Boleia

I got a ride from a group of divers today on my way back home from the beach. It not being a chapa, it was not only comfortable and safe but their hospitality was above and beyond what I was prepared for. They stopped in Xai-Xai to do a bit of shopping- chips, soda, water, the essentials- and one of the men looked at me and said “I hope we aren’t offending you by this, but we wanted to buy you a few things to take back to site. We really appreciate all the work you’re doing here and we’d like to say thank you.” First I was blown away, and then almost in tears. I watched as they loaded a shopping basket full of cheese, soy milk, sausage, yogurt, chocolate, coffee, and more and more… I had said earlier in the car that where I lived it was difficult to find certain things, and I hadn’t realized they’d been making a mental list. I was/am blown away by their sweet gesture and now I will have a happy belly for weeks to come.

Matt!

Matt, the Moz 10 volunteer from my site came through for a few days to visit. I had such a fantastic time! It was such a pleasure to spend time with someone who has not only experienced Peace Corps and come out the other end still intact, but to talk to someone that knows exactly what I’m going through- who my friends are, how the school and neighbors treat me, the particular challenges I’m faced by this particular town- I’m so happy he came through! We talked, cooked, spent time with friends he had when he lived here (pretty much the people that befriended me when I arrived), and both wished at the end of it all that we had a few more days to relax, hang out, and catch up. We parted ways at the turnoff to his favorite beach where I hope he spent some much needed time relaxing and catching some fabulous Mozambican sun.

Work work work

School finished about 2 weeks ago. We had testing for a week, a week of classes, and then two days of test corrections and learning songs. I taught my 12th graders the song from the world cup- “Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher…”- and it was hilarious! At first they thought they were too cool to sing in class, but once they had the words they got so into it. We definitely disturbed every other class in session at the time. And one of the best parts, the next day I heard 11th graders and a few 8th graders singing the song with the correct words. They shared.
Well, after classes were done we started conselhos- collecting the grades for each class and writing it all out. What a process! Let me break down the school system here a little bit. Sorry if I repeat myself. So a turma is a group of 35-55 students all in the came grade. They sit in the same room all day and teachers come to them to teach. Students don’t get to choose which classes they take or what level they take- it’s all the same. And each teacher is in charge of a turma (like homeroom?) and this Director de Turma (DT) is in charge of collecting all the grades and absences from each professor and determining who’s passing and who’s missed too many classes to continue through to next trimester. So, because I’m not a DT I was able to bounce around and help people. It’s A LOT of tedious busy work- reading off lists of grades and copying them 4 times to the various books and paltas (giant list of students and grades- one for each turma). I pointed out that if we worked together in groups of 3 or 4 we could all write the same grades at the same time on the various sheets and get things done 3 to 4 times as fast. They were blown away by my efficiency. Thanks America. Anyways, a few days of that and I was pulling my hair out. This week we started 10th grade testing for students that don’t go to school but are home-schooled (kind of- they’re all older and I’m guessing more don’t study). It reminded me a lot of SATs but much more drawn out and boring. Well, today I started grading the English exams. Some short answer, multiple choice, and essay. The average score- 5. Out of 77 students there were 3 that had above a 9. That means 3% of the students passed, and I was being generous. It was pretty depressing. I really hope my kids do a bit better than that. The best part about the past week- free lunch.

Strange thing just happened. It started raining, but only on one side of my house. I opened both doors- out of one the sky was grey and water was pounding down on my porch, and the other side the sky was blue and sunny. It’s raining on both sides now, but for about 5 minutes there my brain just couldn’t make sense of what was going on.

Sleepover!

Jenna and Valerie finally came to visit me this weekend, and what a fun time! I know I love to have my own space and I’m so thankful I’m at site by myself, but I hadn’t realized how lonely I was until I had people here with me. They came walking up to my house at the end of daycare time, when I had ten or so kids drawing on my porch, so they got a very exciting welcome to the neighborhood. Other than feeling like we were on exhibit in a zoo, things were pretty calm. We had originally planned on digging my machamba on Sunday, but because I’m still waiting for a gate to close my new fence, we decided to wait until I can keep goat, ducks, kids and chickens off my space. Good company, relaxing weekend- wonderful. Not only did I have friends over, but said friends brought me bananas, eggplant, cheese and wine. Goddesses. We made eggplant parmesan (with Gouda- parm is impossibly expensive. Care package?), drank our wine, woke up and made french toast, and I convinced them to stick around for grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. It was the most decadent and delicious weekend I’ve had since arriving at site. I’m looking forward to their next visit, even if it’s another 3 or 4 months away.

