose wallet got taken thanks to a great idea from a fellow volunteer.  We finished today at the hotel with vaccinations and medical interviews and will convene tomorrow to meet more of the PC staff, the American Ambassador and discuss basic safety info and how to live with a host family.  It’s hard to believe we will be living here yet since we’ve been so sheltered in a beautiful ocean front hotel and provided with pretty good meals and surrounded by Americans.  We did get a dose of reality on our packed van ride from the airport to the hotel. 60 people in a van for 30 with few seatbelts and no apparent regard for traffic laws? No problem, welcome to Africa! But more than that, we saw so many different stories in action on the streets of Maputo. Children playing barefoot in the dirt outside of their homes, a boy walking his goat, pickup trucks weighed down with people, colorful skirts and fruits in the market. We were all in awe at what is now our reality.

Alright, so we are off to go see who is still out and about! Hopefully we will be able to get on here again sometime in the near future while training in Namaacha for the next 10 weeks. Can’t wait to fill you in when the true adventure begins!

So this is it

These are our last hours in the US. So many thoughts and feelings are running fast that are hard to contain. And to think that this started 13 months ago…. so much has been done to organize our lives and prepare for service. I can see in small ways that the process has already begun to change us, we are not the same people we were back then, we are much less entangled in material things, much more free.

I know that the next several weeks are to be intense as we experience a loss of innocence coming from a reality far different from here. Where life and death hang in the air, where sickness and disease are familiar, where community and fellowship are essential, and where culture is rich and undeveloped natural beauty is prolific. These are memories from my childhood that Laurie will soon understand.

We will miss many comforts from here; we talk about this often. But hardest of all... we will miss our family and friends. Growing nieces and nephews, weddings, holidays, Sunday afternoon phone calls and so much more. Our hope is that we will bring back a unique perspective and experience that will positively impact those we care about. Love you all, you’re the greatest!

We head out to Philly tomorrow for orientation and will be in Mozambique by Thursday… see you on the other side!

P.S. Oh yeah and we conquered the 2 bag, 80 lbs limit… OK, well maybe its more like 85 lbs ☺

Scenes From A Garage Sale

I am happy to report that my first garage sale was a success. I did not even want to have one, but Chris convinced me that these things tend to be worth while and besides, why not try to make a little extra cash before we head into a few years without a significant salary :). Our lease was up at the end of August, so we had a 3-day regional moving extravaganza which consisted of loading a moving truck in Columbus, unloading to store stuff at our parents homes in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and then heading back to Columbus. We left behind the things we categorized as something we probably wouldn't need after 27 months away, but someone else might need right now. We spent the last few days in our home by cleaning and labeling these things and seriously questioning if selling them would even be worth the time and energy, especially after the exhausting move. But we soldiered on and posted our sale on craigslist, hung signs and balloons around the neighborhood, and decided we were ok with making only a little bit of cash. We woke up early Saturday morning to get everything out in our front yard before the 9:00 start time...and by 7:30, the craziness began. Apparently, if you are a serious garage sale buyer, you know to get there early so you have first dibs. Between about 7:30-8:30, you would have thought we were giving stuff away based on the amount of people we had! They bought tons of our furniture, cameras and art work before the sale had officially begun! One of our favorite parts of the early morning rush was when we heard these two older ladies squeal with delight after peeking in the front door, "THEY HAVEN'T EVEN TAKEN EVERYTHING OUT YET!!!!!". Chris was kind enough to let them inside to see what else we had. :) So, before 9:00, we had already made hundreds of dollars and met some very interesting people. Like the guy who used to collect blasphemous religious artwork, worked as an embalmer in a funeral home and can't work now because of an undisclosed disability. He bought some old art magazines Chris didn't even want to put out to sell since he thought there was no way someone would want them. And that's when we found the theme of the day: people will buy anything! I think my favorite "who the hell would want this" sell was the women who bought a set of 3 (not 4), used, dirty cork coasters. She zoned in on them like her life was complete when she found them. She asked me how much, and I felt a tinge of guilt when I gave her a price since my gut instinct was to say "just take those nasty things!". But hey, I can't argue with supply and demand, so I asked for 50 cents and she was happy to oblige. Day one continued on with barely a lull period. Tons of people came in their beat up pickups to add to the already large pile in their truck bed, or with their Lexus SUVs, or just by foot. And many of then knew each other! We found a lot of people who ran into someone they knew on our front yard. I didn't realize a perk of the sale would be to connect the community, but I felt good knowing it did. By the end of the day, we had made much more than anticipated and had a lot less stuff to bring into the house. Day two was not nearly as lively and it makes sense that it wouldn't be. The shoppers seemed to know all the good stuff would already be taken. But it worked out well since it gave us time to start cleaning out the house (we want every bit of our security deposit back!), and we got to chat with some return visitors.  Our embalmer friend stopped by to again, a sweet couple who are thinking about joining the Peace Corps, and a dude who was very excited about showing us wood carvings he acquired from Tanzania and Mozambique. The amount of people we met with a connection to Africa and/or the Peace Corps was another pleasant side affect of the garage sale.  I don’t know if it was the people we met, or the fact that we sold tons more than expected or maybe just because the weather that weekend was perfect. But after 2 days of selling, chatting, cleaning our rented townhouse, and saying goodbye to my home of 11 years, Columbus, I felt a moment of complete certainty. My life is going in the exact direction it should be. And it feels really good.

