[visual aids]

Our casa; Erica blowing bubbles with the neighborhood chilluns; the oh-so-photogenic Shingove; sleeping, snuggling Bea (L) and Rocksteady (R); me with more of the cute neighborhood terrors; our scenic backyard sunsets.
So just how accurate was your imagination?  There will be more pictures to come someday, so work on your mental image of my school for the next test.

The Amber of June

Now that electricity is a fairly constant aspect of my daily life, I occasionally find myself looking at photos on my computer of my past life, and although I am happy, healthy, and doing well here, I sometimes am grasped by the sudden feeling of what-the-hell-am-I-doing-here?  I have now completed 9 months in Mozambique, which is encouraging and feels good, but it is inevitably followed by the requisite recognition and mathematics of the 18 remaining months, which seems daunting and impossibly long.  But when I feel trapped in the amber of this moment and there is no why (Vonnegut—I cannot take credit for that pretty turn-of-phrase), I think about the few things in my life right now with forward momentum.  In case you were wondering where the momentum of life is blowing me at present, here are some of the details.

My sitemate and I are putting together a Science Fair at her school, which is rapidly approaching.  Her school has had volunteers and Science Fairs in the past, so this year, I just invited students from my school to participate in a joint fair at her school.  I’d had my doubts about the project, but seeing my handful of favorite students get excited about their lung models and physics demonstrations is a winning experience.  There won’t be any earth-shaking scientific discoveries coming from my 8^th graders this year at the fair, but what’s wrong with reinventing the wheel?  The wheel is still lookin’ good.

In other news, as of last weekend, the Chimundo PCV household has increased by one, consisting now of two American women, two Mozambican kitties, one chicken, and (new addition) one adorable puppy.  Puppy’s name is Shingove, Shangana for “cat.”  We think it’s an ironic little joke, but for people around here, it’s just more evidence that we’re not quite right, that we're weird Americans who talk to animals and what’s more, feed and bathe them.  Shingove is a tubby little squirt, waddling around and trying to initiate play with Bea and suspicious Rocksteady (Erica’s kitty, who is not terribly receptive to these antics as of yet).  We heart Shingove.  The cats are reserving judgment.

Speaking of our domesticated animals, Clucka has finally settled in, roosted, and started producing eggs.  After wandering through the house and trying out the spare bed, our beds, and our clothing-filled shelves, she decided to roost inside of the bag of charcoal on the porch.  Maybe this would be a good time for me to explain that Erica and I do not have a TV; most of our entertainment comes from our pets.  But I have to say, it’s pretty funny to be on the receiving end of a death stare from a maternal chicken guarding eggs in a sack of coal.  (Come to Mozambique if you want to give it a try!)

School is going just fine; at my school, we’re already getting ready for our final exams (“final” meaning 4 weeks before the actual end of the trimester to give teachers time to grade and students a few weeks to slack off).  In July, I should have a week off, which should be a welcome opportunity for a bit of travel and a change of scenery.  In the meantime, I’m keeping myself occupied by going to my homeroom’s soccer games.  While they can be little stinkers who skip out on biology on Tuesdays when it’s their last class of the day, I have to admit, they are soccer superstars.  Maybe because they are, on average, one to two years older and 6 to 8 inches taller than the other players, but they do me proud regardless.

Oh, and no news on the robbery.  I have no hopes or expectations of recovering any of my lost items at this point.  But I do have my new passport, which is complete with a badass-looking stamp saying “THIS PASSPORT IS A REPLACEMENT FOR A STOLEN PASSPORT.”  Don’t you know it.

Erica's family was here for a week in May, which was a lot of fun.  It was nice to see Chibuto through fresh eyes and be reminded that while America may feel like another world away, family and friends are only a few plane rides away, continuing their lives until we next meet again.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something [Acid-Washed] Blue

After months without pizza, shopping, movie theaters, and coffee shops, Maputo seems like heaven on earth.  I've been in Maputo since Sunday to apply for a new passport and was slated to back to Chimundo today, but since the consulate was too busy yesterday to sign my application, I'll have to go home tomorrow [oh, darn] .  Looks like another evening of hanging out with fellow the PCVs who happen to be in Maputo and eating at fun restaurants--we all have to make sacrifices sometimes, don't we?

