The Prep School of Moçambique: Escola Secundária Armando Emílio Guebuza:
On Saturday, the school is hosting a Baile dos Finalistas (a dance for the seniors), which I’m guessing is about Mozambique’s equivalent of a prom. Tickets are 300 Mtn (about $13) for non-finalistas and 250 Mtn ($10) for finalistas. The girls are wearing ball gowns (some of which look a heck of a lot like adolescent flower girls dresses… pictures to come soon!), and the boys are supposed to wear black pants and black jackets of sorts. When I asked what I should wear, they said, “Teacha’, don’t you have a ball gown here?”
At this dance, the students will be dancing the waltz and salsa, which they have been practicing for about half of the year. I’m a little nervous because my students are really excited that the American teachers will be there and I’ve already been informed that I WILL be dancing. It’s funny: this is the closest these students will have to the American version of a prom. Not only will teachers attend, but also important people from the community, like the administrator, mayor, and various chefes (bosses or leaders), will also be there.
This past Sunday (10/12) was Dia dos Professores (Teachers’ Day). It’s a big deal here, and the profession of teaching is generally very well respected. (Just ask me what I think about that statement after my students have been punks all week, though.) There was a ceremony at the praça (basically, at every holiday or important event, the villa congregates at the praça for the same general ceremony), after which there was another ceremony and some dancing/ singing.
The crowning glory was the party for the teachers that night. It was held in the gymnasium at the school, had a DJ, food, and drinks. Every teacher was served a dinner of an entire chicken. That may not seem like a big deal, but there are about 50 teachers at our school, plus their guests. AND, all of those chickens had to be killed, plucked, and cleaned. Thank you, students, for doing the dirty work! We ate very well and then danced with our colleagues until about 11:30, wayyyy past my bedtime. It was hilarious watching the teachers dance. Even our headmaster shook his bum for a bit, and we got to dance with our favorite pedagogical director (assistant principal). Some people perhaps had enjoyed themselves a bit too much throughout the day, as there were quite a few inebriated teachers by the end of the night. The next day, there were a lot of missing teachers at the school.
Concert in Moz:
After an English Theatre competition in Chimoio, we sent the students back to Catandica and stayed in Chimoio. That evening, we went to dinner at a pizza restaurant called Vapor. Later that night, there was a concert by a legitimate band. I had to check a couple times to make sure I was still in Mozambique because it seemed like something I’d go to in the States.
Some folks Lindsay and I have met were there. They all work for a company based out of Chimoio that has operations in Catandica and frequently uses helicopters to get here. The following Monday afternoon, I was teaching and heard the sound of a helicopter coming really close. The helicopter circled the school and waved- it was our friends from Saturday night saying hello! My students thought Guebuza was coming back!
The perfect storm:
On Friday, there was a huge thunderstorm, which is a good thing because the temperature had gotten up to 41°C that day. It started to get pretty strong right at dusk, and almost all of Catandica lost power. I sat on the porch and watched the lightning until the power came back on. I don’t know if I have ever seen anything like it. I could see lightning from miles and miles away. The rain was so hard that I couldn’t hear Lindsay talking—or even IF she was talking.
I was a little disappointed to get power back, but then I thought of all the people who don’t have the luxury of having such a sturdy roof over their houses. I remember a few storms during training (when I lived with a Mozambican host family) during which I was unable to sleep because of the noise of the rain and thunder and thought the roof was going to blow off. I wouldn’t wish that kind of an evening to anybody in Catandica.
Grades:
School is ending. This is officially the last week of classes, though I will be here throughout the remainder of October and parts of November to help my students prepare for and then control/ correct national exams. That means that as I’m writing this, I’m currently procrastinating. Calculating grades is not at the top of my fun list, as shocking as that may sound.
It’s difficult for me to give grades here because of the Mozambican grading scale. The grading scale is out of 20 possible points, and to pass, a student must only get a 10 (technically, I guess a 9.5). I have given out only one 20 in all three trimesters, and the highest average for the year is a 17 (and that’s only one student- the same one who got the 20), and after that four students got 16. My averages for my turmas are around 12.5. The funny thing is that I know that when I turn in my grades next week, they will most likely be among the highest of all the disciplines.
It has seemed to me that the low mark for passing has caused many students set a low mark for themselves. If they only need to get half of the test questions correct to receive a passing grade, why learn all the material? Why not learn only half of it?
I’m comin’ home:
Less than 2 months! I get into NYC on December 12, and I can’t wait! I’ll probably be in SC/ NC until New Years and then NY/ RI the first week of January. Let me know if any of y’all’s plans coincide with mine because chances are that I’d love to see you!
