Final Post about my PC Moz Experience! Plus pics!

So here it is, my final post about my travels in Mozambique and other parts of Southern Africa. For those of you still reading these updates after two years, thanks for listening. It means the world to me that I had the opportunity to share my experience with you. If at any point in the future you (or a family member or friend) has questions about Peace Corps, life in Southern Africa, or my experience there, please please email me. I love to share what I've learned with others. Speaking of sharing, here are the top 100 (or so) photos from my two years in PC: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.763824821830.2145444.5905091&type=1&l=574c6d20cd

I cannot believe I have already been home from Mozambique for over a month. It seems nearly impossible that my time there has already come and gone. I left for Mozambique over two years ago, and somehow all that time has now passed without me fully appreciating how quickly it was happening. There are days I wish I could have stayed there even longer, but then I think of all my family and friends here in the States and know that as much as I love all my new friends in Mozambique, I was ready to come home.

Many things have changed in the past two years and at the same time many things are the same. I've learned a new language, gone on safari, taught high school students English and young women self-defense, painted public service murals, swam in the bioluminescent Indian ocean, and so many other things that sometimes I can't even keep it all straight. I've seen beauty, heartbreak, hardship, and love. Growth and destruction, life and death. I saw all these things in some form every day, and I will never forget the time I spent there. I've felt lost. I've felt passionate. I've felt scared, alone, and enraged. I have no doubt I have come home a different person for the things I experienced, but I also have no doubt that the love I have for every person and the belief I have in the overall good of humankind will never be shaken, never be broken.

There were days both in the past two years and before I ever laid eyes on African soil that I wondered what was wrong with our world. How can we (those of us fortunate enough to be born in the richest countries on the planet) sit around while millions die of starvation and disease when we have the ability to help and make a difference? How can we not be outraged by the inequities and injustices that surround us? I've learned that while things always seemed black and white when I was growing up, nothing is simple. Helping others is not easy, nor is it as straightforward as I always believed. Trying to do good in a foreign country is especially difficult because even after living for years in a culture and learning the language, there are so many intricacies we cannot see and so we cannot fully understand or appreciate how our efforts might affect things on a larger scale.

That being said I have never regretted my decision to join the Peace Corps. I know many people, including some of my loved ones, couldn't fully wrap their heads around my reasons for doing so. And while they were still supportive of my choice, which I very much appreciate, I wish they could have been there with me. I wish I had the words to properly explain how deeply I felt the need to see beyond our nation's walls. To see how people on the other side of the world are living every day, and to live with them, so that I will never forget how lucky I am and I will never take for granted all the things I have in my life. Food, shelter, family, education, freedom. Things that so many of us have in abundance and are so easy to abuse and mistreat. We are all so blessed and I needed to give back in any way that I could to people who don't have those things. I know there are some people in the U.S. in those dire straights, but there are countries full of people who spend every day wondering when their next meal will come or how they can possibly send their children to school. They pray and they beg and, yes, sometimes they steal to make ends meet and feed their families. But I try so very hard not to judge them, even if it's from me that they're stealing. Because, just like me, and just like you, they are just doing the best they can with what they have.

I've learned so much and seen so many things, and what I never understood before I came here was that while I've tried hard to improve lives here, my life has been changed far more than any lives I've changed in return. I've worked hard and tried my best and honestly can say I've made a difference, even if only in the littlest of ways: A girl who now believes she can go to university and have a career. A boy who has learned to use his skills for the greater good and not just selfish pursuits. I know I will never forget my time here. I know it will always be with me, helping me to try to do the right thing. Whether it's donating to charity, volunteering on the weekends, or spending my life campaigning for more foreign aid, I will not let the people I've met or the hardships I've seen leave me. I will try my best to do good, and persuade others to do good as well. Democrat, Republican, Independent, or politically apathetic, we can all do better to help our fellow humans wherever we are. And that's what I've learned in the past two years, and that's the message I wish to share with you all today. Do good things, big or small, because no matter how much of a difference you make to others, the difference in yourself will always be greater.

Estamos juntos! (We are together!)

I love you all and I wish you the happiest of holidays.

~Alissa

Finally posting my last couple entries (months late!)

September 3, 2012

It seems like every post starts with an apology for not posting more often. I think by now you probably understand I'm busy here and send them as often as I find the time. So instead of asking for your forgiveness I'll just say I know you're all busy too (school just started for some and fall is upon you) but if you find the time on this Labor Day or just need a distraction here is a nice long update on my crazy adventures in Peace Corps.

The past few months since my last update have seemed to go by even faster (if that's possible) than the previous stretches between my updates. A large part of that owes to my having spent nearly the entire month of July out of the country. We had our two week break from school between the first and second trimesters and I managed to finish my grades and leave early as well as miss nearly the entire first week of this semester due to terrible travel luck on my return, but we'll get to that later.

While school and the things I've done there like continue my computer club and have another local and regional science fair have been fun, I'd really like to share the details of my trip with you all, because at times I wished any one of you could have been with me to share in the adventure. When planning this trip I knew it would be my last big adventure in Southern Africa. I knew I wanted to see things I hadn't before including wild animals, bordering countries to Mozambique, and the world famous Victoria Falls. I finally found groups of people doing each of these things and managed to cobble together a trip where I would be traveling at different times with 15 different fellow PCVs in four countries over three weeks. Whew.

My trip started with a three day trek to the border of Mozambique with Malawi in the northern city of Mandimba where my friend Kyla lives. A group of 9 of us met up there and the next day we crossed into Malawi to arrive at Cape McClear, a tiny town on the southern end of Lake Malawi. My favorite part of that leg of the trip had to be the bicycle taxis we took to the border from town and then to the Malawi town on the other side of the border. We stayed for three nights of fun, food, shopping and yes, I'll admit, drinking. We let off steam built up from the last semester of teaching and met lots of other expatriates as well. We had volunteers from all different groups and sectors (volunteers now arrive in two groups a year, one education, one health, as well as some volunteers who stay for extra time leading there to be currently 5 'groups' represented in Moz).

My favorite part of the Cape McClear section of my trip was not the drinking or making new friends, though both were thoroughly enjoyable. My favorite part was a boat trip I went on with two other volunteers and one of their friends who was visiting from the States. We spent an afternoon going out and around an island in the Lake and seeing fish eagles and other wildlife as well as a snorkeling session where I saw fish in all kinds of dazzling colors ranging from bright yellows to metallic purples. Our guide on the boat told us the names of the fish eagles, including Shakespeare, blue tooth and cherry haha. We then returned to the main land where the guide and his friend cooked us a dinner from a fish we bought from fisherman still in the boat on the way back. It was delicious and we ate it while being entertained by a band of local boys with homemade instruments.

