Adventures in Africa

back to work

2008-02-13T08:43:00.003-05:00

Hi all. This is going to be a rushed job because I don't have a lot of time, and I haven't prewritten my post like I usually do. I have been pretty bad about posting, but its mostly because I don't really have internet access at the moment. Currently I am in the Vilankulo CARE office, using the internet from the desk of one of my fellow peace corps friends. I am working on getting internet back in my house again, but this being Mozambique, I have no idea how long that will take. I will let you know when that gets rolling. Once I have it I be able to keep in touch better.
Before I get started on the Moz, I just have to say thank you to all of you who I saw when I was home for the holidays. I got to see so many of you and it was just what I needed to recharge myself for this year. I had so many different social events with my sisters wedding, and the holiday parties, and it gave me a chance to cover most of my bases. Thanks for all the warm words and encouragement, and if I forgot to say thank you for an email or a package that was sent, forgive me, I was a bit overwhelmed at some points by all the people I was getting to reunite with. If I didn't get to see you, no worries... I'll be back in less then a year!

Getting back to life here, I have started teaching again. This year is shaping up to be a lot different then last. The school is being structured differently because we are sharing our space with a new university that is arriving in Vilankulo next week. Now I have my opinions about this, and not all of them good, so I won't say a lot here, but the gist of it is that all of the 8th, 9th and 10th grade classes are being held at the old secondary school in the middle in town, while our school is just responsible for 11th and 12th. (The problem that I have with this is basically that there is no room over at the other school to accomadate all these students, thus they are crowding 75 kids to a class, and having them put in tents and sitting on the floors, but don't get me started). I am teaching 11th grade at the same school I was at last year, Mucoque Secondary School. I am actually enjoying it a lot. The students are at a higher level (or are supposed to be), so I am able to do activities with them that are a lot more advanced. I still haven't given my first quiz, so maybe I am going to find out that in reality a lot fewer of them understand what I am saying then I think, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.
I have a few projects in the works this year that I am trying to focus my time on. I asked my director if I could teach fewer classes so that I could have time for these projects and, suprisingly enough, he actually listened to me. So, this year, I have 5 classes instead of 8. This gives me about 180 less students, which makes a world of difference come correcting time. I am psyched! I have already gotten underway on my first project, which is an English club. It involves having my former students come to my school once a week to study English with me. I have gotten permission to use the library, so I am having 2 different groups of students in the 9th and 10th grades. The basic idea is to study English in a less formal, more interesting setting, with a lot less students in the classroom (i.e. more one-on-one teacher-student time). We will see how it goes. So far I've spread the word to the students about our first meeting, which is on Wednesday of next week. I have also gotten other teachers involved who would like to come to the club meetings to help. This is great because as volunteers we want our projects to be self-sustaining, and be able to continue after we are gone. Also, one focus of Peace Corps is to transfer ideas and information between volunteers and counterparts that we work with in Mozambique. Doing the club with other teachers is an excellent opportunity to share teaching methods and activities to improve how English is taught in Vilankulo. I am excited about these groups because there will be many less students, and all of the students present will actually want to be there and want to learn English, not quite the case in a normal classroom. Anyway, I think things will be a lot smoother and more fun with these groups. We'll see...
The other project I'm trying to get under way is teaching computers. I have actually been given the okay to do this, but there is still no time table for when I can start. The school still apparently does not have the electricity to use the computers, but I don't actually think they have checked to see if this is still true. I am going to keep on them until the things get moving. I haven't actually used any of the computers in the labs (there are 40), so I have no idea what kind of condition they are in, or what kind of programs they have. It could be quite a mess, and although I know how to use a computer, I am no technician. Maybe some of you back home will be able to give me some advice when the time comes... Let me know if you know anything about computers and are up for this!
Outside of teaching, life is good, but always a bit crazy. I arrived back in Vilankulo to find that my dog had had 4 puppies. I have since given away 3, but am having a little trouble getting the owner of the 4th one to actually pick it up and take it away from my house. I love puppies, but they are a lot of work and really messy. I really only have space for my dog, Gus.
My weekends are usually filled with trying to keep my house/yard clean... a tough job... I never realized how much work goes into keeping up a house. I also have a constant stream of visitors (mostly former students) at my house all the time. This is great, but it is also a bit difficult when I am trying to either get house work done or just get some alone time.
For the most part this year is already flying by and going a lot smoother. Last year was tough because I really couldn't speak Portuguese when I first arrived at site, but at this point I'm comfortable with the language, know how the school works, know the people here, and I'm much better at being vocal and speaking up for things I need. It's really important here to be able to be forward and direct in order to get things accomplished, and this year it does not come so hard to me. So, like I said, life is busy, but I am happy, and feel like I am going to be doing good things this year.
Let me know how you are and any big news. I miss you all, but will be home soon enough. Take care, and I'll do my best to stay in touch.

