Dia de Heroes

So today (3 de Fevereiro) I got up at 4:25 and went to meet my fellow Guijanians at 5 to head out to an event in the provincial capital of Xai-Xai for Hero’s Day – a national holiday here in Mozambique to commemorate the nation’s heroes. Got there at 5 and no one was around so I went back home and sat around until around 6 and then returned where I found close to 30 vehicles – chapas, cars, huge trucks, etc. packed with things and people going to Xai-Xai and soon enough we proceeded to head out in a 30 vehicle caravan for the next 2 hours. Word on the street was that Guebuza, Mozambique’s Present was supposed to be there and that he was. I listened to him and a number of other important figureheads speak in the middle of this jardim where they inaugurated a statue of Samora Machel – Mozambique’s first President since independence – this year marking the 25^th year since his death. It was really great to see how many people showed up for this special event. Roads were blocked off for people to walk, police were directing traffic, streets venders and food carts lined the streets, there was so much life – an avid people-watcher would have had field day!

Eu tenho bebe scorpiao na minha cama!

Yea so the other night after I had just squeezed out 5 mango-fly parasites out of the newest addition to the family, a puppy named “Sumo” (yea so the other volunteer in Guija got a pup and a kitten on Sunday…we did however lose the other two cats…so the count is one kitten and two puppies). Okay so I was laying in bed inside my tucked in bed net and all of a sudden I feel something crawl up the back of my thigh I brush it off and decide to turn on my head lamp and to my surprise it turned out to be a baby scorpion! I jumped out of bed and luckily my roommate was still up saw it in my bed and brushed it out it then bounced off her foot and onto the ground it hasn’t been seen since…

Dancamos com Backstreet Boys, conversamos sobre Michael Jackson e accordo com Eminem (oh and a Piri update tambem)

So yesterday the family that lives behind the house I am staying in had a Backstreet Boys music video marathon on their TV. So the other volunteer and I along with Piri-Piri had a dance party in the yard to Backstreet Boys – incredible! Oh yea and the father of that same family has been quite interested in learning about Michael Jackson – asking about women in his life, his kids, how he died, whether he was cremated, etc…Needless to say I don’t know enough about the man because many of his questions remain unanswered. Oh yea and the eldest son of that same family LOVES Eminem and he has been playing the same 1 or 2 songs from morning until night for the past few weeks…he asked me last week if I would help him translate the lyrics to the “Momma” (I don’t know the real name of the song) song and I told him I would as long as he promised to not play it every single day! J For all of you who who are dog lovers…Piri is doing well she has been going on morning runs with my roommate, which is tuckers her out she also still brings us presents of goat skins, old bones of random animals and the newest thing are dirty baby diapers! I am teaching her to sit, stay and sleep…we’ve almost mastered sit and will be moving on soon!

A Minha Escola em Guija

We technically started school last Thursday, however I have still yet to meet all of my students. The first few weeks of school are spent enrolling students, teachers still planning lessons and students deciding when they are finished with holidays and ready to come back. There are about 1000 students at the school and 4 English teachers - two English teachers for 8^th-10^th and two for 11^th and 12^th grades. The students in the 8^th-10^th receive 2 classes of English/week, while the students in 11^th and 12^th receive 5 classes/week. I will be teaching only in the morning (from 7am to 12:05) and will have 4 turmas (classes) of about 40 students each. My schedule changes depending on the day – Mondays I have six classes (3 doubles/duplas) with my three 11^th grade classes, Tuesday I have two classes (1 double/dupla) with my only 12^th grade class and Wednesday…So far the students have pretty good I have yet to have a full class with all of my students so we’ll see how things go when I get 40 students in a classroom. I did have something funny happen the other day in class when we were going over classroom rules. I asked the students what it meant to respect yourself and then asked them to give me examples in English/Portuguese…one student decided to say in Portuguese with the most serious face that not peeing in your pants was one way to respect yourself, besides being true his comment definitely generated some great laughter! More stories to come…

