It has once again been brought to my attention that I am
failing to regularly update my blog – I apologize for the oversight and
therefore hope you will excuse the following random collection of thoughts and
their lack of a coherent theme.
1.
The rat came back. Actually, I’m fairly certain
it was a different rat, nonetheless there was a rat in my house for three days.
I am quite proud to note that I was actually able to sleep during these three
days (unlike the last time I had a rat problem and I didn’t sleep for a month).
And this time I know that the rat was in my house during the day . . . and my
lazy cat did nothing about it. The cat and the rat were in the house at the
same time, I basically threw the cat on top of the rat and locked them into the
house (which is all of 20x20) and the cat went back to sleep. Fail. The sticky
trap finally caught the rat at 4:30 in the morning at which point I realized
that I would not be getting any more sleep that night and that there was no way
I was going to be able to kill the rat. So, I stalked down the compound’s guard
(quite possibly waking him up) and had him kill the rat for me. When I
explained my theory of how to best kill the rat (sticking the trap in a bucket
of water to drown the rat), he laughed, took the rat outside, and stepped on
the rat’s head.
2.
I was stung by a scorpion. Laurie and Chris had
been in Inhassoro for the weekend – we made bagels and ate them with Vil cream
cheese, pretty much my idea of heaven – and we had been talking about
scorpions. Mapinhane (their site) apparently has a large number of scorpions,
but I had never seen one in Inhassoro, so was fairly convinced that we did not
have them. False. Went to the market the next day to buy a capulana (piece of
fabric), grabbed one to open it up and also managed to grab a hold of a
scorpion, resulting in my being stung on the thumb. Arm hurt for the next
couple of days, had a fever, but wasn’t as horrible as I thought it was going
to be. I now know that there are scorpions in Inhassoro. And some of the
teachers think I am very “strong” because according to them how bad a scorpion
hurts depends on the person. Not true, but I’ll take it.
3.
While I don’t blush as easily as my sister, I
turn red fairly easily. My students think this phenomenon is hilarious because
they, obviously, don’t blush. For a while, every little mistake in Portuguese
would cause me to turn bright red. Luckily this no longer happens, but my
students continue to ensure that I have cause to blush on a fairly regular
basis. Last week one of my students stood up in the middle of class and
declared his love for me. It was hilarious, awkward, and oh so uncomfortable as
it was one of my classes composed of 40 boys (ages 11 to 23) all of whom
started laughing and cheering (kissing noises may have also been involved).
Anyways, while kicking the kid out of class (as well as a few others who were
being especially obnoxious) I, of course, was bright red – a situation that
only enhanced the laughter. Anyways, three classes after the incident, I think
we’ve finally gotten over the incident . . . maybe.
4.
I’ve started taking Xitswa (the local language)
lessons with the school’s director a couple times a week. It’s unclear how
that’s going, but I can at least say a couple of Xitswa phrases if need be. I’m
hoping to be able to understand enough at some point to actually enjoy going to
mass on Sundays (which is said in both Xitswa and Portuguese, but the responses
are all in Xitswa). Maybe in another year . . .
5.
On that note, I’ve been in Mozambique for almost
exactly 11 months. Crazy.
6.
Eggplant season has started again and mangoes
are right around the corner. Which makes me happy, but also sad because it has
started to get more humid/warmer again. I’m hoping that this summer will be
better because I’ll have the chance to slowly adjust from September to
February, but due to the fact that I quite literally looked like I was about to
keel over every time I stepped outside from December to February, I’m doubting
my level of acclimation has changed that much. Also, it appears as though
Inhassoro will be hosting Thanksgiving this year, so all care packages filled
with pumpkin pie filling, cranberry sauce, and dried cranberries are welcome. J
7.
Another random fact, this semester I have one of
my turmas (47 boys) immediately after their PE class. It is not pleasant and it’s
just going to get worse throughout September and October. Ew.
Miss you all and sorry I fail to update on a regular basis.
Once school’s out I’m hoping to get a ton of photos uploaded.