Saying Goodbye in November

November is finally here, which means Haleigh leaves back to the states. Haleigh has been my roommate for a year and she finished up her service. It's going to be sad seeing her go and I will miss our crazy adventures but I will see her back in the states. It is nice to say my roommate wasn't just a roommate but more of a sister. Parabens Haleigh and see you soon with Amendoim.

So this Month was also my wonderful fathers birthday! Parabens Dad!!! I am so grateful to have technology that allows me to communicate with my family especially on special days like these. Miss you familia.

So I was in Maputo which is south of Mozambique and I like in central Mozambique. I was lucky enough to be in the city because that meant I could still say by to Haleigh. Meanwhile I was in the city she was at our house vanduzi. My library project was on pause since I couldn't help my counterpart out but i left books out just in case they came over to just read. I received a photo from haleigh of the kids coming over just to look at the books. She told me they came over atleast everyday when I was gone. Even though I was having a hard time this really made me smile and made my week so much better.

Kids that come to my library

So Haleigh finally made it to the big city after saying goodbye to our wonderful community. We got to cheer to her R-PCV title! I got to meet alot of people when I was down there, and got to say bye to the other returning PCV's.

Haleigh and I

Jade Haleigh and I

There was also one more goodbye that I had to do this month. I had to say goodbye to one of my best friend here, Michaela. Unfortunately her service was cut short, for good reasons. She was in the same volunteer group that I am in so I knew her since training. It was sad seeing her leave but I was so happy I could spend the week with her and say goodbye. She was one of my closest friends and was always there when I needed someone or even to tell someone great news. I know we will stay in contact but I will miss her through out the rest of my service. 

Michaela and I

ALso I was able to see some people from my group that live in Northern Mozambique, which alot of them I hadn't seen since swearing in.....so Almost a year!

Nick, Michaela, Justin, me and Jessie

 I also got to see Ariel who is another health volunteer who always makes me smile, she's a great girl! We always have the best time together.

Once everything was settled and I felt healthy I was ready o leave the big city to go home (vanduzi)!

I arrived home and welcomed by many people in my community. I missed being home and sleeping in my own bed...even though hotels are nice too. 

Helped my embregada apply for schools.

Amendoim took over Haleigh's bed

Once I arrived home I had to start preparing for the best trip yet....I was going to South Africa, Cape Town, to meet up with Matt! Yes the one and only Matt Hamlett. I have been waiting for this trip for months, because it meant I atleast got a little slice of home in Africa.  I took a day and half traveling on a bus to finally get to cape town. It was such a beautiful ride up there. 

And then I finally arrived in Cape Town. This meant I only had to wait one more hour to finally see Matt. I was so nervous and a little cultured shocked but seeing him was just so exciting! It was great to finally actually hug and talk in person instead of over facetime and skype. Once we checked into the hotel we went for a little walk around the city. We came up to a park where you could see the beautiful table top mountain.

And when we got back to the hotel he showered me with the best gifts a peace corps volunteer could dream of! All of my favorite snacks

He knows how to win my heart every single time!

This is one of our first pictures together! we went to the waterfront to enjoy some live music and go see the shopping mall. Yes i know why the mall?  Well because I live in a place where they don't exist! Also Matt needed to buy a sweater. 

The best part about this place was that you could see table mountain anywhere. We decided to eat dinner and I finally ate sushi. Yes sushi and many of you that know me I LOVE SUSHI! It was nice to finally be around each other and go adventure together. Also have nice dinners like if we wre back at home.

I also did a little site seeing and went to the wild bird reserve... yea I know what you are thinking typical Thelma....

Well since I stopped at this place i found out that there were monkeys and lemurs also, not only birds!!! 

That is my excited face with the gorilla statue

I got to play with little spider monkeys who literally sat with me. I will admit I was a little self conscious when the monkey started looking through my hair.

 Had to take a selfie with the monkey, and he was looking if I had food!

Cape Town was full of great scenery, it all seemed like a backdrop and not even real. 

 So Matt and I got to go on a boat ride and we saw seal island where literally million of seals piled on a rock!

Taking this picture was a little scary cause I thought I was going to fall in.

We also got to see cute little penguins on a beach!

I made him go on a tour bus to go site seeing for a bit! Which we saw more pretty beaches and the wine gardens. 

WE didn't get to climb table mountain but we still got to take a picture at the bottom of it and get a view of the whole city.

Of course I had to get my beach time in too.

The city!

 And then last but not least the end of the trip after being with Matt for almost a week I had to say goodbye. I have to say, saying goodbye last year was hard but this second time was a little bit harder. Except now I will be home in one year exactly! So after being sad I decided I needed a hair cut to maybe help me feel better. After a year of letting my hair grow out, I wanted it to be healthy and now like mozambicans say I look "Chique"!

After my long journey back from Cape Town, it was almost Thanksgiving!! yummy yumy food!

I decided since I was already South of Mozambique, why not just celebrate it with some of my closest friends. I cooked with one of my best friends Cara and Lauren. We were in the kitchen for hours making good thanksgiving food. Let me just say green bean casserole in the states is easy to make but here in Africa making it from scratch takes hours!!! 

Cara Lauren and me in the kitchen 

 Deciding who can eat first. We cleaned up well

Our thanksgiving feast that we made, with the help of all our friends! And yes those are turkeys

So all of you worried about me being lonely out here, I am truly happy still and have amazing friends who are like my family. So my smile has not changed maybe it's gotten a little bigger  but you can still see my dimples.  I was lucky enough to at least see Matt when I hit my one year mark. Who knows maybe one of you reading this will try to visit me before I head back to the states! think about it!! I definitely have saudades for all of you. (miss you all)