Eye-opener

On my way back from Maputo I got a ride from a nice American family of four that was driving up to the beach. Not only was it a safe, quick, stress free ride, I also got to talk to a different kind of person than I’m used to- someone who is just visiting this country and still not used to all the crazy and peculiar stuff that goes on here. I had a fabulous time talking and answering all sorts of questions they had about Mozambique and my experience here. I’m sure the two boys who were trying to read/sleep got pretty annoyed with me but maybe they soaked up a thing or two. This family had such fresh eyes. They pointed out things I’ve come to take as normal or just blah, like the huge street market on the way out of Maputo, or the men making bricks in the little huts next to the road, or the way I bought tangerines and cashews and phone credit on the side of the road. It was a very refreshing experience. And it makes me so excited to be able to show my own visitors around my host country. As I was getting out and saying goodbye, the mother offered me some granola bars- I don’t think she’d ever seem anyone SO excited about granola bars! I accepted graciously and ate one on the next part of the trip home. It tasted like a candy bar. Note to readers- care package? ;)

New running mate

I met a man running the other day. Is name is Jonas. He scared me half to death the first time he started running with me- he was just walking along talking to two women when I passed him and he started jogging along with me, machete in hand. Once I noticed his big grin I wasn’t quite as terrified, yet still curious. After a few days of brief, 30 yard jogs with me, he decided to stick it out for awhile. We jogged for about 3 km talking about his life and about me and what the crazy running molungo is doing in this little town. I’ve really enjoyed chit chatting with him when I see him around town and out working in the fields. I made a new friend.

Birthday at the beach!

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.

little things in life

Sometimes it just takes a smile to make my day. A smile and a flower.

I was walking down the street in Maputo and decided that I wanted to buy myself flowers. Sometimes you just have to, right? Well, being a Peace Corps volunteer I couldn't afford a whole bouquet so I decided to just keep walking. After I got about 10 yards away, the man who was selling the flowers came up behind me and handed me a beautiful blue water lily. He didn't say anything, just smiled at me and walked back to his flowers.

It's beautiful. I love lilies. It's all about the little things in life.

A little variety

I killed 5 different kinds of spiders inside my house the today- one daddy long leg looking guy; a black, small, slow moving guy (he was my favorite, easiest to kill); a typical, large, striped guy; a small jumping spider (they’re all over the place- very common- I hate them); and lastly, a red, light green, and yellow striped leaping spider. Not only did this last one look terrifying, he not only jumped but he leapt around like a frog. Definitely the scariest. It goes without saying I had a nightmare about a giant spider chasing me around, trying to eat me.

Adorable neighbors

The little girl from the brother-sister duo is no longer afraid of me- I’m her new favorite person. I can hear her from yards away yelling “mana Ana! Hello! Hello!” and I see this bouncing child with her little arm furiously waving. Adorable.
I’ve recently taught her to say “bye bye,” so now I hear “Tia Aaaaaaaaaaaana! Helloooooooo! Bye bye!”

mail

Ok, so im retracking my no packages no mail statement- im ready for letters!!! send letters to the address on my blog and packages, you can ask me or my mom about that one :)

Babies with babies

I never seem to get used to the young kids who are taking care of babies. I’m not talking 7 year olds babysitting- that happens too- but I’m more referring to the 4 year old that looks after his two year old sister, or the 5 year old that has an infant strapped to her back. I don’t know who anyone’s parents are, and it doesn’t really seem to matter who the biological parents are because kids in my neighborhood are kids of the neighborhood, children of us all. I do get frustrated every once in a while when I hear a mother or neighbor say “go play at mana Ana’s” or “go ask to draw,” because I get tired and sometimes don’t want a heard of children screaming and fighting on my doorstep, but then again it’s not like it’s hurting me to give them something to do. And these babies watching babies- it’s insane! I have to take a picture of this little brother-sister duo. The little girl is terrified of me but the boy loves to visit and draw, so they’re over here often, and they’re always hand in hand. When she gets freaked out when I say hi to her, he’s right there to make her calm down and explain I’m not a monster. And when the other kids try to take her paper or colored pencil, he’s there at her defense. They are absolutely adorable. Michael, Will- they make me miss you guys more and more everyday.

