Twenty Four Trips Around the Sun

You know how some birthdays pass just like any other day? And yes, I’ve had a whopping 24 of them so I’m plenty qualified to make that statement.  Not bad, but not really awesome – just a day.   Well, I felt like this July 3^rd was exceptional – even on a Tuesday…

Well first I have to tell you about my pre-birthday weekend.  Hannah and I had planned a troca (“exchange”) for our REDES groups.  The plan was super simple – which is key to planning events with students in Mozambique.  Helen, Ana (our Mozambican counterpart and friend) and I chose 14 students from our girls group, rented out a chapa, packed everyone up on Saturday morning and set out for Hannah’s rural village, Kaunda.  The girls spent the morning mingling with the Hannah’s group and played an intense game of soccer. After lunch, they had a very informative sexual health lesson and presented a theater piece and some dances. 

Ok I digress…. but I’m sure you’re equally fascinated by my REDES group and my birthday! Anyways, leaving our troca, we scooped up Hannah and Eden and captive-ly brought them back to Cateme to entertain us.  The four of us spent practically every weekend together last year (when we lived in Moatize), so it was nice to have our little family together again… especially since I wouldn’t be seeing Hannah or Eden on my actual birthday.  We had a low-key birthday dinner of fried green tomatoes and homemade brownies while we sat on the floor of our house watching Modern Family. What more could a girls ask for?! (That question is proof I’ve been in Africa too long)

On Tuesday, my actual birthday, I woke up early to get on the road to Chimoio.  I wasn’t super psyched about making the 6 hour trek alone, but I figured Chimoio with some good friends outranks Cateme any day.  Upon waking up, I already had a ton of facebook notifications on my phone.  Each member of my immediate family had dug up an old baby picture, and uploaded them with Birthday messages.  I literally lay in bed laughing at the pictures – especially the gem my brother posted of the two of us with very serious faces.  Then, I found a zip lock bag full of candy and a full size box of Hot Tamales – my absolute all-time favorite candy – from Helen.  Such a good roommate, she’d been hoarding those Hot Tamales since Christmas!! (Don’t worry, they’re just as good 6 months stale).  And finally, hidden in a stack of papers I was taking with me, I found a homemade birthday card (including the traditional Goff family limerick) from Hannah.  By the time the sun came up, I was all smiles. 

I had an easy and fast first leg of the trip – and made it to the Tete border by mid morning.  Before I even walked to the spot where I had planned to hitch, a nice truck stopped for me.  I got in the private car and chatted for the next four hours with the driver – and older South African man one his way home to visit his grand kids.  At one point, he noticed that I was munching on some peanuts and insisted on stopping to buy me a “proper snack.”  I never told him it was my birthday…  I figured I was having a good karma day and there was no need to press it.

I made it to Chimoio by about 4 pm, just in time to find two of my favorite people and good friends  - Mona and Emily, waiting for me in the Peace Corps office.  We went straight to one of our favorite bars and sat outside under the little tiki huts to enjoy some birthday beers.  Once the sun went down, we met up with some other pcvs and had pizza for dinner. Pizza is ALWAYS a treat. Really, anything with cheese = super special.

So there you have it, an exceptional African birthday – and my last one here in Mozambique!

Things I love...

Whenever I come across a string of particularly frustrating days – I always try to remember the things I love about Mozambique.  Just the little things that make me smile…. I decided I would finally write them down. Here is my growing list of things to remember when I’m having a bad day…

I love walking to the market in Cateme hearing “good morning, teacher” at least 20 times – and often from people who aren’t my students.

I love that when you pass someone eating – dinner or just a snack, they will ask you to sit down and join them – even if you’ve never met them.

I love knowing what fruit is in season because I can see them on every tree and they’re pilled high in the market…. And I love knowing that I should eat as many of them as I can, because soon, they’ll be gone and I’ll be wishing I had eaten more of

them.

I love that when good music comes on, people can’t help but to dance – no matter where they are.

I love the way my students giggle back when I laugh during class.

I love that the majority of people in Cateme greet Stella by name and say how much she’s growing.

I love when I spot a Mozambican man with a baby tied to his back … most men never even pick up their babies.

I love watching the sunrise and set everyday…. I like watching it come up while im on my morning run and set out the backyard while I cook dinner.

I love grading tests and coming across one – and just thinking YES! Beautiful. You understand! Thank you.