The next morning we all went out separate ways and a fellow PCV named Julia and I continued on to Zambia for SAFARI. The funniest part of that leg of the trip was that the Zambian visitors visa cost $50, which had to be paid in cash, in US dollars. Needless to say I did not have $50 with me and so my friend and I had to exchange Malawian currency for a $100 bill (which I haven't seen in literally years) that one of the money changers had on hand for us tourists who don't know how things work. Thankfully both Malawi and Zambia's national languages are English (actually all of the countries bordering Moz have English as their national language) so that made negotiating a little easier. We finally made it to the safari camp, arriving in the back of a pickup truck full of sacks of cabbage.

The next three days were spent enjoying the beautiful safari camp called Flat Dogs (a nickname for crocodiles here) inside the South Luangwa National Park. We saw tons of wildlife both while on game drives and even near our cottage seeing as the camp was actually inside the national park and hippos, elephants, and monkeys were frequently gallivanting around like they owned the place. There's nothing quite like walking home from dinner and turning a corner to find a huge hippo or elephant in your path. Guides from the camp walk the guests everywhere after dark and make sure you stay far enough away not to bother/enrage the animals, but it's still pretty intense.

We went on two game drives (four hour guided tours in open trucks with 6 people or fewer), one in the morning starting at 6 and one in the evening starting at 4 and going past sunset because many of the carnivores only come out at night. In the total 8 hours we spent driving around the park we saw: elephants, hippos, giraffes, zebras, lions, water buffalo, hyenas, baboons, monkeys, warthogs, porcupines, mongoose, giant eagle owls, and countless other birds, not to mention many different kinds of antelope including water buck, reed buck, impala, and puku. It was an absolutely amazing experience to see all the animals in their natural habitat and I need to give a shout out at this point to my sister and new brother-in-law without whose help this trip would not have been financially possible for me. THANK YOU!

The final leg of my trip was also in Zambia. First I met up with three other PCVs in the capitol, Lusaka, and then we traveled together from there to Livingstone on the border of Zimbabwe to see Victoria falls, the largest waterfall in the world. On the way to Lusaka I got a ride with a really nice guy who worked for the government and played old American country music over and over. Nothing I really knew but one I remember was called “My Tennessee Mountain Home'. It made me wonder what the artist would think if they knew their music was popular in Zambia. Surreal. So we made it to Livingstone and while we were only there for three days we managed to see the falls, eat some great Mexican food, get attacked by a baboon, go on a sunset booze cruise on the Zambezi river, and while my friend Emily bungee jumped off the bridge by the fall that connects Zambia with Zimbabwe I zip-lined from one side of the bridge to the other with my friend Stephanie.

Then we made the slow and arduous journey back to site passing through Tete province in Mozambique, then Manica, Sofala, Zambezia, and finally back to my province, Nampula all the while stopping to see friends on the way. Overall the trip was 3 weeks long and I would not have traded it for anything despite the rough travel. I had an absolutely amazing time and wish more than anything I had a better internet connection so I could send you all pictures. I do promise to post them once I am back in the States in just two months!!!

Now I'm off for my last mini-adventure in Mozambique, our close of service conference followed by a few days at a beach called Tofu in southern Moz. I'll be back in about a week and hope my inbox will be full of updates on all of you, my fabulous family and friends!

I'm still here, and as busy as ever!

They say write what you know. All I know is it has been over four months since I last updated you all on my time here in Mozambique and the only excuse I have is the time has flown and I have been very very busy. Last time I wrote was 'summer' break, but shortly after that school started again. I am teaching 11^th grade English again which is somewhat frustrating because I wanted a chance to teach science this year but my school happens to have an abundance of science teachers (who are Mozambican and therefore know all the technical terms in Portuguese far better than I could) and a lack of English teachers who can actually speak English well. Even the assistant director (think assistant principal) who helps teach English and is probably the best speaker they have asks me for help all the time on grammar issues.

Either way, I am teaching English again this year, and while it is a bit of a let down I can't deny it has been helpful to be teaching the same thing so I can use the lessons I wrote last year with some improvements. It saves me so much time which I desperately need this year since I have twice as many classes and over 350 students. Whew. That's 350 students in 4 classes by the way. Each class has roughly 90 students, some a few more and some less. Classroom management is a challenge to say the least. But I'm happy to say I am much better at it than I was last year and my Portuguese has definitely improved as well.

Outside of school I am also busier than ever. I am still helping run our town's REDES (girl's empowerment) and JOMA/JUNTOS (art) groups as well as restarting my computer club and planning this year's science fair. On top of all that my roommate and I have classes at the local youth center (started by a previous volunteer after a cyclone in 2008). Right now we have 12^th grade English classes in the afternoon and my sitemate Samantha is starting another secondary project called FUEMO (future business leaders) where she will teach students and adults alike the basics of how to start and manage their own business.

Thanks to all your generous donations we also just got full funding of our grant for the youth center! This means over the next few months my roommate and I will using this money to start a youth literacy program as part of the youth center as well as do some much needed maintenance. We are so excited to have this opportunity and cannot fully express our gratitude to everyone who donated money! Thank you so much!! You're doing a great thing and helping kids of our town have the opportunity to understand the awesome power of learning and reading, even before they start school. There is no such thing as pre-school or kindergarten here (except for a select private type that is extremely expensive) and so many of the children do not have the chance to have any exposure to books or even the alphabet very much at a young age.

Through this program we will be doing a variety of things including purchasing many children's books in Portuguese (which are both difficult to find and expensive here in Mozambique) as well as having reading hours on the weekends and organizing arts and crafts activities revolving around learning the alphabet and illustrating short stories. It should be a really enriching program for everyone and I can't wait to get started. I will be sure to post pictures of the progression of this project with my next update.

For now that is a nutshell of what I have been up to the past few months minus one huge occurrence. I WAS HOME IN THE STATES!!! It was an amazingly fast, action- and love-packed three weeks. It was also just what I needed. Having been in Mozambique for 20 months it was a necessary breather that gave me a little boost to finish up strong in these next 6 months or so. For those of you who don't know I should be finishing my service in November. After that I'm still not entirely sure what I'll be doing but my plan is to try and get a job in science communication as it relates to politics in Washington D.C. (I swear it's not just to be near my nephew, sister, and new brother-in-law but that does certainly help).

