Home Away From Home

I am staying by the beach. It is kind of a dream house, a varanda to the sea, a little kitchen and nice fresh wood blinds. It makes it look amazing. Well, it is amazing, but it is not summer here. The last couple of nights me and Isabel do not let go of our little blankets when we are in the leaving room given the air current is so strong. The fact that it does not have windows makes it very fresh in the summer but kind of windy and cold in the winter, i.e. now. Not that it is Boston winter. It is kind of 20 degrees, so it is not bad, but the fact that wind comes in through every window makes it very funny. It always makes us laugh, especially when we try to sleep and we think the roof may fly away at any point in time! Yesterday and today I thought a course about teaching 3-5 years old. No you are not mistak, I never thought children this age. But the mere fact that I had good teachers throughout my life topped with a teaching book from a former volunteer are enough ingredients to be...

So I went to Maputo last night, trying to buy some furniture for the Orphanage. Result was close to zero as in the end, none of the 5 shops existing had the metal shelves we were looking for. I guess they don't do them here. We ended up in game, the one we know already, looking at expensive shelves wishing we would buy those pretty little lockers for the kids. In the end, we decided to buy a big closet for the toys and just DIY with the shelves: bricks and wood should do the trick, and maybe some paint to cheer up the room. Tomorrow I go back to Xai-Xai and I kind of look forward to it. Off course I look forward to go back to the house by the beach, but more than that, I look forward for the Orphanage change to kick off. I need something to change, I need to feel like we are reaching this children the way we are reaching the 50 families I visited last week. I feel like the Harvard in me is demanding more results and is frustrated with what I have not achieved yet. I trust the new c...

So I came to spend a month in Mozambique. It seems life wants me to live the real thing. My computer broke after the first 5 minutes on, perhaps an energy peak, perhaps something else, perhaps my computer is just tired of being on all the time. So I am out of working every night, every time, checking email, doing stuff stuff and stuff. I am disconnected, living Mozambique to the most. I am staying in an amazing house by the beach in Xai-Xai, try to go to the beach at least an hour a day at 8am and then go and visit communities and schools. It is hard but it is rewarding, it is heart breaking and it gives me hope. My first 2 weeks are over and my next 2 weeks are starting. I don't know if I will have internet again but I promise a lot of emails, pictures and updates when I return. For now... I go back to them, as they need me most.

Yes, I am going somewhere again. Pretty unbelievable I know. This time I am heading to Mozambique for a month. Hoping to work, hoping to rest, hoping to think a lot of things through. Hoping to finally find the time for myself, hoping to finally hit the brakes. Sometimes I wonder whether I will ever stop being more familiar with the entertainment on board by BA than the hostess, whether I will stop accumulating airmiles and benefiting from airport lounges... Not that I mind them, it just tells you a lot about you. Sometimes I wonder if we will be able to stop. I wish B. was coming with me, but he is not. So I guess I will have to do this on my own. Here I go again...

It is my last day at work and my bag is packed to go on holiday. It is a weird feeling, leaving it all behind with a simple goodbye. The truth is I never thought I would like living in Maputo as much as I did, I never thought it would be this easy. It was not easy in the sense of being so far from the ones I love, but it was so easy to just settle in a new life, have a routine, make friends. I will miss Rosa and João, though I am pretty sure I will see them again soon and they will remain a part of my life. I will miss being a car ride away from Zezito, the Nuns and all the children but I guess one just can't be everywhere at all times. I will miss being able to get it all done within 24 hours and still get 8 hours of sleep. I will miss having a simple life but worrying about meaningful things. But I guess at the same time my heart pulls me back. I miss Portugal and the idea of spending a couple of days in the beach surrounded with old (and eternal) friends. I miss London a...

The weekend was GREAT, full of animals and animation. We took off Friday afternoon and if it was not for an hour on the border we probably would have made it in an hour. Roads in South Africa are clearly better, and driving is not that full of unexpected events like the N1 to Xai-Xai. We stayed at a really nice B&B in Malelane, next to the Malelane gate, the Vila Langa, that I definitely recommend. Cheaper than the big lodges and really nice people. They organized everything for us and service was great and very familiar. The adventure of “where-on-earth-did-they-leave-the-service-concept” started early at dinner. We went to The Deck for dinner, a nice place by the river, amazing food, inexistent service. Just hard to believe… We had an early start on Saturday, at 4.30 and at 5.15 we were already by the Echo Safari office, ready to go in our adventure. At 5.45 we were queuing at the gate, led by Washington, our guide, in an open vehicle. The camera was not even out and a Hippo ran ...

My bag is packed and I am ready to go. Before that, I still want to get a draft Board Presentation off the way. Yes, I am back to that! Well, in fact I never left my beloved slides but these ones are aimed at Board and not just management as until now. What this means is that I am almost done with my internship, one more week to go. It makes me happy now (that I am working for 9 weeks and Bernardo drops me at work every morning) but I am sure I will be sad in a week as I realize my time here is ending. The balance will definitely be positive, despite the ups and downs. I have no doubt about that. Thanks for all the support on the items on the to do list, with help I can definitely get it done. The projects for 2009 are starting to get in shape so that means the Business Plan will follow, we managed to send the pictures out and are all set for the fundraising event on Monday, I decided to postpone the first edition of the newsletter to August 31st (help still welcome on this one) and...

