Hello all! I have now completed almost a week of my homestay and training, and so far am having a wonderful time. My family is all women (this seems to be my lot in homestays, and Iºm totally cool with that!). My mãe is 39 and is super happy and smiling all the time. She has two daughters (Antionetta/Mariazinha, 15, and Isabelle/Doadona, 11-ish) and also two nieces who live in the house (Jusara/Sara, 13 and Daniella/Dani 8-ish). They are all super cute, very friendly and inquisitive, and I am having a great time hanging out with them every night. I am slowly learning how to do things like washing and cooking their way, and will hopefully learn a lot more this weekend. I do have to take a bucket bath twice a day, which is nowhere near as weird as it sounds, itºs actually pretty simple, and the thought of not wasting gallons of water every time i bathe is pretty satisfying. Every meal my family has cooked has been really yummy. Favorites so far include xima ("sheema"), which is somewhere between grits and polenta, made from corn meal, that you eat with your hands and dip in yummy sauce, and matapa, a green goopy sauce made of yucca leaves, peanuts, and coconut mushed up and poured over rice. Delicious!
My days here are pretty busy. I have Portuguese class in the morning in the house of one of my classmates (we're going to switch every week), then most days have health tech class and/or cross cultural class, then a break for lunch, then in the afternoon sometimes more tech or language practice time, like going to the market and talking to the vendors. It's a lot of walking around, up and down tiny red-dirt paths, but it's a really good way to get to see more of the city. Another favorite funny thing so far: there's the everyday mercado, then there's the twice a week feira where women from swaziland come (we're really close to the border) to sell clothes and stuff. The first is in a fixed building, the second is just a collection of ramshackle wooden stalls. The first they call the mercado; the second is "ShopRite" cuz that's the fancy supermarket they have in Maputo. This probably doesn't translate at all, but I thought it was hilarious.
Ok, I'm almost out of money, so i have to get off! If there are specific things people want to know about please let me know, cuz thereºs so many things to talk about itºs hard to know what to focus on.
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3 comments:
Sarah, this is so terrific! I love your descriptions and am having fun picturing it all. Is there any way you can actually post pictures to see if my images are on track? I'm also curious about your attire. Are you dressing as an American or have you found a style of clothing that you like there? I'd love to hear more about your family. Are the kids in school,and have you had any surprises about their interests and customs? Are they able to understand your form of Portuguese? Thanks for keeping this blog. It's like finding a little gift every time I check and something new is there.
Love, Melly
:) :) :) :)
I am so happy for you and so excited to be hearing about your adventures. I'll send you an e-mail this weekend and if I can get a stable internet connection, I'll try to call!
BEIJAO,
Jen
Melly's questions are all great! In addition, could you paint a word picture of your city (and explain why another PCT calls it a "village"); how well does your family speak Portuguese and what other languages do they speak; what does your mom do for income; does your home have running water or electricity and describe it. Do you have homework in your classes.
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