So, since February we haven’t had any real rain to speak of. Maybe once or twice is all. This means that by September everything here is D-R-Y. There are 2 paved road in the entire town which means any slight breeze and you have giant dust daredevils spinning all around you and nothing you can do to stop it. It gets in your hair, sticks to your lip-gloss, and coats your feet in the red dust that is the dirt here. Ugh. Luckily our water situation was never awful. I know of others who could only take baths every other day because of a lack of water in their town. We just complained when there wasn’t enough water to water the vegetables in the garden.
Suffice to say, we just got our first big downpour yesterday, October 5th. Huge torrents of muddy water came off the roof (washing off previously mentioned dust), the slight hill we climb to get to the town was a mini-creek, and an umbrella was a necessity, not an option like I’m used to in Oregon. I am now over my umbrella shame and carry around a giant one everyday now.
Now, we will have the opposite problems of the dry season. Our clothes will start taking days to line dry in the humidity, I’ll have mud caked to the back of my legs and all over my feet and shoes, the power will go out inexplicably for hours everyday. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 am—if the power’s on you cook whatever food you want to cook because you never know when you’ll have power again. Also bathing whenever the electricity is on unless you want a cold-water bath (which some days you do).
Number one plus of rainy season---Mangos! Papayas! Pineapples! Oh my
Thursday, October 6, 2011
One Year Anniversary!!
September 28th marked the 1 year anniversary of my departure to Africa. In some ways it seems so long ago and in others it seems like just yesterday.
Some of the things I miss:
--Reliable and familiar foods. I can no longer imagine walking into a grocery store and having thousands of items to choose from (just think about it—how many different chip options are there? Ruffled or plain; flavors; white corn, yellow corn, the options are endless!!). I get really excited when I get to a store in the city that has potato chips (tomato, chicken or beef flavored). I miss: boneless skinless chicken, ground meat, sour cream, tilamook cheese, corn chips, salsa, ready-made tortillas, skim milk, broccoli, asparagus, bacon, lean meat, constant access to every vegetable needed for any dish you want to cook, sausage, and different spices.
I also miss (in no particular order):
Seatbelts, running water, high heels, cushy couches, constant electricity and phone network, full keyboard cell phones, chocolate, television, new episodes of tv, fast internet, constant access to family and friends, guaranteed original electronic products, driving, always knowing the correct social etiquette for any given situation, not being constantly stared at, marked prices at stores, fitted bed sheets, and not worrying about language ability (will this person understand Portuguese? Or do they only understand the local language?).
I have been spending inordinate amounts of money on the big C’s—cheese, chocolate and Coke Light. On a possibly unrelated note, I’ve gained back a few lbs…
Things that I love:
Dance parties can and will break out at anytime, anywhere; I have adjusted to my student’s poor English so much so that if they manage to stutter out even 3 words I get the general idea of what they’re trying to say; Everyone constantly talking to you and being (generally) super friendly and helpful; Not being stressed out by a job; Easy access to amazing beaches; Having a network of ~200 people that I can travel and stay with at the drop of a hat; after about 4pm the sun is a beautiful red; my kids carrying my backpack to class for me
Things I will never get used to:
Corruption, cheating, passive-aggressiveness, cows roaming free at out large market (seriously, Mozambicans are terrified of dogs but a giant cow with horns walks by and they don’t even blink), unscheduled transportation (the bus goes when it fills), unexplained power outages, eating goat meat, all the goats and chickens roaming free ALL OVER, people die frequently and usually you don’t really know exactly why, chefe syndrome (people in positions of power who let it go to their head), the amount of time it seems to take anyone to do anything here
Some of the things I miss:
--Reliable and familiar foods. I can no longer imagine walking into a grocery store and having thousands of items to choose from (just think about it—how many different chip options are there? Ruffled or plain; flavors; white corn, yellow corn, the options are endless!!). I get really excited when I get to a store in the city that has potato chips (tomato, chicken or beef flavored). I miss: boneless skinless chicken, ground meat, sour cream, tilamook cheese, corn chips, salsa, ready-made tortillas, skim milk, broccoli, asparagus, bacon, lean meat, constant access to every vegetable needed for any dish you want to cook, sausage, and different spices.
I also miss (in no particular order):
Seatbelts, running water, high heels, cushy couches, constant electricity and phone network, full keyboard cell phones, chocolate, television, new episodes of tv, fast internet, constant access to family and friends, guaranteed original electronic products, driving, always knowing the correct social etiquette for any given situation, not being constantly stared at, marked prices at stores, fitted bed sheets, and not worrying about language ability (will this person understand Portuguese? Or do they only understand the local language?).
I have been spending inordinate amounts of money on the big C’s—cheese, chocolate and Coke Light. On a possibly unrelated note, I’ve gained back a few lbs…
Things that I love:
Dance parties can and will break out at anytime, anywhere; I have adjusted to my student’s poor English so much so that if they manage to stutter out even 3 words I get the general idea of what they’re trying to say; Everyone constantly talking to you and being (generally) super friendly and helpful; Not being stressed out by a job; Easy access to amazing beaches; Having a network of ~200 people that I can travel and stay with at the drop of a hat; after about 4pm the sun is a beautiful red; my kids carrying my backpack to class for me
Things I will never get used to:
Corruption, cheating, passive-aggressiveness, cows roaming free at out large market (seriously, Mozambicans are terrified of dogs but a giant cow with horns walks by and they don’t even blink), unscheduled transportation (the bus goes when it fills), unexplained power outages, eating goat meat, all the goats and chickens roaming free ALL OVER, people die frequently and usually you don’t really know exactly why, chefe syndrome (people in positions of power who let it go to their head), the amount of time it seems to take anyone to do anything here
Monday, August 8, 2011
Time is flying by...
What just happened to the last trimester? It seems like just a month or so ago I was finishing my first trimester and getting in some beach time. Now I am back at the hotel where we stay during conferences in Chimoio (the Central hub for us PCVs) and I have no idea where the last few months of my life have gone. Here are some updates about what I’ve been up to lately:
I have mainly stayed in my home town, only traveling down to the city for a birthday and to pick up some meds. And I know that life is starting to be normal for me considering that I haven’t written in my journal since my last vacation.
My roommate traveled down to South Africa to meet her family and go on safari and she brought me back some amazing coffee and a new kitten for our house. He’s super tiny, and I’m convinced that if it were in the states he would still have to stay with his mom. We named him L.O., short for Little One. It’s verrrry cold in Angonia now so he spends most of his time cuddled up with us under our sweatshirts or blankets and he’s really cute. I have been warned though that he needs to be watched carefully since the traditional communities where I live like to eat cats. Guess that explains why I’ve only seen 2 since arriving at site :/
The Third Annual Science Fair at my school took place, see my other blog post.
