Since I waited so long to start putting anything online, I’ll play catch-up now: here’s the down-and-dirty for the past four or so months…
August: Peace Corps finally placed me! Biology education in Mozambique, leaving in September. Eeek! The next several weeks were pretty much a scramble to get everything together, see family, and relax a bit before leaving the US of A.
September: Head to Mozambique via Philadelphia, New York City, Dakar, and Johannesburg to start training.
September-December: We stayed in Maputo for the first few days to receive lots of shots, get an introduction to Peace Corps Mozambique, and learn a little bare bones Portuguese. After that, it was off to Namaacha, our home for the next 10 weeks. I lived with a host family who spoke very little English (definitely a good incentive to learn Portuguese). I had a host mom, a 19-year-old host brother, and 12 and 16-year-old host sisters. The day that we arrived, it was really rainy and muddy, and I immediately learned the word matope, which loosely translates into “muddy mess that gets everything dirty and makes you want to stay inside, even if you really need to use the bathroom and your bathroom is outside the house.” The first days were… interesting, to say the least. Lots of non-verbal communication and laughter from all sides (honestly, I figured it was better to laugh WITH them instead of just being laughed AT)
During the week, we had language lessons for several hours a day and technical sessions occasionally (how to be a PC volunteer, how to teach, how to respond to certain situations, etc). Towards the end of training, we had 2 weeks of model school, in which I taught 4 classes a week of 10th grade biology… in Portuguese! Should be interesting when I get thrown into the real thing!
December 7-ish: Swearing in! I officially became a Peace Corps volunteer, and what was really wacky was that the former director of the entire Peace Corps was at our swearing-in ceremony (who I randomly met one morning on the street in Namaacha). The next day, we set off for our sites. I flew into a city called Chimoio, which is the capitol of Manica province (in the central part of Mozambique in the mountains). From there, I traveled to my new home, a town called Catandica. There, I live with a girl named Lindsay from South Dakota, and we will teach in the Escola Secundaria Armando Emilio Guebuza, which was built in 2005 by the World Bank. Our house is amazing and is so much nicer than I ever could have expected: running hot and cold water, ceiling fans, doorbells, electricity, an electric/ gas oven, a garden, etc. The school is also fantastic and has so many resources (computer and science labs!) in addition to what seems to be a great and very helpful group of directors. We live about 3 km from town, so it’s a nice (and frequently rainy and/or hot) walk to go to the market.
Christmas and New Years: The volunteers from the central provinces (Manica, Sofala, and Tete) all gathered in Gorongoza, which is home to one of Mozambique’s national parks, for Christmas. We ate many a good meal, had a white elephant gift exchange on Christmas day, and basically enjoyed all the benefits of 17 people living under 1 roof without running water. For New Years, about 10 of us went to Chimoio. There, we continued the good cooking for a New Years Eve spectacular feast. We spent New Years Day at the house of a new friend named Alfredo, and it didn't at all feel like we were in Mozambique: lounging in the pool, watching MTV, and enjoying almost all the comforts we would find back home.
January: Back to Catandica to arrange ourselves before school starts. I have learned, 4 days prior to the start of school, that I will be teaching biology in 9ª classe (9th grade), which is basically plants plants plants. Though the subject material is in no way close to my favorite, I think 9th grade will be good to teach. Secondary school starts with 8th grade, so I won't have the “freshmen.” Also, there are national exams in both 10th and 12th grades, and those professors deal with the stresses of under-prepared students and trying to cram review of 8th, 9th, and 10th grades into a few weeks. Since I will be teaching for the first time ever- in Portuguese, no less- I think 9th grade will be perfect! It's going to be a very photosynthetic year for the alunos de 9ª classe. I will plant seeds of knowledge and watch the students blossom (clearly, I can't make it through this whole thing without a little bad plant humor).
January 29: The “real world” in Mozambique starts (AKA the first day of school).
February 3-4: SUPERBOWL SUNDAY (though in the case of Mozambique, the majority of the game will be seen on Monday, super early in the morning). February 3 is also a Mozambican holiday, Heroes' Day, which just so happens to be observed on the 4th. Thus, I can go to Chimoio to watch my Patriots dominate the Giants... maybe all Boston sports needed in order to succeed was my absence from the region/ country/ continent. In a couple years, if anybody particularly wants to see the Bruins win the Stanley Cup, I would gladly accept a trip to Fiji (all-expenses paid, of course).
