Tracy and Sojo, meet Nutella

Things happen quickly sometimes and with little warning. Yesterday, Tracy and I got a dog, or rather it happened upon us, or maybe it was fate? We were preparing to go out. I opened the door to go to the well to fetch a bucket of water to wash up with. I came back into our house and there was a large pit mix staring at me with the cutest little expression on her sandy brown face. She walked up to me as if we were old buddies. I pet her big head, called Tracy and we began to fall in love. Her fur was so velvety and she had a pink and black speckled nose. Who doesn't love a pink and black speckled nose? I'm such a sucker all it took was twenty seconds. She was well taken care of and had an owner somewhere because she was wearing a collar but had no tags. Clearly she didn't belong in the brush. We have our share of stray muts, but they are all mournful looking skinny little things. Most of our rural neighbors are terrified of dogs because the Portuguese used to sick their dogs on the Mozambicans to intimidate them. Long story short, we let her stay in our kitchen while we put on our make up and prepared to go out.

We left our house dog in tow figuring that she'd find her way back to wherever she came from. We walked the main road holding our thumbs up trying to get a lift into the city and the dog followed. We finally get a lift and before we can get into the truck, she jumps in ahead of us. The guys driving the truck were like, okay, no problem, and so began the story of Sojourner, Tracy and Nutella. Yes, Nutella. We named her Nutella because she's brown and white and she sort of if you squint looks like nutella and we really miss chocolate so it just worked for us. We get off in the city and head toward our friend Lynne's house and she follows. We get to Lynne's house and she hangs out there with our group. Everyone took to her because she's so darn cute.

A few hours later we headed to a BBQ and she of course followed and was very popular. I'm a veggie, so it worked out that I could pile my plate with sausages and give them to her without taking food from the other guests. Then she followed us to the after party at the Baraka next to Lynne's. It was only natural at that point that she hop into the car with us as our friends gave us a lift back to our place.

Today after work Tracy and I are going to put up flyers in town announcing that there is a missing dog. But she's soooooo cuuuutttteeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is here at work with us as I write, curled into a ball under Tracy's desk sleeping. She's the best dog! If I can't find a home for her, I'm going to bring her back to the states with me which might mean that I will soon be homeless, but she's sooooo cuuuuteeeee!.

All in all things have been going really really well here. Socially and aesthetically I love Inhambane. There is a beautiful energy here. We've got a new D.I. coming tomorrow so there will be three in the house, four with Nutella, so we've got a lot of adventures and fun times to look forward to.

Muito Frio

It's gotten so cold. Yes, cold, I realize is relative, but it's cold compared to the burning inferno I first encountered in February. Last night I was freezing. I should have brought a blanket with me. Yesterday I taught a yoga class. It was so nice to get back on the mat and move through a series of asanas. It was a Vinyasa flow class (at least my non-certified version). I'm definitely heading east to an ashram when I'm finished with this project.

I had the best English class. I was teaching the parts of the body and after we identified all of the body parts we sang "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes". My students loved it. I added on seven new verses so that each vocabulary word was covered and I made them sing it and go through the motions quickly and slowly. Their assignment was to create their own song in Portuguese (which they would translate also into English) that they could use to teach the children in their classes the parts of the body. Then they each took a turn sharing their songs with the class. It was so much fun! Their homework is to create movements or a dance to go along with their songs for the kinesthetic learners. Good times! I wish I taught more English classes.

Magnolias in the distance

I was sick this week-end. I had some sort of a stomach bug that has been going around.I've lost so much weight since I've arrived, my clothes are all too big. It's ridiculous. Even my underwear are baggy. I have to buy new clothes, pants in particular.

Sunday was a full moon and we went to a full moon party on the beach at DINO's (one of the resort restaurants in Tofo). They have a full moon party every full moon. It was so much fun. It's tourist season right now so there were so many new people to meet, not just the "regulars". I had fun! A lot of fun!!! I met someone. I've got such a crush. I feel like I'm 12 years old again. We'll call him J and he's Mozambican, from Maputo in town scoping out sites to open a backpackers on one of the beaches in Inhambane.

