Friday, December 31, 2010
Dec. 27, 2010: Happy Holidays from Mozambique
These past few weeks have been crazy busy for me, just as I'm sure they have been for all of you, too. Just wanted to send a quick email letting you know how I'm doing.
December 24, 2010
Wow, I cannot believe it is Christmas Eve already. It really doesn't feel like it. Why? Well, for one thing, I spent the day drinking beers with friends and swimming in the Indian Ocean with something like 15 Mozambican children-- none of whom spoke Portuguese -- so literally no communication was possible besides non-verbal. Not exactly a typical Christmas Eve for me. But it does feel nice to have friends over, so it's not too lonely for the holidays. There are eight of us here to celebrate together. We're doing a white elephant gift exchange and everyone is taking turns cooking meals. It's a great arrangement.
So the past two weeks have been crazy. My school is... interesting. It has 4,000 students in 8th-12th grade, so that's bigger than my college, which is kind of intense. Also, last year the classes had up to 150 students each, and they were really short staffed on teachers. So that's kind of concerning. They haven't told me for sure what I'm teaching because they don't find out which teachers they will have until right before classes start, and they will have me teach whichever subject (of the ones I listed I can teach) that they need teachers for the most.
The school did just get remodeled so it looks pretty nice, but due to the overcrowding they had to continue to use the makeshift school they put up for use during the renovation to house all of 8th and half of the 9th grades. It's about a thirty minute walk from my home here, while the main school is just down the street--so I'm really hoping I will be teaching the older grades so I don't have to worry about walking all that way in the heat everyday. I'm really excited and nervous about school, but for now I'm still focusing on getting integrated into the community and improving my Portuguese skills.
December 25, 2010
So... this was definitely my most unusual Christmas yet. I was woken after about an hour of sleep to French Toast and presents. We had a white elephant gift exchange and I got some African Jungle silly bands. We then cooked some food and got ready to go over to the house of some South Africans we met yesterday who are living nearby. They came and picked us up after lunch and we spent the whole afternoon and evening at their place drinking and eating prawns that were, I'm not kidding you, longer than my hand. I almost didn't believe it when I saw them. We cleaned them and then grilled them and they were delicious. Those, along with corn bread, salad, rice, and potato salad, made for a fabulous Christmas dinner. After eating we played some hilarious drinking games taught to us by the South Africans, one of which was called yee-haw and was SO fun.
Next we went to the beach. It was already dark and the stars were absolutely amazing. Not only that, but the ocean water here has bio-luminescent algae, which means when you move through the water they light up bright green. It was SO AWESOME. I can't even really describe how cool it was.
Okay that is all for now. We think we're going to leave tomorrow or the next day to go to another friend's site, and then spend New Year's on the Island of Mozambique, which is a little bit up the coast. It's supposed to be beautiful, so I'm really excited!
Hope the States are treating you all well!
Love,
Alissa
December 24, 2010
Wow, I cannot believe it is Christmas Eve already. It really doesn't feel like it. Why? Well, for one thing, I spent the day drinking beers with friends and swimming in the Indian Ocean with something like 15 Mozambican children-- none of whom spoke Portuguese -- so literally no communication was possible besides non-verbal. Not exactly a typical Christmas Eve for me. But it does feel nice to have friends over, so it's not too lonely for the holidays. There are eight of us here to celebrate together. We're doing a white elephant gift exchange and everyone is taking turns cooking meals. It's a great arrangement.
So the past two weeks have been crazy. My school is... interesting. It has 4,000 students in 8th-12th grade, so that's bigger than my college, which is kind of intense. Also, last year the classes had up to 150 students each, and they were really short staffed on teachers. So that's kind of concerning. They haven't told me for sure what I'm teaching because they don't find out which teachers they will have until right before classes start, and they will have me teach whichever subject (of the ones I listed I can teach) that they need teachers for the most.
The school did just get remodeled so it looks pretty nice, but due to the overcrowding they had to continue to use the makeshift school they put up for use during the renovation to house all of 8th and half of the 9th grades. It's about a thirty minute walk from my home here, while the main school is just down the street--so I'm really hoping I will be teaching the older grades so I don't have to worry about walking all that way in the heat everyday. I'm really excited and nervous about school, but for now I'm still focusing on getting integrated into the community and improving my Portuguese skills.
December 25, 2010
So... this was definitely my most unusual Christmas yet. I was woken after about an hour of sleep to French Toast and presents. We had a white elephant gift exchange and I got some African Jungle silly bands. We then cooked some food and got ready to go over to the house of some South Africans we met yesterday who are living nearby. They came and picked us up after lunch and we spent the whole afternoon and evening at their place drinking and eating prawns that were, I'm not kidding you, longer than my hand. I almost didn't believe it when I saw them. We cleaned them and then grilled them and they were delicious. Those, along with corn bread, salad, rice, and potato salad, made for a fabulous Christmas dinner. After eating we played some hilarious drinking games taught to us by the South Africans, one of which was called yee-haw and was SO fun.
Next we went to the beach. It was already dark and the stars were absolutely amazing. Not only that, but the ocean water here has bio-luminescent algae, which means when you move through the water they light up bright green. It was SO AWESOME. I can't even really describe how cool it was.
Okay that is all for now. We think we're going to leave tomorrow or the next day to go to another friend's site, and then spend New Year's on the Island of Mozambique, which is a little bit up the coast. It's supposed to be beautiful, so I'm really excited!
Hope the States are treating you all well!
Love,
Alissa
Dec. 21, 2010: Visitors for Christmas
Haha... yeah, I know Charlie and Daniel. They're in my province. They're coming to Christmas here at Audie's and my apartment. Everyone from the province is coming. I'm so excited. I think I'm going to send another mass email tomorrow.
:-)
Love you,
~Alissa
On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 3:11 PM, Sarah Ortman wrote:
Do you know the PCV and his housemate discussed the blog below? (One is from Yale and the other from Brown.) Fun to read the blog -- it appears he is somewhere in northern Mozambique but near mountains? Evidently he gave the speech at your swearing in, because he's included it in his blog. Most of the PCVs in Mozambique are evidently pretty talented! lol:
China, India and Brazi. Reppin' it in Mozambique - Blogspot
http://mo-zam-beek.blogspot.com/
:-)
Love you,
~Alissa
On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 3:11 PM, Sarah Ortman wrote:
Do you know the PCV and his housemate discussed the blog below? (One is from Yale and the other from Brown.) Fun to read the blog -- it appears he is somewhere in northern Mozambique but near mountains? Evidently he gave the speech at your swearing in, because he's included it in his blog. Most of the PCVs in Mozambique are evidently pretty talented! lol:
China, India and Brazi. Reppin' it in Mozambique - Blogspot
http://mo-zam-beek.blogspot.com/
Dec. 10, 2010: Ants!
Not sure what the status of the last package you sent is, but here's some
ideas for future packages (whenever you get a chance to send them) or
if you know other people are going to be sending some:
--Ant traps (we have a bit of a bug problem in our apartment)
--Instant coffee (the kind they have here is really gross!)
I'll let you know if I think of other things.
Miss and love you!
ideas for future packages (whenever you get a chance to send them) or
if you know other people are going to be sending some:
--Ant traps (we have a bit of a bug problem in our apartment)
--Instant coffee (the kind they have here is really gross!)
I'll let you know if I think of other things.
Miss and love you!
Dec. 9, 2010: Arrival at Angoche
December 9, 2010
So yesterday I arrived at my site. I can't believe I'm finally here.
Soon we're going to be leaving to go meet the director of our school
and some of the teachers, but before we leave I have so much to say
about the past week and a half.
First, we went to Maputo for the swear-in ceremony. We all had
capulana dresses, skirts, or shirts made, and they all turned out
pretty well. I liked mine a lot. Capulanas are pieces of fabric with
different patterns or designs that they use here for everything. A lot
of women just tie them around their waist and wear them that way, but
you can also take them to a tailor and get clothes hand-made to fit
you. Which is awesome for someone like me who always has trouble finding
pre-made clothes that fit well. I have a feeling I'm going to have a
lot of capulana clothes made while I'm here, especially because Angoche
apparently has some really good tailors. Awesome.
