Twenty Four Trips Around the Sun

You know how some birthdays pass just like any other day? And yes, I’ve had a whopping 24 of them so I’m plenty qualified to make that statement.  Not bad, but not really awesome – just a day.   Well, I felt like this July 3^rd was exceptional – even on a Tuesday…

Well first I have to tell you about my pre-birthday weekend.  Hannah and I had planned a troca (“exchange”) for our REDES groups.  The plan was super simple – which is key to planning events with students in Mozambique.  Helen, Ana (our Mozambican counterpart and friend) and I chose 14 students from our girls group, rented out a chapa, packed everyone up on Saturday morning and set out for Hannah’s rural village, Kaunda.  The girls spent the morning mingling with the Hannah’s group and played an intense game of soccer. After lunch, they had a very informative sexual health lesson and presented a theater piece and some dances. 

Ok I digress…. but I’m sure you’re equally fascinated by my REDES group and my birthday! Anyways, leaving our troca, we scooped up Hannah and Eden and captive-ly brought them back to Cateme to entertain us.  The four of us spent practically every weekend together last year (when we lived in Moatize), so it was nice to have our little family together again… especially since I wouldn’t be seeing Hannah or Eden on my actual birthday.  We had a low-key birthday dinner of fried green tomatoes and homemade brownies while we sat on the floor of our house watching Modern Family. What more could a girls ask for?! (That question is proof I’ve been in Africa too long)

On Tuesday, my actual birthday, I woke up early to get on the road to Chimoio.  I wasn’t super psyched about making the 6 hour trek alone, but I figured Chimoio with some good friends outranks Cateme any day.  Upon waking up, I already had a ton of facebook notifications on my phone.  Each member of my immediate family had dug up an old baby picture, and uploaded them with Birthday messages.  I literally lay in bed laughing at the pictures – especially the gem my brother posted of the two of us with very serious faces.  Then, I found a zip lock bag full of candy and a full size box of Hot Tamales – my absolute all-time favorite candy – from Helen.  Such a good roommate, she’d been hoarding those Hot Tamales since Christmas!! (Don’t worry, they’re just as good 6 months stale).  And finally, hidden in a stack of papers I was taking with me, I found a homemade birthday card (including the traditional Goff family limerick) from Hannah.  By the time the sun came up, I was all smiles. 

I had an easy and fast first leg of the trip – and made it to the Tete border by mid morning.  Before I even walked to the spot where I had planned to hitch, a nice truck stopped for me.  I got in the private car and chatted for the next four hours with the driver – and older South African man one his way home to visit his grand kids.  At one point, he noticed that I was munching on some peanuts and insisted on stopping to buy me a “proper snack.”  I never told him it was my birthday…  I figured I was having a good karma day and there was no need to press it.

I made it to Chimoio by about 4 pm, just in time to find two of my favorite people and good friends  - Mona and Emily, waiting for me in the Peace Corps office.  We went straight to one of our favorite bars and sat outside under the little tiki huts to enjoy some birthday beers.  Once the sun went down, we met up with some other pcvs and had pizza for dinner. Pizza is ALWAYS a treat. Really, anything with cheese = super special.

So there you have it, an exceptional African birthday – and my last one here in Mozambique!