My New Home

Arrived!

I have finally arrived the Chimoio, the city that I will call home for the next two years. I moved into my lovely little house on Saturday and have spent the last few days scrubbing it clean and wandering through the city, getting to know the streets and finding nesting materials :-) The best part of my living situation, so far, is the backyard full of fruit trees - mango, papaya, guava, passion fruit and even grapes! You can find almost any fruit you want at the local market, but grapes are a rare and expensive treat, so the sweet, purple, concord-like fruit vining through the grates on my window was a happy surprise. The wicker loveseat on my front porch is pretty nice, too...

My cute Mozambican house!

Chimoio is the capital of Manica Province and the fourth largest city in Mozambique. With a population just over 250,000, it is a walkable city with just a touch of hustle and bustle. Manica is the heart of Mozambique's agricultural industry and the market is overflowing with fruits and veggies. I already found a bakery with fantastic bread and little burned-sugar covered flaky pastries that I am going to have to pretend don't exist if I don't want to invest in some bigger jeans.

The temperature is cool for this country, although the sun still packs a punch midday. It has alternated rain and sun since we arrived on Wednesday which means the electricity has been hit-or-miss, too. I do have running (cold) water in my house, but it is turned off over night and can suddenly disappear various times throughout the day. One of my first tasks was to fill a bunch of buckets while it was running so I could continue to clean when the faucets stopped working for hours at a time.

My grape/passion fruit/bougainvillea arbor

The climate seems to make this a fertile region for bugs and critters, as well. I have seen everything from mosquitoes and cockroaches to spiders of all shapes and sizes, strange things that look like a cross between a dragonfly and a giant ant, a bumble bee the size of a walnut, and an 8-inch-long snail with a shell the size of a softball.

Tomorrow I will get to visit the University with the other volunteer who will begin teaching there this year. We already met the three other Peace Corps Volunteers who live in Chimoio, two in the Health program and another teacher who has been at the University for a year already. It's a nice little PC family!

The Central crew outside the airport

One nice perk about living in Chimoio is that I am a 10 minute walk from the central region's Peace Corps office, which makes mail easy. My new address is:

Anna Derby, PCV
Corpo da Paz/U.S. Peace Corps
C.P. 331
Chimoio
Mocambique

Mail will usually take about three weeks to arrive, although some things take more or less depending on weather or whim of the mail gods. Any cards, letters or pictures would be much appreciated. Despite the relative ease of internet contact, there is something comforting about a real, written letter I can hold! If you feel up for sending a little something (dark chocolate? good tea? parmesan cheese?), flat-rate envelopes from the USPS are only $5-$10 to send here. But really, a picture and a little story about what is going on in your life would be just as sweet. My phone number is still 258 84 184-5631 and I am happy to get calls and texts!

I hope all is well with everyone back home. All the babies, engagements, and Christmas trees make me happy, with a healthy touch of homesick, of course.