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.

Rollercoaster of a week

First week of school is over and done with- what a trip. I may have shed a few tears in both frustration and discouragement, but they didn’t see me cry so I still have the upper hand. Student 0, Anna 1. I did kick out a student- I first threw chalk at her (told you the throwing would happen eventually). Hopefully she knows not to sleep in my class from now on. So I’ve come to realize, even though I’m suppose to teach an elevated level of English in 12th grade, I’m going to have to start back with basics and pretty much review for an entire trimester. As I said earlier there are those few students that really do know a lot, but the majority are really struggling. I’m trying to stay optimistic! I just really want to be a good teacher. And it’s so much harder to teach my native language than I thought it’d be! I’m definitely brushing up on the basics, or at least trying to.
So, school aside, I made a friend last week. She was a student last year and friends with the last volunteer, so she and her family have kind of adopted me because they know how hard this is for me right now. The first day I came over, we made cookies, ate lunch, and talked. The next day I came by just to say hi but ended up staying for a good five hours just hanging out. Today was the best- I came home from the ‘city’ and walked over to their house on my way home. I was warmly greeted, handed a chair, and involved in conversation right away. We sat and chatted for an hour without awkward silences or conversation happening around me rather than involving me. It may not seem like much, but it felt hug to me. It felt like I actually belonged somewhere. After four months of being on the outside I finally felt part of something. Total highlight.

SCHOOL!

Today was my first day of classes!! Well, kind of. We were supposed to start last Monday, but then things got postponed, so we started Thursday. However, on Thursday I had literally zero students come to class out of all four classes (only one other professor showed up) and on Friday I had a total of seven students (and one other professor) so I don’t really feel like those counted as my first days. So today I had five douplas- five sets of two 45 minutes classes. Forty-five minutes can be a long time! I didn’t really know exactly how to prepare for all the classes because I had no idea the level I’d be walking into, but it wasn’t too much of a train wreck. I had a few students that could carry on conversations with me in English and others that didn’t know how to say good afternoon- all in the same class. The way they divide classes here has nothing to do with the level of the student, it’s based on when they registered or their age (depends on the mood of the person forming the turma (class). Anyways, it became very clear very quickly that I’m going to have a few students who are where they should be after six years of learning English and many students who can’t form a sentence. I’ll have to start from the basics, move quickly, and be patient yet forceful. There was one moment where I thought I might either faint or throw my notebook at a student, but it worked out that I did neither. I think the throwing will happen first. I let the students ask me questions- in English- the popular ones were am I married, do I have a boyfriend, how old am I, how many kids do I have, who’s my favorite student, and one student asked did I think the political shift between president Bush and president Obama was a good thing for my country. Huh?!?! Well, the power was out all day, which didn’t really matter because we don’t use lights during the day, but once the sun started to go down and the students started to leave I was pretty much SOL. I was somewhat bummed that I couldn’t teach my last class, but getting out an hour and a half before I was supposed to wasn’t really that bad.
Now I’m sitting, eating and typing by candlelight, melting away from the heat and humidity. It’s been around 34 and 35 for the last few days- that’s in the 90’s, which doesn’t actually sound too horrible. But believe me, when you don’t have AC, no fan (remember no power!), no breeze, and you have to wear a bata (button-up lab coat for teachers) all day, ninety-something is disgustingly hot.
Oh, and I have an ‘intern” type figure who follows me around. He’s a Mozambican university student who was a Portuguese teacher for four years but is now becoming an English teacher, and is about to start his internship elsewhere yet wants a bit of experience first. I find it strange that he’s asking me for advice about how to lesson plan and give said lessons when he’s been teaching for four years longer than I have, but hey- what can ya do. I’m really hoping I learn a thing of two from him in the process.
So I had my students complete a few sentences- here are my favorite answers. “I am tall boy”, “I like to drink”, “I am wonderful and thin boy”, “I like to matapa” (matapa is my favorite food here- but when I read that it made me think of some kind of dance “I can mash potato”), “I like to chicken”, “I like to pass this class.”
The last few weeks have been a weird limbo between not being on ferias (vacation) anymore yet not having solid/ consistent work. It was a bit hard to know what to do with myself or how to feel about what was going on around me, but after today I have hope that once I get into the swing of classes and my students get a bit more comfortable with me it’ll start to come together a bit more.

More pics

The top are all from swear in, the one with all the boys is at our family party (my brother´s the one holding up the peace sign) and the last is me and my host mom cooking.