So once we were in Maputo we checked into our 5-star hotel (the Hotel
Cardoso if you want to look it up) and quickly got ready for the
ceremony. We then headed over to the Ambassador's House for the
swearing-in ceremony. We heard speeches from a few different important
officers of state, the ambassador herself, and our Peace Corps Country
Director, Reuben. Then we took the oath that every public servant takes,
even up to the President. It was really amazing. Then we were
officially volunteers! After the oath, a bunch of us performed a song
that one of the trainees had written, and then a few of us did a
traditional Mozambican dance. It was quite the celebration. Then there
were snacks and drinks and time to mingle with the other volunteers as
well as the ambassador, her husband (who served in PC in the Pacific
Islands many years ago) and our country director, etc.
After the celebration we went back to the hotel for the night and we
drank and ate and just spent one last great night together. We played
cards, sang, played guitars (a few people bought them to take to their
sites) and generally had a great night. I slept for about an hour
before I had to get ready for my flight. My education group heading
to the Northern provinces left the hotel at 5 a.m. with some people from the
Central region. Our flights left at about 7 a.m. Because the roads here
are so bad, anyone going to the Central or Northern regions of
Mozambique traveled by plane.
Upon arriving in Nampula city (the capitol of Nampula Province) we
checked into yet another hotel and spent the next few days trying to
buy things for our houses, as well as meeting our supervisors from our
schools. Audie and I met Julio, the pedagogical director at our
school, or one of them anyway. There are three. We left for Angoche on
Wednesday morning, right before lunchtime. It's only about 150 km or
90 miles from Nampula city to Angoche, but it took a full three hours
to get here, and that was as fast as the car we were in could possibly
go on the roads. The roads were almost all dirt, maybe ¼ of the
distance was paved, and it was pretty random as to when it was paved
and when it wasn't.
However, despite the rocky travel, arriving in Angoche made up for all
the travel woes. I can't believe I actually get to live somewhere like
this for the Peace Corps! It is gorgeous here. It is a city that is
almost fully surrounded by water. Nearly every room in our apartment
has a view of the water. We're on the second floor which makes it much
safer, as well as giving it a better view. We have an entryway, living
room, large kitchen, bathroom, three bedrooms, and two balconies. It's
absolutely amazing. When all the doors and windows are open, there is a
really nice breeze through the house keeping it a little more
manageable temperature-wise. During the day here it's usually pretty
hot, but today it rained most of the morning so it's a little cooler.
It's also very humid thanks to the rain, though. I am so happy to not
have a lot of hair in this weather. lol.
I'll try to take a bunch of pictures of everything here but I have a
strong feeling pictures won't do it justice. It's absolutely gorgeous.
There is a single internet hookup in the house and apparently it's
fast enough to do Skype! So we'll have to get that figured out and
then I can try to set up times to talk to some of you. If you want to
chat to me, please email me back your Skype s/n or something so we can
try to figure it out. I might also be able to call cell phones using
gmail but I'll have to see.
Being able to have a decent internet connection to me is worth the
kind of crazy expense that it will be, especially since my roommate
and I can split the price, and the health volunteer (who has been here
a year already) who lives a few blocks away might be willing to pay a
little each month too, so she can come over and use the internet
occasionally.
The apartment is definitely a little run down (the area reminds me a
little of the communist-influenced areas of Europe, lots of old
concrete buildings), but I think with a little spring cleaning and TLC,
it could be amazing. Once Erin leaves on Sunday (she's around for a
few days to show us around and introduce us to people, which is
great), I think Audie and I are going to do a bit of an overhaul of
the apartment to get it set up the way we want. I'm so excited! It's
just such an amazing place. I see so much potential here.
I have so much more to say, but we have to go see the school and
market, so I'll have to write more later. :-)
Also, attached are a few photos of the views from our balconies. I
can't upload too many photos because while we do have internet in our
apartment (for about $60 each month, which is definitely a dent in our
budget but one we think is worth it), it has a limit on the number of
MB we can use. Okay, I'm off. I'll send another email in a couple days
about our school, which will definitely be the hardest part of living
here in Angoche.
Miss you all!!
~Alissa
So yesterday I arrived at my site. I can't believe I'm finally here.
Soon we're going to be leaving to go meet the director of our school
and some of the teachers, but before we leave I have so much to say
about the past week and a half.
First, we went to Maputo for the swear-in ceremony. We all had
capulana dresses, skirts, or shirts made, and they all turned out
pretty well. I liked mine a lot. Capulanas are pieces of fabric with
different patterns or designs that they use here for everything. A lot
of women just tie them around their waist and wear them that way, but
you can also take them to a tailor and get clothes hand-made to fit
you. Which is awesome for someone like me who always has trouble finding
pre-made clothes that fit well. I have a feeling I'm going to have a
lot of capulana clothes made while I'm here, especially because Angoche
apparently has some really good tailors. Awesome.
So once we were in Maputo we checked into our 5-star hotel (the Hotel
Cardoso if you want to look it up) and quickly got ready for the
ceremony. We then headed over to the Ambassador's House for the
swearing-in ceremony. We heard speeches from a few different important
officers of state, the ambassador herself, and our Peace Corps Country
Director, Reuben. Then we took the oath that every public servant takes,
even up to the President. It was really amazing. Then we were
officially volunteers! After the oath, a bunch of us performed a song
that one of the trainees had written, and then a few of us did a
traditional Mozambican dance. It was quite the celebration. Then there
were snacks and drinks and time to mingle with the other volunteers as
well as the ambassador, her husband (who served in PC in the Pacific
Islands many years ago) and our country director, etc.
After the celebration we went back to the hotel for the night and we
drank and ate and just spent one last great night together. We played
cards, sang, played guitars (a few people bought them to take to their
sites) and generally had a great night. I slept for about an hour
before I had to get ready for my flight. My education group heading
to the Northern provinces left the hotel at 5 a.m. with some people from the
Central region. Our flights left at about 7 a.m. Because the roads here
are so bad, anyone going to the Central or Northern regions of
Mozambique traveled by plane.
Upon arriving in Nampula city (the capitol of Nampula Province) we
checked into yet another hotel and spent the next few days trying to
buy things for our houses, as well as meeting our supervisors from our
schools. Audie and I met Julio, the pedagogical director at our
school, or one of them anyway. There are three. We left for Angoche on
Wednesday morning, right before lunchtime. It's only about 150 km or
90 miles from Nampula city to Angoche, but it took a full three hours
to get here, and that was as fast as the car we were in could possibly
go on the roads. The roads were almost all dirt, maybe ¼ of the
distance was paved, and it was pretty random as to when it was paved
and when it wasn't.
However, despite the rocky travel, arriving in Angoche made up for all
the travel woes. I can't believe I actually get to live somewhere like
this for the Peace Corps! It is gorgeous here. It is a city that is
almost fully surrounded by water. Nearly every room in our apartment
has a view of the water. We're on the second floor which makes it much
safer, as well as giving it a better view. We have an entryway, living
room, large kitchen, bathroom, three bedrooms, and two balconies. It's
absolutely amazing. When all the doors and windows are open, there is a
really nice breeze through the house keeping it a little more
manageable temperature-wise. During the day here it's usually pretty
hot, but today it rained most of the morning so it's a little cooler.
It's also very humid thanks to the rain, though. I am so happy to not
have a lot of hair in this weather. lol.
I'll try to take a bunch of pictures of everything here but I have a
strong feeling pictures won't do it justice. It's absolutely gorgeous.
There is a single internet hookup in the house and apparently it's
fast enough to do Skype! So we'll have to get that figured out and
then I can try to set up times to talk to some of you. If you want to
chat to me, please email me back your Skype s/n or something so we can
try to figure it out. I might also be able to call cell phones using
gmail but I'll have to see.
