I have THE POWER!

One of the MANY joys of being a Peace Corps volunteer is that I get lots of time to do things that I love to do....such as reading.  Peace Corps volunteers have been known to read lots and lots of books…I mean some have read hundreds while volunteering.  I don’t know if I will read that many but I do love to read and plan to do a lot of it.  So I thought it would be informative and fun to let you all know what I am reading and more importantly what I thought of said book. 

My book rating system is as follows:

LOVES IT- life changing, fantastic, brilliant, start reading it today!

Great- solid, entertaining, engaging, a must read!

Good- well written, interesting, informative, wouldn’t hurt to read it.

Alright- okay, passes the time, read it if your bored and there is nothing else to read.

Ewww- confusing, slow, weird, not well written, could be good to use a decoration.

Terrible-waste of time, very bad, don’t ever read and pass the word to others.

ps… I would LOVE it if you sent me a book or too (paperback only) as books in English are nearly impossible to find.  I am on www.goodreads.com which is a social networking site for books and where you can find a list of the books I want to read, have read or are currently reading.  Look for me!

Anyways, onto my first book!  THE POWER. 

Rating:  LOVES IT

The Power by Rhonda Byrne is the follow up book to Byrne’s best seller The Secret.  For those of you who have not read The Secret, you definitely should.  In a nutshell, The Secret teaches its readers to understand, appreciate and use the law of attraction to make their life better.  It says that what you put out into the universe you will receive back to you.  Since I have become aware of The Secret, I see it at work throughout my life all the time.  The Secret has become such a large a part of life that when The Secret happens to me or around me…I immediately name it as The Secret, saying out loud “that’s The Secret”.  My mom, sister and gramma name it as well.  We’re pretty much obsessed.  Which is why when I learned about The Power, I couldn’t wait to read it!

In The Power Byrne takes The Secret and the law of attraction one step further.  Essentially, The Power claims you can have everything that you want to have in life.  You can have a wonderful job, great relationships, strong health, etc. All you have to do for this to happen is tap into The Power.  And The Power, is the greatest law of all… the law of LOVE. 

The Power maintains that if you project LOVE into the universe and feel that LOVE you will be able to have whatever you want.  Having The Power means putting out LOVE, in the form of good feelings, such as Love, Gratitude, Joy, Passion, Hope and Positivity.  Once you project and feel these good things, good things will happen for you.  Just as The Secret, the guiding principle of The Power is that what you give out to the universe you receive back to you.  So if you give out LOVE and Positivity then you will receive LOVE and Positivity back.

So obviously the above explanation of The Power is very abbreviated.  But hopefully you get the general idea.   I know that this whole concept might seem a little too weird or out there for some of you reading this.  But the reason I rated this book so high is because the idea of loving everything and projecting and feeling positivity speaks to me deeply. 

I am by nature a pretty optimistic person, but reading this book reminded me the importance of being positive and engaging in things that bring happiness and good feelings into the world.  Because not only do those things impact others in a positive way but it also will impact me in positive ways…ways that I might not even be able to imagine. 

So projecting and feeling LOVE throughout life might not be for everyone…but it seems like a brilliant idea to me.  I mean what could be wrong with that?  And so I am going to do my best to think and feel LOVE more times a day than I don’t.  I am going to tap into The Power.  And I think you should too…or at least read the book.   

2010…oh what a year!

As 2010 comes to a close I can’t help but reflect (must be all those years of Jesuit education) on all the important and not-so-important things that happened in my life.  And because I now have a blog I thought I would share my reflections with of you.

So in a nutshell 2010 was the year….

-I finished grad school and graduated at Madison Square Garden… I’m kinda a big deal.

-I perfected my Gaga claw.

-I became obsessed with Glee.

-I traveled to New Orleans with a group of college students to work at Project Lazarus.

-I worked with some unbelievably brilliant New York high school students, supporting them and preparing them to go to the Dominican Republic with Global Potential.