2007-09-25T04:15:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of Kevin with some of the kid's in his singing group

A lady with her baby on the back of our orange truck adventure.... I couldn't resist this picture.

one year in the moz

2007-09-25T03:16:00.000-04:00

Our Moz 11 group has just marked our one year anniversary since arriving at staging in Philadelphia. It is hard to believe that we have been here a full year already. I have had a great year... I don't think I've every been challenged in so many different ways on a day-to-day basis, but in all I think it has really been worth while. I am pretty exhausted though, and am looking forward to the break coming up to recharge myself a bit, and see my family and friends.
The last few months have been pretty busy. We had a month off from school in July and August because Mozambique was doing a census. In order to do this census, they needed everyone to go back to their districts to be counted, and they also needed a lot of teachers and students to act as the counters... As you can imagine, its not so easy to get a head count on people in a country like this... Although I live in a fairly developed area, there are many parts of the country that are very difficult to get to. People are just spread about in small little villages all over the place and roads are more often then not in poor condition. Mozambique is a huge country, and people had to be hired to go to all of these little towns to get an idea of how many people are living here. I have no clue how they are going to organize all this information, but it should be interesting to see the results. The last census was done ten years ago, and I think the population count has changed dramatically since then. I have a feeling, as with everything, we will be waiting a while to see the results.
Over my break I got to do a bit of traveling. I went with my friend Katie on a trip from Vilankulo up to Nampula City in the north. We stopped and stayed with a bunch of volunteers on the way. We made it up to Chamoio, then to Caia, after that to Zambezia province. In Zambezia we went to Macuba, and then to an absolutely gorgeous town in the mountains called Gurue. Finally, we spent a day in Nampula City before flying back down. We did the trip up by chappa.... it took a long time, and we had a lot of interesting rides. We were gone about 2 weeks. I will say that I am on my way to becoming an expert traveler. I remember the days when I used to complain about the greyhound bus from Boston to Hartford... and those rides often had movies playing! Those days are no more. The way that people get shoved into chappas here is unheard of... they have at least 25 people sitting in a 15 passenger van... if there are children, and there are always children, they are placed on any and every unoccupied lap. To be sure there are always various food items that are being transported to resell in towns along the way, and there are usually a few chickens stuffed in as well. For my own well being I have learned to strategize about my seat placement in the chappa... tips for travel: do not sit by the door under any circumstances... you will always have at least 6 people crowded into a space designed for just 3... discomfort is nothing if it means more chappa fares. Despite the discomforts of travel, the traveling was at times kind of fun. At one point we got a ride from a guy in a pick up truck that was stopping at every possible location to buy oranges from ladies on the side of the road so that he could resell them in Malawi. He kept on dumping all these oranges on top of us in the back of the pickup. We were sitting knee deep in oranges, stuffed with chickens, and babies... I mean how can you not rejoice in the comedy of life in a situation like that...
The trip was too jam packed to relay all, but a couple of highlights were visiting my friend Kevin in Caia, and a 3 day hike that I took up to the highest peak in Gurue. Caia was nice just because Kevin is an excellent and thoughtful host. He did a great job showing us around his little river town. He has just been dealing with a lot of the backlash from the flooding of the Zambezi river at his site. There were thousands of people who lost their homes and farms during the flooding. By the time we got there, however, things were starting to get back into place. Kevin took us around the railroad and train yard that were abandoned during the war. He took us on a great walk through some of the local neighborhoods. We ate great food, and got to see him meet with his group of little neighborhood singers that come to see him every day so that they can sing with him as he plays the guitar. It was absolutely adorable. He is doing a great job in Caia, and it is nice to see someone so enthusiastic and settled into their community.
The hike we took in Gurue was also fabulous. Katie and I met up with some other volunteers, and we took a hike up Mt. Namuli. I didn't realize quite what I was getting myself into at the time, but I'm glad I did it. The hike in to the base of the peak was about 7 hours... most of it up hill... not easy (I have to admit I am a little out of shape). We got to the base and spent the night camping at a local woman's home. She is actually referred to as a queen, because her late husband was the chief of this mountain area. We had to ask her for permission to climb the mountain, and then do some traditional ceremonies in order to keep us protected on our hike up. We also had to give quite a bit of money, which may or may not have been part of what is required of hikers passing through, but in the end I think it was worth it. We made the climb the next day... a really tough climb, with a lot of scrambling and pep-talks between Katie and I so that we wouldn't quit before reaching the summit, but all of us made it, and the views were gorgeous. The hike out was a bit shorter... we did it at 2 am with a local guy (we had to get back in to town that morning) and he took us on a shortcut (which included hiking through a freezing river at about 4am, which did the trick of waking us up). In all, it was just a really beautiful walk through an amazing part of the country. I love hiking, so I was in heaven.
Now I'm back at site. We are already coming to the end of our third trimester. We are giving final exams next week. After that, I get to turn in my final grades, and then they do more exams for the 10th and 12th grades. These two grades have to take national exams that determine whether they pass or not. I'm not really sure what's entailed, but I guess I have to take part in proctoring and grading. My roommate, Josh, is winding down his last couple months of service, so next year will be quite different without him around. I'm not sure quite what to expect once I am back from my trip home... apparently they might be rearranging the schools, and maybe moving some of our students over to the old school. They are supposed to be putting a university agriculture here in Vilankulo, and they are probably taking up residence at our school until they have a place of their own... Anyway, it should be interesting and full of all new adjustments. Hopefully I'll be full of energy from my break, and be ready to take them on.
All in all, life is good. I have some great friends here, both in other volunteers, and people from my community. I do have moments of frustration and loss of patience, but I think that is fairly typical. Today is a holiday, so I get to relax a bit... wash some clothes, grade some papers... maybe walk with my dog to the beach. Not so bad.
I hope all is well at home. Happy birthday Dad. I will see lots of you in just 2 short months!

