Home!

Wow, it has really been a whirlwind since I last posted. Since then, I have been sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer, flown to Nampula for my supervisors conference, and moved into my house! I don't know where to begin, so how about I begin with my home for the following two years. It is a lovely little house (with any luck, there will be pictures in this post). There four rooms in our house, three bedrooms and a main sala (room). We have a lovely fenced in backyard, and a nice front verandah. When we got there, it seemed the house was owned by spiders, but with the help of one of our new friends, it's looking spick and span right now! We were warned that we were going to have endless amounts of free time, and to beware the boredom. As of yet, we have found the exact opposite to be true. Adam and I have been to the market every day to buy anything from mangos to bread to plastic lawn chairs to a fan. We've also spent a great deal of time speaking english with a couple of Benjamin's (the previous volunteer) former students, and just generally conversing with neighbors and anyone that stops by. We're actually kind of hoping that we get some free time in the near future to do nothing but read and maybe watch a few movies.
And it is the holiday season, so what would this post be if it didn't have something about Christmas. With dia da familia just around the corner, Adam and I will be going to a fellow volunteers' site with a few others. It will be a nice respite from the madness that is getting our lives in order (due to the spiders, I just moved my things into my room yesterday). We'll also be visiting a friend of ours for new years, which will be positively fantastic. I promise to give a full account of both once i get internet after.
It has been unbelievably hot in Nametil the past four days (it seems like i've been there much longer). And our house functions somewhat similarly to a brick over. As a result, give it about three more days and i'll resemble a roasted turkey on thanksgiving. Fortunately, our fans work very well, and have been allowing us to sleep, if fitfully.
Now that I don't have frequent, reliable access to internet, I cannot constantly request updates from everybody. Therefore, I'm requesting now that everyone continue to send me updates on life stateside. Once a month, once a week, once a day. Whatever you feel is fitting. But remember, no matter how boring you think it might be, I'm going to find it absolutely, positively exciting.
And now, pictures! this is our house from the backyard:


and the backyard