And they are so common….welcome to Nacala!

Oh well, it´s 9 p.m. and I am in my room after a meeting with the regional TG group were I was invited to show my video preparation.

Today I started and finish the day…having 3 degree meetings with all source of African animal life…

I woke up in the morning and went out of the room thru the inside of the house. Usually I just use the outside door. Today I was glad I am not so much an habit animal! After some minutes I went back to the room from the normal way and..guess who was trying to take a nap in my green´s door net?

THIS! Oh boy!!! And I love them SO MUCH!This one was around 8 cm long and 8 cm large with the feet.

Then I just decided not to disturb him till he decides to go out of my door and I went eating breakfast and do my stuff.

So, in front of the house, I was seeing the sea and our beach and then I just look at the floor and…uau! Another one! This one looked like a dead brown leaf!

And after 5 min another one near the corner of the house, looking like a small branch of tree…

Ok…its starting to be the time of “ gafanhotos”…good..i will have to control myself and start facing also this fear..

I went to the kitchen to finish my coffe and take my vitamins and in the floor, near Daiva´s room was…a dead mousse…nice! It was a small one, maybe 12 cm long without the tail…nothing special..and so after a green leaf bug in my door I just putted gloves to pick up a dead rat…

But, it was still smelling a lot to dead animal and we realise that it wasn´t coming from that mouse…so were was it from? We search and search and then…inside the electricity box..something was there….it looked like feathers going out of the box…we couldn’t open it..i went to try to find one of the gards to help us but he wasn’t around…then daiva came to my room to tell me that she had manage to open it and…it was SOMETHING inside dead..great…something…unrecognisable…oh god!

Ok so Daiva was almost vomiting and Angela wasn’t even around..so guess who had to put gloves again? Yep…bingo! ME!

After gloves and one “mola” for the noose..i went….and it was smelling like hell!!!

It was another dead mouse but this one...already decomposing…nice…I had to concentrate a lot before I finally manage to touch him…oh god..he was very..fluffy…almost has if it was a hall inside him…disgusting!!!!

Ok..second try to try to pick him up and put him inside the plastic bag..i approach the victim…and with two fingers and my eyes half closed I just push him up by his tail….and!!!!OH MY GOD!!!!!he WAS with a hall inside him because he was being eaten by dozens of verms!!!!big yellow long disgusting verms…like the ones we see in CSI when the bodys are decomposing…the mouse body was moving because of them…

I filled myself with the last straight I had and…almost crying I manage to, in a short movement, but the mouse in the plastic bag…I was almost vomiting…im so proud of myself..some years ago I would just run 30 km away from that mouse! But the verms..i just couldn’t…it was to much..so I finally found the guard and he did that partJ

So ok, till now we have green leaf bugs, brown bugs and branch bugs and 2 dead rats and verms..nice list!

But then I was talking again with one of our guards about that green bugs to try to increase my “African animals culture” and he told me that that green one is inoffensive BUT there is a long one that is poiseness and it grows a lot and then goes inside the tree and changes to cobra (of course that this last part I didn’t believe but anyway). He told me that he would “save one” for me when he found one so I could know them..ok..good...better know him dead then eating my skin…

In the afternoon I still manage to see another type of leaser in one of our trees. Brown and slim and very long, with long agile feet ( he was like 10 cm body and maybe more 15 in tail).

So besides “osgas” a family of 5 of them at least, and blue tail leasers and brown and white tripped leasers, we also have 25 cm brown ones…very good!

I arrived to the meeting in the school and a cockroach was using my chair..a small one of 4 cm..its dead was quick…the Danish teacher took care of it before meJ

And finally I was coming home and I sow another green leaf bug and also the guard had another nice surprise to me! Remember the poiseness bug?

Oh ya!!! He killed one, because it is actually very common in here AND “ there are a lot during night”…so the THING was there on the concrete floor and it was grey and some parts of red..and it was fucking big..oh yah..it had like maybe 10 cm long without the feet…and I understood that it was another type of what we in Portugal call of “louva-a-deus”.

So today was a very “national geographic” day. I know that I like that programme and I like animals but…can they be from another class that is not insectivorous????

Oh ya…actually they can…

They can be scorpions and snakes that I was talking about with the guard the other day.

Its starting now the scorpions time and here all of them are bad..usually here in this precise area we JUST have the black big poiseness one…and they are usually around the house in that concrete part.

“And snakes?” yah snakes..we have…”yesterday I killed one just there in Giampaolo´s yard during day..it was around 1,5 meters” I am SO GLAD that we have this guards! They are afraid of dogs but they kill snakes and scorpions and gigantic bugs just as easy as I take a cup of coffe..no problem…

about snakes he also said that its now starting their season…and that are a lot in the hill that goes down till the sea. Also we have to be careful to pass under the trees specially at night. And that are a lot of different ones…one type is always going in pair and..if you kill one you have to burn it because if not the other one will follow your smell and will chase you till it baits you..it can take 1 day or 1 week but it will do it. Also our guard found some days ago a snake with two heads..he says that here its very common…

I guess here any type of poiseness strange animal is common…common like “every day” common…

Finally I was forgetting our flying unts..they are adorable..with 2 cm long and wings! And they built a cocoon in any corner of doorsJ lovely!

