This is my last week, well really it's less than that, because I leave here on Thursday to go back to the US. The internet has been down at the place that we live so here is a recap of last week's activities sans fotos, sorry folks!
Last monday-We left EARLY to get on our greyhound bus going to Johannesburg, South Africa. I once again was saved during the trip by my wonderous iPod. We got through Mozambican customs okay and also through South African customs just fine. On the South African side there were lots of Mozambican refugees who were trying to flee South Africa. For those who dont know, the people of South Africa (not all, but some groups) have been killing, beating up, raping, and robbing immigrants in South Africa trying to get them to leave. So we saw VW vans full of beds, clothes, food, matresses, dressers etc. and the people trying to get back into Mozambique. It was so sad to see, and it made me so sad for the mozambicans who are just trying to find a better life in SA.
Well, that same day we stopped in Neslpruit, SA and got two rental vans, also known as the "space ships" due to their sweet aerodynamics. Then we drove to Swaziland, which is a kingdom still and their king gets a new wife every year he is on the throne, he has six so far. We got to our hotel and it was amazing! It was so nice to have a hot shower after 2 months of cold ones, ahh...
Tuesday- We checked out of that hotel, went to an old cultural vilage where we got a tour, tasted traditional food, watched traditional dances, and then hiked to a beautiful waterfall and lagoon where we all jumped in. It was freezing!!!! Really, it was, it took my breath away! Then we got out and went back to the cars, changed, and went to a candle factory called Swazi Candles, they made some sweet stuff there, I just had to buy some :) Then it was off to a 1/4 mile of artesan crafts, and I bought some souveneirs for people and for me, and then we checked into our second hotel in Swaziland and ate a big dinner. It was a good day.
Wednesday- We left Swaziland early in the morning, went back through customs out of swazi and back into South Africa so we could go to Kruger National Park in SA. We got there around noon, had lunch and then drove through the gates into the park. That was amazing, it is your car, and the animals, no cages nothing. We saw crocodiles, a giraffe crossed the road right in front of our car, we had to wait for a family of baboons to cross the road, it was so amazing. It took two hours to get to our camp, which is located in the middle of the park and surrounded by electric fences to keep you safe. They close the gates at 5:30 pm sharp and if your not in the camp area, you have to sleep out side the gates in your car. We made it in seriously at 5:25....cutting it close huh?!
Thursday- 4 am, get up put on like 3 layers of clothes, hop in a huge safari truck and go! That was my morning. It was cold, soooo cold, but sooo worth it. We had two lions literally like 10 feet away from us, it was amazing. And soon after I spotted a leopard in the bushes, it was so close to us too. These animals are so amazing when you see them in the wild, it was an experince of a lifetime! We also saw hippos, giraffes, monkies, and LOTS of birds. I loved it. Then we went out on safari again in the evening and saw a family of elephants eating. The mom didn't like us being there too much so she started to charge the safari truck where I was sitting. I freaked and the only thing that came out of my mouth was "vixe maria" haha...we drove off before she really did anything. Then we got home and went to dinner at an old train station and I had some Ostrich meat, and some of a native dish that has a name that is like 20 letters long and way beyond my ability to pronounce. Then we walked back to the tents we were camping in (tents with cement floors, fans, real beds, and a refrigerator....not really a tent in my opinion) and found a hyena behind ours. The only thing that separated us from him was the fence, not soon after the guys came to tell us there were also elephants near by too. It was so cool, I found it interesting that the roles were switched here, we were the ones fenced in, and they were the ones on the outside. Crazy huh!
Friday-We ate breakfast and then headed out of the park, once again we saw lots of animals, Antelope, Waterbucks, Vultures, Zeebras, Impalas, Hippos, etc. We drove back to the bus staion hopped on our bus, and then drove back to Mozambique. Customs was not a problem and I felt happy to be home again in Maputo, funny how I can call it home....it feels like it now even though it hasn't been a long time for me. We were all dead tired, but glad to have had the oppertunitity to see these other countries and see all those amazing animals and get out in nature for a bit!
Saturday- That was SO much fun. We held a district activity for the young adults here in Maputo. Lana, Paul, Brandon, and I sang "come thou fount" in a quartet, it was so nice to sing for them, they really liked it. Then we each read our favorite mozambican poem, and two of us spoke on setting goals. After that I taught line dancing to everyone, it was about 100 people, and they loved it! Then they taught us a traditional dance the "marbenta" which is a dance to atract your lover....hahahaha, great dance to be teaching at a church activity, right? It wasn't too bad and it was fun! Then we went to the mall down town to have dinner at a resurant there to end our program. It was a long day with a lot of yelling instrucitons and eight-counts, but it was so nice to get out there and serve the church members.
Sunday-I went with Jessica and Sam to T3, where I've been helping suzie, one of my friends from here who is the primary president, teach. Last week I taught Lehi's dream to the 8-10 year olds and "nephi's courage" the primary song, it was so fun. This one girl in particular latched onto me, her name is Isaura. She is 10, and she and her brother are orphans who live with relatives nearby. She is really poor and quiet, and Suize told me that she started coming one day a few years back and has come every week since then. The people she lives with are muslim or something similiar, and so she isn't allowed to go to church, but she tells them she is out walking around or playing and then walks with her little brother Jose to church. She can't read so I help her with the hymns and scriptures during class, and every week she takes my hand and sits with me at church the whole time. This was my last week and she asked me to take her home with me, she said she wanted to come live with me in the US at my house. It almost broke my heart, she said "please, just take me with you, take care of me there in the US". I had to say no, but I am so worried about the future that awaits her and her little brother.
Monday-I left with the other BYU kids early today to come out to One World University again, we are staying the night here and we taught english all day. The people here are motivated and want to learn it is so nice! I also had an AWESOME discussion with the director of the univeristy on the ride out here about the church and gave him a book of mormon. He had good insights, questions, and at the end of it he promised he would read it. He is a good man and I had talked to him previously about church, the bible, etc. and I know he would make a wonderful member of the church. I was so glad to have an hour and a half ride to talk to him about our beliefs, and to have been given such a wonderful missionary oppertunity. Tonight we are doing a fireside here and I will be teaching line dancing again and singing in the quartet...fun fun!
Tomorrow we teach again here at the university and then go back to Maputo, to take finals. Wednesday we are tying up loose ends in the city and buying last minute things, and then thursday Afternoon I start my long trip back to Provo. 4 pm I leave maputo, then I go to Johannesburg, SA then London, then Dallas/Ft. Worth then SLC finally.... phew, this is long. If you made it through congrats, I'll bake you a cookie when I get home :)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Some more pics!
The good looking "Team America" as we Like to call ourselves, standing in the hut where Eduardo Mondlane, the founder of the political party that brought Mozambican independence was born. It was a humbling experince to be there.
Me and my "new best friend" as she called me last week at the orphanage. She was amazingly cute, and she lives with family members now because her parents passed away from AIDS, which is a common story here, sad but true.
The girls we teach from the 5th grade class each Friday, They are soo adorable!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
BUSY weeks make for BUSY days.
Okay here is the recap. The internet isn't super reliable but its working for now! Here it goes:
Monday- Went to the funeral of one of the women from the Maputo II branch that we had met at our line dancing activity. She died of an Asthma attack, and it was interesting to see how funerals are done here in Mozambique. Everyone there was very friendly and one of the men was nice enough to give us (the girls) a ride back to ADPP which is like a half hour out of his way, people are so nice here. Then for family home evening we were in charge of the treat and activity, so we made tin-foil desserts with fresh apples, pineapples, bananas, and coconut...they were amazing.
Tuesday-Went to teach in the morning and then in the afternoon went to go meet Mia Couto, a very famous writer within the lusophone literature community. He was so down to earth and had some great stories to tell us, he is an ecologist as a formal profession but is a writer on his free time...basically like superman, well kinda.
Wednesday-Taught during the morning again and then in the afternoon went out to go visit an orphanage where most of the kids parents had passed away due to AIDS. The kids were all so fun and taught us some dances and games that they like to play, which was awesome. Then we started taking pictures of them and they wanted to use the cameras, it was the funnest thing for them, so we have like 100 pictures of random things now, but it kept them entertained!
Thursday- Went and taught in the morning again, which went well although the kids have trouble really getting what I'm teaching and with 60 students and only 45 minutes that doesn't really add up to much progress, but they at least pay attention most of the time. In the afternoon we went and met a congress woman who works at ADPP and is from Portugal. She has a HUGE house down the street from ADPP is a poet and her late husband was a very famous painter here in Mozambique, and so she let us go hang out at her house and swim in her pool, which was almost surreal. I had gone by that house so many times wondering who it belonged to and now I know!
Friday-Dr. Williams asked me and two other students here to make a 1 and a half hour drive out to Shangalane, which is still in the Maputo Province to go teach for the afternoon at One World University, which is a 4 year institution giving bachelors degrees in Education. So I went and rode to this super rural but lovely brand new university in a 4x4 truck, taught college (weird, I know)for the afternoon, and rode back in the same truck this time out in the back of it. It was so fun because it looks so rural, just like you see on the movies, it was sunset, and absolutely beautiful.
Saturday-Got up ate breakfast and went down town for a day of shopping. We went to the artesanato fair, meaning it was a fair where people displayed the crafts they had made and got some sweet souveneirs for people. Then we walked up to the main street and went to Mimmo's to celebrate Kailey's birthday, she turned 18 today, yay! Then a man recognized us as the white people from ADPP and gave us a ride home in the back of his truck which saved us from having to catch a Chapa, the little VW busses that they cram 30 people into during rush hour, we are blessed!
Tomorrow-District Conference, which means we get to sleep in a bit! Yay, Okay and here are some more pics...
