Not my birthday, of course, but I went to Xai-Xai beach for the weekend to celebrate Abby’s (a second year volunteer) birthday. It was a FABULOUS break! I can’t believe I haven’t had a vacation since going to Swaziland back in… April? May? I lost track. Anyways, I got to the beach Saturday morning and it was a fantastically sunny day. And since it’s the middle of winter here, the Mozambicans are too cold to go lie out on the beach/ play in the water so we had the whole place to ourselves. We threw around a football for a bit, got caught by a few rouge** waves, and caught up on the last few months. We made dinner, drank some beers, and had a bonfire on the beach. And another fantastic part of the weekend- I discovered passion fruit. I don’t think I’d ever had one. They are fabulous.
The last month (or two) has/have been pretty trying. I started teaching 8th grade a while back and it was definitely a lot harder than I had imagined it would be. I’d just become comfortable with my 12th graders, and then I threw myself into a whole new world of teaching. First off, during the first two weeks I only taught 1 ½ classes (instead of the 6 I was supposed to teach) because students just didn’t show up. I count the ½ class because I did have 7 students and we played hangman. Secondly, it’s halfway through their third year of English and they didn’t (and still don’t) know present simple tense or the verb to be. I was not prepared for that. Well, after trying to figure out my new schedule (I now teach morning, afternoon, and night), I was able to teach a few lessons and prepare them for the end of the trimester exam. I don’t think they got too much out of my teaching because the average score on the test was 5 out of 20. Ouch. Anyways, these last two weeks of the trimester I’m going to make sure to at least get one or two things into their brains- that’s my goal, however unrealistic it may be.
I can’t say I’ve mastered the art of baking in a dutch oven, but I’m definitely getting some practice in. I’m not sure why I’d never tried it before, but about 2 weeks ago it was the birthday of one of my co-workers and I decided to make him a cake. Unfortunately for him but lucky for me, he got stuck in Xai-Xai and didn’t make it back home for his birthday party. Instead of sharing the cake with co-workers I was able to enjoy it all to myself. Well, I gave about half to my neighbors because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Turns out many more people found out that I actually know how to make cake, and everyone started asking for me to teach them how to make cakes. This inspired me. Since then, every few days I pick out a new recipe and make a cake. So far my favs are coffee cake and double chocolate cake. Next- carrot cake, once I can track down carrots.
Along with picking up cooking, I’ve started sewing. I’ve tailored about 5 shirts and one dress so far (not because I’ve lost/gained weight, instead because clothes get a little/lot stretched out here) and my next project is to make a skirt out of capulana before it gets any hotter. I’ve really enjoyed the cool weather the last few months. I’ve been able to sleep in past sunrise and only one bucket bath a day will suffice. Not only has it been getting hotter lately, the electricity has been getting less and less reliant. It’s a huge pain when I count on my electricity to heat water for coffee or to cook and it goes out for an indeterminate amount of time. I know I should be thankful I have any electricity, it’s just been really difficult lately to count on anything.
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