Random Rants and Raves

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!