MOçAMBIQUE!!!!!

Moçambique
Ayy, eu podia falar português e tambem havia algums cariocas (people from Rio) em nossa albergue! Finally, I found lusophone Africa and I was ecstatic from the minute we arrived at the border. We spent 5 nights in Maputo with the group, working with the CNJ (centro nacional juventude- youth center). The CNJ is a government sponsored program that works with the youth and provides training for job skills and many other opportunities. We had various meetings with different youth groups and the week ended with a big conference/banquet where we divided into groups (art, communication, social development) and made connections that could potentially turn into cultural exchanges and cross-cultural projects. I didn’t participate that much in the conversations because I was the only member from our group who spoke Portuguese, so I spent the majority of the time translating, but very much enjoyed it. I quickly learned/acknowledged how challenging and tiring it is to be a translator! My Portuguese to English was fine, but English to Portuguese was quite a challenge.
The group left Moz on Saturday, August 25 heading back to Jo’burg for their flight and I headed up the coast about 7 hours for some last minute sun and beach and total relaxation. I didn’t find all of that, but nevertheless enjoyed my time on the beach under the clouds. The sun was nowhere to be found, however, I met up with a wonderful French guy, another hilarious South African/German and 2 Americans and we agreed to not let ourselves be annoyed by the weather situation.