The weather is freezing. I say this because I've grown accustomed to 90 degrees and it is currently 60-70 during the day and 40ish at night. Winter season is here and it's really blustery. Last night, I heard the cyclone warning horns in the distance, but the scary thing is that unless someone tells me that we are about to have a cyclone, I'd never know. Nor do I know what to do in the event that we do get one, so, let's hope that doesn't happen.

A magnolia bush is flourishing in our backyard. It smells sooooo nice. Tracy and I have been walking around with the flowers and buds in our hair. We get a lot of odd looks. I've started pressing and drying the flowers and using them to decorate my recycled books. I've been creating various notebooks using recycled cardboard and paper. Soon I'll lead a workshop. I've also made candle holders using recycled coconut shell and plastic bottles. Wish I had more tools, like wire pliers, so that I could manipulate aluminum cans into beads.

I know for next time!

Bubble-Bubble-Toil and Trouble!

HAPPY TWO MONTH ANNIVERSARY TO ME! Our dinner party last night was a success. Matapa always goes over well. Oh, I love Mozambican food! Matapa is my favorite local dish. Matapa consists of the leaves from the casava plant. Casava plants are everywhere, the leaves sort of look like marijuana. The leaves are boiled and sauteed in a coconut milk and peanut sauce curry and served over coconut rice. Delicious!!!!!! Our empragada (housekeeper Juakina) makes the best Matapa on this side of the Indian Ocean. We're lucky to have her.

The breakfast Tracy and I prepared for the students was slightly chaotic. My oatmeal was a little on the salty side. I'm not sure what happened but my pinch turned into a cup. I'm not used to making oatmeal by the cauldron full. I felt like I was enacting the first scene of Macbeth. The students liked their breakfast. It was so funny to see them eating western-ish food for the first time. They didn't know what oatmeal was or what french toast was. They thought something was wrong with the bread until they tasted it. The fruit salad was familiar to them at least.

I'm off to sort the garbage!

Sojourner Walker- Garbage Lady

Last night, Tracy and I made fudge in preparation for a dinner party we're throwing tonight.

We're forcing our cozy ex-pat friends who reside in the city to join us for a night in the bush. A night without indoor plumbing or running water. Akisha's already taken the challenge, now we've got three new guests on our roster. The bush will either make you or break you. I haven't yet decided what it's doing to me. Only time will tell...We're making an elaborate breakfast for our students on Thursday to thank them for all of their hard work on the machamba (farm). The agriculture project we've all been slaving away at is finally taking off. Beautiful vegetation is sprouting left and right.

We've just solidified the breakfast budget. The students eat bread and butter for breakfast day in and day out. Tomorrow Tracy and I will make them oatmeal (with butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and a pinch of salt), fruit salad (with papayas, bananas, oranges, apples, pineapples and passion fruit juice), and french toast.

We'll have to get up around 4:30 am to make all of this stuff, but I like to cook so I'm not complaining. Our overnight dinner guests will also attend our breakfast and meet our students and project leaders so it should be a good time.

We're having our project leaders meet our friends largely in part to the fact that they are convinced that Tracy and I have boyfriends in the city. Whenever they see us head towards the city the shoot accusing looks our way. We have been told point blank "I know you're sleeping with men in the city". It's really offensive.  Women are trusted and valued in this culture. In the US, that would be sexual harassment. We keep telling them that we have friends in the city, a group of American, Canadian and British girls that we hang out with and they don't believe us. So tomorrow morning they will see. And the rumors can stop flying- we hope. Big brother is always watching here. Most people don't have televisions or books or much to do, so they spend their time talking about the two mazungos who live in the pink and turquoise house smack dab in the middle of the bush. Drives me crazy! It's the talk of the brush when we get a new capulana or a new pair of earrings from market.I am now in charge of the garbage and recycling program. I just got a list of students who have been selected to assist (against their will). Most of them are my Intermediate English students. There are twelve in total and we are going to separate the garbage into bins for paper, plastic, aluminum, ash, compost and pig feed. We will also canvass the campus and do garbage pick-ups once a week. We even get to take on the responsibility of feeding the three enormous 250 lb hogs that are kept in a pen behind the kitchen.

