Schedule changes...again

We are now about two months into school and they changed the day schedule and the night schedule for about the 4th time since school started! To top it all off, they also neglected to tell most of the students AND most of the students about the schedule changes so this week has just been a mess of confusion. The reason for all of these changes is that we have had some new teachers come to the school and other teachers leave. My school is also only a couple of miles away from one of the national universities so many of the teachers at the school are also students at the university. To teach here, in Mozambique, the requirements are not very strict so many of the teachers at the school have only completed up to 12th grade and have no university degree. I am one of the most educated teachers at my school. They also call people who have completed university programs here "doctor" so I am frequently referred to as "Doctora Michelle" (which I find amusing). Anyway, the schedule had to be changed so many times because once the university schedule came out, many teachers realized that they could only work in the morning if they had to study in the afternoon at the university or vice versa.
A few weeks ago the school lost an English teacher (as I have mentioned before) and so I started teaching three sections of 11th grade English. They now asked me to take on some 10th grade English classes (because they also were without a teacher) and a chemistry teacher who was teaching in the afternoon is now teaching in the morning will take over some of my chemistry classes.
I do enjoy teaching English and I still teach chemistry to the night students so I am glad that I get to do both, but the schedule changes are driving me crazy! As soon as I become accustomed to a certain schedule, they just go and change it again! Let's hope this is the last change that will be made this year (or at least this semester).
It was tough making the initial change to not teaching chemistry as much in the morning because I had to leave a few classes behind and they were so sad not to have me as their teacher anymore! It made me feel really good to know that they liked being my students and they begged me to switch my schedule around and teach them chemistry. Unfortunately it's the boss' decision and not mine, but I truly am sad to not be teaching some of those kids anymore.
On the up side, lesson planning for English is SO much easier. I will also never have to worry about a student asking me a question that I don't understand or someone knowing more than I do! It is really fun to teach English too so I am happy to do it.
In other news, I woke up on Tuesday morning and walked outside my house to find that my dog had killed a chicken and was chewing at it on my porch. There were feathers everywhere and I was immediately terrified that I was going to get yelled at by one of my neighbors for my dog killing their chicken. To try to save myself from that fate, I picked up the dead chicken and disposed of it in my latrine and then tried to clean up the feathers as best I could. So far nothing has been said so I think I'm in the clear.
I'm working with a student theater group at school. It's a Peace Corps run and funded program called JOMA that exists in many schools in Mozambique. The students work together to create performances about important topics. My group chose six topics to work with this year includiing HIV/AIDS, sexual harrassment, drugs, and teenage pregnancy. It should be a lot of fun and also very interesting to hear the kids' ideas on these topics.
I must get out of this sweltering internet cafe now. I thought summer here was over, but I thought wrong. It's been 90's all week, and I also have a cold, which is no fun. Who gets a cold when it's 90 degrees outside???

A Sad Day for the Secondary School in Chongoene

So, sadly, the school that i work at was broken into last night and 11 computers were stolen from the computer room and secretarial offices. I found out this morning when i got to school. Apparently those rooms were not properly locked and the guard has not been around for a while. The school and the guard have apparently had some issues lately. Rumor has it that they were not paying him as much as they should have. It seems as if some information was passed around secretly too because its too coincidental for thieves to show up two days after the guard decides not to come back. The local police are apparently looking into it, but i would be surprised if they recovered anything or brought in any suspects. Its really a shame for the kids too since i had just started giving them computer classes three weeks ago. This is a really frustrating event because being computer literate is a huge advantage in the working world and i think that its an important step in development also. Its just so unfortunate that the kids had an opportunity to learn something really valuable and now that opportunity has been taken away from them. Im not sure what the next steps are, but computers are so expensive and are definitely not something that the school can afford right away. Anyway, school today was kind of a drag since everyone was bummed out about the robbery. This afternoon i went to the church with the volunteer group that i have been working with there and we cut wood to use to cook with for am upcoming celebration. I thought the hot days of summer were behind up but i was wrong! Yesterday and today were in the upper nineties and boy was it hot. Thats all for now. Not the most exciting or uplifting report today, but sometimes thats just how it goes.

Quick updates!

I'll elaborate later, but while I'm in the city using the internet I figured I would post some quick updates on my life.

-After teaching computers here for two weeks, I will now be shifting my skills to teach English to 11th graders because they can send another teacher to teach computers, but there is no one else here who can teach English.

-Most of my students in computer class have never touched a computer before and were literally trembling as I showed them how to use a mouse and type on the keyboard correctly.

-It is now avocado season here and the avocados here are huge! They must be a different type from the ones that we have in the U.S. because these are giant.