2007-06-17T09:22:00.000-04:00

Hi all. Sorry it's so long since I wrote. Now that my life has settled into some normalcy I don't always feel like I have a whole lot to say. Today isn't really different, but I have been reminded by my mother a few more times than I would like, to update, so I will do my best to come up with some interesting information.
Everything is going well. I love teaching, but like I always say, it really is a lot of work. By the time Friday night comes a long I am really looking forward to the few days that I have off on the weekends. My weekends are usually no less busy, but at least I don't have to worry about making a bunch of lesson plans. I guess the worst part about teaching for me is the discipline. It is obviously important to discipline students and to set expectations for good behavior, but that is also the part that is the least enjoyable for me. I really do not like kicking students out of class, or calling students out when they are bad. In a perfect world the students would all be angels, hang on my every word, and be really excited about learning. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. There is a lot I can do to make the lessons exciting, and distract the students who are less then thrilled to be at school, by giving them something fun to do, but it does get hard at points. So that is the bad. The good is I really do love my students. Most of my students. I spend a lot of time with them, and I don't think that they are used to having a lot of teachers or adults that do that, so I think a lot of them appreciate me. They want to be around me, and that of course makes me feel good. Yesterday I organized a few soccer games for students of the different 8th grade classes so I spent all morning with them. On the sidelines I had some of the students teaching me Xitswa (okay, trying to teach me), so that was entertaining for them. It is nice for them to get to laugh at their teacher and to have the tables turned on who is teaching who. Of course they teach me a lot every day, but not in such an obvious way. So Xitswa is really difficult. The prununciation is different then any European language, and it is also not really written because it was always an oral language. I'm not great with languages anyway, but I think if I can learn a little they will see I am making an effort. The reason this came about is because as we were sitting on the sideline, and I kept telling them to stop speaking Xitswa because I couldn't understand anything they were saying. This is the language that they grow up with, and it is comfortable to them, so, they decided a better idea was just to teach me. Well it will be a project over the next couple of years.
My roomate and I have tried to plant a garden in our yard. I fear it is faling.... miserably... The problem is, first, that we live in a sand pit. Vilankulo is all sand, which would be okay if we put some sort of fertilizer down before we planted, but of course we didn't. So, while my neighbors gardens are growing really fast and starting to produce fruit, ours is just staying pretty small and not doing much growing whatsoever. I have learned my lesson though for next time... I could probably actually save it by putting something down in the sand, but I will admit I am a bit lazy at this point and have kind of given up on the thing. We still water at morning and night, but that may eventually be stopped too. We do have a ton of pineapple plants in the yard though, and those should be having their first fruits in the summer (maybe starting in November) so that will be nice.
My students are also writing letters to my Mom's youth group in CT. That has been a lot of fun. My Mom's students sent letters from the United States with pictures and the students really loved them. They have been having a fun time trying to write them back. Some of the things that they think to say are really funny. Specifically, two of my boys have big crushes on two of my Mom's blond students, so they are writing asking questions about them to their male penpals... harmless of course, but really entertaining. I think that it is really helping some of them improve their english though, and they are getting to use English in a useful way, so a lot of them are really enjoying the project.
Last thing, I am officially coming home at the end of November. I will be flying in to JFK on the 23 of November and leaving on the 4 of January... plenty of time to pack in lots of visits. Kate (my sister) gets married Dec. 1 and after that I am planning on seeing lots of friends and family, going to some movies, eating good food, and enjoying my Aunt Susie's Christmas Eve dinner that I missed last year. I can't wait!
I hope all is well at home. Happy Father's day, and happy graduation to Emily and lots of others. This is always a fun time of year back in CT. I am definitely thinking about all of you. Email me with interesting things going on in your lives if you have time, as I always enjoy hearing news from home. Take care!

2007-04-15T07:21:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Just checking in.
All is well in Vilanculos. We are at the end of our first trimester. Next week is vacation for the students, while the teachers work on getting all the final grades for the semester in. I can’t believe the first trimester is already over. Time really flies here. I have been here for over 6 months now and I don’t know where the time went. I guess that is a good sign… I’m still really happy and love it here.
The town has really bounced back from the cyclone. My school is pretty much fixed, although there are a few smaller jobs still to be done. The rest of the town is looking a lot better too. The electricity was restored to people’s houses, they have opened most of the stores back up. It is even starting to get green again. The trees and many of the houses have a bit of a slant in them from the winds though, just so we don’t forget.
Teaching after the cyclone was a little hectic. I lost a lot of time so I’m behind in the curriculum, but I think it’s the same story with all the teachers. I am going to get my soccer team started (or at least try to) this coming semester. I don’t have much time during the week because of classes, but I am going to try to organize games and practices on the weekends. I have already gotten a lot of interest from my students, both boys and girls, so we’ll see what we can put together. I already go over to the school a lot to play pick-up games with the students, but we haven’t actually organized anything formal yet. My friend who lives in a town an hour north of here, in Inhassoro, is starting teams as well. We hope to have our teams play each other a couple of times a year once we get things going. The transportation is a little tricky but we will figure it out. I was sent a ton of soccer balls by people back home in CT. It was amazing. I kept 5 balls for myself and the rest were distributed to other volunteers in the southern region of Mozambique. I was instantly popular in Vilanculos as soon kids started figuring out that I had the balls. The students are so appreciative, and playing keeps them busy and out of trouble. I have also heard that more balls and even cleats and shin guards are being collected to be sent here. Thanks to all who are helping out and donating these supplies. I will get pictures out ASAP so everyone can see the kids that are benefiting from these gifts.
In other news, my sitemate and I figured out that our oven is gas, so we have been able to start cooking cookies, brownies, pizza, and other yummy things. My life just keeps getting better. I have brownies waiting for me right now that I am going to run home to. Take care, and send me an email if you get a chance. I have access to the internet now on a regular basis, so I can be a better correspondent. Até ja!