So I just have not been sleeping well. Between mosquitoes, nightmares, a cold that is stubborn in staying and lack of water in the morning, there seems to be a conspiracy to make my head a mess when I go to work. To the point that I don’t feel like going and it takes me at least an hour to get in the rhythm of the thing. And it is not that it is that fast paced… Oh well. Yesterday, me and Bernardo decided to stay home and enjoy the rest of the Crab Curry (peanut, not coconut) that Marisa prepared for us and realized it was probably even better than the day before. As I struggled to go through my to do list I realized (one more time) I did not know when to start and decided my work day was stopping at dinner time. At least it gave me a deadline and a higher willingness to get things done. But it did not help me that much. If you wonder how much can you have to do in so little time… well, pictures to send to the tv program we are participating on and for a sort of fundraising event next ...

I tend to be quick to post an update from the weekend, especially when I visit one of the missions, but this week started sort of bumpy. I go through pictures, movies, files, lists, emails and projects and try to make sure I forget nothing of what my head likes to think when I do not have a notepad handy. But mostly I am still in the process of absorbing the weekend. For two reasons: one because I was curious to know what Bernardo thought of all this, two because the weekend was indeed tough. On one, I guess I can now breathe deeply because I know now that he understands. He always helped me out with the NGO, but he helped because it was me. Now, he has seen it, he has lived it, he helps me because he wants to, not necessarily cause I am on it. Which is a good thing, which is the great benefit of people coming to visit. You realize that little things do make a difference and you can’t help but trying, even if you think it is a long shot. He know sponsors Paulo and got a friend to spons...

A weird feeling invades me as I get Bernardo back after two months that seemed to have no end. But he is here now and it seems just as surreal as him being away from me. But just immensely better! Things started smoothly with me skipping work for the afternoon. I greeted him with a semi fresh crab in Sagres and a first taste of the quality of the service in Mozambique. To make up for it, we had dinner in Taverna with Tricia and Claire and the waiter was more helpful than I had ever seen in Maputo. Maybe he figured it was Tricia’s last dinner. Or else, he just wanted a good tip, which he got, clearly! It is sad for Tricia to leave as it makes me start to feel away already, it makes me feel like my time is coming soon as well. I read Rosa and João’s blog about how people come and they go and I can’t help sharing the feeling that I have been living for 4 years. Meet new people, make new friends, know a new city, have a new house and then pack your bags, have a farewell dinner, send ...

It is D-Day today :-) I took out the braids, and the clock is ticking. Bernardo will be in Maputo in two hours. We have plans for the weekend and so much to catch up on. I doubt I will be blogging soon, hehe

So I finally got outside and I could not believe my eyes. The children are singing in changana (the local dialect), asking for “Mana Sara” until I show up. And then they sing “Here she is, now we are happy!”. Suddenly I realized the children in front of me were not from the Escolinha but from the Orphanage. They did the trip just to celebrate my birthday. But the children of the Escolinha were there too, some 100, many had not seen me in a couple of years given I often come during their holiday period. Grown up, little men and women came to greet me happy to see that this volunteer came back and kept her promise. They sang and danced for me for more than an hour, songs of love, of joy, of happy wishes and most of all, songs of gratitude. I can not help but feel unworthy of all they sing for me but in that special moment they are really happy that I chose to spend my birthday with them. And I felt sad of all I wished I was home the day before. They invited me to dance with them, lift m...

It is 10:15 am and the children started arriving a while ago. I can see a lot of movement outside but I am not allowed to be there. And I also can’t talk to anyone because everyone is busy running around. This morning, the sister asked my car to go and buy wood. Clearly, she went to buy the Cokes and Fantas for the kids that I said I wanted to buy… I just found the boxes being unloaded from my car by mistake! Not only am I not allowed to walk around freely but also everyone shuts up wherever I arrive. I gave up now and sat in a room by the laptop, trying to write a business plan while someone braids my hair. It took an hour and a half until they would let me out and still I had to run away. I could hear the children singing and calling for me… and finally the time came!

This year, I am having a different birthday. I keep on telling myself not to be sad from being away from my friends and family. The truth is… I am. I wish I had the usual family problems of lunch and dinner with who to manage, the stress of booking a dinner for 20 people, the novelty of spending a first birthday with Bernardo. But then again, I am not sad to be here, I am just sad not to be in two places. I just had dinner with 7 friends and even had a candle at midnight. Tomorrow, I have a chocolate cake in the office, I am driving up to Xai-Xai and on Saturday I have a big birthday party with the children. And I am sure once I am there (if not before) they will remind me of the important things in life. Truth is, I may never spend another birthday here so I decided to cherish this one as much as possible. As part of my “mission” here, I also took a decision for my birthday. This year, I am asking my friends for a little gesture , rather than a birthday present. In fact, it w...