I spend the majority of my time working in the field or working on the garbage project which is funny, because my job description is "Professor". I'm just going to go with the flow. I do feel strongly about recycling and I'm sick of smelling the stench of burned garbage so if this is where I'm needed, this is where I'll put my best foot forward.

Sweet agriculture

It's working. Our agriculture project is producing results. All of our trenches have been filled. The earth is being watered regularly so that the soil will decompose and rot to provide healthy fertile earth. Today in one of our test patches there were sweet potato plants. The little green leaves broke through the earth in stubborn winding clusters.

There is a delicious dish that is made using sweet potato leaves. I hope we will be able to harvest the crops within the month so they can make and serve the dish in the cafeteria.

The dish is called Manioch (sp?) I think and I'm not sure what they do, but they do it well, and the result is a creamy coconut flavored, spicy,  creamed spinach-like meal that is eaten over rice. It's so good. I'm going to learn how to make it so that I can replicate it when I get home. I appreciate the fact that every part of the plants and vegetables are utilized. I had no idea sweet potato leaves could be eaten. I had no idea they were so tasty.

Let's add scorpions to the list now

I saw my first scorpion today.It's coloring was odd, bright yellow which translates to full of venom. It was roughly the size of my hand and luckily for me dead as a doorknob.

I found it in the sand on my way to lunch. I would of course spot it, I can spot an insect in a darkened movie theatre. I made Tracy come over to confirm that I did indeed have my first scorpion sighting and it was confirmed.

I was told that there were no scorpions in Inhambane. I was lied to. I've been happily walking around in the bush in the dark in flip flops because I was assured that there were no scorpions. I've been lucky but it's time to change my habits.

First, I need to trade in my flip flops for a pair of actual shoes - boots would be preferred.

Toads in my bedroom

Living abroad, particularly in a developing country can be such a roller-coaster. Everything is done in the moment. Right now, at this moment, all is well.

Yesterday, walking through the streets of Inhambane, watching the sun slowly set as it cast an ethereal golden glow over the city, I realized that Inhambane is my city. It is what New York was to me, it's my home. Yes, I live in the bush an hour away by foot, but I identify with Inhambane City. Walking to Akisha's house with Tracy, we passed by shops that I know so well, shop owners that we know waved and called out to us, I have memories here. I am comfortable and familiar with the environment. I know that when I walk in front of the Frelimo building there is a dip where one of the bricks in the ground is missing and that I need to step around or leap over it to avoid tripping (as i've done in the past).

When I enter the Mercado Central, I know exactly where to go to get what I want and I know how to haggle and bargain until I get the local price. I know shop women and vendors. What was once foreign is familiar. I have a group of friends in the city which has made a world of a difference. Whether we are meeting for brownies and a movie or are gathering to practice yoga, I feel very much at home and at peace in Inhambane.

Life happens, no matter where you are. No matter where you go, there are friends to be made, relationships to be had, experiences to grow from. When I left for Mozambique, in a strange way I thought I'd be putting my life on hold for a year to have this "experience". I suppose professionally I'm putting my life on hold for a year, but that's as far as it goes. Everything else is blossoming lotus style. My Portuguese is getting worse, that's not blossoming. I don't understand how this has happened. Yes I do. Everyone speaks to me in English. It's so annoying and now, I've gotten used to speaking in English. One of my Mozambican friends Gilson is supposed to be teaching me Portuguese, I think I need to hurry up and arrange for our first session, pronto.

