School is in full swing now. I started out teaching Chemistry for the 8th grade and a couple of the 9th grade classes but by end of week one I was asked to teach all of the 9th grade English classes. They had no teacher. Teaching English to non-English speakers is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. They are not really taught properly to begin with so then they really are lost when they come across a fluent speaker. Here are the frustrations I want to share with the education here at site:
-Professors don't show up so the kids leave even if they have other classes.
-A lot of professors do not care and therefore the kids don't care.
-The kids do not have textbooks.
-As a professor, I have no resources to help teach. A piece of chalk, a chalkboard, a notebook to write my plans in and an old textbook that is poorly written.
-I am only to speak English to people who DON'T understand English...I am teaching English in Portuguese anyways because the kids are responding more to it.
Club update: WE ARE CLOSED until further notice. Arden and I went to Angoche to visit friends for the weekend and came home to my screen torn away from my window, blue marker on our living room wall, Arden's bedroom lock was tampered with, but nothing of value was missing. Until I can get a new place, I will not be having kids over to our house anymore. I do plan on continuing with my plan, it is just going to take a little longer.
Health update: I am sick, which I have been quite a bit since I got to Liupo. My body is just not cooperating with my Mozambican lifestyle. I have a bad infection in one of my legs and feet. My legs got trapped under a motorcycle during a trip from Nampula City to Liupo and cut up my legs and feet. Those wounds are not infected. I got the meds I need and an awesome roommate to help me out so I should be as good as new soon.
Thank you all for your continued support!
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
O que?!
O que? Is the equivalent of saying "What?!" I say it a lot...hahahaha. Sooooo I just finished my first week of teaching and I am already frustrated. I am teaching 5 8th grade classes and 2 9th grade classes in the the afternoon and then an 8th grade night class and 9th grade night class. That is not the frustrating part. The frustrating part is showing up to teach and not having any students because the previous professors never showed up to teach. I can't believe these people are getting paid to NOT teach. I don't care if it is the first week. For a culture that takes professionalism seriously, they suck at it in this case. Ok rant is over...ugh!
I went to a town meeting last night where the mayor presented my club to the people that were present, including some people from Portugal who are helping fund some projects in the community. I really hope this starts something really great so we shall see. I have over 160 kids now. I am getting more kids from my classes which is great. I look forward to getting more kids involved. I am still working alone for the most part so I am hoping that the mayor's acknowledgement will spark something.
What else? We finally have sofas and a freezer. I feel like we are living like the rich and famous here! Lenny is still ever so present in my life. I really really really dislike all the bugs. I wish Lenny would do his job and eat them all.
That is all for now. Thank you all for your continuous support! It really means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to the kids I interact with on a daily basis.
I went to a town meeting last night where the mayor presented my club to the people that were present, including some people from Portugal who are helping fund some projects in the community. I really hope this starts something really great so we shall see. I have over 160 kids now. I am getting more kids from my classes which is great. I look forward to getting more kids involved. I am still working alone for the most part so I am hoping that the mayor's acknowledgement will spark something.
What else? We finally have sofas and a freezer. I feel like we are living like the rich and famous here! Lenny is still ever so present in my life. I really really really dislike all the bugs. I wish Lenny would do his job and eat them all.
That is all for now. Thank you all for your continuous support! It really means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to the kids I interact with on a daily basis.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Every Day Is An Adventure!
Ok first off just want to thank everyone again for their continued support. It is greatly appreciated! The club is going well and I love seeing new kids every time! I think we are close to 120 members now! Keep on showing that support. I love hearing from people! We had our school opening on the 31st. We had two mango trees planted in our backyard to commemorate the first volunteers to help out in Liupo. It was kind of an emotional experience for me. I love this community.
