Reality Check

Several of my students came to my house this morning, asking for help with their homework. I really enjoyed helping them, seeing that they understand the material, and I’m so happy they feel comfortable enough to come to my house for help. Last trimester when I was teaching all six turmas I felt a little uncomfortable having the students (especially the male students) come to my house for help because it didn’t seem quite appropriate, but now that they’re not all my students it seems a bit better. I did have one student that came over not exactly for homework help but more for conversation. He’s one of my most driven students and I can tell he really wants to learn and do something with his English once he graduates. Well, we got talking today about his life and what he wants to do in the future, and I found out he’s an orphan that really has nothing. Both his parents have recently passed, and last year he was taken in by Teacher Nelson (my Portuguese teacher during training and a former English teacher at my school). He told me his parents were very young when they had him and that they never really made anything of themselves (no money, no job, no house) so when they died he was left with nothing. Luckily Nelson saw his potential and helped him with housing, money for clothes, and money to enter school. My student, Manuel, has so much going to him- determination, intelligence, and optimism- and I really hope to help to empower him and that I can feed his desire to make something of himself.
One thing that continues to shock me time after time is the lack of emotion Mozambicans show. When Manuel spoke of his parents there was a slight trace of sadness, and even that was more than I’m used to seeing. Normally people get more worked up and emotional over missing a test question that talking about a family member or friend that has died. Manuel also mentioned a student that passed away the day before yesterday. I was at school almost all day yesterday and not once did I hear about it. Of course now I’m sitting here wondering who it was because I believe it was one of my kids. Even though I’ve only been here a few months, if one of my kids were to get hurt or die I know I would be a bumbling mess of tears and grief. I probably show more emotion in a week than most Mozambicans show in a year, if not a lifetime. Part of me thinks it’s cultural, but really I think it’s a coping mechanism. Death is so much more common here than in the states, so how is one suppose to get through life is he is constantly mourning the loss of someone.

Bat attack

I’m not sure if I’ve written about this, so if I have please forgive me for the repetition. I was hit in the head by my first bat the other week. I was teaching a class- controlling a test actually- and this bat was flying around the room, but the students didn’t seem to notice. I however am still not used to it. So, once I finally put my guard down and started to ignore him he swoops down and smacks me in the head! I was shocked, but still none of the students seemed to notice or care. Come on!

Farewell

A huge blow to my week was the departure of a good friend and fellow volunteer. This volunteer was one of the most enthusiastic, optimistic, interesting, and patient volunteers from our group. However, nobody is superman, and when enough things are stacked against you there’s only so much you can handle. If you happen to read this blog, I want you to know how much you will be missed and that I can’t wait to see you in the states. I know you could have done so many amazing things here if you had been given even a shred of a chance. I will carry your optimism and enthusiasm with me for the rest of my service. And don’t forget to write!! You will be truly missed.

Beach Time!!

The last few weeks have been a bit stressful because of school and scheduling changes, but as of today, everything is squared away and I’m set in my new classes. I have the same students, just less of them now. And I’m starting to collaborate with the new English teacher who’s pretty great and giving me a lot of great ideas for lessons. I look forward to working with him and collaborating with him.
So, this weekend I went up to Vilankolos for beach Olympics- so much fun! Volunteers from almost all provinces came- I think there were about 50 or so of us there. It was so wonderful to see people I hadn’t seen since training and catch up on life and school and work and everything. It was also very comforting to be reassured that I’m not the only one that has bad days or feelings of uselessness. All of us, from Maputo province up to Cabo Delgado, are going through the same thing. Things I learned this weekend- I’m a terrible swimmer when there’s a currant, sand flees apparently love me however the bites are anything but pleasant, Queen can always make me smile, and I will have sand in my dreds for the next 6 months. Only downside to the weekend was the lost cell phone. Hopefully I get a new one soon, but I will admit being completely detached from the outside world has not been a bad thing. Granted, it’s been all of three days- we’ll see how I feel in a few more.

Oh Africa...

I was putting on mascara the other day, getting ready to go to class, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a goat, standing in my living room looking into my bedroom watching me. Really!? I’m used to the goats, dogs, chickens, and children hanging out on my stoop but I wasn’t ready to have them in my house.

