Praia do Tofo, Moçambique

Man, I can't believe how beautiful Tofo is.

The water so blue and aqua in color and the soft sand on my feet make me miss it already.

I spent this past week in Mozambique and fell in love with it. I felt like I was somewhere in South America because the climate was so tropical and everywhere I went I heard the sweet sounds of the Portuguese language. The food was great and the people were so, so friendly. I made sure to eat different types of seafood for every meal and I can't believe how much I missed it, being here in Botswana without those options. I met many friendly and outgoing locals and a couple showed us around town in Inhambane. We went to a museum, saw old churches, went to street markets, sat at a bar drinking the local rum, and walked down alleys filled with loud music and kids singing. Man, I love culture. 

Moçambique has a lot of culture. Portuguese is the national language and you see a lot of the influences throughout the country. There are also a lot of Portuguese and Indian influences in the food and I loved that. Everything was tasty!

I met a lot of great people traveling from the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Finland. I hung out with a few locals who frequented the bar at the backpackers I stayed at and we spent most nights playing card games, learning new ones, and waiting until the sun to rise. I wish I had pictures to show proof of how spectacular the sunrise was. I slept and roused to the sound of waves crashing just 30 steps away from my room and saw the most beautiful sunsets too. Ahh, take me back!

One of my favorite parts of this trip was walking across the Indian Ocean to Isla de Inhambane. We literally walked across the bay through the water to get to an island! How amazing that was! Two of the locals we met were very knowledgable and we took a sailboat at first. We walked the rest of the way and visited a school on the island. These children were so excited to have visitors! We ate some bananas and walked around the island and it was amazing to think there was so much life on the island. Students walked across the ocean each day to get to and from school. People walked from the city to get back to this small island they called home. This was an amazing experience. We waited (40 minutes) until the tides were low enough to walk the entire way back from the island to town. I felt the soft sand on my feet, tiny crabs grazing my ankles, and schools of baby fish swimming past my legs. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

Mozambique has made it up to the top of my list of one of my favorite places I've traveled to. I really, really loved it. The culture is so vibrant - the people, the food, and the land are bursting with color and beauty. I really want to go back one day.

Moçambique, abrigado!

Update

Hey family and friends.

I've been busy with tedious work applying for a grant for another GLOW camp. This will probably be my last one in my service but I think it could be great! It will be an all boys camp that focuses on gender based violence. The worst part of GLOW camps is trying to fund them. This time around I took the lead and learned that applying for grants is exhausting. I am applying to get help from the United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief. If all goes well, I might just get us about $6-7000 in funds! Please cross your fingers as I have been stressed for the past week trying to convince them of why I should get the money and constantly reviewing my budget to make sure it fits the criteria. What a headache...

In other news, as a gift to myself after submitting the grant, I will be going to Mozambique! Mozambique is in eastern Africa and has some very beautiful beaches. It is becoming more popular nowadays and I hope to see what this little gem has to offer before it becomes the next top tourist destination! This may be one of my last trips in Africa so I am sad but also excited. I wished so much to travel to lots more African countries but I only have so many leave days. Oh well, I don't regret anything!

Today I read this article that really resonated with me titled, "Date A Girl Who Travels." I don't know why but I really love it and think it is worthy of everyone's time. I can relate to so much of it and love that the author pinpoints exact things that I have experienced and felt. Click here to read it. I think you should.

Hope to update again soon!

Thank You Days For Girls!

Many girls in Africa are truant in school and miss out on activities because of menstruation. Many of them are scared, not having been educated about puberty and what is happening with their bodies as they grow and change. Some of my students come to me and are scared, thinking they are sick and/or dying! Girls use leaves, newspaper, toilet paper...anything they can find to substitute for sanitary napkins. This is unhygienic and could cause more problems to their health.

Having a period is not something that is discussed in many cultures. This is especially true in my village. I find myself talking about puberty, sexuality, and wellness in many of the GLOW Canps I've participated in, in classes, and in my PACT Club and the questions I am asked are unbelievable. Girls have false beliefs and/or have no knowledge at all about these topics. Menstrual health is so important and I make sure to stress good hygiene in my lessons.

Days For Girls is an organization that helps girls all around the world to get an education and stop missing out on days because of having a period. They empower girls worldwide with healthy and safe alternatives for sustainable menstrual management. They empower days of education, health, safety, and dignity by distributing feminine hygiene kits to those in need.

When a fellow volunteer introduced me to this organization I thought it would be great for the girls at my school. I was able to get my kits and bring them to my village (what a process this was to lug them back to my house) to demonstrate to students and their parents how to use the items inside and how important it is to have good hygiene. I took advantage of our PTA meeting and sent letters home with students inviting their parents to come and learn about these kits and how they are  to be used. The parents seemed grateful and the students can now come to school without worry that they do not have protection. 

What a great organization! If you want to learn more about Days For Girls, you can do so at daysforgirls.org. Thanks again to all the volunteers in America who take their time making these wonderful, cute kits!

Thailand With My Favorite Men

Woah, it's been a while...

To those of you who follow my blog, I'm sorry! I try and update and I get busy and internet is unreliable and all the excuses I can think of blah, blah. Don't hate me! :)

Last month I had one of the best vacations. Trenton met me in Thailand where we both met my dad. You don't even know how ecstatic I was for them to meet and for us to be spending those next couple of weeks all together!

I haven't seen my dad in 6 years and it was so nice to have him see me with Trenton. He had recently been in the hospital after a car had hit him and is recovering. He was extremely happy that I was there and asked me why it took me so long to bring Trenton with me. Haha 

It was so good to be with the both of them. Since we were there on Valentine's Day Trenton planned a (semi) surprise with my dad and tried to be sneaky but I know everything so it only kind of worked out. haha (Love you Bub) My dad helped him with transport on the buses and told him where to go. We passed the place earlier in the week and I saw my dad give him a crazy look. Thats how I knew. haha It was really cute to see them scheming not so low key. I'm so glad that they spent time together and got to know each other. It makes me the happiest girl in the world! 

Don't be surprised that most of my pictures are of food. I was in heaaaaaaaaaaveeeennnnnnn. The food was great, the weather was decent and I did not want to come back to Botswana! It was so cool to hang out with family and see how everyone has grown older. It was also really fun to hang out with my dad's friends and see how much of a close knit group of guys they are. I'm really glad he has great friends who support him while I'm away. It means a lot to him I'm sure, but so much to me too. My dad says we must promise to come there again in the future, like next year specifically. (Hey hooch, you coming?) He was really emotional when we had to leave and that, in turn, made me cry like a baby. To make it worse, I had to do this all over again with Trenton 3 hours later. But I know the three of us will be together again, soon.

Daddy, I hope you keep wearing your brace and stop being stubborn and recover very quickly so you can go back to riding your bike a crazy number of kilometers around Thailand. You are so strong physically and emotionally and I'm proud of you for staying healthy.