Being able to have a decent internet connection to me is worth the
kind of crazy expense that it will be, especially since my roommate
and I can split the price, and the health volunteer (who has been here
a year already) who lives a few blocks away might be willing to pay a
little each month too, so she can come over and use the internet
occasionally.
The apartment is definitely a little run down (the area reminds me a
little of the communist-influenced areas of Europe, lots of old
concrete buildings), but I think with a little spring cleaning and TLC,
it could be amazing. Once Erin leaves on Sunday (she's around for a
few days to show us around and introduce us to people, which is
great), I think Audie and I are going to do a bit of an overhaul of
the apartment to get it set up the way we want. I'm so excited! It's
just such an amazing place. I see so much potential here.
I have so much more to say, but we have to go see the school and
market, so I'll have to write more later. :-)
Also, attached are a few photos of the views from our balconies. I
can't upload too many photos because while we do have internet in our
apartment (for about $60 each month, which is definitely a dent in our
budget but one we think is worth it), it has a limit on the number of
MB we can use. Okay, I'm off. I'll send another email in a couple days
about our school, which will definitely be the hardest part of living
here in Angoche.
Miss you all!!
~Alissa
Dec. 1, 2010: What to send
Any good American snack food would be amazing: beef jerky, anything
with chocolate (M&Ms), cracker jacks... really anything. Thanks so much.
Anything will be fine. And yeah if you send it soon, maybe I'll get it
before Christmas, or at least close to it.
:-)
~Alissa
with chocolate (M&Ms), cracker jacks... really anything. Thanks so much.
Anything will be fine. And yeah if you send it soon, maybe I'll get it
before Christmas, or at least close to it.
:-)
~Alissa
November 29, 2010: New Address For Permanent Site
November 29, 2010
So here's the address you can use to send me stuff over the next two years:
Alissa Ortman, Professora
Escola Secundária de Angoche
Caixa Postal 8
Angoche, Nampula
Mozambique
Apparently our mail service is pretty good (so says the girl who
currently live there) but I'm sure it will still take about a month
for things to get here from the States.
We leave to head to Maputo for our swear-in ceremony on Friday and
then leave (via plane for northern/central PC volunteers) for the
provincial capitols on Saturday morning. I can't believe I will be at
my site by this time next week. We'll spend the first few days at
the regional capitol of Nampula city for a supervisor's conference,
where we'll meet someone from our school. Then we head to our sites on
Wednesday Dec. 8. Crazy! I'm so excited!! :-) I'll take loads of pictures
and post them when I can.
Miss you all!
~Alissa
So here's the address you can use to send me stuff over the next two years:
Alissa Ortman, Professora
Escola Secundária de Angoche
Caixa Postal 8
Angoche, Nampula
Mozambique
Apparently our mail service is pretty good (so says the girl who
currently live there) but I'm sure it will still take about a month
for things to get here from the States.
We leave to head to Maputo for our swear-in ceremony on Friday and
then leave (via plane for northern/central PC volunteers) for the
provincial capitols on Saturday morning. I can't believe I will be at
my site by this time next week. We'll spend the first few days at
the regional capitol of Nampula city for a supervisor's conference,
where we'll meet someone from our school. Then we head to our sites on
Wednesday Dec. 8. Crazy! I'm so excited!! :-) I'll take loads of pictures
and post them when I can.
Miss you all!
~Alissa
Nov. 18-25, 2010: Happy Thanksgiving from Mozambique
November 18, 2010
It's the end of week seven and also the first week of model school. Model school is where we have kids from all over Namaacha come to watch us teach practice lessons in Portuguese: full 45 minute chemistry lessons just like we would teach in schools here. We're going to learn about site placement this afternoon and I have to admit I'm
really nervous. It's not that I care so much where in the country I am, but I really care about who is around me. We've been told by other volunteers that no matter who you might have befriended during training, if you aren't near them in the country once you are permanently assigned, you probably won't see them for the whole two years you're here. That really sucks because I've become friends with some really cool people and definitely want to be near enough so that we can visit each other. I guess we'll see.
Later...
So I am pretty happy about my site placement. I'm in one of the
northern provinces, Nampula, in the city of Angoche. A lot of people
are jealous of me because I'm going to be living basically on the
beach. I'm excited more because I'm living with a really awesome girl
named Audie. She's an English teacher and apparently I will be
teaching math. Yeah, math. I have to admit I think I'll be able to
relate math more to my kids day-to-day lives, but I will also make sure
to tell the school I can teach chemistry as well. A lot of the science
teachers got switched to teach other subjects. A lot of them are now
going to be teaching English.
My town is pretty remote but also fairly safe, according to the girl
who lives there now and who is leaving a week after my roommate and I
arrive in December. I'm glad she'll be around to show us the ropes a
little, even if only for a week. The only downside I can see to being
where I am is that a lot of PC people will be in the Southern regions of
Mozambique and chances are I won't see any of them at all for the next
two years once training is over. :-( There are a couple people I will
really be upset not to be near, but I'm definitely going to make the
best of the situation and just do my best. And the beach can't be a
bad thing, right? Oh, and I'll have electricity, some measure of
running water, and if I'm willing to shell out over 2000 Meticals a
month, I can have internet in my apartment. But my roommate and I will have to
decide on that once we get there and can assess the situation
ourselves. It might not seem like a lot (it's about $65) but that is still
about 1/5 of my monthly income.
Okay, I have to go to bed because we are going to a beach in a town
called Bilene in Inhambane Province early in the morning for the
weekend. Party! I have a feeling it is going to get really crazy
because a lot of people are really emotional (for obvious reasons)
about their sites and who they may or may not be near. Whew. What a
week.
Miss you all!
November 22, 2010
So the weekend in Bilene was amazing. The beach there was gorgeous
and everyone had so much fun. We ate, drank, danced, played cards,
swam in the ocean (at one point there might have been some midnight
skinny dipping) and just generally had an amazing time. It was super
relaxing and just the break we needed after seven straight weeks of fully
planned days where we had little free time for anything. We stopped at
a Shoprite (think South African version of Wal-Mart) on the way back,
and I bought cheese and crackers, dark chocolate and a few other rare
items we can't find here in Namaacha. Overall, a very successful three
days.
This week is our second and last week of model school. I am still
teaching chemistry, even though I will most likely be teaching math
once I get to my site. However, any teaching is good experience and
teaching in Portuguese even more so. I think I might make my next
lesson a math-heavy chem session so I'm at least getting some math
practice. There is also a good chance that I could be teaching other
things in addition to math at site, and maybe not even math. It
changes a lot because the schools don't get a final list of what
teachers they are going to have until a couple of weeks before the
year starts, and depending on who they get, they might need me to teach
different things. I'm pretty flexible on this front and told the PC
I'd be willing to teach English, Math, Biology, Chemistry, or IT
(computers). So I guess I'll just wait and see what they need at the
school.
We also just started getting lessons in our regional local language,
which is awesome. So I'll be able to speak Makua and Koti
when I get back, in addition to Portuguese. Makua is what we are
learning now and what is spoken throughout Nampula province, and Koti is a
language spoken exclusively in the city where I will be living as well
as the surrounding islands. Apparently its roots are a mix of Swahili
and Arabic. Crazy, huh?
November 25, 2010
I can't believe that next week is our last week in Namaacha before we
swear in as official PC volunteers. I'm so excited! Okay, dinnertime now,
but I'll probably write one more time before I send my next email.
Oh, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We're having a huge potluck with all the
traniees tonight and it's going to be awesome.