Anyway, that is all for now, and please feel free to give me ideas for future updates. ASK ME QUESTIONS. What do you want to know about my service here? What are you curious about when it comes to Mozambique and its culture, people, and schools? Let me know! I'd be more than happy to do a question and answer update soon (and it will make it sooner because answering questions is easier than thinking up new things to write every time I send these).

New Year 2012--Still in Mozambique!

January 12, 2012

Wow. 2012. Pretty crazy, huh? I realized on New Year's Eve that I spent the entire calendar year of 2011 in Mozambique. I didn't leave once. I traveled around to many different parts of Mozambique (I have now visited 8 of the 10 provinces) but never actually left the country. I'm hoping in the next year I can make it to the last two provinces I've not yet been to as well as my upcoming trip to Cape Town with a couple friends that should be really fun.

Hopefully most of you read my email from right before the Holidays but if not I have copied the more relevant portions below this one (and thank you to any of you who were so generous as to donate to our project). So what have I been up to the last couple months? Well I traveled up north to the province of Niassa for a big Thanksgiving celebration with some fellow PCVs and the Medicos Sem Fronteiras (Doctors without Borders) office up there. It was so much fun. We also went to Lake Niassa for a couple days. Then I came back to my site and had planned to host Christmas for any remaining volunteers from my group (most were home in the States for the Holidays) and all the new volunteers who just arrived in Mozambique in September.

However, on December 20, a heartbreaking tragedy befell some of our fellow volunteers down in the Southern region of Mozambique (for more information you can look here) and so all the Northern volunteers from the new group, some of whom had been at my site, traveled to Mozambique Island for a memorial service for their two fallen friends. All the other volunteers were invited to the memorial service as well and so all 15 of us who had been in Angoche left on December 24 to head to Moz Island. We spent Christmas there but then the new volunteers wanted to spend more time together to get through this difficult time and so 16 people came back to Angoche on December 28 to spend the New Year together as well. I had all those guests in my house for about a week, and while it was certainly a bit hectic, everyone helped out and it was really quite a heartwarming week. So many of them thanked me as they were leaving, saying the week of beach going and friends was exactly what they had needed. And I'll never forget, as one of them was leaving she told me, “It's like you healed us.” Needless to say the days of cleaning and getting the house back in shape after they left were completely worth it.

Now that the New Year is here I've been trying to get prepared for school to start up again. However, despite the opening ceremony being on Monday I still don't know what I'll be teaching this year. I can't say I'm all that surprised to be honest. Last year school didn't really start until about a month after the opening ceremony. And the class schedule changed completely at least four times during the first trimester. So we'll see. I've told my supervisors I can teach math, biology, or chemistry (and would prefer to teach those since they are what I studied in university) but it's difficult to argue when they say the English teachers they have aren't fluent and they want a native speaker to teach the upper level students. Either way, once I know what I'll be teaching this year I'll let you all know.

Well I'm off to enjoy my last few days of freedom before school starts back up. I hope you are all doing well back in the States, and please let me know how everything is going for you. I feel so out of the loop over here. And for those of you who don't know I will be home for about three weeks in mid to late April for my sister's wedding. I should be splitting my time between Ohio and DC (where the wedding will be). I would to see all of you while I'm there so make a note on your calendars. :)

Love,

Alissa

Short version of my pre-holiday message:

One thing my sitemates and I are hoping to accomplish in the next year is to help solidify our Youth Center as a place where kids of all ages in our town can come to learn, read, and explore. We would like to start a youth literacy program to help the youngest kids learn to read. The problem is finding children's books in Portuguese is extremely difficult and all printed books here in Mozambique are very expensive.

So in the past few months my sitemate, Margaret (who has since finished her service and returned to the States) and I have written grant to try and raise money for this new project. And in the spirit of the holidays I would like to invite any and all of you to check out or website where you can choose to donate to our youth center and aide us in buying the books and supplies we need to help the kids of Angoche. Information on our grant can be found here as well as a more detailed description of our project.

Thanks in advance for any donation you might make and I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!!

December 20, 2011

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I sent an email update. I wish I had a better excuse, but I've just really been enjoying my summer break from school. I've traveled, read, started running almost every day, gone to the beach, played with my dog, and generally just enjoyed myself. I love my Peace Corps work in the village of Angoche here in Mozambique, and it has come to be home this past year.

I have officially been living at my assigned site for over a year now. Sometimes I can't believe my service is already halfway over. At this time in December 2012, I will have just come back to the States as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Wow. I can't help but look back at this past year and think about what I've accomplished--and what I have yet to accomplish in my final 12 months here in Mozambique.

One thing my sitemates and I are hoping to accomplish in the next year is to help solidify our Youth Center as a place where kids of all ages in our village can come to learn, read, and explore. We would like to start a youth literacy program to help the youngest kids learn to read. The problem is that finding children's books in Portuguese is extremely difficult, and all printed books here in Mozambique are very expensive.

So over the past few months, my sitemate Margaret (who has since finished her Peace Corps service and returned to the States) and I have written a grant to try to raise money for this new project. And in the spirit of the holidays, I would like to invite all of you to check out or website where you can choose to donate to our Youth Center and aide us in buying the books and supplies we need to help the kids in our village. Information on our grant can be found here as well as a more detailed description of our project.

Thanks in advance for any donation you might be able to make. I know things are tough economically in the States, but as my mom could tell you after she visited me here in August, most Americans, no matter what their financial situation, are incredibly blessed when compared to the people of Mozambique.

If you have time to send me an email, I'd love to hear what's going on in your lives back in the US. And I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Love,

Alissa

If the link above does not work for you for whatever reason, copy and paste this URL: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=640-028

Alissa's Science Fair Students Go To Regional Competition in Nampula

After competing in their school's local science fair, Alissa and her students at Escola de Secundaria de Angoche took a trip last weekend to the regional science fair in Nampula, the province capital located several hours' away via bus. One of her students also won at the regional competition in Nampula -- he created a kind of universal cell phone charger that can be used with batteries in places where no electricity is available. Alissa and her students stayed in a modern hotel in Nampula, where she had internet access and was able to skype with us back in states. :-)

July 6, 2011 - A Day In My Life As A PCV

July 6, 2011

A belated Happy Independence Day to all of you Stateside. My sitemate, roommate and I celebrated together by making pizza and singing ridiculously loudly to all the cliched America songs you typically hear around the 4th. It was quite a night. Then both of them got sick to their stomachs from eating so much cheese (we rarely have dairy here). I was fine but they both missed a day of work. Oops. It was quite the experience overall.

