Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
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.
Friday, February 5, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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.
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