Since the news stories are more geared towards possible new volunteers, here is how I'm really doing:

My first day is one of those typical Tamsin days.  I woke up at 6AM to explore the trails before class....and got lost!  Yep, I arrived to the first class 45 minutes late, covered in mud and sweat from bush-whacking.  I somehow strayed too far from the main trail (and they all look remarkably similar) and couldn't find the correct trail so I had to follow the creek until I righted myself, in the nick of time.  The whole time I kept asking"does this reflect on how well I manage everything in my life?"

I don't think I ever worked this hard at university, and I'm not being graded here.  Yep, I'm a nerd.  A nerd who's terrified of showing up in Mozambique with no ability to communicate.  I'm also making time to read up about issues that relate to development.  I'm trying to prepare myself but am probably not utilizing my time as wisely as I'd like, but that's nothing new.  I ought to be spending every waking moment thinking in Portuguese so that I'm fully immersed.  I am expected to teach in Portuguese in 6 months.  If only you heard how poorly I speak now....you'd laugh.  I'm worried.

The first street-fundraising trip raised $7,500 in 2 weeks which isn't too bad.  I'm in charge of bookkeeping, and fretted for hours over mishandling money until aborting my messy ways for more accurate methods.  Looking after other people's money is a responsibility that can turn nasty fast.  At one point it looked like I'd pocketed fifty-something bucks.  I started bawling at that point. But in the end I'd only lost five while trying to change ones into twenties.  That's five more than I want to lose again.

The characters I met on the street made fundraising interesting.  Most people are too absorbed in their own lives to notice us.  Fair enough.  My particular favorite encounter involved an Englishman leaning over me, asking me why I didn't work in England and telling me Africa's not worth helping because it's "run by the devil."  Of course there are plenty of socially concious people to make up for the bigots.  Another man told me that he'd taught in Africa and called me naiive.  On the other hand I spoke with many potential volunteers.  My point here is that with all these different interactions, my strengths and weaknesses lay themselves out in front of me, making every day a rollercoaster of happy, sad, success and failure. 

I'm lucky that my team is full of cooperative, adaptable people and that this season's teachers are good. I'm taking each day as it comes.  Over and Out.