Day ten… ish. I can’t believe that I’ve already been in Mozambique
for over a week. It’s been a while since
I’ve written anything, but that’s mostly due to our busy training schedule as
well as a substantial fear of blowing out my electronics this early by trying
to charge them with an unfamiliar plug. Well, I’ve experimented and found that
aside from the AC adapter on my computer heating up a whole lot (I think due to
the 220 voltage passing through it?), I think I’m safe for the most part. Probably
not going to try and push my luck though and I’ll continue to not leave things
plugged in overnight.
Anyways…last night was awesome. Why was it so awesome you ask? Well, for starters, I got my phone to work (I
have a Mozambican Phone Number! E-mail
me if you want it!) and spent 30 minutes on the phone with my mom and Val.
That’s great and all, but it’s what was said during the conversation that has
me freaking out about a million miles away.
Last night, I found out that the Orioles clinched a berth in the playoffs. Not last place; THE PLAYOFFS! Nearly a decade and a half I’ve been waiting for
them to have a half-decent season, and my patience finally pays off when I move
half-way across the globe. Figures. At least I have text messages and a motivated
(and equally obsessed) sister to send me updates. Keep ‘em coming dude!
Now to report on things that my mom will actually care
about...personal updates and the other reason that today was so good.
These past few days I’ve been a little nervous about
learning the language. We don’t have much time before they start expecting us to
be able to converse, only about 4 weeks.
Today though, my confidence hit an all-time high. I feel like I’m making significant
improvements every day and think that a huge part of that is due to my host
family and language teacher, Horacio being so patient and willing to work with
me and my fellow compatriots. Poor Horacio though. My language group is practically starting
from less than scratch (he has to un-teach us Spanish), so we aren’t exactly
easy to handle. It’s been a process, but
a fun one for sure.
Speaking of Language Class, I’ll tell you a little more
about it. Here’s how it all works: There are three main groups of volunteers
here. Everyone is a teacher, but the
groups are split-up by the subject you are supposed to teach. There are about 40 English Teachers, 11 Math
Teachers and about 10 Science Teachers.
Each group of teachers is then assigned to a Barrio (read: neighborhood)
in Namaacha, our Training Village for Pre-Service Training (PST). English is living in Barrio 25, Science is in
Barrio A, and Math is in Barrio Fronteira.
Each volunteer is living with a host family somewhere in their
respective Barrio. In addition to living
there, the groups also take language and technical courses in their
neighborhoods as well. For the most
part, English teacher spend most of their training time with the other English
teacher, science with other science teachers, and math with other math
teachers. On a side note, once a week we
all meet up at one location for cross-cultural classes and shots. Peace Corps loves to dole out shots like they
were candy. I wish they candy.
Anyways, within the respective disciplines, we are then
split into smaller language groups according to our current comprehension of
Portuguese. We have two groups for the
Math Teachers. One group is for those
who know some Portuguese, and the other group is for the rookies. I’m a rookie,
and there are four other rookies in the group with me.
When it’s time for language class – which happens to be all
the time right now, since the first four weeks of PST are pretty much focused
on getting you to learn the language – everyone in the language group congregates
at one of the group members house’s. We
then begin our learning in that persons respective home or shaded yard,
depending on the weather. The small classes make things a whole lot more
personalized, and therefore a whole lot easier.
The setting itself, well, it’s amazing.
I sit and relax in a plastic chair in the shade, learning Portuguese
from a native speaker, while enjoying a classroom environment that far exceeds
anything I’ve ever seen in the states. No white-washed walls here (well, not
when we are outside of the house at least…but then again, even in the house they
aren’t very white any more), only panoramic vistas of green, rolling mountains
dotted with the abodes of families who have resided here for hundreds of years.
Needless to say, withal the day-dreaming I do, sometimes it’s hard to
concentrate on the Portuguese lesson.
So, in conclusion...that is why I am struggling with language. Because of Namaacha.
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