Me and Christina, a woman I met in the Province of Gaza, you take a 40 Km. dirt road out to her hut and she will be there. Doesn't speak portuguese but Shangana, the native dialect. She was so nice and kind, even though there was a language barrier there, I could tell she was a warm and loving person, som
Lana and I having lunch of Xima (a paste made from ground up corn) Hortela (pumpkin leaves mixed with peanut oil) Mandioc root, and chicken. It was really good, simple and good.
When we were leaving the community they gave us some Cashew fruit, which is what I am eating in the picture, and to tell you the truth, I hate the fruit as much as I hate the juice, big surprise there! But I smiled and ate it anyway....
When I say we ride around in the backs of trucks a lot, I'm not joking! It's actually a lot nicer for us because there are less people stepping on toes, pushing into you etc. I just try not to think about what would happen if we crashed!
A market, just wanted to picture what we see every day here while driving around.
Sunsets here are awesome, this was on the way back from Gaza, which was about 300 Km away from where we are living, it was an experince getting there!
Monday- Went to the funeral of one of the women from the Maputo II branch that we had met at our line dancing activity. She died of an Asthma attack, and it was interesting to see how funerals are done here in Mozambique. Everyone there was very friendly and one of the men was nice enough to give us (the girls) a ride back to ADPP which is like a half hour out of his way, people are so nice here. Then for family home evening we were in charge of the treat and activity, so we made tin-foil desserts with fresh apples, pineapples, bananas, and coconut...they were amazing.
Tuesday-Went to teach in the morning and then in the afternoon went to go meet Mia Couto, a very famous writer within the lusophone literature community. He was so down to earth and had some great stories to tell us, he is an ecologist as a formal profession but is a writer on his free time...basically like superman, well kinda.
Wednesday-Taught during the morning again and then in the afternoon went out to go visit an orphanage where most of the kids parents had passed away due to AIDS. The kids were all so fun and taught us some dances and games that they like to play, which was awesome. Then we started taking pictures of them and they wanted to use the cameras, it was the funnest thing for them, so we have like 100 pictures of random things now, but it kept them entertained!
Thursday- Went and taught in the morning again, which went well although the kids have trouble really getting what I'm teaching and with 60 students and only 45 minutes that doesn't really add up to much progress, but they at least pay attention most of the time. In the afternoon we went and met a congress woman who works at ADPP and is from Portugal. She has a HUGE house down the street from ADPP is a poet and her late husband was a very famous painter here in Mozambique, and so she let us go hang out at her house and swim in her pool, which was almost surreal. I had gone by that house so many times wondering who it belonged to and now I know!
Friday-Dr. Williams asked me and two other students here to make a 1 and a half hour drive out to Shangalane, which is still in the Maputo Province to go teach for the afternoon at One World University, which is a 4 year institution giving bachelors degrees in Education. So I went and rode to this super rural but lovely brand new university in a 4x4 truck, taught college (weird, I know)for the afternoon, and rode back in the same truck this time out in the back of it. It was so fun because it looks so rural, just like you see on the movies, it was sunset, and absolutely beautiful.
Saturday-Got up ate breakfast and went down town for a day of shopping. We went to the artesanato fair, meaning it was a fair where people displayed the crafts they had made and got some sweet souveneirs for people. Then we walked up to the main street and went to Mimmo's to celebrate Kailey's birthday, she turned 18 today, yay! Then a man recognized us as the white people from ADPP and gave us a ride home in the back of his truck which saved us from having to catch a Chapa, the little VW busses that they cram 30 people into during rush hour, we are blessed!
Tomorrow-District Conference, which means we get to sleep in a bit! Yay, Okay and here are some more pics...
Me and Christina, a woman I met in the Province of Gaza, you take a 40 Km. dirt road out to her hut and she will be there. Doesn't speak portuguese but Shangana, the native dialect. She was so nice and kind, even though there was a language barrier there, I could tell she was a warm and loving person, som
Lana and I having lunch of Xima (a paste made from ground up corn) Hortela (pumpkin leaves mixed with peanut oil) Mandioc root, and chicken. It was really good, simple and good.
When we were leaving the community they gave us some Cashew fruit, which is what I am eating in the picture, and to tell you the truth, I hate the fruit as much as I hate the juice, big surprise there! But I smiled and ate it anyway....
When I say we ride around in the backs of trucks a lot, I'm not joking! It's actually a lot nicer for us because there are less people stepping on toes, pushing into you etc. I just try not to think about what would happen if we crashed!
A market, just wanted to picture what we see every day here while driving around.
Sunsets here are awesome, this was on the way back from Gaza, which was about 300 Km away from where we are living, it was an experince getting there!
Monday, May 26, 2008
PICTURES!!!
Here they are....well some, but I'll keep'em coming!
1. Half way through "gettin my hairs did" it took like 12 hours and hurt like a mo-fo.
3684437
2.The end result of the hair, the guys took to calling me mermaid for the time I had it in. I agree it does look pretty mermaid-ish. This is at the natural history museum of Mozambique.
3. Teaching Line dancing to the Maputo II branch, we will be teaching the entire distrct line dancing again on june 14th if anyone else wants to come you're invited:)
4. Going out to macaneta beach, in the Chapa, thats Kailey, Blake, and Paul. Love those kids!
5. We had to cross a river on that ferry boat, the river was filled with with floating lilly pads, and a local also explained that they get hippos and crocodiles sometimes through there, anyone wanna go for a swim?
6. Everyone, the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean, this is everyone. I LOVED this beach, absolutely beautiful.
7. The cutest little boy, Junior that we met last Sunday while out on an afternoon walk, his mother was so nice and spoke amazing english, she sells vegetables she grows herself in her yard. I want to go visit them again soon.
I will post more soon, its lunch time but there are some for the meantime, love you all!
1. Half way through "gettin my hairs did" it took like 12 hours and hurt like a mo-fo.
3684437
2.The end result of the hair, the guys took to calling me mermaid for the time I had it in. I agree it does look pretty mermaid-ish. This is at the natural history museum of Mozambique.
3. Teaching Line dancing to the Maputo II branch, we will be teaching the entire distrct line dancing again on june 14th if anyone else wants to come you're invited:)
4. Going out to macaneta beach, in the Chapa, thats Kailey, Blake, and Paul. Love those kids!
5. We had to cross a river on that ferry boat, the river was filled with with floating lilly pads, and a local also explained that they get hippos and crocodiles sometimes through there, anyone wanna go for a swim?
6. Everyone, the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean, this is everyone. I LOVED this beach, absolutely beautiful.
7. The cutest little boy, Junior that we met last Sunday while out on an afternoon walk, his mother was so nice and spoke amazing english, she sells vegetables she grows herself in her yard. I want to go visit them again soon.
I will post more soon, its lunch time but there are some for the meantime, love you all!
Friday, May 23, 2008
My time in the Hospital in Mozambique...
So This week was going just fine until tuesday aftenoon, but before I get into that big old story let me give you a wrap up of the weekends activities...
Saturday-We rented a big car, mom it was like the "30 seconds of sheer terror" Mercedes from last summer's europe trip and we all headed out to this beach that is literally in the middle of no where called Macaneta. We had some hired drivers take us and it was sucha beautiful beach, white sands, no other people there, just us. It was perfect.
Sunday-This week we went to yet another Branch this time in Matola. Also watched conference this weekend since the district here (they don't have a stake yet) hadn't seen the Sunday sessons yet. President and Sister Packard were there along with a member of the Area presidency. We went and said hello and introduced ourselves, and Janae the Packards say hello to you and your fam! They said it's so good to hear your are doing well:) Then in the afternoon we went walking with a boy here from the matola branch into some neighborhoods. He is 18 and getting ready to go on his mission and will be great, he already brings entire families to church with him. We met some super cute kids, took pictures of them which they thought was AMAZING digital cameras are a new thing to them and seeing the picture immediately always made them giggle. I also talked with a girl about my age who had a 4 month year old, and that baby was abosolutely adorable. They were all so kind and warm, and had us take some raw sugar cane home as a treat. We decided that we would go do that more often, it's a great way to start talking about the church because at some point they all ask "why are you here so far from home" and then "serve your fellow man" and all that comes into play...
Okay now for the crazy story...
So Tuesday I woke up fine, but by 11 am I was feeling queasy so I cut my tutoring session short, which by the way that girl is doing amazing, I honestly think she is the reason I came here. Anyway I felt sick so I went home and slept until I woke up with a fever, and then I started throwing up then I got a huge hedache that felt like someone had hit me in the head with a baseball bat. My body ached all over and I could barely get out of bed. I thought this was like maybe a 24 hour flu but it wasn't getting better only worse. I couldn't sleep all night because I either was running a fever or freezing cold.
Wednesday I woke us even worse with a bigger fever, and I hadn't been able to eat or drink anything and get it to stay in my system since tuesday morning, so our study abroad director took me to the Sommerfield Clinic which is basically the outpatient hospital that the embassaries and their families use here in Maputo. I guess I looked pretty bad when I got there because they took me straight to a bed and took my vitals. I was dehydrated and still throwing up with a fever, and a high pluse and other medical stuff that I guess was serious so they gave me an IV of saline and some medicine to stop me from throwing up. A few hours later they decided to send me home with some anti-biotics to take over night and see how I would do with those. Well, I promtly threw that up as soon as the medicine they gave me for nausea wore off and kept throwing everything up all night, I could feel myself becoming more and more dehydrated.
Thursday I woke up to the director telling me he had called a cab and they were taking me back to the hospital, since I was worse and couldn't take my medicine. My roomies later told me when they looked at me when they got up and looked at me sleeping in my bed that I was seriously yellow. Um, not normal. When I got to the hospital they said I would have to get my antibiotics interveinously since I was too sick to take them orally. They put me in a hospital bed, drew lots of blood, gave me my second IV line in 2 days, and for those of you who know how much I hate blood and needles know that this was not fun for me. Thank goodness I was too out of it to really care. My tests came back negative for malaria for the 2nd day in a row and also negative for Dengue and some other crazy deseases which was good news. They knew I had an infection but couldn't figure out what it was. So they kept me on an IV and told me they were going to admit me to a nearby hospital and keep me there for 48 hours while they figured things out and when I looked good enough I would be allowed to go home. I was sad because I am so far away from my family and friends and spending the night in a hospital alone didn't sound like a good time. At the same time I knew that if that's what needed to happen that that's what I would do.
