Has a year really gone by??

Well … it’s been a while since I’ve written one of these – so where to even start? As my one year anniversary in Mozambique passed by in September, it triggered me to reflect on my time spent here. I must say it has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. The greatest most fulfilling experiences in my life have occurred here, yet I’ve also encountered my lowest lows where I was struggling just to get through the day. Through it all though – I appreciate every second I’ve spent in this beautiful place and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

As most of you know, my primary project in the Peace Corps is as a secondary school English teacher in a town called Monapo in Nampula, Mozambique. With each classroom packed with over 80 Mozambican students with a language barrier in a country whose culture I still wasn’t all that familiar with – it was intimidating to say the least. Surprisingly, being up in front of the classroom, teaching my 9th grade students felt very natural. My students quickly became my life here. Now that the first school year is over – I look back and realize that they have taught me so much more than I’ve taught them. They are so amazing. They live a more grueling and challenging life than I could ever imagine – yet still live so carefree and with beaming smiles on they’re faces each day. It truly is inspiring. Please don’t get me wrong though – some days I would come home from school completely exhausted and in tears from their lack of determination, capacity to retain information, and ‘collectivist’ aka cheating ways. The school system is quite different here though. As I said – each class has over 80 students in it – and each student is a number, not a name. I was a ninth grade teacher – however my students ranged from ages 15 to about 21 or 22. The majority of my students are males – because here, the women get an early start on getting married and having children and that gives them no time for school. Even many of the young girls who are in my classes are married with children already. My school is made up of 9 classrooms – each classroom with desks and a chalk board. That’s it. Nothing else. They don’t have text books, computers, maps donning the walls; chemicals for chemistry class, visual aids, diagrams – nothing. Thinking back to my high school days – I couldn’t imagine learning with such a limited amount of resources – and they don’t. It became extremely frustrating – but the students aren’t to blame. Even simple things are challenges, like pointing out where Mozambique is on a map of Africa, thinking white people can’t get sick, thinking that your blood type being negative or positive has something to do with you having AIDS, pointing out where Europe is on a map, thinking birth control pills are for men, having sex with a virgin cures AIDS, thinking Jon Claude Van Dam is a crazy man running around killing people in the United States that we can’t find and put in jail, if you don’t have sex-then you will go mentally insane, or thinking that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of California because they have no laws there – so he was sent in to open a can of whoop ass terminator style … I can’t make this stuff up.

Another stress and something that I still haven’t been able to get accustomed to and probably never will is the corruption in the school system. Although some of my colleagues are really amazing and care a lot about the students –others really are not. There are some that rarely come to class, sleep with the young, impressionable female students to raise their grades, accept bribes, come to school and teach drunk, hit the students and treat them with no respect. This was a harsh reality to get thrown into – and it’s sickening to watch and absolutely breaks my heart. I’ve become very attached to some of my students here and they have become really close friends of mine-so to see them being educated and treated like that kills me. One of my students had a baby a few months ago, and he asked me to name it. It was so exciting! I named him Marco after my dad – they look a lot alike - it’s uncanny. His child lives about an hour walk from where we are – so we’ve been visiting a lot recently. The walk is nice because it gives us time to talk – and I try to get through to him as much as I can. He’s an 18 year old child who now has 2 children of his own. Through our talks – he’s finally told me that he knows he needs to stop this behavior. He’s in ninth grade – and is not in the condition to take care of a baby. One of my other students came over yesterday and started laughing and told me that another one of my students’ children died the day before. He was laughing – so I thought he was joking. He kept laughing but assured me that he was serious. I asked him what he died of – and they were all shocked that I even asked that. They all were like, ‘teacher, we’re poor here. Malnutrition.’ in a- come on, don’t you know that, way. And so I explained to them that if they don’t have the means to take care of a child well – than they shouldn’t have one. I have noticed that many Mozambicans react to death very differently than I do – and it’s hard to relate.