Oh well today I am going to sleep well thinking about my “new pets”J

And i´m happy! I have amazing pictures to take home! Oh! Maybe I can do some business with National Geographic!

Noapte buna!

New pictures

my surroundings

Ok so here is my campus! J

From our house to work is like…2min..around 300m maybe…

The scale is not correct. From my work till EPF school is like 7 to 10 min walking

From our house till the asphalt road is like 40 min walking! We always try to have a lift till the town !

I hope this helps you to visualise my home and work areaJ .Its safe around here. Just in that sand road we have to start to be carefull a little bit.

From our house till our beach is maybe 2 min… we usually stay swimming in that trees that you see in the photo, not more for the right side or for the left because there is another beach…

New room

Today the day was good. I passed it home cleaning and arranging my new space.

Federico and Amako left @ 6 a.m and I couldn´t resist on going immediately to see my new room!lol

The windows were full of spiders…as well and the sealing, and the walls, and the floor, and the shelves…Oh well..i started at 8:30 and I finished at…13:30…5 hours cleaning..i think I would like to go back to morning cleaning in Hornsjoe!

But the room is clean and disinfected and I will put it like I likeJ The next step will be to paint the walls. they are white but they are very dirty and I cannot clean it.so I will paint it in light blue ( Mexican style with just 1 layer of paint) and bottle-green and then I willl change the curtains and buy “capulanas” with that same green and blue padorn.

Capulanas are that tipical African textiles that you buy and then you just do anything, like towels, suits, curtins, etc. 1 capulana costs 60 meticais, wich is around 1,5 euros..lol nothing… Then I will buy a small mirror and a wood-shelfs to put my cloth because the concrete shelfs that I have are not very well made and they have small spiders inside and I don’t want my cloth with animals…hughhhhh….disgusting! So, that and maybe some pillows made with the same capulanas and a mattress or something like that so I can do a small lounge corner . THEN it will be MY roomJ hehehe. Oh and I will have 1 or 2 african paintings that I will buy to a man that Madalena also knows that does the paintings by request and comes here at home (personal assistance..lol)

The room has an amazing view! Because its in the corner of the house, and the bed is exactly in that corner, I can see the sea in 90 º of my vision, when I wake up in the morning!hehehe and also I can see the tree were usually the monkey family goes (i sow 1 already!!!:)

Starting to enjoy Nacala..

Today i went with the students and one teacher ( Miss Fátima) to the town´s main square to represent the school in the celebrations of theLusakatreaties and, of course, me and Daiva were there to picture and film the moment!

It was nice! The ceremony was…a tipical ceremony with speech (very long and borring…) and a symbolic gesture of putting flowers in the statue built in the name of thefighters of the colonial war. It was interesting that, although Mozambicans still have bad feelings about the portuguese colonialism ( with reason…) they also said in the speech that also portuguese mothers and families were crying and both the countries suffer during that time.

We came back in the open van of the school and this time I decided to go in the open back with all the students, singing with them and enjoying fresh air in my face!

Students are really nice and curious about “the white girl that is portuguese”J I think im going to do some nice friends here! These kids are amazing!

I came home, Angela made lunch and after a while we went to the beach…my god! I think that I will stay there every single minute that I can! The water is so good that its warmer to stay inside then outside in the towel. There are no waves and the water is blue-greenJ In the end I sow a medusa passing by near my legs and I decided to go out…I really don’t want to play with them..lol The children were all the time with us and we were communicating half portuguese half emacua! Hehehe

The beach is safe as long as we go together and we don’t take anything valuable, and if the kids are our friends maybe in some time it will be OK to take the small camera to take some nice pictures to show you!!

We came back and I finish my perfect afternoon with a shower outsideJ This is Mozambiquespirit!:)

Im starting to enter in the ritm of this land and trying to enjoy it in a safe way and in balance with the work I have to do. I decided that I will try to work in the School till lunch, then I come home to work some more in the movies, and then from 15:30 till 17:00 I go to the beach. If I go there im sure that I will never be sad or angry…it’s a magical perfect place that gives me peace. I hope that one day I will be in a place like this with someone very special that is always with me… no matter how far…

Noticias

Olá a todos!

Finalmente dou noticias!

Cá estou em Nacala e está tudo ok. A viagem até cá foi longa e merece por si só uma boa descrição, mas ficará para outra altura.

Cheguei a Nacala na segunda-feira passada. Tem sido mais difícil do que eu pensava conseguir adaptar-me. A comida, o calor, bicharada por todo o lado, as condições da casa, enfim tudo ajuda a que se leve mais tempo a fazer a mínima coisa e é necessário readaptarmo-nos.