2007-03-08T03:15:00.000-05:00

Many of you will have heard already, but Vilanculos was hit hard by a cyclone 2 weeks ago. I was evacuated beforehand by Peace Corps, so I was not in town for the storm, but I came back the next day to see the destruction it left behind. The town proved to be in really bad shape. Most big buildings in town had lost their roofs, many had damage to their cement structure. Our big market where people sell fruit and vegetables had crumbled to the ground. The hospital has had all of its buildings badly damaged. The gymnasium at my school was destroyed, we lost parts of the rooms to some of the classrooms and some of the buildings where students board. The second high school in town lost complete buildings. Mostly everyone I know has had damage to their house, either losing their roof or in many cases the entire structure. Trees were down everywhere, the power lines were all down on the ground too. Basically, the town was ravaged. Driving in was surreal, it was like driving into a war zone. I think the lack of color from all the trees being down had a lot to do with the effect. It was just grey and dark, and there was garbage, clothing, and tin roofs scattered around everywhere.

I did not know what to expect going in to the town. I had visions of complete chaos, health problems, no food and clean water, my house being looted since I had left it during the storm. I was scared to go back, but I really wanted to go and see what I could do to help, and to spend time with my friends that I have made in town over the past few months. To be honest, things are completely different then what I was imagining. No one in town had taken this storm very seriously. When I was evacuated everyone kind of laughed at me because I was “running away”. I didn’t know the severity of the storm either, so I was just kind of looking forward to spending time with the other volunteers that were being evacuated from other nearby towns that I don’t get to see too much. When we first got back in to town, people were still in shock from the fear of sitting through the storm. The brunt of it lasted about 6 hours, and I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to see tin roves flying off your house, and walls of houses flying away. I have to say though, I have been really impressed by the resilience of the people here. Immediately, people started to fix their houses and to get together their things that they might be able to salvage. Within a couple of days the big trees that were across the road were cut back, people were setting up stands out by our second market. The supermarket which was left in tact was opened for food. The hospital brought out tents that it had from UNICEF to set up for patients. People’s attitude shocked me too. I guess I was imagining a little more chaos… maybe more violence and looting. I have seen none of that. I am sure that there are people taking some things, like the tin that they find on the ground to put up as a roof to their house, but people for the most part just seem to be concerned with trying to get a place for their family to live. In a way, it seems like people are used to having these kind of problems. This isn’t the first time they’ve had to deal with devastation, and they do not react as people in America might at this kind of situation (I’m thinking about Hurricane Katrina).

In the last couple weeks I have seen people clean up their yards, cut back their trees, try to put some sort of roof back on their house. The president came to town for a day to visit. I am not exactly sure of what has been decided to do for the town and the surrounding affected areas by the government, but UNICEF has brought in tents to use as classrooms for all the schools that lost their buildings. They are already at work fixing our school. We started teaching again 5 days after the cyclone. Basically, people are just kind of getting on with life. People did not really stop and wait for aid to come in and help them to solve their problems. They have just tried to do what they can to get back to some sort of normalcy. This is of course, just what I see. There is probably a lot going on that I am not aware of.

So anyway, life has changed, but not as drastically as I expected when I first learned the devastation of the storm. Vilanculos has been thriving the last few years. Their have been new hotels, restaurants, and stores built in town. We have yet to see what kind of effect the storm will have on the tourist industry. I hope not much. The beach is strewn with trees at the moment, and I am not sure of the conditions of all the hotels, but hopefully it is not too difficult to fix. As for me, I am just getting on with teaching. I have been given three more classes of the 9^th grade to teach, so I am much busier then before. I am in Maputo for the next few days for a Peace Corps conference and when I get back into town we will have about a month left before the end of the first trimester. I have already been here over 5 months… hard to believe.

I hope everyone is well at home. Thanks for all the emails and kind words. I will update again when I have access to email.

Teaching

2007-02-06T09:26:00.000-05:00

So I am officially an English teacher. We started classes last week and so far they are going pretty well. One fabulous thing about Mozambique is that most everything is saved to be done at the last minute. I received my class schedule and the grades that I was going to teach the day before school started. A bit stressful, to say the least. I could not even look at my curriculum until two hours before I taught.

I was given the 8^th and 9^th grades to teach, but I have thus since been relieved of my 9^th grade classes. I am quite happy because I went from having 8 classes to 5. 8 was a lot… I was teaching 5 or 6 classes in a row every day of the week. Having five is completely manageable. It gives me a lot more time to plan, and also to do other projects. I was stressed out about the 9^th grade too because the curriculum is all centered on Mozambican culture, of which I am no expert. The material that is supposed to be covered is also really advanced in comparison to the students’ actual skill level. I would have figured it out, but it is nice that I don’t have to.