Field Trip!

The other day Prof Silvino invited me to come with him and some friends up to Massingir district. At the time I had no idea what we’d be doing but I said yes because I wanted a chance to get to know more of Gaza. Turns out it was a provincial gathering of the catholic churches. Anyways- I was told to be at the chapa stop at 5am on Sunday morning. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER! After eight months here and I still take people on their word in regards to time. Well, I was there at 5, I was still there at 5:30 when another chapa full of people left, I was still there at 6:15 when the sun came up, and I was still there at 7:00 when the second bus load of people left. At 7:15 Silvino, Fenias, and Abel showed up. I climbed in the chapa, FINALLY warm, and we immediately got off because the chapa driver wanted more money and we weren’t going to pay. So, I was still at the chapa stop at 8am when our new chapa pulled up. Finally, at 8:15, we were on the road out of town. I wasn’t, nor am I, angry with anyone but myself for actually thinking anything could happen on time.
The three hour ride up was pretty enjoyable. There was lots of singing and chanting and some napping. When we arrived, we saw the last five minutes of the sermon before communion. I was pretty bummed we missed it, but I got to meet up with another volunteer who lives there. She showed me around her town, introduced me to her friends in the village, and we went home and attempted to cook lunch just as the power went out. Such is life. The town was quite enjoyable and I intend to go back again in the near future so I can visit the national park and see a bit more of the town when I’m not quite so sleep deprived.
It was a great day, even with the bumps in the road. And what really made my day was driving back into town as the sun was setting. I spent sunrise and sunset at the chapa stop. At least it was gorgeous- red, orange, blue, purple, all setting over giant bushy trees. I love where I live.

Cultural Festival

Saturday, after work (yes I work Saturdays too), I went to my neighboring town for a cultural festival. I had no idea what I was walking into when I got there and was extremely surprised at what I saw. It turns out, once every two years Mozambique has this kind of cultural festival with theatre, dancing, singing, and food competitions. They have provincial competitions (like the one I saw), the winners go to regionals, and those winners go on to nationals. Some of the dancing and singing was so-so, but some was fantastic! My favorite were a group of guys who were dressed in what I can only imagine was traditional hunting attire, with leather, feathers, and bones attached to them, carrying shields and spears, and dancing to drumming. As usual, I didn’t have my camera but I’ll consiguir pictures from someone soon to post. Anyways, the dancing was definitely my favorite part- the food would’ve been but they wouldn’t let me eat any until after the judges. Not only were the guys dancing, there were old men, old women, a man with one leg, and women with babies on their backs. It was great.
The ride home was quite fantastic as well. I met up with some professors from my school, so during the chapa ride back we got to talking about politics and some difficulties Mozambique is facing. I was sitting between two of my pedagogical directors, two very educated, motivated men in my community, and I was a bit disappointed when both of them conceded that there was nothing they could do to change this problem. They spoke about how if they try to talk about politics in the classroom they could get fired. I used this golden opportunity to explain to them it’s not the knowledge about politics their students need, it’s the capacity to think critically and develop their own ideas. I think after the hour trip home I saw at least one light bulb go off, and it felt really good to finally get through to someone who is more than capable of making a significant difference here in my village.

SWAZI!!