Randoms

After coming back from REDES, life was a bit of a rollercoaster. I went to teach class on Monday, first day of the nex trimester, and none of my sutdents were there. Not really none- out of 280 I believe I have about 15 or 20. So, didnºt get to teach my well planned out phrasal verbs lesson. Then, I was told I would no longer be teaching 12th grade but instead move down to 11th because we were getting a new teacher. I was confused about the switch for a while, but i continued to teach my classes Tuesday and Wednesday (thankfully) and Wednesday night I was reassigned to 12th grade, but now with only 4 turmas not my original 6. So Iºll be sad to lose two of my classes but my work load will be a bit easier to handle now. Well, I caught my classes back up to where they needed to be, and I headed out for the weekend. Iºm currently sitting on a mission, at Scooterºs site, waiting for her to get out of class. I got in yesterday afternoon and Iºve had a great time since. The mission not only has a school but an orphanage for young girls, so yesterday and today Iºve been runnning around and playing with all the young girls and talking tothe nuns when I find my Portuguese. Itºs such a welcoming and comfortable environment here- I feel completely at ease. Also, I met up with two of the girls from my group at REDES lst week, Sandra and Sandra. They were so excited to see me and it was wonderful to catch up a bit with them. Well, looks like Iºm off for now- should be a fun weekend- and I promise to get better at this blog writing.

REDES

This entire past week I have been at a conference in Xai Xai with girls from my REDES group. REDES is a program to educate and empower young girls of Mozambique, definitely a project I am very interested in continuing and emproving upon in my town. Well, this week we had a conference and I was able to bring two girls from my town. It was such an amazing time! In all we had about 90 people there, about 15 of those were PCVs the rest Mozambican teachers and young girls. Everything about the week was great, but one thing that really hit me was what an oppotunty this is for these girls. For most of the people coming to the conference, this is the first and possibly only time they will stay in a hotel and be waited on the way they were. Girls here in Moz are sued to waking up early, cleaning, cooking, taking care of the family, maybe having the chance to go to school, working in the machambas, and not really having much of a chance to enjoy their youth and freedom as kids. Well, this week the girls didnºt have to clean, didnºt cook, had hot showers, got to learn, play, and meet people from all over the southern region of Moz. Not to mention we were staying on the beach. An added bonus. It was a lot of work for us volunteers but i canºt imagine another way iºd rather spend my energy and time. It was a very rewarding experience. Also, I was a counselour for one of the groups, andI got to know some of the girls very well. By the end of the week I was like their mom away from home- theyºd come to me with questions, problems, or when they were excited about something. The girls in my group were the oldest at the conference, 21years old and up, so it was a bit easier to empathize with them on certain things, but by the end of the week I really felt like iºd established friendships and bonds with the girls. It was hard to say goodbtye, knowing I probably wonºt get to see these girls again. But what an amazing conference.

R & R

I spent the entire day on my porch with my neighbors reading, playing cards, talking, listening to music, and just sitting. My neighbor Suma comes over often to practice English, learn new words, and give me new music he’s found, so today we spent the majority of the day trading said words and music. He’s also, slowly, trying to teach me Changana, but really I’m not getting too far there. I’ve got the introductions ok, but beyond that it’s starting to all sound like vowels and whistling pushed together. Anyways, it was another big day on the friend front for me today because I feel like I actually have a friend now, not just an acquaintance- I have someone who I can have a legit conversation with (in a mix of English and Portuguese) and who I actually enjoying spending time with, rather than feeling obligated and uncomfortable. Plus, since he’s younger, I don’t have to take myself so seriously or have to watch what I say and how I act, like I do when I’m around colleagues. One word to describe today would be Relief.

Dia de Mulher

Very cool day. They don’t have Mother’s Day here, instead they celebrate all women, Mozambican or not  The morning started with a ceremony out in primero bairro (first neighborhood- I live in the seventh). I went with my neighbor Professor Nelson, and I got to wear my Dia de Mulher capoolana. It has a picture of Josina Machel, the wife of the first President of Mozambique, who is commemorated on April 7th. Once at 1st bairro we met up with other professors and students, we sang the national anthem, and then gathered under a tree for the ceremony. I was asked to sit up in the front, with the school director, and two other women. I was hesitant at first but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. But it turned out great- I had a front row seat to the dancing the older women did, the dancing and singing of the small primary school kids, they skit my students put on, and the commemoration speech dedicated to Josina Machel. Director was wonderful, explaining what was going on when people were speaking in Changana, and giving me short history lessons about Dia de Muhler. It was great to see all the women of the town getting into the ceremony and the men taking more of a backseat. Women here are absolutely amazing, and I was proud to participate in a day to honor them. I actually thought that they were going to ask me to say something, seeing as though everyone else I was sitting with was participating in the ceremony, but in the end I didn’t. But I had a few words prepared in Portuguese, so I was ready just in case.