There was a toad in my bedroom last night, a cute little guy with a deep baritone, I let him stay.

Brownies in the brush

We have a rat in our house. I have braids in my hair.

Something bit my right hand and it's swollen, but all is well, because we are going to have a brownie party tonight with Akisha, Lynne (our friend from Montreal) and co.

We've made four different types of brownies that we will sample and share yum...yum.. yum...

And Lynne is mixing drinks

The mosquitoes are out in swarms and they are steadily feeding on my flesh. In the past, we didn't have a problem at all with these little buggers. When I arrived, towards the end of the summer/rainy season, I was told the mosquitoes would be at their peak. I was rarely bitten, barely saw them.

Now that it's winter, a cool breezy seventy degrees, they are everywhere. It's really bizarre. They're in our house, they're by the well and worst of all, they hang out in our bath hut.

I shower around six am, peak mosquito hour and they are everywhere. Someone is leaving water, stagnant water in the bucket overnight so by the time I arrive, they are swarming and hungry. And what can I do? It's not like I can shower with my clothes on. I am going to bring lemongrass incense with me tomorrow morning, the pesky buggers hate smoke and they hate lemongrass or so I've been told. I hope it works because I have to bathe and I really don't want malaria. I'm not taking any preventive medication (personal choice) and would like to leave Mozie without any unfortunate incidents.

Yesterday was pay day!!!!!! Our money was eight days late, but that's how people roll here at ADPP, what can I do? Tracy and I went to the Mercado Central and purchased so much food we could barely waddle home. Akisha has been a positive influence on us. Every time we go to her house we cook and now we're going to cook more often. It is difficult because we don't actually have an oven, only a tiny burner, but creativity will get you far. Last night we ate tuna salad, with hard boiled eggs and a weird crepe/cracker/omelet creation (Tracy's idea) made out of oatmeal, salt and eggs. It was a good dinner actually and this morning, I woke up early to fix a steaming pot of delicious oatmeal. Not to brag, but my oatmeal is amazing, and it's tri-doshic (for those of you who follow Ayurveda). I should have my own cooking show. It was so good! The butter and milk here aren't pasteurized and contain no nasty hormones or chemicals like the dairy at home. Everything tastes so much better.

I am also a fashion designer! After watching a season of Project Runway, I sketched (albeit badly) some designs for shirts and pants and bags. Yesterday, I went to a seamstress and gave her my designs and some capalanas and she's going to bring my sketches to life. I get my goods on Friday. So excited!

Creativity here is king. I love it.

Mozambican Women's Day

Yesterday was Mozambican Women's Day!It's a national holiday and in its honor, everything was closed.

What a great concept. Not only do the people in Mozambique celebrate a Women's Day, but a Mozambican Women's Day as well. We need this in the US.

The only women who are celebrated back home seem to be mothers. Mothers are great, but every woman is not a mother and a woman doesn't have to be a mother to be a WOMAN or to be noteworthy. Some of the most noteworthy women I know are not mothers. Come on USA, catch up to Mozambique and adapt this holiday!

Tracy, Akisha and I got dressed up in our capolanas and joined the women of Inhambane at their rally. It was nice. It was also unusually hot. We didn't last more than an hour. But it was a beautiful gesture. There was music, dancing, speeches were given by heads of the government. Children danced for the women and handed out flowers. It was really beautiful.

It was a nice long week-end and now I am back in my favorite place, the teachers office. And yes, it is just as loud and annoying as ever! Good times...

Things would be even better if we could get our pay checks. As usual, they are late. We're supposed to get paid the first of every month. Needless to say I've never once been paid on time. Nothing happens on time here. Things are perpetually backwards. But we're running out of money. Life here definitely exists paycheck to paycheck.

We were up at five to work on our agriculture project. We're making so much progress. We've filled in all but one trench and are watering the compost waiting for it to rot and decompose into fertile soil so that we can finally begin to plant. Our aim- vegetables. I think the cool air is helping.

