Dia de Cidade

Tete City celebrated its 52 year this March. These are pictures from the festa in the city.  Then men covered in feathers/mud/masks are respected (and feared) members of community because they chase away any evil spirits. However, they also come out on special occasions just to dance....although it was still a little scary!

Gnous (sp?) dancing for the celebration

More dancing slash scaring children

Some of my students and me having some ice cream in the city

Hike to river in Angonia

Mountains and flowers

Why we needed to get IN the flowers?....not sure

Soccer Pics

campo de futebol. Dom Bosco

Soccer tournament

Crispen. Pre PK (they win, btw)

Helen and I, after the girls game

Liar liar pants on fire.

This week, Helen and I are giving our first exams for English classes. And on account of my poor planning, I’m also giving biology exams as well.  SO. Before I get into my tales of this exhausting week, there are a few things you need to know. First, Mozambique has a notoriously bad school system (hence why Peace Corps education volunteers are here).   It’s not uncommon for teachers to simply not show up to teach a class…if they do show up, they will likely just write some stuff on the board and then leave. So when they give exams to their classes, the students often go un-proctored…which obviously leaves them to their notebooks and homemade cheat sheets and their neighbors test. Secondly, any kind of forethought or planning is essentially unheard of in any aspect of Mozambican life. For example. You eat the last piece of bread on Saturday morning. Now, you know that you can NOT buy bread on Sunday, and will have to wait til Monday to buy more bread. Do you go Saturday afternoon to buy bread for Sunday? Of course you don’t.  You wake up Sunday morning (sans breakfast) and then ask your neighbors for food. SO. You have an English test tomorrow. Do you study? Absolutely not. You rip out a sheet of paper from your English notebook (just hoping that’s the information you will need) and stuff it in your pocket – and BAM you get an A.

This is where Helen and I come in. All of our students were informed a week in advance of the test. We reviewed all of the material to be covered on the test. They were specifically told that they would NOT cheat. So, Monday morning we show up to tag team these kids (ie we sat in on each others classes so that there were 4 eyes on the kids).  Walk into the classroom – “take out a sheet of paper, you have a test” (average, they know this drill). And then we flipped the switch. “All backpacks to the front of the room” (shocked faces all around) and “I want every English notebook on my desk” (panic). Then, I write 2 different tests on the board – test A and test B- and walk around the room and write A or B with a pink marker on their papers….now, their neighbor doesn’t have the same test as them (hearts are breaking).  They start working, and we move around the room to make sure everyone has clean hands/arms and that there are no “suspect” pieces of paper. 

I must admit. I’ve been very impressed with how adamant these kids are in their cheating.  I now look for any awkward sitting positions (I removed 11 notebooks that kids were sitting on) any wallet that is in plain view (cheat sheets hidden where a drivers license should be),  shirts that appear more bulky than normal (stuffed in there).  You name it, they’ve thought of it. And normally, they get away with it. 

Luckily, all but one of my classes had passing averages…and I’m pretty sure that we (they) have realized that we (they) need to study a little more

I can't sleep past 5 A.M.

(Real) classes at Dom Bosco Escola Professional started three weeks ago – and that has been a game changer to say the least. I start my day at 5 am (which conveniently is before the majority of you at home are in bed). When I see the sun rise over the cornfields out my bedroom window. School starts at 7 …which means I have to be out the front door no later than 6 if I want to fight my way onto a chapa for the 15 minute drive. A 40 minute commute might not sound like that much – but when (I could be making this statistic up …but seriously) 85% of the education PCVs here live on, or right next to their school, its pretty insane. The price we pay to lead the city life here in Moatize I suppose… Anyways, it goes something like this: Out the door… Dogs in the yard… goats.... women carrying HUGE baskets of market goods on their heads…. Over the railroad tracks…. goats…. pack of toddlers that greet us every morning…. Pigs…piglets (shockingly cute, btw)…dogs chasing goats and/or piglets….chapa stop. And the waiting begins.

Here we generally meet up with some of our students who (unless they’re in danger of being late) try to get us good seats on the chapa. God-willing the chapa doesn’t break down, we take off: Drive through some coalmines…. drive along side the Rovubwe river (comes from the Zambezi)…. Get stopped by a herd of cattle roaming across the road…. Cross the river (people are already there bathing/washing things)…. Hope that I don’t miss the crocodile sightings (twice in one week I missed them!)…. Past the airport…arrive in Matema.

Safely off the chapa and across the street, we walk to the next bairro (neighborhood), Matundo. There are already tons of women out selling little cookies and doughnut type things and occasionally men drinking who will inevitably yell at us (I mean, come on, its 6:40 am on a Tuesday and you’re having a beer?).

And then, we arrive. Helen and I prettyyyy much stick out like crazy in the sea of 15-19 year old Mozambican boys, all wearing olive green uniforms. We flood into the school with the rest of the kids and teachers and convene around a big rock in the back of school. Here, the kids line up by turma (homeroom) to get their daily pep talk from the school director or another professor. This part is pretty boring – UNLESS (like yesterday) a snake makes its way into the crowd and causes mass chaos OR someone passes out (twice in a month? Is anyone concerned about this?). Regardless, pep talk, BREAK.

Then the real work begins.......attempting to corral, control, and (hopefully) teach a room of 40 17-year old boys.