After the ceremony, I caught a ride back home, did some laundry, some cooking, and some test preparation (it’s finals week at school), then Prof Nelson invited me to a soccer game. Because Mozambicans tend to be quite behind schedule, even though I was an hour and a half late to the game they were still waiting for players, so I kicked the ball around with my students for a bit. They were surprised that I could keep up (but just barely) and it was pretty refreshing spending some time with my students outside of the classroom. The game ended up being between students that live at the internato (boarding school) and students from another bairro. I think I was the only girl at the field, but I’m getting used to that. We ended up winning 2-1, just in time to watch the sun go down.

I had dinner at Professora Carlota’s house with Prof Telma, Prof Edward, Prof Armindo, and Prof Fenias. I probably spent more time talking to Carlota’s kids and Telma’s nieces than I did the adults, but my language is still slowly coming along. Regardless, I feel like I’m actually starting to fit in. I think today was one of the first days where I’ve felt like a friend rather than a foreigner. It was pretty great.

Easter Weekend

This week has been a pretty rewarding week. After spending what seemed like forever away from site, in Maputo and Xai Xai, I got back and had a successful few lessons, preparing my students for their upcoming trimester finals. At least I really hope I prepared them- I’ll know a bit better Friday after they’ve taken the test. Prepared or not, I felt great about this last week, like I was finally getting somewhere with them.
This weekend has been pretty nice. I don’t teach on Thursdays and Friday was Good Friday so no afternoon class, so it was a four day weekend. I did a lot of reading, napping, cooking, and wandering. Valerie came to visit on Friday- it was great to have my first visitor! It was a little strange, and because it was a holiday weekend my town was absolutely deserted, but I think she enjoyed it. On Friday we went to my adopted family’s house (they have taken me in and are absolutely amazing). We talked for a few hours but fugired (fugir = to leave, or escape really) before we were roped in for the 5 hour long dinner process. Instead we went back on Saturday, ate lunch, and made peanut butter cookies. Delicious! They offer to let me use their oven all the time, and after having made these cookies, I think I’m going to take them up on that offer and see if I can’t perfect a few things while I’m over here. Not really sure if they liked them (they’re not used to peanut butter) but if not they were still very gracious about it all. Saturday morning we had a brief thunderstorm. Woke me up just before 6 and by 7:30 I had the all my basias and bidons (buckets) full of fresh rain water, the dishes washed, laundry soaking, and breakfast made- all before miss Val was up. I’m still not sure how she slept through it all- the thunder was the loudest thunder I think I have ever heard. It was insane.
Today, I negared (negar = to decline, or reject) from going to church, even though it’s Easter Sunday. But a 5 or 6 hour long service in Changana just didn’t seem like the most exciting way to spend my afternoon. Instead, I sat on my stoop, watched my geese, goats and chickens that went by, read a good book, and played with Lucy. My neighbor brought me some cake and flan she’d made, which was delicious, and in the evening her sons and a few other people came over the chat and hang out. Usually I like to be in my house relaxing once the sun goes down, but today was so enjoyable hanging outside with them. There was (and probably still is) a lightning storm going on off in the distance so I was watching that as well as talking with them, practicing my Portuguese and Changana. At one point the boys were making fun or me for being afraid of a beetle that was hanging out on the stoop with us, but only a few minutes later said beetle (who was at least the side of a golf ball, with a huge hooked nose- disgusting) had flown right into my head and was taking up a residence in my hair. They thought it was hilarious as it burrowed but regardless they helped to get it out. This is why I don’t like bugs- they seem to love me.
It was a very relaxing week and weekend, and I’ve felt very much a part of my community lately. I’m obviously always going to be an outsider, but within the last week I’ve felt a bit more a part of things. Between having my new ‘family’ really taking me in, and my neighbors coming over just to be around, I’m feeling really great about things. I’m hoping that feeling continues 