It's the end of week seven and also the first week of model school. Model school is where we have kids from all over Namaacha come to watch us teach practice lessons in Portuguese: full 45 minute chemistry lessons just like we would teach in schools here. We're going to learn about site placement this afternoon and I have to admit I'm
really nervous. It's not that I care so much where in the country I am, but I really care about who is around me. We've been told by other volunteers that no matter who you might have befriended during training, if you aren't near them in the country once you are permanently assigned, you probably won't see them for the whole two years you're here. That really sucks because I've become friends with some really cool people and definitely want to be near enough so that we can visit each other. I guess we'll see.
Later...
So I am pretty happy about my site placement. I'm in one of the
northern provinces, Nampula, in the city of Angoche. A lot of people
are jealous of me because I'm going to be living basically on the
beach. I'm excited more because I'm living with a really awesome girl
named Audie. She's an English teacher and apparently I will be
teaching math. Yeah, math. I have to admit I think I'll be able to
relate math more to my kids day-to-day lives, but I will also make sure
to tell the school I can teach chemistry as well. A lot of the science
teachers got switched to teach other subjects. A lot of them are now
going to be teaching English.
My town is pretty remote but also fairly safe, according to the girl
who lives there now and who is leaving a week after my roommate and I
arrive in December. I'm glad she'll be around to show us the ropes a
little, even if only for a week. The only downside I can see to being
where I am is that a lot of PC people will be in the Southern regions of
Mozambique and chances are I won't see any of them at all for the next
two years once training is over. :-( There are a couple people I will
really be upset not to be near, but I'm definitely going to make the
best of the situation and just do my best. And the beach can't be a
bad thing, right? Oh, and I'll have electricity, some measure of
running water, and if I'm willing to shell out over 2000 Meticals a
month, I can have internet in my apartment. But my roommate and I will have to
decide on that once we get there and can assess the situation
ourselves. It might not seem like a lot (it's about $65) but that is still
about 1/5 of my monthly income.
Okay, I have to go to bed because we are going to a beach in a town
called Bilene in Inhambane Province early in the morning for the
weekend. Party! I have a feeling it is going to get really crazy
because a lot of people are really emotional (for obvious reasons)
about their sites and who they may or may not be near. Whew. What a
week.
Miss you all!
November 22, 2010
So the weekend in Bilene was amazing. The beach there was gorgeous
and everyone had so much fun. We ate, drank, danced, played cards,
swam in the ocean (at one point there might have been some midnight
skinny dipping) and just generally had an amazing time. It was super
relaxing and just the break we needed after seven straight weeks of fully
planned days where we had little free time for anything. We stopped at
a Shoprite (think South African version of Wal-Mart) on the way back,
and I bought cheese and crackers, dark chocolate and a few other rare
items we can't find here in Namaacha. Overall, a very successful three
days.
This week is our second and last week of model school. I am still
teaching chemistry, even though I will most likely be teaching math
once I get to my site. However, any teaching is good experience and
teaching in Portuguese even more so. I think I might make my next
lesson a math-heavy chem session so I'm at least getting some math
practice. There is also a good chance that I could be teaching other
things in addition to math at site, and maybe not even math. It
changes a lot because the schools don't get a final list of what
teachers they are going to have until a couple of weeks before the
year starts, and depending on who they get, they might need me to teach
different things. I'm pretty flexible on this front and told the PC
I'd be willing to teach English, Math, Biology, Chemistry, or IT
(computers). So I guess I'll just wait and see what they need at the
school.
We also just started getting lessons in our regional local language,
which is awesome. So I'll be able to speak Makua and Koti
when I get back, in addition to Portuguese. Makua is what we are
learning now and what is spoken throughout Nampula province, and Koti is a
language spoken exclusively in the city where I will be living as well
as the surrounding islands. Apparently its roots are a mix of Swahili
and Arabic. Crazy, huh?
November 25, 2010
I can't believe that next week is our last week in Namaacha before we
swear in as official PC volunteers. I'm so excited! Okay, dinnertime now,
but I'll probably write one more time before I send my next email.
Oh, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We're having a huge potluck with all the
traniees tonight and it's going to be awesome.
Nov. 19, 2010 -- Responding to email from home; malaria medicine side effects
It was so nice reading your email. No matter how busy I get, it's good to hear how everyone back home is doing too. I'm sorry Aunt Susie is so sick. I'm allowed to come home if something happens to a relative, but Peace Corps will only pay for the ticket if it's an immediate family member. So I could only come home if you guys can afford to buy me a ticket, but they are none too cheap. I hope she pulls through okay.
I'm glad Angie and Josh had such a good time with their band. Thanks also for dealing with the loan stuff for me. I hope it works out. And I'm sorry Sallie Mae is so dumb. They seemed pretty clueless when I called before I left, too. Sorry about that.
Okay i should try and get some sleep now. My malaria medicine is making me an insomniac, which is definitely new for me. It's been a crazy few days.
Love you.
Alissa
I'm glad Angie and Josh had such a good time with their band. Thanks also for dealing with the loan stuff for me. I hope it works out. And I'm sorry Sallie Mae is so dumb. They seemed pretty clueless when I called before I left, too. Sorry about that.
Okay i should try and get some sleep now. My malaria medicine is making me an insomniac, which is definitely new for me. It's been a crazy few days.
Love you.
Alissa
Nov. 18, 2010--Update with Permanent Site Assignment
I can't get to my mass email list on my phone, so could you forward this to my email list please?
I am going to be living in Angoche city in the northern province of Nampula! I'll be living with a fellow Peace Corps volunteer named Audi. She's teaching English, and I think I'll be teaching math. Whew!
So I've been told my site has electricity some measure of running water and internet, if I'm willing to pay a lot of money for the service. I'm super excited. And it's on the beach! Awesome. We leave for site the first weekend in December, and I'll try to email with more details as I find out.
Miss you all!
I am going to be living in Angoche city in the northern province of Nampula! I'll be living with a fellow Peace Corps volunteer named Audi. She's teaching English, and I think I'll be teaching math. Whew!
So I've been told my site has electricity some measure of running water and internet, if I'm willing to pay a lot of money for the service. I'm super excited. And it's on the beach! Awesome. We leave for site the first weekend in December, and I'll try to email with more details as I find out.
Miss you all!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Nov. 8-14, 2010: Top 10 Things to Know About Mozambique
Hey all-
We find out where our site placement will be this Thursday, so that's
something to look forward to in my next email. Hope you are all doing
well!
To keep things interesting and easier to read, here's a list of top
ten things to know about Mozambique that I've learned so far:
1) I hear more Lady Gaga, Rhianna, and Eminem here than I ever did
in the States... at all hours of the day and night. And always at
club-worthy volumes.
2) The most absurd way of getting kicked out of PC is failure to wear
a helmet while riding a bike.
3) The best mode of transportation to/from other towns is in a flatbed
truck with ten friends. :-)
4) The worst method of transportation to/from other towns is also the
most common. This involves 14 passenger vans (called chapas) into
which they stuff at least 20 people, including some people standing by
the door and leaning over everyone else. SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE. The last
time we had to take one, the guy behind me puked out the window and the
guy next to me slept on my shoulder the whole time. :-/
5) You will eat a lot rice. And potatoes. And carbs in general... at
least three kinds per meal. Also chicken. And fish. (And they cook the
fish whole. You remove the bones as you eat it.)
6) Xima (a local corn-based food) may look exactly like mashed
potatoes, but DO NOT LET THAT FOOL YOU. It tastes terrible. However,
the Americans who like it say it tastes like grits.
7) It is not uncommon for an American here to have people (especially kids)
coming up and touching you as you walk past them on the road.
8) Everyone walks everywhere. And the few cars you see are mostly
really old and falling apart. There are a handful of new cars in
Namaacha, but not many.
9) The people here speak tons of languages. Not only do they have a
bunch of local languages throughout the country that people will speak
at home, but everyone learns Portuguese in school (middle and high
school is taught in Portuguese), and they also get taught English and
French.
10) Mozambique is amazing. The country is beautiful, the people are
wonderful, and I'm loving every second of it. :-)
November 8, 2010
Today was my first mini-disaster in Africa. A series of unusual
events (at least for me) led to a really unfortunate occurrence.