A few of you have requested a kind of 'day in the life' type of update, and I think that's a great idea, so here is a 'typical' day for me in Mozambique (although I've found no day is really typical --haha).

5:15: Wake up with the sun

5:20: Take the puppy outside and then cook breakfast for him and myself

5:30: Eat breakfast, usually an egg and some vegetables

5:40: Heat up water to take my morning bucket bath

5:45: Take my bucket bath and do my hair/brush my teeth

6:00 Decide what to wear for the day and get ready for school

6:30 Make sure I have everything together and ready or school

6:40: Leave for school

6:45: Arrive at school in time for concentração (singing of the national anthem, announcements, etc).

12:10: Finish teaching for the day and head home

12:30: Cook lunch, usually something simple like some sauteed vegetables or a veggie sandwich or maybe a peanut butter and honey sandwich, it depends how much time I have

12:50: Eat lunch

1:00: Gather everything needed to teach at the Youth Center

1:30: Head down to the Youth Center with my roommate to set up for class

2:30-4: Intense English Class for 12th grade students at the Youth Center (Tuesday-Friday)

4:00-5:00: Answer any lingering questions from students and 'office hours' for students from school to come use books from the library or ask questions

5:00: Head home

5:15: Relax! Read & watch the sunset, write letters, type an email update, or play with the puppy. ☺

6:00 Cook dinner for myself and the puppy. This also varies quite a bit, but is often pasta and rarely includes meat. The only time I usually eat meat here is when we go to the restaurant in town and get chicken. (This happens once a week or less).

6:45: Eat dinner

7:25: Heat water for my second bucket bath

7:30: Take my second bucket bath

7:45: Prepare lessons, grade papers, etc.

8:45: Check that everything is ready for school the next day.

9:00: BEDTIME

So while they do vary, that's a general outline of my days here. On the weekends I have REDES and JOMA meetings as well as meetings with my computer club at school. Those usually take all of Saturday morning. Sunday is day to relax, go to the beach, and lesson plan for school. Monday I don't have school (lucky!) so the morning is spent cleaning the house and doing laundry and the afternoon is spent with my sitemate and roommate planning the youth center lessons for the week. We usually go out to dinner on Monday evenings to celebrate finishing our planning for the week and also because we usually finish kind of late and it takes awhile to cook things here.

Well that should give you a good idea of a typical day/week in my life in the Peace Corps in Mozambique. I am really excited for this coming weekend because my counterpart and I are taking four students to the regional science fair which should be really exciting. I organized (with my counterpart) a science fair for my town that happened last week, and the students with the best scores are going to represent Angoche this weekend in Nampula. It should be a lot of fun. We had 14 kids participate this year and I hope next year I can up that to closer to 25.

Well I'm off to cook dinner. I hope all is well with you and hope to hear from all of you about how your life is going!

So much love,
Alissa

Internet Is Back On -- June 15, 2011

June 15, 2011

Well, so much for the internet coming back on quickly. Finally, over a month and a half later it has started to work again (sporadically). However, as frustrating as it was to be without internet for so long, in some ways it was also kind of nice. Sometimes I feel that when the internet is working, I spend too much time in my room instead of experiencing everything around me. I'm only going to be here in Mozambique for two years and I feel like I need to experience everything I can while I have the time.

Not that I have all that much time. I've already been in Angoche for six months, in Mozambique for almost nine -- that means I have 18 months left, which really isn't that many. Every weekend between now and the end of the second trimester, I have something big happening. This coming weekend we have an experienced artist coming to teach our art group some new techniques and help them paint another part of the wall they painted earlier in the year. The topic this time is gender equality. The pictures the boys drew are really amazing, so I'll be sure to take pictures so you can all see their great work.

The next weekend is Mozambican Independence Day, June 25th. This is a huge holiday and there will be tons of partying and celebrating here in Angoche. A bunch of volunteers from all over the country are coming to experience one of Angoche's famous beach parties. It should be a lot of fun. Again I will try to remember to take lots of pictures so you can all see how people party it up here in Mozambique.

The weekend after that, the first weekend in July, is the Angoche Science Fair, which I am organizing. We have had three meetings already and I've spoken with a few other professors who will help, as well as local scientists who will help judge the projects. The students all seem really excited. I think I will probably end up with about 30 participants. Four will be chosen as winners, two girls and two boys, one each from 8-10th grade and 11-12th grade. Those four winners, a fellow professor, and I will then travel the following weekend to Nampula for a regional science fair. This science fair will include winners from the four northern provinces of Mozambique and will also have regional winners. Maybe some of my kids will be among them. We'll see!

Following the science fairs, the next weekend is the weekend of training for our REDES conference. REDES stands for Raparigas em Desemvolvimento, Educação, e Saude (Girls in Development, Education, and Health). Every year each region in Mozambique (North, South, and Central) have a conference for each REDES group in the region. We will have guest speakers and five full days of activities for the girls to participate in. This year the conference is being held in a place called Naoela in Zambezia province. Each of the 15 REDES groups in the North will bring two girls, one counterpart (a Mozambican woman who helps with the group), and a volunteer to the conference. Our group will actually have two volunteers, my sitemate Margaret and I.

After the weekend of preparation and training for the conference, it is our last week of school for the trimester which means I will be giving a final and finishing up grades. After I turn in my grades, I will be traveling again to Nampula for the weekend. This time I will be attending PDM (project design and management) training from the Peace Corps. This is where we learn how to write all different kinds of grants to fund our secondary projects like our youth center, girl's group, etc. We are taking our counterpart for the youth center, Mussa, who is quite possibly my favorite Mozambican. He is so nice, speaks wonderful English, works very hard, and never tries to hit on or sleep with any of us volunteers which makes him unique of all the Mozambicans I've met so far.

After the PDM conference, I have a week off where I think I will be traveling somewhere (the destination is still TBD). After that week of traveling I will head back to site to pick up the two girls from our REDES group to head to the conference which is the first week of August. After the conference I will head back to site for a few days to wait impatiently for my mom to arrive in Mozambique on the 11th! She will be staying for 11 days and I am SO excited for her to visit. We will visit Mozambique Island, Ribaue, Nampula, and my site of Angoche. Hopefully she will return to the States with plenty of interesting stories and pictures to share with you all.

And now I have to teach at the youth center so that is all I can write today. I hope you are all well. I miss you all so much!