The flies here are crazy. They buzz around your body in swarms of three to five. They dive bomb your eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The flies will follow you for miles. I've never seen or experienced anything like it.  I have to squint and close my mouth because they try to get inside. American house flies are just annoying, but they don't cling to people. They usually stick to windows and fly in angry circles around a room once they realize they've been trapped. These flies, have so much open space and what do they want to do, they want to hover around and become a part of you, it's parasitic. A few always cling to your clothes for a free windless ride. Usually they position themselves on the shoulder blade or back and hold on until you reach their stop. I feel like a whale with barnacles. But there is nothing that I can do and at least they are not bees or wasps or....

Week-end Update

FRIDAY-Margarita Pizzas in Town -Akisha sleeps over - Slumber Party like ten year old girls! -Hard core UNO and TABOO gaming

SATURDAY - Screening of "Ratitulle"- Such a cute movie - Screening of "Weeds" season one - Lunch on Tofo beach -Drinks in town with our friends - First concert at a dance club  called "ZOOM" to see Stuwart Sukuma (a popular Mozambican singer) - First time dancing the Pasada (Mozambican salsa-esque dance) - Winning second place in a Pasada concert while being the only non-Mozambican on stage out of 12 Mozambican women and having only learned the dance two hours prior ( ;o) - I'm good! )

SUNDAY - Going to bed after sunrise- Sleeping in - Screening of "Weeds" season two - Diner with friends at Sem Ceramonia in town (here I am now)

Tomorrow is Mozambican Women's Day!!!! Three day week-end, no work

Tracy's Back !!!!

Tracy came back! It was so exciting to have another human being around, a kindred spirit, who speaks my language. Woa! She came with stories and books and South African magazines. As shallow as it may sound, I was so happy to update myself with the "latest" this that and the other thing. It's been a long two months!

It is officially winter. The temperature is perfect around 65 to 80 degrees depending on the time of day. It's so nice to not break a sweat. We walked into the city today and it was so comfortable... finally!

We're having a slumber party tomorrow. Our friend Akisha is coming over as well as Priscilla another D.I. from a project in Chimoio.

I'm still sleeping in the pantry. Still fearful of another huntsman spider attack. I have to move out by tomorrow though and tonight, I'm going to examine every corner of my room with Tracy to make sure that nothing is living or hiding inside.

Night Shift

I have no idea how I am going to sleep. I am making myself crazy!!!! I've been sitting here researching and identifying all of the nasty bugs that I've seen. It turns out the giant tropical centipede that I found in my room last week is poisonous and can inflict a sometimes paralyzing bite. One was in the bath hut with me this morning too. Isn't that fantastic! Furthermore, the lovely tarantula-cousin spider that paid me a visit last night is a nocturnal hunter with a painful bite considering that their fangs are very large like elephant tusks and consequently quite strong. So in two hours, when night falls I will be paralyzed with fear underneath my mosquito tent praying that I won't have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Praying for a miracle, to be knocked out completely from six in the evening to six in the morning so that I see nothing and have no more bad experiences.

Surprise Spider Attack

I am sitting in the teacher's office with a pulsating headache. My headache has many levels and came into existence in a very unique yet acute way. Reason one for early morning headache: the teachers are screaming and arguing with each other yet again. It is all they do. Every thirty minutes or so a loud, long screaming match erupts. I just can't understand it. This is supposed to be a "professional" environment- if they only knew. I don't know why the directors don't do something about this, they hear the teachers arguing through the walls, their shouts and screams echo all around and make their way into the classrooms, it's so pitiful. Today a pair actually exchanged a few shoves. And I sit at my desk, shooting disgusted looks in their direction, typing away, reminding myself over and over why exactly it is that I am here.