So then I fell asleep...and when I woke up I felt SO much better, my roomie Kaylee who was with me said I looked better and all the nurses and doctors said the same...Anyway 9 hours later they said I was in good enough shape to go home since my vomiting had stopped and my fever had broken and my vitals were normal again! So after an IV bag of atibiotics and a few bags of saline I was back in my "home" in Machava at ADPP. My brazilian friends who I met here (love by the way that no matter where I am I seem to find brazilian friends:) gave me a welcome home present of a hot shower up at their house, those girls are wonderful!
Anyway long long story longer...I am feeling much better now, not 100% but for sure good enough to sit here and write all this up. My rapid recovery I atribute 100% to the blessing I was given when I got sick that promised me that I would be healed promptly, I am so thankful for priesthood blessings and for the power of prayer. I am finally eating again today, some soup and plain white toast which after 3 days without eating tasted amazingly good! I missed work and my students were asking for me, guess they like me after all:) I'll start again on monday hopefully.
BTW-ADPP got our group a computer and internet so I can upload some pics and stuff when I feel up to it. They will be here soon! Okay I Will write more soon, thanks mom and dad for your prayers and support, they help even when they are coming from thousands of miles away, I love you both!
Saturday-We rented a big car, mom it was like the "30 seconds of sheer terror" Mercedes from last summer's europe trip and we all headed out to this beach that is literally in the middle of no where called Macaneta. We had some hired drivers take us and it was sucha beautiful beach, white sands, no other people there, just us. It was perfect.
Sunday-This week we went to yet another Branch this time in Matola. Also watched conference this weekend since the district here (they don't have a stake yet) hadn't seen the Sunday sessons yet. President and Sister Packard were there along with a member of the Area presidency. We went and said hello and introduced ourselves, and Janae the Packards say hello to you and your fam! They said it's so good to hear your are doing well:) Then in the afternoon we went walking with a boy here from the matola branch into some neighborhoods. He is 18 and getting ready to go on his mission and will be great, he already brings entire families to church with him. We met some super cute kids, took pictures of them which they thought was AMAZING digital cameras are a new thing to them and seeing the picture immediately always made them giggle. I also talked with a girl about my age who had a 4 month year old, and that baby was abosolutely adorable. They were all so kind and warm, and had us take some raw sugar cane home as a treat. We decided that we would go do that more often, it's a great way to start talking about the church because at some point they all ask "why are you here so far from home" and then "serve your fellow man" and all that comes into play...
Okay now for the crazy story...
So Tuesday I woke up fine, but by 11 am I was feeling queasy so I cut my tutoring session short, which by the way that girl is doing amazing, I honestly think she is the reason I came here. Anyway I felt sick so I went home and slept until I woke up with a fever, and then I started throwing up then I got a huge hedache that felt like someone had hit me in the head with a baseball bat. My body ached all over and I could barely get out of bed. I thought this was like maybe a 24 hour flu but it wasn't getting better only worse. I couldn't sleep all night because I either was running a fever or freezing cold.
Wednesday I woke us even worse with a bigger fever, and I hadn't been able to eat or drink anything and get it to stay in my system since tuesday morning, so our study abroad director took me to the Sommerfield Clinic which is basically the outpatient hospital that the embassaries and their families use here in Maputo. I guess I looked pretty bad when I got there because they took me straight to a bed and took my vitals. I was dehydrated and still throwing up with a fever, and a high pluse and other medical stuff that I guess was serious so they gave me an IV of saline and some medicine to stop me from throwing up. A few hours later they decided to send me home with some anti-biotics to take over night and see how I would do with those. Well, I promtly threw that up as soon as the medicine they gave me for nausea wore off and kept throwing everything up all night, I could feel myself becoming more and more dehydrated.
Thursday I woke up to the director telling me he had called a cab and they were taking me back to the hospital, since I was worse and couldn't take my medicine. My roomies later told me when they looked at me when they got up and looked at me sleeping in my bed that I was seriously yellow. Um, not normal. When I got to the hospital they said I would have to get my antibiotics interveinously since I was too sick to take them orally. They put me in a hospital bed, drew lots of blood, gave me my second IV line in 2 days, and for those of you who know how much I hate blood and needles know that this was not fun for me. Thank goodness I was too out of it to really care. My tests came back negative for malaria for the 2nd day in a row and also negative for Dengue and some other crazy deseases which was good news. They knew I had an infection but couldn't figure out what it was. So they kept me on an IV and told me they were going to admit me to a nearby hospital and keep me there for 48 hours while they figured things out and when I looked good enough I would be allowed to go home. I was sad because I am so far away from my family and friends and spending the night in a hospital alone didn't sound like a good time. At the same time I knew that if that's what needed to happen that that's what I would do.
So then I fell asleep...and when I woke up I felt SO much better, my roomie Kaylee who was with me said I looked better and all the nurses and doctors said the same...Anyway 9 hours later they said I was in good enough shape to go home since my vomiting had stopped and my fever had broken and my vitals were normal again! So after an IV bag of atibiotics and a few bags of saline I was back in my "home" in Machava at ADPP. My brazilian friends who I met here (love by the way that no matter where I am I seem to find brazilian friends:) gave me a welcome home present of a hot shower up at their house, those girls are wonderful!
Anyway long long story longer...I am feeling much better now, not 100% but for sure good enough to sit here and write all this up. My rapid recovery I atribute 100% to the blessing I was given when I got sick that promised me that I would be healed promptly, I am so thankful for priesthood blessings and for the power of prayer. I am finally eating again today, some soup and plain white toast which after 3 days without eating tasted amazingly good! I missed work and my students were asking for me, guess they like me after all:) I'll start again on monday hopefully.
BTW-ADPP got our group a computer and internet so I can upload some pics and stuff when I feel up to it. They will be here soon! Okay I Will write more soon, thanks mom and dad for your prayers and support, they help even when they are coming from thousands of miles away, I love you both!
Friday, May 16, 2008
maybe some pictures today...
Hello everyone from downtown Maputo. I have today off, well kind of, I taught some 5th graders this morning a little bit of English for an hour and a half. They were so cute! We learned some colors in english, taught them the ABC's and also learned "head shoulders knees and toes".
So this week...
We had a crazy big rain storm complete with thunder lightning and everything. I got one National Geographic style photo of the lightning.
We went Saturday on a tour of the city where we saw the place Elder Scott dedicated mozambique for the preaching of the gospel, then we went and ate lunch at the Holiday in Maputo Which is a 5 star hotel here, very very nice. Then I went and laid on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.
Sunday we went to church in Bemfica, which is different from where we went last week, we were just visiting that branch. We watched conference instead of having sacrament meeting because the saints of Mozambique are just now getting to watch it. They were kind of clueless as to what to do during the sustaining of President Monson, as was I when we had conference about a month ago, glad to see somethings in life are universal!
Monday- that was food poisoning day for me. I guess our cook had been pouring the new yourgurt she would buy into se same container as the old yougurt so it was going raincid at the bottom, and everyone kept eating it not knowing that was going on. So, I woke up that morning aroung 6 am threw up, and continued that for the rest of the day with a fever. But we talked to the cook, explained why layering new yougurt on old yougurt isnt a healthy practice, and we're all good now.
Tuesday-Teaching. This week the kids learned the imperative (the command form in english) and used "Irreplaceable" by beyonce as practice with it, as well as help on pronunciation. It was a big hit. Next we we'll do the "th" sound and use Chris Brown's "with you" for that...good times!
Wednesday-More teaching of course! I also had a girl as me to start tutoring here after she is done with school, I agreed and we started that on thursday. We also wento down to the corner to buy some fruit and stuff aroung 10 pm and noticed that the police were down there in full riot gear with m-16 machine guns....needless to say we hurried home when we saw that! Later I found out that is how they dress when they are breaking up the clandestine fruit vendors. Oh, okay...makes no sense to me seeing as how those fruit vendors are mostly older women, but whatever.
Thursday-Taught the same thing and also started tutoring the girl. She is probably like 16 or 17 and cant read or write anything but is a fast learner, I think I'll be able to help her a lot. Then we had a really good class on one of the short stories we had to read for class. I love the literature from this country, it is so beautiful!
Well really quick, Mom and dad thanks for signing me up to go white water rafting with Tisha and Dad, I am excited! And mom it was good to talk to you on the phone last saturday, happy mothers day again! Jill, thanks for passing along "J-money"'s letters, glad to hear things are going so well for him in the MTC!! Nuh...I am glad that you enjoyed Mexico, it is a beatuiful country isn't it! I am stoked to see those pictures!
In closing I tried to upload some pics but to no avail. I can't see which is which on this but soon!
So this week...
We had a crazy big rain storm complete with thunder lightning and everything. I got one National Geographic style photo of the lightning.
We went Saturday on a tour of the city where we saw the place Elder Scott dedicated mozambique for the preaching of the gospel, then we went and ate lunch at the Holiday in Maputo Which is a 5 star hotel here, very very nice. Then I went and laid on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.
Sunday we went to church in Bemfica, which is different from where we went last week, we were just visiting that branch. We watched conference instead of having sacrament meeting because the saints of Mozambique are just now getting to watch it. They were kind of clueless as to what to do during the sustaining of President Monson, as was I when we had conference about a month ago, glad to see somethings in life are universal!
Monday- that was food poisoning day for me. I guess our cook had been pouring the new yourgurt she would buy into se same container as the old yougurt so it was going raincid at the bottom, and everyone kept eating it not knowing that was going on. So, I woke up that morning aroung 6 am threw up, and continued that for the rest of the day with a fever. But we talked to the cook, explained why layering new yougurt on old yougurt isnt a healthy practice, and we're all good now.