First, today was a day we spent learning about perma-culture (more
specifically how to make a perma-garden). So as I packed everything
into my backpack for the day, I didn't have all my language books and
put pretty much everything into the big main pocket, including my ipod
which I sometimes like to listen to on lunch breaks (but I usually put
it into a side or top pocket). Also, since we were going to be outside
all day, the hired guy leading the training told us we would all get
bottles of water there so we wouldn't have to haul a bunch with us.
The day went really well and I feel like I learned some really cool
methods about how to make an awesome garden that will produce really
well. But on the way home (unbeknownst to me) the water bottle I had
been given started to leak (it was 1.5 liters so I hadn't drank it all
yet), and it SOAKED MY IPOD. SO SAD. Once I noticed the water had
leaked I took everything out of my backpack and set it all out in the
sun to dry. I then put my iPod in a bag with uncooked rice for four
days to pull the moisture out. Nope. My iPod still won't work. :-(
The permagarden training was really cool otherwise. We
learned how to make a garden on about a 20x20 ft plot of land that can
produce up to 400% more food than can be grown conventionally. It uses
ditches, berms, and swales to direct water flow and help in cases of
both too little or too much rain. It also involves double digging the
beds themselves while leaving packed aisles to walk down between the
beds to prevent anyone from stepping near the plants and compacting
the soil (which is bad). With this new-found knowledge, not only will I
be able to have an awesome garden of food once I get to my site, but I
can teach other families around me how to better be able to feed their
families and possibly even sell some extra produce, using only a small
space by their homes which is easy to tend and manageable, as well as
sustainable.
November 14, 2010
Yesterday we went to visit a local medicine man. It was really
surreal to sit in his small round hut and have him explain to us (in
Portuguese) all about how he uses local plants and herbs to cure a
variety of ailments -- things like bad dreams, alcoholism, hangovers,
even possessions (which he says are the most expensive thing to cure).
The best part of the whole thing: he was wearing a g-unit shirt. A
sparkly one. It was ridiculous and amazing all at once.
Today a group of us walked about 5 miles round trip to and
from this mountain outside of town. We hiked up the mountain to the
top where the borders of Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa all
meet. It was a long hard walk but SO beautiful. I'll post pictures
when I can.
This coming week we are starting to teach in model school. This
is where a bunch of the local kids come, we teach them all morning
and they get a free snack. It lets us practice teaching in Portuguese
in a slightly less stressful environment. We'll have 15-20 kids per
class instead of more than 50 and they take a test at the end of the
two weeks. I'm really excited and nervous.
Okay, I have to go finish up my lesson plan for tomorrow. Miss you all!
:-)
~Alissa
We find out where our site placement will be this Thursday, so that's
something to look forward to in my next email. Hope you are all doing
well!
To keep things interesting and easier to read, here's a list of top
ten things to know about Mozambique that I've learned so far:
1) I hear more Lady Gaga, Rhianna, and Eminem here than I ever did
in the States... at all hours of the day and night. And always at
club-worthy volumes.
2) The most absurd way of getting kicked out of PC is failure to wear
a helmet while riding a bike.
3) The best mode of transportation to/from other towns is in a flatbed
truck with ten friends. :-)
4) The worst method of transportation to/from other towns is also the
most common. This involves 14 passenger vans (called chapas) into
which they stuff at least 20 people, including some people standing by
the door and leaning over everyone else. SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE. The last
time we had to take one, the guy behind me puked out the window and the
guy next to me slept on my shoulder the whole time. :-/
5) You will eat a lot rice. And potatoes. And carbs in general... at
least three kinds per meal. Also chicken. And fish. (And they cook the
fish whole. You remove the bones as you eat it.)
6) Xima (a local corn-based food) may look exactly like mashed
potatoes, but DO NOT LET THAT FOOL YOU. It tastes terrible. However,
the Americans who like it say it tastes like grits.
7) It is not uncommon for an American here to have people (especially kids)
coming up and touching you as you walk past them on the road.
8) Everyone walks everywhere. And the few cars you see are mostly
really old and falling apart. There are a handful of new cars in
Namaacha, but not many.
9) The people here speak tons of languages. Not only do they have a
bunch of local languages throughout the country that people will speak
at home, but everyone learns Portuguese in school (middle and high
school is taught in Portuguese), and they also get taught English and
French.
10) Mozambique is amazing. The country is beautiful, the people are
wonderful, and I'm loving every second of it. :-)
November 8, 2010
Today was my first mini-disaster in Africa. A series of unusual
events (at least for me) led to a really unfortunate occurrence.
First, today was a day we spent learning about perma-culture (more
specifically how to make a perma-garden). So as I packed everything
into my backpack for the day, I didn't have all my language books and
put pretty much everything into the big main pocket, including my ipod
which I sometimes like to listen to on lunch breaks (but I usually put
it into a side or top pocket). Also, since we were going to be outside
all day, the hired guy leading the training told us we would all get
bottles of water there so we wouldn't have to haul a bunch with us.
The day went really well and I feel like I learned some really cool
methods about how to make an awesome garden that will produce really
well. But on the way home (unbeknownst to me) the water bottle I had
been given started to leak (it was 1.5 liters so I hadn't drank it all
yet), and it SOAKED MY IPOD. SO SAD. Once I noticed the water had
leaked I took everything out of my backpack and set it all out in the
sun to dry. I then put my iPod in a bag with uncooked rice for four
days to pull the moisture out. Nope. My iPod still won't work. :-(
The permagarden training was really cool otherwise. We
learned how to make a garden on about a 20x20 ft plot of land that can
produce up to 400% more food than can be grown conventionally. It uses
ditches, berms, and swales to direct water flow and help in cases of
both too little or too much rain. It also involves double digging the
beds themselves while leaving packed aisles to walk down between the
beds to prevent anyone from stepping near the plants and compacting
the soil (which is bad). With this new-found knowledge, not only will I
be able to have an awesome garden of food once I get to my site, but I
can teach other families around me how to better be able to feed their
families and possibly even sell some extra produce, using only a small
space by their homes which is easy to tend and manageable, as well as
sustainable.
November 14, 2010
Yesterday we went to visit a local medicine man. It was really
surreal to sit in his small round hut and have him explain to us (in
Portuguese) all about how he uses local plants and herbs to cure a
variety of ailments -- things like bad dreams, alcoholism, hangovers,
even possessions (which he says are the most expensive thing to cure).
The best part of the whole thing: he was wearing a g-unit shirt. A
sparkly one. It was ridiculous and amazing all at once.
Today a group of us walked about 5 miles round trip to and
from this mountain outside of town. We hiked up the mountain to the
top where the borders of Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa all
meet. It was a long hard walk but SO beautiful. I'll post pictures
when I can.
This coming week we are starting to teach in model school. This
is where a bunch of the local kids come, we teach them all morning
and they get a free snack. It lets us practice teaching in Portuguese
in a slightly less stressful environment. We'll have 15-20 kids per
class instead of more than 50 and they take a test at the end of the
two weeks. I'm really excited and nervous.
Okay, I have to go finish up my lesson plan for tomorrow. Miss you all!
:-)
~Alissa
Oct. 26, 2010: Communication Costs Money Everywhere
So it actually does cost me to check my email, but not very much. I try
to check it every couple days but it doesn't always work. Glad you
enjoyed reading about my happenings. I'm doing well here and learning
Portuguese pretty well. Everyone is awesome. I'm having an amazing
time. I miss you!
Love,
Alissa
to check it every couple days but it doesn't always work. Glad you
enjoyed reading about my happenings. I'm doing well here and learning
Portuguese pretty well. Everyone is awesome. I'm having an amazing
time. I miss you!
Love,
Alissa
Oct. 13-23, 2010: Adjusting to Life in Mozambique
Mozambique is awesome! Here's what I've been doing/thinking about
the past week or so.