-I spent an obnoxious amount of time at NYSC (New York Sports Club) and then an equally obnoxious amount of time at LifeTime Fitness, for the 2 months I was home.  Ahhh LifeTime how I miss you!

-I started to boycott American Idol.  I mean they can’t top Kelly, Fantasia, Clay or Adam…..I mean not even, a power lesbian could save it.  It’s okay Ellen..you tried.  Ps… I am on team Paula, bring back the crazy!

-I moved to Mozambique and became a Peace Corps volunteer.

-I lived for SVU marathons.

-I learned the entire “Bad Romance” dance. 

-I went to New Orleans with my Mom to move Claire to college.  So fun, yet so traumatic!

-I learned to take a bucket bath and use a latrine toilet.

-I drank a lot of malabou and orange juice.

-I went to see Gaga twice this summer.  Once with the Claire, Jack and Kaylan (Marty was there in spirit).  And then again with Claire at Gagapolozza in Chicago.  So epic… we stood (literally) for 9 hours waiting for mother monster.  But we were 3^rd row and rocked out with 80,000 other crazies in Grant Park! Doesn’t get much better than that.  Obsessed! Peaked!

-I turned 27 years old somewhere over the continent of Africa…as it should be.

-I ate about a million peanut M&Ms.  (there are no peanut M&Ms here..send them to me!) 

-I famously danced my ass off at Claire’s graduation party!  So epic! The DJ was told to play Gaga, Beyonce, Madonna…literally the gayest party ever…but would Claire’s grad party be anything but the gayest thing ever!

-I left New York, my home for the last 3 years, saying “see ya later” to many very good friends and colleagues….still recovering.

-I lived at Starbucks.  Ps there are NO Starbucks in Moz.

-I learned to speak Portuguese…well actually still learning.

-I moved back home with the parents for about 3 months…such a great time!  They are the best. 

-I continued to work as a resident director at Fordham Lincoln Center. (I heart res life LC)

-I spent lots of time at the cottage, with G…it was great!

-I became a regular at Blockheads on West 50^th street…can’t beat $3 margaritas! 

-I galavanted around Marquette (with Leah… I mean there is no other way) for the first time since I graduated.  What a blast from the past!

-I officially became a Social Worker!

-I lived with a random Mozambiquan family for 10 weeks.  Now that I don’t live with them I miss them and think of them often.  What a great experience. 

-I was beyond tan by the end of the summer…

Okay… so those are the highlights.  I hope that wasn’t too boring or self indulgent.  But I do hope that it was entertaining, obnoxious and inappropriate…and encouraging.  I would encourage everyone to reflect on all the great and maybe not-so-great things that shaped your life this last year.  It is both fun and interesting. 

So as we say good bye to 2010, I want to wish everyone a fantastic 2011.  Because with a new year comes all kinds of fun times, challenging experiences, fabulous opportunities, new friends,  and amazing adventures! 

Happy New Year! 

bringing the sequins to Moz

"And now, I'm just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time."  

Lady Gaga

To Bike or Not To Bike?

To say Quelimane is a bike city would be an understatement.  It seems to me that Quelimane is THE bike city.  I have never been any place where more people used bikes in my life.  There are more people on bikes than people walking or using cars…although there are fair number of cars driving through the city as well. 

I suppose that many of you reading this are picturing just a lot of people riding on bikes casually.  And you would be right.  However, if you walk out onto any street here in Quelimane you would see much more than just individuals riding their own bikes. 

You would see a lot of “bike taxis”, which are just regular bikes with a small 12 X 4 seat on the back for someone to sit on.  Bike taxis are the main mode of transport if you don’t have a bike and don’t want to walk a few miles in the sweltering heat.  You can get anywhere in the city for 10 mets or less, which is mad cheap. 

You would see people riding bikes with babies or small children attached to their back.  You would see young and old people pedaling away.  You would see people riding bikes carrying huge bags of supplies or big buckets of mangos balanced on their head or even a large mattress.  And yes, you would even see people chatting on their cell phones while riding along.  It is truly amazing just how much can be done while riding on a bike.  I never knew the possibilities until I came here.