Amo-vos,

Alissa

Happy Friday, May 13th from Mozambique!

May 13, 2011

I can't believe it's already mid-May. This time last year I was graduating from Smith (CONGRATS to all the ladies graduating this weekend!) and other than a 3-month summer internship in DC, my future was more or less a mystery. I don't think I would have ever guessed I would be in sub-Saharan Africa a year after graduating, to be honest. If I were going into Peace Corps, which was my first choice, I thought I would be going to Central or South America (as that was the region from my Peace Corps nomination). However, I could not be happier with how everything turned out

I absolutely love it here in Mozambique, especially in my town of Angoche. Of course things aren't easy, but that makes each little success even sweeter. Between classes at school and the youth center, our girl's empowerment group, our youth art group, and the computer club I started, I am keeping pretty busy. This is definitely my preferred method of operating (if any of you knew my schedule during college, you have an idea). If I have free time now, I usually spend it playing with and training my new puppy, reading a book, or cooking something new.

My roommate and I got a puppy a couple of weeks ago and are currently trying to house break him which is proving rather difficult in our apartment. We named him Pequininho (tiny one in Portuguese) or Nino for short. He was so small when we got him we had to bottle feed him for the first week or so, but he is doing wonderfully now and growing fast.

I'm in the middle of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I am enjoying a lot, but I don't have nearly as much time to read it as I'd like. I took a break from Zen and sped through a quick read called Do Fish Drink Water? which was really interesting. It's a book of random questions and answers, and I recommend it as a highly entertaining collection of fun facts. For example, if you took all the pennies the U.S. Mint has ever produced and lined them up edge-to-edge they would circle the globe 137 times. Or the reason we say 'god bless you' (or the German version, gesundheit) when someone sneezes is that during the Middle Ages when people were suffering from the last stages of the plague, they would have sneezing fits. So if if you heard someone near you sneeze, you knew they were about to die so you asked god to bless their soul. The children's song 'Ring around the Rosey' is about the plague also.

I've had some baking successes recently too, including some great banana bread and delicious peanut butter cookies. The next challenge will be baking a pizza in my dutch oven (aka a large covered pot with rocks and dirt in the bottom to insulate and then the baking dish inside. It's all done over charcoal). My site-mate is heading down South for a couple weeks and on the way back she's going to pick up some mozzarella cheese in the provincial capitol as that is really the one pizza ingredient we can't get here.

Well as I explained I'm really busy lately and I am about to head off to school, but hopefully the internet will come back on long enough for me to send this sometime this weekend. It keeps going on and off and we don't really know what the problem is. It hasn't worked well in over a month. Oh well. So it goes in Mozambique

Love, Alissa

New Puppy - May 4, 2011

May 4, 2011

A few things:
1- Yay for the internet being back on for the first time in two weeks.
2- It's 75 degrees and I am FREEZING. I dug my sweater out of storage this morning.
3- Living in an area that is mostly Muslim made receiving the whole Osama news really interesting.
4- Alex Breedlove (PCV sitemate) and I got a new puppy. Be jealous. Pictures to come.
:-)

[Alissa and her PCV roommate adopt an abandoned puppy, which they had to take turns feeding with infant formula every four hours, as it was not yet weaned. They named him Nino - "little boy"].

April 11, 2011 - List of Firsts in Mozambique

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. The first semester is ending this week and it's been getting pretty chaotic around here. I might be able to skype or call people with better luck this coming Saturday-Wednesday because I will be in the capitol of my province, Nampula, for a PCV conference, so let me know if you'd like to talk and we can find a time that works.

Instead of a journal-esque email today, I have a list of my firsts in Mozambique, as a summary of my now over six months in the Peace Corps.

In Mozambique, I've done these things for the first time:

--killed a chicken
--taught a high school class alone
--received a marriage proposal (the answer was no, as with all the other countless offers of marriage I've now received here)
--lived somewhere where English is not the spoken language
--cooked nearly every meal for myself
--spent Christmas away from home
--cut all my hair off
--washed my laundry by hand (and hung it to dry)
--made cookie dough with the express purpose of eating it raw (no eggs, don't worry)
--lived somewhere where I was such an obvious minority
--been fully appreciative of shade, or a nice breeze
--gone so long without seeing my family
--written a diary regularly
--swam in the Indian Ocean
--had people honestly think I was in my late thirties and tell me so
--bathed at least twice a day every day
--been so happy that a 170 km (or 100 mile) car trip took only 4.5 hours
--been really cold when it's just below 80 degrees outside
--cooked with charcoal on a regular basis
--baked without an oven
--smoked a Cuban cigar
--had clothes tailor-made regularly
--had people be appalled I wasn't married with children at the age of 23
--have seen and swam in bio-luminescent water at night
--have taken a malaria test (which was thankfully negative)
--had people tell me I was looking fat today as a total compliment (it means you have enough money to eat, so it's a good thing here)
--had people tell me I was looking skinny today and mean it negatively
--been so completely refreshed by an ice cold Coke
--lived within walking distance of the beach
--been able to greet someone in three different languages in the same conversation
--felt scandalous in shorts that come nearly to my knee
--painted a mural that a whole town sees everyday...

So that should give you an idea of how life here in Mozambique is different, and how it's changed my perspective on some things already -- and usually always for the positive.

Thanks for taking the time to keep up with my adventures while I serve in the Peace Corps, and please let me know what you're up to as well! I love hearing from my friends and family about what's going on back home.

Love from Africa,
Alissa

March 19, 2011 -- First Illness, First Test & First Student Debate

March 19, 2011

Time sure does fly here in Mozambique. I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote an update. Sorry about that. I also cannot believe it has been almost 6 months since I left the States. So much is going on both here and at home, and I've been quite busy.

This past week, sadly, I have been been sick, which was no fun at all. I was practically bedridden for five days and couldn't eat more than bread and water. Not a good time, let me say. I was bored and tired and just miserable. I did read Lord of the Flies and started reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as well as watch a few movies, but overall it was a long and terrible week.

Thankfully, I am feeling much better now. I am sitting out here on the back balcony, enjoying the gorgeous view of the Indian Ocean and islands off Angoche, while I read and write and listen to James Taylor. First I was writing in the handsome journal I received as a gift (thank you to the Krauses) before leaving for Peace Corps, and now I am penning this update to let you all know I am still alive and well and doing my best to keep busy.