The weekend of May 27th I went to Swaziland with several other volunteers for a music festival- AMAZING!! I started my weekend by going to visit my host family from training. I was a bit hesitant at first to stay with them because I didn’t feel like we had the best relationship while I was living there, but it was an absolutely great night. It was really nice to spend time with Mae and Pai and Valdo again, and to catch up on what they’ve been doing for the last few months. My host dad and I talked a bit as well, and my host mom was surprisingly fun to be around. And walking through the town made it feel like I’d never left. I didn’t spend as much time there as I’d liked, but the time I did spend was quite surreal. So, on to Swaziland. Crossing the boarder was fun for the sole reason that it was my first time leaving the country since arriving here- finally stamped my passport! Swazi was beautiful and complete culture shock. We were all floored at how developed it felt. Every little thing seemed to surprise me- there were trashcans, no wondering goats or cows, people spoke English (for the most part), yet we were still the only white people. The whole speaking English thing actually turned around to nip us a few times- we’ve gotten so accustomed to being the only people to understand our conversations that it was a little embarrassing every once in a while when someone behind us would laugh or raise their eyebrows at what we were saying. Anyways, Scooter, Ann, Emma and I finally made it to our hostel at about noon or so. It was beautiful- not only did it have a pool and an outside bar but also hot, running water, flushing toilets, comfortable beds, and extremely friendly and helpful staff. We were in heaven! We sat down for a celebratory Swazi beer which turned into an 8 hour meet and greet with other travelers staying that the hostel. We met Americans, British, Irish, South Africans, an Australian, a Canadian, an Israeli, and other PCVs from other countries. It was quite a mixture. The festivities started Friday night and once we arrived to the concert, we met up with other PCVs from Mozambique. Saturday morning we woke up with the sun, as usual, and made the trek into town to find a Chinese restaurant we’d seen on our way in the day before. Of course it was closed because it was still breakfast time. Anyways, we spent Saturday afternoon at the hostel chatting with people, napping, and planning our night. The concert that night was amazing- on the main stage during one of the performances men got on the roof and started dancing with giant ropes on fire- it was wild. The music was great of course- performers from all over- Swazi, South Africa, the US, England, everywhere. I was having such a wonderful time on Saturday that when it came time to leave the hostel on Sunday morning I negared. I ate breakfast with Ann, Emma and Scooter, but when they left for Mozambique with a Canadian friend we’d made, I decided to stay and go to the concert for the afternoon. And I’m so glad I did! I hung out with people from the hostel and, even though it was raining all afternoon, the concert was a blast. We drank spiced wine, ate delicious fair food, talked about our experiences traveling, and danced all day. It was very refreshing to meet new people and hear about other stories from Africa and traveling. I will admit, at one point when one of my new friends suggested I just dechar Peace Corps and keep traveling with them, I hesitated before I declined. The people that go backpacking in Africa are definitely of a different breed than those who backpack through Europe. I liked what I found out here. Well, after an absolutely amazing and eye-opening weekend, I made the trek back to Moz. I met up with Clancy, Val and Jenna on the bus to Maputo so that was perfect. We swapped stories, talked about what we bought, who we met, what we ate, and how we can’t wait to go back again next year. The entire weekend was a laugh-fest and I know I’m going to keep the memories I made there with me for a long time.

Creepy Crawly

I killed a spider the size of my hand. I took his picture. It was impressive.
So I was cleaning the mud from my ceiling, and this giant spider crawls out from a crack in my ceiling. I left him alone for a while, because I was cleaning and didn’t really want to deal with it, but once he got close to the floor and looked like me might start running my direction I took action. I was too scared to get close to him (remember, AS BIG AS MY HAND) so instead I threw shoes at him until he couldn’t crawl anymore. Then I squished him and fed him to Lucy. Inhumane, I know, but he was huge and scary.

REDES excitement!

I had a meeting with my school director about our REDES group. The primary focus of the meeting was to secure a location for our meetings, but both my counterpart, Professora Telma, and my director got so into it that we were there about an hour talking about all the different ideas we have for the group and how excited we all are about it. It was so wonderful to see them so into it and supportive. I know that I have support from my school for this project, but it wasn’t until this moment that I really felt like we could do something with it. We’ll see if this enthusiasm continues, but I am hopeful.

Rain

I have been teaching for the last four months or so, and everyday we stand outside under the giant tree to sing the national anthem. Out of all those days outside, today was the first day that it’s rained. And you could hardly call it rain- there was about two minutes of drizzle and then the sun came back out. But it just made me think- every day we are outside and this is the first time it has rained in the afternoon. I’m not in Alaska anymore…
Speaking of, I used a few pictures from home during my lesson today and showing my students said pictures blew their minds. Snow? Ice? What?! It was fun.


I want to mention- I wrote this blog entry a few days ago, and it was true, we hadnºt had rain in a LONG time. Of course, I leave my house this morning to run some errands in town and it starts pouring. I´m more than an hour away from home and everything is closed because of the rain and I´m drenched. Awesome. Just my luck.

