Not only have we begun our second school year, but we’ve
finally started to pick up one of our favorite past habits. We can proudly call
ourselves “runners” again, now that we’re braving the African summers to clock
a few miles a day.
Before we came to Mozambique, we were both pretty
dedicated to hitting the pavement several times a week. Our hope was to continue
here, but our motivation got lost with the countless adjustments we were
dealing with last year. Then after 15 months of a carb heavy diet, we were
starting to see the results of our slacking. The physical aspect is a part of
it, but it’s mental too. Running was a release of tension and a time to unwind
after a long work day or way to get your mind right first thing in the morning.
Happily, our Moz life is generally much calmer and the stress level is way
down, but regardless, I was missing that time of tranquility and the endorphins
that follow. So during the lull period after our South Africa trip and waiting
for school to start, we begrudgingly laced up our Nike’s and headed outside.
The first few times were a bit of a struggle but very quickly I remembered why
I used to like to run so much. It’s not easy while you’re doing it but the
sense of accomplishment and satisfaction you feel when you’re done can’t be
beat. I definitely needed that burst of good feeling too because at the end of
December while sitting in my house with nothing to do except sweat in the
unbearable heat, I started thinking, “whoa, I’ve got one more year of this?”
I’ve heard it’s not uncommon to hit a wall between your first and second year
of Peace Corps service, but I was sure I wouldn’t be one of those people. I
figured if I didn’t go home for the holiday break, I’d be immune to the
mid-service slump but that wasn’t the case. For months on end, time seemed to
run away from me and then all of the sudden, I was counting every hour. I’d made it through much harder times during
this experience, so I had enough foresight to know I’d be out of the funk
shortly. Putting back on my running shoes helped to put things into
perspective. You see, Running for miles can require you to play a sort of
mental game in order to make it to the end. There are times when you’re hot,
tired and the ipod has died on you, making it seem impossible to take one more
step forward. So, you tell yourself if only you can keep running until that
tree in the distance, you can walk the rest of the way. It’s all about tricking
yourself into a new goal so you don’t feel so bad about stopping. But the
surprising part is that 99% of the time, you don’t start to walk when you reach
that tree. In fact, you keep running until the end, to that mile marker you
initially intended to reach. My mid-service slump forced me to seek out a
“tree”, the first time I had to do so since the initial challenges I faced
during training and first getting to site. As of today, I already reached that
tree and I’m still running to the 27-months-of-service finish line.
Starting to teach again brought me back to the reason I
am here and reminded me of the satisfaction I so frequently feel. And the
beginning of the school year gave another reminder as to how far we’ve come.
Now, we understood both the language and cultural context of the school’s
opening ceremony and parents meeting. We already know school policies and
procedures, most of the teachers and students, and are bracing for our schedule
to be changed numerous times. It’s really cool to be at a point where we are no
longer doing something new, but starting the cycle over again. We can finally
put all of the lessons and experiences to good use. This year, we walked into our classrooms for
the first day of school with confidence and poise. I can already feel a
difference in my teaching and it’s only been a few weeks. My style and timing are much more natural,
I’m not afraid to switch to Portuguese to discipline if needed and lesson
planning is a breeze. Chris is no longer clutching his notebook to read a
Portuguese script for his Chemistry lesson. Instead, he’s got a command of the
language and knows which activities will work for a science class. We’re happy
to be teaching the same subjects as last year except for one minor change. I teach
11th and 12th grade English and Chris teaches 8th
grade chemistry and 9th grade math (instead of 10th grade
biology). He’s excited about math since Peace Corps trained him to teach in
that subject and he enjoys it more than biology. Another welcome change is less classes and
less overcrowding, both due to the new secondary school in our village. We’re
hoping this weeds out the kids who only want to “brincar” (to play around) and
our school regains its reputation as one of the best in the country.
Aside from running and teaching, there have been a few
other positive events that have brought us to the upswing. Mapinhane is lively
with teachers and students and although the privacy during the summer vacation was
nice, it’s even nicer to feel part of a community again. Our new site mate,
Karina, is settling into her new life. We’ve enjoyed helping when she needs it
and having another American just around the corner. I got to see one of my favorite Americans,
TJ, after a 2 month hiatus due to our South Africa trip and her visit back in
the states. It was an exciting reunion with beef tacos (a rarity here) and a
swim in the ocean. Then back at home, we
received a very special Peace Corps guest.
The director for all PC countries in the African continent made a visit
to Mozambique and we were lucky enough to have him check out our humble abode
in Mapinhane. He came with our Country Director (the head of PC Mozambique) and
we showed them our school and house and chatted about our experiences. It was
encouraging to meet someone so high on the PC ladder who was genuinely interested
in what we were doing and open to our opinions. And today, I’m writing this
blog during the conclusion of the kicker of positive events, and one of the main
reasons for my rejuvenation. We just finished our Mid-Service Conference, where
my training group shared successes and plans for the next year. It was the
first time all members of Moz 17 had been together in over a year, and man did
it feel good! Everyone is more cool, calm and collected and we’ve finally all
seemed to find our way in Mozambique. Not only did we have an awesome time
hanging out together which included dinners out and voting on group superlatives,
but I gained some solid ideas for what I want to accomplish this year. I’m
getting my plans together for my girl’s empowerment group, English theater
crew, and children’s book readings. And I’ve got to get a move on because if
you can believe it, I’ve only got 10 months left in country and that finish
line doesn’t look very far at all.
