Month
of May was a month of pretty much traveling to different parts of Mozambique.
Well my first stop was Tufo beach which is located in Inhambane Province. I
went down a few days before our reconnect conference to see some of my best
friends. The last time I saw them was the day after we swore in. So traveling
in Mozambique usually doesn't go the way you want it to go, especially when you
are going to be taking an airplane. LAM airlines is well let's just say
preguicoso (lazy). I was traveling with two other people from the Manica
province. We left May 1st which is a holiday, Dia os trabalhadores, also known
as ehhhhh I don't want to work because it's my day. We get to the airport on
time and our flight was supposed to arrive in 30 minutes until all of a sudden
a voice comes on the loud speaker telling us that the flight was canceled.
Really?!?! You didn't know the plane didn't leave 2 hours ago. Everyone and I
mean literally EVERYONE was so angry they could of flipped the chairs over and
smashed the windows. So they decided to accommodate everyone and got us on the
next flight as soon as possible. After a full day of bad luck we finally arrive
in Maputo (south of Mozambique), tired and just wanting to crawl in a bed we
finally got to a hostel but had to wake up at 5am for the morning chapa to get
to tufo.
(Steven, Wendy and I at tufo beach)
(Erin and me, one of my friends since training)
(some people from Moz 21)
(The beautiful beach in Tufo)
Which
was well worth it! We got there and it was beautiful! Living in California and
now being cut off from a beach, I was literally in heaven. I jumped in the
water had my toes in the sand and just enjoyed the warm beach sun for the whole
weekend. We did have a special event (hence why we also went down). It was beer
Olympics, which was so much fun. Then we made a pit stop at my friends beautiful site Quissico. We went to a lagoon that is a good 45 min walk from there house but well worth it.
(Quissico Lagoon)
(Fei my central travel buddy to the south)
(Sean who lives at this beautiful site)
(I want to see you guys walk in beach sand and carry things on your head)
(Laura and me)
So pretty!
So after spending a weekend on the beach, all of us 21ers were off to maputo for reconnect. Reconnect is a conference we go to when we
have been at site for 3 months and we all get together for a refresher,
reflection, and of course discussing secondary projects. It was nice to be
around everyone from training. As many of you know my computer was fried by
lightening, yes I said it lightening, and I haven't had a computer since
December. That's why it's been hard to blog and email everyone back. Besides
that during reconnect, as much as I loved my computer I learned that without it
I was well integrated in my community. I would go out for walks more and visit
friends. I didn't really need technology as much as I thought I needed it. I
should literally go out and smell the roses. So I'm telling you, don't let
technology suck you in there’s so much more around us.
Sorry no pictures from that conference.
After I believe it was 3
to 4 days of reconnect I was flown out to nampula for a JUNTOS conference. I
think I talked about JUNTOS in my last blog. But just in case, I am working
with youth and making them leaders in their community. They spread awareness
their community about malaria or HIV, things that affects their community
drastically . I am actually a coordinator for JUNTOS in the central province.
So I went to this conference for the old officers to handover everything about JUNTOS
I needed to know. It was a lot of fun and I am so ready to get this year
started.
(Talking about the central coordinators of JUNTOS)
(By far my favorite person Mark)
After all that I finally made it back to
site, I was gone for way to long and even my market ladies told me they missed
me so much. And you can't forget our dog who literally cried so much you could
hear him all over town. Except once I
got back I had a terrible eye infection! So I was sent back to Maputo to get
checked and don’t worry it was an easy fix. Once I could finally see through my
red eye I decided to visit my host family because I needed a good smile and my
host mother was so happy. She even showed me her new tiled floor. How I love my
host family they were amazing.
My host mother and I
There were other Peace Corps volunteers in Maputo also for
other reason and they kept me company even if my eye looked gross haha. Maria
joined me on this trip to see our host families, she is an amazing volunteer
and an amazing friend!
(Maria and I learning about Maputo)
Also special shout out to my amazing cousin graduating! glad I made it to your graduation love you!
Rony, my sisters and me on the phone!
Last but not least the title of my blog, the market ladies think my name is sarah for some odd reason, so now I am Thelma Sarah Alvarez. I respond to Sarah and Thelma. Love my site
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