I am currently attending a conference learning about developing small projects to help develop my community and help with HIV/AIDS. And as always the best part of conferences is the amazing hot showers and great food that they serve at the hotel.
My vacation this time will consist of a meeting and training down in Maputo, with a few days of traveling in Maputo in between. I hope that it will be filled with Thai food and hope to make a quick stop in Namaacha to visit my host mom. I don’t quite know what my plans are yet for my off days. I will be in the land of constant internet access though, so I’ll be sure to keep you updated!!
I have mainly stayed in my home town, only traveling down to the city for a birthday and to pick up some meds. And I know that life is starting to be normal for me considering that I haven’t written in my journal since my last vacation.
My roommate traveled down to South Africa to meet her family and go on safari and she brought me back some amazing coffee and a new kitten for our house. He’s super tiny, and I’m convinced that if it were in the states he would still have to stay with his mom. We named him L.O., short for Little One. It’s verrrry cold in Angonia now so he spends most of his time cuddled up with us under our sweatshirts or blankets and he’s really cute. I have been warned though that he needs to be watched carefully since the traditional communities where I live like to eat cats. Guess that explains why I’ve only seen 2 since arriving at site :/
The Third Annual Science Fair at my school took place, see my other blog post.
I am currently attending a conference learning about developing small projects to help develop my community and help with HIV/AIDS. And as always the best part of conferences is the amazing hot showers and great food that they serve at the hotel.
My vacation this time will consist of a meeting and training down in Maputo, with a few days of traveling in Maputo in between. I hope that it will be filled with Thai food and hope to make a quick stop in Namaacha to visit my host mom. I don’t quite know what my plans are yet for my off days. I will be in the land of constant internet access though, so I’ll be sure to keep you updated!!
Science Fair!!
I pulled off our local school science fair. And by I, I mean that I bought some pens and typed up a few documents while my amazing science teaching colleagues organized about 35 students presenting 20 experiments. It was a science fair unlike any I ever attended in the states, so I really was no help. Many of the experiments were not really experiments but demonstrations of scientific phenomenon (for example the fact that fire consumes oxygen so you put jars of differing sizes over a candle and wait for the flame to go out). It was a huge production with some amazing prizes provided by the school, and the best part was that I wasn’t needed. The main goal of the Peace Corps is to be able to transfer our skills to the people living here so that one day when the program is no longer in the country they can continue developing instead of losing a bunch of resources. I was very impressed by the initiative taken by my school to pull it off.
Then we took 4 winners from our school (two from primeiro ciclo (8-10th grade) and two from Segundo ciclo (11-12th grade)) to the provincial fair down in Tete city. Since Tete has not had many volunteers until my group arrived, it was a first fair for a majority of the schools as well as for the province. Long story short, my kids won 5 of the 10 prizes, and much deserved too. It was the third annual fair for my school and it was a huge event (even bigger than the provincial fair) so I feel the trip to the national fair is well deserved. The national fair will take place in Beira in August at some time with the Escola Secundaria de Ulónguè representing Tete province. Wish us luck!!!
Then we took 4 winners from our school (two from primeiro ciclo (8-10th grade) and two from Segundo ciclo (11-12th grade)) to the provincial fair down in Tete city. Since Tete has not had many volunteers until my group arrived, it was a first fair for a majority of the schools as well as for the province. Long story short, my kids won 5 of the 10 prizes, and much deserved too. It was the third annual fair for my school and it was a huge event (even bigger than the provincial fair) so I feel the trip to the national fair is well deserved. The national fair will take place in Beira in August at some time with the Escola Secundaria de Ulónguè representing Tete province. Wish us luck!!!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Dia das Criaças
June 1st marks Children’s Day here in Mozambique, and since I help out at a local pre-school it ended up being a pretty fun day. Every major holiday (women’s day, children’s day, any sort of government official visiting) is accompanied by a parade to the praza where important people make political speeches and they have dancing and singing. So, on Children’s Day I met with the kids at the newly built pre-school and we walked about one mile to the praza. My thoughts were that it would be chaotic and crazy and we would be chasing 3 year olds all over the road. My worries were way below standards. In actuality there were 38 three year olds, and they all got a balloon and whistle before leaving for the walk so not only were we yanking kids out of the road, but we also had kids chasing balloons into the road, super-annoying whistling, popping balloons and kids chewing on the remains. It was out of control, typical Mozambican style. Luckily we arrived at the praza late so we only had to keep the kids quiet through one speech and then we got to see all the dancing groups, including our own preschool showing off their English and singing skills.
Then it was time to head back to the preschool grounds. At this point the kids were so worn out and tired that there was no way they were making the walk back. They wouldn’t even sing some of their favorite songs. They ended up arranging a chapa to take us all back. I think that this 5 minute trip gave me the new chapa-record: 38 children and 6 adults. I had 2 kids on my lap and had to keep the kids next to me from shoving and biting each other because they were squished. Bottom-line it was hysterical.
It was great because it also marked the day that the pre-school is officially at its new location, all ready to go. It is amazing to see it go from a flat, barren piece of land to a fenced-in play ground with a building for eating and classes, a teeter-toter (another amazingly dangerous thing to let children play on here), and two sets of swings. Another building specifically for a classroom and an office are still to be built, but it really happened. It was done by a grant that the previous volunteer got, so it’s nice to see that the fruits of my labor here can actually result in something physical.
Then it was time to head back to the preschool grounds. At this point the kids were so worn out and tired that there was no way they were making the walk back. They wouldn’t even sing some of their favorite songs. They ended up arranging a chapa to take us all back. I think that this 5 minute trip gave me the new chapa-record: 38 children and 6 adults. I had 2 kids on my lap and had to keep the kids next to me from shoving and biting each other because they were squished. Bottom-line it was hysterical.
It was great because it also marked the day that the pre-school is officially at its new location, all ready to go. It is amazing to see it go from a flat, barren piece of land to a fenced-in play ground with a building for eating and classes, a teeter-toter (another amazingly dangerous thing to let children play on here), and two sets of swings. Another building specifically for a classroom and an office are still to be built, but it really happened. It was done by a grant that the previous volunteer got, so it’s nice to see that the fruits of my labor here can actually result in something physical.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Vacation Time
The end of April also marked the end of my first trimester here in Moz, and also my first opportunity to travel a bit and get to know the rest of the country. I took the free time to catch up on my beach time. I traveled to Tofo, Bara and Vilankulos down south. Bara is one of the most beautiful places I have every been--I felt like I was living in a post card. The south is definitely a different world from the Africa I know and live in, with all the tourists and development. It made me glad to know it was an option, but also that I didn't have to live down there and be mistaken for a tourist everyday of my life. Really made me appreciate what I have in Angonia. It was also great to get to see some of the PCVs I haven't seen since swear-in and catch up with them and their lives.