Aside from the fact that I bought acid-washed jeans today (something I never thought I would or could do, particularly in Mozambique), that's really all the news there is to report from the last week; I mostly wanted to put up a new post because:  A. I can, with the free and reliable internet at the Maputo Peace Corps office, and B. I never got a chance to upload my April post, which threw off my nice average of one post per month.  I haven't heard any news yet about recovering my stolen belongings, but two things have come back into my life:  our chicken ("Clucka") and a replacement internet phone.  Things are on the up-and-up.

Uff daa.

So, up until a day ago, things were going pretty darn well in Chimundo.  I finished my first trimester of teaching, managed to write up 600 grades by hand, and participated in our week of conselhos, where we teachers wrote down our thousands of grades by hand in several more source documents.  It was about as fun as it sounds, but surprisingly wasn´t too awful.  Because of  conselhos, we teachers didn´t get a break, so last week, I jumped right into the second trimester, with a slightly better grasp of Portuguese and slightly better grasp of classroom management.  Slightly.

I´ve been living with my sitemate for the last month and a half, and since it´s been so pleasant to have company, electricity, someone to cook with, and someone to even do Pilates with, we agreed to continue living together permanently at her house.  We even bought a chicken together to have eggs.  But the morning after we decided this, I went back to my old house to begin organizing my belongings and found my front door ajar.  And my bedroom door ajar.  And most of my things gone.  Someone had entered my house that night, using a screwdriver to pry open the doors, and stole my suitcases, violin, and even a drawer from my bed.  Thankfully, my computer and good camera were already at my sitemate´s, and the thieves passed on most of my clothing, but when they lifted my suitcases, they got US dollars and my Peace Corps passport.  I´m sure those are long gone, but I wonder how much good they will get out of my two-year supply of contact lenses, my two-year supply of ivory-colored makeup, and my violin.  My guess is, not as much good as I´d get out of them.  Not nearly.

Oh, and our chicken ran away, adding insult to injury.

I´m sure the thieves broke in because they knew that even though I returned to the house every day before and after school, I wasn´t sleeping there.  I kick myself for not moving my things sooner, but hindsight is 20/20 (unfortunately, unlike my vision, when my one remaining pair of contact lenses dies on me).  People at the school were great, arranging a car for me to move my things to my sitemate´s house that day so the thieves wouldn´t return and lift anything else.  Other teachers have been very sympathetic and supportive, as have neighbors.  Replacing my Peace Corps passport shouldn´t be too difficult, and will get me a trip to Maputo, where I can also replace my internet phone (which unfortunately fell into the Indian ocean a month ago--I estimate it´s halfway to Madagascar by now) and try to replace some of my products.  And I´m going to start thinking about an insurance claim and replacing my stash of contact lenses.  I think disc 1 of Pride and Prejudice is a lost cause (sorry, Mom), but ah well.

Anyway, aside from the robbery, things are just fine.  Bea is doing well and sends greetings.  Hope you are well, too.

Then There Was One

I knew my roommate Arlete was in the process of getting a house, so last Monday night, when she carried her last load of belongings to her new digs and said she was going to start sleeping there, I was surprised that she wasn’t going to stay for the dinner I’d prepared, but not too surprised.  However, when my roommate Amelia told me the next night, “I forgot to tell you—I talked to some people and I’m getting a room of my own, so Friday night will be my last night in this house,” I was fairly surprised.  That’s how within one week, I went to having two Mozambican roommates to none.  Poof!  They both moved to houses that have electricity, so I can’t say that I blame them.

Since my roommates left with their pots, pans, and stove, Bea and I are currently lodging with my PCV sitemate.  Bea likes playing with her cat, and I like this too, since his playful-yet-at-times-painful ankle attacks have decreased. It’s been a nice week to enjoy using my computer, having a well-charged phone, and having the company of an American friend.  It might be hard to adjust to living alone again, but I’m excited to set up my house just how I want it. There’s a chance another Mozambican teacher will move in, but I think the convenience of being close to the school isn’t enough of a pro to outweigh the con of no electricity, so the chance is slim.  Bea and I are going to do some major household item acquisition and try our hands at interior decorating; we’ll let you know how it goes.