Teaching is going fairly well. School is difficult but satisfying. I gave my first test at the end of last week and it was quite the episode. I caught around 15 kids cheating (which means they will receive zeroes), and many other students were looking at each other's papers and whatnot during the test as well. It was quite frustrating. However, despite it being stressful to proctor, the students who didn't cheat did quite well, and I was pleased. The test covered school subjects, professions, family members, and the verb 'to be.' I have a few more tests to finish grading but overall the effort was admirable.

Our secondary projects are also going quite well. Last Saturday we went to the beach with our REDES and JOMA groups. It was such a nice day. We brought some snacks and swam and ate, and Audie taught a bunch of the kids how to make friendship bracelets. Quite the successful outing. But even more rewarding to me was the debate we had with them before the trip to the beach.

The previous week we had been talking to the boys after the REDES meeting and one boy said, “Sao poucos mulheres que tem couragem.” (There aren't many women who have courage.) This spurred my colleague Margaret to ask him what he thought courage was. The boys agreed that courage was when someone does something dangerous, like robbing a bank. Then one of the REDES girls who was still in the youth center who had overheard the boys asked, "What about when a girl turns down a teacher who is trying to sleep with her so she can pass to the next grade? Doesn't she have courage?" The boys listened, and although rather taken aback by her viewpoint and willingness to speak up, agreed that this, too, was courageous. Later, while discussing this interaction amongst ourselves, my sitemate, roommate and I agreed that we should host a debate with the girls and boys of our groups to discuss courage and the difference between men and women in Mozambique.

So this past Saturday before our trip to the beach, we had both groups come to the youth center and had two teams (each with girls and boys) debate the truth of a handful of different statements. Some of the statements/questions were:

* There are few women who have courage.
* It is women's job to take care of men.
* A woman can be a soldier.
* Women in Mozambique have a harder life than men.
* If a wife and husband both get home from work at the same time it is the wife's job to cook.
* If you had the strongest man and strongest woman in the world, who could lift more?
And other things of that nature.

The teams took turns arguing the pro and con of the different statements, and it went quite well. I think all of the kids got quite a lot out of it, and it was one of the first times I think they had ever had discussions like that -- especially with the boys and girls participating together equally. It was quite possibly the high point of my month. :-)

Now it is getting dark and I need to go cook dinner (I'm going to make fried rice), but I hope this update finds you all well and enjoying the spring that is coming (I know a few of you have just returned from a week in GA rowing on Lake Lanier, and to you I say I MISS YOU and GOOD LUCK THIS SEASON).


Lots of love to you all!

~Alissa

Feb. 21, 2011 - You know You're In Mozambique When...

Sorry it's been so long since I've emailed. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Here's a list to entertain you and explain some of the things I've seen recently:

You know you're in Mozambique when:
1- People seem to think the rain will do them bodily harm. They avoid getting wet at all costs.
2- Kids, instead of walking dogs on leashes, walk goats with lengths of rope. Or sometimes cows.
3- Mowing the lawn consists of using a tool that's a mix of scythe and machete, and hacking at it a little bit at a time.
4- You see more young men walking and holding hands with each other in one day here than you would see in a year in America.
5- People are in winter clothing whenever it's below 80 degrees.
6- A bicycle is wasted if it only has one person on it without tons of cargo. I've seen up to six kids on one bike.
7- The boys are way better dancers than the girls. I have never seen people with better rhythm or more ability to move their hips in crazy ways than high school Mozambican boys.
8- Clothes aren't mandatory until a child is at least 6. And if it's raining or they are swimming, then not until past puberty.
9- Obama's name or face can appear on ANY article of clothing. I've seen Obama on hats, shirts, belts, watches, shoes, and underwear.
10- Everyone is deathly afraid of dogs and thinks you are weird if you don't yell at or kick a stray as you pass -- and especially if you stop to pet one.
11- People are seen walking down the street with all manner of items on their heads: from 20 liter water containers to giant fish they've caught, to massive bundles of wood and sticks and even tables with boxes of cookies and crackers on top.
12- Your school schedule changes completely a month after classes have started.

Well, everything is going well here, more or less. If you haven't seen them, I posted some pictures on facebook. They are photos of my students painting a wall mural and my sitemate's 25th birthday! Oh, and I have a new cell phone. My other phone was stolen at school: :-/

Anyway. I'm off to grade my first set of essays. Busy busy! Wish me luck!
Love,
~Alissa

Jan. 29, 2011 -- Getting In Touch With My Artistic Side

Feb. 1, 2011: First, I want to say a big HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY to my amazing niece Madison Mackenzie Kulow!! I can't believe you are already 12 years old, and I cannot wait to see you again and see how much you've grown. I love you Madi, and I miss you SO much.

January 29th, 2011

Today I got in touch with my artistic side, and it was fabulous. Usually Peace Corps volunteers don't start working on our secondary projects (things like REDES, a girl's empowerment group; JOMA, a youth art and journalism group, etc.) until after the first trimester of school. ThF way you can settle in and determine what the community's needs are and how to best suit their needs. However, as there have been previous volunteers in Angoche, including the amazing Margaret who started here last year and is therefore still here, we have already started ours. Our REDES girls are starting meetings next weekend but this weekend we got started with the JOMA boys.

The main road coming into our town is quite a site to see. Despite the fact that 80% of the road leading to Angoche from the capitol city of Nampula is nothing more than packed dirt, the road leading into our town is a massive divided street that could easily fit six cars across its wide berth. The main area of the city looks more like a ruin than a town packed with people. It is full of concrete buildings in various states of disrepair, some to the point that they look near collapse. You get the distinct feeling that this town has long since seen its hayday and has fallen into shambles, forgotten by its previous inhabitants.

And in some ways, this is exactly the case. Angoche was once a thriving Muslim trading post, founded in the 1490s, (one of the reasons the local dialect is a mixture of Arabic and Swahili). The town was a huge metropolis filled with impressive buildings, gorgeous houses, and rich foreigners who ran everything. However, since Mozambique gained independence in the 1970s, much has changed. Nearly all of the foreigners have long since gone, and while others have come in (many "lojas," or stores, are owned by Chinese or Indian families, for example), the town is more or less in the hands of the native Mozambicans.

This means, since the government of Mozambique is already extremely poor and also fraught with corrupt officials who embezzle what little money there is, that most everything here is run down and poorly cared for. There are a few exceptions of course, but the point is the main area of town has the feeling of lost grandiosity and is now falls far short of that former beauty.