Daily Obsevations

Nothing too spectacular has happened today- I’ve completed about 15 things on my to-do list (granted they are things like do dishes and enter grades- nothing too big) so that’s been an accomplishment. But a few things I’ve taken note of throughout my day. 1) Even after three months of running in the mornings, people still stare like they’ve never seen me before. And they still expect me to stop running to chit chat with them, even though I don’t know Changana. But they are so very friendly and I love that part. 2) No matter what you say to a child, they will answer with ‘sim’ (yes). I guess it’s a good thing, to be training the kids to be obedient and only spoke when they’re spoken to, but it’s a bit ridiculous. I say “good morning!” “sim”, “How are you?”, “sim”, “the sky is purple” “sim”… and it continues. I think the most frustrating part is I will say hello in three languages, sometimes four (I toss French in when I’m bored) and yet they don’t seem to want to respond. Ok, so most kids around here only speak Changana, so if I speak in Portuguese they don’t understand, but my Changana is good enough that they should at least understand “Lixilli!” (bon dia, bonjour, good morning, take your pick). Another frustrating part about this set up is in my classes, my students respond with “sim” no matter what- if they understand or not. I’ve learned I cannot ask yes or no questions in the class because it’s an automatic yes. Eepa! 3) Public urination is acceptable just about anywhere. On my way to the market a boy, probably about 10, stopped, peed in the road, and then continued walking. Granted he was only 10, but still. 4) Lucy thinks she’s invisible when she’s in the grass. She’s adorable trying to stalk the chickens and ducks that come through the yard, and even cuter when she gets scared of them and runs away. 5) If I’m not wearing plastic flip flops, it’s possible for any appliance in my house to shock me. Today I’ve been zapped by my computer, my fan, my stove, my stabilizer, and my ipod. 6) My ridiculous fear of spiders that I thought I had overcome is in fact still oppressing me. While sitting outside reading I saw, from the corner of my eye, a giant stripped arachnid coming to attack me. I processed to leap into the air, grab my flip flop, and attempt to squash it. However, he ran into my house and hid. I didn’t stop the search until he was clearly dead and removed from my house (where Lucy ate him). I guess the thought that living among all sorts of bugs would cure me of my irrational fear- flooding technique- nope, not working. Still creepy and disgusting.

Week at the beach

Was a fabulous break! We had our first In Service Training this week and it was wonderful. Not only did I get to spend time with all the other Moz 14 teachers in the Southern region, but we stayed on the beach and got at least a little sun time each day. And this training came at the perfect time. We were all able to swap stories and share experiences and ideas. I’m really excited to get back into the swing of school and get my students whipped into shape. I have a few great turmas and many great students, I just have to get them a bit more motivated and I think they’ll make my life a bit easier and more enjoyable. Anyways, the conference was great. I missed my fellow volunteers a lot. And I can’t believe I’ve already been at site alone for over three months! This weekend makes 6 months that I’m been gone from home. Crazy. Time is flying. I’m sure I’ve said this many times, but I can’t stress it enough- life is an emotional rollercoaster here. Each day I go from sad to excited, to lonely, to loved, to bored, to frustrated, to confused, to proud, and on and on… It makes the days longer than I care to acknowledge at the moment, but time really is going by pretty fast. And I’m getting my girls group up and running this week. They had their first meeting this past weekend, but because I wasn’t here I’m not really sure what happened, if they even had it. Either way, I’m looking forward to get the ball rolling, and get things ready for the conference that’s coming up in a few weeks.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I got back into the swing of life after spending a week on the beach. I think the only real problem I’ve run into so far is my withdrawals from air conditioning. It’s brutal going from a fabulously cool hotel room to a 35 degree room with no circulation. Eeepa! Well, the kids missed me while I was gone- I came home to a porch full of them again today. And Lucy is getting so big! She’s starting to actually look like a cat and just a baby. She loves cheese- it’s like cat nip for her. Ridiculous. She still refuses to eat unless it’s off of my plate, and when she got my cheese today she went nuts. I think she successfully knocked everything off of every surface possible, including leftovers, a few knives, some books, etc. She’s currently hanging from my fan, rotating, and biting at the wind. She’s yet to notice the praying mantis or the lizards on the wall. She was playing with an ant a few minutes ago, but her favorites are still cockroaches. She bats them around for a bit, flips them over, watches them squirm, usually walks away for a bit so I can accidentally step on it, then she’ll carry it around her mouth for a while, showing off, before she eats it. What a kitty.

