Good Morning Teacher

It's official... I am an awful blogger.  I didn't realize that my last post was in February, sorry about that everyone.   In my defense, I am in Mozambique where internet is not always easily available to me and my life as become very “normal” at least to me, but that is still no excuse because I know there are a lot of people (or maybe only a few) who want to know what I’ve been up to for the past few months. So what have I been up to through the months of February and March since my last post.  Well a lot, but also not a whole lot.  So we had interviews to get into the IFP during February. Because I'm to lazy to write a lot about this you should go to my roommates blog and read all about her take on it.  I pretty much agree with everything she says, and she is much better at keeping up with her blog :)!   Let me just say that it was frustrating, interesting, eye-opening, and comical all at once.

Now for what I've been doing with alll my time.  Teaching, thats about it right now.  I am teaching one class at the IFP (my original job) and since I didn't have much to do there I went to the secondary school to see if they needed English teachers, which they did, and I am teachering two turmas (classes) of 11th grade English.  It is nice to get both the experience at the IFP and the experience of a secondary school teacher... because let me tell you they are completely different from each other and very different from what I am used to teaching in the states.

                I’ll start with the secondary school.  Each class has 84 students on the class list, but I’d say only about 70 show up on a regular basis, sometimes more, sometimes less.  I have each class 3 times a week, two douplas (two 45min. classes back to back) and one single class period.  The only material I have is a chalk board and chalk and if I have access to big paper to write on I can use that.  The students only have notebooks and pens and do not have text books or work books to use.  Several of the students end up sitting on the floor during my class because there are not enough desks for everyone.  It is very difficult to plan lessons for classes that are that big and its even harder to have good classroom management with that many students and when many of them could care less about learning English.  Especially when they know that no matter what I give them for a grade, it will probably be changed to passing.  Even if they get a high grade, it will probably be changed to a lower but still passing grade.  The grading scale is from 0 to 20 and anything over a 10 is considered passing and a good grade.  For some reason here they don’t think that many students or any in some cases, should get over a 14 and below a 8 or 9 no matter how much work they did or didn’t do throughout the trimester.  I have several students who did not pass my classes and some with some very good scores, so we will see what happens with that when I turn those grades in.   

On the other hand my IFP students are great! (not saying that the secondary students aren’t, but it’s just very different.)  I have 33 students in my class, most really seem to care about learning and trying and are always full of qustions.  I still only have chalk and a chalk board in the classroom, but with only 33 students it is easier for me to bring in supplies for them like colored pencils and what not.  We also have a smartboard here that I can use, so that is fun for some classes.  Grades are still an issue because most people have the same mentality and my grades may get changed at the end of the semester but I hope not.  The students work hard to earn those grades and I just don’t understand the mentality of cheating here and changing grades, but it is what it is.

So I have been in Mozambique for over 6 months (now getting closer to 7) and my roommate Sam and I were sitting around making a list of all the things that we haven’t done in over 6 months…. So here it is.

In the last 6 months I haven’t….

1. Been in a building over 3 stories high (ok the hotels in Nampula and Maputo… maybe)
2. Climbed a flight of stairs in a building (again see above… that’s still been over 4 months)
3. Been in an elevator
4. Eaten or seen bacon
5. Had easy access to reliable wi-fi
6. Seen a dog on a leash (but I’ve seen several goats on leashes)
7. Driven a car
8. Gone a day without hearing or speaking another language
9. Been to a shopping mall
10.  Eaten at a fast food restaurant
11. Had delivery food
12.  Lived within a mile of a store
13.  Not had to bring my own toilet paper into a bathroom
14. Used a public restroom that wasn’t a dump flush or a pit
15.  Had air conditioning in my home
16. Spent a night where I didn’t need to sleep under a mosquito net
17.  Gone a week without having take malaria meds
18. Been to a movie theatre
19.  Not had to filter my water
20.  Mowed a lawn or seen a lawn mower
21.  Used a washer and dryer
22. Lived with a supermarket within 50K
23. Taken public transport that didn’t have a goat, chicken, or several crying babies on it (usually two or more of these)
24. Been able to buy things at a store or market after 8pm
25. Not had to wear sunscreen
26. Not had awful tanlines (especially on my feet… what up Teva Tan)
27. Not had hundreds of roommates that were of the insect persuasion (yes we call all the cockroaches and other insects our roommates now)
28. Had a closet
29. Had a legit system (shelves, dressors, ect) to store things
30. Seen a skateboard
31.  Seen a soccer net (most of the goals here are just empty goal posts or nothing at all)
32.  Worn Flip flops on a daily basis because they are not an acceptable form of footwear to wear around town. They are house shoes…
33. watched Netflix
34. Been in classroom with a white board, maps and things on the wall, and other materials (not just chalkboard and chalk)
35. Paid with a credit card or debit card
36.  Paid with American money
37.  Had a voicemail
38.  Spoken on the phone without having to worry about running out of credit
39. Been in the same room as my family
40. Been in the US
41. Seen snow
42. Had a normal bowl movement
43.  Gone a day without talking about foods I miss, poop, or sex (usually at least 2 of these things are brought up in conversations by every PCV)
44. Gone a day without seeing a baby on a motorcycle
45. Used a doorknob to open a door.
46. had ice in a drink
47. Eaten chicken that wasn’t killed that day
48. Gone a day without being called “white person” in some language or another
49. Shown my knees in town
50. Used a Microwave
51. Gone a day without multiple mysterious bug bites on my body
52. Been somewhere with a fire department
53. Had soda out of a plastic bottle
54. Had a beer at home
55. Used an actual oven
56. Used a dishwasher
57. Taken a taxi
58. Owned a chair that wasn’t plastic
59. Straightened my hair
60. Gone a day without seeing people carrying things on their heads
61. Entered a classroom without students standing and saying good morning teacher or good afternoon teacher
62. Been inside a target
63. Been inside a coffee shop
64. Eaten a hamburger
65. Used tortillas that I didn’t make