Finally...

Long time no blog! I blame the fact that I’ve been out of a computer for a while now. Too many crazy African viruses and she just stopped working. Thankfully I have several very computer savvy co-workers and my computer has been re-vamped and set back into motion. SO! SOOOOO much has happened in the last… 3 months?… not quite sure where to start, how to start... I hope I don’t backtrack too much but here I go…


Science fair, which was in mid September after all the crazy rioting and whatnot, was a huge success for my school considering my student, Vama, won 1st place for all of southern Moz! He won a computer, but it wasn’t until October that I was able to give it to him, in front of the whole school. Mozambicans are very formal in their carrying-ons, so when we finally gathered together people took pictures, made speeches, presented certificates, a trophy for the school, and of course made me get in front of everyone and speak. The students LOVE it when I have to make public speeches- probably because they can tell I get embarrassed easily.


LUCY!!! She finally had her babies- 4 adorable little things… I proceeded to leave town for a few days to go to Maputo, which was fantastic (will describe below) and when I returned I learned she’d fugired- she left on Saturday and hadn’t been seen since (it was by then Tuesday). My neighbors were surprisingly helpful and comforting during the whole ordeal- Mozambicans don’t keep animals as pets really, and when they do they don’t actually care for them lick we crazy Americans do. Regardless, they helped me look for her and didn’t laugh at me when I was upset that we couldn’t find her. Not only do I miss her, I’m left to hand-feed her 4 starving, whining, peeing, uncoordinated babies. It took about 10 days of feeding them by hand with a little dropper that I finally gave up and let them fend for themselves. They figured it out- however before eating/ drinking they bathe in their food- they’ll jump into the milk bowl or walk through the plate of chima. My flood has been covered in food for at least the last week. Still no sign of Lucy- I think she was stolen and eaten- but Snap Crackle and Pop have become more manageable and actually pretty cute to watch.


Maputo- I went down with Scooter and Emily to have a meeting about the REDES project and the whole thing went over with overwhelming success. Also, I made some amazing friends who make living in Moz just a bit more comfortable. Maputo is a big hub for AID organizations, and many people that go into overseas AID work are RPCVs or at least have an understanding of the life that we have here. Well, I made friends with a few of these RPCV families who have graciously opened their doors wide open to me. I love where I live and I have friends out here in the mato, but it feels so good to stay a night or two in an actual house with an American family, with people who appreciate the work we’re doing and let us relax into the amenities a bit. Plus many of the people who live here have so many amazing stories and experiences to learn about, I look forward to learning more about their lives.


One highlight from my days in Maputo, besides the REDES success and the REDES-JOMA prank war that we’ve thrown into motion, was Zac-toberfest with several of my new-found friends. Those of you who know me know I’m a fan of good beer. Well! I’ve found myself in the presence of several people who brew their own beer- heavenly!
Another highlight, getting to see Greg and Lisa, two of my very best friends from training. It’s amazing how after knowing someone for 10 weeks and not seeing them for almost a year you can feel like nothing has changed and so completely comfortable with them.


One giant success for me over the last few weeks/ months has been finishing out the school year. I’m officially don’t giving classes and not only am I happy about the decrease in work, I also feel very accomplished. One year down, one to go… I can only assume that the next year will be easier, already having lesson plans written up, knowing a bit more about classroom punishment, and having made a name for myself. My students seem to like me but also understand that I won’t take any BS. An accomplishment within teaching for me came when I was grading their final writing assignment- to see the growth they’ve made throughout the year. For their first assignment they wrote 10 sentences on malaria- out of 280 students I think I had, tops, 8 versions, everyone else either copied or didn’t do it. Throughout the year less and less people were copying, more people were actually turning in their papers, and this last assignment, 250+ words about their future plans and how finish school will help them, I had almost 100% participation and not a single copied paper, not to mention all of them were actually well written. That may not sound huge, but for me it’s… ugh, there are no words. I’m going to miss my students- I can’t say I’m become personally close to any of them, but they’ve been with me almost every day of the week during the toughest year of my life, helping me through it and giving me the support and encouragement to keep going. Granted, they’ve also contributed greatly to my stress, but I’ve gained much more from them than I thought I would have.


Conselhos- finishing up classes, preparing grades, doing paperwork- conselhos is the vain of my existence. Seriously! Out of the 18/28 (depending on who cares to show up) other teachers at my school, there is one I look forward to working with during conselhos. He’s very Mozambican, yet he has a strong work ethic, works quickly, doesn’t complain, and can pick up on things quickly. With every other teacher it’s like I’m working with a 4th grader. Normally not so, I enjoy my colleagues, but something about conselhos brings out the worst in them. Needless to say I was at school for 4 days, 9 hours each day, and was productive for about 4 of those 36 hours. I did read a fabulous book, Reading Lolita in Tehran, got some journal writing in, and did a lot of waiting, trying to help people get the show on the road. I’m so grateful it’s over.


Halloween! I spent the Saturday before relaxing on the beach, soaking up some much needed sun and solidarity, and eventually met up with 10 other volunteers to have a superhero themed Halloween celebration. I’ll admit, probably my favorite part of the night was watching the VH1 Top Male Video countdown (Michael Jackson #3, John Lennon #2, Elvis #1) with Alicia and Jenna. Tremazing made her appearance, along with Rehydration Girl, Sugar and Spice, and Day Woman (among others).


Embarrassing moment of the month: Today, while giving a preparation class to my 12th graders I turned the corner around a desk a bit too sharp and caught the back pocket of my jeans… Yeah, I ripped the behind practically right off myself. Not only was I in front of people, I was in front of my students, in a conservative village where any exposed skin above the calf is considered intolerable. Awesome. Well, I’d say I usually get flustered and embarrassed pretty easily, however today I just started laughing, joked around for a minute about what a klutz I am, then excused myself to go change my pants. I was more embarrassed by the fact that I can’t even judge my own width anymore.