I know, it is a weird topic, but I did not get it out of my mind since Sunday so I guess I will just have to write about it. As part of our visit to the Orphanage, we distributed some gifts and a mere 3.5 Euros blackboard was a great moment of celebration. As each of the 1st graders showed the others they could write their name, the blackboard filled its mission: to teach. From that moment, we learnt Paulinha has dyslexia and writes her name perfectly backwards. From that moment we learnt that the walls around us needed more colour, the chairs asked for some paint and we definitely needed to get money for a solar panel and finally ensure continuous light in our “playroom”. As each child wrote his/ her name in the blackboard, I learnt something else. I learnt that the combination was beautiful, I learnt that having different names on the board that all fitted together was what made it special. And I learnt a way to fit more names into the blackboard of this NGO that tries to chan...

Today I made up for yesterday’s sadness with the world. Me, Rosa, Teresa and João went to the Nursery of Chaquelane to visit the children one more time (for me) and the first time (for them). Not even the rain would stop us and, to the sound of Adéle, we were off before the sun was too strong (which never happened today) and had a smooth ride to Chaquelane. Now I know that there are 30km after the left turn in Macia, and next time I won’t be hitting the breaks and looking for a sign from km 15. Between singing, dancing, tea and early morning salad, I was happy to see they had a good time. The truth is I always wonder and I always fear people may just find me ridiculous for loving this so much… But they did not. Moreover, we left with our hearts full of plans. In the way to Xai-Xai they already got themselves “invited” to come along when Bernardo (finally) comes and sees this little thing that rocks my world. But they are not coming empty handed! They promised to bring along b...

Did I mention how much it disturbs me to speak in public? Well, it does. I can’t say I don’t like it, or that I am not good at it, I can only say that it disturbs me beyond reasonable levels. Tonight, I had a dinner, in “Academia do Bacalhau”, funny enough it means “Academy of the Cod” a kind of Portuguese association abroad that exists in over 5 countries. They invited me over since they sponsor 5 children in the Mission of Chongoene and this afternoon I found out I was supposed to speak. I manage to keep away from the hand shaking and stomach pain just until before my name was called. And I even followed all the rules today, prepare the speech, know the place in advance, all the good stuff that they taught us in some Harvard seminar about the “Fear of Public Speaking”. The only thing I did not do was eating bananas before. And it still clearly did not work. The piece of paper that I had lovingly prepared with the stories of Nomussa and Piedade that I told you last week seemed to be a...

Imagine you are a six, maybe seven year old girl. It is Saturday, you are probably out playing in the garden or in bad weather home entertained with a playstation or, at best, a Barbie. Not in Mangunze. Electricity does not even come here, even less playstations. A simple board game could be surprising over here. Even so, that is not the point, you would not be out in the garden or playing with anything anyway. You would be on your way to get water for your family, sometimes as far as 30km away. You may even do it twice a day, once in the morning, before the hour walk to school and another one in the afternoon. This is the story of many girls in Mangunze and throughout Mozambique. The water well built two years ago has reduced the distance to many of them, but it is still a heavy burden. As we watched the little girls so swift with the pump that we had difficulty operating on our own we are not half as surprised as when they grab one of the buckets we could certainly not lift and put t...

It is amazing that I got to spend four full weeks in Mozambique without going to Xai-Xai, I could not believe it myself when I counted the days! But Friday, Scott and Chelsea, newcomers in Mozambique (coming from where? BOSTON!) joined me in the afternoon and we had a smooth ride there. It was fun to find out after all there is another guesthouse in Xai-Xai called Taverna (I wonder why Sister Isabel said they drink too much there…). Despite the lack of mosquito nets, towels and toilet paper, the place was actually pretty ok, or maybe my standards are all messed up by now! Saturday was a great day. I got to the end of it tired but re-invigorated, if the both are possible in the same sentence! Tired of how much we saw and did and rejuvenated to see that it is all worth it. Me, Scott and Chelsea had an early start in the beach of Xai-Xai while we waited for more visitors to arrive but at 12.00 (not sharp) we left towards Chongoene, to pick up Sister Aparecida who was joining our ride. Who...

Being an expat is always fun. You always connect with the most random people and anyone you just meet can become an immediate friend if you happen to have a common background (or maybe without it). So here I was, planning a quiet weekend in Xai-Xai, probably the last quiet weekend in the Summer. And then DP asked if he could join (I would ask to, after loving so much the orphanage!) and off course I was happy to have his company for the ride. And then Frank and Heather want to join, because Heather was a development worker before and is delighted to get to know Mozambique better. And you know me, I am always delighted to show a bit more of what I love to people! But them coming meant I was back to driving alone up there! Oh well, last minute this morning, two students arrived, guess where, from Boston College! So my expat feeling just invited them to come along for the weekend, especially since there is a 4th of July celebration going on at the beach! I am back to driving in good...