Don't be too proud of this technological terror

I have mentioned before about the attendance and punctuality here in Mozambique. Two of my students are from a small farming village near the river outside of Mabalane called Maitze. These two students are always really late to class, usually 30-60 minutes. Side note: Maybe I mentioned this before but I give stamps in my students notebooks for their homework every class. As childish as this sounds my students are highly motivated by this and it makes it very easy for me to grade and check. Normally if students come in late and they have their homework done I give them a stamp but recently the students have all been too late too often so I stopped giving stamps for late homework. This really pisses the students off and guess what? The tardiness has improved a lot. Ok back to my original topic. My two students Armando and Ismael. Both are good students. Ismael is one of the few students who speaks, understands, and tries to learn English outside of class without my motivation. Armando is a really good kid(I’ll write more about him). So they are always trying to explain and reason with me why they are late and should get a stamp when they show up really late.” I’m sick teacher”,” it’s far teacher”, “teacher I had to help get water” ect. I do sympathize for them and understand the difficulties they face. They have to leave their houses when it is still dark to arrive on time. But I tell them part of being a student is being on time and maybe someday they will have a job they have to be on time to. Although I don’t know of any jobs in Mozambique you have to be on time to, I still think it is important and I want to teach my students to be responsible regardless of how far away they live. So I show no mercy and tell them to wake up earlier next time. Armando is one of the brightest students in the school and was the only 10th grader to pass all the national exams on the first try last year. He studies hard, has a daughter and wife at home, his father has passed away, and he has to work in the fields to produce food for his family to live. He is 20 or 21 and has never left Mabalane before. Last week Armando asked me to come to his house to meet his family. I told him I would and last Friday after school we walked to Maitze. Another side note and African Milestone: I finally walked to the river to do my laundry after over one and a half years in Mozambique. I filled my bag with a month’s worth of dirty clothes, soap, water and fruit, strapped a bucket to my pack, and then I left on the 6-7 kilometer hike to the river through the bush. This is what the Mozambican women do in the villages. And on my walk back I felt proud to be like a Mozambican women for an afternoon. After my laundry hike I thought the Maitze hike would be a piece of cake. I walked with Armando and Ismael to Maitze. This walk is no joke! The 8km must be from the market and not the school because it took us almost two hours to walk there. We got near the river in about an hour and I thought we were getting close then I seen a small village off in the distance and I asked, “is that it up there?”  They replied, “no teacher that’s zone 8.” After about another hour along the river in the sun and through the fields we arrived in Maitze. My compassion significantly increased for Armando and Ismael. I had more than a liter of water which was more than enough for my river hike and back. But we drank all that water on the walk. The students never take water to school and they ride their bikes which Ismael was walking and Armando’s brother was using on this day. But they were impressed that I wasn’t tired. But I was I just didn’t let them see that I was and very thirsty. Needless to say I drank a lot of untreated river water that afternoon. The little village was very nice. It looked peaceful and was full of big green trees, unlike Mabalane. There is no energy and all the houses are mud huts except for a couple brick foundations being built and the primary school. But the village looked beautiful. The yards were all swept and well groomed. People were surprised to see a white person without a car and especially shocked to see I walked out there. Armando’s family was waiting for me and very excited to welcome me. (Most people in Maitze speak the local language Changanha (spelling?) so I had to have Armando and his brother translate for me) They welcomed me with hugs and kisses and told me I was at home. It felt good to be appreciated and accepted by Armando’s family. They were disappointed to find out I wasn’t staying the night because I still had classes that evening. But I hung out for about an hour and drank tea and had lunch. It was really nice. But then I had to head back and it looked like I would be cutting it close. The walk back was just as long and I barely made it to class on time, haha. I had about ten minutes to drink some water and change my clothes before class. That would have been ironic having to explain to my students that I was late because I went to Maitze and its over 8km. I’m reading Gone With the Wind, which is surprising good. Reading about the South and the Civil War is very interesting. Reading this got me thinking about Southern Hospitality and Mozambican Hospitality. It was crazy reading about how generous the Southerners were( at least to the other rich plantation owners). Mozambique is also a very hospitable. People go to stay and live with their families for weeks or months. It is socially acceptable to ask for water and food when traveling through places. I often am invited to stay with people and asked to eat lunch or dinner when I am traveling around. Except the Southerners had a lot: lots of money, nice food, slaves to do all their work, and just tons of free