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.

Oh Africa...

I was putting on mascara the other day, getting ready to go to class, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a goat, standing in my living room looking into my bedroom watching me. Really!? I’m used to the goats, dogs, chickens, and children hanging out on my stoop but I wasn’t ready to have them in my house.

Randoms

After coming back from REDES, life was a bit of a rollercoaster. I went to teach class on Monday, first day of the nex trimester, and none of my sutdents were there. Not really none- out of 280 I believe I have about 15 or 20. So, didnºt get to teach my well planned out phrasal verbs lesson. Then, I was told I would no longer be teaching 12th grade but instead move down to 11th because we were getting a new teacher. I was confused about the switch for a while, but i continued to teach my classes Tuesday and Wednesday (thankfully) and Wednesday night I was reassigned to 12th grade, but now with only 4 turmas not my original 6. So Iºll be sad to lose two of my classes but my work load will be a bit easier to handle now. Well, I caught my classes back up to where they needed to be, and I headed out for the weekend. Iºm currently sitting on a mission, at Scooterºs site, waiting for her to get out of class. I got in yesterday afternoon and Iºve had a great time since. The mission not only has a school but an orphanage for young girls, so yesterday and today Iºve been runnning around and playing with all the young girls and talking tothe nuns when I find my Portuguese. Itºs such a welcoming and comfortable environment here- I feel completely at ease. Also, I met up with two of the girls from my group at REDES lst week, Sandra and Sandra. They were so excited to see me and it was wonderful to catch up a bit with them. Well, looks like Iºm off for now- should be a fun weekend- and I promise to get better at this blog writing.

REDES

This entire past week I have been at a conference in Xai Xai with girls from my REDES group. REDES is a program to educate and empower young girls of Mozambique, definitely a project I am very interested in continuing and emproving upon in my town. Well, this week we had a conference and I was able to bring two girls from my town. It was such an amazing time! In all we had about 90 people there, about 15 of those were PCVs the rest Mozambican teachers and young girls. Everything about the week was great, but one thing that really hit me was what an oppotunty this is for these girls. For most of the people coming to the conference, this is the first and possibly only time they will stay in a hotel and be waited on the way they were. Girls here in Moz are sued to waking up early, cleaning, cooking, taking care of the family, maybe having the chance to go to school, working in the machambas, and not really having much of a chance to enjoy their youth and freedom as kids. Well, this week the girls didnºt have to clean, didnºt cook, had hot showers, got to learn, play, and meet people from all over the southern region of Moz. Not to mention we were staying on the beach. An added bonus. It was a lot of work for us volunteers but i canºt imagine another way iºd rather spend my energy and time. It was a very rewarding experience. Also, I was a counselour for one of the groups, andI got to know some of the girls very well. By the end of the week I was like their mom away from home- theyºd come to me with questions, problems, or when they were excited about something. The girls in my group were the oldest at the conference, 21years old and up, so it was a bit easier to empathize with them on certain things, but by the end of the week I really felt like iºd established friendships and bonds with the girls. It was hard to say goodbtye, knowing I probably wonºt get to see these girls again. But what an amazing conference.

R & R

I spent the entire day on my porch with my neighbors reading, playing cards, talking, listening to music, and just sitting. My neighbor Suma comes over often to practice English, learn new words, and give me new music he’s found, so today we spent the majority of the day trading said words and music. He’s also, slowly, trying to teach me Changana, but really I’m not getting too far there. I’ve got the introductions ok, but beyond that it’s starting to all sound like vowels and whistling pushed together. Anyways, it was another big day on the friend front for me today because I feel like I actually have a friend now, not just an acquaintance- I have someone who I can have a legit conversation with (in a mix of English and Portuguese) and who I actually enjoying spending time with, rather than feeling obligated and uncomfortable. Plus, since he’s younger, I don’t have to take myself so seriously or have to watch what I say and how I act, like I do when I’m around colleagues. One word to describe today would be Relief.

