The Rat Situation

It seems as though my “friend” has finally either died or just peaced out. After a month of visiting my house every night, I am almost positive (but don’t want to try my luck) that the rat is finally gone. Thank the lord because I’m pretty sure I was close to becoming delirious from the lack of sleep. One of my PC friends in Mozambique has an ongoing rat problem . . . and I have no idea how she manages. Even after a month of dealing with the rat, I still wake up at pretty much any noise – meaning that since it has been fairly windy lately, I wake up a lot to the sound of mafura falling on my tin roof (which continues to scare the heck out of me).

During this past month I have perhaps become a bit more crazy – there was a phase when I was convinced the rat was making a nest inside of my mattress (this was due to my dad mentioning that the rat might be nesting in my house and a friend in the North who found a mouse living in her mattress). However, I’m also proud of my craftiness. Towards the end of the rat-insanity, I was very frustrated with the rat’s ongoing walks along the top of my mosquito net while I was sleeping. Because I don’t have a ceiling (just a roof) I had to attach my mosquito net to the roof beams . . . which the rat used to get into the house. So I marched over to the local hardware store (where I’m pretty sure they think I’m crazy) to buy 2x2-ish pieces of wood which I then sawed into 6 foot long pieces to create my new canopy frame. Plus, I also talked to the Padre and at some point they are going to put cement in the gaps in my ceiling (helping put a stop to any future rat problems while also helping with my ongoing war against sand/dirt/leaves). And my latest care package from my family included a bunch of sticky traps, although the only thing I’ve managed to catch so far is a small lizard – actually kind of sad.

At least one cat stayed in my house every night for about two weeks, and I’m continuing to sleep with the lights on. The cats aren’t staying in my house any more (thank goodness) and if the sticky rat trap stays empty for the next couple of days, I might even try to sleep without the lights. Big steps.

And so it begins . . .

I just finished my first week of teaching Chemistry to the approximately 320 to 400 students (not exactly sure how big all of my classes are, some students still aren’t here), most of whom are just starting their first year at Estrela do Mar. Although they are technically all eighth graders (except one class of 9th graders), their ages range from 12 to 23. Each grade is split up into their various “tracks” – as this is a technical school, there are eight tracks ranging from sewing to accounting. Most of the tracks are geared towards future employment in the tourism industry such as the “table and bar” (serving) track and the “reception” track, however all students must also fulfill basic requirements such as math, Portuguese, and chemistry. As I expected, each class has about 40 to 50 students (which is fairly small for Mozambique), but what I hadn’t thought about before was how much the gender ratio changes between the various tracks. Out of eight classes (each taught twice a week), two are all male and one only has two females. Tracks such as sewing have more females than males, but I don’t have any classes with just girls.

The students are divided by track and by year, and each of these “turmas” have their own classroom, where they stay for the whole day. This means that the teachers are the ones moving from class to class and requires a bit of planning as I can’t just come in before school starts in the morning to prepare my classroom and board – everything has to either be portable or fit within the 45 minutes of allotted class time. I teach anywhere from 3 to 5 classes a day and don’t have class on Fridays (yay!).

I find the formality of education here to be very interesting. School starts every morning with the national anthem and a prayer (Catholic school) in the courtyard. During this time, the students are lined up in their turmas and the teachers with morning classes stand facing the students. This is where announcements for the day are made and after the prayer everyone heads to class. When I enter the classroom, the entire turma stands and says “Bom dia, senhora professora.” I then have to return the greeting and give them permission to be seated before class can begin. But the best part about teaching is the fact that I have to wear a white “bata” which is basically a lab coat. Every teacher (whether they teach a science or not) must wear a bata and I find it endlessly amusing (however, they are also a pain in the butt to keep clean). 

As I’m teaching in Portuguese, for the first couple lessons I have basically written a transcript of what I need to say and write on the board. When I practiced teaching English (‘cause that’s what I thought I’d be teaching) during training in Namaacha, it was easy to improvise if my lesson plan fell flat or went faster than I thought it would. While teaching chemistry, I have to be very on top of my lesson planning because at this point, my Portuguese/chemistry skills are still not quite up to the improvisation level. It’s getting better (slowly but surely). The first couple of lessons have definitely been difficult, but went much better than I initially thought they would. Keep your fingers crossed for a great next 17 weeks of classes!

