Last night I mentioned having to get up early in the morning to teach to Natalia and she said “you have classes tomorrow? But isn’t that torch thing happening tomorrow?” I told her nobody had said anything to me but I wouldn’t be too surprised if I showed up to school tomorrow and found out we didn’t actually have school. During morning announcements my pedagogical director said that we would be ending classes early, but that we would continue to have them until it was time and the announcement was made. I asked my colleague if we really didn’t know when we were leaving and he said “I think we know, but we just can’t say because otherwise all the students would split. So you can just teach until it’s time to go and someone will tell you.” I was one of only a handful of teachers who gave lessons this morning which is just miserable and near impossible because the other 400 students whose teacher didn’t show up that period were outside making noise and distracting my students outside the classroom door. I made it through four of my five lessons before we were told it was time to go which is good because we have a test next week and the kids need all the preparation they can get.
I don’t know many specifics, but every five years Mozambique has a tradition in which a torch is lit up in the very north of the country, and over a series of months it travels down the country by car and by foot until it reaches the southern end of the country, during which time the torch is never extinguished. This tradition celebrates the unity of the Mozambican people. The torch was coming from inland from Panda on the road that runs by the school Emma teaches at, so at the said time all the students and teachers from my school walked the 50 minute walk from our school to the other secondary school in town, Emma’s school. Once we got there, we just had to wait for the torch to finally show up. Two hours. Then everyone gathered by the road, shoulder to shoulder so that the 4000 people could be stretched as long as possible and everyone was directly on the road. A few trucks came by with people leading cheers and music playing which made it seem like the torch would be following soon, but it eventually became apparent that it wasn’t. People eventually began to drift away from the road to go sit in the shade like I did and wait another 35 minutes until someone said the torch was actually here this time. Accompanied by all sorts of important looking people, when the torch arrived at the line of people (and therefore Inharrime) a man got out of the truck and carried it so that each person could briefly “hold” it as if it were being passed down the line of people, though this really meant that each person just got to reach out their hand and touch it, myself included. The torch made its way slowly to the district government building where people made speeches but after four hours I decided I had had enough and left. I was told that the torch continued to make its way around town until 4:30pm, when it left for the next location.
Friday, June 11, 2010
10/06/10
Today each of my classes (which should have 45 students) averaged about 25 students. I thought this was kind of strange, maybe I had gotten the dates wrong and the World Cup had actually started today instead of tomorrow. I later found out that my pedagogical director had shut the gate of the mission shortly after school began to keep kids from entering late and to try to entice them to arrive on time in the future. I once had a kid show up and 1 hour and 8 minutes late to my class (it was a double hour) and he seemed surprised when I wouldn’t let him in.
One of my REDES girls came up to me this afternoon, grinning from ear to ear. She said that she had gone to the library (where the computers are) to find a biology book. An 11th grade class was using the computers and one boy was complaining that all of his letters were capitalized and he didn’t know how to change it. Using what she had learned at our REDES meeting the previous night, she said “just push this button here.” He just stared at her for a second, like who is this pipsqueak 8th grader telling me what to do? But eventually he pushed the Caps Lock button and found it solved his problem, while she got to strut away, so proud of herself.