I also took the chance to try out scuba diving. Scuba is very big here in Moz since it is a ton cheaper than doing it in the states. They happen to offer a one-day course where they sit you down and make you watch a video and practice in a pool in the morning, then in the afternoon you go out on the ocean and do a 50 minute dive. It's the same philosophy as tandam sky diving--you always have an instructor right there by you. I never thought I'd ever be tempted by scuba, but the opportunity was there so I took it. Unfortunately for me the entire experience turned out to be a bit of a struggle, but I'm glad I tried. From getting the wet suit on, to jumping in the boat after pushing it out to sea, to motion sickness and vomiting it just was not my day. Unfortuantely once I finally started descending down, I could only make it 3 of the 12 meters before my ears felt like they were going to explode and no amount of nose plugging and blowing or jaw moving and swalowing was going to pop them. So, I did scuba dive, I just didn't see any cool fish or coral. Like I said, worth the experience.
Other than that, vacation was just filled with lots of sun bathing and great meals (sausage stuffed crust pizza, hamburgers, seafood chinese stirfry, prawns, ice cream, club sandwiches, etc. etc.) Needless to say when I get back to site I'm going to get quite a few "Esta a engordar!" ("You're getting fat!") but it was worth it. I'm excited to get back to site and back to teaching, back to what I now feel like is "life as normal".
I also took the chance to try out scuba diving. Scuba is very big here in Moz since it is a ton cheaper than doing it in the states. They happen to offer a one-day course where they sit you down and make you watch a video and practice in a pool in the morning, then in the afternoon you go out on the ocean and do a 50 minute dive. It's the same philosophy as tandam sky diving--you always have an instructor right there by you. I never thought I'd ever be tempted by scuba, but the opportunity was there so I took it. Unfortunately for me the entire experience turned out to be a bit of a struggle, but I'm glad I tried. From getting the wet suit on, to jumping in the boat after pushing it out to sea, to motion sickness and vomiting it just was not my day. Unfortuantely once I finally started descending down, I could only make it 3 of the 12 meters before my ears felt like they were going to explode and no amount of nose plugging and blowing or jaw moving and swalowing was going to pop them. So, I did scuba dive, I just didn't see any cool fish or coral. Like I said, worth the experience.
Other than that, vacation was just filled with lots of sun bathing and great meals (sausage stuffed crust pizza, hamburgers, seafood chinese stirfry, prawns, ice cream, club sandwiches, etc. etc.) Needless to say when I get back to site I'm going to get quite a few "Esta a engordar!" ("You're getting fat!") but it was worth it. I'm excited to get back to site and back to teaching, back to what I now feel like is "life as normal".
6 month marker
April 29th marked the sixth month anniversary of my arrival in Mozambique. Hard to believe that it’s gone by so quickly. Living here is like living in a completely different world. I have adjusted to the way of life here, and sometimes it is hard to remember how I used to live. Like taking hot showers; having boneless, skinless chicken readily available; or that eggs in the states can be white. I wanted to list some of my most memorable moments so far:
-My first day arriving in Namaacha and all the host moms dancing into the gym singing a welcome song. It was such a moment—the singing was amazing and it was my first “Holy s—t I’m in Africa” moments
-Being stuck in Maputo for an extra day after swear-in and successfully negotiating Maputo. After the first time and being so overwhelmed by everything, the second time we spent going to the Museum of Natural History and tracking down Thai food and ice cream successfully. It was a great time of relaxation and a great way to celebrate officially becoming a volunteer.
-Waking up to my first Christmas morning without my family to a drawn-up Christmas tree hanging on the wall with our homemade stockings strung above it and our white elephant gifts laid out below. It was the best Christmas away from home one could ask for.
-Officially bonding with my roommate over our spider-ridden house. We didn’t know each other well and our shared opinion on cleanliness made me feel like we’d get along just fine over the next two years.
-The two days of travel hitching back from Chimoio to Angonia. The first ride was in a semi-truck and I spent it chatting with the driver about AIDS in America and discussing all sorts of different cultural aspects between here and there. Then my second ride on my own and completely missing my classes due to the loading of 400 lbs of bananas in the middle of nowhere along the way, the entire time not caring because the sky was so beautiful.
-Making a friend with a Portuguese professor who makes me feel like we’ve known each other forever. This also helped make Angonia feel like home and quieted my urge to travel and visit other volunteers every weekend.
At times it feels like I’ve been here forever and others it seems like just yesterday I was waking up late for my plane and struggling with my giant bags through 3 different airports. Its been an amazing trip so far with many more life-changing moments to come, I’m sure.
-My first day arriving in Namaacha and all the host moms dancing into the gym singing a welcome song. It was such a moment—the singing was amazing and it was my first “Holy s—t I’m in Africa” moments
-Being stuck in Maputo for an extra day after swear-in and successfully negotiating Maputo. After the first time and being so overwhelmed by everything, the second time we spent going to the Museum of Natural History and tracking down Thai food and ice cream successfully. It was a great time of relaxation and a great way to celebrate officially becoming a volunteer.
-Waking up to my first Christmas morning without my family to a drawn-up Christmas tree hanging on the wall with our homemade stockings strung above it and our white elephant gifts laid out below. It was the best Christmas away from home one could ask for.
-Officially bonding with my roommate over our spider-ridden house. We didn’t know each other well and our shared opinion on cleanliness made me feel like we’d get along just fine over the next two years.
-The two days of travel hitching back from Chimoio to Angonia. The first ride was in a semi-truck and I spent it chatting with the driver about AIDS in America and discussing all sorts of different cultural aspects between here and there. Then my second ride on my own and completely missing my classes due to the loading of 400 lbs of bananas in the middle of nowhere along the way, the entire time not caring because the sky was so beautiful.
-Making a friend with a Portuguese professor who makes me feel like we’ve known each other forever. This also helped make Angonia feel like home and quieted my urge to travel and visit other volunteers every weekend.
At times it feels like I’ve been here forever and others it seems like just yesterday I was waking up late for my plane and struggling with my giant bags through 3 different airports. Its been an amazing trip so far with many more life-changing moments to come, I’m sure.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
First Trimester, Check!
So, I have survived the first trimester of my first year in Africa, and it has been a learning experience to say the least. Each year I am required to give 2 tests and 3 “other evaluations” be that homework, oral exams group projects, or whatever else you can imagine. The year ended with finals tests being held in the 11th week, 2 weeks before the semester ended. This does not make much sense to me but I just do what I’m told. As thought many of my students stopped coming to class for the last two weeks, so I used these smaller classes to do fun activities like listening to music in English and group competitions. Once all was said and done my 11th graders only had 25% failing and my 10th grade classes had about 40% failing. Sounds shocking to Americans, but trust me that is an accomplishment. The grades here are on a scale of 0 to 20 and you need a 10 to pass. The average on my exams is usually an 8, and it’s rare for a student to get over a 15. That’s just how the system is here. I handed in my final grades and then it was off to Chimoio for reconnect conference.