Well, I’m off to bed. I’m officially starting my training for our adventure run, happening in June. Several volunteers, myself included obviously, are planning a 35km run between two volunteer sites. So far I think there are 6 people of so, probably more. I can only imagine how funny we’re going to look- a heard of mulungos running on the site of the highway- epic. I’ll make sure we have a photographer in the group.

Wireless

Mom, Dad, Nana, you'll all be happy to know that today I set up my bluetooth and I now have wireless internet on my computer whenever I want (hypothetically). This means more posts. I promise. However these new posts will start tomorrow, or even later tonight, because at the current moment there is much needed facebook stalking and Perez Hilton searching to do. I'm sure you understand.

Men vs Women

Gender roles are very different here- women seem to be the badasses of Mozambique while the men, well they’re just kinda there. Maybe this is just my opinion, but let me try to enlighten you. The women are the ones who work in the machambas (fields, gardens) starting at 4 in the morning. They work all morning then many come in to the market to sell what they collected in the morning. Women are the ones who cook lunch and dinner for the men. Women are the ones that kill and skin/gut/pluck the chickens/ pigs/ goats/ fish, what have you, for meals. Women are the ones that carry water from the canal to their homes on their heads. Women do the laundry everyday. Women raise the children (and of course give birth to said children). Women are pretty much badasses. However, when it comes to who’s in charge, the story seems to change a bit. From my point of view, the men are still typically head of the household, but I’m striving to figure out why.

I had an interesting conversation with one of my fellow professors the other night. He was talking about how it’s common for men to have not only one wife but several other women in his life. He was telling me that it’s not uncommon for one man to have three wives and three sets of children all under one roof. He gave the excuse that this is partially due to the fact that Mozambique has 8 women to every man, so therefore it’s his responsibility to make sure no women are left alone. Impressive logic huh? Well, I told him that in Alaska there are more men than women so therefore isn’t it my duty, as I woman, to have more men in my life than one? Absolutely not was the answer. I asked it was ok for men to have multiple wives, why not women? Besides the ratio problem he couldn’t think of a reason exactly, other than women just aren’t allowed to do that. They should be happy with their one. I’d like the mention that during this entire conversation his pregnant girlfriend was sitting on the other side of me. The women seem ok with this set up. As far as I can tell, all men have multiple women and all women seem to be doing just fine (besides this insanely high rate of HIV/AIDS here, no doubt passed between an entire town all too quickly). Also, this professor told me he was going to cry when my boyfriend came to visit because then he’d know I really wasn’t going to be with him- again, said in from of his pregnant girlfriend. He’s one of my favorite colleagues- he’s educated, smart, helpful, and a great teacher- but having this conversation with him threw me a bit. If these great, educated men are still acting this way, I don’t see much hope for the others. That or my judge of character is very far off.

Rain, rain, don't go away

It rained and rained and rained today! A fabulous excuse to sit in my house and do nothing but cook mac and cheese and watch episodes of Glee (I may have cried during the pilot episode, when they sang “don’t stop believin”- not going to lie). The day was great- I filled all my buckets in and outside of the house, and was able to just stand outside in the rain and feel it wash the last week off me. Not that Maputo was a bad experience, it was great, but it feels good to be back home and comfortable in my place again. I’m sure my neighbors thought I was insane, standing in the pouring rain smiling. It wasn’t the first time nor will be the last time I surprise them with my weirdness.

Welcome Home!

When I got home today it was such a great feeling to walk through the town and have everyone come up to me and welcome me back. The kids followed me to my house smiling and laughing, and the women in the road were so happy to see me, they would yell from across the road or down the street. Granted I was tired and annoyed from the 7 hour journey they should have taken only 3, but they brightened my day. I went to the loja to buy some food for Lucy, who was also very excited to see me, and I ran into the mayor of the town (at least that’s how he introduced himself to me). We talked for a bit, I talked to some other people in the store, and then he came back and gave me the best compliment I’ve received in a long time. He told me how they all talk about me in the town, and how everyone is so happy that I’m going to be living here for two years. They say I’m a sociable person with a great attitude, I’m very smart, and have a great desire to learn about my town. He said people were so sad when I was gone and people were worried about me. He told me that they feel very lucky to have me in the town and there’s no way they’re letting me leave in two years. I felt amazing. I still feel pretty great about it. I’m sure not everyone in the town has these exact feelings, but really, even if it’s only this man that thinks it, I feel like I’ve been doing something right. Lets just hope this continues.

