Nearly back in Pemba

This is my last night in South Africa, I am packing - trying to fit a myriad of random things in my bag: Glue and patches for Iris' little rubber duck boat, new wiper blades for my car, plastic medicine baggies for the clinic, Portuguese books for the kids' resource centre, all my university books AND all the stuff I usually buy to take with me: Tins of food, pasta sauce, sachets of juice mix, dog food...  keeping in mind I only have a total of 30kg/66lb luggage allowance!

But I am really excited to be heading 'home', albeit to a hot and rainy Pemba - it has been nearly 2 months - I miss it so much!

Leaving Portugal

My time here in Portugal is at an end, and I'm preparing to swap the chilly European winter for a HOT and humid summer in Mozambique! 

It has been an incredible time, not just of learning, but also of rest!  These 6 weeks in Portugal has been so freeing for me. There has not been the fear of getting mugged as I walk to school everyday, and life is just easier: Shopping for groceries, cooking, public transport, internet... I had forgotten how 'easy' life in a 1st world country can be! But I think that I'm all recharged and ready to take on living in a poor 3rd world nation again!

I have learnt loads and am excited about going to put my language into practice. Of course there is still lots I dont know (it takes longer than just 6 weeks to learn a language), but I have a good foundation now that I can continue to build on.

Life in Pemba should be easier now that I know Portuguese better... at least I hope it is!

2 minutes: In Portuguese!

So sunday went well - I did 'cheat' a bit and memorize what I wanted to say, and then when I got to the front of the church I just spoke from memory - for 2 whole minutes... but it went really really well! :-) However, after I had finished my spiel the lady asked me a question and I had NO idea what she said - granted she was talking very fast and had a Columbian Portuguese accent (excuses excuses!) So I was kinda embarrassed and put on the spot, but it went OK overall and I chatted to some people afterwards and understood them easily enough and they all said that I spoke really well. 

Then my teacher, Eugenia took me to the beach at Guiche, and I could see Cabo da Roca (the most western most point of Europe)  and we sat in the gorgeous hot sun for a while [the temperature was over 20C/68F!]. I got home fairly late, but it was a good day - lots of practice speaking Portuguese!

So now I am in my last week of class - It has really been a fantastic time, and I am looking forward to returning to Mozambique to put into practice what I've learnt!

Just 8 Days Left

So this week has started (it was Carnaval, so we had a long weekend) and I only have 8 days of class left. I am doing some private lessons too, so that is good because the teacher lets me talk about what I do in Moz, and by doing that I'm learning loads of vocabulary that would be more useful in Moz than what we learn in the group lessons: For example, "I went to the doctor and had an electrocardiogram"... Cant quite remember the last time I felt the need to say that! :-)

My teacher has invited me to go to her church this coming Sunday - and today after our lesson (where I told her all about doing flood relief last year) she insisted that she wants to tell her pastor about me, and she wants to ask if I would be able to share a bit of what I do in Moz with the congregation... aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!! But I will take on this challenge and enjoy it... Will let you know how it goes.