Rat Strat 2012

There was a cyclone that passed by the coast of Mozambique about a week or so ago and while it didn’t cause any major damage (it stayed pretty far off the coast), we had some serious wind and rain for a couple of days. As I have a tin roof, this rain/wind sounded basically like the world was about to end, meaning that I didn’t hear the large branch that broke off and fell onto my shower drainpipe, basically shattering it. To continue the series of unfortunate events, the rain evidently displaced a rat, who decided to come into my house through the now broken drain. Ew.

I can deal with most bugs, cockroaches aren’t even that big of a deal now, but on the second night of the rat adventure, he (she?) jumped on my not-very-tall headboard, causing me to almost have a heart attack and leading to my rat paranoia of the subsequent week. I basically didn’t sleep because I was a) making sure the rat didn’t get inside my mosquito net and b) waiting to see if one of my rat trapping/killing strategies worked. Even though I had blocked the shower drain, the rat had figured out how snazzy my house is, and started coming in through the roof (a problem that I can’t fix). So, first I tried one of the scary traps baited with bread and peanut butter . . . and almost lost a finger. That night the rat ate the bread and peanut butter without setting off the trap. Second night, just peanut butter on the trap, but apparently Mozambican rats don’t like peanut butter (or are just really smart about their trap avoidance techniques) so he just ignored the trap. Third night I tried to put bread inside of a 5 gallon bucket, with a stick leading up to the bucket, the theory being he wouldn’t be able to get out. Turns out, the rat is large enough to get out of the 5 gallon bucket without tipping it over. Fantastic. The bucket trap took awhile to get any results, so it wasn’t until this week that I finally tried turkey jerky on the trap. Rat still ignored it.

It’s unclear if the rat is even coming in anymore because all of my food is put away (so I don’t have any evidence of his continued existence) and I was so sleep deprived from the period of rat paranoia that I have basically just passed out the last couple of nights. However, I did let the cat stay inside last night and am planning to do the same thing for the next couple of nights hoping that’ll either discourage the rat or be the end of the rat. But he also may have been eaten by the cat that lives on the roof, it’s all unclear. My mom is sending me sticky traps (to outsmart Mozambican rats), so next time (I really would prefer there wasn’t a next time) I’ll be prepared.    

Lesson planning - Mozambique style

Truthfully, I’ve never planned a lesson really before this last month. I’ve planned a number of meetings, etc. but never anything in a) a language I’m still struggling with and b) a subject I’m not completely comfortable with. So when the teachers’ meetings started, I was rather excited to get some guidance on the chemistry curriculum and to begin planning the year. However, things (per usual) didn’t go quite as planned. 1) I am the only chemistry teacher. While I kind of knew this when I moved to site, I hadn’t realized how much being the only chemistry teacher would matter. My sitemate, Zach, who is teaching English had someone to at least talk him through the basics of all of the required forms for curriculum formation, where as I was kind of just floating in space for awhile.

This was partially due to the fact that Estrela do Mar coordinates their curriculum and final examinations with another tech school in Inhambane City – so I wanted to wait to form my curriculum until I could coordinate with the other teachers. This meeting was supposed to take place on January 24th, about a week before school started. It ended up taking place on January 31st, aka the second day of school. So I wrote out an entire curriculum that I didn’t really end up using because the teachers in Inhambane City have actually taught chemistry before, and obviously have better Portuguese skills than I do, so the joining of curriculums ended up being a little one-sided. While I understand scheduling issues, it was just so strange to me that this meeting took place after school had already begun and after the teachers had already (theoretically) spent 2 weeks on their lesson planning.