I am also Director of Turma. This means that I am kind of like a home room teacher. I am in charge of about 60 kids, making sure to keep them organized, help them with problems, and take care of behavior issues when they come up. It is more work but it will give me a chance to get to know these students better, so that will be nice. What else? The set up here is different. The students are all organized into groups called turmas. Each turma is assigned to one classroom, and the students stay in that class together for the duration of the school day. The teachers move around between the turmas that we teach. The students also get no choice in what subjects they take. For 8^th, 9^th and 10^th grade the students have Biology, Chemistry and Physics classes. A lot of science, if you ask me… I am not surprised that so many of the students do poorly. They also theoretically take history, Portuguese, English and Physical Education. Theoretically because there are not enough teachers to teach all these subjects

The first week was a bit crazy. There were no set class lists so students were leaving school early and by the end of the day we would only have 10 students in each class. Because there is a shortage of teachers, students have a lot of free periods. At these times there is no one keeping control, so the students are allowed to go wild. It has been really loud outside the classrooms where students congregate, making it hard to teach with all of the noise echoing inside the classroom. The rules are starting to be laid out, so this week is better, but it is still not great. I of course have to play mean teacher so that the students don’t mess with me. I actually think I do pretty well with the classroom management though, so I don’t have students doing anything really out of line.

I have a couple of projects that I am already starting at the school. I only teach in the afternoons, so I am going to organize the library and play librarian in the mornings. There are a great deal of text books at the school, but the students have had no access to them because there is no one in charge of the checkout. Students usually do not have their own text books because the books are too expensive. At this point the library is completely disorganized. I have to go through and catalog all the books, then come up with a system for borrowing, and some rules to keep everyone under tabs. I love books and libraries, so it is not too far out of my range and I think it could be fun and really helpful to the students.

I have also been asked to help take care of some of the female students that board at the school. There are about 200 students that live at the school, and one teacher was asked last minute to be in charge of them all. He asked me if I could help him with the girls, because he thinks there should be a female teacher for them, so I said that I would. I’m not exactly sure what my job entails, but probably just spending time with the students, taking care of issues that arise, and just trying to keep overall control. Not easy with such a large group, but I’ll figure it out.

On the personal side, things are going fine. I am busy, as you can see, which is good for me. At the moment I am sharing my house with another Mozambican teacher and her two daughters (11 and 14). She is from Maputo and was promised a house upon her arrival. Unfortunately, when she got here all the houses had been taken. It isn’t easy to live with a family, but I think things could be a lot worse. The girls are well behaved and they are all really nice. They put up with Gus and her antics as well. They moved in with me last week, and I am going to move out into one of the smaller houses when it is ready. They got one of the families to move out. Now, the only problem is, the house has no stove and no refrigerator (and we still don’t have electricity). The school is going to buy these things, and when they do, Gus (my dog) and I will move. The house will be smaller, but still new and nice, and since there is only one of me, it makes sense. Gus is doing well too. She is getting bigger, and despite the fact that she is a ton of work, she makes a good companion.

I will write again when there is more news. I can’t believe I have already been in Vilanculos for 2 months! Time is starting to fly. I hope everyone is well. Send me an email to let me know how you are. I still have limited internet access but I make it in about once a week.

2007-01-11T06:32:00.000-05:00

These are some more pictures of Namaacha, and one of my new puppy Gus... I do not have any of Vilanculos up yet but I will try to do that soon.

January update

2007-01-10T07:44:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Sorry for not keeping up with this. There has been a lot going on with the holidays and settling in. I will start by saying I absolutely love Mozambique. I never imagined that I would love it so much, but I do. Things aren't all easy, but the people here are so nice, I have an amazing beautiful site, and I have been really fortunate with the support that Peace Corps Mozambique gives all its volunteers. I don't think that the staff in other countries is always so attentive and supportive, so I am really lucky to be here.
I still haven't started teaching but I've been going into school every week to help out with little things. This week we are doing registration. It is a lot of sitting around and doing nothing, but it has given me time to get to know some of my colleagues, practice Portuguese, and just get out in the community so that people start to know who I am. I had a tough time over the holidays because I had a ton of American visitors, so I was seriously neglecting the time that I should have been spending getting to know my neighbors and other people in town. The last week or so though, I have been going around, talking to lots of people, studying Portuguese a lot, and doing my best to start intergrating. It is going well. I have a lot more to do though.
I got a puppy last week to. Her name is Gus. She is adorable. She is also a lot of work. She's not house trained yet and she is still in her biting stage so I have to spend some time training her, but she is good company. I plan on making her my running buddy and having her walk with me whenever I go anywhere in town. She is good for a friend, but also for protection. Vilanculos can be dangerous, especially now with so many tourists in town, so a dog is good to have around. Mozambicans are scared of dogs so they will be less likely to mess with me!
I am anxious to start teaching. I still don't know what grade I will be teaching or how many classes (they save these kind of things for last minute, a little bit annoying). I am excited to start meeting my students, and to think of ways that I can contribute to the school. I am still thinking that I will start a soccer team and maybe a girls club, but I'll have to see if there's interest. I think its more about what the people here need, rather then what I want to do.
My Portuguese is coming a long, but I have a long way to go. I have been putting in a lot of effort though, so I feel like I can be proud of how far I've come. It is hard to not being fluent because it isolates me from some of my colleagues and neighbors who can't speak english, but I try to talk to people with my broken portuguese anyway, and when they are patient, it usually works out.
I hope everyone is having a great January! I hear it is hot back in CT... Not as hot as here though. I've never been so tan in my life. I'm turning into a beach bum to, very unlikely but thats what happens when you get placed in a place like Vilanculos.
Take care, and I'll try to send out some pictures soon!

