Dia da Paz

         My stomach is made of iron, and I am officially a charades pro at this point.  I am trying lots of new foods, even many that we were advised to stay away from.  I do feel bad though, because many other volunteers are not as lucky as I am.  After that little side note, onto some more important updates. 

            Language classes are going well and I understand my lessons more and more quickly each day.  Qiraque is turning into quite a good teacher, and I have a great group of people in my language class.  This helps a lot because 3-4 days a week we are together 8-9 hours a day.  At the end of each day I am exhausted. 

Here’s what a typical day looks like:  Class starts at 7:30 every day and ends at 5:30 with about two hours of breaks.  I wake up around 5:30, turn the stove to heat up my water for my bath, go on a run, shower, make my morning egg with some tea and bread, clean my dishes, and head to class.  After a week of being here I am finally getting used to waking up at this time.  Class from 7:30-12, a two hour break where I eat lunch, study, read, or take a nap.   Then back to class until 5:30.  After class I have some bread and butter, do chores like sweeping, washing dishes and clothes, ironing and the likes.  After that I hang out with the family, read, do homework, or hang out with some other volunteers.  In Mozambique it’s not acceptable to bathe only once a day.  My evening shower is around 7.  Dinner’s around 8 and then I play cards with my siblings, get to my room around 10, and then I blog a little or read before bed.  Bedtime is between 10:30 and 11. 

In class on Wednesday, I wrote down a memorable quote from one of the speakers: “Your work is like raindrops filling a river…You do not work alone.  There were volunteers before you, and ones that will follow.  Together you will make an impact.”  This really hit home for me.  It made me appreciate the Peace Corps even more.  I know in the future I will have days where I am frustrated beyond belief that all my hard work is for nothing, and that my students and community aren’t learning anything from me.  I’m going to put this quote on my wall to remind myself that it is bigger than me.  Step by step, volunteer-by-volunteer, we can make a difference. 

            We also learned about the national school system on Wednesday.  Here are some interesting facts from the day:

·      Primary school is 1^st-7^th grade, ages 6-12.  Secondary school is 8^th-12^th grade, ages 13-17.

·      47% of students fail secondary education. 

·      Only 2% of students can afford to buy books.  The professor is the only one with a textbook, so the notes they take are everything.

·      School isn’t five days a week; it’s normally 3 days a week. 

Yesterday was a national holiday.  O Dia da Paz, a Day of Peace.  On October 4^th, twenty years ago a treaty was signed that ended the 16-year war.  All the volunteers met at Namaacha’s memorial and watched how Mozambican’s celebrated this day.  There were a lot of speeches, songs by the women, flowers, and children dancing.  Two of the local schools had traditional dances that they performed.  The volunteers were really happy to watch and participate in this historical day.  Here are some pictures of the day. 

Here are community members at the memorial

Here is the typical dress of Mozambican women

This is my sister in her primary (elementary) school uniform.  This is Yula.

After classes, yep we were the only people with classes in the entire country, a good amount of the volunteers met at a local bar to relax for an hour, which was really nice and fun.  Moz 19 only gets to see each other once a week, and other than that we are broken up into our subjects (English, sciences, math) and our language groups.  I hung out with friends I don’t get to see as much.  Over the hour and a half I bought one coke and one beer.  The coke was in a glass bottle and cost 15 meticais, a little over 50¢.  The beer was a national beer, was twice as big as the ones in America, and it cost 35 meticais.  In American terms, two beers for $1.25.  It also costs 1 Metical per minute of internet use, apx. a little less than 4¢ a minute.  Not too shabby Mozambique, not too shabby. 

I also have made other new friends and enemies. 

This is my enemy.