time to enjoy life. But many Mozambicans have little and they seem just as generous. They are proud to offer you what they do have. I was asked by one of my loyal and exquisite readers about life with Forrest. For those who do not know Forrest. Forrest is a very easy going guy and I think both of us feel really happy with our roommate placements. Out of all the volunteers in our group Forrest is most similar to my friends back home. He is a 23 year old male who parties, chases girls, curses, makes fun of people, and is crazy by many people’s standards. Forrest tries to act like he doesn’t care about anything but he is a good person and every once in while I catch his soft side. Ok that is enough of me fluffy Forrest for now. We both read a lot and have a lot of time to ourselves. We share the cooking roles and often eat together watching a tv show or movie. Then we jam most days, less recently though probably because I’m reading a lot. And then we make fun of each other, tell poop and fart jokes, make up foul “would you rather” situations, and disgust all the crazy things we would do for Burger King or a burrito. Drew and Eddie, the other two male volunteers from the Southern part of the country are jealous of us. Forrest and I are chillin to the fullest and taking full advantage of your free time and solitude. If you want to know what we are doing? We are probably reading, jamming, laughing, eating, sleeping, or some combination of those things. I finally got my package from parents. I wanted these cd’s to show my students photos from America, Iraq, and Okinawa. The packaged turned into a box of goodies. I was a little upset to see how much it cost to send. But quickly forgot once Forrest and I busted into those chocolate cover graham cookies! O my I never remember those things being so good. And the ranch on our sandwiches has been a perfect replacement to avocados which are no longer available. We joke about quitting our service early because life in Mabalane without avocados is unbearable. But ranch stepped it up maybe we can hold on another week now. So thanks mom and dad! Jodi, the ring looks really nice. I am going to a concert in Swaziland this weekend and going to show my students the photos next week. So you all can look forward to my next post. Forrest finally updated his blog after a year, forrestinmoz.tumblr.com Peace, love, ad do good things Jimmy

May the 4th be with you

I was trying to make my blog a little more exciting so I wrote a to be continued from a sketchy situations I found myself in. But while I was writing it I got really tired and now my lack of a quality internet resource is preventing my thriller suspense post. Maybe next time! Anyways I had an amazing three week vacation. It was five days of traveling to get to my destination Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia. I spaced it out over seven days. I stayed with other volunteers along the way and ended up on a diesel truck overnight into Lusaka, Zambia the nation capitol. Then after leaving Victoria falls I returned to Mozambique in under 24 hours and was on the beach the following day. I spent a week at the beach before returning to site. The Lusaka was great. Helen and I arrived at about 6am and had two days to wander the city before meeting up with Ian and David. It was like being in American. They have Subway and huge shopping malls. The malls were just like the ones at home. Our first night in Lusaka we went to the movies after walking around all day trying to find the US embassy and Peace Corps Office. Helen ate Subway and I found a burrito for dinner and then we went to see The Hunger Games. The movie theatre was better than the one in Medford, the movie wasn’t very good but just going to a movie was. The next day we tracked down authentic Belgium chocolate in Zambia, which we confirmed as being authentic. I ate like an American for the two days I was in Lusaka. From Lusaka we took a nice bus to Livingstone. We arrived fairly early but after going to big grocery store and checking into our backpackers hostel, which had a climbing wall and a decent pool, we decided to chill for the rest of the afternoon. The feasting continued in Livingstone. Our first day at Victoria Falls we hit up the National Park and spent most of the day there. April is about the peak water volume for the Zambezi river. The mist from the pressure of the water falling creates a wicked down pour of water near the falls. There were rainbows everywhere as we enjoyed the waterfall and the shower. We were all completely soaked from head to toe, besides being a little cold, it was astonishing. There are a few different trails and viewpoints exlore. On our way down to the bottom trail we almost were attacked by baboons. Luckily they went for the four white chicks behind us and the old ladies in front of us, seriously. The group in front of us and behind us had a purse stolen. We didn’t have our bags because we left them at the office after they were completely soaked from the falls. We also had Helen with us who is something like a professional baboon fighter (Helen was wacked in the face by a baboon stealing her purse last year). I ended up joining some of the locals in a baboon hunt. The baboons had stole two purses ripped everything out and ran off with the cameras for some reason. I watched one of them biting at the girl’s camera before disappearing into the bushes. It was pretty funny, probably not for the girl without the purse though. There were hundreds of baboons around the park. The rest of the day Ian and I carried sticks just in case. There are two resorts next to the park that have a lot zebras. We went to check it out and got a tour by the security guard. The one resort was ridiculously rich and we were