Reconnect is meant to be a time to celebrate surviving our first 4 months at site and review and refresh on Peace Corps policies. It also means a few nights in a hotel with a pool and hot running water in the shower (I’ve never felt so clean!), a giant smorgasbord of food, and lots of quality english speaking time with 12 of my fellow trainees. I’m pretty sure I gained at least 5 pounds over my stay here. The fact that you do not have to make the food, there is cheese and drip coffee and CHICKEN makes it hard to not eat at every opportunity (3 meals a day plus 2 snacks). I’m so full it hurts, but I know when I go back to site I’ll be missing it. It has been a fun conference getting to share our own experiences and learn from others. I’ll be taking back a few tips to site and try to use them in my teaching for second trimester. Well, I’m off to enjoy the rest of my vacation! Talk to you soon
Reconnect is meant to be a time to celebrate surviving our first 4 months at site and review and refresh on Peace Corps policies. It also means a few nights in a hotel with a pool and hot running water in the shower (I’ve never felt so clean!), a giant smorgasbord of food, and lots of quality english speaking time with 12 of my fellow trainees. I’m pretty sure I gained at least 5 pounds over my stay here. The fact that you do not have to make the food, there is cheese and drip coffee and CHICKEN makes it hard to not eat at every opportunity (3 meals a day plus 2 snacks). I’m so full it hurts, but I know when I go back to site I’ll be missing it. It has been a fun conference getting to share our own experiences and learn from others. I’ll be taking back a few tips to site and try to use them in my teaching for second trimester. Well, I’m off to enjoy the rest of my vacation! Talk to you soon
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Speed Walking
I have discovered to amazing-ness of slowly meandering while walking instead of American power walking my way all over Africa. Mozambicans walk soooooo slow, which is pretty much how they do everything. As I learned from an early age trying to keep up with my mom, I walk as fast as possible everywhere I go. It was brought to my attention by a local friend that at first he thought I was really mean because I speed walked everywhere and I always had my sunglasses on. Now, I refuse to give up the sunglasses because 1) the sun is INTENSE here and 2) Saleena has me concerned about developing wrinkles from squinting (thanks a lot Today Show). But, after another pair of people here from Cuba commented on my fast-walking I decided to slow it down one day on the way home from school. It was amazing. Kids played with me, adults greeted me and asked who I was, and I was meeting all sorts of new people. Crazy that it could make that big of a difference, but I’m totally embracing it. Now me and my roommate just go out and slowly wander and it has been helping a ton with integration. I don’t know if I’ll ever get down to Mozambican speed, but I’ll try my hardest.
Celebration
My birthday was a great day. My roommate surprise got my packages arranged to be delivered to the house while I was at classes so it was a great surprise to come home to. Big shout outs to Mom, Dad, Aunt Anja and Uncle Rhom for the Christmas turned bday presents. Also to Lil Lindsay who sent me a letter from where she is teaching English in France. I was reading a letter sent from France from a college friend while I’m living in Mozambique. What has happened to my life? I am now fully equipped with a GIANT box of candy (mostly Reese’s PB cups obrigada a deus) and I’m trying to keep it down to 2-3 pieces a day. Also got a great new journal (the one I came with is almost full), some spandex to wear under my above-knee skirts which fit perfectly and a bunch of office supplies (new sharpies Whoo Hoo!). Also to celebrate my birthday we decided to do chips, salsa, guacamole (it’s avocado season finally) and chicken fajitas (with real chicken, no fake soy protein!). We had a few friends come over and enjoyed outselves. And a lemon pound cake for the birthday cake. Sorry, I left my camera in Chimoio a few weekends ago so no photos to post, but my roomie has one on her camera that I’ll get posted later.
In regular-life news I just started a new schedule at the secondary school. The first one had way too many people having conflicts so they just entirely re-did it (what’s to stop it from having new conflicts all over again I have no idea) and so far it’s working out. The first trimester is almost at an end, and I’ve almost been in Moz for almost 6 months. It’s a pretty crazy life and I’m still loving it.
In regular-life news I just started a new schedule at the secondary school. The first one had way too many people having conflicts so they just entirely re-did it (what’s to stop it from having new conflicts all over again I have no idea) and so far it’s working out. The first trimester is almost at an end, and I’ve almost been in Moz for almost 6 months. It’s a pretty crazy life and I’m still loving it.
My 24th Year
Wednesday will be my 24th birthday, and the first one I’ve celebrated outside of my country. I have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my life at this point. I am living in Africa, which is one of the coolest experiences of my life. I am teaching which I am actually finding fun because of my students. I am fluent in my third language, and have yet to get malaria or any other serious disease. Life in Angonia has really been coming around. My roommate and I have been making friends out in the community and so we are starting to feel really integrated. The kapulanas I buy at the market are now only 90 mts each (as opposed to 100 mts) which means the vendor is starting to recognize me and want my business. My school collegues are starting to realize that I in fact DO speak Portuguese (how they just assume I only speak English is beyond me). I am really coming to realize that I’ll be living here for the next 2 years. Crazy enough that is the longest consecutive time I’ll have lived in one place since I moved out to college at age 18.
To celebrate on Wednesday, first off I have to teach classes all afternoon. My wonderful roommate is a great baker so we’ll have a few of our friends over for some cake or some other yummy dessert. Then all of the Tete volunteers are going to come up to Angonia around the 18th for a joint my birthday/St. Patrick’s day party so the real celebrating will have to wait until then. Eddie is going to go check for packages in Malawi again on Monday so hopefully I’ll actually have some presents to open on the day of my bday, but we’ll see!!
To celebrate on Wednesday, first off I have to teach classes all afternoon. My wonderful roommate is a great baker so we’ll have a few of our friends over for some cake or some other yummy dessert. Then all of the Tete volunteers are going to come up to Angonia around the 18th for a joint my birthday/St. Patrick’s day party so the real celebrating will have to wait until then. Eddie is going to go check for packages in Malawi again on Monday so hopefully I’ll actually have some presents to open on the day of my bday, but we’ll see!!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
TICS Class (Computers)
Computer classes here are out of control. Mozambicans have no computer skills and those that they do have include playing music and DVDs and giving every computer every virus possible. In a country with minimal technology they sure do have their share of viruses. Hence, the teacher computer that has the projector is infected with a virus that makes a pop-up window block everything that you try to do, making it impossible for them to see anything I want them to do. Luckily enough my school is equipped with a large nice computer lab with A/C and about 50 computers. Unfortunately there is no specific program for me to follow and only about half of the computers are usable.
Then all the kids do is bring in zip drives and cds of music and dvds. There were boys watching rap videos with topless women dancing. Plus due to a scheduling confusion we had about 4 classes worth of kids coming in. The professor that got the scheduling confused then decided to leave since there were so many kids. I caught him going out the door and jokingly said “Esta a fugir? (Are you fleeing?)” and his response was “For sure. This is out of control”. Well, thanks a bunch for the support.