Tuesday-Teaching. This week the kids learned the imperative (the command form in english) and used "Irreplaceable" by beyonce as practice with it, as well as help on pronunciation. It was a big hit. Next we we'll do the "th" sound and use Chris Brown's "with you" for that...good times!
Wednesday-More teaching of course! I also had a girl as me to start tutoring here after she is done with school, I agreed and we started that on thursday. We also wento down to the corner to buy some fruit and stuff aroung 10 pm and noticed that the police were down there in full riot gear with m-16 machine guns....needless to say we hurried home when we saw that! Later I found out that is how they dress when they are breaking up the clandestine fruit vendors. Oh, okay...makes no sense to me seeing as how those fruit vendors are mostly older women, but whatever.
Thursday-Taught the same thing and also started tutoring the girl. She is probably like 16 or 17 and cant read or write anything but is a fast learner, I think I'll be able to help her a lot. Then we had a really good class on one of the short stories we had to read for class. I love the literature from this country, it is so beautiful!
Well really quick, Mom and dad thanks for signing me up to go white water rafting with Tisha and Dad, I am excited! And mom it was good to talk to you on the phone last saturday, happy mothers day again! Jill, thanks for passing along "J-money"'s letters, glad to hear things are going so well for him in the MTC!! Nuh...I am glad that you enjoyed Mexico, it is a beatuiful country isn't it! I am stoked to see those pictures!
In closing I tried to upload some pics but to no avail. I can't see which is which on this but soon!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Day the Cobra Died
Lets see...
Monday I went to work, and lemme tell you I learned two things about myself. First, that I really like teaching but really have no clue what I'm doing (that comes with practice I guess) and the second thing is that I can chew kids out in Portuguese just as well as I can in English, which was surprising even to me! I had some kids during the afternoon that were being disruptive while I was teaching. Then I found out they really weren't in my class. I guess kids isn't the right term to use, most of them were about 20-22 years old. I told them to get up and get out and none of them moved an inch. Then I told them "seriously, you have ten seconds to get your butt off that chair and get out, I'm not playing" but in portuguese...and that did get them out quick. Before shutting the door I told them they wouldn't want to find out what would happen if they tried that again. Hmmm...good times
Tuesday-That was a good day, the kids I teach in the morning are younger and they are all so cute, they call me "teacher kris". None of the kids have books at this school because as one of the other teachers puts it "they are much too expensive, they cost 100 meticais" which translated into american dollars is around 4 bucks. So, sad as that is, I will have to be creative with the kids in giving homework when there is no book. Most just come to school with one notebook and a pen or two. But teaching on tuesday went well for the most part, no kicking anyone out of class and it went well.
Wednesday- I was done teaching around noon and I walked up to the house where our food is prepared for us, as I was walking up there in my flip-flops and capris one of the grounds keepers stopped me and said "don't walk any further, there is a cobra in the grass" and sure enough as i looked a bit father there were some other men throwing stones at a straight up cobra, not a regular snake, but a cobra-like the kind old guys from bangladesh hypnotize in baskets and stuff...it was hissing a ton, obviously not too happy! They got close enough to smash its head with a stick. It was obviously venimous and they showed it to me after it was dead, I thought the whole scene was surreal.
After that adventure we went (well me, Kaylee, Heidi, Jessica and Paul) put on our swim gear and headed to the nice part of the city where the UN, all the emabassies, and rich people in general are to go to the beach. It was absoultely beautiful and not I can say I have swam in the indian ocean!
Then Me, Lana, and Jessica taught country line dancincing as a young adult activity at the branch we attend here in Maputo. There were probably close to 100 people there and it was cool getting to teach dancing in a new language. Then we turned on some Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Chris Brown, and Usher and lemme be the first to say that everyone there got up to dance. even the litte 5 year old kid that stuck to my side like glue all night busted some sweet moves. And this other woman how is 6 months pregnant danced too. It was awesome! Everyone had a good time and Elder and Sister Davis took us home again to our house. They are truly angels for us, because catching a chapa (the little VW wagons that they squish up to 30 people in) at night isn't exactly super safe.
Today-I went to teach this morning after finally getting a shower. We have had no running water for the last 2 days, but it is back! Hooray, I will enjoy a nice warm shower upon my return to the US, of that I am certain! So, anyway I went to teach and 15 minutes into my lesson a teacher shows up at the door and says "I'm supposed to me teaching right now" which I guess he was. The schedule me and Blake, the other BYU intern I work with is all messed up and I have been kicked out of class 5 times now! I will talk to someone tomorrow to try and get this straightened out...
Right now I am in an internet cafe in the mall here in Maputo. The mall is super nice, just like one in the US complete with a multiple screen movie theater. It is nice to know where I can go if I am going absolutely crazy here in Mozambique, I can come here, get some ice cream, and see a movie. good to know. Anyway the time is almost up and we have to go fight to get on one of those Chapas during rush hour, wish me luck!
I'm working on the photos thing. They'll be up soon!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Sunday, Sunday, Suuunnndaaaay!
The title is to be read in the monster-truck derby announcer voice...just for fun.
Yesterday we went around the city down town and toured some of the major sites here. We have been really blessed to have Elder and Sister Davis, a missionary couple drive us around for some of the time here. They are so nice and Sister Davis and us girls are going to go shopping some time soon in the city, which will be great! The downtown area in some parts is very worn down, it makes me so sad sometimes to see the potential of the people here and the conditions they are living in, but that is the reason we are here, to try and help make a small diference in the lives of those around us. Speaking of why we're here...
Friday I went to the school where I will be working and it will be interesting for sure. None of the children have books to work out of, and it is up to me to create lesson plans and activities to help them learn english without any materials. We went and met every class that I will be working with and I introduced myself to all 12 classes. Yes, I will be teaching around 12-15 classes of english during the week, and their ages range from around 12 all the way up to 30 years old. This will def. be a challenge! I'm up for it though.
Thursday was the national labor day, so we watched two choruses that sang songs in Shangana, the native dialect here of Ronga, an African Language. It was so beautiful! After that we watched one of the schools teams play soccer against a visiting schools team. It was fun and I have some good pictures of both events, I will post them once I get a chance, I am sans camera at the moment.It was nice to have a day off to continue to recover from jet-lag and also sleep of a cold that I caught in the plane on the way to London. It is almost gone, and I am so glad!
Also, we have been getting to know some of the people who are around are age here and they are all so much fun! We had a girl teach us a dance last night that is from Beira, and also us 5 girls are going to get weaves and braid our hair HA! We have a friend buying the extensions for us, and another girl that we met here is going to braid it. Yes, I'm not kidding...so watch for pictures soon, it will be awesome! We decided when in Africa, do as the Africans do! The girls from here think we're crazy for wanting to braid our hair but oh well...it should be fun!
Today is obviously Sunday, and so we went to Maputo 2nd Branch, which will be our branch while we are here. Everyone is nice, and I sat with an investigator during Testimony meeting. The people here are so ready for the gospel it is amazing to me. I learned that the country was deiciated for the preaching of the gospel only in 1998 by Elder Scott. In 2000 a Mozambique mission was opened with only 6 elders, and now there are 2 missions and so many people are willing to talk to us about the gospel. This week alone we invited 3 people to church and all three are going to come next week. It is so nice to be able to share the gospel with people and live the "every member a missionary motto". And just so you don't think I am sitting in an interntet cafe paying to use the computer on the Sabbath, I am sitting in the mission office writing on their computer. The missionaries were kind enough to let us all come in and check out emails etc. Yay for kindness!
Tomorrow I will start teaching, and I still have to write a lesson plan for what I'll be doing for my first 5 classes tomorrow. I hope those kids don't eat me alive, some of them are pretty active and have lots of energy...I just hope I can keep up with them:)
Thanks to everyone for all the emails, comments, etc. that you send. It is always nice to open up my inbox or my blog and see your nice encouraging words. I hope you all have a wonderful sunday and a good week. Next time you hear from me I hope to put up some pictures and write about my first day of teaching.
Yesterday we went around the city down town and toured some of the major sites here. We have been really blessed to have Elder and Sister Davis, a missionary couple drive us around for some of the time here. They are so nice and Sister Davis and us girls are going to go shopping some time soon in the city, which will be great! The downtown area in some parts is very worn down, it makes me so sad sometimes to see the potential of the people here and the conditions they are living in, but that is the reason we are here, to try and help make a small diference in the lives of those around us. Speaking of why we're here...
Friday I went to the school where I will be working and it will be interesting for sure. None of the children have books to work out of, and it is up to me to create lesson plans and activities to help them learn english without any materials. We went and met every class that I will be working with and I introduced myself to all 12 classes. Yes, I will be teaching around 12-15 classes of english during the week, and their ages range from around 12 all the way up to 30 years old. This will def. be a challenge! I'm up for it though.
Thursday was the national labor day, so we watched two choruses that sang songs in Shangana, the native dialect here of Ronga, an African Language. It was so beautiful! After that we watched one of the schools teams play soccer against a visiting schools team. It was fun and I have some good pictures of both events, I will post them once I get a chance, I am sans camera at the moment.It was nice to have a day off to continue to recover from jet-lag and also sleep of a cold that I caught in the plane on the way to London. It is almost gone, and I am so glad!
Also, we have been getting to know some of the people who are around are age here and they are all so much fun! We had a girl teach us a dance last night that is from Beira, and also us 5 girls are going to get weaves and braid our hair HA! We have a friend buying the extensions for us, and another girl that we met here is going to braid it. Yes, I'm not kidding...so watch for pictures soon, it will be awesome! We decided when in Africa, do as the Africans do! The girls from here think we're crazy for wanting to braid our hair but oh well...it should be fun!