One of my REDES girls came up to me this afternoon, grinning from ear to ear. She said that she had gone to the library (where the computers are) to find a biology book. An 11th grade class was using the computers and one boy was complaining that all of his letters were capitalized and he didn’t know how to change it. Using what she had learned at our REDES meeting the previous night, she said “just push this button here.” He just stared at her for a second, like who is this pipsqueak 8th grader telling me what to do? But eventually he pushed the Caps Lock button and found it solved his problem, while she got to strut away, so proud of herself.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
09/06/10
Today we successfully had our first REDES with the girls on the computers. We are doing an exchange program with a similar girls group in Brazil where we will be putting together and exchanging presentations once per month on various topics. The first one is basically just an introduction, so we had each girl write up and bring to the meeting the following answers about herself: name, age, what you would like to be in the future, what you like to do in your free time, and what you would tell someone who had never been here about your life here at Laura Vicuña. Most of the girls came prepared so each girl worked on typing up in a Word document what she had written in her notebook. It’s incredible how much people who grew up with computers simply as a part of their lives take that inherent knowledge for granted. For many of the girls it was one of the first times ever using a computer, so they didn’t know how to turn it on, where on the mouse to click, how to make a space between words, how to erase something they had written, how to close a window, etc. And with about 15 of them and only two of us it was difficult to keep up with all of their questions and demands for help. I also forgot how long it takes to type even a sentence when you don’t have the fainted idea where anything is and have to search for each letter, thus nobody was near done and we are coming back tomorrow to do more.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
08/06/10
Yesterday a student approached me and asked if she could meet with me to discuss some problems she was having with math. I was completely taken aback that a student was seeking out extra help, but also extremely pleased. And unlike the few times prior when students have asked me for help on their assigned homework, she pointed out some topics she didn’t understand and we worked through a bunch of practice problems together. I am still a little shell-shocked that this happened, but I just keep reminding myself that this is a wonderful thing. On the other hand, my student who can’t read or write with whom I am supposed to meet with every day after classes for 30 minutes continues to sneak away from school whenever possible, so we end up having a lesson about once a week.
In English when asked, for example, if you didn’t do your homework and in fact you did not, you respond, “no, I didn’t.” But in Portuguese (or at least Mozambican Portuguese) you respond, “yes, I didn’t.” This is confusing. In class today I had a completely awful exchange with my students that went something like this: “So you guys didn’t have homework yesterday?” “Yes.” “Oh so you did?” “No.” “Wait did you or not?” “We did not.” “So you didn’t have homework.” “Yes, we didn’t.”
In English when asked, for example, if you didn’t do your homework and in fact you did not, you respond, “no, I didn’t.” But in Portuguese (or at least Mozambican Portuguese) you respond, “yes, I didn’t.” This is confusing. In class today I had a completely awful exchange with my students that went something like this: “So you guys didn’t have homework yesterday?” “Yes.” “Oh so you did?” “No.” “Wait did you or not?” “We did not.” “So you didn’t have homework.” “Yes, we didn’t.”
Monday, June 7, 2010
07/06/10
On Saturday I received an envelope postmarked January 9th. Better late than never. And the fact an envelope could take so long gives me a little hope for the packages that are about as overdue.
Last week we did a lesson which required a ton of writing, so whenever I told the kids to copy from the board, they would all whine and moan about it. My last class of that day was my worst one, so when it came time for them to copy from the board I said preemptively, “now, without crying. Without crying, I want you to copy the board.” When one boy opened his mouth to complain, I feigned crying by making fists and rubbing my eyes and the whole class laughed and he just shut his mouth. Now, in that class, whenever I ask the kids to copy from the board, a few of them will say “without crying? Without crying everyone.”
Kids who are late to class or don’t do their homework have to sit on the floor. I walk around to see their homework, but I tell the kids, “don’t waste my time, anyone who doesn’t have their homework just sit on the floor, you don’t need me to tell you to.” Today in my “Life Group” class two of my students were sitting on the floor, one because I told him to, the other I have no idea why but I didn’t say anything because if he thinks he should be there he definitely should.
A few weeks ago one of my students whose aunt had met me when she came to receive the grades from first trimester for her niece, and was apparently somewhat enamored with me, told me her aunt was asking for my number. I made her swear up and down that she wouldn’t give my number to anyone else and then hesitantly gave it to her feeling that it would have been rude to refuse since she is a teacher somewhere too and thus we are spiritual colleagues (loosely her words). I hadn’t heard from her, so I was hoping maybe she had forgotten, but then she called this afternoon. Her phone kept cutting out and Mozambicans are always super quick to get off the phone (unless you have called them) so I couldn’t understand that well, but she is having problems with math (she is in school to get teacher certified) and I think her niece will be bringing some problems to school tomorrow for me to look at.
