Check, Check and Check

Whoa, TONS has happened since my last post so this will be a chunky one but I know you like those chunky blog posts, don’t you? :)

In the end of September and beginning of October, Chris and I participated in events we’d been planning which culminated into a secondary project palooza! We worked together to lead an English club with a group of kids who actively seek out opportunities to practice speaking outside of the classroom. It was initially fun just to do basic English activities, but we really upped the ante when we started to formulate ideas for our theater performance. Each year, every province in Mozambique participates in the English Theater Competition, a secondary project led by Peace Corps Volunteers. Students get the opportunity to write, direct and star in a 10 minute theater presentation and compete against other groups in the province. This year’s theme was “we are all equal”, so we worked with our students on a play about discrimination on a chapa (public transport). The first scene, titled “Reality”, showed different minorities being discriminated against while the second scene, “How the World Should Be”, showed those same minorities being treated equally. Our students worked hard to practice their lines and choose the right costumes and in the end, they performed well! We didn’t end up winning but it was still an awesome experience and I definitely plan to come in even stronger next year. But I have to say, the competition was tough! Mozambicans LOVE theater. They really get into acting and take it seriously. I’m not exactly sure why, but probably for the fact that many still don’t own a TV so it’s an easily accessible form of entertainment. Anyway, we still had a great time working with our group to prepare for the competition. One of the best activities was a dinner at our house the week before. The kids taught us how to make beijias, which are basically a chicken nugget made of beans. They are tasty street food here in Moz and we have been wondering how to make them at home. We added to the dinner with a classic American salad including Italian dressing from the US and banana chocolate chip muffins. The dinner served as a celebration for their hard work and a cultural exchange with food, an easy vehicle for cross-cultural discussions.  The week after English theater, I took my REDES group to a Troca de Experiência. You are probably wondering what the heck this last sentence means. Ok, I know I’ve talked about REDES a few times now but let me give you a little more detail. REDES stands for Raparigas em Desenvolvimento Educação e Saúde (Girls in Development, Education and Health) and serves as a group to empower Mozambican girls. It was initially started as secondary project with Peace Corps Volunteer facilitators but it has grown to include fully functioning groups led my Mozambicans (which is always the goal with PC projects to retain the sustainability factor). One of the highlights of a REDES group is participating in Troca de Experiências, or “exchange of experiences” where groups from different areas meet up for a retreat. These usually involve 2 groups from the same province, but this Troca had a total of 4 groups from 2 different provinces so the exchanging of experiences was kind of epic! Ok, maybe not epic but we still had a blast. My group of 10 girls travelled to Sofala to meet with two groups from that province and one more from Inhambane. After a 3 hour chapa ride, we had to take a 5 minute canoe ride across a river to reach Sofala. Although I had warned them, I was still a little nervous about how the girls would react with all the mud and water but they were such great sports. Especially on the way back when we ended up in mud to our knees! Many got their fancy shoes dirty but they ended up laughing instead of bitching. I was really proud of their positive attitudes.  Aside from playing in the mud, the girls shared a song and dance they prepared, had a disco dance party, participated in discussions on HIV/AIDS and safe sex, and met new Mozambican girls with like-minded ideals. I was so happy to have facilitated this exchange since it’s a treat for the girls to travel as they don’t do it often, but more importantly because allowing these girls to form a network allows for a possibility of an improved future for Mozambican women. By the way, here is some more information on REDES if you’re interested: http://theredesproject.wordpress.com. Another perk of participating is that I get to spend time with some of my PCV friends as well. I have to give a big shout out to my boys Mac and Mike, who are awesome male REDES leaders and planned the 2 Trocas I participated in this year, both of which were wonderful! Chris was planning on joining the Troca as well but he was called away to participate in the JUNTOS handover meeting. Again, that sentence probably confused you. JUNTOS  stands for Jovens Unidos No Trabalho para Oportunidade e Sucesso (young people working for opportunity and success). But behind that very long name, JUNTOS groups are for young people who want to be involved in the arts or culture. Chris’ group, for example, was a musical group with instruments and singers. He loved the experience working with JUNTOS at our school, but felt like there could be some opportunities to improve and grow the program as a whole. Chris went to the handover meeting, where PCVs pass along information to the new group managing the project, with ideas in hand.  And, it turns out that he will be the National Coordinator for the JUNTOS project next year! It’s a great opportunity for him to execute some of the thoughts he has for a group he’s passionate about.  By the way, did I mention this handover meeting took place in Ilha de Moçambique, one of the most beautiful places in this country? I was lucky enough to go to Ilha, or the Island of Mozambique, for my site visit during training last year and I have talked it up to Chris ever since. I didn’t think he’d be able to go until we made our big trip up north next year as it is way too far from our site for a quick visit. But another plus to being involved in secondary projects is opportunities to travel. So although he missed out on all the REDES fun, enjoying Ilha wasn’t all that bad. :)