Big City Life

So I came down to Maputo for a week because I had to have minor surgery on my toe. I had an ingrown toenail removed, and the simple 15 minute procedure turned into an almost 2 hour ordeal. Lets start from the beginning...

Late Wednesday night I got a call from our PC doc asking me to be in Maputo the follwing day before 5pm. The trip isn't too difficult, but I first had to let my school know I was leaving for possibly a week, think of something to give my students for work, tell the other English teacher to help explain my situation to my students, and secure a housesitter for baby Lucy. Thankfully my town gets going around 4:30am so I had plenty of time to get things in order before I left. I ended up waiting for a chapa to pass through my town for about 45 mins, and then once I did get on, we turned around and went the opposite direction. Not my fault, everyone seemed confused on what was going on. Finally we head in the correct direction, i get off at my "stop", immediately get a chapa (unheard of!) and take off for the EN1. About 30 mins in we blow a tire. Awesome. But the driver was incredible- he had all 20 of us off the chapa, tire changed, and back driving within 10 minutes. Impressive work. We ended up picking up a tractor so that slowed our speed quite a bit, so now the hour ride to the EN1 took about 2 hours. Once in Macia, I got in a chapa to Maputo but we had to wait to fill the chapa before we could leave. We drove around for at least an hour (probably more, my sense of time was shot by that point) picking up people, yelling for people to get in ("you know you want to go to Maputo...") and buying bananas and cashews. Ok, once on the road it went pretty smoothly. Once in Maputo the chapa driver kicked me out at my stop, and i caught a bus in the right direction toward the Peace Corps office. Up to this point I believe the trip had taken 5 or 6 hours (if you count the waiting in my town for that first chapa). In a private car, the jounrey takes about 2 hours.

So, once in the bus it was smooth sailing- I met another PCV on her way to the PC office as well so i stuck by her side. From the office I went to the clinic to have my surgery. Silly Anna forgot to eat all day (I didn't have money to buy bananas or cashews unfortunately), so when the doc started sticking me with the needle and pumping my toe full of numbing meds I passed out. I woke up in pain with a man in white speaking a funny language standing over me. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was but it came back. I got an IV and oxygen to help bring me back to normal, and then realized I couldn't move my limbs. I could feel my legs and arms yet had no strength to move them at all. Crazy! The doc didn't seem too worried, so he cut into my toe. My mobility did come back, and after about 30 mins I was able to move all limbs. Yay! The doc was pretty nice, let me lay there and enjoy the oxygen and iv fluids for a while before I had to leave. Two PCVs came to the clinic to meet me and help me get to the hotel with my bag.

It was an interesting day, for sure, but ended fabulously with delicious Thai food, 4 PCVs together hanging out and swapping site stories, a king size bed, and thick curtains that let in no light for me to sleep in.

My week in Maputo consisted of a lot of restuarants, CNN, air conditioning, MTV (called TRACE here), ice cream, and daily trips to the doctor to check on my stitches. I did see Anchorage on CNN which made my day and (as previously stated in a blog) received a few boxes which made my month. I'm off to site tomorrow morning- back to the real world! I'm curious what my students have been doing for the last week and if they'll be at all prepared for the presentations they'll be giving on Monday...

NO MORE PACKAGES

I'm so very greatful that people have been sending me packages, and I get SO excited at the thought of getting one, however due to the lack of packages that have arrived and the ridiculousness that is the Mozambican postal system, I'm asking you not to send any more packages. It's too much stress on myself and you, wondering if it will get here, or if it's already here but sitting in some back room unaccessable... Anyways, I may change my mind after a few months, but for now NO MORE PACKAGES. Letters are more than welcome!! I love letters. Actually I encourage letters. Just nothing bigger than a manila envelope. Thank you.

Already March!

