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 