Celebrations

We’ve hit a couple of our yearly milestones in this last month and it’s been fun to celebrate them for the first time in Mozambique.

August 31^st was our 4 year anniversary and even more special, this year marks our 10^th year of going steady :).  It all began at Ohio State where we were neighbors and ironically, bonded over playing an African drum on the porch one Saturday evening. But I digress, so we’ll save those stories for another time…We had initially planned to take a trip to the Bazaruto Archipelago, a group of beautiful islands just off the coast of VIlankulos. We would snorkel, eat seafood and stay at a nice lodge but Chris’ call of duty would require him to travel to Inhambane City over our anniversary weekend to help coordinate the regional science fair.  Chris was hoping I would come along to help out anyway, so we ended sharing the day with protons and electrons. The day we arrived turned out to be a chicken-with-head-cut-off experience as we partook in the final organization phase of the fair. While Chris was the coordinator on the Peace Corps side, there was a counterpart on the Mozambican government science and technology side who was taking care of the last-minute details. We ran around with her as she handed out invitations for officials to attend the fair, tried to hire a dance troupe, picked out the room’s foliage décor and printed the events official T-Shirts. But of course, last-minute is really the only way you can organize things here so you go with the flow. We’ve learned that somehow, things do come together. And it did all work out the next day as almost 40 students and their teachers busted out their poster boards and plants in different soils and light bulbs powered by wheels. Chris or “O Senhor Cristóvão” as he was called due to his high-roller status (i.e. He was responsible for controlling the money used for the science fair) and his counterpart set everything in place for a smooth fair. Even when asked to give an impromptu speech, in Portuguese, with 5 minutes notice, Chris pulled it off. We did have a slight hiccup first thing in the morning when a PCV who was supposed to help judge the projects bailed out. Chris was hoping I would step in but science and I are totally not friends. I would have no clue how to judge a science fair in English, let alone a foreign language. Luckily, another PCV who actually geeks out over these things was super excited to be a judge.  And at the end of the day, we were happy to learn that he and the panel chose one of our students as the winner! Yay for Mapinhane science nerds! We were very proud of him and the two other students we brought to present projects. Aside from being incredibly smart, they’re all just really fantastic kids. And so the science fair itself turned into a celebration as we gave cheers to a winner from our school and the awesome effort put in by our other great students. And while we were there on the evening of August 31^st, we took a minute to sit outside on the streets of Inhambane, one of the most beautiful cities in this country, to celebrate our anniversary. We looked at the full moon and waving palm trees and laughed about how there is no way we could have ever dreamed we’d be here when walking down the aisle four years ago, but we are so happy we are. And even happier that we get to do it together.

Although I was initially bummed we wouldn’t be spending our anniversary in Bazaruto, Inhambane City turned out to be just fine. Besides, my 30^th birthday, September 16^th (oh yeah, that’s today!), would also fall on a weekend so at least we’d be around to celebrate that. We wanted to have a get together in Vilankilos but alas, science prevailed again as the national fair in Chimoio was happening over the same weekend. I decided to sit this one out since we had been doing a lot of traveling and activity planning lately. I figured if we weren’t going to have a party, I might as well take the weekend to relax.  We ended up having the Vilankulos Bday celebration a week early and it was lovely. Friends, a beautiful beach and crab. What more could a gal ask for? And randomly, we stumbled upon yet another celebration as a couple was getting married the same weekend we were staying at the lodge. Apparently, they didn’t mind at all if we stayed there too. Although we managed to watch most of the ceremony from a distance, it was looked sweet and romantic. I can definitely see the appeal in a destination wedding in an exotic location. So with the larger celebration past, this weekend was going to be a chill one as I ushered in a new decade.  My friend and cooking partner in crime, TJ, spent the weekend with me here in Mapinhane. We lounged around, walked around and of course, made some delicious Bday goodies in the form of fresh bagels and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (yes, Vilankulos sometimes has cream cheese!!!). Everything turned out great, the food and company! This morning, I ate my bagel and cream cheese, then put on my ipod and enjoyed the cool weather as I took a stroll around my hood (Ok, am I 30 or 80? :)). It was a nice way to reflect on three decades of life. And now I am waiting for the main person I want to celebrate my birthday with to return home from the national science fair. Per usual, his trip back has been a bit delayed. The car he’s in got a flat tire so hopefully, he’ll make it make sometime time today! In the meantime though, I’m keeping myself busy by looking at all the wonderful birthday wishes being sent from around the world. The outpouring of love makes me smile!  

So yeah, 30. How do I feel about that you wonder? Surprisingly really, really good. You often hear the cliché horror stories of people feeling like their youth/opportunities/life is now over. In the weeks leading up to today, I really wasn’t worried at all. I thought maybe the day of, it would hit me like a ton of bricks and I’d be crying while rocking back and forth in the fetal position. I have always been one to feel the emotion when an event is actually happening, not in the lead up to it. Like at overnight camp when we’d have a dramatic goodbye ceremony the last night and everyone would be crying but me, yet I was the one crying the next morning when we actually got on the bus to go home.  But no, last night before bed I had this sudden feeling of gratitude. Gratitude for being alive and for the things I’ve been able to do in my life up until now. And this morning, I woke up excited and hopeful about my future. I am excited about what I will be doing here in the next 15 months and where it will lead me once I return home, and about the family we hope to start in the somewhat near future. I do feel like a skin has been shed. Possibly the skin of my youth? Well, I still feel like I have some youth left, but now with experience under my belt and that’s an awesome combination! So all in all 30s=new exciting chapter and excited for the future!

After all of the celebrations, there is still one more around the corner. September 28^th will mark one year since our airplane landed in Mozambique. Be sure to check out the “year in reflection blog” to come soon. But for now, I have to get going to make tonight’s festive meal for yes, another celebration: Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. And when I eat my apples and honey this evening, I will wish a year of happy celebrations to you all too!