Today is obviously Sunday, and so we went to Maputo 2nd Branch, which will be our branch while we are here. Everyone is nice, and I sat with an investigator during Testimony meeting. The people here are so ready for the gospel it is amazing to me. I learned that the country was deiciated for the preaching of the gospel only in 1998 by Elder Scott. In 2000 a Mozambique mission was opened with only 6 elders, and now there are 2 missions and so many people are willing to talk to us about the gospel. This week alone we invited 3 people to church and all three are going to come next week. It is so nice to be able to share the gospel with people and live the "every member a missionary motto". And just so you don't think I am sitting in an interntet cafe paying to use the computer on the Sabbath, I am sitting in the mission office writing on their computer. The missionaries were kind enough to let us all come in and check out emails etc. Yay for kindness!
Tomorrow I will start teaching, and I still have to write a lesson plan for what I'll be doing for my first 5 classes tomorrow. I hope those kids don't eat me alive, some of them are pretty active and have lots of energy...I just hope I can keep up with them:)
Thanks to everyone for all the emails, comments, etc. that you send. It is always nice to open up my inbox or my blog and see your nice encouraging words. I hope you all have a wonderful sunday and a good week. Next time you hear from me I hope to put up some pictures and write about my first day of teaching.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I'm Here! (In Mocambique, that is)
Well here are the promised pics from London....
this first one is when we were landing right on the outskirts of the city. I loved seeing the homes all squished up against each other, it reminded me of when we were in Germany last summer. It was so nice to see green London after so many months of either white or brown Provo!
Then we hopped on the tube and headed down the Picardilly Line to the walking tour of London and here are our pics!
Walking through Hyde Park...
Walking through Hyde Park...
This was so touristy, I just had to do it...
I am in love with the buildings in London, they all really were this beautiful!
Me in front of Westminster Abby.
Big Ben!
Me will all the essentials of London tourism (minus the London Bridge) behind me. What a beautiful city!
Waiting for the tube in Heathrow Aiport..
and got in just fine. We flew right down the middle of the continent, but it was completely dark the whole time so I didn't see much. After our 6 hour layover in the SA airport and some much needed rest we got on our 1 hour flight into Maputo. The mission van was there to pick us up and took us out to ADPP which is the non-profit we are working for. Everyone is really nice and happy to have us there, and we are all excied!
The girls in the mission van on our way to ADPP
All five of us girls are together in the same room, it is made to sleep 9 people, so its roomy for just us girls. The coumpound is well, its kinda like camping. The showers are 5 in one room, comunial....hmm.. and the toilets do not flush, you have to bring a bucket of water in with you to the bathroom and pour it down the toilet after. We also cannot leave our tolet paper in the bathroom, each of us has our own rolls that stay in our rooms with us.
After we figured all that out we got a tour of the property, which is huge! While we were walking through a field going to the house where we will have our clothes washed and our meals made for us the director turned around and asked if we had brought flashlights with us. All of us responded yes. She said "oh good because since its been hot this year we have lots of snakes in the fields." Then one girl asked "well, how big are they?" She replied "oh some are small, others are quite large, but all of them are poisonous so make sure to be careful, we don't want any more bites this year" any more? okay...welcome to Africa.
Me at the entrance to the domitories and one of the 5 different schools.
Today we got up after a very odd night of all of us walking up around 3 am thinking it was time to get up oops...jet lag! Then we went and met of our respective bosses, I will be teaching at the high school as an English teacher, yay! I am excited to
start on Friday, tomorrow is a federal holiday, we will be celebrating by going to the beach:)Coming into the middle of the city was interesting too. We came in this afternoon to buy our bus tickets for our trip to the safari and to go to Swaziland, and use the internet. We rode in the back of some andom guys truck, which was much better than riding the cramped vans that should seat 8 which relly have 30 people inside...haha reminds me of the kombi's in mexico city!
So far things are good, and time is up, so until next time!!
Monday, April 28, 2008
London is my new "favourite"
So this will be quick, because I'm paying an arm and a leg to use the internet for ten minutes, and this is eaiser than emailing everyone to let you know I have made it through the first half of my trip okay.
We got into London this morning around 9 am and after a little mishap and a very angry british lady yelling at me at customs we were on the tube going to Picadilly Circus, which is near all the super touristy sites to see. We saw big ben, the london bridge, westminster abby, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the british parlament, and lots of other cool things. We ate lunch at an authentic italian place, and I loved our waitress, mainly because she was itailian and kept saying things like "yes, you want more water yes bella?" she was great. Then we walked around the city some more and then made the trek via the tube back to heathrow, where I am sitting writing this.
Our flight is delayed to South Africa two hours later than it was scheduled for, so I figured I would get on and write a little about my adventures today. I LOVED London, and there was so much more I wanted to do and see. I will for sure have to come back here to England again, I love the way the people here talk, they are all friendly (except the customs agent...she is oficially mean), the food is good, and every where you look there is some old gorgeous building, it is super. Plus hearing all the different words like "posh" instead of cool, "lift" instead of elevator, etc. is fun too.
Well, I am going to go try and find a cheap dinner some where in this airport, which I think is impossible. BTW, Heathrow is huge, and when I say huge I mean gigantic! But it is all really nice, new, and it has amazing stores to window shop. Needless to say I'm not too bummed about our delay, it just gives me an excuse to go explore some more. I will hopefully post pictures later when I am not being charged 2 dollars for 10 minutes of internet time. HA! Now you all know how fast I can type and think. More to come, hopefully next time from Mozambique!
We got into London this morning around 9 am and after a little mishap and a very angry british lady yelling at me at customs we were on the tube going to Picadilly Circus, which is near all the super touristy sites to see. We saw big ben, the london bridge, westminster abby, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the british parlament, and lots of other cool things. We ate lunch at an authentic italian place, and I loved our waitress, mainly because she was itailian and kept saying things like "yes, you want more water yes bella?" she was great. Then we walked around the city some more and then made the trek via the tube back to heathrow, where I am sitting writing this.
Our flight is delayed to South Africa two hours later than it was scheduled for, so I figured I would get on and write a little about my adventures today. I LOVED London, and there was so much more I wanted to do and see. I will for sure have to come back here to England again, I love the way the people here talk, they are all friendly (except the customs agent...she is oficially mean), the food is good, and every where you look there is some old gorgeous building, it is super. Plus hearing all the different words like "posh" instead of cool, "lift" instead of elevator, etc. is fun too.
Well, I am going to go try and find a cheap dinner some where in this airport, which I think is impossible. BTW, Heathrow is huge, and when I say huge I mean gigantic! But it is all really nice, new, and it has amazing stores to window shop. Needless to say I'm not too bummed about our delay, it just gives me an excuse to go explore some more. I will hopefully post pictures later when I am not being charged 2 dollars for 10 minutes of internet time. HA! Now you all know how fast I can type and think. More to come, hopefully next time from Mozambique!
Friday, April 25, 2008
1 backpack. 1 suitcase. 4 flights. Tomorrow I leave!
Yes, it's true. I am leaving tomorrow for my internship! So here is the update:
Monday: Called and made my dentist and doctors appointments before leaving. Still didn't have my passport and I got a call from the BYU international internship coordinator basically asking me what is the last possible day they could get my visa and passport back to me. I didn't take that as a good sign. Also, I turned in my senior research thesis on..(drum roll please) "The Impact of the American Revolution and United States Political Documents on the Inconfidencia Mineira." Believe me, it was almost thirty pages of pure excitement and joy, as all scholarly writing is.
Tuesday: Studied and took my Portuguese Literature final, which felt soo good to get out of the way because it was my last final!! Then I went home and started packing up my stuff. I came to the conclusion that I have WAY too much stuff, and that will be remedied when I get back from Mozambique. Packing for Mozambique was hard simply because usually its humid and hot, but when we go on safari it is supposed to be very very cold, so I had to pack for both kinds of weather....And also there was still no sign of our visas and passports.
Wednesday: Went and got my last immunization from the doctor, it was for Hepatitis A and in celebration of getting my last immunization the nurse gave me what I swear was a "saved by the bell" edition band-aid. It was awesome! Then I went and packed some more, and finally went to get my passport from the Kennedy Center at BYU, after what literally was a miracle, they arrived at the internship coordinators house at midnight Tuesday night. Little miracles after many prayers!
Monday: Called and made my dentist and doctors appointments before leaving. Still didn't have my passport and I got a call from the BYU international internship coordinator basically asking me what is the last possible day they could get my visa and passport back to me. I didn't take that as a good sign. Also, I turned in my senior research thesis on..(drum roll please) "The Impact of the American Revolution and United States Political Documents on the Inconfidencia Mineira." Believe me, it was almost thirty pages of pure excitement and joy, as all scholarly writing is.
Tuesday: Studied and took my Portuguese Literature final, which felt soo good to get out of the way because it was my last final!! Then I went home and started packing up my stuff. I came to the conclusion that I have WAY too much stuff, and that will be remedied when I get back from Mozambique. Packing for Mozambique was hard simply because usually its humid and hot, but when we go on safari it is supposed to be very very cold, so I had to pack for both kinds of weather....And also there was still no sign of our visas and passports.
Wednesday: Went and got my last immunization from the doctor, it was for Hepatitis A and in celebration of getting my last immunization the nurse gave me what I swear was a "saved by the bell" edition band-aid. It was awesome! Then I went and packed some more, and finally went to get my passport from the Kennedy Center at BYU, after what literally was a miracle, they arrived at the internship coordinators house at midnight Tuesday night. Little miracles after many prayers!
Thursday: Packing, cleaning and more packing. I was trying to get everything done and with the help of my kind parents I was able to steal away and get a dress for graduation an hour before it started! I went to the graduation for all of BYU and sat with two good friends who were also graduating, Camila (Tobias, not Nagata) and Oli. It was so nice to sit with friends and not complete strangers! Then I went home, changed out of my nice clothes and scrubbed the shower. Oh cleaning checks, how I loathe you! We finally finished moving my sister and I out and packing up our stuff and our suitcases, my sister is leaving for Spring/summer to Germany...Hill you should get a blog too!! We got out of there around 1a.m. and to our hotel in salt lake around two, we were tired to say the least!