Reason two for early morning headache: a spider tried to murder me last night. Last night after my English class, I came home, went into my room and immediately noticed something out of place. There was a black furry rug along the wall where it met the floor. No wait! It wasn't a rug, silly me, it was a spider, the size of a small dog hanging out in my room. I felt my eyes widen in horror, I covered my mouth so that I wouldn't scream, my entire body began to shake. This was literally the largest spider I had ever seen. This includes large scary spiders behind glass at the zoo. Naively, I ran into the kitchen to grab my can of Baygonne which works on spiders the size of my hand and smaller (silly, silly, me). When I sprayed this creature, I only made it angry, very angry. Spiders here come with the strangest feature. They lay flat, in what I assume is a resting position, but when they are roused, they literally inflate and double in size and girth. Now I was staring at a full fledged enormous tarantula. ENORMOUS! It ran and scurried, I sprayed at it again and it hid behind my night stand.

I ran into the kitchen and just stood there with my mouth open for a good ten minutes. I think I was actually in shock. I was out of my league. I had no idea what to do. I was all alone in this bug infested house in this country where I don't fully speak the language. Creatures like this don't just pass by, they enter and take over a space. It was so big and so fast. Baygonne just wasn't going to work. It was like trying to kill a pet cat with Raid. Think Sojourner...think, think, think..... I paced the floor in the kitchen.

The spider, as a way of giving me the finger I'm sure, began to crawl along my door frame peering out at me. It was soooooo big. I couldn't believe what I was dealing with. I gave in. I heard a television somewhere in the distance. I crept next door to see if I could find my neighbor Belleview, but of course when I'm looking for him, I can't find him, when I don't want him around he's everywhere. I did find two servants that work for the family though. In my broken Portuguese, I explained that I needed help because there was a large spider in my room that needed to be killed. One of the men followed me. I handed him a broom and he entered my room. He couldn't find it. After summoning up my courage, I entered the room with him and I couldn't see it either. How could I not see a small dog in a sparsely furnished room?  Then, the servant, a man, a Mozambican man, actually screamed. You know it's bad when a local person who is used to all sorts of creepy crawly disgusting creatures screams in shock. This thing was sooooo big!

The spider was backed into a corner. He fought with it using the broom. I'm in the kitchen at this point, all he needed to do was scream and jump back and that did it for me. They battled for a good five minutes before he emerged sheepishly. "Is it dead?" I asked. "No" he said reluctantly. "Where is it?" I said "I don't know?" he stammered. How could he not know? What was going on? Who was this super spider? He was such a sweet man, he could tell I was distressed and was trying to be nice. He brought me in the room and we checked every corner and crevice and just like that, the spider was nowhere to be seen.

I grabbed my mosquito net tent and evacuated. I would never be able to look at my room in the same way. I didn't trust that the spider was gone, I knew it was in there hiding, waiting to catch me alone and defenseless.

I thanked the man who happily went back to his room to finish watching his novella. I set up camp in our pantry/turned spare bedroom. It was the most fitful and uncomfortable sleep that I have had yet. I was shaking for an hour afterwards.

This morning, I woke at 5:00 because I had to work on my agriculture project and present a lecture to the students about composting. I got up, climbed out of my mosquito netting and made my way towards my room. I froze, the events were too raw. I couldn't convince my feet to bring me inside. I took the tablecloth off of the table, wrapped it around myself, grabbed my lecture and my bag and took off.

When I returned around 6:30, it was completely light out. I would need to get into my room because all of my shower materials and clothes were in there.  I couldn't walk around all day wrapped in a gingham tablecloth. It took me fifteen minutes to convince my legs to enter my room. Another ten to gather my items one by one. I didn't see the spider, but I didn't feel safe either.

I don't know how much of this I can take. Tracy isn't back yet, she is taking an extra long investigation period- why?!?. Between the bugs and the teachers that I am forced to share a space with, mentally I am through.