And now we are in our final leg of "Operation PC Prep". We moved from having our stuff in a 3 floor townhouse to almost everything into one bedroom at my Dad's house in Cleveland where we will stay until our departure. And you know what, I am liking this living with less thing. In fact, we're already talking about having another garage sale for the stuff we are storing when we get back from the Peace Corps. These are all things we thought we would want, but we're starting to see that may not be the case. And now we are confident that someone will want to buy them. :)

Tchau!

Six Weeks!

We just got back from the amazing Williams family vacation in Hawaii! We spent a week relaxing in unbelievably beautiful surroundings with a group that only comes together every few years. We were so happy to be able to attend since we initially thought we would miss this trip based on our original PC nomination date being in August. Check out my Facebook page if you want to see photos! Now that all of the traveling excitement is over (family coming in, going to Florida and Hawaii), we feel like our departure is right around the corner. And actually, it is! I can't believe that we'll be starting our new life only 6 weeks from today!

We received tons of staging/orientation info. from the PC Mozambique desk yesterday. They provided a new packing list, profiles on current Mozambique volunteers, orientation and pre-service training logistics, and a letter to provide family and friends. The letter talks about communication while we are overseas including sending letters and packages and phone calls, as well as emergency phone numbers. Please click here to read the letter in its entirety.

Here is a little more information we learned from yesterday's information overload: We'll be flying from NYC on 8/28 and will arrive in Moz on 8/29 after a 15 hour flight to Johannesburg and another hour to Maputo (The capital of Moz). We stay in a hotel in Maputo for two days where we meet the US Ambassador, PC staff and medical peeps who will provide more vaccinations (woo-hoo!) and learn some basics of health, safety and language. Then we head to a town called Namaacha on 10/1 and meet the families we will be living with for the next 10 weeks during our pre-service training (PST). Then as long as we can pass all of our language tests, show we know what's up with Mozambican culture, health and safety, we get sworn in as volunteers on 12/9 and officially begin our service!... Oh, something to note, we are told that during the 10 week training period, communication will be VERY limited. We'll be in training classes from 7:30-5:00 Mon-Sat and doing a lot of homework/study sessions when we are not in our formal classes. Also, our host family will not have internet access and remember, Mozambique is 6 hours ahead of EST. So, don't be too worried if you don't hear from us often during PST. No, we have not been eaten by a hippo. :) They say once we get to our site in December, it will be a lot easier to establish more regular communication. We'll be able to assess our electricity/internet situation once we find out our site. If I didn't mention it before, we don't even know our site yet! They don't assign you until you are almost done with training. They want to get to know you first before deciding your permanent site. We are hoping for somewhere on the coast, but need to be very Peace Corps like and say "wherever we are needed, we are flexible". :)

So it's been a great month of travel, seeing family, dinner with friends and now we are into serious prep mode as the time continues to fly by. We're still packing up the house and officially booked the moving truck for next week! And, we are still trying to pack/figure out how to cram 27 months of what we will need in 80 lbs! By the way, the new packing list is all over the map as far as what to bring (coats, tank tops, professional shoes, flip flops, crap clothes, nice clothes, blaa, blaa, blaaa) How in the world am I gonna condense this into 80 lbs?? Anyone that knows me knows I am a notorious over packer. But, just when I get really stressed about the packing sitch, I remember I am going to the Peace Corps! :)

Ok, bye for now!

Cats, Cars and Chaos

Wow, so it has been a busy past couple of weeks! The action started mid-July when Laurie’s sister and family came to Columbus for a visit. We went to the conservatory, then the zoo, and after a fun week with family had to say some goodbyes. It's strange to think that our niece will be three years old when we see her again, I guess we will have to watch her grow up through Skype.

Later that week, we finally crated the cats and flew them down to West Palm Beach Florida. For those of you who do not live in the mid-West and aren’t following the news… this was smack in the middle of what was recorded as some of the hottest days of year with heat indexes as high as 107F. Of course this gave us concern, because the max. temperature limits (according to the USDA) for animals is 85F. Luckily for us, Delta Cargo has a summer live animal program (the only airline with a summer program) that requires special temperature controlled vehicles and time limits to allow for safe transport of animals during airplane loading, unloading, and while sitting on the run-way. To make a long story, short… the cats arrived in West Palm a little shocked but nothing out of the ordinary for a 10-hour flight (there was a 5-hour layover in Atlanta - Laurie and I flew Airtran and our flight was only 2.5 hours). In the end the process was seamless (go Delta Cargo!) and did not require nearly the amount of thought we put into it. Once in Florida, at Laurie’s mother’s house, the cats were somewhat disoriented and are slowly adapting to their new home (or so we hear from the reports). All-in-all, we had a relaxing time in Florida, enjoying time with the family, and soaking up the cooler weather (yes you read that correctly, Columbus was actually hotter than Florida). Of course coming home to no cats in the house is something that will take a little time to get used to.