Escola Secudaria em Mozambique

The secondary education system in Mozambique is set up in two cycles – the first cycle is 8th-10th grade and the second cycle is 11th and 12th. Students have to take national exams after 10th grade and 12th grade in November if they pass they can move on to 11th grade after 10th or university after 12th. If they don’t pass they can retake the exams in December and if they still don’t pass they have to retake the courses they did not pass on the exam. All secondary schools in Mozambique are open to any one who wants to go to school and the classes are not determined on the age of the students, but whether or not they have passed the previous grade. For instance, there could be a 16 year or and a 36 year old in the same 11th grade class. The school is set up on a trimester system – the first trimester is January to April, the second is May to July and the third is August to October. There are three cycles of classes at most schools one in the morning, one in the afternoon and then one at night. The schools that do not have electricity will only have two cycles during the day because it makes it impossible to hold classes at night without electricity.

"Voce conhece crocodillos?"

This is the question I get at least once a week by the same people who I meet alongside the main road in my town…those people include a man by the name Manuel who sells used clothes a few building down from where I live, a women who sells refrescos near the central market, the chicken vendor and many others I may come into contact on my passear-ing journey to the “ponte” or bridge that goes over the Limpopo River and connects Guija with Chokwe. This is definitely my favorite spot. There is a little baraaca at the end of town right off the river where you can get a drink and relax. Typically everyone who frequents this spot sits at the tables provided by the barraca, but we take our drinks and go sit on some rocks under the bridge where you can watch the beautiful sunsets and catch the nice breeze off the rio. The thing about going to the ponte is that everyone in town enjoys bringing up the fact that the river is home to crocodillos and how it is dangerous for me to go there because one man has been eaten and a month before I arrived another had his arm bitten off while bathing in the river at night (I think he had to be asking for that…who thinks to bathe in a river with crocs when it is pitch black outside?) Anyways I reassure people that I am not taking a bath or even entering the water in any way, but they are usually not satisfied because the conversation replays itself each time. I know they are only looking out for my well being and I appreciate it, but I have decided that I will not give up frequenting this incredible spot for the fear of having my arm bitten off by a croc.

“Uma fotografica e vale um mil palavras”

So since school is not supposed to begin until the middle/end of the month I have had quite a bit of free time and usually spend part of my day just sitting under talking to people about how yet again it is another hot day. So I have been trying to spice up that convo a bit and decided to bring out all my lovely pictures of family and friends back to home to share. It was such a wonderful idea too because it has helped me “trocar” (exchange/trade) experiences. We have talked about how there are non-white people that live in the U.S. (thanks to many pictures of Bernard and I), how old people live to be (thanks to my wonderful grandparents who just celebrated their 63 wedding anniversary on January 1^st), going to university, sports (specifically baseball, hmm I wonder why…love you Tony!), the different climates, markets, types of buildings, languages, Uganda, HIV/AIDS and much much more…It’s crazy how something as small and insignificant at times can spark some incredible conversation and help people feel that much more connected to you. So now when my neighbor’s see that I am on the phone with my family and friend’s back home they can picture their faces.

Eu sou Dr. Do-Little

Okay so sorry I bet you didn’t imagine that I would continue to write about my pets (yes there is more than just Piri) but being that I am waiting on the school year to begin this is the most exciting thing I have to write about. Yea so the other volunteer I am living with got a cat last spring sometime and it disappeared about 2 months ago and decided to come back a week after I got Piri. Then this past weekend I brought home a kitten because the two volunteers who live in the town next to mine went back to the states for the holidays and needed someone to look after the kitten. So now how do they all get along…they don’t. The first cat thinks this house is his terrain and wants nothing to do with Piri or the gatinha named Kanimambo (Thank you in Xangana – the local language here). Piri is still just wanting to bite everything in sight including the gatinha – another small chick was murdered, but we are not positive it was Piri because she was not caught in the act, but I did wake up on New Years and had the skin of a goat in my front yard – she took it from the neighbor’s house who killed it the night before. She also ripped the mosquito net of my neighbor’s last night…ugh! Her biting has been a constant stress of mine – I actually dreamt about it last week. Luckily my neighbors are understanding and are really positive about her though…Seriously though the house has turned into a petting zoo with crying, purring, barking and growling ALL day long…!