Oh, and I am also the “Delgada da disciplina” aka head of the department, so I’m thinking of abusing my power and laying down some laws. I’m going to go into the computer lab and re-organize all the computers so the functioning ones are together in one area. Then I am deleting all the downloaded music and videos off the computers and banning all CDs and flash drives from entering the room. Then maybe I could actually teach them some useful skills. Now I just have to get up the nerve to tell my fellow professor and get the time to do it. Ugh, and explain it all in Portuguese.
Then all the kids do is bring in zip drives and cds of music and dvds. There were boys watching rap videos with topless women dancing. Plus due to a scheduling confusion we had about 4 classes worth of kids coming in. The professor that got the scheduling confused then decided to leave since there were so many kids. I caught him going out the door and jokingly said “Esta a fugir? (Are you fleeing?)” and his response was “For sure. This is out of control”. Well, thanks a bunch for the support.
Oh, and I am also the “Delgada da disciplina” aka head of the department, so I’m thinking of abusing my power and laying down some laws. I’m going to go into the computer lab and re-organize all the computers so the functioning ones are together in one area. Then I am deleting all the downloaded music and videos off the computers and banning all CDs and flash drives from entering the room. Then maybe I could actually teach them some useful skills. Now I just have to get up the nerve to tell my fellow professor and get the time to do it. Ugh, and explain it all in Portuguese.
I'm a Teacher!!
School is in full swing now. I have almost got everything figured out except for one scheduling conflict. I’m actually amazed that there was only one conflict considering that the schedule for 60 teachers was arranged by hand. And that’s 60 teachers over 3 different time periods (morning, noon and night) and 5 classes (8-12 grades). Scheduling is like a giant mind-blowing puzzle getting all the teachers teaching the correct subjects for the correct grades and not overlapping with others they’re teaching. Next year I will be bringing in the scheduling program that PC gave us to make it a much simpler process (and hopefully leaving me with Fridays off).
Each of my classes have 50+ students. English is going well and at times hysterical. Some of my favorite moments so far:
Talking about future professions and one student said “Pirate”. I thought well, we are kind of close to Somalia, laughed and added it to the list. Then the next class they said “pirate” again and so I asked what a pirate does, wondering if they meant something else. Sure enough my student says “Teacher, that is not how it is spelled”. They were actually saying “Pilot”.
I asked “What did you do this weekend?” and one student said “I went to Musacama to eat chicken and po-taw-toes” and I said “no, it’s po-tay-toes. Well, actually po-tay-toe, po-taw-toe, to-may-to, to-maw-to” and laughed hysterically while the entire class just stared at me.
One day was about traditions and customs and when I asked for examples they kept throwing out all these local language words that I didn’t know, laughing at me the entire time. The first one was “Ngoma” and after I got it spelled right I said “Well, that’s a new word for Teacher Amanda”. About 5 minutes later I looked again and exclaimed “Ngoma!!” and started laughing (please see previous blog post) saying I didn’t realize that was a real word Mozambicans used. Their blank looks were priceless.
During my first day of computer class I was not really prepared since it was the first time I had been in the computer lab and I had no idea what to expect. I ended up making them draw pictures on paint to practice using the mouse (trust me, double clicking is hard for them). I walked by one kids drawing and it said “lame” over and over. I was offended, and asked him if they knew what that meant in English. His response was “Teacher, it is my name” pronounced “La-may”.
Just some of the gems I’ve experienced so far, with a ton more to come I’m sure
Each of my classes have 50+ students. English is going well and at times hysterical. Some of my favorite moments so far:
Talking about future professions and one student said “Pirate”. I thought well, we are kind of close to Somalia, laughed and added it to the list. Then the next class they said “pirate” again and so I asked what a pirate does, wondering if they meant something else. Sure enough my student says “Teacher, that is not how it is spelled”. They were actually saying “Pilot”.
I asked “What did you do this weekend?” and one student said “I went to Musacama to eat chicken and po-taw-toes” and I said “no, it’s po-tay-toes. Well, actually po-tay-toe, po-taw-toe, to-may-to, to-maw-to” and laughed hysterically while the entire class just stared at me.
One day was about traditions and customs and when I asked for examples they kept throwing out all these local language words that I didn’t know, laughing at me the entire time. The first one was “Ngoma” and after I got it spelled right I said “Well, that’s a new word for Teacher Amanda”. About 5 minutes later I looked again and exclaimed “Ngoma!!” and started laughing (please see previous blog post) saying I didn’t realize that was a real word Mozambicans used. Their blank looks were priceless.
During my first day of computer class I was not really prepared since it was the first time I had been in the computer lab and I had no idea what to expect. I ended up making them draw pictures on paint to practice using the mouse (trust me, double clicking is hard for them). I walked by one kids drawing and it said “lame” over and over. I was offended, and asked him if they knew what that meant in English. His response was “Teacher, it is my name” pronounced “La-may”.
Just some of the gems I’ve experienced so far, with a ton more to come I’m sure
I heart Tete
Hello!! First of all, disclaimer—my province is pronounced like “Tet”, not “teat” as most of my friends and family like to snicker at back home
Our little crew up here is the best. Not only do we have the seven of us in my group, but we also have a married couple that has been here for a year already. This past weekend we went down to visit Luke and Janet in their village about 2 hours from mine. First, in pure logical Mozambican form, the only chapas aka public transportation out of Angonia (where I live) is to the border about 20 km away or to Tete City. So our options to go visit their village was to pay a chapa and get out half way (big waste of money) or to hitch-hike. Option #2 it was. Hitching is actually very common here among the volunteers and is often a safer and cheaper way to travel. Many times the cars you hitch in are in much better condition and sometimes free (which when you’re living on less than $200 a month is a huge plus). We jumped up into a semi on the way down, grabbed another truck to the border and were there.
They live way into a neighborhood through all these twisting paths. They have a cute little house, not on a school campus like my duplex. As a consequence/bonus of this they constantly have Mozambican children in their yard hanging out, and their helper around the house is an 8th grade student Ramão that is there constantly. It was super fun to be there for the weekend, and Janet is an amazing cook. When we got there we had a lunch of homemade hummus and gazpacho with salad; dinner of bean burgers and fries; breakfast of coffee and cinnamon rolls; lunch of fajitas that really made me crave sour cream. Plus care packages from their holiday in the states. Mine had Jr Mints, a granola bar and Jelly Bellies!! Throw in a poster of Puck from the “All about Glee” special edition US magazine and I was in heaven. I sweated off the 5 pounds I gained from eating so much scaling a mountain to take some photos at the border marker between Moz and Malawi (my 4th African country!!). And by scaling, I mean I was looking for footholds on some of those rock faces—the closest I ever want to get to rock climbing. It’s Wednesday and my quads are just starting to feel not sore.
