The start of year 2

Hey! I have some more time to write now. I’m pretty excited about the school year that just started. Last year I taught 11th grade, and there wasn’t a 12th grade. This year I’m teaching 12th grade, which means that the only students I have are the ones that passed last year. So I know them, they more or less understand English, and they’re used to the way I teach! Only about 75% of the 11th graders from last year passed to 12th grade, and of the ones that passed, about 15% of those didn’t passed English, which means they just do the other subjects that they did pass. (If you fail more than 2 subjects you repeat just those subjects in 11th grade again.) So I only have three classes, and each class only has about 40-50 students, so I should be able to do some more fun, exciting projects this year. My standard workday this year is classes from 8:30-12:00, but on Fridays I start at 7:00. I also have Wednesdays off.

In terms of other projects, I’m going to get my English Club started again once I get back to site. I went to the District Administration last week to talk about reserving the room in the community centar that I used last year. Some guy there told me I would have to pay 1,500 meticais each time I wanted to use it!! (I make about 7,000 a month.) Well that wasn’t about to happen, so I had to go talk to some other people but I was assured by them that I would not have to pay and that the other guy was crazy. Another project I want to initiate this year is a theater group that will perform plays about HIV, gender issues, corruption, etc in the town center on various holidays. I hope to be ready to have our first play be performed on Womens’ Day, April 7th. I’ll also be having an English Theater group again, and I’ll be organizing the regional competition for the northern provinces, but that won’t be until around September.

I really enjoyed the holidays. I travelled all the way down to the south of Mozambique by ground transportation (buses, hitchhiking, etc), stopping several places along the way to visit other Voolunteers, before meeting up with Sambo at his sister’s house in Inhambane Province. She lives on the coast near some islands, so we took her kids to see the islands with us. The beach there was beautiful, and you have to take a tiny little sailboat to get there. Then we went a little more south to his brother’s house. He also lives on the coast very close to some beautiful beaches, and has three adorable kids ages 3-11 who I loved playing with. We stayed there for Christmas, and then went down to the capital, Maputo. We stayed in the city a few days and then went to Ilha de Inhaca, which is where Sambo is from. Once again, I got to enjoy some beautiful beaches and scenery. Unfortunately, during this part of our trip is when his niece drowned, but we managed to get in several fun days before that happened. Then I took him to Namaacha to visit my home stay family from training, which was really fun. The two brothers that were finishing school when I was there have since started working, and there were several improvements to the house now that they have some money. They want Mama to stop working because she’s getting older and they can support her now. Unfortunately Mama wasn’t there, but all three of my brothers were. I decided to buy a plane ticket and fly home to avoid the 2-3 day bus trip on an over-crowded bus with no bathroom, which I think was a great choice.

I’m in Maputo now doing my 1 year medical check-ups. I’m also taking advantage of the internet, food, and the movie theater they have here! Yesterday we saw The Switch, and today we might see Jacuzzi, just because we can. I don’t think either one of these movies got good reviews, but it’s in a real movie theater with popcorn!! I’ve also added greatly to my already over-sized souvenir collection, but I figure after being gone from the US for 2 years plenty of people will want gifts, so I just keep buying all the pretty things here that I can’t get at site.

Other news/comments:
-I got robbed last week. We left two plastic chairs and a key chain in the yard next to the porch while Sambo and I went inside to listen to music. While we were inside, someone took them from the yard.
-I have absolutely no idea what to do with my life when I’m done with Peace Corps. Ideally, I’ll move back to Raleigh and get a job in the linguistic cartography field. The only problem is, that field hardly exists, is definitely not well-established (or even established at all) in Raleigh, and I would be completely unqualified for.

-About 4 hours ago I developed an interest in possibly pursuing a Masters in public policy. But I really don’t want to ever take the GRE.

-I am currently waiting for the 3D, green, beaded hippopotamus that I am getting custom made for me.

-There is a terrible drought in Nacaroa. The crops aren’t growing at all, which sucks for me, but more so for the farmers. Along with this comes cholera and diarrhea as people drink swamp water. (I still have a good water source, don’t worry!)

-Food I’ve been excited about eating here in Maputo: pizza, cheeseburgers, cheese, bagels with lox and cream cheese, ice cream, thai food, fruit.

-Food that I get excited to find in Nacaroa: tomatoes that are NOT rotten, canned ground beef.

-An excerpt from my father’s 2nd grade report card: “Hygiene: Lewis has a handkerchief and knows how to use it properly.” I have also started using a handkerchief. I’ll practice all year, and maybe by the time I leave here I’ll also know how to use it properly.