Yesterday I woke up and played a much better game of volleyball than when I played a few months back.
A few months back - I've been in Mozambique for over a year now.
But before I even got to play volleyball at 8 AM, about 20 of my students begged me to give an impromptu lesson answering some of the questions I have as review. I was surprised at their determination, but they still sat there and copied down what I said. Most of them, at least. The better students just sat there and helped answer questions and asked better ones. An 11th grader even showed up to ask a genetics question. Hmmm...Saturday reviews. I wonder if it would catch on? I wonder if I would be up for it. Worth putting on the list of things to do for next year. And if I have 10th grade, I'm going to need to review 8th and 9th grade with them . What better way to do it?
Wow, only one more school year.
And then at about 7 PM last night, the festivities began. Today is Teacher's Day in Mozambique and the party here started last night. A huge dinner, cooked by students and the female teachers, with plenty of beer and other tasty beverages. An ample stereo system was on hand and very spirited dancing was under way before long. Teachers and wives and children all got their fill and by the time I left well-buzzed at 1:30 AM, most of the people were still going.
I get to do this again next year!
Got up at 8 something to do to the official Teacher's Day ceremonies, and got mildly pushed into helping a skit. I made a cameo as a drunk, spitting out Changana and being...obnoxious. Needless to say, it was well-received. I miss performing, but I realize that isn't the reason I'm here. Anyway, immediately afterward, we went back to school to finish off the food and beer.
Is this really the epitome of my experience - partying hard with educators?
We tried to finish off the beer, and in so doing, I ate a tremendous amount of chicken for someone who still calls himself a vegetarian. And as more beer was consumed, less Portuguese and more Chagana was spoken. Once it was at about 95% Changana, I gave up and crawled home. Good practice, but there's only so much foreign language learning I can take.
Can I really learn two languages at the same time?
I ended up napping on the couch, awakened at about 5:30 PM by Blake wondering if I wanted to have dinner with the Canadians. Charles offered me Coke and whiskey, which was actually a good transition to detoxification.
I get filled with excitement and wonder about the future when I allow myself to think about what things will be like in a year - then I remember that it's a year away and where I was a year ago...
Peace
John