Chapa Rides

Okay so I have mentioned this word Chapa in a number of different blogs of mine, but I don’t think I have taken the time to elaborate on what it really is. A Chapa is a Toyota mini van that has a front seat that fits the driver and 2 other people and four back seat benches. Each of the benches are made to fit 3 people but they put four and usually as many babies and chickens as well. Also the driver has what’s called a cobrador who collects money and sticks his head out of the window to yell their route and fill up the Chapa and so he will sit on the fist bench directly behind the front seats and control the door and stand hunched over if there is no room on the bench – other people will stand too if there isn’t room so basically they just jam it until they can’t close the door, sometimes the chapa is so old that the door doesn’t really even close and so the cobrador just holds it shut. I have a love hate relationship with these chapas (they have the same thing in Uganda as well so I have ridden in my fair share of these Toyota vans) I love them because all of my best stories stem from riding in a chapa, however I hate them because they take so much more time and make you feel like you are in a corset, straight jacket or can of sardines the entire ride…On Sunday on the way back from the beach it was raining, which made belay-ing not an option and so myself and two other volunteers had to take chapas back. We stopped to have in Xai-Xai town before heading back and I had the rest of my lunch in a box ready to take home. As I stopped to situate myself in my rain jacket and such I forgot to pick up my food, but didn’t remember until we got on the chapa. But because we were the first handful of people on the chapa the driver had to drive up and down town waiting for people who were ready to go to our same destination this took a good 45 minutes and in the meantime I was trying to accept the fact that I would not be seeing my Indian leftovers anytime in the near future. But then to my surprise we happened to turn around in the dirt lot next to where I left my food and to my surprise it was sitting on the table right where I left it! So the chapa stopped and left me get out and grab it before we went on our journey that took much longer than the hour and a half journey I took a few days prior…

BEELAYUH (spelled phonetically…)

So the word “beelayuh” means getting a free ride by a complete stranger here in Mozambique. Often times this free ride can come in a number of different varieties – backs of pick-up trucks, in an air-conditioned Land Cruiser with a Mozambican, Portuguese or South African. Now I know coming from the U.S. where hitch hiking is not a common occurrence (and I think might even be illegal), here that is not the case and often times this ride can be much more comfortable than being jammed in a chapa that was originally meant for 15 people and actually have 26 people – not to mention safer. Okay so over the Christmas weekend I spent my time in Xai-Xai beach with some other volunteers and the other volunteer that I am living with and I decided to get a beelayuh to our destinations. After standing on the side of the road for about 20 minutes flagging down whatever car would pass we got ourselves a beelayuh straight to Xai-Xai, which couldn’t have been any more perfect. I like to call him “Speedy Gonzales” because he lives in Chokwe (the large town closest to mine) and works in Xai-Xai meaning he drives this normally 2 hour drive in a private car in an hour and a half during the day and in 45 minutes at night (mainly dependent on the number of cops on the road during those hours…). Speedy was very nice bought us waters at the gas station and gave us his number for whenever we wanted to head back to Xai-Xai. Because of how fast I got to the beach I arrived way earlier than the rest of the group and was able to get a head start on my Christmas tan. My friends who were coming from the same place, but wanted to leave a bit later took chapas and it took them about 5 hours! Oh yea so on Christmas eve a friend of mine and I decided to go to town from the beach which is about 6-8 km trek on our way back we were once again belay-ing and happened to get a ride in a brand new Hummer-3 with air-conditioning, leather seats and a new Akon song playing…will be sure to continue to keep you all updated on my beelayuh stories!