:-)
October 13, 2010
Time is flying by here. I can't believe I've been in Mozambique for
two weeks already! I'm learning so much, about the culture,
Portuguese, and teaching/planning lessons. It sounds like if I'm lucky,
I'll only have 50 kids per class! Some teachers in the northern
regions or more populous cities can have over 100. So that'll be fun.
Trying to manage that many kids will be quite a challenge, but
teachers here have way more control than in the States, which should
help.
I can't wait to find out where I'll be living for my service,
post-training. We apparently find out right before Thanksgiving. I'll
be sure to let you all know once I do :-) The Northern areas are a
little less developed and more conservative, so from what I've heard
most volunteers don't really want to go there, but since I'm not too
picky I have a feeling that's where I'll be. But who knows.
I have a cell phone!! To call/text me from the States dial 011-258-
820653332. I know all of you don't need this info, but feel free to use
it if you want. I hear from other volunteers calling from Google Voice
is cheapest at 13 cents a minute (I only pay to dial out, not receive
calls, but its really expensive for me to call the US). I can get
texts as well, and while it doesn't cost me to receive them, it costs a
bit to send them so I might not be able to reply every time. My phone
does have internet so I can check my email semi-regularly, so that is
probably the easiest way to contact me and the cheapest for all
involved. So feel free to respond to this or email about things that
might come up!
Okay, I have homework to do now (and man, I thought I was done with
homework... lol), and then a bucket bath, dinner, and then bed, so I'll
just say I hope all is well with you guys, and I miss you!!
October 16, 2010
So Smith Crew can officially do Mozambique. I found peanut butter
today. :-) It's rare and they have to ship it in from South Africa,
but it does exist here. On that note, we eat ALL THE TIME... like,
5 or 6 times a day. It's crazy. We have breakfast, lunch, and dinner
but also two different snack/tea times in between as well. And I'm not
eating much at every meal because we eat so often and my host mom keeps
telling me I'm not eating anything, lol. We do walk everywhere, so I
am hungrier than usual, but apparently my appetite just can't keep up
with the Mozambicans. But they do so much manual labor for their daily
lives it's no wonder they are always hungry. Everyone here is in
pretty good shape, but it's apparently good for them to be a little
overweight because it shows they have enough to eat. So my host mom (who is
bigger than me and super strong, too) keeps telling me I should eat
more and get bigger. Haha. I tried to explain that I wanted to lose
weight, but she totally didn't understand why I would want to. She went
on some tangent about needing to be bigger to have kids or something,
but I just laughed and let it go.
I am pretty sure in the next week or so I will finally be getting
a 'Smith' haircut (albeit a little late... lol). I might even just borrow
clippers from a guy and just buzz it all off. It's SO annoying to wash
my hair when I just have a bucket of water and a cup. And while it's
not actually very hot here in our training city of Namaacha, it's
going to be REALLY hot almost everywhere else we will be, and it's
just not worth the hassle. Plus shampoo here is over $10 for a small
bottle.
However, our PC leader said if women from America cut their hair too
short, we'll draw too much attention to ourselves. I feel like that is
kind of crap because a lot of the native women here have super short
hair, but she said they aren't used to seeing American women with
short hair. I think she said that to our group because a bunch of the
female trainees last year all buzzed their hair the night before they
left to go to their sites, and she was not happy. So we'll see what
happens. I'm definitely going to cut it, just not sure how much.
I watched my first chicken get killed last night, so that was
interesting and really kind of painful. I have a feeling I'll pretty
much be a vegetarian once I get to my site, because there is no way
I'm killing the chickens myself very often. And I guess if I can't
kill them, I shouldn't be eating them, huh? But it's as
sustainable as you could hope. The chickens roam the yard and it's not
like they buy more; they just keep having baby chicks and the cycle
continues. There were new baby chicks born just the other day. Ten of them.
And I imagine they'll live a nice life wandering the yard and eating
our leftovers, etc. until they, too, become dinner. I imagine that's a
much better life than a lot of chickens in the US stuck in cages all
the time and what-not. They don't even have a coop. The chickens and
roosters just wander around as they wish... lol. The ultimate example of
free-range, I guess!
October 23, 2010
So I guess I'm really getting into the Portuguese, because it just took
me three tries to spell October without using a 'u' (it's Outubro in
Portuguese). We're just finishing up our 3rd week of training and it's
going great. I had a long conversation with my host mom last night
about materialism, the beauty of Mozambique, and other awesome stuff.
All in Portuguese! It was great. She's really nice. I think it was
frustrating for her at first (and for me, too) when I couldn't say much and
wasn't comfortable speaking much, but our relationship is really
blossoming.
On a different note, we're learning a lot about the Mozambican school
system as well. The kids here (in middle and high school) take 11
different subjects at once (assuming they have teachers for all of
them, which they certainly don't always). This includes Biology,
Chemistry, Physics, Math, English, French, Portuguese, History,
Computers and a couple other things I can't remember. They take these
subjects every year, concurrently. SO MUCH information. And since most of the teachers
here focus entirely on rote memorization, it's way too much
information for them. Needless to say, cheating is rampant. Kids (even
the good students) don't think they can do well without cheating, and
most of the volunteers we've met have said it's the hardest part of
being a teacher here -- trying to control the cheating. For example, how
do you control over 70 kids in a room sitting three to a desk cheating
on a test? It's pretty difficult.
The food here is really good. I (knock on wood) haven't gotten sick
yet. There are A LOT of carbs: rice, potatoes, bread, and lots of new
kinds too. It's not uncommon to have three different carbs in the same
meal, along with a little protein and some veggies if you're lucky.
But it tastes really good most of the time and I'm really enjoying it.
They give me Coca-Cola all the time... lol. And since the water is pretty
gross (even after being boiled and filtered), I've been drinking a lot
of the soda. Especially because its made with real cane sugar here
(not high fructose corn syrup), and it actually tastes better than in
the States.
Next weekend we're going to cook American food in our language groups
with our families, so that should be fun. We're also having a huge
Halloween party. I think I might go as Adam Lambert (LOL) since I'm
cutting my hair kind of like his (from Idol) tomorrow. YAY for short
hair!! Any other good costume ideas?? (Keep in mind I have limited
resources to make things/buy things.)
Okay, language class is about to start and this is a super long email
already, so I'll just say I MISS YOU ALL and I am loving it here in
Mozambique!
:-)
~Alissa
the past week or so.
:-)
October 13, 2010
Time is flying by here. I can't believe I've been in Mozambique for
two weeks already! I'm learning so much, about the culture,
Portuguese, and teaching/planning lessons. It sounds like if I'm lucky,
I'll only have 50 kids per class! Some teachers in the northern
regions or more populous cities can have over 100. So that'll be fun.
Trying to manage that many kids will be quite a challenge, but
teachers here have way more control than in the States, which should
help.
I can't wait to find out where I'll be living for my service,
post-training. We apparently find out right before Thanksgiving. I'll
be sure to let you all know once I do :-) The Northern areas are a
little less developed and more conservative, so from what I've heard
most volunteers don't really want to go there, but since I'm not too
picky I have a feeling that's where I'll be. But who knows.
I have a cell phone!! To call/text me from the States dial 011-258-
820653332. I know all of you don't need this info, but feel free to use
it if you want. I hear from other volunteers calling from Google Voice
is cheapest at 13 cents a minute (I only pay to dial out, not receive
calls, but its really expensive for me to call the US). I can get
texts as well, and while it doesn't cost me to receive them, it costs a
bit to send them so I might not be able to reply every time. My phone
does have internet so I can check my email semi-regularly, so that is
probably the easiest way to contact me and the cheapest for all
involved. So feel free to respond to this or email about things that
might come up!
Okay, I have homework to do now (and man, I thought I was done with
homework... lol), and then a bucket bath, dinner, and then bed, so I'll
just say I hope all is well with you guys, and I miss you!!
