My first Halloween that I can remember being out of the country for. How depressing - it was very uneventful! I miss the pomp and circumstance of the whole holiday. Missing Halloween also made me realize how experiencing these holidays mark time - and how differently time has passed here. It doesn't seem like it could be the Halloween season, or even November for that same reason. It was chilly last night, but it was still an exception rather than the rule. It will be strange when it warms up again here and we start having summer again.
I hope that paragraph reflects how being so far from home has changed my very perception of time!
It still seems like if I went back to the US, nothing should have changed. It feels like one big dream, and I'll wake up in Cleveland wishing I was still dreaming. Because, for all of the struggles and hard work facing me, this is an awesome life.
When I sometimes think of going back in order to be with friends and family, I remind myself of how routine the American way of life often is - and how little change you can exact in the world. Here, I feel like every little thing I do to help does 50x that of anything in the States. Even being unqualified to teach a science in a language I have only a simple grasp on is helpful to this country. In the US, I would do more harm than good, given these circumstances. And I'm just one person - imagine if it weren't just 36 of us teaching in Moz next year, but 3600 of us. Mozambique wouldn't know what to do with all of us, but would they begin to have an adequate educational system? I would hope so. Imagine how far Mozambique could go with the assistance of other countries showing them how to fish and not just giving them the fish.
At the same time, we'll be showing them to fish in an empty lake if we don't integrate into their culture. This means that we may be able to present relevant information, but unless it's applied in a way that makes sense to the students, it's useless.
Today, I was told that I may not be able to go more than 6 hours away from Maputo because I'm an asthmatic. However, I've never had an asthma attack, and my inhaler takes care of any problems I've had (few and far between). Hopefully, there will be some leeway in determining my site, because I desperately want to go up north (at least right now).
The pace of training has definitely picked up, and it's difficult to keep up with the studying I know I need to do. But I try.
There are chickens in a bucket close to me. Tomorrow, my Dad will sell them for 45 Met apiece. This is not strange to me any more.
Peace
John
