Place Redux, Or Let's Try This Again
So. Last Friday all of us Peace Corps Trainees swore to uphold the Constitution and defend it against all enemies, domestic and foreign (weird, eh? we take the same oath as the president and the military), and thus became Peace Corps Volunteers, ready to begin living and working in Mozambique. The next day, my future roommate and I boarded a plane for Nampula, and on Sunday, after five hours in the school's bus with all our luggage and our directors, we arrived at our site, as you know, a place near a bay called Angoche.
All was not well. The house that had been approved by the Peace Corps was no longer available, but no matter, there was an apartment for us. We didn't like the apartment, though, and thus began the search for a new place to live.
Meanwhile, down the coast about a thousand miles, another new Volunteer was having trouble with her supervisor, and things culminated yesterday in her decision to ask for a site transfer. Our situation also culminated yesterday when we were told we had one more option for living and if it wasn't acceptable, we too would be transferring sites.
We saw the house today. It's fine, just needs a little work. However, I've decided to go ahead with a site transfer, taking the spot of the girl down the coast while she comes here to live. It's nothing against the house, or the town, or our school directors. In fact, I love this town already and our school directors have bent over backward to accomodate us in every way they could. No, what would kill me would be the waiting. We'd have to wait one or two months for the house to be finished, at which time we'd also be starting school as we'd be trying to move in. So, since there was the opportunity to move, and since it worked out so agreeably to all, I decided to go ahead and move. The house there is all ready and waiting, and I know the girl who will be my roommate and I think we will be like two peas in a pod. Another big transition will be hard, but weighing it against the interminable waiting (which seems 15x as long when you're up at 4:30 because it's too hot to sleep anymore and there's nothing scheduled to do so you fill your time trying to get to know the community but it's just so damn hot all the time that all you can think about is how much you're sweating and how much you'd like to have a house to distract yourself with, because then at least you could paint or something...), well, yeah. This is a good decision. My colleauge needed a new place to live, her roommate needed a new roommate, and I needed to get settled as quickly as possible. For awhile, I thought I could be patient and wait, but after waiting over a year to even join the Peace Corps and then waiting through training to get to site, I don't think I could wait anymore. I need to start already, so that's what I'm doing.
The new site is called Inhassoro, in the province of Inhambane, in the south. Google it for some fabulous pictures. Here's hoping it all works out.
All was not well. The house that had been approved by the Peace Corps was no longer available, but no matter, there was an apartment for us. We didn't like the apartment, though, and thus began the search for a new place to live.
Meanwhile, down the coast about a thousand miles, another new Volunteer was having trouble with her supervisor, and things culminated yesterday in her decision to ask for a site transfer. Our situation also culminated yesterday when we were told we had one more option for living and if it wasn't acceptable, we too would be transferring sites.
We saw the house today. It's fine, just needs a little work. However, I've decided to go ahead with a site transfer, taking the spot of the girl down the coast while she comes here to live. It's nothing against the house, or the town, or our school directors. In fact, I love this town already and our school directors have bent over backward to accomodate us in every way they could. No, what would kill me would be the waiting. We'd have to wait one or two months for the house to be finished, at which time we'd also be starting school as we'd be trying to move in. So, since there was the opportunity to move, and since it worked out so agreeably to all, I decided to go ahead and move. The house there is all ready and waiting, and I know the girl who will be my roommate and I think we will be like two peas in a pod. Another big transition will be hard, but weighing it against the interminable waiting (which seems 15x as long when you're up at 4:30 because it's too hot to sleep anymore and there's nothing scheduled to do so you fill your time trying to get to know the community but it's just so damn hot all the time that all you can think about is how much you're sweating and how much you'd like to have a house to distract yourself with, because then at least you could paint or something...), well, yeah. This is a good decision. My colleauge needed a new place to live, her roommate needed a new roommate, and I needed to get settled as quickly as possible. For awhile, I thought I could be patient and wait, but after waiting over a year to even join the Peace Corps and then waiting through training to get to site, I don't think I could wait anymore. I need to start already, so that's what I'm doing.
The new site is called Inhassoro, in the province of Inhambane, in the south. Google it for some fabulous pictures. Here's hoping it all works out.
posted by Alison at 2:16 AM
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