So, the last month has flown by, and I can't say it's been completely uneventful but nothing too extreme has really happened. I came down to Maputo a few weeks ago to help plan a REDES conference. REDES is a girls group started here to develope and empower young girls in Mozambique. I'm really looking forward to getting more involved in the program and starting my own group in my town. There seems to be a lot of interested coming from the girls so that's exciting. While in Maputo I was about to take my first warm water shower since my first weekend in Mozambique. It was amazing!! I had AC, running warm water, Chinese/Indian/Thai/Italian food (that i didn't have to cook), American television... it was 2 days of heaven! It was also great to spend time with other PCVs I haven't seen in a while, as well as other Americans I met in Maputo. I hear people's experiences that aren't in Peace Corps was pretty exciting. I went to the apartment of a friend- he lives on the 16th floor, and the view was unreal. Not that it would be considered anything out of the ordinary in the states, but I didn't feel like I was in Mozambique while I was up there. The city lights, cars, city sounds, and of course the Ensligh that was being spoken on the balcony, I felt like I was back in the US.

As great as those 2 days were, I was pretty excited to get back to site and start teaching again. And to see Lucy of course. She's getting bigger everyday.

English classes are coming along. I started English club last week and that was a huge hit. The kids that want to come are so excited to learn Engish and so motivated, it's very encouraging. And the great thing about this group is it's a small group and I don't have to plan too much, so it's a small amount of work that I'm excited to do.

I feel like an awful blogger, not having much else to say. I did receive a few packages this week, so they are getting here, slowly. Thank you to everyone who has sent/is sending/will be sending me letters or packages. It's so exciting to get things in the mail.

Time is absolutely flying here- It's already been over 5 months!

Minha Casa

Sorry I'm not more exciting

PICS
Lucy (obviously), local market, part of the town where I had training, and the sunset on Xmas in Xai-xai







This morning I woke up to a heard of children on my porch, little Evan peeing on my stoop, my cats fighting, and my embregada trying to get in the front door. All before 7am. Wow! And before my instant coffee fix for the day. Oh, to be popular in a small town.
The last few days have been excruciatingly hot- 37 and 38 degrees. How I miss Alaska! We had a thunderstorm the other day which was pretty nice- I now have fresh rain water to drink. However, it was a bit difficult to teach when rain was pounding down on the tin roof of the school and the power flickering on and off. The power eventually went out so we all went home. We just got power back this morning actually. Just in time too, because I ran out of peanut butter.
I may not speak Portuguese the best, but people are starting to tell me how Mozambican I’ve become. Between the way I dress (my house is capolana heaven- they’re everywhere!), my hand-holding and high-fiving, my ralar-ing of coconuts and pilar-ing of peanuts, and the neighborhood playground being my porch/yard, I think I’ve officially integrated. It’s nice to feel like I’ve made a spot for myself here. Now if I could just get a bit more comfortable with the teaching thing.
Speaking of kids always being around, they can’t seem to stay out of my licho (trash) pit. I find them playing with everything I’ve thrown away, from paper to tin cans to q-tips to eggshells. I won’t lie, it’s a bit unsettling. But hey, they must have some pretty creative imaginations if they’re making toys out of eggshells and q-tips.
Lucy is still adorable, and still sleeping on me, trying to eat off my plate, and constantly underfoot. She’s developed a love to climb the mosquito netting on my windows, and if I’m wearing long pants or a long skirt (which is always) she’s likes to scale up my side and perch on my shoulder. Again, not too worried about it right now but once those claws get a bit bigger I might be in trouble.

Falo portugues!

PICS
Xmas at the beach and New Years with Jenna and Clancy






I’ve gotten really bad at keeping up on my blog- sorry but it’s been pretty busy and things have just kept piling up. Talk about a change from my first few weeks here! So I’ve been grading papers and make-up tests for a week now- I finally finished this morning with the last class so at least I have a two week break before my next test. And I’ve cut my hours back to 24 a week now so that’s good.
Valentines day was great! I got together with a bunch of other volunteers, about 16 other Moz 14rs and Moz 13rs. It was wonderfully to finally get to sit and talk to some people that have been doing this for over a year now. It’s not that I still have questions, it’s just nice to be reassured about some of the stuff that’s going on here.
Today has been a good day for teaching. My lesson wasn’t very hard so they seemed to understand pretty quickly, which made me feel like we accomplished something during class. Granted I almost guarantee that tomorrow when I check homework I’ll have about a 45 percent rate of understanding, if not less. But hey, one student at a time. We have all year.
I’ve cut back on the running- I’m currently nursing an ingrown toenail back to health- so the women in the town keep asking me where I’ve been whenever I see them at the market. It’s pretty cute- we typically don’t actually use words to communicate because I don’t speak Changana and they don’t speak Portuguese, so it’s a lot of actions and laughing and high-five/ hand shakes. Man they love their hand shakes here. You don’t even have to do anything- you just kinda hold out your hand and someone will slap it then hold it. Oh the hand holding! I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet- Mozambicans LOVE to hold hands. I’m getting a bit more used to it, and most times I actually really like it because other than that there’s really not much human contact happening, but it was awkward to get used to at first. It’s very normal for guys to hold hands with each other, walking down the road or just standing talking. It’s actually more common to see guys holding hands than girls, and even less likely to see a guy and a girl holding hands.

