É assim…

Sunset in Nacala
After too many fails this is what we ended up with.

Not too much has happened since my last post, just realizing that mid-trimester is full of work, work, and more work.
I have finally started the science fair project that I have been looking forward to for a long time. So far I have taught the kids the scientific method, had them choose their topics, develop their questions, and write their hypotheses. One of the best things I did was recruit two Mozambican science teachers to help me: Egas, a math and physics teacher, and Consula, a chemistry teacher. What I have learned so far is that even though my Portuguese is good enough to teach and converse, it is not good enough to know what some of the kid’s ideas are. Here’s a highlight from our last meeting: I asked a kid what he had in mind for his project, he responded using about 15 words I have never heard of, I nod trying to disguise my perplexed face, pass the idea on to Egas and Consula, and then add as many of those words I can remember to my ‘words to look up’ list. The goal is to hold our school science fair at the end of July and have the winners compete in a regional science fair in August. Some of their ideas are pretty impressive, and I can’t wait to see what they can do!
Esther has been giving Ana Paula, one of our colleagues, English lessons. She teaches French, has a real knack for languages, and has quickly become a good friend. She is ‘chique’ to the max and is somehow more in the loop with popular culture than we are. We invited her over for dinner one night and made a delicious Mexican meal. Fitting right? We made beef taquitos, chips and salsa, and Mexican rice, all from scratch! Those of you who know me know I’m useless in the kitchen. Thanks to Esther, this is slowly changing. I have officially mastered making tortillas and tortilla chips!!! Great skills to have.
A little over a week ago, I was really disappointed by one of my favorite 11th grade students. I had assigned my English class a dictionary project to do, he did it, and received a decent grade. Esther had also assigned her 9th graders a similar dictionary project. My 11th grader gave his dictionary to his 9th grade brother to turn in to Esther. Esther discovered my students work and gave her student a zero. I felt as though I had to make an example of this kind of cheating to my students. In the process of making an example out of one of my favorite kids, I ended up embarrassing him. I held him in after class, apologized for embarrassing him, and explained why I had to be so mean. He forgave me and we moved on. The next day, he gave me a letter he had written to apologize for his behavior. This letter confirmed why I think so highly of him. Here’s one of my favorite parts: “I like you too much, and your love is not compare with nobody. I never forget you because you are teaching good behavior, you’re affable and I say thanks.” Not sure I’ve ever been called affable before…
Here are few things I am looking forward to: Teaming up with a P.E. teacher to organize a teacher volleyball game. Some visitors: from America and other Moz volunteers. Another trip to Pemba? Esther returning from her vacation in Barcelona. Teaching my class the cha-cha slide. Mozambican teacher’s day trip to the beach. Science Fair. Starting a teacher English club.

Ehale

We don't know how to act around other Americans anymore =/

Taught the kids all about slang using Mo' Money, Mo' Problems. Turned into a full on dance party.

Going out in Chimoio, almost felt like home.