Here

2006-12-16T04:52:00.000-05:00

I am here in Vilanculos and settling in nicely. I have already have had guests coming in throughout my first week. The town is gorgeous, right on the Indian Ocean. There are a couple islands right off the coast. We are going to take a boat out there in the next few weeks to do some snorkeling. My house is really nice. It is brand new, new appliances, new furniture, running water, the works. I don't have electricity yet but it is coming in January. The school is new as well. World Bank built it a couple of years ago. I am anxious to start teaching but that doesn't happen until February. Until then I am working on my portuguese, and enjoying the beach. I will probably be going every day because it is so hot out! I am not sure what my teaching schedule is going to look like yet. I will probably be teaching 7 or 8 English classes and I'd like to start some sort of girls club or girls sports team, but that will all be decided later. For Christmas people are coming to Vilanculos. I have lots of extra beds so there is plenty of space. I have started making a Christmas tree out of the cardboard my furniture was wrapped in, and I have put the Christmas presents that my family sent me underneath it (well atleast the ones that I have not opened yet... I couldn't resist!). So yes, life is good. I am very happy. It is all kind of surreal right now. I sometimes feel like I am on vacation... I think that will go away once school starts. I certainly wasn't expecting my Peace Corps experience to be like this, but I will not complain. I do not mind the shower after a long hot day in Mozambique.
I hope all is well at home. Happy birthday Kate! You are too old for me now.
I miss you all and I hope you have wonderful holidays. I'll be thinking about you all!

2006-11-27T04:34:00.000-05:00

These are a few pictures from Namaacha... the top is a view of the mountains, the second is me with my language group, and the last is of the two twin babies that my second mother has... very dirty but very cute little girls!

Vilanculos!

2006-11-27T04:30:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! So the big news is in, I have my site placement. I am going to be living in Vilanculos, Mozambique for the next two years. I am so happy about this placement! From what I have heard from current volunteers, I will basically be living in paradise. My site is right on the coast, in Inhambane Province. It apparently has pristine beaches, and my living situation sounds like it is going to have a lot of perks. I am supposedly going to have my own apartment that is comparable to one I would have in the US. It will have running water, a shower, furniture, an oven, and in December they are putting in electricity as well. So, as far as the living situation goes, I think I have been hooked up. I don’t want to get too excited about all the things that I have heard because I am just going by what other people are telling me, but it sounds as if I will be living well. I am not sure if this really falls in line with what I was expecting when I signed up for Peace Corps, but you won’t hear any complaints from me.
Another great thing is that I have a ton of volunteers around me. I was worried about being placed in the middle of nowhere by myself, and it is certainly not going to be the case. I will have my own apartment at this site, but there will already be another English teacher there (a guy who is extending for a third year, whom I met and really liked), and then there are two new health volunteers also being placed in the town who will be living close by. There are a bunch of other new volunteers living in other towns that are close as well. A few of my friends from training will be living in these towns, so that is a plus. So overall, I would have to say I am very pleased. It will be interesting to actually get to my site and see it for myself, but I have already had a preview with pictures that people took at site visit and it is looking good. Everyone start saving to come and visit me because it should be well worth the 18 hour plane ride!
Today was kind of intense because everyone was so worked up about site placement. We had our Thanksgiving feast adjacent to finding out where we will be living. We all cooked up food for a pot luck type of party. We showed up in Boane at the training center at 10, and we found out our site placements around noon. The two hours before finding out were pretty nerve racking. I hadn’t been really nervous about site placement, and hadn’t been thinking about it too much. I have really been trying not to care where I was going to be placed, since it was completely out of my control. Even so, the gears in my brain were certainly turning in the time leading up to placement. I couldn’t believe I was placed in Vilanculos, but I am completely psyched about it. Now I just have to get through two more weeks of training and then I actually get to get out and do what I came here for.
I feel a little weird about my placement because it sounds like I am going to have all these great things that I wasn’t expecting. Running water is definitely a luxury here. I think that I will have a lot of other challenges to face though, so I will not feel too bad about having running water and a shower even though some of my counterparts will not. Learning Portuguese has definitely been one of the biggest challenges so far, and I am sure it will continue to be so. I am not too bad at speaking at this point, but I am definitely far from fluent. I will also have to adjust to teaching in a Mozambican classroom. We just finished up model school this past week, and it gave us an idea of what it will be like to teach in a classroom, but I have a lot to learn. I have some experience with my student teaching, and it has certainly made classroom management easier, but teaching English is still very new. The way that kids are used to learning here is also very different then in the states, so they have a hard time with working in pairs, or when they are asked to do anything besides copy down exactly what is being said and written on the board. I am really excited to teach here though because I will get to be really creative in the way I teach, and I will finally have a classroom all to myself! The school year should start around the first week of February (they have not made the school calendar yet!) so I still have some time before I start teaching. I am going to go to site, settle in a bit, then I am going to try to travel. It sounds like a lot of people are going to come in to Inhambane, near me, for Christmas and New Years. After that hopefully we are allowed to venture out into some of the other provinces. I am not going to have any breaks like this for another year, so I want to take advantage of the travel time while I can.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! The food today was amazing and we brought home leftovers to enjoy for the next couple of days. So all in all, it has been a great day and I can’t wait to finish up with training and get out into my site! I will update again when I get to Vilanculos so I can let you all know if it is really as good as what as I have heard, or if it is even better! Take care.