Friday: I got up at 5:30 am. Yes, that was 3 and a half hours of sleep, and got ready for my graduation for my specific college. We left for Provo around 6:30 and I got there just in time for the procession into the ceremony.I got my picture with the chair of the portuguese dept. and it was a good feeling to walk across that stage! The speakers were good, and it was a really nice program, I just wish there weren't so many people in my college. I think there were around 1,500 people graduating...needless to say it took a while to read all those names! After taking pictures with family and friends we went home, and I forgot a change of clothes, so I wore my dress until my mom kindly bought me a new outfit and shoes so I wouldn't die from blisters and uncomfortableness. I paid bills, answered emails, made last minute work changes, joked around with my family, went shopping, and did other fun things...it was a good and busy day.
Saturday: Hm...today I said goodbye to my parents, they drove with Hilary back to California this morning, she is flying out of San Francsico International so they hit the road today. I will miss not being able to call them at the drop of a pin when I have a cooking question for my mom, or a computer question for my dad, or if I just have a few spare minutes and want to chat. They are the best and I am so thankful for their support and for them letting me go on this trip, thank you! So, after I said goodbye I went shopping with my sister in law, Kimberlee and Tisha my sister. I got the last bit of the random things I need for my trip, and we also went to lunch together. Then I came down to Provo and did random things as always with Camila and went to dinner with her, I am surrounded by good friends and family and I am so grateful for that :)
So tomorrow brings my BIG trip to a start. I leave Utah around noon, and fly into the massive and confusing airport that is Dallas/Ft. Worth. After a little layover I will fly for 10-11 hours to Heathrow airport in London, and then 12 hours later I'll take another long flight to South Africa, and then finally I will fly to Maputo, Mozambique. All this traveling is going to take me 2 days, I wont get to Mozambique until Tuesday and I leave tomorrow, which is Sunday. I have my trusty iPod, and two books one is Mothers of the Prophets and the other is Twilight which I have heard good and bad things about. I'll let you know what I think.
Anyway, that was my week. It was long, the nights were late, I did have a lot to do, and I was stressed for the better part of it, but it was also a great week. I had some memorable milestones like graduating from college! I am excited to leave tomorrow and I know that it will be a wonderful experince. Next time you read anything on here it will be from me typing away in a little internet cafe somewhere in Mozambique, I will try and get some pictures up too, but no promises yet! Stay tuned...
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Hmmm....cade meu passaporte?? Alguem tem visto meu passaporte?
For some reason everytime I need a visa to visit a country it seems that the passport never comes back until days before my trip. Example, leaving for my internship in Brazil my passport came back from the Brazilian embassy two days before I was supposed to fly to Brazil. TWO days before, I was the only one that didn't have there's and Ron, Mimi, and Tim were all sweating bullets thinking it wasn't going to get back in time....I was so happy when it arrived at church headquarters and Mimi handed me my passport and brazilian visa, it was like Christmas!
Now that I'm going to Mozambique I needed to send in my passport to the consulate through BYU to get a visa for my internship. I turned it in....and it's still not back. I am leaving a week from tomorrow, and last I heard all of our passports are sitting in the embassy in Washington D.C. Strangly enough, I'm not too worried about it. Maybe I'm to chill about this whole not having my passport and me leaving next Sunday thing, but I seriously believe it will get here in time. I just know it will....but cross your fingers for me just in case!
So this week is going to be officially CRAZY because there is so much to do before I leave! I will thankfully be done with Finals on Monday, so that leaves my Tuesday and Wednesday to pack up my stuff and put it in storage, go to the dentist, get my other immunizations, pack my luggage for Mozambique, and do little insignifigant yet important things like update my iPod before leaving. I am for sure one of those people that needs their iPod chalked full of good music for traveling. I still remember being salvaged from boredom on the road between Rio and Sao Paulo by Daniel Beddingfield's Girlfriend and Craig David's You don't miss the water (till the well runs dry) and during the long bus rides during my internship John Mayer's album Continuum was my best friend. Of course my Brian Regan comedy kept me company for the quiet hours of driving through the Alps of Austria last summer, also Juanes and Julieta Venegas played throughout my 30 hour road trip through Mexico last june. Sting's Fields of Gold is a classic in my travling repertoire, I can listen to that over and over while I am half sleeping half awake on the plane. The iPod needs a serious overhaul of new music for my time I will be spending on the plane and in Africa. Thank you Apple, you keep me sane! Any music sugesstions? I am open to any and all, as long as there good...and Tisha, if you reccomend Herb Halpert and the Tiajuana Brass I will no longer consider you my sister hahaha...no seriously.
So yeah, thus far no passport, and lots of things to do. I can already tell this week will be one of late nights and exaustion...but strangely enough I'm looking forward to it:)
Now that I'm going to Mozambique I needed to send in my passport to the consulate through BYU to get a visa for my internship. I turned it in....and it's still not back. I am leaving a week from tomorrow, and last I heard all of our passports are sitting in the embassy in Washington D.C. Strangly enough, I'm not too worried about it. Maybe I'm to chill about this whole not having my passport and me leaving next Sunday thing, but I seriously believe it will get here in time. I just know it will....but cross your fingers for me just in case!
So this week is going to be officially CRAZY because there is so much to do before I leave! I will thankfully be done with Finals on Monday, so that leaves my Tuesday and Wednesday to pack up my stuff and put it in storage, go to the dentist, get my other immunizations, pack my luggage for Mozambique, and do little insignifigant yet important things like update my iPod before leaving. I am for sure one of those people that needs their iPod chalked full of good music for traveling. I still remember being salvaged from boredom on the road between Rio and Sao Paulo by Daniel Beddingfield's Girlfriend and Craig David's You don't miss the water (till the well runs dry) and during the long bus rides during my internship John Mayer's album Continuum was my best friend. Of course my Brian Regan comedy kept me company for the quiet hours of driving through the Alps of Austria last summer, also Juanes and Julieta Venegas played throughout my 30 hour road trip through Mexico last june. Sting's Fields of Gold is a classic in my travling repertoire, I can listen to that over and over while I am half sleeping half awake on the plane. The iPod needs a serious overhaul of new music for my time I will be spending on the plane and in Africa. Thank you Apple, you keep me sane! Any music sugesstions? I am open to any and all, as long as there good...and Tisha, if you reccomend Herb Halpert and the Tiajuana Brass I will no longer consider you my sister hahaha...no seriously.
So yeah, thus far no passport, and lots of things to do. I can already tell this week will be one of late nights and exaustion...but strangely enough I'm looking forward to it:)
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Little Adventures
I am gone in 2 weeks, or 14 days. Either way you look at it, it's the same amount of time. I finally found out a little bit more about where we are going to be teaching, but I still don't know what I will be teaching. I am going to be teaching in a high school, which is a crazy concept to me. Not because I feel unprepared or incapable, I feel like I will be able to offer a lot of knowledge actually. I just think it is interesting that I am going to have my very own class of high school students for 6 weeks in Africa. If someone would have told me that a year ago I would have laughed at them. I hadn't planned on ever going to Africa anytime soon, but when the offer came up it felt right, I guess it still seems a little sureal.
The idea of having a classroom full of kids is somewhat mind boggling for me. I guess that is because I never planned on being a teacher, yet I keep being given oppertunities to teach. My internship for the church was based on teaching, mostly every calling I have been given thus far has been teaching, I going to be teaching during this internship in the Spring, I will be taking a class over Summer on teaching foreign languages, and I will be student faculty for the Portuguese department at BYU starting next year teaching Portuguese 101 and 102. I never considered myself a stellar teacher, yet I keep finding myself in these situations where I am teaching. I guess it is good practice and I have learned SO much already through the experinces I have been given. I love teaching, I just never saw myself as a teacher before.
I also have been contemplating what to do while in London. As my trip is getting closer I have been looking for things to do during my 12 hour layover in the city. So far some suggestions have been:
1.Westminster Abby
2.The British Museum
3.See a musical
4.Go shopping at Harrods
5.Watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace
I just want to have fun and go explore London a bit. I say carpe diem and that I would probably regret it if I just stayed in the airport the whole time. So if anyone has any other London ideas let me know!
I am really excited to go, and I know that this trip is going to be a great experince for me. It can't get here soon enough. I love traveling, I like the feeling of being in the airports, that feeling you get when your waiting for a flight to some place far away, its like a little adventure for me. I like the unknown of what will happen, and I am looking forward to the getting there part almost as much as the internship itself.
The idea of having a classroom full of kids is somewhat mind boggling for me. I guess that is because I never planned on being a teacher, yet I keep being given oppertunities to teach. My internship for the church was based on teaching, mostly every calling I have been given thus far has been teaching, I going to be teaching during this internship in the Spring, I will be taking a class over Summer on teaching foreign languages, and I will be student faculty for the Portuguese department at BYU starting next year teaching Portuguese 101 and 102. I never considered myself a stellar teacher, yet I keep finding myself in these situations where I am teaching. I guess it is good practice and I have learned SO much already through the experinces I have been given. I love teaching, I just never saw myself as a teacher before.
I also have been contemplating what to do while in London. As my trip is getting closer I have been looking for things to do during my 12 hour layover in the city. So far some suggestions have been:
1.Westminster Abby
2.The British Museum
3.See a musical
4.Go shopping at Harrods
5.Watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace
I just want to have fun and go explore London a bit. I say carpe diem and that I would probably regret it if I just stayed in the airport the whole time. So if anyone has any other London ideas let me know!