It was a great weekend of bonding with my Tete crew, swapping stories of the first week of teaching, comparing what lessons we were planning, lying on a grass mat in the shade reading, enjoying a beer, and sharing squatty potty maneuvers for aiming (my first experience with the squatty potty and aiming is hard when you’ve never had to do it before, trust me). I’m really enjoying my replacement family this side of the ocean
Our little crew up here is the best. Not only do we have the seven of us in my group, but we also have a married couple that has been here for a year already. This past weekend we went down to visit Luke and Janet in their village about 2 hours from mine. First, in pure logical Mozambican form, the only chapas aka public transportation out of Angonia (where I live) is to the border about 20 km away or to Tete City. So our options to go visit their village was to pay a chapa and get out half way (big waste of money) or to hitch-hike. Option #2 it was. Hitching is actually very common here among the volunteers and is often a safer and cheaper way to travel. Many times the cars you hitch in are in much better condition and sometimes free (which when you’re living on less than $200 a month is a huge plus). We jumped up into a semi on the way down, grabbed another truck to the border and were there.
They live way into a neighborhood through all these twisting paths. They have a cute little house, not on a school campus like my duplex. As a consequence/bonus of this they constantly have Mozambican children in their yard hanging out, and their helper around the house is an 8th grade student Ramão that is there constantly. It was super fun to be there for the weekend, and Janet is an amazing cook. When we got there we had a lunch of homemade hummus and gazpacho with salad; dinner of bean burgers and fries; breakfast of coffee and cinnamon rolls; lunch of fajitas that really made me crave sour cream. Plus care packages from their holiday in the states. Mine had Jr Mints, a granola bar and Jelly Bellies!! Throw in a poster of Puck from the “All about Glee” special edition US magazine and I was in heaven. I sweated off the 5 pounds I gained from eating so much scaling a mountain to take some photos at the border marker between Moz and Malawi (my 4th African country!!). And by scaling, I mean I was looking for footholds on some of those rock faces—the closest I ever want to get to rock climbing. It’s Wednesday and my quads are just starting to feel not sore.
It was a great weekend of bonding with my Tete crew, swapping stories of the first week of teaching, comparing what lessons we were planning, lying on a grass mat in the shade reading, enjoying a beer, and sharing squatty potty maneuvers for aiming (my first experience with the squatty potty and aiming is hard when you’ve never had to do it before, trust me). I’m really enjoying my replacement family this side of the ocean
Thursday, January 20, 2011
School has Begun
So, school has started for all of us here in Moz. The school year runs the actual year so it starts in January and ends in Nov/Dec (depending on what exams you have to take). Jan 17th was our “opening day” and in true Moz fashion there was a big assembly where all the important people made their important speeches. Just imagine all that paperwork about rules and such that gets sent out to parents before school starts being read out loud instead of copied and sent out to everyone to read for themselves. That was 75% of this meeting. 33 rules of conduct…ugh…then some repeated in local language for the benefit of parents at the meeting. My personal highlight of the meeting was the dance version of “I’m in Miami Bitch” being the song choice for background music before the meeting started. I literally laughed out loud a couple times at the hilarity of it all.
Also Monday I finally got my schedule for teaching (nothing like waiting to the last minute). I’m teaching 10th & 11th grade English and 11th grade Technology class. Also I’m the head of the technology department for first cycle (grades 8-10). Still unsure as to what that’s going to entail, but I’ll find out eventually I’m sure. I have 3 classes of 10th grade English (making me the sole 10th grade English teacher at the school), 2 classes of 11th grade English and 2 classes of 11th grade technology. All of my English classes are in the afternoon and technology classes will be in the morning with a total of 20 hours of teaching (The max I can teach is 24 hours). The only thing that makes me nervous is 10th grade since that ‘s also a national exam year so there is going to be a lot of pressure on me to get the correct percentage of students to pass (usually by helping out with the test or bumping up grades which I refuse to do). Also, there is no curriculum for technology so I’ll get to teach them whatever I want to teach which should be fun and/or stressful.
Now, just because school has started, don’t be fooled silly rule-following Americans -- it’s Wednesday and I’ve only taught 1 of 4 classes that were supposed to take place and that class only had ~15 of my about 40 students. Over holiday everyone goes back home and helps out their families in the mato (bush) and don’t start coming to school until they’re assured that the teachers are actually having classes. A colleague told me that the 15 kids I taught today will spread the word to other students in the class and everyone will start showing up soon. We’ll see about that. My one class that I did have was actually pretty fun. I wanted them to ask me questions about English, America, even me (which had the potential to backfire). Unfortunately none of them had questions to ask so I just kept asking all of them questions like “what’s your favorite subject?” “How old are you?” etc. They know a lot of vocab and could fill in the blank to answer questions, but when asked “Why is green your favorite color?” they had some difficulty. Something to work on in class I suppose. It was fun to determine their level of English. Two more days of pseudo-classes and then we’re off to visit some volunteers this weekend. Chao!!
Also Monday I finally got my schedule for teaching (nothing like waiting to the last minute). I’m teaching 10th & 11th grade English and 11th grade Technology class. Also I’m the head of the technology department for first cycle (grades 8-10). Still unsure as to what that’s going to entail, but I’ll find out eventually I’m sure. I have 3 classes of 10th grade English (making me the sole 10th grade English teacher at the school), 2 classes of 11th grade English and 2 classes of 11th grade technology. All of my English classes are in the afternoon and technology classes will be in the morning with a total of 20 hours of teaching (The max I can teach is 24 hours). The only thing that makes me nervous is 10th grade since that ‘s also a national exam year so there is going to be a lot of pressure on me to get the correct percentage of students to pass (usually by helping out with the test or bumping up grades which I refuse to do). Also, there is no curriculum for technology so I’ll get to teach them whatever I want to teach which should be fun and/or stressful.
Now, just because school has started, don’t be fooled silly rule-following Americans -- it’s Wednesday and I’ve only taught 1 of 4 classes that were supposed to take place and that class only had ~15 of my about 40 students. Over holiday everyone goes back home and helps out their families in the mato (bush) and don’t start coming to school until they’re assured that the teachers are actually having classes. A colleague told me that the 15 kids I taught today will spread the word to other students in the class and everyone will start showing up soon. We’ll see about that. My one class that I did have was actually pretty fun. I wanted them to ask me questions about English, America, even me (which had the potential to backfire). Unfortunately none of them had questions to ask so I just kept asking all of them questions like “what’s your favorite subject?” “How old are you?” etc. They know a lot of vocab and could fill in the blank to answer questions, but when asked “Why is green your favorite color?” they had some difficulty. Something to work on in class I suppose. It was fun to determine their level of English. Two more days of pseudo-classes and then we’re off to visit some volunteers this weekend. Chao!!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Christmas
This Christmas marked my first ever spent away from my family and it was harder than I thought it would be, but it was made better by my awesome fellow Tete PCVs. Tete is a province of Mozambique, comparable to a state in the US. Tete is unique because it is almost practically cut off from the rest of Mozambique by Malawi so it can seem a bit isolated. They made a big push with our group into Tete so 7 people from our group are now in the province, plus an amazing couple from Moz14 (but they were state side for Christmas). We like to say “7 strangers, picked to live in Tete for 2 years…” Ironically 6 of us were brought in as Biology teachers so we all knew each other fairly well before site placements. I’m excited about our group because we’re all really different but we all get along well. There’s not anyone in Tete that I wasn’t excited about (and I’m not being cheesy, just honest ).
