PST Week 4: Traditional healer, Independence day, Orphanage visit, and 25th birthday

                                  

Traditional healer visit- June 24:

We visited a traditional healer in Namaacha. He told us that the spirits chose him and that it wasn't his choice to become a traditional healer. He also explained how the process is when a patient come to see him. They would first put money under this animal skin thing and then he throw a bunch of shells on top of it as he ask the patient if the problem is for themselves or for someone else. The reads the way that the shells fall and then take a bite of something (forgot what it was) and spit a small piece out. Then he told us about the different things he would do depending on what the problem is. I'm very skeptical about this and don't really believe in it.. I think a lot has to do with placebo effects but it was an interesting experience learning about what traditional medicine is and how it works.

Dia da Independência- June 25:

I went to praça dos heróis with my mãe to attend Moz's Independence Day ceremony and then we all walked to IFP to watch the rest of the programs. It was a lot of singing, dancing, and talking. Afterward, my host family had a small family gathering so I met my other host brothers, sisters, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. I taught my sister and niece how to fold origami and they loved it :) My other sister was going to teach me how to dance Mozambican style but there wasn't any music on the computer :(

Orphanage visit & 25th birthday- June 28:

We had our 1st visit to Irmãs Francsicana. The kids there are wonderful! We introduced ourselves and then sat down with them for a bit before we helped serve food. Afterward, we played games and helped them with math and reading. We also met the older kids and got to talk to them for 30 minutes. 

After training today, I went out for dinner with my fellow trainees. The food was amazing! Thank you everyone here and back at home for making my birthday special! :)

Both of these boys drew a picture of me! haha :)

They sang happy birthday for me in Portuguese and in English :)

Other highlights/things I've learned this week:

-Successfully avoided killing a chicken again! My sister ended up killing it in front of me and then said next time it's my turn :(

rip ):

-I'm building up tolerance for cockroaches, spiders, and lizards. They're not so bad.. As long as they don't come near me. There was a hugee cockroach chilling on the end of the tub when I was taking my bucket bath one day. Thank goodness it didn't move at all or else I would have jumped out screaming. Later it was crawling inside the tub when I was brushing my teeth :( I have to check the tub before I take bucket bath from now on. 

-I took the 3rd dosage of rabies vaccine this week so I'm finally done with shots for the rest of this year! I hope.

-I'm finally used to the 24hr format that they go by here. It took a month before I didn't have to do quick mental subtraction to figure out what's 16:30 or 20:00 is.

-I feel a lot better about my portuguese. Im still a bit worried for the mid LPI test this coming Friday but not as stressed as before. I got to talk to the volunteer that lived with my host family before me (a Moz 19er) and a volunteer from PSN (peer support network) called me this week to check up on how I'm doing. Everyone including the visiting volunteers said to don't worry about the language and that it will come eventually.. Especially when we're at site and won't be surrounded by 25 other Americans so we're forced to speak only Portuguese. 

-I learned about HIV/AIDS in Moz this week.. The myths and misconceptions, drivers and challenges, and socioeconomic factors.

-I dropped my camera (on my birthday too! boo..) and now the lens is stuck :( I'm still trying to figure out how to fix it but it doesn't look good.. I'll have to use my phone camera to take pic for now.

-I got to paint my toe nails!! I regret not bringing any nail polish :( I miss my typical blue shades that I always use. My empregada brought over her bright pink polish for me to do mine after I complimented on her nails the day before

-I received my first marriage proposal in Moz this week! I was washing my clothes with my empregada and an old man came up to me multiple times to ask me to marry him and that he has a lot of money hahah I kept saying não quero (I don't want to) and my Mãe and empregada laughed and helped get rid of him for me.