-Yesterday I was invited to the wedding of two of my 11th grade students, yes, 11th graders, and yes, it's normal. I was so honored to be invited to their wedding with an official invitation and everything! It's March 27th and I'm sure that I will have stories afterwards about how it went.

-My Peace Corps sitemate, Naa, is African American and whenever people see us together they assume that I, being white, am American, and she is Mozambican. Yesterday we were eating dinner outside and this white guy (who was either South African or Australian) passed by and came to introduce himself to me. He asked me if I lived in Mozambique, and noticing that he was ignoring Naa and assuming that she was Mozambican, I responded, "Yes, WE are living here in Chongoene". Anyway, he didn't notice and went away without talking to her at all, which I thought was very RUDE.

-I have plans to relax and to go to the beach this weekend....and then figure out what I need to start teaching these 11th graders in English class...

-That's all for now! Things are still great here. More blog posts to come soon...

The art of travelling in mozambique

Travelling around in Mozambique can be a very tricky process. Its one of those things that has a lot of rules that you just have to figure out in order to do it most successfully. First of all, most travel is done by chapa. I think that I have mentioned chapas before but I will explain them again. Chapas are little 15 passenger vans that Mozambicans somehow manage so squeeze upwards of 25 people into(my highest count was 31). In the chapa you have the motorista(the driver) and the cobrador(the money collector). The cobrador basically hangs the top half of his body out the window and wells where the chapa is headed to anyone who looks like they need a ride. There are no schedules and only sometimes are there designated stops. You basically have to tell the cobrador where you want to get off like 15 seconds before you get there and if will bang on the door of the vehicle to tell the motorista that he needs to stop. At first when i went to the city close to me i would wait wherever for a chapa and just hope that someone would drive by yelling "chongoene!" which is the name of my town. I have since discovered a certain spot on a random block where i usually find other people who are going to my town and where chapas to my town always seem to appear. I also think that people are starting to know where i live because some chapas will just stop in front of me and beckon me in without any communication at all. In the city close to where i live there are also a series of hand motions that the cobrador and prospective passengers use to signal where they are going or where they would like to go. Chapas to the beach use a hand motion that looks like you are splashing water on your shoulders. Chapas going to a town called dois mil (literally meaning two thousand) will hold out two fingers like a peace sign. Chapas travelling within the city will point a finger down at the ground and chapas travelling to somewhere far away will point a single finger up at the sky...etc etc. The second option for travelling is hitchhiking, also known as getting a "boleia". This is sometimes necessary especially if chapas are full, scarce, or if you are way out in the boonies where chapas may not exist. To hitchhike here you stand on the side of the road, stretch out your arm with your palm facing down, and move your hand up and down. My friend peggy lives a few hours from me on the main national highway. I visited her last weekend and left at about 8 o'clock on sunday morning to go home. I parked myself on the side of the road and did my best to get someone to stop and take me home. Hitchhiking can be a very demoralizing experience. It only took me about 35 minutes to get myself a ride but in that time i cant tell you how many cozy SUVs with plenty of space inside blew right past me. Finally a huge 18 wheeler came to my rescue and i climbed on board and got to sit in the passengers seat. It was actually a very comfortable ride and the driver made no stops along the way so i was soon back at home. All in all, travelling here is always am adventure and you never know if it will take you an hour to get somewhere or 5 hours, but thats just the way it is.

Photo update!

Some of the kids in my "turma" after cooking at my house at the school anniversary party.
Some of the 11th grade students in my turma outside my house.
The participants in the fashion show modeling their traditional capulana wear.
More capulana wear during the fashion show.


A student strutting her stuff during the "uniform wear" section of our fashion show.

Two students performing a little theater act.
Two students reading poems that they wrote. (They were really good!)


Me and the other judges during the fashion show at my school.

The directors of the school and other teachers.

