site placement!

Tete Tete Tete!

So last Thursday, November 18^th, we received our site placements – where we’ll live after training ends in 2 weeks. Seeing as Mozambique is twice the size of California, and there are volenteers in all 10 provinces, this was kind of a big deal.  The sites vary – and there are pros and cons to all of the m – but we knew that some people were going to luck out and get the nice apartments on the beach and that some of us would end up super mato (bush) without electricy or cell phone service (hey Hannah). To say that emotions were high is an understatement. 

SO. On a New Year’s Eve style countdown, we opened our envelopes…and there it was: TETE. I’ll be honest, my initial reaction was “are you kidding me?!” And let me tell you why. 1. Tete is the hottest place in the country. Every night when I see the weather, Mama Joana makes a face when she sees that the high is somewhere in the 40s. Tete = hot.  2. There are only 4 volunteer there right now. So when the ohhh 27 PCV in the southern provinces are having weekend beach parties, there is not much social action in Tete. And number 3. On the map, Tete is its own awkward area. It’s more a part of Malawi, Zambezia or Zimbabwe than Mozambique…so there is not much PC traffic through that area. 4 There was a bad reputaion for Tete going around, that unfortunately I didn’t understand until the day before placement (ironic?).  Basically people were saying that the only two letters in Tete were E and T… ET is one of the 8000 Peace Corps abbreviations that I’ve learned: Early Termination. Duh Duh Dummmm!

Ok now that I’ve given you the “I’m going to hate Tete” rant…. Let me tell you why I’ve changed my mind. 1. There are 7 new volunteers going to Tete…we’ve already increased the number of PCVs there by a million!  And we’ve already started to plan “a very mato christmas: feliz navidad” 2. My site is right outside of Tete City, which is the 2^nd biggest city in the country… Internet. Fruit. Pizza. All just 20 k away!  3. I have a roommate. So even though I’m “alone” … I’m not really!! Hi Helen!! Plus, Helen and I have been stuck together in every possible group during training, so it only makes since. That, or because her last name is Yeng and I’m Zoeller…. (this theory was shot down by Jenn Zeng, who was placed in Nampula) 4. Our school is a residential catholic mission school. And those are known for being reallyyy nice schools. Plus, they usually cap their class sizes – so I won’t have 120 kids in a class at a time (true story. It has happened to other volunteers).  5. *This is for anyone that knows me reallyyyy well!*  As a result of the large Brazilian owned mine, there is a particularly large Brazilain/International population (!!!!) Hellooooo World Cup 2014!! And how perfect that I now speak Portuguese too…. Watch out Christiano Ronaldo.

Yeah. I can’t come up with  much of a silver lining for the temperature thing…I guess anything less than 100 degrees  will be freezing and I can wear winter clothes when I come back to Namaacha?

Ok well wish us luck for our Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow! I have a feeling its going to slightly resemble A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving…but hey, who doesn’t like popcorn and toast?