October 2017 – MOZ likely to sunburn

October 25, 2017

I daresay no one comes to the Peace Corps expecting to live glamorously for 2 years. Many, including myself, are drawn to the idea of living in a different, oftentimes less than ideal, environment. Most typical Americans are confident that volunteers are experiencing “tough circumstances,” at least to some degree. Some… No, no,no. Scratch that. A lot of PCV’s are proud of their “street cred” for “roughin it” for a couple of years. Lately, I have been reflecting on some of these situations that I would consider NOT IDEAL, and I’ve been thinking what it means for me to confront these challenges. I’m going to highlight 3 examples most pertinent to my life right now.

The ant colonies in Mozambique have seemingly skyrocketed in the last month, and these ants have rudely invited themselves into many PCV homes and pantries. Much like the unwanted house guests they are, they have helped themselves to many different things in our homes including: banana bread, chocolate, American candy, a completely sealed off, unopened bag of flour, various fruits and vegetables (some of which were in the fridge), and even the water inside a stainless steel water filter. Ants = Not ideal.

In quite the tale of a Mozambican transportation travesty, I recently broke my phone. Not ideal. Then, I used my roommate’s phone to download a bunch of internet packages at midnight (because that is when the internet credit goes on special here) to try to restore my iPhone (for reference why it needed restoring see September 20, 2016); but, Pebane internet, unfortunately wasn’t up to the task. I was shorted a small chunk of my living allowance and nearly 2 full nights of sleep. Also, not ideal. I now have diminished access to my U.S. and Peace Corps support systems. No American support system = not ideal.

Two weekends ago, I (luckily with a rockstar counterpart) co-facilitated a 6-hour early grade literacy training at our community library. Several times, either my Portuguese grammar or accent was less than subpar, provoking a room full of confused looks fixated on yours truly, accompanied by yours truly’s brain scrambling to re-explain my point in whatever words I could string together on the spot. When my on the spot Portuguese, also, amounted to helping a grand total of 0, my counterpart kindly and graciously reiterated the sentiments I was trying to express. Language barrier = Not ideal.

Clogged dump-flush toilets. Not ideal. Come and go electricity. Not ideal. Greater than 100 degree weather without A/C. Definitely, NOT IDEAL. The list of potential complaints could go much further. (If you would like this more detailed list, just ask Ari. That cheap shot was for the Moz27 Peace Corps People in the back.)

But, in a world of less than ideal situations, there’s a whole’nother (cue the southern draw) level of humility accessible when you learn to be happy with what you’ve got.

My PCV friends and I ate protein-enriched, double-baked banana bread. (That’s some gourmet banana bread right there. I tell you what.) (Also, take that, you stupid, trifling ants.)

While access to my support system is diminished, it still exists. And, with the help of Facebook, it exists at much quicker speeds than was possible even 20 years ago. My support system, despite this reduced access, rallied together to send me a new (well, new to me at least) phone. (which is en route as I write this post) This proves to me that, though there are some crummy situations and it is unfortunate that I don’t have a phone right now, I am often more blessed that I realize. Not to mention, I’ve been enjoying a relaxing little break off “the grid”.

There are some added frustrations to overcome with my less than ideal Portuguese. (Disclaimer: I’m about to use some of the neuroscience degree that my momma paid good money to UAB for.) Maslow’s hierarchy is a psychological explanation used to describe the successive needs to be met for one to achieve self-realization. In the middle of Maslow’s pyramid lies the need for self-confidence and the desire to be a respected peer in your community, suggesting that, without these things, it isn’t easy (perhaps not even possible) to live up to your full potential. Knowing this, it makes much more sense that being less than ideal in a work aspect is quite possibly one of the hardest things for a PCV, for me in particular, to come to terms with.

In these moments, I echo the advice from a good PCV friend. In a world where my personal failures result in maintaining the status quo, doing something is almost always better than doing nothing. So, I’ll continue to go head to head nearly daily with my perceived incompetence. Doing this reminds me that, even though I’m not always the ideal fit for this job, I’m here for a reason. I’m good enough. Furthermore, I’m willing to test my grit, to work hard. Even though despite my best efforts, sometimes it doesn’t work out. I’m reminded with each failure, each less than ideal situation that I go through, that I am becoming stronger, resilient.

Life, here…. (Who am I kidding?) Life anywhere is not always ideal. Living it, even with these shortcomings, is worth it.

P.S. Mount Namuli.

Some of my PCV friends and I climbed up the second tallest mountain in Mozambique, Mount Namuli. One of the local tribes considers it the birth place of the world. If you want to see a cool video describing this mountain and some of the work an NGO “Legado” is doing there, the link is here: (Legado Namuli Video)