O Meu Cachorro - Piri-Piri

So I got a dog, not sure if I mentioned this before, but I did I bought a puppy and named her Piri-Piri, which is what they call hot peppers here. She is about 4 months – I am not too sure on her exact age and she is a cute little mut of some sort. I gave her a bath the first night and she did pretty well it turned out to be a neighborhood endeavor and it was funny to see people’s faces when I took out a towel to dry her off they couldn’t believe that I would use a towel on a dog! Haha She is in major teething phase and so likes to bite and chew whatever she can get her choppers on, which is usually my arms – I did get her a rabies shot last week, which is good. She sleeps outside and has become a good guard dog for our yard, but because she has matar-ed (killed) a few of the neighbors baby chicks and one of their chickens I have had to keep her tied up during the day when I am not around to keep an eye on her. She loves to play and I just don’t think she knows that her teeth are really sharp and will do damage to whatever they bite…

Dia tres em Guija

So over the past three days I have been getting all settled into my new home. When I arrived I needed to purchase a bed frame and a mattress since my site is new. Purchasing the bed was funny because it wouldn’t all fit in the chapa so we had to strap it on the top of this mini bus and drive it to the house that I am staying in for a few weeks. Yea so I am staying with a volunteer that arrived last year and lives in my same town for the first few weeks because my house is not ready – she’s very nice and has been super helpful with getting settled in. So my house is not ready yet because Peace Corps has certain requirements for our houses before we can move in to ensure that we will be safe, such as bars and screens on the windows, good locks on the doors, etc. My house needs those things plus a new metal panel on the roof because I guess it leaks and a fresh coat of paint. There are also a ton of weeds in the yard so while I am waiting for those other things to get fixed I’ll be enxada-ing (hoe-ing) the yard and preparing for my own machamba (garden). My house is super cut on a very quaint quintal (yard) I have a ton of fruit trees – a papaya, banana, lemon, grape and a few mangoes, I think there might even be an avocado! I met a few of my neighbors yesterday and also went to my school and met most of the teachers – supposedly there are 34 of them for a school with more than 1000 students who come either in the morning, afternoon or evening. I am worried because there are so many names to remember and my brain is already hurting from trying to remember words in Portuguese, but oh well I’ll figure it out after some time. I am really excited because there are 4 other English teachers besides me and they all seem very nice (well the three I met yesterday are all very nice. The staff for the most part seems very young a number of the teachers have just recently finished university and this is their first time teaching. Okay so before I cut this entry off I have to tell about the baby crocodile I saw strapped to the back of this guys bike today while he was riding through town. Supposedly he caught it in the river that runs on the edge of my town (they seem to be spotted quite often - last week a guy’s arm was bit off by one!) and he was on his way to take it to the police station! Yea so that’s it for now.

Ciao Namaacha

This week is my last week of training. Friday I will be leaving my homestay family and heading to Guija in Gaza Province where I will be living for the next two years. It’s a bit crazy how fast these past 9 weeks of training have gone! It feels like I just left San Diego and now I am leaving what has become my new home here in Mozambique for what will become my next new home. I don’t know much about my new town, but will over the next few months and will be sure to pass along that information to all of you ASAP. Oh and I will continue to use the same address as of right now because I am only a 3 hour drive from Maputo, will let you all know if that changes. Obrigada!

Comemos Pizza

Okay so this past Tuesday we had pizza for lunch (we always, always, always eat lunch at our homestays, which gets old after eating the same stuff for the past 9 weeks) while we visited the Peace Corps office in Maputo. The staff picked up 35 medium-large-ish pizzas for the 70 of us and they were literally devoured in less than 15 minutes as though we were wild animals who hadn’t eaten for days. I ate four pieces of pizza and was still hungry after I was finished. I think my stomach is going through withdrawals from not having Mexican food (i.e. chesse) on a regular basis, I also think that has had something to do with the fact that my jeans aren’t exactly fitting like they used to…

