Ndzi voluntari xa corpo da paz!

Gi Xile!
Ndzi Ian, ndzi voluntari xo corpo da paz. Ndza tira xicolweni 25 de Setembro xa Homione, Inhambane. Ndzi mugondzise xa xiguisa!

G'day everbody! Howzit? That is a little taste of the local dialect I have started learning. It is called Xitswa. The x is pronounce "sh" like in Xela, Guatemala, Julie's place. Anyway, drumroll please..... I am going to the beach in Inhambane Province about 6-7 hours away from Maputo the capital. I amm really excited because
1. I'm living alone.
2. I'm going to the TERRA DA BOA GENTE!
3. Here comes fluent portuguese and Chitswa
4. I'm going to get to mess with all the tourists who come to the beach, especially the afrikaners!

It was a little shock to the system that I would be living alone first, but honestly I think that is what I wanted. I was talking yesterday to a really good friend here, Justin, and what he said made me realise that YES it was what I wanted and YES I am going to rock up there! Besides, my closest neighbour is only a 20 minute chapa ride away and the first person I met in the group is only 40 minutes away in Maxixe. And she has a hot shower!!!!!!! :O) Its a nice little perk occaisionally but I'm diggin the bucket showers. I'm in the middle of a field of coconut trees. I will be learning to climb those trees and get the cocos. I've cell phone coverage, electricity and a pump really close to my house. I'm teaching in a reed hut, which the entire school is made out of and unless more funding comes through, will probably NOT have any desks for the first year though. Once I get there Ill be setting up a post office box, but until then keep the packages coming to the Peace Corps office here in Maputo!

Back to the whole language thing. I'm very excited to be able to have the opportunity to use 3 languages every single day and to be able to add a 4th language to that when I go the beach (Afrikaans.) I can just see the white tourists faces when I'm speaking dialect to some Mozambicans and then turn around and speak to them in there language....OOOOO thats gonna be FUN.

So, here is the low down. I had to get my toenail removed again. Its a regular occurance throughout PCVs here in Mozambique. Make a long story short, they lanced it, stitched it up and now I have to walk around in sandals for the rest of the time INCLUDING SWEARING IN CEREMONY! But I think the Ambassdor will understand. Speaking of her, we had a Thanksgiving dinner that she came to at school. She stayed for 2 and a half hours! She is one of the nicest diplomats I've ever met, she even danced with us! But now, things are winding down in training. We have a big party with our host families next week. That's tuesday. Then we go and meet our school directors, they are coming to Maputo. Apparently, according to the PCV I am replacing he is known as macaco velho or OLD MONKEY. Ill fill you in on that! :O) Next Friday is our swearing in ceremony and we spend that night at this beach resort on Costa do Sol! Saturday is our recoverday and Sunday or Monday I move to the land of good people - as Inhambane province is known!

com respeito e amor

Ianito