Weekend of fun

On Saturday, my school was chosen to host an HIV/AIDS community discussion on the radio. I didn’t know exactly what was going on when I got there but I slowly started figuring things out as people showed up. We pulled desks out from the classrooms (they’re benches with desktops that fit about three people) and put them in the shade underneath the giant tree in our courtyard. At first when we started the desks were full but not too many other people were around, but by the end of the broadcast the whole courtyard was full of people sitting under trees, on esteras, crowded around the desks- it was a pretty nice size crowd. So, Radio Mozambique (‘radio’ is the same in Portuguese) was doing a live two hour broadcast discussing HIV prevention, treatment, and, well I didn’t understand much other than that but I’m sure a lot more was talked about. They spoke in Portuguese, Changana, and Chopi, another Bantu language. Well, I have a hard enough time following Portuguese, so it’s safe to say I understood hardly anything that was said, but it was still pretty fun. So many of my students were there and participating- it was so fun to watch and listen to them. One of my students read a poem she’d written, several performed a skit, and many others participated in the debate and question/answer session. And I was on the radio! Yeah, so one of my students was talking about how HIV affects everyone, regardless of color or nationality- white, black, American, Mozambican. I heard the word mulungo (‘white person’ in Changana) so I laughed a little and shook my head in agreement with him. The announcer saw this and decided to come over and talk to me. Thankfully he spoke fairly slowly so I could understand when he asked me what I thought of the discussion and debate, but I was a bit flustered so I didn’t say much of anything important. I said I thought it was very important to have these types of debates and I was happy to participate, but no other words came to my mind at that moment. Anyways, I was on Mozambican radio! After the broadcast finished I went with Prof Fenias to Prof Silvino’s house for a Missa he was having. A missa is a ceremony held to commemorate the life of someone who has passed. This missa was for Silvino’s father who passed eight years ago. Well, I missed the entire ceremony, going to the church and to the grave, but I did get to participate in the party that followed. I had expected there to be a few people there but I was shocked when that few was actually about 200. People were scattered all over the front and back yards of his house, people crowded around tables, camped out on the ground, under trees- people everywhere. We arrived just in time to eat. There were probably about 20 women around the grill making chicken and cow and serving out plates with potato salad and french fries and salad. It was nuts- they must have killed 100 chickens for this feast, if not more. Side note- a pig is being slaughtered outside my house right now and it’s an incredibly disturbing sound… But back to the party. There were people everywhere eating, dancing, drinking, talking, napping (I guess the drinking had started early so a few people were already talking their midday naps). I sat with the other teachers from my school and it was really nice to have conversations with them outside of the school setting. And as the night went on and they continued to drink (I was putting back juice boxes), the conversations got more and more interesting. We covered many topics, from dancing styles to family planning to American politics to female circumcision to HIV being a commercial disease to polygamy. I learned a fair amount about teachers I’d never talked to before so that was nice. Not everything I learned was encouraging, but it’s nice to know where some of my colleagues stand on some big issues. There was a lot of dancing going on, and I was most impressed by the old woman bustin’ a move on the dance floor (aka patch of dirt under a lemon tree). She had to be at least 70 but MAN she knew how to move! Mom, you would have loved her. I’m so sorry I didn’t have my camera with me. It was quite a party and continued late into the night, although we didn’t stick around too late. Silvino was busy being host the whole night so we didn’t get to talk much and I still have so many questions about missas, but he did tell me today that people continued to come to the party throughout the night and all day Sunday as well. Being a very open, communal culture, he said he was expected to give these people food and drink, even though they were a day late to the party. Anyway, aside from the experience of just being there, learning about a missa is pretty interesting. I think it’s a pretty cool idea, to throw a party to celebrate the life of someone important in your life. From what I know, a family will throw a missa on the one month anniversary of the death, one year, and every year thereafter if they so choose, forever. I remember hearing about a missa when I was in training that was a 30 year anniversary. That’s a lot of parties. Anyways, it was a great party and another very cultural weekend for me.