October 16, 2010
So Smith Crew can officially do Mozambique. I found peanut butter
today. :-) It's rare and they have to ship it in from South Africa,
but it does exist here. On that note, we eat ALL THE TIME... like,
5 or 6 times a day. It's crazy. We have breakfast, lunch, and dinner
but also two different snack/tea times in between as well. And I'm not
eating much at every meal because we eat so often and my host mom keeps
telling me I'm not eating anything, lol. We do walk everywhere, so I
am hungrier than usual, but apparently my appetite just can't keep up
with the Mozambicans. But they do so much manual labor for their daily
lives it's no wonder they are always hungry. Everyone here is in
pretty good shape, but it's apparently good for them to be a little
overweight because it shows they have enough to eat. So my host mom (who is
bigger than me and super strong, too) keeps telling me I should eat
more and get bigger. Haha. I tried to explain that I wanted to lose
weight, but she totally didn't understand why I would want to. She went
on some tangent about needing to be bigger to have kids or something,
but I just laughed and let it go.
I am pretty sure in the next week or so I will finally be getting
a 'Smith' haircut (albeit a little late... lol). I might even just borrow
clippers from a guy and just buzz it all off. It's SO annoying to wash
my hair when I just have a bucket of water and a cup. And while it's
not actually very hot here in our training city of Namaacha, it's
going to be REALLY hot almost everywhere else we will be, and it's
just not worth the hassle. Plus shampoo here is over $10 for a small
bottle.
However, our PC leader said if women from America cut their hair too
short, we'll draw too much attention to ourselves. I feel like that is
kind of crap because a lot of the native women here have super short
hair, but she said they aren't used to seeing American women with
short hair. I think she said that to our group because a bunch of the
female trainees last year all buzzed their hair the night before they
left to go to their sites, and she was not happy. So we'll see what
happens. I'm definitely going to cut it, just not sure how much.
I watched my first chicken get killed last night, so that was
interesting and really kind of painful. I have a feeling I'll pretty
much be a vegetarian once I get to my site, because there is no way
I'm killing the chickens myself very often. And I guess if I can't
kill them, I shouldn't be eating them, huh? But it's as
sustainable as you could hope. The chickens roam the yard and it's not
like they buy more; they just keep having baby chicks and the cycle
continues. There were new baby chicks born just the other day. Ten of them.
And I imagine they'll live a nice life wandering the yard and eating
our leftovers, etc. until they, too, become dinner. I imagine that's a
much better life than a lot of chickens in the US stuck in cages all
the time and what-not. They don't even have a coop. The chickens and
roosters just wander around as they wish... lol. The ultimate example of
free-range, I guess!
October 23, 2010
So I guess I'm really getting into the Portuguese, because it just took
me three tries to spell October without using a 'u' (it's Outubro in
Portuguese). We're just finishing up our 3rd week of training and it's
going great. I had a long conversation with my host mom last night
about materialism, the beauty of Mozambique, and other awesome stuff.
All in Portuguese! It was great. She's really nice. I think it was
frustrating for her at first (and for me, too) when I couldn't say much and
wasn't comfortable speaking much, but our relationship is really
blossoming.
On a different note, we're learning a lot about the Mozambican school
system as well. The kids here (in middle and high school) take 11
different subjects at once (assuming they have teachers for all of
them, which they certainly don't always). This includes Biology,
Chemistry, Physics, Math, English, French, Portuguese, History,
Computers and a couple other things I can't remember. They take these
subjects every year, concurrently. SO MUCH information. And since most of the teachers
here focus entirely on rote memorization, it's way too much
information for them. Needless to say, cheating is rampant. Kids (even
the good students) don't think they can do well without cheating, and
most of the volunteers we've met have said it's the hardest part of
being a teacher here -- trying to control the cheating. For example, how
do you control over 70 kids in a room sitting three to a desk cheating
on a test? It's pretty difficult.
The food here is really good. I (knock on wood) haven't gotten sick
yet. There are A LOT of carbs: rice, potatoes, bread, and lots of new
kinds too. It's not uncommon to have three different carbs in the same
meal, along with a little protein and some veggies if you're lucky.
But it tastes really good most of the time and I'm really enjoying it.
They give me Coca-Cola all the time... lol. And since the water is pretty
gross (even after being boiled and filtered), I've been drinking a lot
of the soda. Especially because its made with real cane sugar here
(not high fructose corn syrup), and it actually tastes better than in
the States.
Next weekend we're going to cook American food in our language groups
with our families, so that should be fun. We're also having a huge
Halloween party. I think I might go as Adam Lambert (LOL) since I'm
cutting my hair kind of like his (from Idol) tomorrow. YAY for short
hair!! Any other good costume ideas?? (Keep in mind I have limited
resources to make things/buy things.)
Okay, language class is about to start and this is a super long email
already, so I'll just say I MISS YOU ALL and I am loving it here in
Mozambique!
:-)
~Alissa
Oct. 4, 2010 - Hey, Family!
Here's what I've been writing the past few days. I love you all. Now that I have my internet phone I might be able to email slightly more often. We'll see.
October 4, 2010
I kind of can't believe its already been over a week since I left. I feel like its just been one long, long day. Or maybe a month. I can't decide. I miss you all terribly, but thankfully I'm so busy I don't really have time to think about it.
You can read all about my adventures in the mass email I will send out, but I wanted to include this email separately because I need you all to remember how much I love you and miss you. No matter what happens. I feel like time will fly by here, so if I don't write for longer than you'd like, I apologize. I'm not doing it on purpose, I'm just really busy trying to learn Portuguese and how to fit with Mozambican culture so I can do my job to the best of my ability come December. I know you all understand. Every single one of you is a role model for me about doing my best and trying my hardest every day, and though I know this email isn't nearly enough, I hope you'll forgive that's it is the best I can do right now.
I love you all with all my heart.
Alissa
October 4, 2010
I kind of can't believe its already been over a week since I left. I feel like its just been one long, long day. Or maybe a month. I can't decide. I miss you all terribly, but thankfully I'm so busy I don't really have time to think about it.
You can read all about my adventures in the mass email I will send out, but I wanted to include this email separately because I need you all to remember how much I love you and miss you. No matter what happens. I feel like time will fly by here, so if I don't write for longer than you'd like, I apologize. I'm not doing it on purpose, I'm just really busy trying to learn Portuguese and how to fit with Mozambican culture so I can do my job to the best of my ability come December. I know you all understand. Every single one of you is a role model for me about doing my best and trying my hardest every day, and though I know this email isn't nearly enough, I hope you'll forgive that's it is the best I can do right now.
I love you all with all my heart.
Alissa
Oct. 3 - 6, 2010: First Week With Host Family in Namaacha
So we had a day off to come to the capitol and buy things (like me new internet phone!) and we stopped at a internet cafe. So I figured I could send the stuff I've been writing since I got here. Sorry, it's kind of long. Now that I have my phone I can probably send shorter emails but more often.
:-)
October 3, 2010
So I'm just finishing up my first weekend with my host family. I'm not going to lie, the first day kind of blew. Everything is so different, and I was totally overwhelmed. I barely spoke at all (which you all know is just WEIRD), but I didn't know how to say anything and no one was understanding me anyway. It was just so... I don't even know the right word. Not having anyone be able to understand basic questions (like how exactly to use a toilet when there is no running water) is extremely frustrating. It would be embarrassing to have to ask questions about how to bathe, cook, and clean when I know perfectly well how to do all those things back home, but you're so desperate to know these things and have such a hard time communicating that thankfully the embarrassment gets left behind.
Anyway, after making friends with the maid, who is 17, I feel so much better. She and I talk a lot (with lots of pointing and gesturing) and while I still have a long way to go, I feel like I can ask her the basic questions I need to know about food, water, etc. necessary for survival. I guess it will all come from there.