walking around looking like poor volunteers. We also seen giraffes and a crocodile. Ian’s life flashed before his eyes as we were walking and out of nowhere this crocodile quickly sprints out from the bushes straight at us. Luckily the crocodile was a huge salamander. But we realized that if we can’t out run a salamander we are in a world of hurt if a crocodile comes for us. As our tour came to a close I wanted to take a picture and noticed I left my phone on a rock hours ago tying to let it dry from the waterfall showers. So I’m back to a normal phone now. Day two in Livingstone started with a safari walk at a local park. There were not any predators but we seen about everything else. We seen elephants, zebras, giraffes, impalas, baboons, rhinos, warthogs, wildebeests, and several birds. After the safari we went back to the hostel to relax a bit and head back to the falls. We had been debating bungee jumping the last couple days. I noticed that I had spent all my money and Ian didn’t want to jump off the bridge. Most of me didn’t either. So we went to the falls to check out the bridge area that connects Zambia with Zimbabwe over the Zambezi river. It was looking like a no go on bungee jumping. We were taking photos and I was broke. Then all the sudden Helen steps up and tells us we’re jumping off the bridge and takes off to the office. This is a 120 meter bridge and I’m not going to lie, jumping off it scared the poop out of me. We look at each other and were like I think she is serious, which she was. Ian and I went but were not expecting to do anything besides watch. Helen was not taking no for an answer so she ended up loaning me the money. I was thinking, “what did I just get myself into?” We did the Big Air Experience, a zip line across the gorge, a rope swing off the bridge and the bungee jump. The zip line was a joke. But the other two jumps were not. Both are from the top of the bridge with complete free fall until the cord runs out. The swing is feet first and the bungee is a dive. Diving off a bridge is extremely scary to me and jumping feet first is not any better. Both were really scary but I liked the rope swing better. Look it up on google or youtube. I traveled back to Mozambique through Zimbabwe, which we are not allowed to do in the Peace Corps. But whatever it’s shorter and a new country for me. It was a bit sketchy and I ended up traveling a night too. But all worked out well. Read my second to last blog post for more on that. Then I hit the beach! I watched the sunrise 7 straight mornings on the beach. I spent 3 nights in Tofo, where I met some cool travelers and chilled. Tofo was empty and I felt like I had he beach o myself. I read a lot and relaxed. I went surfing one day and it was the best surf day I ever had. I hope to do it again sooner than later. Then I went to meet up with some other volunteers at Drew’s house, Drew is the one who visited me a couple months ago. Drew’s house and site is something else. He has running water, shower, indoor toilet, three bedrooms, and furniture. We just cooked and hangout that night. That weekend there was a big party in Vilanculus. So we all left Drew’s to meet at the backpackers. There was about 60 volunteers gathering for a drinking competition. It ended up being surprisingly fun even for someone not drinking like myself. Forrest brought my guitar and there were two drums. So we jammed each night. Forrest and I call our little band we have Spicy Poop and we are kind of a big thing here with some of the volunteers, haha. The weekend was spent swimming and laying on the beach all day. I cooked shrimp for the first time and it turned out well. I camped out on the beach Saturday night with a friend. The weekend was so fun and a perfect way to end my vacation. Forrest and I stayed another night in Vil at Drew’s. I went to class with Drew Monday morning, he teaches English at a teaching institute. His school is just as spectacular as his house. I took my guitar and we jammed Bob Marley for his students. Then they asked me about my life. They were all very interested about the military and I ended up hazing four of his students. It was surprisingly fun. Check out the previous blog post of Drew’s weekly email for more details about it. Now it’s Friday night I just finished teaching and am back to my Mabalane life! I may have missed a few things but that should be about it. Check out Helen’s blog too for her perspective on our Zambia trip, http://moz15.blogspot.com Peace, love, and do good things Jimmy

Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited

Here is another post from Drew starting me. Did i write this? No. Is Drew in love with me? Maybe! The following italic text is all Drew Dear Full Metal Jacket enthusiasts, I have had many different visitors come to my classroom over the past year and a half.Most of the visitors are clients of my friend, Mrs. Mandy, who runs the horse safari in Chibuene. But some of the visitors are fellow Peacecorps volunteers or people who visit me. So far my two most memorable visitors have been Jackson my brother in law who played bluegrass guitar (the students freaked out) and Amy a naval pilot who told the students about how her planes have gigantic magnets in the back which can detect Soviet submarines (I freaked out, how cool is that job!!). Those two guests may have to take a backseat to my fellow volunteer James who visited my classroom yesterday… For those of you who read this missive week in and week out, first of all G-d bless you, but second of all you may remember me mentioning James a few times. Most notably as the awesome bro who let me use his drawstring bag as a substitute shoe when my flip flop popped at his site Mabalane. This was an awesome gesture because we were about 7k