Change in Address!

I’ve added my new address for mailing letters- they’ll get to me a bit faster (hopefully). If you decide, out of the goodness of your heart ;), that you want to send a package, send it to the (new) Maputo address on this blog, that way I don’t have to deal with customs. Not sure if I’ve already mentioned this, but due to Mozambican curiosity to see what’s in packages and possibly take what they like, write “jesus saves” or something along that line on the outside of the package- this seems to have helped previous volunteers. Also, when writing what’s in the package, no need to be exactly accurate on what you’re sending; it could be religious reading/teaching materials, tampons… Just an idea.

p.s. The 4:45am jog mentioned in the previous blog did not happen. I was too tired. But I did find out if I go jogging at 5 or 6pm I don’t have as much of an audience, and no livestock, just kids. And I saw another snake- huge! Practically the size of my leg! (maybe not my leg but bigger than my arm for sure). Dead but still scary. It put the garden snakes I was seeing during training to shame. I’m really hoping I don’t run in to a living one…

p.p.s The pics are old but I'm posting them! Be happy

Beautiful Sunrise

I started my morning running again. Last night Nando took me on a little tour of our neighborhood and showed me the road that leads out of town, where it’d be best to go running. This morning was beautiful, watching the sun come up. I had first thought I’d be somewhat alone at 5am, but there were SO many people (and livestock) walking out to the machamba (large garden- working field). It was a little uncomfortable at first, having everyone stare, but I got over it after a few minutes. I’ve heard stories of volunteers that run through their towns and are followed by children- I instead was followed by cows. When I’d pass a small heard of cows, they’d see me and start running along with me. The first time I was a little scared because I thought maybe they were chasing me, sharp horns and all, but after the third group I got used to it. We’d jog together for a hundred yards or so and then they’d get bored and stop and I’d continue on to pick up another heard. I’m thinking I may have attracted a bit less attention if I’d been running without the cows but what could I do? Tomorrow Nando and Professora Telma have both asked to join me, and I’m interested to see what happens. Most Mozambicans don’t understand the idea of running- it’s lost on them. And when they do go for a job, it’s usually 10 minutes and then they get bored. Then again Nando says he used to go running with Matt and Paulo (two volunteers that were here before me) so we’ll see.
The tour last night was beautiful, as the sun was going down. My town is very flat and there are no mountains or hills for as far and I can see, so it’s definitely a different view than I had during training. Once you get out of my town, about a ten minute walk from my house, there are no other towns for about 4km, nor are there trees or tall bushes, so it’s quite a flat view. Anyway, it was beautiful both last night and this morning, and I’m interested to see the sunrise again tomorrow at 4:45am with my fellow joggers.
On our walk last night, we came across the cemetery for our bairro (neighborhood). It was the first time I’d walking through a cemetery here in Mozambique. All the graves were above ground which is a change from cemeteries in the states, and this change made me notice the size of the graves. Many of them were very small. I guess I can’t say I’m surprised because we (volunteers) have been told children die frequently around here, but it was still hard to see. But it was a beautiful place, with flowers growing on and around the graves.
This morning started with an amazing sunrise and ending with the stars. I’ve gone outside at night only one or twice since I’ve been at site because I’m not a huge fan of the dark or the mosquitoes, but I just went out to brush my teeth and I’m pretty sure I brushed for at least ten minutes. The sky is just full of stars here- it’s amazing. In those ten minutes alone I saw two shooting stars. I’m feeling the backlash from the mosquito bites now but it was worth it. The sky is beautiful.

One Month!!

Not too many things have changed in the last month, but I can only guess with the quickly approaching start to school that my life is about to take a turn. Today is Saturday and we start Monday so I’m looking forward to that.
I bought a fridge! Not sure if I mentioned that in my previous blog, but it’s been quite a help this last week. I finally have cool water, and somewhere to put leftovers. I’ve been cooking a lot lately which has been fun. Today I made roasted peanuts and then coconut rice. It was the first time I opened and ralared (‘ralar’ means to grate- they have a little stool thing here that has a round grate on the front, used for coconuts) on my own! I made coconut milk from the grated coconut, which is delicious, and then sweet rice with cinnamon. It’s been an interesting experience having to start everything from scratch here, even cheese. For example, I bought peanuts the other day, had to soak them, dry them, and roast them before I could eat them. I had to buy a coconut, break it, grate it, make it into milk, and then cook it. Or for sprouts I take beans, soak them in water, and wait five days for sprouts to grow. Cheese is one of my favorites to make because it’s so delicious when I can finally eat it. And I miss cheese. I first thought I could probably lose weight here because of how much work and time goes in to cooking EVERYTHING, but I’m realizing it may take more time, but I’m cooking large quantities and eating everything (because of no fridge) so no worries mom, I’ll be nice and plump when I come home.