Voce sabe nada

So my 3-year-old sister Junha is the cutest little dumpling that I have come to love and hate quite equally. Love because she has a smile that would melt you from the inside out and hate because temper tantrums by 3-year-olds five plus times a day are never pretty, but none-the-less I know I will miss her. Anyways the other day I was asked to give her a bath, which I have done before, but never in a bucket about the size of a small bathroom size wastebasket. (Sidenote: Junha hates taking baths and I sometimes am able to get her to take a bath by singing Beyonce’s Single Ladies and when we sing “put your hands up” I pull her shirt off to get her prepped for the bath) On top of the size of the bucket of water I had to bathe her in front of all 6 of the men who work at my homestay family’s house making bricks (they have a brick making business and a chapa business – don’t think I mentioned that before oh and chapa is the word for Toyota-van-taxis, the main type of transport here). Okay back to my story…so we were outside and I was trying to give Junha a bath and she was cold and insisted on trying to sit inside the bucket, which just wasn’t working because it was too small and each time she insisted on sitting down she would get dirty because we were using a bucket that had probably rolled around in the dirt before they decided to use it to bathe Junha – don’t ask me why. Yea so after she was all squeaky clean I picked her up and rushed her inside to dry her off and get her dressed. While jumping on her mom’s bed, I was trying to help her pick out her clothes. I began by asking her what color underwear she wanted and she told me “preto” (black) I pointed to one of the two black pairs hanging on the bed post and she told me “nao” (no) for both of the black pairs – eventually I figured out that she wanted “rosa” – the pick pair, but because she is 3 she doesn’t know her colors very well. After that we moved to to picking out her outfit…she wanted to wear a “saia” (skirt), but they were all dirty. Because I couldn’t pull out a skirt for her to wear, Junha decided to jump on the bed and chant “voce sabe nada, voce sabe nada…” (you know nothing, you know nothing…). I ironic thing is I understood everything. Basically the moral of the story is my Portuguese is slightly better than that of a 3-year-old Mozambican. Whoo-hoo!!! Parabens (Congratulations)!

Perigo Minas!

Minas de terra or as you would say in English - landmines are something that many Mozambicans and those who visit and live in Mozambique have to be aware of. The civil war that torn apart Mozambique for nearly 2 decades ended in 1992, but since then many of the minefields and unexploded ordinances have shifted due to such things as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, etc. De-mining efforts are taking place in Mozambique and have been for a number of years since the end of the war, but it has been such outside factors that have greatly contributed to the slowing of this effort. When you come visit me the following are some local indicators of potential dangerous areas: painted stones in red and white, red posts with signs attached to them that read: “Perigo Minas!”, animal carcasses or remains, piles of rocks or sticks, etc…

minha vida e a musical

I have always wanted to live in a musical and moving to Namaacha with my Mozambican homestay family has made that dream a reality. In between (and sometimes during) daily tasks of cooking, cleaning, bathing, eating, taking tea, ginastica (aka: yoga and abdominals), and attempting to learn Portuguese I, along with my four homestay sisters dance to the beat of Beyonce, Rhinana and local Mozambican musicians. My homestay mother, being the primary school teacher that she is has tirelessly made sure that I learn all of the Portuguese songs for young children…uma banana, duas bananas, tres bananas…the Portuguese version of where is pinky along with head, shoulders, knees and toes! With the stress of learning a new language I have graciously welcomed these daily dance parties.

i'm here! (wish i could say this in portuguese, but i'm afraid that i've only been in country for 4.5 hours)

okay so after going to bed at 1am and then waking up at 2am, loading our bags for all 71 people on two charter buses and then heading to jfk where we arrived at 6am for our 11:15am flight and had to wait until 7:30am to check in, we then sat at the gate and then on a plane for 15 hours and then waited in johannesburg for 4 hours and then took a 50 minute flight to maputo the capital where we were picked up and then bused to a hotel...that has been my past 2 days. i finally took a shower which was warm and didn't require a bucket. love you and hope you are well. blog soon. paz.

ciao

as many of you know i was accepted to spend the next 27 months in mozambique as a high school english teacher in the peace corps. thank you for all of your support and excitement with this new journey and for all of you who are interested in keeping updated on my time in mozambique stay tuned into my "bom dia" (which means good morning in portuguese) blog. i have made an attempt before to keep a blog during my travels in uganda and i more or less did a terrible job...BUT i am going to try much harder on this one i promise. ciao!