After the secondary project excitement was over, we headed back to Namaacha, our PC training stomping grounds, to help with the new crop of Peace Corps Volunteers. Over the 10 week training period, Peace Corps sends 2 to 3 current volunteers per week to help lead training sessions and acts as a resource to answer the many burning questions of a newly arrived PCT (Peace Corps Trainee).  I have wanted to be involved in PST (Pre Service Training) since I was a PCT myself.  While I was in Namaacha struggling to integrate with my host family, freaking out over Portuguese and wondering what my 2 years ahead would look like, I turned to the visiting volunteers who had lived through it and was always encouraged and relieved by their insight. After having a rough time in training with my homestay experience and a difficult beginning at my site, I wanted to come to training to show that you can be a happy, well-adjusted, successful volunteer in one year’s time despite initial challenges. Chris and I both applied to attend PST, but were expecting that only one of us would be able to go. To our pleasant surprise, not only were we both selected to attend, but we were selected to attend together! The Williams’ would be tag teaming week 3 of Moz 19’s training. Having us both there worked out well since I was able to spend most of my time helping the group of future English teachers and Chris was with the Math and Science groups. We led sessions on lesson planning, teaching with limited resources, dealing with grief and loss (just to name a few) and answered every question imaginable about life in Mozambique.  One of the days, we led a session together on classroom management and followed it up with a short slide show of pictures to give them some idea of what life as a PCV in Moz is actually like (as opposed to the bubble of training in Namaacha).  I have to say, we made quite a team! :)  One of the numerous benefits of this experience is that we get the chance to work together, something we never really did in the states. Sometimes we want to kill eachother, but usually we’re pretty good co-workers!  Aside from the technical training, we also sat in on a few language classes which the trainees attend a few hours each day. Watching the classes gave me perspective to see how far I have come with my Portuguese. I could see when some of the trainees were frustrated with the teacher, with themselves, or the language and I clearly remember that being me only 1 year ago. One of the most eye-opening revelations came during the cooking exchange day. Each year, the language classes and their host mom participate in a cooking event where the Mom’s teach a Mozambican dish while the trainees teach an American dish. It is supposed to be a fun cross-cultural exchange and an alternative to the standard language class. My cooking day was nothing short of a disaster with my host mom disappointed in everything I did from how I cut the tomatoes to choosing the wrong oil for the salad (see by blog titled “Because you are Lazy” for more info) and I could not speak enough Portuguese to defend myself. This time around however, me and the Moms were instant BFFs as I dazzled them with my Xitswa skills (the local language spoken in my area) and easily communicated in Portuguese that I already knew how to grate a coconut and I was just here for the week to help the trainees. In some ways, it made me sad to see what my experience could have been as all of these host Moms were kind and patient and actually interested in the learning the American recipe, all things I did not experience when doing this event last year. But, I was happy to see that these trainees had such good host Moms and I remember that the challenges I faced during training certainly benefitted me later on. Each day in Namaacha was jam packed with training sessions and meetings to plan those training sessions and it reminded me of why training was so exhausting. At least when we were finished, we were able to go back to our own place where we could cook our own food. Trainees are in language or tech classes all day, then need to spend time with their homestay family which means time to unwind is pretty much non-existent. But I’ll tell you what, these Moz 19ers are taking training like champs. These 68 volunteers are intelligent, talented, mature and calm. They are an eclectic group ranging in age from very early 20s to 60s including a few retirees and also PCVs who were transferred from Cape Verde whose program closed this year. Chris and I were both really impressed with this group and are excited that we get to spend another year with them here! (but let me just say for the record, Moz 17 will always be my favorite group!)  It was also great to meet the newbies since I recently took on the role as the National Coordinator for PSN (I know, I know, more of those frickin’ acronyms!). PSN stands for Peer Support Network and is a group of volunteers who support other volunteers and trainees in Mozambique with any emotional or technical support they may need. I am super excited about this position because supporting PCVs is something near and dear to my heart as I went through some challenging times here and I know what it’s like to need someone to talk to through all the craziness.  And even before PC, I’ve always liked to be a support for my friends and family with advice. Being the National Coordinator also gives me a chance to use some of my “cubicle” skills again. While I was happy to leave the corporate world to do Peace Corps, there are still some corporate-y things I liked doing which speak to my type-A personality. Now I have an outlet for my project management and organization impulses. And hopefully, it’s all to the benefit of providing a better support system for my fellow volunteers.