I feel like I start every blog apologizing for how much time has passed since the last blog, so why change now? I’m sorry it has been so long since the last blog. I am now in my second trimester at school and time has been flying faster than before.
Between the first and second trimesters we had a nice little break from school. Esther and I took this opportunity to travel a bit around Mozambique. After all this travelling, my conclusion is this: There isn’t anything that Mozambique doesn’t have to offer. Mountains, beaches, friendly people, rivers, waterfalls, check, check, check, check, and check. Here are some of the highlights in no specific order:
1. Hike in Gorongosa. Gorongosa is in Central Mozambique and is mountainous, green, and absolutely beautiful. We hiked along a river with the hopes of ended up at a waterfall. It had been raining for a couple of days so the water in the river was really high. By hiking, I mean we waded along the river. Most parts were tame, but there were a couple of areas that were tricky to cross. We ended up at the waterfall, but because the water was so high, it wasn’t as defined as it normally is. Either way, between the perfect weather, gorgeous scenery, and great company, it was a day that won’t be forgotten.
2.Beach Olympics. Some brilliant person had the idea of getting a bunch of recent college graduates together for a day full of drinking games. The setting: Vilanculos, a beach city in Southern Mozambique. The ocean is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The slope of the beach is so gradual you can walk about a minute out into the water and be only waist deep. Anyways, the day started with opening ceremonies, was followed by a shotgun race, flip cup, sloshball, dizzy bat, beer pong, and then ended with the closing ceremonies. There are two parts of the day that stick out in my mind. During the opening ceremonies, we all lined up and sang the National Anthem. This doesn’t sound like anything spectacular, but I can honestly say I have ever been so proud to be an American. As a teacher, I hear and participate in singing the Mozambican National Anthem two times each weekday. Since the song is about 5 minutes long, that means 10 minutes of each day spent hearing/singing the Patria Amada. That’s 50 minutes each week, 200 minutes a month, and 2400 minutes a year. Ridiculous. So, I guess my point is that after all the time spent singing about Mozambique, it was a great change in pace to get back to America. The second part of the day that sticks out in my mind is dizzy bat. This event includes chugging a beer, spinning around a bat 10 times, and then having to hit a ball. My epic performance during this event (along with Brian’s) put our team back in the competition. The north/central team eventually won the title.
3. The TCO bus. I’m pretty sure it stands for ‘The Classy Option.’ Travelling in Moz is a bit unpredictable. You can take chapas, buses, or hitchhike. All of these options can range from great to a really poor experience. Esther and I hitchhiked the majority of the time and had some sensational rides. But, one of our first rides of the trip, the Grupo Mecula bus, was so traumatizing we decided to splurge on our way home. We spent about 2 times the price of the awful bus to get home on the TCO. It was like a little bit of America here in Mozambique. The bus had a toilet, air conditioning, tvs, and served a meal!!! I did learn one lesson the hard way on the TCO: Even though there is a toilet, it does not mean you can go #2. The bus ride was 17 hours long, so I think the rule is ludicrous. Needless to say, I went on the bus. After I returned to my seat, the stewardess approached me and gave me an earful. After asking her what I could do about it at that point, she rolled her eyes, and walked away. Other than that, it was a lovely ride.
Getting back home meant returning to work. It was a new trimester and I was ready to get back. I decided to do one thing differently in my English class. Every Friday Esther and I choose a song to teach our classes. From the song, we teach vocabulary and a grammar point. It instantly became a hit. My kids have really opened up and we even had a dance party this last Friday. In the three weeks that we have been doing this I can already see my relationship with my students developing.
One last noteworthy thing happened recently, our house is officially rat free!!! My mom sent some of those sticky pads in her last package, and we caught Peter Pettigrew on night #1!!! Sweet success. Thanks mom.
Miss you all tons!!
<3 Von

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

Mocambique Nossa Terra Gloriosa...

My school. 9 classrooms. 3000 students.

We are now PROS at collecting water.

Bat on sharpies.

Different bat in our dish washing bucket =/

Since the last time I’ve had a chance to write, the biggest change over here in Mozambique is that school has started. I knew I was coming to teach biology, what I didn’t know was that it was only going to be a sliver of my work load. I am spending most of my time teaching physics and English.
I agreed to teach English because I figured, ‘hey, I speak that language and I was teaching kids to read English before I came, how hard can it be?’ It has proven to be waaay harder than I could have imagined. Teaching kids English as a second language is tough. It requires a certain level of patience that I just don’t have. Honestly, without my experience before coming to the Peace Corps, I don’t think I would have been very effective. Luckily, I learned some tricks at the Cullinan Education Center that have turned out to be life savers.
Physics is by far the biggest challenge. The main reason is because I have zero physics supplies. The only thing the school supplies is chalk. I bought a textbook in Nampula City so I could at least know physics words in Portuguese. This may sound helpful, but Mozambican textbooks are loaded with wrong information, misspelled words, and are extremely disorganized. My lifeline has been Portuguese Wikipedia, which really just makes me laugh. Another challenge is trying teach topics that require calculations to kids that don’t have a solid foundation in basic math. To be fair, this is a generalization, but because of it I have spent too much class time reteaching decimals. (It has kind of been a blessing in disguise because it has helped me clear up one very important thing in my mind. They use periods were we put commas and vice versa, and it took a little bit of time before it started to look correct).
Teaching biology is lovely. I am teaching 11th grade, which is the grade where kids can either choose to do arts or science. The students in my class are serious and love science. They participate, ask great questions, and are a breath of fresh air on a long day. As a secondary project, I am going to do the science fair. I can’t wait to get them all involved and see what they are really capable of!!!
We just finished week 5 of school, and our first round of tests. My English scores were all over the place. I am absolutely thrilled, though, because the average suggests that I may actually be doing a good job! =) Biology went even better! They are understanding the information and me!!! I guess that is the best part. I am able to convey what I want to about biology in Portuguese!! Woo hoo! I have no idea how my physics students did yet, because their ungraded tests are sitting in a pile on my chair. I’m scared for two reasons: 1. I have no idea if they understood a word I said and 2. I have 4 classes of 100+ students to grade (it’s a BIG pile).
On a completely different note, Esther and I seem to have a big problem with anything that ends in –at. At least two times each week, we get bats in our house at night. They come in through this chimney-ish opening in our back room. We open the doors and wait outside for them to leave. It’s not so bad, minus we get bit to death by mosquitos while we are out there. Bats also looove to hang out in our latrine hole. Going to the bathroom at night when they are flying around has become too difficult. We have resorted to going outside after dark. Our other problem is with a gigantic rat. It loves our veggies, spices, bread, etc. We are looking into getting a cat to help us with this problem.
My roommate Esther is wonderful. It is seriously like the Peace Corps did extensive research before they put us together. She cooks, I clean. We both LOVE games: board, dice, cards, etc. We are both obsessed with the same TV shows. The list goes on and on. She has started teaching me Korean, and it is amazing!!! I have mastered the vowels and consonants and have set a goal for myself: if I can master reading and conversational Korean by the time I am done here, I want to move to Korea for a year!!!
I miss you all like crazy!! Keep writing, it is always great to hear from all of you! I keep getting called “popular” because you guys are great at writing, but I just don’t think anyone understands how big my family is and how wonderful my friends are!! =)
Beijitos, Vonnie