I still am unsure how some teachers managed to do any lesson planning as we did not have a “final” (it’s been completely overhauled at least three times since then and I’m still missing a class . . . ) teaching schedule until the first day of school. While I at least knew that I would be teaching 1st year chemistry (because there are no other chemistry classes) other teachers only had a vague idea of what year and sometimes of what subject they would be teaching. On the first day, the national anthem started at 6:45 am and then all the teachers had a meeting at 7:00 am, the time school was theoretically supposed to start. I’m fairly impressed with students’ ability to go with the flow, the teachers’ meeting didn’t end until almost 9 am when they finally handed out our schedules (which, to be fair, are put together without a computer, so I’m really actually pretty impressed) and I found out that I had already missed my first class. A lot of the teachers didn’t even teach their classes the first week because they were engaged in the overhaul of the schedule – trying to make it so they taught 3 classes in a row, instead of having a lot of “free” time. I tried my darnedest to stay out of that process, my schedule is a little weird on some days, but I just did not want to get involved with all of the trading of class times, etc.

Anyways, I am currently attempting to collect little demonstrations and experiments that are feasible without any type of lab equipment (so if you happen to have any ideas, please email me). This weekend is devoted to looking through the new curriculum from the Inhambane school and trying to make it make sense to me while still ensuring that my students at least have the opportunity to learn everything they’ll need to know for the test. It’ll all work out in the end and I’m actually kind of happy that I now have no choice but to improve my Portuguese.

First Impressions

The first couple of days at site were so hot and humid. Luckily I’m living about 5 minutes from the ocean, so there was a tad bit of a breeze. But I was still pretty much miserable (living in Sequim this summer with its highs of all of 70 degrees did not really help with my acclimation). However, little by little, I’m moving in and was able to spend the entire day yesterday cleaning and organizing my new little house (the weather finally cooled down a bit). I now have an electric stove (basically 2 hot plates stuck together) and combined with my electric teakettle, life is pretty good. I’ve even gotten over the fact that I will be killing 3-4 cockroaches a day – and my aim with the nasty bug spray has drastically improved (however, I am especially happy when I wake up in the morning and the cockroaches have flipped themselves over on accident, it’s the little things).

I’m living on the mission compound about a 5-10 minute walk from the school where I’ll be teaching. In my town there is a market of vendors as well as a more “supermarket”-y store which has some of the essentials that cannot be purchased at the actual market (like oatmeal, so happy to have real breakfast foods again). There are a number of hotels/lodges in my town and although it’s definitely not the most touristy town in the area, right now is the peak of tourist season (most of Moz’s tourists are from South Africa or other neighboring countries), so there are a number of tourists throughout town. This also means that every once-in-a-while, when neither my neighbor PCV or I feel like cooking, we can find a place to eat (the resort affiliated with my school has pizza with sauce and real cheese . . . so delicious). I am living on the same compound with, but about 3 doors away from another volunteer from my training group, Zach, who will be teaching English and computers at the tech school. 

More about my school. For the next two years I’ll be teaching chemistry at Estrella de Mar, a commercial and industrial technical school that goes from eighth to tenth grade. Rumor currently has it that chemistry is only offered to eighth graders, so there is a possibility that I’ll only be teaching one grade. In Mozambique, students (or at least those in towns/able to move to town during the school year) can attend either technical schools or secondary schools. Estrella de Mar (like many other Moz secondary and tech schools) has a dormitory for students who live outside of town to stay in. Tech schools tend to have smaller class sizes and are focused on providing students with practical skills for a job after graduation. Due to Inhassoro’s location, this school’s curriculum is centered on the tourism industry. The school is run by the Church (I think?) and is partnered with an Italian NGO (maybe two) that support a recently opened resort in Inhassoro. The hope is that the students will move from the school to jobs as resort employees. In order for the students to gain more practical experience, the other PCV at my site (Zach) and I might be working with a couple of other teachers to organize after school English groups that would emphasize the accumulation of conversation skills necessary for work in the tourism industry.  

However, school is on their summer/holiday break right now . . . and it sounds like it doesn’t start again until the beginning of February. So I have a lot of time to finish getting organized and brush up on my chemistry skills!! 