Beginning of the Ends

This past month has been a whirlwind. We’ve been settling into the reality that the Peace Corps is really happening, and Mozambique will be our new home for 27 months. Preparations are well under way, and that includes being conscious of the fact that some things are coming to an end whether it be forever, or just for now.

As of July 1st, I am no longer an employee of the company I have worked for the past 6 years. I am really glad that everything ended on a very positive note, and they threw me a lovely send-off party :). Chris gave his employer notice the same day, and his boss was actually asking if he could stay through August, possibly September. While it would be great to make a little extra cash, we’re not sure how practical it will be since we have lots of travel plans coming up and do have to move out of our place by August. Anyway, it was great that his employer took the news well. So, aside from ending work, we are starting to take in other “lasts”. Like this past weekend, we watched a fantastic fireworks display at my Dad’s 4th of July shindig and realized this will be the last traditional 4th we have for a couple of years. Sure, we’ll celebrate with our fellow Peace Corps Volunteers in Mozambique, but it won’t be quite the same. My sister, her husband and my beautiful niece are coming to visit next week and this will probably be the last time we see them before we leave since they live all the way in Salt Lake City. Our niece is only a baby now, but will be a full-fledged toddler when we get back! Thank goodness I can see her grow a bit on Skype!!!...And the big trip to Florida is less than 2 weeks away. We say goodbye to our cats as they settle into their new home with my Mom, and I have to be prepared that this may be the last time I see my Mom and grandparents in person. Oy, that trip is going to be a rough one...Then the goodbyes to friends and family will continue through September, and we also say goodbye our home in Columbus, which as of now, we don’t plan on coming back to when we return.

Cats!!

So... we have been going crazy the last couple of weeks pulling together our resumes, writing our aspiration statements and trying to assemble things for our big move. We have to be out of our house by the end of August, which means we will be floating around, no doubt staying at houses of friends and family, until our departure at the end of September. This just adds another layer of preparation and packing that we need to account for.

Oh yeah and then there are our CATS!!! We have 2 wonderful cats and... luckily for us Laurie's mother has agreed to take them while we are away in Mozambique for 27 months. The only problem is that she lives and Florida and we live in Ohio. Cats are not easy animals to transport a couple of miles to visit the vet. How are we going to get them to Florida????

Boa tarde!

We signed up for 10 sessions with a Portuguese tutor which started this evening and it actually was a ton of fun!!! She was very good at combining the language training with cultural knowledge, and she was also quite intelligent and a very cool girl! I really needed this because I have felt like my head was going to explode this past week with trying to get a grasp on the thousand things we need to do before we go. The enjoyment I got from the language training reminded me what all the craziness is for, and how excited I am to be challenging myself in new ways.

INVITATION!

The wait is over! I can’t believe the moment we have been waiting for since August FINALLY came. Chris and I received our invitation on Wednesday evening. We have been invited to serve in Mozambique leaving on September 28th as teachers in English (me) and Math (Chris). It took a day or so to get over the initial shock of the country. We both had ideas about where we would be going and researched a lot of places, but Mozambique was never really on our radar.

INVITED to Serve in the Peace Corps

We are elated. Our PO said she would get back to us by the end of this week, but once noon on Friday (today) came around, we were sure it wasn’t going to happen. Well, she surprised us around 2:30 when she sent an email saying the following:

Christopher and Laurie,

It was a pleasure speaking with you earlier this week. I am happy to inform you that I have qualified you to receive an invitation, and identified a program for you. Congratulations for completing the final phase of the application process.

The details -
Assignment: Math Teaching and English Teaching
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa (not a French speaking country but your language prep will come in handy!) 
Departure: September 27

In preparation for these assignments I would recommend that you both look into tutoring/teaching options in your respective content areas, ideally with high school students or adults. When you receive the invitation you’ll get a better idea of what to expect.

You should receive the invitation in 5 – 7 business days. Please let me know if you have any additional questions about Peace Corps service.

I immediately welled up with tears of joy. This is it. It is really and truly happening. Next post=Where we are going. Wow.

Placement Email

Things have certainly changed. We received an email from our placement officer today asking us to schedule a time to chat. Lucky for us, we both had taken today off since we were driving back home from Pittsburgh for Chris’ marathon. So we set up a time to call her in the afternoon. We printed out the millions of questions we had been asked to answer on paper throughout this process (the recruiter’s interview questions, the couples questionnaire, our essays from the application, etc.) and read over all to get our heads in the game.