My life according to the BRATT diet.

Since arriving to site, Esther and I were lucky enough to have Amanda stay with us for a couple of weeks because her house wasn't ready. We got to work on our house, made a few renovations, and watched A LOT of tv. We cleaned our place from top to bottom, constructed a kitchen counter, and made some necessary purchases (my favorite being our lovely refrigerator).

It was a bittersweet Christmas. It was my first time celebrating away from family and friends and proved tobe a lot harder than I thought it would be. Somehow, I managed to have a roommate who truly believes that the "best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." She has the most extensive Christmas music/movies collection on her computer that I have EVER seen. We spent most of December listening to Cmas music, watching Cmas movies, and making Cmas decorations. We hosted the Nampula province Christmas get-together and had ten volunteers staying at our site. We did secret santa, made stockings, played flip cup, made jell-o shots, and had some delicous meals (some even had meat!!!).

For New Years, we headed to the beach for a few days. It took an exhausting 11 hours to travel each way, but was definitely worth it. We were able to see more friends, a ton of Mozambique, eat AMAZING food, and ring in the new decade. We were so proud to stay up until midnight since we are all used to falling asleep before nine each night. Eating soft serves at the beach is undeniably one of my favorite times in Moz so far.

We only have one more week before school starts, so we have been pretty lazy the last few days. This has been especially easy since I have been pretty sick for about a week now. I can't seem to shake this cough/congestion/allergy medley. I'm just hoping for it to pass before I start working. Once school starts, my days of reading, watching tv and movies, and playing games are going to shift into Portuguese only lesson planning. Call me crazy, but I can't wait.

I've realized that it's really hard to write these blogs trying to recap everything that has happened since the last blog. I think from now on, I'll just focus on one or two events in particular to write about. Something I'd like to write about in this blog is my love of collecting rainwater. I think I discovered this love after realizing how hard it is to cart water. Now, anytime I see rain clouds in the distance, I do a rain dance, put out every bucket and pan we have, and wait. My smile gets bigger and bigger with every drop that lands in them. All I can think about is how many trips of carting water it is eliminating. It is seriously one of the greatest feelings in the world!!!

So, of course, mail is still appreciated. Anytime you guys are feeling bored and don't know what to do, write a letter! You can either email me at voncontreras@gmail.com or write me at

Yvonne Contreras, PCV

Rua dos Continuadores #24A

C.P. 526

Cidade de Nampula, Nampula

Mozambique

This address is slightly different than the one in the last blog. Things will still get to me with the other address, but this one is a bit more correct. For packages, please remember to put Jesus saves, praise the Lord, etc. on them. Also, not claiming exactly what is in the package or their true value is a great idea to cut down on theft. If you're going to mail a postcard, please put it in a envelope. Moz is notorious for keeping postcards and putting them up in the post office.

This is getting lengthy, so I'd like to end with a huge congrats to cousin Steph and Brandon!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a little baby girl, but keep me updated!! Another congrats to cousins Teresa and Brisa on the weddings! I'm so bummed to be missing out on all the excitement =(. RIP my little Yoti-bear.

<3 Von

Officially a PCV!!!

Im in S. Africa, Swaz, and Moz!!!
We are science teachers!!

So we have made it to site!!! I’m an official volunteer and live in Monapo in the province of Nampula. I have been here for a total of about 4 hours and already love it. It’s in northern Mozambique and is completely different than the south. The only downfall is that it’s up to a 5 day chapa ride each way from some of my closest friends.

Since it has been so long, there’s a ton to catch up on.