Yesterday Arden and I went to Nampula City to buy a fridge and some foam pads for couches she is making. The ride there wasn't too bad. I got a little sun burnt. I did however have a problem with the chickens. I don't normally have a problem with my riding companions but yesterday they thought my toes were food and were constantly pecking them...RUDE! The gentleman holding them finally got the hint after I kicked them in the head a few times and moved. He moved to stand so that he had them laying on the roof of the truck we were in. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to come up with songs for these chickens as they were freaking out and trying to fly away. I came up with "Fly Like An Eagle", "I Believe I Can Fly", and "You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings". Arden got a kick out of it! Right before you get into the city there is a police checkpoint. I haven't had any issues with police checkpoints until now. The cops can be jerks. These guys were ok but annoying. They kept asking why we weren't married and what not. They asked for identification and what not. We told them we were professors, etc. etc. They just talked a bit and then let us on our way. This situation definitely could have been worse but nonetheless it still bothers me. I just don't like the inequality with genders here. Once we got to Nampula, we went straight to Shoprite (grocery store). You can pretty much find anything in this place. It is one of my favorite places in Mozambique! We met a a guy from Holland while waiting in line who works for a farming company. He gave us some information about finding a dog. We want one desperately! We got some groceries and then headed back to our PC office to drop it off. Next up was buying some foam pads for our couches. We felt very Mozambican carrying the mattresses on our heads back to the office. We had a close call when a kid tried pick pocketing Arden but he didn't get anything. It was just a small hiccup. We still love you Mozambique! Then we went to get a fridge, our most prized purchase. We are so excited about it! We waste a lot of food because it goes bad far too quickly here. The gentleman that manages the store was super nice and drove us and fridge back to the office. We like making new friends! Now this is where things get interesting....the ride back to Liupo. We managed to find a chapa and I was able to get a seat in front. I was pretty burnt by this time. I started getting nervous when guys were working on the truck. The brakes were not working properly. They apparently got everything in order and then we were off. Once we got about 30 minutes out of town, the chapa gets two flat tires. No one was hurt. I didn't even knew it happened until the people in the back told the driver to stop. We ended up sitting on the side of the rode for about 30 minutes until another chapa, who wasn't even going to help out and take some of us, stopped. It was a big truck. I had no idea how we were going to get in the thing. We managed to get in with all of our groceries. These guys didn't mess around. They were driving pretty fast. Let me tell you now that transportation here is not safe. That is the reality of the situation, especially in northern Mozambique. The roads are crap, the vehicles are crap, etc. We very rarely get to ride in something that is enclosed. It is always open back trucks. The roads become really dangerous during raining season (now) because the rain washes the roads out. Make a long story short we made it home after 7 and a half hours. It usually only takes about 3 hours to get from Nampula to Liupo. I always am so relieved to be home. I love that feeling and I love that feeling even more here.
I hope you all appreciate everything you have. I know times get rough but I can assure you that things are a lot worse other places and for other people. Count your blessings and be thankful!
Yesterday Arden and I went to Nampula City to buy a fridge and some foam pads for couches she is making. The ride there wasn't too bad. I got a little sun burnt. I did however have a problem with the chickens. I don't normally have a problem with my riding companions but yesterday they thought my toes were food and were constantly pecking them...RUDE! The gentleman holding them finally got the hint after I kicked them in the head a few times and moved. He moved to stand so that he had them laying on the roof of the truck we were in. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to come up with songs for these chickens as they were freaking out and trying to fly away. I came up with "Fly Like An Eagle", "I Believe I Can Fly", and "You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings". Arden got a kick out of it! Right before you get into the city there is a police checkpoint. I haven't had any issues with police checkpoints until now. The cops can be jerks. These guys were ok but annoying. They kept asking why we weren't married and what not. They asked for identification and what not. We told them we were professors, etc. etc. They just talked a bit and then let us on our way. This situation definitely could have been worse but nonetheless it still bothers me. I just don't like the inequality with genders here. Once we got to Nampula, we went straight to Shoprite (grocery store). You can pretty much find anything in this place. It is one of my favorite places in Mozambique! We met a a guy from Holland while waiting in line who works for a farming company. He gave us some information about finding a dog. We want one desperately! We got some groceries and then headed back to our PC office to drop it off. Next up was buying some foam pads for our couches. We felt very Mozambican carrying the mattresses on our heads back to the office. We had a close call when a kid tried pick pocketing Arden but he didn't get anything. It was just a small hiccup. We still love you Mozambique! Then we went to get a fridge, our most prized purchase. We are so excited about it! We waste a lot of food because it goes bad far too quickly here. The gentleman that manages the store was super nice and drove us and fridge back to the office. We like making new friends! Now this is where things get interesting....the ride back to Liupo. We managed to find a chapa and I was able to get a seat in front. I was pretty burnt by this time. I started getting nervous when guys were working on the truck. The brakes were not working properly. They apparently got everything in order and then we were off. Once we got about 30 minutes out of town, the chapa gets two flat tires. No one was hurt. I didn't even knew it happened until the people in the back told the driver to stop. We ended up sitting on the side of the rode for about 30 minutes until another chapa, who wasn't even going to help out and take some of us, stopped. It was a big truck. I had no idea how we were going to get in the thing. We managed to get in with all of our groceries. These guys didn't mess around. They were driving pretty fast. Let me tell you now that transportation here is not safe. That is the reality of the situation, especially in northern Mozambique. The roads are crap, the vehicles are crap, etc. We very rarely get to ride in something that is enclosed. It is always open back trucks. The roads become really dangerous during raining season (now) because the rain washes the roads out. Make a long story short we made it home after 7 and a half hours. It usually only takes about 3 hours to get from Nampula to Liupo. I always am so relieved to be home. I love that feeling and I love that feeling even more here.
I hope you all appreciate everything you have. I know times get rough but I can assure you that things are a lot worse other places and for other people. Count your blessings and be thankful!
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