My introduction to school parties in mozambique

So like i said earlier, last wednesday was my schools 26th anniversary so there were no classes and instead we had a big party. The week before the teachers each had to contribute a bit of money and each of the classes were organizing food for themselves too. First of all, kids here have every class with the same group of their peers and the students all have one assigned classroom and the teachers rotate around. Each class has a teacher assigned to them who is responsible for the kids in that class(kind me like a homeroom teacher). That teacher is called the director de turma or dt. So i am the dt for a class of wild 11th graders and each week i have to meet with them and give announcements or talk to them about important issues concerning the school. However, the info that i have to give them is super vague to me like..."talk to them about the party, uniforms, the hymn, and saturday, ok go". So sometimes ill ask a teacher to explain things to me in more detail, but i also told my class that schools in the us work very differently and that they need to explain some things to me too. I actually have a couple of students who are up to that task and it helps me out immensely. Ok, now back to the party. I basically let my class plan stuff for the party themselves since i had no idea what was going on. Now, in the US when a class has a party one kid brings in cupcakes, another chips, another soda, etc etc. In mozambique the kids in all out. They brought in pots and pans, wood, charcoal, rice, chickens, a sack of potatoes, pasta, salad, and more. Each class basically camped out in a shady spot around the school and spent the entire morning cooking. It was super impressive. The drinking age here also means nothing and the school doesnt care so classes brought beer, homemade alcohols, and hard cider to school to drink with their meal. Mozambicans also LOVE to dance so kids brought in big speakers and music blasted throughout the school all day. The students also had a little talent show which included singing, rapping, dancing, poetry readings, and a beauty pageant. It was so cool to see them all perform and they made me be one of the three judges for the beauty pageant(pictures to come) which was fun but also a lot of pressure because im not a huge fan of talking to huge groups of people and they made me announce the winners of the beauty pageant to the whole crowd. All in all it was a really fun day although i was forced to eat so much food! I really liked hanging out with the other teachers and the students in a more casual environment.

Things continue to roll along smoothly at my school in Chongoene. I came to the realization this week that I really feel comfortable and am much more integrated into the community. I came to this conclusion in the following way. When I first got to site and would walk around my village to cure some of my boredom, most people just gawked at me and didn't really talk to me. After a couple of weeks people started to greet me in the street, but without much recognition or extended conversation. Now, I am greeted with warm smiles, and "Bom dia senhora professora". People invite me to sit down with them for tea or a meal; they want to talk with me and teach me their local language; and I am greeted with waves and smiles of recognition because now everyone knows who I am. It's a really good feeling. This weekend I had to turn down invitations to hang out with people TWICE because I already had plans, that's a first.
On Thursday afternoons three of my 12th grade girls have started to come to my house while they wait a few hours for gym class to start. The first week we just chatted and they shared their lunch food with me. The second week I also made food for them, we painted our nails, and I showed them my American magazines which they lovedddd. It's a fun exchange of cultures and I hope they continue to come to hang out.
The onlyyyy tricky thing is that people are also comfortable with me so they invite themselves over to my house for meals. Since it's just me at home I don't eat the most lavish meals. I usually stick to a banana or pineapple at breakfast (or oatmeal if I have it), for lunch or dinner I'll make a little soup, maybe some rice or pasta or beans, but it's always very simple. Having guests at my house means I have to really cook! Now I try to stay on my game at all times and keep different food in the house to whip up in case I have an unexpected visitor!
I always get asked here if I am married or have a boyfriend and people are literally SHOCKED to hear that I am not. Then of course they ask why? (What's wrong with you?) Haha, and then we inevitably get into a long discussion about how they think I should really get a Mozambican boyfriend and then take him back to the US with me when I leave. I think people are surprised that I'm single also because people here think that I'm a lot older than I am, which is probably because my level of education is really high for my age (compared to people here). I've had three students or friends ask me how old I am in the last week and when I let them guess their guesses were 28, 28, and 30. Yikes!
Anyway, on Valentine's day yesterday, I received three flowers from students and some cookies so that was exciting. In my time here I've also had several students or men in my village come to my house and literally beg me to be their girlfriend, which is always an awkward situation, but I think I'm getting pretty good at turning them down.
Tomorrow there are no classes at the school because it is the anniversary of the school's opening so we just have a party all day! Apparently it starts with a big soccer game and then the students perform dances, music, theatre, and we have lots of food and alcohol. Sounds like it should be a good time. I heard some professors talking about having some of the students stay this afternoon after school to help prepare the alcohol(they make it themselves out of a certain fruit here) and kill and pluck the chickens. The school really holds the students responsible for taking care of their school. The kids have to sweep their classrooms out every morning and are often ordered to come to the school on Saturdays with their hoes and machetes to cut the grass and keep the school grounds looking nice.
The first week of school a student interrupted my class to make an announcement that went something like this, "The gym teacher would like you all to report to the soccer field tomorrow at 2:00 with your hoes." I really got a kick out of that. The first week of school instead of having gym class the kids had to hoe the field and cut the grass, rough.
The school wants me to start to teach computer technology classes soon which should be fun, except that they want me to follow the curriculum, which just isn't going to happen. We are starting with 12th grade. Some of these kids have barely any experience with computers and the 12th grade curriculum teaches Microsoft Access, databases, and programming languages....yeah, like that's going to happen.
The dog is still healthy, as am I. Time to do some errands and then get back to my school for a meeting this evening.