Tests

This past week I gave my first text- was a train wreck!! It was simple- how to conjugate a verb in past tense, how to compare and contrast using and…both or …but…, how to organize a sentence (I walk to school, not school walk I to)- yet my 12th graders scored an average of 8 out of 20. A little disheartening, but I’m telling myself it’s only because the test was a new format for them, and also I controlled the text with eagle eyes and nobody had a chance to cheat  I actually did find one cabula, aka cheat sheet, but not until after my very last class for the day. I took it but I couldn’t tell who it actually belonged to. Oh well. So, I’ve been correcting papers for the last three days- 350 students whose penmanship you can’t read gets a little tough. All you other teachers out there, parabens and boa sorti with your classes.

I feel loved

I find myself looking forward to standing under the tree and listening to my students sing. What an amazing thing to teach the young kids. I’m sure they don’t see it as impressive, but I can tell by the way they sing their anthem how much pride they take in their country.
Ok, so week two over and done with. I’m still alive! Actually this week was pretty easy- I don’t have but two classes on Tuesday (compared to my ten on Monday or eight on Thursday) and Wednesday was Heros day in Mozambique so we didn’t have school. It was a weekend inside my week. I’ve gotten a bit better at teaching to the students that don’t know how to form a sentence in English. I’ve decided an entire trimester of review is not going to be the worst thing for anyone. Everyone needs review now and again, and if they haven’t learned it before than hopefully I’ll cover the important information sufficiently. I have a LONG way to come as a teacher, but it’ll come.
I have a kitty! I call her Lucy- she’s only about 4 or 5 weeks old so she’s still tiny! The first few days her hell because she didn’t eat and she cried constantly, but after she got a little more used to me it got easier. As my own mother pointed out, she’s imprinted on me, which is both adorable and annoying. She follows me around the house, constantly underfoot, and always wants to be touching me. She cries when I leave the room until I come back or she follows and finds me. She sleeps often, but always on me. For example, right now she’s lying on my chest asleep. It’s unbelievable how much heat a tiny little thing can give off. She still doesn’t like to eat except from my plate, which is getting annoying. And she LOVES to climb my mosquito net- inside and out. I regularly wake up with a kitty dangling above my head. Right now it doesn’t scare me too much because she can’t weigh more than 4 ounces but it might be different once she grows. As of now I’m more worried of my cockroaches eating her than the other way around.
Funny things- There’s a one-footed chicken that walks by my house everyday around 6pm. I’ve gotten used to watching her hobble by. My friend the duck continues to circle my house, usually between four and eight times each day. I saw a duck the other day that not only had duck babies but also chicken babies. I’m wondering if the eggs got mixed up somehow? It was pretty adorable- they seemed to waddle just like little ducks. I cannot count the number of times I’ve been asked if I am married or have a boyfriend. The newest question is how many boyfriends do I have. Today two different people- correction, students- asked me to marry them. Another student told me he loved me. What a day

Singing sensation

So I learned the Mozambican national anthem when I first arrived here. (Funny, I lived in France for a year and never learned the French anthem). So anyways, we sing it everyday at school. The kids line up in their turmas (classes) underneath a giant tree (for shade) and face the teachers to sing. Normally I can only really hear the first few rows of students singing. It wasn’t until I was standing to the side of all the students that I actually heard the whole group- they were harmonizing! It was amazing! I’d never heard it before because I’d been listening to the girls in the front, but the boys all were harmonizing in the back. Wow it was so beautiful. I’m trying to think where they all learned to sing like this- is it something they teach in school? Is it mandatory to take singing class? Do they separate kids in grade school and teach them the different tunes? Who knows, but it’s amazing. Today I actually listened for the harmonizing, making sure it wasn’t a fluke from yesterday, and I got chills. They’re beautiful.