Hello CATEMBE!!!!

Ok. Just want to do a little explaining of my photos. The ones with the gorgeous beach..that's Tofu Beach and the ones with the murals..that's the house I stayed at. Boane DOES NOT look like that. The top picture is my mom and sister. I'll send more pics soon.

I'm doing great! Just found out my site placement for my two years. I'll be in a place called Catembe.It's about a 20 minute ferry ride from the capital in Mozambique, Maputo City. Right now I am in Boane which is about 1 hr away from Maputo...so Catembe is very close. I was disappointed at first because all my friends are heading up to the northern provinces..but I hear Catembe is beautiful. It is a small town, about 28,000, and is right on the beach. Yes, the beach!!!! I am soooo excited to be near water!!!!!!!!!! I will be teaching at a technical school so I will have older kids who are really focused, plus the classrooms are small- only about 30 kids. (instead of 60-80 or more!) Other volunteers went to Catembe for our "site visits" and said the school is gorgeously landscaped and well maintained; more like a botanical garden than a school. It was built by Korean missionaries 3 years ago and supposedly has a water fountain and monkeys. I am excited to see it. I will be living alone in a house right up the hill from the school, but a 45 min. walk or 15 min. chapa ride from the town. At first I was bummed to be near Maputo..a pretty large city, but now I think it will be very convenient. I will have easy internet, bank, postal access and access to a bunch of cultural events, concerts, etc when I want it....but at the same time I will be living in a village. (PS. going to see UB40 Jan. 18 in Maputo.) I can't wait to have my own place..make it my own..decorate... etc. I will share all the details when I get there! We are officially "sworn in" as Peace Corps volunteers Dec. 9 then leave for our sites Dec. 12. On swearing in night we are staying at a "resort" with normal beds, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms wiht TV and two swimming pools. Should be tons of fun.

So my friend Steph is going to Inhambane Province, about 4 hrs away. I am sad. We hang out all the time here so I will miss her alot. We have had some crazy adventures and are constantly discovering new restaurants, walkways, places to get the cheapest stuff, etc. Last weekend we worked with my father as cobradors, which are basically the guys that collect your money on the chapas. Anyone can use their car to pick up people and charge them money. The cars they drive here are CRAZY!. We drove around in my dad's rickety, rusty toyota truck picking up people between Moumbu and Mozambanine, only about a 30 min. distance. We stopped along the way and yelled "Moumba! Moumba!" or "Mozambanine! Mozambanine!" It's hard to yell it fast. On the insistence of an uncle we ran into along the way, we stopped to drink beer. I can't remember when I've been drunk at 10am! if ever! AND we had an older woman with us who needed to go to Maputo. I couldn't believe we stopped to drink beer with a client in the car! But, the trip was fun never the less. We saw different parts of the Boane countryside which was very refreshing.

Today we discoverd a great Lebanese restaurant. Sooooo good and soooo cheap! The owner just moved from Lebanon 4 months ago and speaks really good English. The only thing is that he really wanted to talk politics..which we aren't supposed to do. Maybe later :) I'm excited to meet new people. Steph and I have hitchhiked a couple times into Maputo and have met some wonderful people: 2 geologists and a world food program worker from the embassy. I need to make some contacts in Maputo, especially if I want to go to any events at night, because the last ferry is at 11:30pm.

Well I'm tired of writing so I'll go. Talk to you all again soon.