I love that – even after I moved out of Moatize – people there still know my name and ask about Cateme.

I love seeing old students and have them tell me they miss having me and Helen as teachers.

I love watching the kids play soccer barefoot in the field behind our house and

knowing that without shoes and a real ball they’re probably having more fun that the majority of kids playing little league at home.

I love that teenage boys walk around holding hands or with their fingers hooked together – just bro-ing out Moz style…

I love when I hear one of my JUNTOS kids say something profound and hopefull… like, “we need to explain to the people in the community how to prevent cholera”

I love how the ladies in the market stack their produce in perfect little, colorful piles.

I love thinking that one day, 10 years from now, my students might meet another Peace Corps volunteer – and they’ll probably ask if that person knows Teacher Carolina.

I love that when you call someone’s name, they immediately respond with your name as a question. Like this – mother: “Paulo!” … Paulo: “Mama?!”… it’s a million times cuter that responding with “what?”

Boroma Mission - Tete

These are some pictures from a recent trip to Boroma - an old Portuguese mission about 25 k down the Zambezi river from Tete City.  Basically, its a church that was built on a mountain in the 1800s... pretty much ruins now, but still serves as a functioning secondary school.

Baobob trees all over Tete

The view from on top of the mountain

COS Madness

Since April, the 55 or so people remaining in Moz 15 (my training group) have been waiting not so patiently for our COS dates.  COS, or “close of service,”  is when we officially end our service here in Mozambique.  Since we will leave in phases over a period of 6 weeks – knowing our dates and who we’ll be leaving with is pretty exciting news and usually provides a lot of drama. You know, “my best friend is COSing 3 weeks before me!” or “I can’t believe I have to stay here until December 15 and other people are leaving November 8^th!!”  Anyways, last week we finally got word via email our dates.  I was at home alone when I opened the email on my blackberry.  Immediately, I saw Helen’s name (she’s COSing November 8^th – the first week and thus the best week).  I rapidly scrolled down, hoping my name wasn’t far behind. And it wasn’t!!!! I COS during the 2^nd week, on November 15^th with a great group of friends! In desperate need to share this news with someone, I called Helen (who was about 100 yards away in the teachers room at school) and told her to check her email.  I stood on our front porch and watched her run, screaming and waving her arms back to our house where we proceeded to jump up and down and hug while countless students, once again, tried to figure out what we were up to.

Now, this may sound like excessive celebration – or that I’m somehow not enjoying my time here. That is not the case, at all. I have no regrets being here.  I love parts of it and I hate parts of it. I’ve learned more than I’ll ever be able to put into words. But it’s hard.  And, its time. Time to come home and start something new.  So, I will be trying to savor and simultaneously push through the next 5 months.  It will be here in the blink of an eye! And then, I’m planning on stopping in Cape Town for a few days with friends before I roll into America for Thanksgiving (or, “the most epic and overwhelming homecoming meal, ever”).

Secondary Projects

This year, Helen and I have spent a lot of time working on secondary projects here in Cateme. Basically, “secondary projects” are any work we do aside from just teaching.  Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to:

Our JUNTOS group, which is comprised of both boys and girls in the 11^th and 12^th grades, has been superrr active! I am constantly impressed by the ideas and motivation of these kids. Most recently, we had “JUNTOS week” at our school.  Our group of 20 students divided into small groups and chose a theme (Cholera, discrimination of HIV positive people, sexual abuse of minors, etc).  Then, they prepared a short theater piece and a piece of “educational art” to hang outside their classrooms. Everyday, a different group presented at morning and afternoon assembly for the rest of the school. It was a HUGE hit! Plus, it got the group a lot of publicity… and these kids are such hams! They LOVE anything that gets them in front of people. Also JUNTOS related, we just had our “workshop” with 3 other schools in Manica province.  We took 8 students down for the weekend long conference where they talked about gender inequality, leadership, etc. It was a tiring (per usual when dealing with 40+ high schoolers) but everyone had a blast! Such a great experience for the kids.

REDES – our girls group – is picking up steam.  We’re up to 27 girls that we meet with on a weekly basis.  During the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about self-esteem and gender roles.  This group is 8^th, 9^th and 10^th graders – so they’re a little bit younger and just getting used to talking about these issues.  They are also currently preparing something to present (I was told it was a “surprise” and I’ll find out later….we shall see) for Independence Day, as well as getting psyched for their upcoming trip to Chiuta to meet the REDES group that Hannah works with. 