We all met in Moatize which is right outside Tete city and also our half-way point between all the sites. Two girls are staying in Moatize and their house is actually bigger than ours and has running water. We all crashed there on the floor, played a lot of card games, read books, drank a ton of mango sangria and cooked everything we could think of (lasagna, bean burgers, Mexican night complete with chips—what more can I say ?). For Christmas Audrey hand-sewed us all a stocking with our first initial on it and we stuffed each others stockings with candy, soap and matches (all necessities here) and also did a white elephant gift exchange Christmas morning. I ended up with a water basin, a kapulana which excitingly is the same as our new kitchen curtains so we’re going to make it into a table cloth and a USA belt complete with an Obama belt buckle. Quality gift Hannah, thank you. I gave a World Cup kapulana, peanut butter and a crystal light lemonade mix. All the gifts were good and it was nice to open something Christmas morning. Plus we woke up to a surprise Christmas tree drawn on paper in the corner so it was a fun Christmas morning. I called my sister (which was Christmas eve in the States) and got sung “We Wish you a Merry Christmas” by my Jones family which made me cry. I didn’t think missing the holidays would affect me that much, but I had that good cry with my sister and it was okay. I’m just glad that as a group we made a big deal out of the holidays and celebrated the best we could. Love everyone and happy holidays!!
We all met in Moatize which is right outside Tete city and also our half-way point between all the sites. Two girls are staying in Moatize and their house is actually bigger than ours and has running water. We all crashed there on the floor, played a lot of card games, read books, drank a ton of mango sangria and cooked everything we could think of (lasagna, bean burgers, Mexican night complete with chips—what more can I say ?). For Christmas Audrey hand-sewed us all a stocking with our first initial on it and we stuffed each others stockings with candy, soap and matches (all necessities here) and also did a white elephant gift exchange Christmas morning. I ended up with a water basin, a kapulana which excitingly is the same as our new kitchen curtains so we’re going to make it into a table cloth and a USA belt complete with an Obama belt buckle. Quality gift Hannah, thank you. I gave a World Cup kapulana, peanut butter and a crystal light lemonade mix. All the gifts were good and it was nice to open something Christmas morning. Plus we woke up to a surprise Christmas tree drawn on paper in the corner so it was a fun Christmas morning. I called my sister (which was Christmas eve in the States) and got sung “We Wish you a Merry Christmas” by my Jones family which made me cry. I didn’t think missing the holidays would affect me that much, but I had that good cry with my sister and it was okay. I’m just glad that as a group we made a big deal out of the holidays and celebrated the best we could. Love everyone and happy holidays!!
I've found the toughest job in the world
And no it’s not yours. Or even mine (quite the opposite actually—mine’s amazing). Here in Mozambique the main form of transportation is a chapa. There’s a previous blog about my first experience that you can refer to for a refresher. Basically it’s a 12-15 passenger van that at a minimum 19 people get shoved in. Seriously, the chapa will not leave without at least 19 people on it. On average it’s about 22 people in this van. Over Christmas I heard of a new record from Derek of 32 adults, 8 children and 2 chickens (apparently people were sitting out the windows, unbelievable!!). Each seat has 4 people. Rows 1-3 have a flip up seat that can create an aisle for when someone from the back has to get out. I am now a pro at chapa maneuvers which are key so that half the van doesn’t have to empty out to get someone out of the back seat. It’s cramped and my American sense of personal space is out the window, trust me.
Back on subject—the hardest job in the world is the job of the Cobrador (or trocador as Audrey likes to say which is only funny if you live in Moz/know Portuguese—sorry America). There’s the driver of the chapa who actually drives and the cobrador is like his assistant. He signals the driver to pull over to get people or let people off; he does really intricate hand signals to see if any of the ton of people standing on the side of the road need to get on that chapa; he keeps track of where people got on and where there getting off to charge them the correct amount; he can keep track of who has or has not paid. And he does all this generally without a seat (meaning his standing up leaning over the majority of the day). Sometimes if the front row is really packed and you’ll see a chapa heading down the road with the sliding door open and the cobrador just hanging completely outside the vehicle. Emily told me of a cobrador on a 5 hour bus she was on who sat on the curved bar that opens and closes the door the entire time. And SLEPT. In Moatize over Christmas we took a lot of chapas around town, and they just amazed me. I don’t think they get the credit (or most likely the salary) they deserve.
Back on subject—the hardest job in the world is the job of the Cobrador (or trocador as Audrey likes to say which is only funny if you live in Moz/know Portuguese—sorry America). There’s the driver of the chapa who actually drives and the cobrador is like his assistant. He signals the driver to pull over to get people or let people off; he does really intricate hand signals to see if any of the ton of people standing on the side of the road need to get on that chapa; he keeps track of where people got on and where there getting off to charge them the correct amount; he can keep track of who has or has not paid. And he does all this generally without a seat (meaning his standing up leaning over the majority of the day). Sometimes if the front row is really packed and you’ll see a chapa heading down the road with the sliding door open and the cobrador just hanging completely outside the vehicle. Emily told me of a cobrador on a 5 hour bus she was on who sat on the curved bar that opens and closes the door the entire time. And SLEPT. In Moatize over Christmas we took a lot of chapas around town, and they just amazed me. I don’t think they get the credit (or most likely the salary) they deserve.
Local Languages
One giant cultural difference between the U.S. and Moz are local languages. These are languages have been being spoken by the native Africans for hundreds of years. A majority of Mozambicans learn Portuguese (the national language) only when starting school. Imagine growing up speaking English (like I did) and then going to school and having to learn and do all your work in Chinese. That’s what a lot of these kids have to do. The local languages are basically dictated by geography, so depending on what region of the country you live in you speak that certain local language. In Namaacha it was Xangana (changana) of which the only word I knew was “mulungo” which means white person. Since we are trying to learn Portuguese we are discouraged from learning Xangana during training. Now that I’m in Angonia the local language is Chichewa. All the languages are very similar—for instance now all the kids in the neighbor hood yell “muzungo” at me when I’m walking down the street. Also now that I’m living here for the next two years I’m free to start picking up the local language. In the case of my site since we are so close to the border of Malawi it is imperative that I learn at least the basics. The national language in Malawi is English, and Mozambique is Portuguese. When everyone comes together in a border town, what is their common language that they use all the time?? That’s right—their local language, Chichewa. On our chapa down to Tete city for Christmas the only Portuguese spoken the ENTIRE time was when they were specifically speaking to us. I would have liked to understand some of the stuff going on around me so I have an even stronger urge to learn it.
