6 Months!!!

Weekend at Ilha de Mozambique

9th graders...this is about 60% of the class. It was too big to get them all.

So I am almost done with my first trimester!!! Time really flies when school is in session. A couple of weeks ago, the volunteers from Moz 14 had our first reconnect. The in service training’s focus was evaluating our service thus far, forms, and problem solving. It was a helpful conference, but the highlights were not informational. To me, the best parts were seeing everyone, air conditioning, running water, hot showers, and delicious food for 5 days!!!!
Returning to school the next week was hard. Gathering the motivation to make 10 lesson plans a week, attend class in the pouring rain, etc. proved to be really difficult. But, I did it, and am officially back in the swing of things. =)
Okay, I’m about to make a big generalization, but according to my observations, it is not that far off. Mozambicans have an irrational fear of rain and snakes. Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE rain. My love has only grown exponentially since I’ve been here. Rain is absolutely lovely: it cools the hottest days, it lands in buckets and can be used for every need, it acts as a mini shower, etc. At the slightest sprinkle, Mozambicans feel it necessary to ‘fugir.’ I think people who don’t speak Portuguese can accurately guess what this word means. It doesn’t matter if they are in class, selling things at the market, or just walking down the street, after the first drop lands, they’re off in the sprint. I’ve been perceived to be a crazy person because I will walk home at a normal pace. Actually, I’ll walk home a bit faster so I can get my buckets out to collect water.
With the rain comes a rapidly growing yard. It never fails to have anyone who is visiting our house tell us to cut everything down so we don’t get snakes. No, I am not talking anacondas or boa constrictors, I am talking about little baby garden snakes (1-1.5ft long). Once any green is visible in the yard, even 2 inch long patchy weeds, we are in danger. It’s absolutely crazy. To me, the bigger threat is the crocodile that lives across the street that occasionally breaks loose. A close second are the million malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
I’ve discovered that I am one strict teacher. Some of the stories that stem from this are definitely blog worthy. Instead of bog you guys down with them all at one time, I’ll wrap up each blog with a fun story. Cell phones are a problem. They are constantly ringing, kids have them out all the time, and kids charge them in the class because their houses don’t have electricity. During one lesson, I heard a phone ring. I asked whose it was, and of course, no one owned up to it. I figured it would ring again, and was ready to pinpoint the source when it did. It rang again, and I found it. All Mozambican cell phones use the pay-as-you-go policy. I asked the students what the code is to send a designated amount of credit to another phone (my plan was to send my phone 5 Meticais worth of credit from his phone). Again, no one owned up to the code. I was upset. So, I did the next logical thing. I called my phone from his phone, answered the call, and left both phones connected for the rest of the class. Don’t worry; he only had 10 Meticais of credit on his phone (about 30 cents). Needless to say, phones haven’t been as bad in that class since then. Sweet success.
<3 Von