Last week we did a lesson which required a ton of writing, so whenever I told the kids to copy from the board, they would all whine and moan about it. My last class of that day was my worst one, so when it came time for them to copy from the board I said preemptively, “now, without crying. Without crying, I want you to copy the board.” When one boy opened his mouth to complain, I feigned crying by making fists and rubbing my eyes and the whole class laughed and he just shut his mouth. Now, in that class, whenever I ask the kids to copy from the board, a few of them will say “without crying? Without crying everyone.”
Kids who are late to class or don’t do their homework have to sit on the floor. I walk around to see their homework, but I tell the kids, “don’t waste my time, anyone who doesn’t have their homework just sit on the floor, you don’t need me to tell you to.” Today in my “Life Group” class two of my students were sitting on the floor, one because I told him to, the other I have no idea why but I didn’t say anything because if he thinks he should be there he definitely should.
A few weeks ago one of my students whose aunt had met me when she came to receive the grades from first trimester for her niece, and was apparently somewhat enamored with me, told me her aunt was asking for my number. I made her swear up and down that she wouldn’t give my number to anyone else and then hesitantly gave it to her feeling that it would have been rude to refuse since she is a teacher somewhere too and thus we are spiritual colleagues (loosely her words). I hadn’t heard from her, so I was hoping maybe she had forgotten, but then she called this afternoon. Her phone kept cutting out and Mozambicans are always super quick to get off the phone (unless you have called them) so I couldn’t understand that well, but she is having problems with math (she is in school to get teacher certified) and I think her niece will be bringing some problems to school tomorrow for me to look at.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
06/06/10
This morning the 12 girls from the orphanage who got baptized on Easter Sunday received their first communion. Unlike Easter which a huge production, today’s celebration was fairly low-key, but still fun and beautiful. After mass Irmã Ana asked me to talk to a youth group she has for adolescents called “Friends of Maín,” a group in which adolescents talk about their lives and how they can model their own lives after the one of their patron saint. She didn’t give me much direction, just talk to them about the same life issues that I talk about with my REDES group. I tried asking the group of 11 kids what the group meant to them, why they thought it was important and meaningful in their lives, whether they thought that emulating the life of a teenager in the 1800s in Italy was achievable here and now in Mozambique, etc, but they weren’t really having it. So I told them a little about myself, my background, age (they don’t realize how special they are, I don’t tell anyone here my age), and a little about my life and asked if they wanted to ask me questions. Finally the floodgates opened, they wanted to know all about my parents, how many siblings I had, did I want to become a nun, what was my last name, why wasn’t I staying in Mozambique after my two years were up, was I married, did groups like their exists in the States, did I want to have children?
Similar to in Spanish, in Portuguese when you want to refer to a little version of something, you add “-ino” to the end of the word. For example, at school everyone jokingly refers to the first class of eight graders (since classes are arranged by age) as the “pequeninos” (pequeno is small in Portuguese). The word for pants in Portuguese is “calças” so one might logically assume that the “calcinhas” were shorts, but actually this means underwear, while the word for shorts is “calções.” So while everyone understood what she really meant, they still found it pretty amusing the other day when Ann walked into the tailor’s at the mission (where all clothes are ironed and folded after being washed, so about 5 people were working) and announced that she would like him to make underwear for her.
Similar to in Spanish, in Portuguese when you want to refer to a little version of something, you add “-ino” to the end of the word. For example, at school everyone jokingly refers to the first class of eight graders (since classes are arranged by age) as the “pequeninos” (pequeno is small in Portuguese). The word for pants in Portuguese is “calças” so one might logically assume that the “calcinhas” were shorts, but actually this means underwear, while the word for shorts is “calções.” So while everyone understood what she really meant, they still found it pretty amusing the other day when Ann walked into the tailor’s at the mission (where all clothes are ironed and folded after being washed, so about 5 people were working) and announced that she would like him to make underwear for her.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
04/06/10
Every time I am running late or forgot something in my room, so I have to run back and I run by some of the younger girls in the orphanage they yell “Mana Anata knows how to run!” And I hope that that is just a figure of speech, not that they are actually surprised by this.