from anything approaching a road or surface that was not scalding hot sand. That was James’s site, now he would visit mine, and not just my site but my classroom. All my guests bring their own flavor or experiences to my class. Since my students will be English teachers next year it is a great resource to live so close to an area that has so many English speaking visitors. I have had Canadians, New Zealanders (I believe they are known as Kiwis) Americans, Brits, Scotch, Irish, Australians and even French people who speak English to my students, they visit and speak about their life in their home country. This is great for many reasons, 1. my students are exposed to lots of different accents, b. when the students ask questions about the guests home country they are expanding their worldview, threeve.) it is a really nice experience for the visitor who gets to meet future teachers of Mozambique, and finally it is not boring!! I am sure that some people would love to watch me stand in front of a room and talk all day, I haven’t met these persons yet but they seem awesome, but with visitors my students are exposed to an ever changing cast of English teachers. The volunteers who work at other IFP’s (teacher training colleges) are jealous I have such a cool resource. So what did James bring to the table? His guitar of course. James and I sang three songs with the students, in much the same way that we have music appreciation class. After each song the students would point out the English words they knew and also try and figure out the meaning. James and I sang Bob Marley’s “Three little birds” and “No Woman, No Cry” as well as the old go to standard “In the Jungle.” James led one and a half of the discussions and I picked up the others. James was a hit, how could he become more popular with the students. Well, when James began to answer questions about his life the students were very impressed when they learned that James had joined the Marines when he was 18 and that he is a former soldier. James shared the following items with my students. The military is: • Interesting: you get to go live in lots of different places (the students were intrigued) • Difficult sometimes: you go out into the desert and the jungle for days or weeks and you don’t get to bring deodorant (students laugh) and there are no women (students laughed a lot, long and hard too). • Helpful to go to college: after you get out of the military they will help you pay for college, like when James attended Oregon State University (the students were intrigued by a free university education) James was a hit, and was just about to finish when I raised my hand and asked James if he could, “…explain what a Drill Sargent is?” James smiled and said he could if I wanted to, but that he would need about 4 volunteers. The volunteers assembled in the front of the classroom and Alberto was designated as their unit leader. James warned them that when you go to boot camp the drill sargent is hard on you and that you can never do anything right. The students nodded although I am not sure if they knew what they were getting into. James left the room with his baseball cap off, but when he returned it was back on and the brim was pushed way down over his eyes! Drill Sargent James immediately noticed that Aly’s belt was out of order and made sure Aly knew too. “What is that! Is that a belt, that is ugly, how did you do that?” Berto, who was standing next to Aly thought this was humorous but DS James immediately invaded his personal space and asked him, “Am I a comedian, do I amuse you? Is that what I am here to do? Do you want me to destroy you? I will destroy you? Get on the ground? Pushups!! Fast, FAST, FASTER!! Up, up, up jumping jacks!!” (I stayed out of the way throughout most of the proceedings but did assist Berto in demonstrating what James wanted when he told him to get on the ground ((pushups)) and what a jumping jack looked like). DS James then demanded to know why Alberto was letting his unit get out of control, pretty soon DS James had all 4 members of his unit on the ground, and according to him were not doing pushups nearly fast enough. One of my other students, Godfrey, got up to take a picture with his cellphone but I quickly asked him to sit down. We don’t need pictures of PCV’s forcing students to do pushups, at least not out of context. James had the unit stand back up and decided he didn’t like how Bosse was looking at him, he invaded Bosse’s personal space and assured him, “You’ll never make it my United States Marine Corps!! Do you want me to destroy you? I will destroy you!!” Then James the PCV returned and he hugged and thanked all 4 volunteers. Throughout the entire proceeding the entire rest of the class had been laughing uproariously and finally the 4 vols got to join in. James and I finished the class with a few more songs, he and I sang Weezer’s say it ain’t so together followed by a solo James performance of TI’s “What you like.” The students loved both renditions. Before James left he asked the whole class how many of them wanted to join the US military and almost every hand went up, later he told me based on that question he didn’t explain boot camp well enough. On the way out of the door the students asked James to teach them how to salute. James informed them about the very specific way that a Marine salutes and took time to correct a few students who had technical difficulties. I whispered to James as we left the room, “Dude their gonna salute me from now on.” James responded, “Just make sure they do it right, blade of the hand out, crisp up, fast down with no palm showing…” Thanks James. Thanks for visiting and until next week, or until you come visit my classroom, I’ll see you in another life brother. Drew Garland