The morning after site placement most of us PCTs were off on our way to Bilene, a beach town about six hours away. The awesome PCVs in the area planned everything for us and rented two houses for all of us. This was a much needed break! PST is very busy with classes six days a week and when not in class then I’m usually at home doing homework and studying. I really thought I was getting away from feeling like I am in school when I signed up for PC, after spending the past 20+ years in school I knew I could do a few more months.

Upon arriving at the houses it was a quick drop off our bags and explore the area. I headed into town with a couple other people to see what kind of stores and food was available for us. There was a small gas station that had all kinds of snack food and PIZZA!! With it being around lunch time there was no doubt in my mind that I was getting a pizza, with pineapple! It was amazing and just one of those things that while not easy to find in Mozambique,is something you can get anywhere in a America, just one of many reasons why America is such a great country. After lunch we headed back to the house, changed and took off for the beach.

The beach was about a 5-10 minute walk from the house, starting with following the sandy road down to a path that leads down to the beach past a few beach houses. The beach houses were very nice, one of them was even having a swimming pool installed, something I did not expect to see in Africa. From the top of the path I can see the lagoon, this beach actually leads to a lagoon and not the Indian Ocean itself. Continuing on the stone path, I pass through a tunnel of rich, green trees, exiting to the white, sandy beach and amazingly clear water. The beach was lined with several small, wooden boats painted with yellows, reds, pinks, blues, and white. Sitting next to the boats were large fishing nets, with it being the weekend and off season the fisherman weren’t very busy. The water felt quite cool at first, mainly since it was a cloudy day, but after a few minutes it was quite refreshing. After enjoying some time on the beach we all headed back to the houses to prepare for dinner and festa(party), complete with a DJ.

The next morning I woke up at 5 am, entirely unplanned, went out to the patio to enjoy the sunrise and the clam, quiet peace. As others started to wake a group of us went down to the mercado to get some bread and stopped to get a delicious cup of real coffee at the gas station. When I got back to the house I decided to try out the shower, yes an actual shower. Rumor was that the hot water didn’t work but I figured since it was still early I might have luck and I was right. It was great that after a couple months of bucket baths that I got the chance to have a hot shower. By this time a lot of the group was awake and we all headed back down for an enjoyable beach day.

With the sun shining the water felt much better. Across the lagoon was the land barrier that separated it from the Indian Ocean which didn’t seem too far away. We knew we could walk about 100 yards from the beach before we needed to start swimming and the assumption was that it would be about the same on the barrier side, err go we wouldn’t need to swim that much. A group of about 15 of us started on the swim across the lagoon. After about swimming for 10 minutes a few people decided to turn back since it was just too far for them, I continued on even though I was falling behind the group. After about another 10 minutes of swimming and not really making any progress towards the barrier I knew there was no way I would be able to make it and I turned back. I made it back to where I could stand again, completely exhausted and of course getting crap from others from not making it. It was a sad moment when I realized how out of shape I really had become. I passed out on the beach and took a much needed nap.

After waking up a few of us decided to go to the gas station to grab pizza for lunch. My staple was a pineapple pizza with piri-piri and I ate a whole pizza myself. I went back to the house, grabbed another hot shower and took a nice nap until the rest of the group made their way back. We spent the evening playing games and decided to go to the beach that night. It was a clear night, full moon, sky full of stars, cool ocean air, and green fluorescent phytoplankton! Even though the moon was very bright, in the shadow of the boats you could see the green phytoplankton fluoresce when agitating the water. As a biologist these are the kinds of things I love to see. I spent a good 45 minutes trying to see a shooting star and think I might have seen one out of the corner of my eye, which was disappointing since so many others saw a bunch of them. Before heading to bed that night there was a killing spree that took place in the room I was staying in. The victims were the numerous, blood-sucking mosquitoes that had invaded our room. There were a few of us that were getting pretty serious about trying to hunt and kill them, which provided endless entertainment for our fellow roomies.

The next morning was the final day in Bilene. I made my way down to beach to enjoy the beach for one last day, and since I’m headed to Tete I know it will be some time until I make it back to a beach. On my way down the stone path something felt strange on my foot. I looked down and a snake was slithering across it. The snake was about 10 inches long, no thicker than a marker, orange body with a black head. I moved too fast into the bush for me to get a picture of it, while disappointing, I was glad that it didn’t bite me. I just waded in the lagoon for a little bit of time then slowly walked down the beach taking pictures along the way. There was a large piece of drift wood that was sitting in the sand and it just seemed like something you normally see on a postcard. I stumbled across a small ladybug like insect. It was shiny orange, with silver ovals on each wing and a silver head. It looked like it had been made out of metal with how metallic it looked. There was an old, decrepit dock that was nothing more than a resting area for seagulls. I made my way down near the gas station so I decided I would get pizza one last time. There was a group of other PCTs and PCVs there already. After a delicious lunch I decided to take the long way back and walk along the beach again, this time another PCT joined me for our one last chance to enjoy the ocean air and beautiful beach. As we were walking I noticed hermit crab tracts and after following them for about 5 minutes we finally came across the little guy. He was slowly making his way down the beach as well. We came across an interesting fish that had washed ashore. It was about six inches long and fat like a puffer fish, but smooth. It had white and bright, blue eyes. Its body was grey, white-yellowish belly, yellow tipped fins and yellow lips. Back near the boats there were several jellyfish and made me happy that I was spending the day swimming with them.

After the six hour trip back home we all departed to our host families, relaxed and rested, well most of us. When I got home and dropped off my bags Mano Paulo came to greet me. He gave me a hug, said he had missed me and asked me how my trip was. As much as I enjoyed my weekend at the beach it was good to be back home with minha família.