Death has been a difficult struggle for me here. I’ve been fortunate to not have to deal with death in my life that much – at least up until I came here. My students are constantly going through and dealing with deaths in their families- and I’m shocked that they can stay so strong. This last trimester of school was an incredible struggle. I spent July break in Malawi and in the northern part of Mozambique – which was amazing. When I got back, I found out that one of my friends here passed away while giving birth to her son. She was like my Mozambican equivalent in a way. We were the same age – but I always looked at her and thought, ‘wow – this is what my life would be like if I grew up here’. She was 23 and pregnant with her 4th child. She was uneducated and lived in a mud hut with a controlling husband that sleeps around with other women, didn’t let her leave the house, let her talk to people, or treat her with any respect at all for that matter. Seeing how her life was like here, made me really realize how lucky I am. It was also nice to have a female friend here – because she was my only one. It’s almost impossible to find female friends here because most of the women my age are already married and have a family of their own – just worlds apart. She was the most adorable pregnant woman I’ve ever seen too – and although she didn’t seem to have the best life – she always had a smile on her face. It took a while for me to grieve after her death, because I honestly just didn’t know how and there was no one to grieve with. I was the only non Mozambican to know her – and as I said before - we deal with death very differently than they do. Death is a constant reality that people face everyday here – so in a way, it seems like they’re used to it – which is so sad.
Then, about a month after, a 10th grade student was washing his clothes in the river in my town and was eaten by a crocodile. People around saw – but couldn’t do anything about it because they would have been killed too. Then, about a week later, one of my students died suddenly without explanation except the fact that he was ‘sick’ for a few days. It was very strange the way it all happened. None of my students would say his name – like I said before, the students are a number and not a name. Everyone was just saying, ‘Number 5 in Nona Cinco died’– it was the strangest thing. Walking into his class the first time was kind of a blur. I was very unsure how to act, what to do, whether I should skip over his number when I was doing attendance – it was strange. I walked in with tears in my eyes, because I really couldn’t hold it in. My students seemed to be confused why I was so upset. I told them all to stand up so we could do a moment of silence. One kid made a joke and everyone started laughing. It was just so bizarre to me to see these kids so oblivious to the fact that one of their friends just died. After the moment of silence, I asked if anyone wanted to say anything. They were all just talking and joking around like nothing happened though. It was all very odd, and made it very clear that there is a big cultural difference when it comes to death.

On a better note (sorry for the downer) … now that the first school year is over, I’ve been keeping busy doing things around the house. I’ve become a big yard work enthusiast. It’s a new hobby of mine – especially sweeping dirt. It’s hard to explain, but its quite common here – try it out. I’ve also been spending a lot of time with my students. The other day, I went with a few of them waaaaaaaaay out into the bush where one of their families lives. It was beautiful and his family was so nice and welcoming of the white girl. We went to this party where they were playing big bongos and dancing and singing traditional songs. The party was for a girl that just menstruated for the first time – so that means that she will go out and find a husband now. It was a major – ‘Oh my god – I’m in Africa’ moment. They were so nice and it was so fun to see and be part of the culture.

So, like I said – I appreciate every experience I’ve been faced with here. I’ve learned so much about myself in this past year and I’ve truly never felt happier. I live in such an amazingly beautiful country with beautiful people and I considerer myself so lucky. The stupid little things – like brushing my teeth outside as the sun is rising, seeing women donned in beautiful brightly colored traditional clothing, getting visits at my house from my students, the beautiful views and sunsets, and just the day to day strange yet inevitable occurrences that make this experience what it is. It sounds so corny – but it’s so true. Thank you all so much for the support from home- I couldn’t do it without you. Especially my parents who are insanely amazing and help me through the tough situations. Your support and everything you’ve done for me means more to me than you’ll ever know. Also the rest of my family and friends back home –you all have helped me so much. The letters, texts, calls, and little random messages mean a lot. It keeps me going and gives me something to look forward to in a year. Last but certainly not least are my 2 favorite big heads-Jamie and Alex. There are no words that can even begin to tell you how much I appreciate the both of you. I feel so extremely lucky to not only meet you, but for you to be 2 of my best friends. You’re doing amazing things here in Moz and it motivates me to do better. Thank you a million times over – you guys are making this experience better than I ever could have imagined.

So I suppose that’s all for now. I think I did a pretty lousy job summing up the year in just one blog post – but it’s almost impossible. My goal is to write more frequently … I’m so mad at myself that I didn’t journal or blog at all throughout the year. However – no longer. Stay posted, and thank you all again. I have posted pictures on facebook if you are at all interested – and I have a whole new set that I will be posting soon of the last few months. Take care of yourselves and stay happy and healthy! xoxo Nia

Back to life, Back to reality

Hello all!!! I hope this finds you all happy and healthy!

