I have become a baby again.

All, I am working on getting to the computer with a picture to sum up what life is like here. It is quite a task to upload a picture and I want to be good. Where to start? There are many surreal experiences living in such a foreign land at such an intimate level. I am no longer an observer passing through looking for adventure. I sleep under their roofs and bathe in their water. The experience already has changed my life. The things I donºt think twice about would bewilder many. It is a slow process of desensitivity that sneaks up on you.

After arriving the first night I had apearently told my mother I was vegetation as opposed to a vegetarian. She said okay and I thought everything was clear (peace corps was supposed to have told them ahead of time). Unfortunately, nothing is ever clear here. I say down to a beef rice dish and had to tell her very clearly that I did not eat anything that used to be any type of animal. She was not happy and thought she was going to kill me. Feeling terrible, and sick, I went to bed early. I woke up to go to the bathroom (outside) only to return to two rabid dogs eating some food on my motherºs porch. After kicking them and wispering at them to get the hell out I noticed that no one had woken up but I thought to myself how much worse could this get.

The following week was the longest week of my life. Things slowly got better and I spent the latter half of the week without diareaha, a rareity here. Since then I have fallen into a grove and things are moving relativly smoothly, however slow. The training is regorous but I am learning the language faster than I ever could have imagined. Overall, I have become a baby again, learning everything as if I were a toddler. I constantly tell my mom that I am a baby and to talk to me like one. It works well.

To explain the situation of the poeple of Namaacha was put well not to long ago by a fellow volunteer in Namaacha when he said simply...´´life here is no bullshit.´´ I donºt know how else to put it. Explaining the lifestyle and routines of my family will have to wait but here is a small list of my most interesting experiences.

A bucket bath. Outside, in my casa de banho with no roof, where the nieghbors can more or less say hello to me.

A bucket bath in the rain, even better. My mom insists on three baths a day. but I am very resistant.

My mom, with her grandson hanging from her back, killed a lizard on my wall with a club and then caught it on the end of the club before it even hit the ground. She did all of this with a picture of water in her hand, a valuable comodity not to be spilled.

Eating papayas from my backyard after a mean called couve, a peanut coconut dish that is to die for. My mom had to pound the peanuts into powder with a pilao, or a large club-end in a bowl.

There will be more to come and I hope to have some pictures for you soon.
Thanks for the suppport, chase.