As a good project for our JOMA group, some of the previous volunteers had the boys paint a mural on a concrete wall on the main road leading into town. Since then the mural has since been ruined by Frelimo, the only real political party active in Mozambique currently, when they put up a bunch of campaign posters before the elections in November. So today we began redoing the mural. It has about 16 panels in total and the boys decided they wanted to focus on two topics important here in Angoche and all of Mozambique: malaria and domestic violence (the last mural was about HIV/AIDS). The boys spent the last two weeks drawing up their ideas for the mural, which include a couple panels each about the causes, problems, and solutions for each of these problems.

Today we finished scraping off the old paint and primed, drew, and painted the first half of the mural. Between my roommate, site-mate, the 5 boys, and me, it took from 6 a.m.-6 p.m., 12 full hours. It was quite a job. We haven't completely finished the first half of the mural and that is the goal for tomorrow. Then next weekend we'll do the second set of panels, about domestic violence.

Overall the day was a success. However, despite the complete overcast (and therefore bearable temperatures) and my sunscreen, I got completely fried. Figures. But the day overall was a much needed break. While we were working all day, it was a soothing and very concrete job with very visible results. Being here has really made me appreciate how nice it is to be able to see the results of the work you're doing. It was backbreaking and I'm sure I will be sore everywhere tomorrow, but it was almost relaxing to be soothed by the scraping of the metal on concrete and calmed by the rub of the paint brush over the wall, bringing with it new color and purpose.

Overall, a successful day if there ever was one in Mozambique.
:-)
And now, for a little dinner and some well-earned rest.

Miss you all!

Jan. 25, 2011 -- Beginning the Second Week of Teaching in Angoche

January 25th, 2011

Well, the internet here has been out for over a week. Apparently this is not that unusual for Mozambique but it's definitely a first for me here. It did, however, give me a lot of time to work on lesson plans and read. We are into our second week of school here, but the first week was pretty much just practice because out of my classes (which are supposed to have around 80 students) each one only had about 10 kids, and none of the other teachers taught any classes.

This week I had more like 40 students per class, which is already more than we have chair, so today a few kids had to sit on the floor. I can't really imagine how another 30 kids are going to fit in my rooms, which are basically the size of the typical American classroom. Definitely not built to hold 80 kids in their mid-to-late teens. That might end up being the biggest challenge of all. How to keep everyone in the class involved when only half the students even have desks.

I started yesterday and today by introducing myself and telling the kids a little about my background (I purposefully did not tell them my age, though every class asked). We then talked about the rules and expectations in my classroom, the most important of which I told them was Respect. I respect them and they respect me. They seemed to understand that pretty well -- by which I mean, they speak almost no English and I had to teach almost entirely in Portuguese, but they understood the concept. We also talked about my other very important rule: NO CHEATING. Yes, in all capital letters. The use of cheat sheets ("cabulas" in Portuguese) is rampant in Mozambican schools. The other teachers completely allow it because both the students and the other teachers are convinced that the kids cannot pass without them. What's worse is this idea has some truth to it because the students take so many different disciplines every year and have never really been taught critical thinking or problem solving skills. If they don't have the fact/number/verb/etc memorized, they give up.

Anyway, in the second half of the blocked class (we have two blocked classes and one normal length, aka 45 minute, class each week), we then talked about what they wanted to learn this year. Their previous teachers were so bad. They have been taking English for six years now and literally cannot say anything other than greetings, which they have to know because the students greet the teacher every class. There are a few exceptions -- those who either have someone who has taught them outside school or were lucky enough to have had one of the previous volunteers and then actually worked hard and remembered what they were taught. However, their lack of experience is almost easier for me because I am going to start from scratch.

After deciding what they wanted to learn this year, we started at the beginning. Yes, with the alphabet. We practiced pronunciation, because some letters and sounds are really difficult for them ('r' for example), and then I taught them the ABCs song. It was a huge hit. Every class loved it. Kids were clapping like I'd performed a fantastic magic trick or something else equally amazing. Their enthusiasm was great. Next we practiced the numbers, writing them out up to twenty. Even these two tasks were not easy for them. And after six years of a language, that's really unfortunate. But after seeing that the other English teachers aren't even really fluent themselves, I can't say I'm all that surprised.

However, the kids did seemed excited to learn, and I think I did a good job keeping them in line. There are a few kids who I can already tell are going to be problems, but having been one of the smart kids who just can't stop answering questions, and being friends with the people who are always making jokes and whispering, I know how to handle it and keep them in check. We'll see how much harder it gets once half the class is sitting on the floor.

The other thing worth noting is that today when I was just about to start my first class, I noticed a crowd of students all gathered around something out on a slope/hill behind the school. As none of the other teachers seemed to notice or care, I went out to investigate. A student was lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. My fellow volunteer, Audie, also came down and she had discovered from some of the students that he had epilepsy and was having a seizure. We made sure to make everyone back away after resting him on his side. But after a few minutes he was still unconscious, and finally another teacher came over. He had one of the older boys carry the unconscious boy over his shoulder to the hospital, which is thankfully just up the road. I don't know yet if he is all right, as no one seemed to know once my classes we over for the day, but I will obviously try and find out more in the coming days. What a welcome to the world of teaching and a start to the first full week of school!

Well now I must go and write up my pre-test questions on some poster-sized paper because the school doesn't have copiers and it's the easiest way to give a test without wasting half the period writing the questions on the chalkboard. Tomorrow I will really find out what my kids know, and what they don't. Hopefully it won't be too upsetting, but I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up too high. Hope to be able to send another update in a week or two, once I've gotten into the flow of classes and lesson planning.

Miss you all!
Hope everything is going well in the States!
Love,
Alissa

Jan. 15, 2011 -- Death of a Child

January 15, 2011

There is absolutely no sound like the crying of a mother who has just lost her child. I had never heard that sound before last night. But death is just one of the many terrible things that is far more common in Mozambique than it should be. My adorable little 5 year old neighbor died yesterday. She had been sick her whole life apparently, but she was doing more or less okay until yesterday when she collapsed suddenly. Her family took her to the hospital but she died a few hours later. I sat up most of the night hearing her mother's cries outside my window. It's something I will never forget.

Today I watched from above as they loaded her much-too-small coffin into a truck at the head of a line of cars full of people to go to bury her. The cries of her family followed the procession down the street and away from our apartment, but the sound still lingers in my mind.