Site visit was a blast. It was a much needed vacation from training. I took a 4 hour chapa ride from Namaacha to Chongoene. Chapas are the most readily available method of travel here in Mozambique. I would say they are roughly the same size and shape of a VW van. The only difference is that an average ride includes about 20-25 people. Chongoene is a little, dry town in the middle of nowhere. Some perks it offers are: being a short chapa ride from Xai-Xai (a big city where you can buy pretty much everything you’d need), being about 2 hours from the capital, being right off the main road that goes through Mozambique, and being relatively close to other volunteers. We went to the beach in Xai-Xai and there are no words to describe how absolutely beautiful it was. I’ve even heard it doesn’t compare to some of the prettiest beaches Mozambique has to offer, so I can’t wait to see more! I also had a chance to hitchhike and fell in love. It is faster, cheaper, more comfortable, and easier than other methods of transportation.

The education volunteers finished two weeks of model school. It was exhausting. It turns out that preparing biology lesson plans in Portuguese is hard work. I gave six lessons to 8th grade Mozambican students. Some were better than others, but I definitely felt more comfortable in the classroom by the end.

Thanksgiving came and went. The highlight of it was finding out our site placement which was followed by an AMAZING dinner. Corpo da Paz provided the turkey and we did a potluck for the rest of the meal.

As far as site placement goes, I consider myself one of the luckiest volunteers out of Moz 14. I will be living with Esther, one of my friends from training, and about ten minutes from another friend named Amanda. They are from LA and Pasadena. Go figure. It is beautiful in Monapo, and we are only about an hour chapa ride to one of the prettiest beaches Moz has to offer!!! I’m pretty sure I hit the jackpot with site placements.

It’s absolutely unreal to me that I’ve already had such amazing experiences here in Moz and it has only been a little over two months. What makes it even more incredible is to look at some of the stats for Moz: the average family income is about $350/year and it is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. The US invests about 400 million dollars in Moz each year. By next year, the goal is to get to an absolute poverty rate of 45%.

You can now mail me at a new address. Also, don’t worry about what you have sent to the other address. The previous address will always be valid, it may just take a little longer to reach me. From now on, this address will work best:

Yvonne Contreras, PCV
Corpo da Paz/U.S. Peace Corps
Avenida Rua Dos Continuadores #24a
C.P. 526
Nampula
Mozambique
Happy late Thanksgiving and early Christmas/New Years to everyone!!! I miss you guys like crazy.

Killing chickens and getting old.

He is pretty much the love of my life here...

I feel like I am doing something new with each day that passes. Here’s a couple highlights of the past couple of weeks:

1. I’ve officially killed my first chicken. It actually wasn’t so bad. The part I’m not that much of a fan of is depenar-ing, or plucking the chicken. It’s a bit too smelly/messy.
2. I’ve become REALLY good friends with my xixi (pee) bucket. Most of the time it is known as my balde, or bucket used for taking showers. The best part of this bucket, though, is its second job as a xixi bucket in my room overnight. A side effect of the malaria meds is an overactive bladder, so it has come in pretty handy.
3. I turned 23, and celebrated ALL weekend. On Halloween, Corpo da Paz held a Halloween party. We all dressed up and invited some members of our families to show them how absolutely ridiculous Americans can be. I was amazed at how resourceful all the trainees were with their costumes. We had a costume contest, limbo, snacks, trick-or-treating, and roasting marshmallows. The next day, my host family threw me the most amazing birthday dinner/dance party. My two brothers came into town from other provinces, along with some extended family members from all over Moz/South Africa. We had a feast, cake, and TONS of dancing. I also tried cow head for the first/last time. My family went above and beyond my expectations, and it was a birthday that will be hard to beat in the future. They also remembered that watermelon was my favorite fruit and had one brought in from South Africa as a gift.
Site visits are coming up this Saturday and we are all so excited to get out of Namaacha for a few days. We are going to stay with current volunteers at their sites. It should be a blast. I’m most excited about seeing different parts of Moçambique. I’m headed to Chongoene in Gaza. I’ll be going with a chemistry teacher and we are pretty much going to be on the beach. There are a few of us that are going to be in the same area, so we are all planning on meeting up a couple of the nights to hang out. This has been what we have all been waiting for pretty much since day one, so I can’t wait!!!
Thanks for all of the birthday wishes, and I’m sorry if I haven’t had a chance to respond to them. It means a lot to know all of you remembered/were thinking about me. I miss you guys and think of you often. Remember, if you’re ever bored, feel free to shoot me a letter.
Yvonne Contreras, PCV
Corpo da Paz/U.S. Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo
Mozambique
Most missed American item: a roll of Kirkland brand tp (actually any 2-ply would work).