**2010**

I found internet two towns away so this might mean I'll be posting more oftne! We'll see...

So Christmas was great! Nine of us volunteers went down to Xai Xai beach for a few days to soak up the sun and speak English for a bit. It didn't feel ANYTHING like Christmas, it being 100 degrees and summertime, no Chirstmas music or decorations, but it was wonderful all the same. We made hambugers and french fries and enjoyed each others company. Chirstmas morning Valerie and i sat under a mango tree after retieving said mangos for a snack, and enjoyed the breeze while (unfortunately) listening to a squeeling pig being made into Christmas dinner. Not something that I've ever experienced in the states for sure. After the beach, I went home for a few days to spend time with my neighbors, althugh most everyone was gone for the holidays. I regret to inform you that my electric porch has been fixed and I now have about 20 kids that come by regularly. I'm learning a bit of Changana so I can tell them to "get away" when necessary, but really they can be a lot of fun. I taught them how to throw a frisbee even though I'm awful at it, so that's been a nice change in activities, rather than them sitting and staring at me. I came back out to Chokwe for New Years, which turned out to be so much fun. Five of us went with a Mozambican friend to his house to celebrate- for the most part the festivities are the same here as in the states. We danced, corked champagne at midnight, had a huge dinner around 11pm, and stayed up as late as we could keep our eyes open. New Years day had to have been about 110 degrees so we stayed inside in front of the fan, made french toast (I'm becoming a good cook!), and eatched movies. Pretty tame, and it was great. We walked down to the Limpopo river and sat under the bridge for a bit watching people swimming in the rivier, and one of our Mozambican friends asked if I was used to all the cows and bulls wandering around in front of us. It's something I'm still trying to get used to.

I'm looking forward to starting school next week. I'm nervous about the whole experience but I'm ready to have something to do with my time. And once school starts there will be more people in my town (the teachers and students willl come back from break) and I'll have more people to converse with and practice my Portuguese with.

We (those of us in Gaze; Clancy, Valerie, Jenna and Louise) have come to the realization that all the things that used to shock us when we first got here (no running water, lack of electricity, chickens in the yard, carrying water on my head,the herds of cows walking down the street, the market, my two to three baths a day, peeing in a whole... the list goes on) no longer seem that strange. It's become comfortable. I miss my family and friends like CRAZY, especially during the holiday season, but i know things will get easier.

And I'll try to get some pictures up! Definitely something I'll work on in these next few weeks. But feel free to blog-stalk other Moz volunteers and look at their pics. I know some of you already do ;)

Holidays!