This sound is the reason. The reason why people like myself are willing to spend two years away from their family and friends, everything they know in life, to try to help people they have never met. If I can do anything to try to educate or help even one person in this country, convince them they can become a doctor, or make an honest living to feed their family, or go get help when they need it without the stigma attached to certain illnesses, then it will make all the difference. If I can prevent even one mother from having to make the sounds I heard for the past 24 hours, then how can I not? How is that not worth two years of my time? How can I not want to give back in any way I can to help those less fortunate than myself?

Everyone can do their part. I'm just playing mine. I hope you all take some time today to think about what yours can be. What can you do to help those less fortunate, be they the ones on this side of the world or the ones who live right down the street from you.

I need some time to think. So that's all for today.
Hope you are all well.

~Alissa

January 10, 2011: Happy New Year from Mozambique

So here it is, my first email of the New Year. So much has happened in the past couple weeks. I spent New Year's on Ilha de Mocambique (Mozambique Island) with a group of friends. It was so much fun! I have attached a picture of my friend Megan and I in front of the old fort on the island. The island was one of the first places settled in Mozambique. It actually served as the capitol during most of the Portuguese rule, until it was later changed to Maptuo, down south. Half of the island is really built up and touristy, and the other half is a barrio (think poverty, huts, traditional Mozambican living). It's quite a sight to see.

Upon arriving back to our site a few days into the new year, we set about trying to find out what we will be teaching this coming school term, since we still didn't know. I finally found out a couple days ago what I'm going to be teaching -- 11th grade English. So not any chemistry [original assignment when accepted into PC] or math! Okay. Interesting. Typical Mozambique. But considering how well even the English teachers here speak English (or don't speak it, I should say), it's probably not bad to have native speakers teaching the upper grades. My roommate, who was actually sent here to teach English originally, will be teaching 12th grade. That's an exam year, so she has a bit more pressure than I do. Whew. So now I have exactly one week to prepare before classes start. Awesome. And also very typical for Mozambique. But hey, I'll be teaching almost entirely in English, so now I'm a little less nervous. Now I just have to worry about managing my class and the fact that some of my students will be my age or older. No problem, right?

Also, today was the day. I cut all my hair off. Well, nearly all of it. A picture is attached, and I LOVE IT. It is SO much cooler and easier to deal with. Plus, I think it looks decent considering my roommate did it with some regular scissors... haha. I'm so glad I decided to do it. I've wanted to cut it off for awhile now and really, if I don't do it here I never will. Let me know what you think.

Anyway, I have to spend the next week working on my lesson plans. Some of the topics are kind of ridiculous, like a unit on the coconut tree and its importance in local culture and trade. Okay. But some are actually super exciting like the unit on democracy and another on politics and elections. Those should be amazing to teach. I'm going to be getting a copy of the syllabus on Friday, though I saw one for a minute yesterday. I think the first week will mostly be review and getting to know my class, especially because a lot of the students don't show up the first couple weeks, for whatever reason.

Well I'm off to bed now, and tomorrow have to start planning my lessons. Wish me luck!

Miss you all!
~Alissa

Slideshow of Alissa's Photos from Mozambique

Dec. 27, 2010: Happy Holidays from Mozambique

These past few weeks have been crazy busy for me, just as I'm sure they have been for all of you, too. Just wanted to send a quick email letting you know how I'm doing.

December 24, 2010

Wow, I cannot believe it is Christmas Eve already. It really doesn't feel like it. Why? Well, for one thing, I spent the day drinking beers with friends and swimming in the Indian Ocean with something like 15 Mozambican children-- none of whom spoke Portuguese -- so literally no communication was possible besides non-verbal. Not exactly a typical Christmas Eve for me. But it does feel nice to have friends over, so it's not too lonely for the holidays. There are eight of us here to celebrate together. We're doing a white elephant gift exchange and everyone is taking turns cooking meals. It's a great arrangement.

So the past two weeks have been crazy. My school is... interesting. It has 4,000 students in 8th-12th grade, so that's bigger than my college, which is kind of intense. Also, last year the classes had up to 150 students each, and they were really short staffed on teachers. So that's kind of concerning. They haven't told me for sure what I'm teaching because they don't find out which teachers they will have until right before classes start, and they will have me teach whichever subject (of the ones I listed I can teach) that they need teachers for the most.

The school did just get remodeled so it looks pretty nice, but due to the overcrowding they had to continue to use the makeshift school they put up for use during the renovation to house all of 8th and half of the 9th grades. It's about a thirty minute walk from my home here, while the main school is just down the street--so I'm really hoping I will be teaching the older grades so I don't have to worry about walking all that way in the heat everyday. I'm really excited and nervous about school, but for now I'm still focusing on getting integrated into the community and improving my Portuguese skills.

December 25, 2010

So... this was definitely my most unusual Christmas yet. I was woken after about an hour of sleep to French Toast and presents. We had a white elephant gift exchange and I got some African Jungle silly bands. We then cooked some food and got ready to go over to the house of some South Africans we met yesterday who are living nearby. They came and picked us up after lunch and we spent the whole afternoon and evening at their place drinking and eating prawns that were, I'm not kidding you, longer than my hand. I almost didn't believe it when I saw them. We cleaned them and then grilled them and they were delicious. Those, along with corn bread, salad, rice, and potato salad, made for a fabulous Christmas dinner. After eating we played some hilarious drinking games taught to us by the South Africans, one of which was called yee-haw and was SO fun.

Next we went to the beach. It was already dark and the stars were absolutely amazing. Not only that, but the ocean water here has bio-luminescent algae, which means when you move through the water they light up bright green. It was SO AWESOME. I can't even really describe how cool it was.

Okay that is all for now. We think we're going to leave tomorrow or the next day to go to another friend's site, and then spend New Year's on the Island of Mozambique, which is a little bit up the coast. It's supposed to be beautiful, so I'm really excited!

Hope the States are treating you all well!

Love,
Alissa

Dec. 21, 2010: Visitors for Christmas

Haha... yeah, I know Charlie and Daniel. They're in my province. They're coming to Christmas here at Audie's and my apartment. Everyone from the province is coming. I'm so excited. I think I'm going to send another mass email tomorrow.
:-)
Love you,
~Alissa

On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 3:11 PM, Sarah Ortman wrote:
Do you know the PCV and his housemate discussed the blog below? (One is from Yale and the other from Brown.) Fun to read the blog -- it appears he is somewhere in northern Mozambique but near mountains? Evidently he gave the speech at your swearing in, because he's included it in his blog. Most of the PCVs in Mozambique are evidently pretty talented! lol:

China, India and Brazi. Reppin' it in Mozambique - Blogspot
http://mo-zam-beek.blogspot.com/