Dia de Mulher

Very cool day. They don’t have Mother’s Day here, instead they celebrate all women, Mozambican or not  The morning started with a ceremony out in primero bairro (first neighborhood- I live in the seventh). I went with my neighbor Professor Nelson, and I got to wear my Dia de Mulher capoolana. It has a picture of Josina Machel, the wife of the first President of Mozambique, who is commemorated on April 7th. Once at 1st bairro we met up with other professors and students, we sang the national anthem, and then gathered under a tree for the ceremony. I was asked to sit up in the front, with the school director, and two other women. I was hesitant at first but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. But it turned out great- I had a front row seat to the dancing the older women did, the dancing and singing of the small primary school kids, they skit my students put on, and the commemoration speech dedicated to Josina Machel. Director was wonderful, explaining what was going on when people were speaking in Changana, and giving me short history lessons about Dia de Muhler. It was great to see all the women of the town getting into the ceremony and the men taking more of a backseat. Women here are absolutely amazing, and I was proud to participate in a day to honor them. I actually thought that they were going to ask me to say something, seeing as though everyone else I was sitting with was participating in the ceremony, but in the end I didn’t. But I had a few words prepared in Portuguese, so I was ready just in case.

After the ceremony, I caught a ride back home, did some laundry, some cooking, and some test preparation (it’s finals week at school), then Prof Nelson invited me to a soccer game. Because Mozambicans tend to be quite behind schedule, even though I was an hour and a half late to the game they were still waiting for players, so I kicked the ball around with my students for a bit. They were surprised that I could keep up (but just barely) and it was pretty refreshing spending some time with my students outside of the classroom. The game ended up being between students that live at the internato (boarding school) and students from another bairro. I think I was the only girl at the field, but I’m getting used to that. We ended up winning 2-1, just in time to watch the sun go down.

I had dinner at Professora Carlota’s house with Prof Telma, Prof Edward, Prof Armindo, and Prof Fenias. I probably spent more time talking to Carlota’s kids and Telma’s nieces than I did the adults, but my language is still slowly coming along. Regardless, I feel like I’m actually starting to fit in. I think today was one of the first days where I’ve felt like a friend rather than a foreigner. It was pretty great.

Easter Weekend

This week has been a pretty rewarding week. After spending what seemed like forever away from site, in Maputo and Xai Xai, I got back and had a successful few lessons, preparing my students for their upcoming trimester finals. At least I really hope I prepared them- I’ll know a bit better Friday after they’ve taken the test. Prepared or not, I felt great about this last week, like I was finally getting somewhere with them.
This weekend has been pretty nice. I don’t teach on Thursdays and Friday was Good Friday so no afternoon class, so it was a four day weekend. I did a lot of reading, napping, cooking, and wandering. Valerie came to visit on Friday- it was great to have my first visitor! It was a little strange, and because it was a holiday weekend my town was absolutely deserted, but I think she enjoyed it. On Friday we went to my adopted family’s house (they have taken me in and are absolutely amazing). We talked for a few hours but fugired (fugir = to leave, or escape really) before we were roped in for the 5 hour long dinner process. Instead we went back on Saturday, ate lunch, and made peanut butter cookies. Delicious! They offer to let me use their oven all the time, and after having made these cookies, I think I’m going to take them up on that offer and see if I can’t perfect a few things while I’m over here. Not really sure if they liked them (they’re not used to peanut butter) but if not they were still very gracious about it all. Saturday morning we had a brief thunderstorm. Woke me up just before 6 and by 7:30 I had the all my basias and bidons (buckets) full of fresh rain water, the dishes washed, laundry soaking, and breakfast made- all before miss Val was up. I’m still not sure how she slept through it all- the thunder was the loudest thunder I think I have ever heard. It was insane.
Today, I negared (negar = to decline, or reject) from going to church, even though it’s Easter Sunday. But a 5 or 6 hour long service in Changana just didn’t seem like the most exciting way to spend my afternoon. Instead, I sat on my stoop, watched my geese, goats and chickens that went by, read a good book, and played with Lucy. My neighbor brought me some cake and flan she’d made, which was delicious, and in the evening her sons and a few other people came over the chat and hang out. Usually I like to be in my house relaxing once the sun goes down, but today was so enjoyable hanging outside with them. There was (and probably still is) a lightning storm going on off in the distance so I was watching that as well as talking with them, practicing my Portuguese and Changana. At one point the boys were making fun or me for being afraid of a beetle that was hanging out on the stoop with us, but only a few minutes later said beetle (who was at least the side of a golf ball, with a huge hooked nose- disgusting) had flown right into my head and was taking up a residence in my hair. They thought it was hilarious as it burrowed but regardless they helped to get it out. This is why I don’t like bugs- they seem to love me.
It was a very relaxing week and weekend, and I’ve felt very much a part of my community lately. I’m obviously always going to be an outsider, but within the last week I’ve felt a bit more a part of things. Between having my new ‘family’ really taking me in, and my neighbors coming over just to be around, I’m feeling really great about things. I’m hoping that feeling continues 

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.