Mini Photo Gallery- Inhambane, Mozambique

Intruder

It's hard to believe that I've been here for almost two months already. At times it feels like I've been here for a much longer time and then there are others when I feel as if I've only just arrived. I spent a lot of time walking into the city this week-end. The walk from my rural-esque outpost to the city centre is more or less an hour. I did this on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. People think that it's crazy that I'm walking. I can't comprehend this. It strikes me as completely ironic considering that I'm an American and Americans have this terrible reputation as being lazy sloth-like overindulged creatures. Yet Mozambicans will go out of their way to avoid walking. When I tell people that I walk into the city, their eyes grow wide. No, you can't it's too far. Too far? It's only an hour. People will pay money to cram themselves into tiny trucks or cargo vans where they have no air to breathe and barely a place to put their bottoms just to avoid walking, it's absurd. The whole time I'm walking down the main road people are pulling over screaming "Senora, senora, boleya?"( rough translation - miss miss do you want a ride?) No thank you I say, I like to walk. This is usually followed by a grunt or a series of snickers. I never noticed this before because with Tracy we hitchhiked all the time and are always picked up right away.

I have finally learned my way around the city. It's such a liberating feeling to have your bearings in a completely foreign place. It has taken me a while since there are no street signs (at least very few) and many of the buildings look similar. But I can now confidently say that I can get around on my own to almost any location.

Yesterday afternoon as I was coming home from the city, I noticed the gate to my house and the front door were open. At first I thought Tracy was home. As I got closer, I saw a pair of flip-flops that I didn't recognize.

"Ola! Ola!" I said walking into my house. The dining room was clear, the living room was clear, spare bedroom one was clear, my door was locked, Tracy's door was locked, that left spare bedroom number two. "Ola!" I pushed the door open and flipped on the light. The door bounced back. Someone was behind the door. My heart started to leap out of my chest. "Ola! Ola!" I pushed on the door again, I could see the faint outline of a figure in the crack in the door. "Saida!" I exclaimed. The person stepped out. It was one of the neighbor kids. The one that stares but never speaks. He looked frightened. I was so confused yet relieved that it wasn't a rapist or a mass murderer. What are you doing here? I asked in French since I forgot how to say it in Portuguese. The boy, who is probably 14 and probably slow, said something about a cat and ran out. His cat story made no sense considering my door was closed and last I checked cats didn't possess the thumbs necessary to open doors. I walked around the house to check if anything was missing. We've had problems with people walking in and taking our food. I guess the perception is that the Americans can afford to buy more food, so let's just help ourselves to whatever they've got. It's so annoying, but our door doesn't lock and there is nothing we can do.

Making my rounds, I noticed that the guitar we keep in the corner of the living room was missing. It's case was wide open. I went back into the spare bedroom and tucked away behind the door was the guitar. I wasn't sure what to do. Our next door neighbors don't speak English. They own the house we live in. Their son broke into my house and was either playing the guitar or planning on stealing the guitar. I didn't have the language skills to explain the situation, so I am going to wait to speak to my project leader today to see if he can speak to the family next door. So strange!

We really need a lock. Only our bedrooms lock. People are constantly walking in, taking our broom, our coffee, our tea, our matches and our food when we're not home. People just walk in when we are home, they come in for visits and quite frankly after spending my day in the teachers office with my "colleagues" the last thing I want to do is have a visitor whose native language is not English, who doesn't observe the same cultural customs that I do. It's too frustrating for me to deal with at this stage of my own culture shock. At first I used to feel bad kicking people out. I used to give in and tell people that I'd give them English lessons. "What would happen if you just said no?" Akisha asked one day. I was taken aback. Duh! Just say no. And now I do. People may think that I'm rude, so let it be, I've got peace of mind. "I want you to teach me English and I will teach you Portuguese"- "No!" "Ugh?" "Not today. Good night!"

Eight legs and eight eyes, just a bit off-putting!