Past the midway

2006-11-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Things are going great here in Mozambique. We are officially more then half way through with training. I have been busy the last few weeks. I went to a site in Inhambane Province near the beach for about a week and I had a wonderful time. It was really great to get away from the homestay for a few days and just relax. I also got to see some different landscapes on my 9 hour bus ride... What I have seen of Mozambique has been amazing. It is a really beautiful place. When I can get my pictures uploaded I will share them all. Lets see... some of the highlights of my trip... I went got to see the houses of a bunch of volunteers... that was nice because now I have an idea of what I have to look forward to. The girl I stayed with lived in a reed house, but most volunteers live in cement ones. The reed houses are really cute and pretty, but the cement ones ward off the burglars a lot better. I got to go into Inhambane City. It is a city that has a lot of Portuguese buildings everywhere. It is on a bay that leads out to the Indian Ocean. It was really pretty and I got to eat pizza which was nice. I also got to go do a random trip just outside the city where they were training rats to search for mines. It was very cool to see... I guess the rats cost a lot less money then dogs so they are trying to develop programs to have these trained rats be brought out into land that has mines left behind from previous wars. Mozambique has a lot of these mines so it is a great area to do the testing in. I also got to go to a hospital where I sat in on a counseling session for women with HIV. We were not expecting to do that, and I felt very intrusive. The women had just found out that day that they had HIV and it was their initial counseling session. The counselors wanted us to see what it was really like to work with people with HIV, and we got more then we bargained for. It was something that I will never forget, but it was very heavy and difficult. One of the women couldn´t have been more then 17 years old . It definitely put things into perspective for me here. 16 percent of the adult population has HIV and for most people you would never be able to tell by looking at them. This is going to be a huge focus for me as a teacher, to try to integrate preventative education in my lessons. It is so important, and going to this hospital really helped me see that. So anyway, it was interesting to get out of Namaacha and to get ideas of the kind of work that I will be doing in the future. It definitely helped me remember what I am doing in Mozambique in the first place... It is easy to forget as I am busy adjusting to living in this country.
I hope everyone at home is well. Send me emails... I love getting them! I will write again when I have more news.

Week 3 of training done!

2006-10-21T03:53:00.000-04:00

Hi all! Week three of training is done, and at this point I think we are all really looking forward to the end of it. My self and a few of my American friends have escaped into Maputo again for the day. It is not that I am not having a good time here. I am really glad that I am doing this. The thing is training is really tough. I am trying to get used to all the cultural differences (very difficult), and I am living with a family, which would be difficult even in the US, and finally the language is really a tough barrier at this point. Every minute of every day I have to be up and alert and trying to understand what is being said around me or why people are acting in certain ways, or trying to make lesson plans for my english teacher training. It is a lot. Next Saturday we get to leave for site visits and we are all really looking forward to it. I am not sure where I am going, but they send all of us out to stay with current volunteers for 5 days. We get to see what there site is like, hang out with them, go into their classrooms to see what it is like to teach. It should be really great!
My birthday this past week was great. Thank you for all the emails and even phone calls! I am sorry if I have not written back yet. I usually only get in to use the internet for an hour so I can´t always write as much as I want. On top of writing emails I like to try and figure out what is going on in the world. I am very cut off from any sort of news. The news I see is in Portuguese and usually about Africa. Anyways, for my birthday some of the other trainees made me a birthday cake and they all made cards for me. It was really nice. Everyone tried really hard to make sure I had a great day. Then my family threw me a birthday party. They made a ton of food and had me invite over a few of my friends. They gave me this funny little plastic bear with a rose that is in a plastic case... I am not allowed to take it out. It was really thoughtul of them and they put a lot of time and effort into it. I was blown away.
I didn´t bring my camera to post pictures into the city. I am nervous about bringing valuables into Maputo so the pictures are going to have to wait. I will see if I can post them from Namaacha. I have discovered internet there, although I have had difficulty posting any blog entries from there. The computers are much slower and do not always work.
So, I am going to go check the news, but thanks for all the comments and letters and emails. I really have appreciated it. It feels really good to hear from people and it makes me feel less far away from home. Being away and in this situation has kind of been an emotional roller coaster for all of us. We have really good days and kind of bad days. Any uplifting emails always help!
I miss everyone and I will try to post pictures soon. Take care and send any news my way!

Maputo for the weekend

2006-10-14T04:21:00.000-04:00

Hi all! This has been my first chance to get to a computer since departing for Namaacha 2 weeks ago. A lot has gone on, and I feel like I have been here much longer then two and a half weeks. Don't mind the typos if there are some.. the key boards are a bit different here.
So there is too much to say, and not enough time, but I have moved in with my homestay family. The family is really big because lots of people live in the house, not just the immediate family. They are really nice, but it is not always easy because they speak portuguese, and I do not. The portuguese is definitely the hardest part about being here but I am not stressing because I did not expect to learn it immediately. I take portuguese lessons every day and I have learned a lot in just these two weeks. I should be doing a lot better by the time I go to site.
The house that I live in is down a hill in the town, and it is "rustic" to say the least. I have my own small stone house that is just my bedroom. I have a bed, a small closet and a desk to lay my things. The family lives in the big house about 15 yards to the left of my front door. There house has two bedrooms (that somehow they all fit into at night), and then there is also a dining area with a tv and dvd player! There is a separte house for the bathroom, which is basically a hole in the ground, and then another house for where they cook. When I say house it is not at all like our houses. They are often made of scrap materials and they all have tin roofs. The bathroom does not have a roof at all in some places. Its not bad though... just takes some getting used to. I get to take a bucket bath every morning which I kind of like. There is no wasted water and that is important here. I spent an hour and a half getting water last weekend so I know how important it is to conserve. I don't want to be lugging back 200 gallons of water more then once a week.
My family structure is interesting. I have three brothers, 9, 18 and 20, and then a sister, who is 15. We also have my Dad's brother living in the hosue with his wife and twin babies, and there are two other children living there who are family but I'm not really sure how they are related. The women here are really strong and tough. They do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and child care. It is a lot of work here in Mozambique where there is no running water and dirt everywhere. The men get to hang out a lot more, and get to reap the benefits of all the good food, but they go to work during the day as well so they do a lot too. The way the family interacts is completely different from any thing I have seen in the US. They live much more communally and there is very little privacy. I have to escape sometimes and lock myself in my room just because I am not used to it. Americans need a lot of alone time I have realized.
The town that I am living in is really pretty. It is in the mountains, so it is pretty cool. I never thought I'd be cold in Africa but I have been! I didn´t bring enough warm clothes with me to my homestay. I am not sure when I will be able to share pictures but I will do it as soon as I can. Internet is not easy to come by here.
I know I'm leaving a lot out but I have a lot to do here before 12 when everything shuts down. I have a wedding to go to later in the day also... Its a three day wedding... they know how to have fun here in Mozambique.
I miss everyone! Let me know how you are all doing through email.