One of the funniest conversations I have with people is explaining that we don’t have local languages in America. I explain that recent immigrants from Asia or Mexico speak Chinese or Spanish, etc. but that’s not a local language. When I tell them that all I’ve ever spoken in school and at home is English they don’t get it. But what do your parents speak? English. Grandparents? Still English. I try to explain that our country is comparatively still pretty young and most people came from all over so they had to use English to communicate, but all I get are blank looks. The closest I get to explaining it is that Native Americans have their own language, and if we weren’t a country of immigrants from all over the world we probably would too. It’s just a mind-blowing concept to them, and really entertaining for me to try to explain.
One of the funniest conversations I have with people is explaining that we don’t have local languages in America. I explain that recent immigrants from Asia or Mexico speak Chinese or Spanish, etc. but that’s not a local language. When I tell them that all I’ve ever spoken in school and at home is English they don’t get it. But what do your parents speak? English. Grandparents? Still English. I try to explain that our country is comparatively still pretty young and most people came from all over so they had to use English to communicate, but all I get are blank looks. The closest I get to explaining it is that Native Americans have their own language, and if we weren’t a country of immigrants from all over the world we probably would too. It’s just a mind-blowing concept to them, and really entertaining for me to try to explain.
Site!!
I have a home!! I am living in Professor housing at a teacher training institute (IFP) with a fellow PCV roommate Arielle. Our house is pretty swanky by PC standards and it’s really starting to shape into our own home. We have a large countertop/sitting area in the kitchen with a separate room we use to cooking in and a pantry. We also have an indoor bathroom which is a big deal (no squatty potty in Moz for me!!). No running water though so no flushing (to flush we manually pour down water). There’s a living room with a sofa and chairs for hanging out. We’re lucky because the school has a wood shop and welding class so we have a lot of furniture provided for us. Then there are our two bedrooms, including built in closets which I’m loving . Since we are replacing two other volunteers we arrived to a fully stocked house which is nice. We have a fridge, dishes, pots and plenty of reading materials. After a heavy cleaning and purging of 3 years of built up stuff from the previous volunteers plus some new curtains and couch covers, we’re really enjoying it.
We inherited a guard dog who is really smelly but really on the job. His name is Wonder and he barks at everyone so we’re always aware if someone is around the house. (Also for the men in my life all the windows have security grates and every single door in the house has a lock (even the pantry) and there are bars that we can put up on the doors at night—VERY SAFE. Plus there’s a guard at the gate to the IFP and they lock the gate at night (as we learned trying to leave for Christmas at 4:30 am and were locked in)). Another amazing inheritance is our empregada (maid) Avelina. She’s a sweet lady and comes every morning to do laundry, dishes, sweep and mop the floors. Plus anything else we need like the massive cobweb removal that was necessary upon our moving in. She’s so great and I really appreciate the work she saves us.
I will be teaching at the secondary school (high school) and I had a chance to help out with end of the year grading with my new colleagues. My school is really nice and new (only ~2 years old) and all my colleagues are younger and are really welcoming. Plus they’ve been working with a PCV for the past 3 years so it helps that they know I’m going to be a bit strange in my ideas and teaching. I’m still not sure of what exactly I’ll be teaching yet but I’ll keep you updated.
My town of Ulongue is about the size of down town laurel. We can find basically everything we need (except I am still on the search for meat besides canned tuna) and there’s a giant market that you can get lost in. There is a ton of produce and a lot of variety which is key here. Also through the previous volunteers we’ve inherited the sweetest little vegetable lady and she always throws in free stuff like extra tomatoes or bonus carrots or something. She even has her kids trained to throw in extras. Really nice and it shows that she recognizes us as part of the community.
Everyone in town that sees me knows that I’m a teacher. Walking down the street all I hear is “Good Morning Teacher” or “Good Afternoon Teacher, How are you?” Also the previous volunteers close friends in town Eddie and Juliet have made us feel really welcome. They run a preschool (started by a grant from the pervious volunteers) to start teaching kids English at an earlier age and their house is always open for us to go hang out at. Funny enough we speak English with them since Juliet is from Malawi so she doesn’t know Portuguese. Also they are graciously letting us use their PO Box in Malawi so that I can get mail a little more securely and hopefully a little faster. My site is amazing and I’m going to enjoy the next two years.
We inherited a guard dog who is really smelly but really on the job. His name is Wonder and he barks at everyone so we’re always aware if someone is around the house. (Also for the men in my life all the windows have security grates and every single door in the house has a lock (even the pantry) and there are bars that we can put up on the doors at night—VERY SAFE. Plus there’s a guard at the gate to the IFP and they lock the gate at night (as we learned trying to leave for Christmas at 4:30 am and were locked in)). Another amazing inheritance is our empregada (maid) Avelina. She’s a sweet lady and comes every morning to do laundry, dishes, sweep and mop the floors. Plus anything else we need like the massive cobweb removal that was necessary upon our moving in. She’s so great and I really appreciate the work she saves us.
I will be teaching at the secondary school (high school) and I had a chance to help out with end of the year grading with my new colleagues. My school is really nice and new (only ~2 years old) and all my colleagues are younger and are really welcoming. Plus they’ve been working with a PCV for the past 3 years so it helps that they know I’m going to be a bit strange in my ideas and teaching. I’m still not sure of what exactly I’ll be teaching yet but I’ll keep you updated.
My town of Ulongue is about the size of down town laurel. We can find basically everything we need (except I am still on the search for meat besides canned tuna) and there’s a giant market that you can get lost in. There is a ton of produce and a lot of variety which is key here. Also through the previous volunteers we’ve inherited the sweetest little vegetable lady and she always throws in free stuff like extra tomatoes or bonus carrots or something. She even has her kids trained to throw in extras. Really nice and it shows that she recognizes us as part of the community.
Everyone in town that sees me knows that I’m a teacher. Walking down the street all I hear is “Good Morning Teacher” or “Good Afternoon Teacher, How are you?” Also the previous volunteers close friends in town Eddie and Juliet have made us feel really welcome. They run a preschool (started by a grant from the pervious volunteers) to start teaching kids English at an earlier age and their house is always open for us to go hang out at. Funny enough we speak English with them since Juliet is from Malawi so she doesn’t know Portuguese. Also they are graciously letting us use their PO Box in Malawi so that I can get mail a little more securely and hopefully a little faster. My site is amazing and I’m going to enjoy the next two years.
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