Almost at the end of week two in my new place! It feels like home most days but I’m still getting used to not having running water or knowing if I’ll have electricity. The temperature has been in the 90s and 100s all week so that’s been quite a change from Alaska. I keep telling people in my town it’s going to take me some time to get used to because I’m from a place that is cold and has lots of snow, but the people here can’t conceptualize anything less than 60 degrees so it’s been a little tough to explain.
Christmas is right around the corner, so all of us in my province are headed to the beach for the weekend to bask in the sun (not that I need any more sun but why not), grill out, and drink mimosas. Most of us are not thinking of it as Christmas break but more as a chance to get together and share stories from our first two weeks at site. It’s strange not having snow on the ground and holiday music playing constantly, but in a way it’s nice.
Ok- fun facts. Sand is everywhere- a nice change from constant mud. The sky is always blue, cloudless, and gorgeous. Not many trees but the ones we do have are huge and beautiful. Several trees in town are right out of The Lion King so that’s pretty cool. (For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, think of the most stereotypical African tree, and that’s it.) My house has cement floors and walls with a tin roof- I feel like I’m in an oven all the time. I don’t actually have an oven or a fridge but I’m learning to cook little by little. I can cook an egg on my floor- I did it on accident yesterday. I cracked my one and only egg into a container to beat it, set it on the floor to prepare a few other things, and when I came back it was already cooked. Who needs a stove when I have heated floors! I have cockroaches that fall from my ceiling. I actually just killed two that fell onto my couch as I was typing this blog. While raking my sand yard the other day, I threw a rock into my lixo pit (a hole dug in the ground where I put all my trash- and where children like to find new toys) and accidentally hit a chicken. I have neighborhood galinhas do mato (“bush chickens” that I’m pretty sure are turkeys) that squawk from four am until ten at night (and I thought roosters were bad!). My neighbors and colleagues are so friendly and helpful and are making my first few weeks here very enjoyable and comfortable. Professora Telma invited me over for dinner to make Matapa (coconut milk, crushed peanuts, and green leafy veggies- amazing!) and Professora Carlota has come by with cooking and fruit and other yummy treats. Every day several herds of cows and bulls come through town. Because they take up the whole road, I usually have to move to the side of the road in the bushes to get out of the way. I’m sure they’re not harmful but when I have sixty sets of horns coming at me a get a little nervous. My laundry dries outside within 10 minutes which is awesome. Then again yesterday I had to look through my health manual and find out how to get rid of the bugs that attach themselves to cloths left outside to dry. They’re not pleasant- believe me. I have about 14 neighbor criancas (children) that like to play on my porch (so much for it shocking kids). They typically stand in my doorway and watch whatever I’m doing, usually reading. Stare and scream are what they’re best at. A few are pretty adorable, but it’s sad to see them with their distended bellies and ringworm covered heads. And let me note my power has gone out six times in the last 10 minutes. It makes me cherish the moments when I can use my fan. All in all, many funny moments throughout the days due to things previously mentioned. I’ve learned to laugh at most things and really appreciate the things I used to take for granted. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it here. I wouldn’t change a thing about my situation, even the spider that lives in my kitchen. It just takes time to get used to.

Wish List!!! I know I won’t get any of this by Christmas, or New Years, but think of them as valentines wishes 
**Powder drink mix (ice tea, Gatorade, Kool Aid, lemonade)
**More drink mixes
**Powder cheese from Mac and Cheese boxes
**Brownie or cookie mix
**Letters!
**Powder soup mix (Really any powder mixes- i'm craving it all!)
**Cute tank tops
**Visitors!!

Happy Holidays to all!!

Suprise!

Fun fact about me new house- my porch shocks people. There must be some loose wiring under my house because randomly if someone steps on my stoop they get a surge of electricity running though them. This fact was first discovered when Telma and Carlota (my two women colleagues) were helping me clean my house and Telma couldn’t leave the porch because every step she took she got shocked. We gave her some flip flops and she was fine. Two days ago the same thing happened to me- I could feel the electricity through my feet and into my legs. So strange! Well, yesterday, these two little girls kept estou pediring me (“estou pedir” means “I’m asking”- it’s almost like begging here) yet I couldn’t tell them no because I don’t know Changana yet. They decided to get closer and estou pedir from my porch- they both got shocked. Not bad, but enough to scare them and make them question if they really want to get close to the new crazy Americans house. Maybe I’m a witch? They don’t know what happened. Needless to say, I’ve had less visitors to my front porch.

Making it work

The people are so incredibly friendly! I went to the market today because all I had in the house to eat was more rice (which I ate for lunch and dinner yesterday), and it was definitely an awkward experience with everyone staring at me with dropped jaws, but the few that said hello back were very sweet and welcoming, and most already knew my name. In less than 24 hours the fofoka train (gossip) has spread through the town. I think what makes things a bit more awkward is that not everyone speaks Portuguese here. Most people (all the kids and almost everyone over the age of 30) only speak Changana, the local language. It’s tough at the moment, because when I have a heard of children sitting at my door I can’t talk to them or get them to go away because I don’t know the language (again! I was getting so good at the Portuguese thing and then this is thrown at me). At least when I leave here in two years I’ll be able to say I’ve learned at least two languages.
Ok so this morning was my first morning of living alone- sad for a bit, not sure what to do, but it turned out pretty good. My fellow English teacher Silvino came by to make sure I was ok and to ask how my first night went. I walked through the market- the only foods we seem to get here are onions, tomatoes, potatoes, mangos… that’s actually about it. I found two cucumbers and bought them both, found a few eggs, and there were definitely a few live chickens but I’m not ready to take that on solo yet. I have a feeling I’m going to be eating many of salads in the coming months. I met up with the teachers again today and learned a bit about how they do the end of the year grading and whatnot. And they all keep commenting on how well I speak for only being here ten weeks, and that’s such an amazing compliment and so encouraging to hear. I think I fake my Portuguese knowledge well ;)