 Finallyyyy (this is one I’m really excited about) I finally got my act together with WorldWise Schools! I know, I know, I have 5 months left and I’m just now getting this off the ground. Anyways, this is a program where Peace Corps schools get matched with a school in America to do some kind of exchange. Conveniently, one of my best friends from college (hey Kalli!) is teaching at The Soulsville Charter School in Memphis.  I asked her to have some of her students write letters to my kids here.  SO. A week or two ago, we received 14 scanned letters (via email) from high school students in Memphis. I chose some of my best 8^th and 9^th grade English students to read and try to respond to the letters (remember, huge language barrier here).  First of all, the letters from America were hilarious and very sweet, although I had to tone down the vocabulary level a little bit.  Then, I had a blast distributing the letters. In typical Mozambican youth manner – they all accepted this task with very solemn respect… but I could tell they were about to scream they were so excited. One by one, they would come back to my house with questions about words and in need of a reality check that these were, in fact, real kids who wanted to here about their lives here in Mozambique.  Next week, we’ll be videotaping a little tour of our school and some student reading their letters to send to The Soulsville Charter School.  Also, veryyyyyy exciting for the kids here. 

the literal adventures of the struggle bus

Generally, when planning any sort of trip with friends (ie fellow volunteers), this conversion will arise.  “Soooo…. How do you wanna get to  (random destination – lets be honest, its probably a party)?” “Um, well there’s that bus that leaves at (totally unreasonable hour… usually in the 3 to 4 am range)” “yeah that’s true…. (said in a tone that clearly indicates the dread of said bus trip) but the price just went up and now its like (random amount of meticais that anyone not living on a peace corps salary will think is reasonable)” “Well, I mean we can always just boleia down (“boleia” in English is hitchhike)” “Yep, that’s definitely the better option. We can sleep in and save money (which you probably wont because – since you don’t have to wake up ungodly early - you’ll probably decide to have a few beers … if you give a mouse a cookie…)”

And now is the time when you’re probably seriously reconsidering my ability to make decisions. “Ummmm are you really supposed to be hitchhiking around Africa?” Well, lets weigh the options, shall we. 

Say you take the bus or chapa. It will go something like this… wait for chapa, wait for chapa, wait for chapa. Elbow someone in an attempt to get a seat… which turns out to really just be a piece of cardboard or a metal bar – or a maybe, just a bucket.  You’re already in a super good mood (…not) as a result of just getting on the chapa.  Now, you will inevitably face any one of these situations:

 1. Spend then next 4 hours trying to ignore the cobrador (the guy you pay) who is asking for your number/desperately wants to marry you/ wants you to take him to America. 

2.  Be continually harassed by a drunken man yelling in local dialect that everyone else is finding amusing – and that clearly is directed at you –but that you cant understand. 

3. Think that, this time, your legs/foot/arm might actually fall off because it/you are shoved into a space that is about a fifth of the size you would consider normal/comfortable. 

4. Find yourself within inches of any kind of live animal who is also not pleased about this transportation situation. 

5. Magically end up with someone’s baby/child/suitcase/tub-of-potatoes on your lap (excuse me ma’am, I packed this very small backpack so that I didn’t have to deal with this – it was not an invitation to hand me one of your extra large suitcase… or your child… ps there is NO WAY you can need a bag that large…).  

6. Spend an extra 2 hours sitting on the side of the road because the bus broke down in the middle of no-where.

 SO. There you have it. That’s the “normal” public transportation option.