In town I picked up a shirt and asked the vendor how much it cost. At the same time that he responded “100 Meticais” the woman next to me said “50 Meticais, but make sure you pay 40.” So nice to have someone on my side every once in a while.
I made a note to myself earlier today and just reread it and realized that I had spelled “difference” with only one “f” (in Portuguese there is only one “f”) and I cringed a little. This is not going to bode well when I am trying to apply for jobs from here.
Coming back from town today I flagged down a pick-up truck for a ride back to the mission, but when he pulled over to pick me up the truck sputtered and died. He couldn’t get it started again, so two men walking past helped push it down someone’s driveway (with enough of a slope to get it rolling) so he could start it again and I got in, but we only made it to right outside the gas station where it died again. One of the gas station attendants called out to the others “come over here, we have ‘peees work’ (in English)!” So I ended up walked back anyway, about 20 minutes later than if I had just walked in the first place. That’s what I get for being lazy.
In town I picked up a shirt and asked the vendor how much it cost. At the same time that he responded “100 Meticais” the woman next to me said “50 Meticais, but make sure you pay 40.” So nice to have someone on my side every once in a while.
I made a note to myself earlier today and just reread it and realized that I had spelled “difference” with only one “f” (in Portuguese there is only one “f”) and I cringed a little. This is not going to bode well when I am trying to apply for jobs from here.
Coming back from town today I flagged down a pick-up truck for a ride back to the mission, but when he pulled over to pick me up the truck sputtered and died. He couldn’t get it started again, so two men walking past helped push it down someone’s driveway (with enough of a slope to get it rolling) so he could start it again and I got in, but we only made it to right outside the gas station where it died again. One of the gas station attendants called out to the others “come over here, we have ‘peees work’ (in English)!” So I ended up walked back anyway, about 20 minutes later than if I had just walked in the first place. That’s what I get for being lazy.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
03/06/10
Last night I was so exhausted I got into bed and forgot to set my alarm clock. Luckily, my body has become so accustomed to waking up at 5am everyday that at 5:28am I was wide awake, wondering what was wrong.
Today my homeroom (the class I hate a little bit, coincidentally) kept speaking in Txitxopi which made me so frustrated because speaking the local languages in secondary schools in Mozambique is strictly prohibited and they know this, but they think they can get away with it with me. In hindsight I should have kicked the first person out immediately, but then too many people were speaking it and there is no way I could have gotten each of those people out. I am really at my wit’s end with this one class—I don’t think they respect me much and I hate every time I have to go in there. Today during weekly homeroom meeting we had to read a 4-page message from the government about children’s rights and I told them that I had all the time in the world, so we would only read when everyone was quiet and we would leave when we were finished reading. This would have worked with any of my other classes, but with this one we just ended up staying far past the bell to go home.
Today in all my classes I told people to open their notebooks so I could check to see if they had done their homework, which I do almost every day. Getting frustrated, I said “let’s not waste our time, those people who didn’t do their homework, save me the trouble and sit on the floor.” I had about half my students sitting on the floor in every class. Good for them for being honest, but really guys.
Today my homeroom (the class I hate a little bit, coincidentally) kept speaking in Txitxopi which made me so frustrated because speaking the local languages in secondary schools in Mozambique is strictly prohibited and they know this, but they think they can get away with it with me. In hindsight I should have kicked the first person out immediately, but then too many people were speaking it and there is no way I could have gotten each of those people out. I am really at my wit’s end with this one class—I don’t think they respect me much and I hate every time I have to go in there. Today during weekly homeroom meeting we had to read a 4-page message from the government about children’s rights and I told them that I had all the time in the world, so we would only read when everyone was quiet and we would leave when we were finished reading. This would have worked with any of my other classes, but with this one we just ended up staying far past the bell to go home.
Today in all my classes I told people to open their notebooks so I could check to see if they had done their homework, which I do almost every day. Getting frustrated, I said “let’s not waste our time, those people who didn’t do their homework, save me the trouble and sit on the floor.” I had about half my students sitting on the floor in every class. Good for them for being honest, but really guys.
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