I am really excited to go, and I know that this trip is going to be a great experince for me. It can't get here soon enough. I love traveling, I like the feeling of being in the airports, that feeling you get when your waiting for a flight to some place far away, its like a little adventure for me. I like the unknown of what will happen, and I am looking forward to the getting there part almost as much as the internship itself.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Mefloquine=Trippy Dreams
As many of you probably know when traveling abroad in certain parts of the world you have to take medicine for malaria. When I was in Brazil I didn't take it even though I was supposed to, because I didn't think I would get sick with it, and never heard of anyone who did where I was staying. But Mozambique is a different story, I guess. From what I was told during our meeting last Monday LOTS of people get sick with Malaria while in Mozambique, and also Dengue Fever. Personally, I don't enjoy the idea of getting either of these diseases so I will be taking my Malaria pills starting next week, because they need to be started 6-10 days prior to leaving.
So my choices are Doxycycline which you take once a day, or Mefloquine which you take once 
every week. The once a week one sounded perfect for me, since I forget to take medicine pretty easily. Then I heard about the side effects and did some serious reconsidering. The first medicine makes you queasy and you sunburn easily, and the second has some crazy side effects. The CDC website said that disturbing and vivid dreams as well as hallucinations are common side effects of Mefloquine. So I did some research and read through some peoples experinces while on this medicine, and the dreams were CRAZY!
every week. The once a week one sounded perfect for me, since I forget to take medicine pretty easily. Then I heard about the side effects and did some serious reconsidering. The first medicine makes you queasy and you sunburn easily, and the second has some crazy side effects. The CDC website said that disturbing and vivid dreams as well as hallucinations are common side effects of Mefloquine. So I did some research and read through some peoples experinces while on this medicine, and the dreams were CRAZY! Some people talked about getting followed by rabid lizards (can lizards get rabies?) others said they watched people on Mefloquine get up at night and chase non-existant tarantulas around their tents with shoes while screaming. Still others said they remember hearing angry dogs growling at them during the night only to wake up from a nap during the middle of the day. There were countless more of people accidentally killing loved ones, dreams in crazy colors, people being chased by zombies, and so forth. Then I found out that the medicine can stay in your system for a few weeks after you stop taking it, so that would mean I would be up at night having psycho dreams while in school during summer term. I would hate to have that happen, I think I would go crazy.
After reading that I decided to go with Doxycycline, I have taken it before when I went to Brazil (that was when I first got there, before I decided I didn't need to take it) and I would much rather prefer a little sunburn and feeling queasy now and again over crazy dreams where I am dying, or even worse hallucinating during the day. Just imagine me doing something like that in front of my class, chasing a non existant spider or something hahaha....funny, but at the same time not funny. Who's to say that I wouldn't have these side effects, but I don't want to take the risk of getting Mefloquine, arriving in Africa, having crazy dreams, and have no way of getting a different medicine. No thanks, I'll just bring my sunblock with me.
The count is now down to 19 days. I still have to do finals, Pack up my stuff and move it into storage, basically move out I guess, find housing for fall semester, get my malaria meds, finish grading a mountain of papers and tests for work (I'm a teaching assistant for a history professor), graduate, and then fly out two days later. I'm at that point where I have so much to do I don't know where to start, but there is also that part of me whispering "you'll get everything done, you always do" and it's true. This time last year I was finishing up 26 credit hours. Yes, twenty six credit hours. I had 14 credits of regular classes at BYU plus 12 credits of independent study. My old roomie Becca can attest to that, those were late nights, I wrote a total of 40-50 pages of work on her laptop for the independent study classes while studying for finals in the normal classes and I did get everything done. So this semester should be a breeze, I just need to keep it in perspective! Anyway I guess what I'm saying is the clock seems to be ticking faster, and I am working slower, hopefully I'll pick up the pace soon:) Wish me luck!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
What are we doing in Mozambique?
Today for those of you who don't know is an exciting day for members of the LDS church, also known as "the Mormons". We have General Conference, which is a set of 5 meetings spread out over today and tomorrow. In these meetings we hear guidance, counsel, and direction from leaders that come from many different countries, cultures, and customs.
All these different speakers focus on how we can better our lives, live a life that is happier, focus on our families, service, Christ, and becomeing the best people we can be. I look forward to these meetings because I always walk away from them feeling edified, uplifted, and encouraged to become better and do better.During the break between these two meetings I was watching the Church's World Report, that gives updates and news about how people are being helped and taught the message of the restored gospel throughout the world. Since I am going to Mozambique, I became intersted when they showed a story about the LDS church teaming up with the American Red Cross in Africa to help erradiate Measles. This got me thinking, what is it that our church is doing right now in Mozambique? Well after a few minutes of reasearch I found a few answers.
The church is working to erradicate Measles, they also are donating wheelchairs to disabled people who cannot afford to buy a wheelchair. Also clean drinking water is a problem, and the church has been helping to get clean, affordable water to those in Mozambique. Doctors that are affiliated with the church also go to Mozambique to help give vision treatment. In addition to this the members of the church in Maputo, Mozambique also have a strong desire to help each other, from the words of a missionary who served in the Maputo Mozambique Mission, we can see the help that is being given and recieved among the members of the church. The church does this to simply help those that cannot help themselves, because that is what Christ would do if he were here. I am so blessed to be a part of this church, and it makes me happy to see people not only in Mozambique but throughout the world recieve help and assistance from the church, both those who are members of our faith and those who are not.I am so grateful to be going and adding to this service by having the oppertunity to work through BYU, a school that is owned and run by the LDS church, as an intern for a non-governmental organization. I am looking forward to all the experinces
that will be happening in my life in a little over three weeks from now. I am constantly grateful for BYU trusting us to go as ambassadors of sorts not only of the Portuguese Department and the University, but also as examples of the church and our beliefs. This is not new to me, I remember this responsibility very well while I was working for the Church Humanitarian and Employment department, and I am excited to get out there and increase BYU's and the church's visability and presence in Africa. I know I won't be making any profound difference, but I am glad to have the chance to at least make one, however small it may be:)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Security Issues
Today I went to a meeting that was two hours long. That was a REALLY long time for me to sit and listen to people talk. I don't know why, but it really was! Anyway we had Landes, many of you know Landes, who is BYU's security analyist that talks to all of the groups going abroad from BYU about safety and travel concerns sepcific to the country they are going to. This was the third time I have heard the security talk from him, so it wasn't anything too new. I did get some useful information such as...
When we are in Swaziland, a small country between Mozambique and South Africa, they have problems with robberies and car jackings during the day in very large crowded areas, and it is usually a group of robbers against one person, hahaha....well, it's not funny but for some reason it just makes me laugh because people come back with these tragic stories of being robbed and when they tell the whole story they usually had wandered away from the group they were with, they weren't paying attention to what is going on around them, and they weren't keeping track of their things. One girl was waiting in line somewhere and a man came up behind her, slashed her backpack open with a sharp knife and stole everything out of it while it was on her back. These are stupid mistakes I'm not worried about because I already learned what not to do while I was in Sao Paulo, if I can manage to not get robbed, kidnapped, mugged, etc. in a city of 30 million I think I can handle Maputo which is only 2 million in population.
Also the place where we are living is in Machava, a suburb of sorts right outside downtown Maputo. Apparently sometimes the electricity doesnt work in this neighborhood and at the compund itself, and that gives a chance for people to get past the electric fence and into the compund where we will be living. Landes was like, "but don't worry because they have armed guards and attack dogs that are there as well." Um....this will defenetly be the first time I am locked inside my house with guard dogs and people guarding where I am living with guns. Crazy, but needed I guess. My apartment in Curitiba was downtown, really nice, and there was no need of even a doorman because people just didn't try anything there. In Sao Paulo we lived in a high rise apartment building with two sets of gates and a doorman, but no guns and no attack dogs. I just hope they dont ever get confused as to who lives there and who doesn't, but seeing as how were probably the only white people that will be there I dont think that will be too easy to confuse hahaha....
I am SUPER excited for our trip to the wildlife reserve Kruger National Park , we will be there in tents camping out for 2 nights, and we will be doing a safari at night and also in the morning and I am SO stoked, really words cannot describe it. I have always been kinda obsessed with animals ever since I was a little kid and the idea of seeing lions out in their natural habitat is so cool. There are so many different animals that are there, I am just so excited to be going and seeing them all, I already know I will take a million pictures!
And on a shallow very girly note I went crazy shopping for swimsuits, the count is at 4 right now. HA! I figured variety is a good thing, and so I got a few.
Anyway, that is my shallow moment, I also signed up to do some document translation while I in Mozambique for the non-profit we will be working for. I was the only one in the group who has experinence in that already. Last Spring I was only taking 2 classes and foud some time to go up to Salt Lake and work as a volunteer at a micro credit organization called Ascend Alliance, that has their headquarters in SLC and their secondary headquarters in Beira, Mozambique. So I would be their translator when the CEO needed to call over to Beira and also during their weekly teleconferences. Also I had to translate documents from English to Portuguese and vice versa, it was good experince, and they also had be editing some manuals that had been previously translated from Spanish to English. So I think I would have fun doing translation stuff again, and since I will be doing a lot of that for my masters more practice can't hurt. This paragraph is SO random...I guess I am random.
Anyway the official countdown is at 26 days. I am getting ready to go and more excited everyday. I got my text books today, and I just need to get everything figured out for my summer class schedule and then I will be ready! Good thing I still have over 20 days to really get ready. So here is my random blog update, and as a final note, don't be worried about the security stuff, they always tell it worse than it really is in those meetings to freak everyone out into behaving themselves while out of the country. I have never had and serious problems while out of the country and I don't intend to on this trip!