Beginning of Life in Inhassoro

Moved into my new house on Monday and am living in the mission compound about a 5 minute walk away from the ocean. My house is only one bedroom and a bathroom, but there is running water (cold) and electricity, so my life is feeling pretty swanky. The weather has been miserably humid and I wake up every morning at about 4 am to the sound of mangoes falling on my tin roof. It's mango season right now, and although I know I'm going to be sick of them by the end of the season, right now I am obsessed. Mangoes and oatmeal is quite possibly the best breakfast food ever (although I'm in Vilankulos right now and had a waffle with syrup . . . I miss real breakfast food a lot).

Visited the school where I will be working (it's a technical school focused on preparing students to work in the tourist industry) and it sound like I definitely will be teaching chemistry. So I've started studying the materials left behind by the other volunteers (both of whom also taught chemistry). Teaching chemistry is going to be a major challenge, but should result in the significant improvement of my Portuguese.

Thus far my town seems to have just about everything I need . . . except the internet. I'm contemplating purchasing a modem, but for now I just have email and a bit of facebook on my cell phone. Please keep/start emailing me updates . . . school doesn't start until the end of January, so I am looking for things (besides chem studying) to fill my time! More updates later!

Confirmation Mass. Finally the Last Week in Namaacha.

I went to the Catholic Church in Namaacha with my host family during the first two weekends of homestay. But, for a variety of reasons including the fact that mass is usually two to three hours long and Sundays are my only free day all week, I have been successfully avoiding mass since the third week. Maybe not the best choice for my soul, but rather necessary for my sanity.

However, this weekend was my host cousin (I think?)’s confirmation, and I told her that I would attend. My mae informed me that we would be leaving the house at 8 am. Which meant I could sleep in, because last weekend when I did my laundry, my host aunt woke me up at 4:30. Before the sun was up. Anyways, I was shocked yesterday when, at 7:45, my mae was ready to go. We never ever leave or get anywhere early (which has been an ongoing struggle for my obsession with being awkwardly early to everything). So my mae and I set off for church, arriving at about 8:30. Which turned out to be a problem because mass started at 8. And since it was confirmation, the church (which is probably twice the size of St. Joseph’s) was completely packed. My mae sent me upstairs (which I later found out is the area for the old people and babies) where I stood. Through a 99-person confirmation and the resulting four hour mass.

Luckily, my electrolyte imbalance and dehydration that had resulted from my case of “Pre-colonial-southern-African-leader’s Revenge” (similar to Montezuma’s Revenge) had finally resolved itself. Otherwise I probably would have passed out. I stood next to this really nice nun (which gives me hope for the next two years of living on a Catholic mission), who shared her program with me.

In Mozambique, right after the collection, during the portion of mass when the gifts are being carried to the altar, they have a number of people carry items of food to the altar as well. I imagine that this food is being donated by the congregation, but I don’t actually know. Anyways, in the States this procession is usually all of four people and during the two masses I went to earlier in Moz, it was about 10 people. However, because the Bishop was there and it was confirmation, the procession yesterday was about 30-40 people. I zoned out a bit during this part, but the nun elbowed me and said “that goat looks fresh.” At first I thought that my Portuguese skills (or lack thereof) had just massively misinterpreted what she had said, so I asked her to repeat. Turns out my Portuguese was correct, and at the end of the procession, two men were carrying (a fairly large) live goat up to the altar. Where they presented it to the Bishop and then quickly carried it back outside.

After mass, I went to study for my final language test. And split close to a gallon of neapolitan ice cream with three other people. It was amazing.

I’m in Namaacha until the morning of December 8th and then will be heading to Maputo for swearing-in at the US Ambassador’s residence. After that, I will be at a supervisor’s conference until Monday when I finally move into my new house. I am so beyond ready to be living by myself (I have a site-mate who will be living about five houses away). Then it’s on to a month of intense chemistry cramming so that I can start teaching chemistry (in Portuguese) in the middle of January. I’m a little/a lot freaked out about teaching chem, but it’ll work out in the end (and will be great for my Portuguese skills). Prayers for the rapid accumulation of chemistry knowledge would be appreciated. I hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday season (and that finals are going well)! Miss you all!