This past week was quite a whirlwind. Last Saturday, I left the sheltered bubble of Namaacha to venture out into great Mozambique. We had site visits, where we got to go visit volunteers in their sites to see what life is like once we complete training. My friend Nate and I went to Nametil in Nampula province, which is in the north of Mozambique. And it was a blast. Flew into Nampula city, stayed the night with a bunch of people, and the following morning took a two hour chapa (it’s public transport unlike anything in the states) to Nametil. Chapas are quite the experience. In the equivalence of VW minibus, they pack (on average) around 20 people, and set off. Personal bubbles can’t possibly exist in chapas, so you just get familiar with your neighbor quickly. Nametil is a smallish town with lots of character. And hot. But absolutely amazing. We stayed the night in Nametil, then proceeded to spend the next three days in Angoche, a coastal town three hours by chapa from Nametil. Never have I ever been happy to see an ocean as I was when we pulled into Angoche. We ate fresh seafood every day, from shrimp to giant prawns (uncooked they were probably 8-10 inches long…) to octopus. And we swam. I cannot put into words how glorious it was to be able to jump into a body of water with fear of being infested by parasites.
But, in my opinion the best part of site visits was not that I went to the beach, or had fresh seafood, or was with awesome people. It was simply the fact that I got a respite from constant scrutiny. I was able to be myself completely, be completely American, without worrying about what everyone thought. It’s taxing on the mind, body, and soul to always be working. So to have a full week that I didn’t need to worry about everything was the best possible week I could have had.
The internet is not cooperating fully today, so I can't post pictures from site visit. But I'll post them as soon as internet permits.
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