Mozambican Week

Not that every week isn’t quite Mozambican, but I think something about being completely detached from the outside world has let me get even more into what I’m doing. That or I finally have a schedule that allows me to breathe and enjoy my time here. I choose to think it’s the former. So, this weekend was absolutely great. We finally got some more rain on Saturday- not enough to fill but two of my bidons, but it’s something. And I was able to read about 200 pages of Dark Star Safari, an amazing book. Theroux rights about his trip from Cairo to Cape Town, and even though he’s still in Tanzania at the moment (I’m not quite halfway through the book) I can relate to so much he’s writing about. I’m looking forward to his travels through Mozambique. Sunday was refreshing and educational. I spent about an hour with three little kids on my porch playing and laughing. I’m used to having kids around, but something about today was different- they weren’t “estou a pedir”ing for anything, they were just being kids. I was the tickle monster for a good 30 minutes and it never got old and their laughs were so infectious. It felt really good to just laugh and make other people laugh and smile. At about 10am I went to church with one of my neighbors and students, Nando. We were late, of course, and actually the last two in but I don’t think we missed anything. It was my first church experience in Mozambique and I really enjoyed it. The Padre, who was visiting from a bigger town about an hour away, was Brazilian so he spoke in Portuguese a lot which was nice (plus I wasn’t the only molongo in the building). He spoke Changana very well, and did I lot of his sermon in Changana, but translated almost everything. And what a great sermon- he talked about how in the bible it says to have only one man or one woman in your life, and to stay faithful to this person. He talked about how people here typically have many wives or girlfriends, but that’s a cultural thing, tradition, but not the word of God. He reminded the people that they should follow the bible and stick with one person. I don’t consider myself a religious person, but I thought it was an absolutely perfect message for the people here and I really hope it sunk in to at least a few heads. Anyways, there was singing and dancing and drum beating and more singing- I wish I’d had a video recorder or something. Let’s see if I can recreate something here… The church is just four cement walls about 15 feet high with a tin roof, 20 feet by 60 feet. On the right there are rickety wooden benches and on the left esteras (grass mats). The older women of the village sit on the esteras with their babies while the teenagers and men on the benches. There are probably about 100 to 125 people, so it’s full but not packed. There is a small alter in the front with candles lit, and a small podium to the right. I can’t see who’s playing the drums but I can hear them in the front. And there’s a tambourine as well. Whoever’s playing is responsible for starting up the songs and chants- I have no idea what they’re saying while they’re singing because it’s all in Changana but the harmony is beautiful. At one point all the teenagers stand up and move into the aisle between the esteras and benches and start singing and dancing. The Padre stops them, makes fun of them because they seem tired and unenthusiastic, so when they start again they shake the whole church. Everyone joins in singing, drums are going, tambourine ringing, ai ai ai ai’s coming from the old women… it was pretty moving. I look forward to going again next week. So, after church, I was riding my high and decided not to worry about schoolwork but instead to wander around town and visit with my neighbors. The women in the market were very excited to teach me a few new phrases, which I’m sad to say I can’t remember anymore, but I’m sure they’ll be just as excited to teach them to me again tomorrow. I ralared a few coconuts and buscared water (buscar = to fetch) on my head. That’s right, on my head. It was a nice break on my arms but rough on the neck. The well close to my house was just fixed so I intend on buscaring my water more often rather than having to rely on someone else. Watch me come back looking like a linebacker… Suma came over and we traded more music, read some of Dark Star Safari, cooked dinner, and learned some Portuguese. I’m going to miss having a friend around when he goes to Maputo. I’m also going to deeply miss coconut milk when I come back to the states. I put it in almost everything I cook, and it’s delicious. Maybe I’ll just move to Hawaii…

All before 10am...

Today got off to a running start for sure! I’ll admit, the last few days I’ve been sleeping in, trying to catch up on some sleep lost this weekend, but today was eventful from the get go. I was out my door by 6am and within my first four hours I watched the sunrise, met two English teachers that had been students of Emily, a Moz 12 volunteer in Xai Xai, I was on 7 different chapas, was recognized in three different towns, was mistaken for two different volunteers, learned all about the African Leadership Academy and helped a young boy with his application, bought a phone and got a free MCEL t-shirt (it’s exciting, believe me), and listened to Eminem, 50cent, DMX and techno. I was home by noon and took advantage of the extremely hot afternoon and napped on my couch while watching episodes of 30 Rock. I never did get my phone working, due to faulty MCEL service, but I have faith. This evening I made a delicious dinner with lentils and rice, and while eating I watched a spider jump across my floor. We definitely have jumping spiders all over here, but they’re typically pretty small and only jump when they’re trying to get away from being crushed by my flip flop. The one tonight was different- he was pretty big and was jumping around my living room like a frog. I’ll admit, I was too scared to get close enough to examine him or get a description, but I know he was creepy and I don’t look forward to finding more of them. On a positive note, I’ve been bat free for a few days now. I’m sure they’re not gone, but at least they haven’t been squeaking and creepily watching me at night.

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.