End of orientation

2006-10-01T02:51:00.000-04:00

Today I am off to my home-stay. I will be living in a town called Nammacha with a family. It is about two hours outside the city, and part of my group will be living in the same town with me. I will have my own room, and they will make my meals for me and show me how to cook and do my laundry, and they will help me learn portugese. I started my language lessons the other day. Portugese is both easy and hard because of spanish... Easy because I understand a lot of the vocab, but difficult because I get a lot of the vocab confused. I am looking forward to spending time with my new family because I will have to use the language to communicate so I should learn it a lot faster.
I have not seen much in terms of Maputo so far. I have only seen a little bit of what I would call "real" Africa, and that was on the trip from the airport to our hotel here in Maputo. On the way I saw poverty like I have never seen before. People were running around with no shoes on through trash and muck, and the houses all seemed to be made out of scraps and were very small and close together. I saw one little boy taking up water from a really dirty gutter running through the middle of the houses... it definitely was startling to see even though I kind of knew that was going to happen. Luckily, I am not going to be living in extreme situations such as this. I will say, though, that all the kids seemed to be running around very happy, and they had made there own soccer balls and were playing every where, which I found to be really cool.
The Americans and the staff here are great. I think there are some amazing people in the group. We went on a retreat yesterday to the American School and we had a lot of fun activities. I got to play soccer with all the guys, which I loved. We also had a scavenger hunt, and some relay races. It was a nice way to end our time together.
This coming week I will start the real training. Lots of language and some cultural training. I will be out of touch for a bit, but I will let you all know how it is going with my family when I have a chance.

I´m here!

2006-09-28T14:29:00.000-04:00

I have to be quick because there is a line, but I have arrived in Maputo safe and sound after a very long flight and a stop over in Johannesburg. We are staying at very nice hotels right now... they are trying to ease us into our African experience I think. I´m off to the homestay Sunday!

Arrived!

2006-09-28T14:22:00.000-04:00

I´m in Mozambique! We are staying at a very nice hotel in Maputo... I stayed in Johannesburg last night also at a very nice hotel. I think they are trying to ease us into our African experience. Sunday I move in with my host family. I will stay with them for the 10 weeks of training. I´m very excited! The plane ride was very long... 17 hours to south africa and then another hour today to Mozambique. We are not allowed to leave our hotel for safety reasons (we don´t know our way around yet) but from what I saw on the drive from the airport I am certainly in a different world. I have to go because there is a bit of a line but I will let you know how I am doing again while I can.

Staging

2006-09-24T22:28:00.000-04:00

I'm here in Philadelphia getting ready for bed, but I just wanted to check in. Mom and Dad drove me down today and as soon as I walked in the door I had to go stand in line for registration. Our group going to Mozambique has 56 people in it, and there is a second group here at the hotel going to Burkina Faso (spelling?) so it was a bit chaotic in the lobby. Mom and Dad stuck around long enough for me to say a quick goodbye and then I went back in to meet everyone. I think the quick good bye was better anyway because I did not have much time to think about being upset.
We had our first initial session shortly after that. We have a really funny guy from India doing our staging so he has made things a bit more entertaining but the material he is covering is a bit bland so I think everyone will be happy when we finally make it to the plane. I have liked everyone I have met so far and I am really excited about everything. Being in this large group of people who are all going through the same things makes all of this easier.
I will check in again when I can... maybe after my 17 hour plane ride to South Africa.
Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful good byes and send offs. I appreciate everyones support so much. I will be in touch soon!

16 days to go...

2006-09-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

I'm leaving for my peace corps assignment in 16 days! I have so much to do before then, but I am trying not to get too stressed. I just got back from my two week vacation to albuquerque, then california, and I used some of the time I had in the airports to make a packing list, as well as a to do list. I am a bit more organized now. It also seems as if I am on my own little farewell tour... It started with my vacation, then I went to my last Braves game the other day with my family, this weekend my Aunt Susie is having a Christmas Eve Dinner for me (since I will miss the real one and it is my favorite night of the year). I have more lined up for the next two weeks including a trip to NYC and of course Boston, with lots of good byes mixed in. I am sad to say good bye, but then I remember all the cool things I have in store for me, and the amazing people I am bound to meet, and I feel better.

Starters

2006-08-09T14:08:00.000-04:00

I leave for Mozambique with the Peace Corps on September 25th. I am in for some adventures to be sure. I will post entries here about my experiences in Africa so that people can check in on me. More coming soon!