And finally, we’ve made it to the present. We’re currently in our very last week of school for the year which means teaching classes is over and calculating final grades has begun. After this week, our 10^th and 12^th graders will take government issued national exams but for the most part, the bulk of our work is done and we’ve survived our first school year. As I mentioned in my last blog, September 28^th marked one year since we landed in Mozambique.  It is hard to believe how much we’ve learned and how much we’ve grown in a year and I was lucky enough to spend time with Moz 19 to really see what a difference a year can make. I have accomplished so many things I wasn’t convinced I could do. Facilitate secondary projects. Check. Coordinate logistics in a different language. Check. Not be afraid of speaking Portuguese and even speak a little of the local language. Check.  Form strong relationships with my English students, be a National Coordinator for a group, and the advice-giving PCV at training. Check, check and check. I feel like I have finally grown into the Peace Corps volunteer that I wanted to be and that sometimes seemed impossible when I was a wide-eyed, at times overwhelmed trainee in Namaacha. It may have taken me a little longer than most to get here, but that struggle makes me appreciate my comfortable PCV self even more.  

Celebrations

We’ve hit a couple of our yearly milestones in this last month and it’s been fun to celebrate them for the first time in Mozambique.

August 31^st was our 4 year anniversary and even more special, this year marks our 10^th year of going steady :).  It all began at Ohio State where we were neighbors and ironically, bonded over playing an African drum on the porch one Saturday evening. But I digress, so we’ll save those stories for another time…We had initially planned to take a trip to the Bazaruto Archipelago, a group of beautiful islands just off the coast of VIlankulos. We would snorkel, eat seafood and stay at a nice lodge but Chris’ call of duty would require him to travel to Inhambane City over our anniversary weekend to help coordinate the regional science fair.  Chris was hoping I would come along to help out anyway, so we ended sharing the day with protons and electrons. The day we arrived turned out to be a chicken-with-head-cut-off experience as we partook in the final organization phase of the fair. While Chris was the coordinator on the Peace Corps side, there was a counterpart on the Mozambican government science and technology side who was taking care of the last-minute details. We ran around with her as she handed out invitations for officials to attend the fair, tried to hire a dance troupe, picked out the room’s foliage décor and printed the events official T-Shirts. But of course, last-minute is really the only way you can organize things here so you go with the flow. We’ve learned that somehow, things do come together. And it did all work out the next day as almost 40 students and their teachers busted out their poster boards and plants in different soils and light bulbs powered by wheels. Chris or “O Senhor Cristóvão” as he was called due to his high-roller status (i.e. He was responsible for controlling the money used for the science fair) and his counterpart set everything in place for a smooth fair. Even when asked to give an impromptu speech, in Portuguese, with 5 minutes notice, Chris pulled it off. We did have a slight hiccup first thing in the morning when a PCV who was supposed to help judge the projects bailed out. Chris was hoping I would step in but science and I are totally not friends. I would have no clue how to judge a science fair in English, let alone a foreign language. Luckily, another PCV who actually geeks out over these things was super excited to be a judge.  And at the end of the day, we were happy to learn that he and the panel chose one of our students as the winner! Yay for Mapinhane science nerds! We were very proud of him and the two other students we brought to present projects. Aside from being incredibly smart, they’re all just really fantastic kids. And so the science fair itself turned into a celebration as we gave cheers to a winner from our school and the awesome effort put in by our other great students. And while we were there on the evening of August 31^st, we took a minute to sit outside on the streets of Inhambane, one of the most beautiful cities in this country, to celebrate our anniversary. We looked at the full moon and waving palm trees and laughed about how there is no way we could have ever dreamed we’d be here when walking down the aisle four years ago, but we are so happy we are. And even happier that we get to do it together.

