I’m officially a volunteer! And not a moment too soon; I’m so ready to be done with training. We had a ceremony thing at the ambassador’s house in Maputo this week where there were lots of speeches about the importance of community integration and cross cultural interactions, yada yada… Then we ate some delicious appetizers and went along our way to more important sessions about demining and cyclones.

It’s my last day in Namaacha and very bittersweet. It’s really hard to say goodbye to people that I won’t see for another year or so. The last few days have been really fun and I’ve spent a lot of time with my family. I gave them some presents today, and I have to say, I think the snap bracelets were the biggest hit. I also gave them a collage of pictures. Scrapbooking people would be horrified, it was constructed out of flip chart paper and duct tape. So now I will forever be prominently featured in my homestay family’s house.
We’re driving to our site tomorrow with a few of the other people going to the Inhanbane province. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I think we’ll have to go out and buy a lot of the stuff for our house the first couple days. I know there are bed frames, a table, and a couple chairs. So we have a little furnishing and decorating to do! We will be at site for about a week and then we’re heading to the beach for Christmas with a few friends.

I hope everyone’s holiday season is going well and is not too stressful! Erin sent me a text saying she was drinking a peppermint mocha the other day. That made me really miss Christmas! It really doesn’t feel like Christmas here because it’s like 100 degrees out every day, I have yet to see a Christmas commercial on TV, and I have not heard any Christmas music. I’m sure Delilah is taking some amazing and heartwarming holiday requests this year! On the plus side, this is definitely the least stressful Christmas I’ve ever had! We’re doing a secret santa within my province and that’s the only gift I’m buying! Kind of a nice change. I expect lots of phone calls around Christmas!! Let me know if you need my number!