Well holidays are over and school is starting soon. Back to life, back to reality! Although extremely untraditional, I had an amazing Christmas and entire holiday season for that matter. All the volunteers in the northern regions of Mozambique traveled hours to all come together in Angoche – a small fishing town on the coast. With water being scarce and the town only turning on the water for 4 hours every three days, it was quite the experience rationing for 13 people. Bathing was few and far between, we all ate out of the big pot that we cooked with because we couldn’t do dishes, and whenever it rained - even a little bit, we would put out buckets to collect the water. It was hard to grasp the fact that it was the holiday season considering it was in the high 80’s/low 90’s and we went swimming in the warm Indian Ocean everyday surrounded by white sand and palm trees – paradise. We did try to add some typical holiday traditions to get us in the spirit, so we made snowmen out of sand, fashioned stockings for each other out of capulanas (the traditional clothing that women wear here), and hung them over a paper fire place and exchanged secret Santa gifts on Christmas morning. We also attempted to make sugar cookies without an oven, using a pot on the burner – they came out magnificently! For New Years, there were four of us that stayed in Angoche. We went out to a bar in town that was celebrating the new year. We had made friends with the owner of this bar called Tuchers a few nights before. So we told people that our friend Jamie was a famous DJ in the States, so the owner asked him to DJ on New Years. He did the countdown and everything – it was hilarious. The next week walking around, all the Mozambicans would recognize him and yell, ‘DJ Jaime! Mexe Bem!’ So now, when me and my friend meet Mozambicans, we always ask them if they know DJ Jaime – the funny part is that their response is always yes.

One of my favorite things to do in this country is joking around with the people. Mozambicans in general are the happiest people- they’re always up for a good laugh and just very easy going. My friend and I decided to go for a run when we were in Angoche one day. I have to say that is quite brave of us, because two white girls exercising makes for quite a spectacle. So we ran through the ‘matu’ – the bush. We were running through these dirt roads and paths in between mud and reed huts with little naked children running around and women in traditional garb cooking outside. Everyone was staring and laughing like we had 7 heads – thinking what the hell are these white chicks doing? So we start yelling, ‘Vamos!’ (let’s go!) and waving our hands. All of a sudden, these women drop what their doing and start running next to us with no shoes, their capulanas and head wraps. We were all laughing hysterically, and more and more started running with us. Definitely a top 7 moment in my life. Love this country.

Also in Angoche, there are small islands right off the coast that are inhabited and it’s where fisherman go each day. The four of us decided to go to an island one day. We took a little chapa sail boat, where the sail looked like an old black garbage bag full of holes. It was crammed with people and we were sitting on bags of small dried fish, and there was a guy bailing out water the entire time. The boat trip took 3 hours total – maybe the best three hours of my life. We were having so much fun with everyone on the boat. There was a guy that – thanks to second hand clothing markets here – was wearing a snapped off hood to a jacket. My friend Jamie decided to switch his Sox hat for the hood, and then the guy took my big sunglasses and gave me his neon orange circa 1982 sunglasses. He looked pretty hip. We just had a blast with all of them, buying a round of mangos, rowing to help out, trying to teach them the song ‘row row row your boat’ – good times. Once we got to the island, it was absolutely gorgeous. White sand, turquoise water, palm trees, and nothing else in site. The first thing that we noticed was the rolling sand dunes … so like the little kids we are, we climbed them and just barrel rolled down them. All of a sudden, we see a clan of little kids come running from nowhere – Lord of the Flies style. They start doing crazy aerobics and back flips down the dunes. It was so crazy. We walked around the island, seeing fisherman with their big nets and old wooden boats. We walked through the small market they had. Next thing we knew, there was literally 50 men women and children following us and staring because they had never seen white people before. A woman gave us lanhas (baby coconuts before it’s dried out), and opened them for us with a machete. We sat under a palm tree and ate the fresh coconuts with the crowd around us – more fascinated in us then they would be watching the World Cup Finals.

Every night at sunset, the four of us would go onto this old boat on the shore that has not been in use for years and now is inhabited by families. We would watch the most beautiful sunsets you could ever imagine over the ocean and help this man fish for food for his family – using an old small plastic bottle, a hook, and fishing line. It was a really cool thing to be a part of. So I really enjoyed my month long vacation spent in Angoche. It’s one of my favorite places I’ve ever been – sleeping outside on a straw bed with an ocean view and nice breeze. I think it’s a blessing in disguise that I wasn’t placed there – because if I was, I don’t think I would ever come home.

So now holidays are over here and school has finally begun! I am more than excited to start! The stories will be endless, so stay posted!

I have been asked by my lovely friends and family for pictures of what my life has been like for the last 4 months. I cannot provide you with my own personal photos due to technical glitches, but I am going to take the cheap and easy way out and direct you to my beautiful partner in crimes blog. I have spent every waking moment with her for the past month and a half, so just know that I´m right there next to her while these photos have been taken... alexkruzel.blogspot.com ... so I hope these will do for now - only to merely wet your palete. Enjoy, and maybe drop her a line to thank her for her great photography work!