Although I was initially bummed we wouldn’t be spending our anniversary in Bazaruto, Inhambane City turned out to be just fine. Besides, my 30^th birthday, September 16^th (oh yeah, that’s today!), would also fall on a weekend so at least we’d be around to celebrate that. We wanted to have a get together in Vilankilos but alas, science prevailed again as the national fair in Chimoio was happening over the same weekend. I decided to sit this one out since we had been doing a lot of traveling and activity planning lately. I figured if we weren’t going to have a party, I might as well take the weekend to relax.  We ended up having the Vilankulos Bday celebration a week early and it was lovely. Friends, a beautiful beach and crab. What more could a gal ask for? And randomly, we stumbled upon yet another celebration as a couple was getting married the same weekend we were staying at the lodge. Apparently, they didn’t mind at all if we stayed there too. Although we managed to watch most of the ceremony from a distance, it was looked sweet and romantic. I can definitely see the appeal in a destination wedding in an exotic location. So with the larger celebration past, this weekend was going to be a chill one as I ushered in a new decade.  My friend and cooking partner in crime, TJ, spent the weekend with me here in Mapinhane. We lounged around, walked around and of course, made some delicious Bday goodies in the form of fresh bagels and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (yes, Vilankulos sometimes has cream cheese!!!). Everything turned out great, the food and company! This morning, I ate my bagel and cream cheese, then put on my ipod and enjoyed the cool weather as I took a stroll around my hood (Ok, am I 30 or 80? :)). It was a nice way to reflect on three decades of life. And now I am waiting for the main person I want to celebrate my birthday with to return home from the national science fair. Per usual, his trip back has been a bit delayed. The car he’s in got a flat tire so hopefully, he’ll make it make sometime time today! In the meantime though, I’m keeping myself busy by looking at all the wonderful birthday wishes being sent from around the world. The outpouring of love makes me smile!  

So yeah, 30. How do I feel about that you wonder? Surprisingly really, really good. You often hear the cliché horror stories of people feeling like their youth/opportunities/life is now over. In the weeks leading up to today, I really wasn’t worried at all. I thought maybe the day of, it would hit me like a ton of bricks and I’d be crying while rocking back and forth in the fetal position. I have always been one to feel the emotion when an event is actually happening, not in the lead up to it. Like at overnight camp when we’d have a dramatic goodbye ceremony the last night and everyone would be crying but me, yet I was the one crying the next morning when we actually got on the bus to go home.  But no, last night before bed I had this sudden feeling of gratitude. Gratitude for being alive and for the things I’ve been able to do in my life up until now. And this morning, I woke up excited and hopeful about my future. I am excited about what I will be doing here in the next 15 months and where it will lead me once I return home, and about the family we hope to start in the somewhat near future. I do feel like a skin has been shed. Possibly the skin of my youth? Well, I still feel like I have some youth left, but now with experience under my belt and that’s an awesome combination! So all in all 30s=new exciting chapter and excited for the future!

After all of the celebrations, there is still one more around the corner. September 28^th will mark one year since our airplane landed in Mozambique. Be sure to check out the “year in reflection blog” to come soon. But for now, I have to get going to make tonight’s festive meal for yes, another celebration: Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. And when I eat my apples and honey this evening, I will wish a year of happy celebrations to you all too!

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!