A nossa casa fica muito bem localizada e tem uma vista maravilhosa para a praia. Por dentro, não tem muitas condições mas, para o padrão de vida de Muzuane ou até mesmo de Nacala, já é um luxo: temos cozinha, casa de banho, pratos, copos, talheres, mesas, enfim coisas que grande parte da população aqui não tem.

O dia começa cedo, por volta das 6 da manhã ou ainda mais cedinho como hoje: acordei às 5:30. As rotinas da manhã:

- acordar e pôr o repelente porque o sol ainda não está muito alto e os mosquitos ainda se sentem no ar;

- sair da cama com o cuidado de não abrir a rede mosquiteira;

- tirar a roupa para vestir sem esquecer de fechar todos os zips para as aranhas não entrarem;

- vestir-me e ir ferver a água para o café e para armazenar no filtro (para termos sempre água pronta a beber)

- por a frigideira a torrar o pão

- não por nada fora do frigorifico antes de estar tudo pronto no fogão senão as formigas e as moscas atacam a comida!

- como cá fora com o sol já a queimar e aproveito para escrever-vos este texto! J

- não me posso esquecer de meter um pouco de água na loiça para a bancada da cozinha não ficar cheia de formigas. Se tiver tempo, lavo a loiça com água do balde.

- lavo a cara e os dentes com água do balde

- saio para a escola, onde tenho de estar às 8 da manhã

Pois é, aqui toda a rotina tem em consideração a bicharada…a casa tem de ser bem limpa todos os dias, a comida toda (incluindo massas, arroz, etc) fica sempre dentro do frigorífico ( temos 3 amigos ratos que nos visitam durante a noite J ), a água normalmente não corre nas canalizações e tudo é feito com água de balde, a comida tem de ser bem desinfectada e bem cozinhada, etc

Também para aceder aos bens essenciais não é fácil, primeiro porque não temos tanta variedade de comida (por exemplo não se consegue arranjar queijo e o leito não é dos melhores) e segundo porque a cidade ainda fica longe porque não temos carro, e implica ir de chapa e demorar umas horas até voltar a casa.

Por agora não vou ter acesso à Internet com frequência. O sítio onde podemos aceder é na Escola de Professores do futuro (EPF), que fica a 10 min da minha escola.podemo-nos ligar lá, na sala de professores, mas a net é por cabo e é lenta. Quando estiver mais adaptada, vou tentar comprar uma daquelas pens que são net para pelo menos 1 vez por semana falar com a família e os amigos sem estar condicionada.

De resto, que mais dizer: a escola é um exemplo até mesmo para as escolas portuguesas ( A Mena ia ficar excitadíssima se conhecesse) eos meus colegas de trabalho (os professores) são muito simpáticos comigo. Já estou a começar a entrar no ritmo de trabalho e tenho imensas coisas para fazer porque sou portuguesa e posso ajudar a elaborar documentos e a ajudar os professores a preparar os alunos par os relatórios finais de estágio (sou importante! Lol). No nosso telhado temos um casal de esquilos muito simpático e normalmente nas paredes de fora da casa temos lagartos amarelos ou de cauda azul que se alimentam dos insectos que por lá andam (conseguimos ver a natureza em acção!). Numa das nossas árvores temos um casal de macacos mas ainda não os vi. De resto, cobras, escorpiões e aranhas grandes também ainda não apareceram…

Família e amigos, por agora é tudo!

Muitos beijinhos a todos e não fiquem preocupados porque estou bem!

Vou dando noticias sempre que possa. Com certeza depois de estar mais adaptada terei um horário mais certo e mais tempo para falar convosco com mais frequência.

Beijnhos e adeus! (ou como dizem aqui em Emacua, Tata!)

News regarding Diana

Boa noite! Meu nome é Mihai.Eu sou romeno. And this is for the moment my knowledge in portuguese ( also with some help from my friend, google the translator). I am in the same program as Diana is, the difference is that I just started and she is on her way to finish this program.

I met Diana at the beggining of July, and we got to be really close to each other and now, even though we are separated by almost 10.000 km we are trying to discuss daily. So this is the reason that I am writting now here, instead of Diana. Oh ... the other reason that I am writting, is that she does not have a connection to internet, at this moment .

What I can tell you , is that after almost one week of travelling, she arrived to her destination, in Nacala. It was long and tiring, for both of us :), and it was something like ... Hornsjo-Oslo-London-Johannesburg-Maputo-Beira-Qualimane-Nampula-... and finally Nacala.

But now she is ok, and she asked me to write this so everybody can know that.

Probably I will keep you updated for a while untill she will get to an internet and during the next period I will get to speak with you again!

Untill I get new information about her, I will just say ... Nice to meet you and have a nice evening !

La revedere !

Mihai