broken down on the side of the road

Now, lets look at the boleia option. You bypass the bus stop and walk down the road a ways – we’re not looking for local traffic here.  Hopefully, you’re with one or two other girls (one of the few times being a woman here is wayyyyy more advantageous than being guy).  You find a shady spot, put your backpack down, and sit down to chat about how your 8^th grade students still can’t figure out how to use the verb “to be”.  Since its just a two lane road that stretches on forever, you can see cars coming at least 30 second before they pass you.  Now you decide “how picky you’re going to be.”  No one’s in a rush, you decide to be super-picky (as opposed to “I don’t care – if it has wheels and is moving, we’re getting in/on”).  A semi passes – no one flags it down – you’re not desperate. Maybe a flatbed truck with room in the cab or an open back pickup pass  and they stop for you– but the driver wants you to pay 300 mets a person (that’s already half the price of the bus)…. Ehhh … you can do better.  You sit back down.  Then, you see a really sweet car coming – like a nice little car, or a private SUV, or maybe a landcruiser.  Go! Go! Go! Someone jumps up and trots practically into the road (hey, you need the car to stop) and flash a friendly smile.  You see the car has plenty of space –and judging by the fact the windows are rolled up, its probably got AC. Bomb. And its slowing down! So you or your friend, whoever, chases the car as it stops. Turns out it’s a South African on vacation or a nice little Mozambican family or someone on a business trip and of course they’ll take you to (random destination) and they didn’t mention a price soooo its probably free! You wave the other girls over and hop in the backseat. The driver is impressed with your Portuguese, is interested in you’re school/village, and generally fascinated with what you’re doing. BAM. You make it to your final destination in half the time it took the bus, and you got a nice little nap in, too. AND you didn’t pay a dime. In fact, the driver probably bought you a coke or offered you a snack at some point.

free, sweet beach boleia in the back of a flatbed truck

What’s reallyyyyy entertaining though, is when you get to race. Say 12 people are headed to the beach.  So you break in a few groups and see who fares the best.  Its just one road, so you’re bound to pass each other on the road at some point. And hopefully you’re in the sweet car that’s passing the people standing on the side of the road because their chapa blew a tire half way through the trip (which is when you send that snarky “haha! Suckasss”  text).  Its pretty much Amazing Race…

Derby 138

And then – one of my absolute favorite weekends of the year arrived. KENTUCKY DERBY! Hannah agreed to host our 2^nd annual Derby party this year (living about 20 yards from the school isn’t really conducive to what we had planned) – so about 18 volunteers traveled to the little village of Kaunda. 

As was the case last year, I was the lone Kentuckian and thus had a lot of explaining to do. Sidenote – my family really likes to tell this story of how, when I was about 3 years old, I forced my aunts, uncle, parents and grandparents to don an array of hats on my grandpa’s hat rack  (ya know, newsboy caps, toboggans, cowboy hats – any type of hat you can imagine a really cool grandpa owning) for a “party” I was having in their living room. Then I proceeded to have them parade around the dining room table. Now, I was either a hella persuasive 3 year old, OR ( and this is the more likely case) there is something to say for being the first grandchild.  Anywaysss….. I requested that everyone coming to the Derby party wear a hat and a sundress (apparently some things don’t change).  Obviously, coming up with a derby hat in Mozambique was a challenge. However, being super crafty and resourceful Peace Corps volunteers, we came up with some pretty awesome ones (egg crates, cardboard, newspaper, and giant leaves all entered the picture).  In return for their compliance, I promised a spread of good Southern food (cheese grits, fried okra, chili with spaghetti noodles, etc), Derby pie (for those of you who didn’t grow up with all these apparently odd traditions – its chocolate pecan pie), and lots of bourbon.  And, of course, we made pool and all bet horses… lets be honest, its not as much fun if you’re not betting on the race. 

Since Derby fell on Cinco de Mayo this year, we also made piñata and all contributed a few little goodies from home. Now you may be thinking, how does one go about making a piñata in the bush? Wellll seeing as we are condoms are just about as common as nickels here… ya just blow one up like a balloon, tear up some newspaper, and then mix flour and water together to make paste. BAM. Piñata.  Now, we originally aimed for a horse shaped piñata, but that was a little too ambitious – so we settled for painting a horse on the piñata. Some of the really prized contributions to the piñata were sauce packets from Taco Bell, real Kleenex, glow sticks, a few airplane bottles of assorted liquor, and individual servings of Parmesan cheese. 

So at this point, its possible that you’re rolling your eyes and thinking “Good God Zoeller, you’re in Africa and you’re blogging about the Kentucky Derby?!”…… and the answer is, yes.  Those of you who really know me, know…I love Derby. I love Kentucky. And I love Louisville. It’s a wonderful place and it doesn’t get the credit it deserves for just generally being an awesome place. So anything that highlights my hometown goes down as pretty much amazing.  And honestly, missing derby festivities makes me homesick.  So yeah, I’m rambling about the Kentucky Derby. But the thing that’s so cool about this whole thing…. Half the people who came to the derby party came into not having any idea what Derby is. And now, they all know! And they helped me celebrate it 8000 miles away! And of course, they’re all welcome to come to the real deal next year J