And so the question remains….should I too join the masses and get a bike of my own???  I mean it would be fun and help me get around so much better.  Please let me know what you think.  Peace Corps will give me money to buy a bike if I so desire. But don’t worry it is Peace Corps policy that I must be wearing a helmet at all times. 

PS I have not seen one Mozambiquan wearing a helmet. 

all your questions can and will be answered!

Eating in Moz

it is REPEALED ... what a great Christmas Present

Joy to the WORLD!

So great... really can't even get enough...never ask me to... cuz i never will!

AFRICA

Let’s go back to 1^st grade geography.  On planet earth we have 7 continents: 

North America- I live here!

 South America- the Amazon river is here.

 Europe- has 3 countries start with the letter “I” (Ireland, Iceland and Italy)

Asia- has tons of people

 Australia-where Oprah took her entire audience

Antarctica-where it is mad cold

AFRICA- not a country but an entire CONTINENT

The reason I bring this up is because I have heard too many people (mostly people in the United States) talk about Africa as one big country.  As if the entire continent is the same.  A while there are certainly common “African” experiences and attitudes, that are present throughout the entire continent of Africa, it is dangerous to think of or speak of Africa as if it is one giant country. 

I am no expert on Africa but what I have come to understand in my experience is that Africa, as a continent, is not only physically very large but also extremely diverse.  It might be one of the most diverse places in the world.  Throughout the continent there are many different religions, cultures, attitudes, languages, regions, politics, customs, work, education levels and ways of life.  And that is why is not always a good idea to speak of “Africa” as one monolithic thing.  It takes away the beautiful and rich and complicated and DIVERSE story that is the countries and regions and peoples and cultures that make up the continent of Africa.

So if you mean to talk about the entire continent of Africa….please talk away.  But if you really only mean to talk about a particular country or region then use that country or region’s name, instead of the catch-all Africa!

The Beach

So one very cool thing about living in Quelimane is that I am about an hour away, in a chapa, from a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean! And let me just say… I am literally obsessed! I went to the beach yesterday and it was amazing! So beautiful and peaceful.  And the waves were gInormous and so much fun to play in.  I think I will be making a trips out there to get that famous tan of mine as well as recharge. 

Something to take note of is that I was in the Indian Ocean.  This is important because most American’s never get the chance to swim in the Indian Ocean because it is on the other side of the world.  Which is yet another reason to come visit me here in Moz.  You can impress all your friends and random other people you meet by telling them you swam in the Indian Ocean.

ps I am a Community Health Volunteer

By now…almost 3 months into my service, I know many of you are wondering what I will be doing in Mozambique for the next 2 years…besides of course eating LOTS of peanut butter, dancing and teaching everyone the greatness that is Gaga! 

I am officially a community health volunteer in Quelimane.  I am assigned to work with 2 different national NGO’s (non-governmental organizations).  Both organizations work in the areas of public health, both focusing on HIV/AIDS education, prevention, treatment and care.  They also work on other issues of public health, including TB and malaria as well as, domestic violence, OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) and human rights. 

As of now I am not totally sure as to what my role will be with either organization, as I have only been here for 2 weeks and am still learning about everything they do and their current needs.  Most of what I will do will be along the lines of the development and empowerment of the organizations and the various community groups connected with the organizations.  I will also most likely work directly with activists and community groups that focus on HIV/AIDS, OVCs and human rights. 

Besides working with both of these organizations I also am encouraged to work with other community members and organizations that might need help or support.  As of now I have not identified these people or groups.  But I am excited at the prospect of working with youth in particular, and especially children and youth who are not in school or living on the street.  

But we will see.  One of the best parts of being a health volunteer in the Peace Corps is I have a less structure and more flexibility to respond to the community’s needs and use my own strengths and interests!  So don’t be surprised if I do a dance project…