When we are in Swaziland, a small country between Mozambique and South Africa, they have problems with robberies and car jackings during the day in very large crowded areas, and it is usually a group of robbers against one person, hahaha....well, it's not funny but for some reason it just makes me laugh because people come back with these tragic stories of being robbed and when they tell the whole story they usually had wandered away from the group they were with, they weren't paying attention to what is going on around them, and they weren't keeping track of their things. One girl was waiting in line somewhere and a man came up behind her, slashed her backpack open with a sharp knife and stole everything out of it while it was on her back. These are stupid mistakes I'm not worried about because I already learned what not to do while I was in Sao Paulo, if I can manage to not get robbed, kidnapped, mugged, etc. in a city of 30 million I think I can handle Maputo which is only 2 million in population.Also the place where we are living is in Machava, a suburb of sorts right outside downtown Maputo. Apparently sometimes the electricity doesnt work in this neighborhood and at the compund itself, and that gives a chance for people to get past the electric fence and into the compund where we will be living. Landes was like, "but don't worry because they have armed guards and attack dogs that are there as well." Um....this will defenetly be the first time I am locked inside my house with guard dogs and people guarding where I am living with guns. Crazy, but needed I guess. My apartment in Curitiba was downtown, really nice, and there was no need of even a doorman because people just didn't try anything there. In Sao Paulo we lived in a high rise apartment building with two sets of gates and a doorman, but no guns and no attack dogs. I just hope they dont ever get confused as to who lives there and who doesn't, but seeing as how were probably the only white people that will be there I dont think that will be too easy to confuse hahaha....
I am SUPER excited for our trip to the wildlife reserve Kruger National Park , we will be there in tents camping out for 2 nights, and we will be doing a safari at night and also in the morning and I am SO stoked, really words cannot describe it. I have always been kinda obsessed with animals ever since I was a little kid and the idea of seeing lions out in their natural habitat is so cool. There are so many different animals that are there, I am just so excited to be going and seeing them all, I already know I will take a million pictures!And on a shallow very girly note I went crazy shopping for swimsuits, the count is at 4 right now. HA! I figured variety is a good thing, and so I got a few.
Anyway, that is my shallow moment, I also signed up to do some document translation while I in Mozambique for the non-profit we will be working for. I was the only one in the group who has experinence in that already. Last Spring I was only taking 2 classes and foud some time to go up to Salt Lake and work as a volunteer at a micro credit organization called Ascend Alliance, that has their headquarters in SLC and their secondary headquarters in Beira, Mozambique. So I would be their translator when the CEO needed to call over to Beira and also during their weekly teleconferences. Also I had to translate documents from English to Portuguese and vice versa, it was good experince, and they also had be editing some manuals that had been previously translated from Spanish to English. So I think I would have fun doing translation stuff again, and since I will be doing a lot of that for my masters more practice can't hurt. This paragraph is SO random...I guess I am random.Anyway the official countdown is at 26 days. I am getting ready to go and more excited everyday. I got my text books today, and I just need to get everything figured out for my summer class schedule and then I will be ready! Good thing I still have over 20 days to really get ready. So here is my random blog update, and as a final note, don't be worried about the security stuff, they always tell it worse than it really is in those meetings to freak everyone out into behaving themselves while out of the country. I have never had and serious problems while out of the country and I don't intend to on this trip!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Today, Tomorrow, Forever and Never
Today what did I do?
-Hmm....in regards to my internship, talked to some people who have done this internship in the past. Apparently, it is AWESOME from what they say. Not all of us will be teaching E
nglish like I originally thought. They also need teachers in history (since that is my other major I could very well get put in that job), AIDS prevention, computer literacy, polytechnics, and English as well. We will be living about a five minutes by car from the beach, and we only teach for about an hour a day. So that means we will have to go to class, all of us are taking Literature of Mozambique and also Culture of Mozambique while we are there, and the rest of the time is free time, teach, and the rest of the time people go out and chill on the beach, shop, eat out, etc... Needless to say this will be nice if it really is like that, but somehow I think it might be a little more challenging, I will let you know!
Tomorrow what am I doing?
-Good question. I have practice for my play that we are putting on for the Humanities department theater festival next week. It is a Brazilian play from the Northeast called "Morte e Vida Severina". Then buying food for our Easter dinner that we are
having at my apt. on Sunday. Also going with a good friend to see "Be kind rewind" I am a fan of Jack Black and it looks funny! I will miss doing random things like cooking for friends and family and going to see movies at the dollar theater while I am in Africa, BUT I am super stoked to make new friends, experience new things, and learn how to cook new foods...yay for new things!
I will forever....
-Try to make the best of the situation I am in. I learned that when you are someplace
new everything is foreign and you feel like a fish out of water. I learned going to Europe this past summer that sometimes your flights don't always land on time, and that patience is always a good thing to keep even in stressful situations. I could have gotten mad coming back from Curitiba to the United States at the fact my flight left two hours late and that my luggage broke....but instead I chatted with some Argentines about the church welfare system and my internship and translated for an American mom with 3 small kids that didn't speak Portuguese at the airport. I could have gotten stressed when Camila and I got stuck in the air port in Campo Grande for six hours, but I used that time to learn to play chess.... I plan on making the most of my time in Mozambique and try to not let the little things stress me out:)
I will never...
-Be close minded. Everyone has reasons for being the way they are and doing the
things they do. I know that things are going to be different when I get to Mozambique, but I want to learn from those differences and not do the typical ethnocentric thing of "well in America we..." or "we would NEVER do that at home" that bugs me more than anything, I enjoy visiting other cultures and seeing the best and worst of their society. That way I learn and gain perspective on life, what I have, and what I can do as an individual to help out those around me. I know I can't help out everyone in life, but if I can give service to a few that is enough for me as long as it makes a difference, however small it might be.
So there you go. Today, tomorrow, forever, and never.
-Hmm....in regards to my internship, talked to some people who have done this internship in the past. Apparently, it is AWESOME from what they say. Not all of us will be teaching E
nglish like I originally thought. They also need teachers in history (since that is my other major I could very well get put in that job), AIDS prevention, computer literacy, polytechnics, and English as well. We will be living about a five minutes by car from the beach, and we only teach for about an hour a day. So that means we will have to go to class, all of us are taking Literature of Mozambique and also Culture of Mozambique while we are there, and the rest of the time is free time, teach, and the rest of the time people go out and chill on the beach, shop, eat out, etc... Needless to say this will be nice if it really is like that, but somehow I think it might be a little more challenging, I will let you know!Tomorrow what am I doing?
-Good question. I have practice for my play that we are putting on for the Humanities department theater festival next week. It is a Brazilian play from the Northeast called "Morte e Vida Severina". Then buying food for our Easter dinner that we are
having at my apt. on Sunday. Also going with a good friend to see "Be kind rewind" I am a fan of Jack Black and it looks funny! I will miss doing random things like cooking for friends and family and going to see movies at the dollar theater while I am in Africa, BUT I am super stoked to make new friends, experience new things, and learn how to cook new foods...yay for new things!I will forever....
-Try to make the best of the situation I am in. I learned that when you are someplace
new everything is foreign and you feel like a fish out of water. I learned going to Europe this past summer that sometimes your flights don't always land on time, and that patience is always a good thing to keep even in stressful situations. I could have gotten mad coming back from Curitiba to the United States at the fact my flight left two hours late and that my luggage broke....but instead I chatted with some Argentines about the church welfare system and my internship and translated for an American mom with 3 small kids that didn't speak Portuguese at the airport. I could have gotten stressed when Camila and I got stuck in the air port in Campo Grande for six hours, but I used that time to learn to play chess.... I plan on making the most of my time in Mozambique and try to not let the little things stress me out:)I will never...
-Be close minded. Everyone has reasons for being the way they are and doing the
things they do. I know that things are going to be different when I get to Mozambique, but I want to learn from those differences and not do the typical ethnocentric thing of "well in America we..." or "we would NEVER do that at home" that bugs me more than anything, I enjoy visiting other cultures and seeing the best and worst of their society. That way I learn and gain perspective on life, what I have, and what I can do as an individual to help out those around me. I know I can't help out everyone in life, but if I can give service to a few that is enough for me as long as it makes a difference, however small it might be.So there you go. Today, tomorrow, forever, and never.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
OoOoh that hurts!
The official count down is at 39 days. I am in the process of registering with the US State Department and the US consulate in Maputo at the moment. I had to do this when I went on Study abroad to Sao Paulo and again for my internship in Curitiba so it's nothing too new. Mainly the security administrator for BYU asks us to do this so if we get hurt, killed, kidnapped, etc. while abroad they know who to get a hold of, and so the US is aware of the fact that we are abroad. It sounds worse than it really is, I am not worried at all about going abroad, but to be honest anytime they make you sign your life away it is a bit disquieting.
Also the title of my blog comes from one of this things I hate most
in life. Needles. I doubt there are people out there in the world who actually enjoy getting shots or having their blood drawn, and if there are, they are weird. No argument, they are just weird. Since I have gotten a lot of immunizations in the past for my other travels abroad I thought perhaps I could escape shots this time around, but it looks like I was wrong. According to the centers for disease control I am missing a few shots that I will need to get within the next week, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was when I went to Brazil the first time. That time I think it was about 3 shots in each arm. As I am writing this it makes me wonder why it is that the nurses always say, "just a little prick" or "okay, your going to feel a little pinch now" when they know full well it hurts more than "just a little pinch". Lies, lies, lies...hehehe.
And as a final note my summer situation has finally been resolved. I will get back into Salt Lake on Friday night the 20th of June, and I will enjoy a weekend off from school before I start back on Monday with summer term. I was hoping to take summer term off and just chill out, but since I have been offered a teaching position at BYU in the fall for the Portuguese dept. I have to take a teaching techniques class during the summer. In Spanish. Yes, in Spanish. hahaha...go figure. They don't offer it in Portuguese during the summer, but since I understand Spanish enough they stuck me in that class, we'll see how that goes! I'll also be finishing up some left over credits I need to do in order to officially graduate with my BA in Portuguese. So I will be in school, as always...maybe someday I will finish! The only exciting thing about staying for summer is that Camila and I will be roomies again, yay! Camila, da pra fazer bagunca de novo hehehe....viva o FLSR!
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