Roller Coasters

I just re-read that blog from almost two weeks ago, and as true as it was at the time, things have gotten better. Like I said, it is truly the ultimate rollercoaster! Right now it is Sunday, and it's been a lazy morning. I am in the Save the Children guest house in Quelimane laying in bed in the comfort of air conditioner, stepping out of this room feels like I'm entering a sauna! =/ I got here yesterday and leave tomorrow for Mopeia, the other site that has an office in Zambezia besides mine. Those of us in the Home Based Care branch are having meetings and trainings there for the whole week, mostly for the new activistas.

Things in Morrambala have improved a lot! I finally moved into my house, and started to decorate asap. I started to meet a few neighbors, and one of them so happens to be a carpentar, Paulino, and he helped me hammer nails into my walls to hang things. I know how to hammer, in America, lol, but here it's not so easy, of course! When I nail things into the walls all the nails bend, sometimes they bend even when Paulino is pouning them in, but for the most part they obey his better trained hands. Tape doesn't stick to the walls at all, I realized that after taping up a bunch of pictures of friends and family. I'd wake up and find 5 pictures on the ground. Decided it was time to hammer them into the wall. They haven't fallen down sense. With Paulino's help my walls are no longer bare naked, I have things to stare. And I have more pictures hanging up then I ever have before. Ha-that reminds me, Paulino was looking at my pictures, and he asked me if everyone in America was beautiful because everyone in all my pictures were! =) So if you're up haning in my living room, "hallway," or bedroom (which you prob are if you're reading this) people here think you are beautiful! ;)

Then there is this other neighbor, her name is Lena. She lives alone in a mud house, with a straw roof. I haven't met many people up to this point who live alone, I assumed she was def older than me, she seems to mature. Find out one night as we went on a walk, she is only 22 as well! Crazy! She is very sweet, always asks me to come sit in the shade at her house and offers me mangos. PS mangos are overwhelmingly in stock here in Zambezia. Lots of other foods are hard to find, everything depends on the season. I hear we are coming up on avacado season though, o how I hope my site has some! But ya, mangos are everywhere! I wish apples and bananas were everywhere, they are hard to find outside of Quelimane. Plus it has just been so darn DRY here, so hot! No rain, so everything is drying up. People's machambas, which is their plot of land that they grow food on for their families, and hopefully have left overs to sell on the street, well their machambas are dying. Pray for rain, people here need it. And when I say they need it, they don't need it like I need Starbucks, they need it to feed their kids, themselves, they need it to survive.

One more thing I want to tell you about, as I have been meeting more people at site, slowly adjusting, moving into my own place has def been a huge part of being overall more sane, I have made a close new friend. Her name is Ali and she is actually from Barcelona. I hang out with Mozambicans too, obviously, she is the only non-Mozambican friend of mine at site in fact. Anyways, she is wonderful and her and I have been hanging out often, her friendship has made things feel more normal in Morramabala. Plus, she has been there longer so she has been introducing me to other cool people in town. =) I have hung out at night, many a time now thanks to her. And sometimes actually have weekend plans! ;)

Well, in a little bit I will force myself out of this amazingly cool room and walk to the office where I can post this. I hope this finds you well. Thanks for reading it, leave your comments, it makes me feel more connected to home when I hear from people! And what your responses are to what I'm saying, almost as if we are talking! =) Wish me luck in Mopeia, I will be going back to my site next Saturday, back to my new home. =)

One love,
Amanda