This morning I went to a Catholic mass that lasted over 3 hours. Now, I'm not one for church at the best of times, but when I haven't slept well (due to such new surroundings, a lumpy bed, and an over-stuffed useless pillow) and can't understand a single word the priest is saying? Yeah, it was kind of excruciating. Most of the time I could barely stay awake. But when people sang, it was AMAZING. There was no choir, everyone just sang the songs while one lady in the front directed. And so many voices filling up a church with so much happiness and joy in a country that has so little was pretty incredible. I didn't understand the words, but it didn't matter. The sound was completely spiritual and heavenly. Probably enough to get me to go back at least a few more times.
Then this afternoon, Fina (the maid) and I went for a meandering/wandering walk (a distinct verb in Portugese, passear, which is different from the verb for walk, which is caminar) and we ended up at an awesome park with a pool and spent a few hours hanging out with other kids as well as some of the other members of my Peace Corps group whose families had taken them to the park as well. It was really nice to see the other volunteers to remember I am not going through this alone.
Well, school starts bright and early at 7:30 tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep now. But hopefully I'll have more time to write in the next few days...
October 6, 2010
So I saw my first car accident today. It wasn't too bad; no one was really hurt, except the car. Some guy was driving down the road and my language class was meeting on the porch of one of the student's houses so we could see him easily. He drove by going faster than most people drive because the roads here are really bad and rocky, and he either almost hit something or hit a weird bump and totally rolled his pickup over. People all rushed over and helped him out to make sure he was okay and flipped the car back over, but then all the mothers started yelling at him for showing off and driving fast down the road when there are kids all around. It was crazy. But apparently that happens all the time.
So lesson for today: bad roads + bad drivers trying to show off that they have a car = BAD NEWS. But like I said, luckily no one was hurt and while his windshield was totally cracked and broken and the car wouldn't run, no harm was really done. Other than that, my Portuguese classes are going well, and there are some really awesome people in my Peace Corps group here.
Okay, I guess that's all for now. I have to send a couple more emails and then we head back to the training city, Namaacha. I have my internet phone now thought so hopefully I can send shorter emails a little more often to be less overwhelming.
I LOVE YOU ALL.
~Alissa
**Side note for my crew people: I woke up on the first day of classes to find that my crew necklace (one of the EB ones that I haven't taken off in probably a year) had broken, which totally was NOT cool and not helpful when I was already stressed. I thought at first maybe it was some kind of sign. You know, it's a new part of my life and maybe I should think about letting go some of the old. But after spending the next two days constantly rubbing at my neck and missing it, I instead went to the mercado and bought super glue and super glued it back on. LOL. So I guess now it really won't come off for awhile, right? I miss you ladies so much. Hope all is well on the Connecticut River (and wherever else you are).... *hugs*
:-)
October 3, 2010
So I'm just finishing up my first weekend with my host family. I'm not going to lie, the first day kind of blew. Everything is so different, and I was totally overwhelmed. I barely spoke at all (which you all know is just WEIRD), but I didn't know how to say anything and no one was understanding me anyway. It was just so... I don't even know the right word. Not having anyone be able to understand basic questions (like how exactly to use a toilet when there is no running water) is extremely frustrating. It would be embarrassing to have to ask questions about how to bathe, cook, and clean when I know perfectly well how to do all those things back home, but you're so desperate to know these things and have such a hard time communicating that thankfully the embarrassment gets left behind.
Anyway, after making friends with the maid, who is 17, I feel so much better. She and I talk a lot (with lots of pointing and gesturing) and while I still have a long way to go, I feel like I can ask her the basic questions I need to know about food, water, etc. necessary for survival. I guess it will all come from there.
This morning I went to a Catholic mass that lasted over 3 hours. Now, I'm not one for church at the best of times, but when I haven't slept well (due to such new surroundings, a lumpy bed, and an over-stuffed useless pillow) and can't understand a single word the priest is saying? Yeah, it was kind of excruciating. Most of the time I could barely stay awake. But when people sang, it was AMAZING. There was no choir, everyone just sang the songs while one lady in the front directed. And so many voices filling up a church with so much happiness and joy in a country that has so little was pretty incredible. I didn't understand the words, but it didn't matter. The sound was completely spiritual and heavenly. Probably enough to get me to go back at least a few more times.
Then this afternoon, Fina (the maid) and I went for a meandering/wandering walk (a distinct verb in Portugese, passear, which is different from the verb for walk, which is caminar) and we ended up at an awesome park with a pool and spent a few hours hanging out with other kids as well as some of the other members of my Peace Corps group whose families had taken them to the park as well. It was really nice to see the other volunteers to remember I am not going through this alone.
Well, school starts bright and early at 7:30 tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep now. But hopefully I'll have more time to write in the next few days...
October 6, 2010
So I saw my first car accident today. It wasn't too bad; no one was really hurt, except the car. Some guy was driving down the road and my language class was meeting on the porch of one of the student's houses so we could see him easily. He drove by going faster than most people drive because the roads here are really bad and rocky, and he either almost hit something or hit a weird bump and totally rolled his pickup over. People all rushed over and helped him out to make sure he was okay and flipped the car back over, but then all the mothers started yelling at him for showing off and driving fast down the road when there are kids all around. It was crazy. But apparently that happens all the time.
So lesson for today: bad roads + bad drivers trying to show off that they have a car = BAD NEWS. But like I said, luckily no one was hurt and while his windshield was totally cracked and broken and the car wouldn't run, no harm was really done. Other than that, my Portuguese classes are going well, and there are some really awesome people in my Peace Corps group here.
Okay, I guess that's all for now. I have to send a couple more emails and then we head back to the training city, Namaacha. I have my internet phone now thought so hopefully I can send shorter emails a little more often to be less overwhelming.
I LOVE YOU ALL.
~Alissa
**Side note for my crew people: I woke up on the first day of classes to find that my crew necklace (one of the EB ones that I haven't taken off in probably a year) had broken, which totally was NOT cool and not helpful when I was already stressed. I thought at first maybe it was some kind of sign. You know, it's a new part of my life and maybe I should think about letting go some of the old. But after spending the next two days constantly rubbing at my neck and missing it, I instead went to the mercado and bought super glue and super glued it back on. LOL. So I guess now it really won't come off for awhile, right? I miss you ladies so much. Hope all is well on the Connecticut River (and wherever else you are).... *hugs*
Sept. 30, 2010: Temporary Address During PCV Training
Name of Volunteer, PCV
Corpo da Paz/U. S. Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo,
MOZAMBIQUE
This is where you can send me stuff!
My computer was dying earlier. I charged it for a little bit so I can type a little more now. I'll be able to get a phone next weekend. I'm going to splurge and get an internet phone. They're about $100, I think. I will have internet for today and tomorrowm and then we go to Namancha to stay with our families for ten weeks. I won't have internet there except on my phone.
Dinner is soon so I have to go, but I love you.
~Alissa
Corpo da Paz/U. S. Peace Corps
C.P. 4398
Maputo,
MOZAMBIQUE
This is where you can send me stuff!
My computer was dying earlier. I charged it for a little bit so I can type a little more now. I'll be able to get a phone next weekend. I'm going to splurge and get an internet phone. They're about $100, I think. I will have internet for today and tomorrowm and then we go to Namancha to stay with our families for ten weeks. I won't have internet there except on my phone.
Dinner is soon so I have to go, but I love you.
~Alissa
Alissa's First Post from Africa - Sept. 29, 2010
So I don't have a lot of time to type because the wireless here in Maputo is really bad and won't connect for us. There is a computer in the lobby of the hotel but there are a lot of us who want to use it, so I have to go quickly. We arrived well and all my bags made it (though I think that wasn't true for everyone). I found the photos you packed in my bag and am glad to hear Emily called. I'm going to send a quick mass email letting everyone know I arrived, but I don't know when I'll have internet access again to email. Maybe in the next couple days but maybe not.
I miss you guys tons already!
Love,
Alissa
I miss you guys tons already!
Love,
Alissa
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