I love and miss you all, I hope you know that! I hope these blogs are keeping you updated enough. It's hard when each day is so eventful to put in words what my life is like. This blog really doesn't do justice. Just know that I'm living on cloud 9 and I couln't ask for anything more out of life right now! Never worry about me... stay happy healthy and safe and know that you all are always in my thoughts. Thanks for the constant support ... I have the best friends and family!

love, bia

My new home sweet home

So here I am in beautiful Monapo in the Nampula province of Mozambique. Man, I’m loving it here! It’s ripe with potential, the people are so welcoming, and the sunsets are to die for. I’ve already made a few friends here, so they’re helping me out in the market so I don’t get the “stupid melungue (white person) price” – that’s a technical term. It’s kind of hard times here right now though. Water is hard to come by, and the only food in the market is fish, onions, and bread. Although I salivate at the thought of the bomb sandwich I can make and how excellent my breath would smell after- I’ve been having fat kid dreams of lasagna, pizza, and nachos …. mmmmm! It’s really fine though. They have the most incredible mangos here that I excessively over eat – which isn’t good because I seem to have an allergic reaction every time where my lips swell up like Angelina Jolie’s. I can’t stop though, it’s an addiction, and besides, that look is so in right now.


It is nice to be in a place where the clock doesn’t rule people’s lives … which is how I like to live my life. Organization is usually out of the question too. The other day, I had to go to the closest city 2 hours away to get a fan, because it is so incredibly hot, and sleep was hard to come by when I was trying to do so in a pool of my own sweat. So on the way back, we caught a Chapa – the popular mode of transportation I talked about before. So picture this: It’s a hundred degrees, the chapa is well over capacity like always, I have one standing fan and one regular fan on my lap, I’m drenched in sweat, I smell, my lips are swollen and I started developing a rash on my face and arms from the mangos, and I’m smooshed in between one dude on my left who has 4 squawking chickens that I would by accidentally hit with my fan, and a dude to my right who was proposing marriage to me and trying to impress me with his elementary broken engligh- “I like too much to speak English!”. Despite the fact that my left butt cheek was asleep and deodorant isn’t a popular product here for people (even on the hottest days), I had a moment of loving my life. Where else would that happen?! It’s great.


The kids here are my favorite, though. There is one that sits outside of my house on the cashew tree at the same time of day, everyday, and calls my name until I go out and talk to him. As soon as I go out and start talking to him- kids start to seep out from every nook, cranny, crack, and crevice of town until I’m completely surrounded. Recently, they have been trying to teach me the local language of Nampula - Emakhuwa. It’s really difficult because the sounds that I have to make are so foreign and it just seems impossible. I do know about three phrases now though:

Miyo Kookhala – I am fine.
Nsina nanyu tani? – What is your name?
Mpakha nihiku nikina- See you later

I hope to learn more because it’s important for integration into the community. A lot of people don’t speak Portuguese yet because they don’t learn it until they go to school, and there are a lot who don’t ever go. But I would like to master Portuguese first though. I think I’ll be a better assistance to the community if I can speak more fluently. There is a girls group that I’ve been thinking about starting in my town. It would definitely be more beneficial if I can communicate well with the girls. I also have been getting really interested in AIDS awareness. Where I was living before, 25% of the population was living HIV positive, and that’s where my interest started. When I would go to church with my family, it would hit me that one out of every four people around me was HIV positive. Unbelievable. Where I’m living now, it’s about a 10% rate, which is lower, but still 10% too high. It doesn’t help that this is a polygamist culture here as well. The majority of men have more than one wife and one family, as well as‘pitas’ on the side- and condoms aren’t usually their first thought. That has been a really difficult concept to wrap my hands around and accept. Although it’s their culture and we are not here to change them, it’s a hard line to walk knowing that this aspect of their culture is causative to the spread of AIDS.

It’s a constant learning and accepting process here. Even thus far, this has been the greatest learning experience for me. I’m constantly challenged, and I’m finding more and more about myself and the world. It’s incredible, because I haven’t even started my work yet … so I can already tell there is a lot in store. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and even though times get hard – I admit, harder than I ever expected – I realize that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, the reasons I am here aren’t all for me, and I’m lucky to be doing this and working with such great people.


Christmas is coming up soon. All the Peace Corps volunteers in the northern regions are going to Angoche to spend Christmas together on the beach. It’s not your traditional white Christmas, but I’ll settle for a white sand Christmas. We’ll probably ring in the New Year on an island just off the coast. I’ll be thinking of you all- like I always do. I hope you have happy and safe holidays and you enjoy the company of friends and family. All my love in the world XOXO Nia