I am not a chemical spray kind of a person. I feel they are dangerous and unnecessarily toxic. I do not use Raid or Aerosol or even hairspray for that matter. Today after work I am going to buy Baygonne (or however it is spelled). It is basically Raid, a very powerful raid. The reason for this uncharacteristic purchase is that this afternoon while I was eating my lunch and sprucing up my resume, an enormous spider the size of my hand sped into my living room. Immediately I jumped up and ran next door to get someone to kill it. One of my neighbors was outside sweeping the sand (I'll never understand why this happens) and she came to my rescue, only by the time we got back into the house it was gone. It wasn't gone in my mind however. I could feel that the spider sensed that I was trying to kill it. I could feel it, conveniently tucked into the shadows, waiting for the moment when I will be alone to strike.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

I'm arming myself and it's warfare. I've got to survive three more days before Tracy returns and I finally have some back-up.

Working

The wheels in my brain are cranking in overdrive this morning. I just finished translating a forty minute speech that I have to present this afternoon regarding the importance of using Drama as an educational tool for people in rural communities. This will be my longest Portuguese speech yet. I hope it goes over well. I hope I'm understood because my Portuguese accent, in terms of my pronunciation, always sounds French since that was the language I studied in school. Whenever I attempt to speak any of the romance languages they all have a French twang. My students were so cute last night. Finally, I feel a wall has come down. I'm used to joking around with my students and interacting with them. I ruled my classrooms with an iron fist, but I always found time to bop one or two students on the head with my New York Times or poke a few in the ears with pencils. Teaching should be fun! Here it is almost impossible because everyone and everything is so serious. Last night, however, I made my students laugh, I made them crack-up. I poked fun at a few and they understood that I was teasing them and they couldn't stop laughing. VICTORY for Senora Sojo! or Mamma Sojo as I am sometimes called.

Last Thursday, our English lesson was about temperature and weather. Last night we reviewed some of our key concepts and vocab words and I proceeded to teach two songs. One song was an old Broadway tune, a Gershwin standard I believe "Oh the rain, goes a pitter-patter, and I'd like to be safe in bed...", the other one was the good old Christmas favorite "Let it snow, let it snow , let it snow". So I taught these songs and we dissected the meaning, then I broke them into four groups and gave each group a weather phenomenon to write a song in English about. One group had cyclones, another wind, another floods and another the sun. They loved the assignment and had so much fun composing. Some of the songs were really good. My students are very musical. I will keep that in mind. Next Monday, each group will take a turn teaching their song to the class and they have to come up with a dance to go along with their song that conveys the meaning. It was so fun! I'm recording their performances.

My work here is really picking up. I'm happy. I've been busy doing actual things that are useful. My field observations with the student teachers are going well. I've seen some amazing progressive teaching. I've also seen some scary things. I have started to set up meetings with the teachers and I am able to provide feedback and give suggestions. I also get time to demonstrate some techniques to them. It's great. I'm mentoring.

I've also been given the task of creating a pre-school curriculum for children in the community. I'm working on that right now. I'm making sure to address all of the learning modalities to provide the teachers with a good firm example of diversified lesson planning. I'm going to observe some local pre-schools to get a better understanding of how they run and what types of curriculum's they use. There are several pre-schools in the city that cater to the children of ex-pats and they are excellent models of what every child here in Mozambique should have access to. They will actually establish a pre-school here at the EPF school in the coming months. I hope I'm here to help set up.

Long story short. I've been very enthusiastic about my work lately.

unsolicited kiss

Can somebody please tell me why this was necessary?I was rounding the corner to enter through the ADPP gate about five minutes ago for my evening class. One of the usually shy guards pops out and pulls me in for a Brazilian, right cheeked kiss. Oh, I thought, we're going for a Brazilian, he.. he.. nervous laughter. Then he whips around for an Italian kiss on the left. This time I step back. Then he pulls me into him and plants his hot crusty lips on mine. I jumped back. He said something in Portuguese. I was disturbed and had no words to communicate my disgust in Portuguese and hurriedly slid through the gate. Why? Why was that necessary?? I still have to walk home in the dark past the same guard station!