I’ve been debating which epic idea to write about today.
“Should I share successful and failed lessons in the classroom? Or details
about our house in Mapinhane? Or what about how a foreigner can gain street
cred in Mozambique?” But then I decided it would be fun just to write a very
informal post about what we’ve been up to these last couple of weeks. You know,
the random rants and raves I would normally send to my buddy’s inbox instead of
in my blog. But sometimes trying to create a well-constructed narrative with a clear
theme and strong ending isn’t as much fun as sending an update to a friend:
Hi Blog Reader!
What’s new? How are you? Was the summer Olympics
everything you hoped they would be?
Things are still going well! This past weekend we wanted
some beach time so we relaxed at our friend TJ’s site in Inhassoro. She lives a
stone’s throw away from the Indian Ocean in a place with electricity, running
water and a few decent restaurants for the tourists. It’s basically a smaller
Vilankulos. We laid out on the beach, watched movies and cooked fantastic meals
with her and Zack, another Moz 17er friend who lives there. It’s a nice quick
trip when we want a break from our site. We were told numerous times in
training that every site will have challenges and benefits, but every PCV will
find a way to make it work for them. Now that we’ve visited a fair share of our
friend’s places, we see how true this is. While TJ may have the obvious
comfortable amenities, she struggles with other things that we do not in
Mapinhane and vice versa.
We started the third trimester of school about 4 weeks
ago and I thought this final trimester was going to be quick and painless, but
it’s proven to be otherwise. The students are starting to become restless as
their summer vacation approaches. Things like going to class when the bell
rings, and not talking when the teacher is talking, and having an attention
span of more than 5 minutes have very little significance now. But I have to admit that I’m getting restless
too. My patience in the classroom has diminished and I find lesson planning is
like pulling teeth lately. In the first
two trimesters I was really motivated to lesson plan but now for some reason
every time I sit down to figure out what I’m going to teach for the week, I’d
rather read my US Magazine. Or stare at the ceiling. I’m looking forward to next year when I will
not have to lesson plan at all because I’ll be using what I created this year.
But in the meantime, I’ve gotta get the lazy devil off my shoulder since I have
about 8 more weeks of school to plan. But school is certainly not all bad. I
still have many moments where I feel an overwhelming sense of fulfillment,
especially now when I can clearly see an improvement in my students English
from the beginning of the year. That feeling just goes away quicker than it
used to when a student wants to act a fool.
Chris and I are both still trying to get projects moving
outside of the classroom. Chris has a JUNTOS group, which is a youth group for
kids who want to get involved in the arts. His group does music, and is
composed of singers, a rapper, guitar players and a drummer. The kids are
really motivated and the music is actually quite good too! He took them to a
conference at the beginning of the month to meet with other JUNTOS groups in
the region to perform their music and learn about life skills and HIV. I tagged
along to help out Chris and the other PCVs at the conference. Actually, I’ve
been a tagalong for a few of these things now. Our friends planned a REDES (girls
clubs) retreat for their groups and Chris and I were visiting that weekend so
we helped facilitate that as well. And
it looks like I will be a secondary project groupie again when I accompany
Chris to the regional science fair he is coordinating next month. These are
great experiences for me because I got to see how these types of conferences
are organized and executed. I initially thought there was no way I could handle
putting together the logistics, but I realize it’s doable. And I won’t be a groupie for long since I
will be taking my own REDES girls to a retreat in October and have signed up to
take a group of my students to the English theater competition in September.
Unfortunately, I have been slacking a bit with my Books for Africa project
which is where I go and read to the kids at the elementary school, but I definitely
want to get back into it. I realized that this first year I have sort of been
throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks as far as secondary projects
are concerned, then next year I plan to only focus on what actually stuck. I’m
also hoping to focus on some internal Peace Corps initiatives. I am the VAC
(Volunteer Action Committee) representative for the South region for my
training class, Moz 17. The VAC meets periodically with Peace Corps staff to
share questions and concerns of the volunteers and provides information to fellow
PCVs in the region. I plan to get further involved in VAC projects next year.
And, I’d like to be a support for the new incoming volunteers with formal training
and as a peer resource. Geesh, lots of
ideas in my head for 2013, but the whole no lesson planning next year thing
will come in handy when I’m trying to branch out from school activities. It’s
awesome now that I can see a vision for my second year of service. Actually, I
think that’s where some of my restlessness in the classroom is coming from. I’m
excited to start a new next year with a clearer direction but I need to get
through this trimester first!
In other news, it’s finally starting to warm up again
after feeling like the cold winter was going to be here forever. We are now
officially 83 year-old Floridians as anything less than 60 degrees is ungodly
cold. So I’m looking forward to sweating again for now. But ask me how I feel
about this in January and I will probably curse the days when I wished for
summer. And the warmer weather also means the bichos (bugs) have started to
come back again. Scorpions and spiders galore! Whoo hoo! But I must say that I have
really improved in my tolerance for nasty things, bugs and more. I’ve come a
long way from that pampered gal in the cozy suburbs of Cleveland. PC living
does not come as naturally to me as some others, but somehow I think I’ve found
my way.
Ok, I think that’s all for now. Hope all is well. Talk to
you soon!
XO
Laurie :)
PS: Let me know if you’d actually be interested in
reading about the blog ideas I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Or, if
there is any topic you’re interested in hearing about for that matter. I’d be
happy to blog it up for you!
