Yesterday was a great day.
We finished our first week of model school yesterday, and the stress from that created an interesting vibe in the group. A lot of people had a tough time this past week, and nobody had it easy. Some current volunteers pitched in and threw us a party (complete with cheese quesadillas, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and smoothies - possibly the best thing any of us had tasted for quite a while) and PC got a DJ to school to play pretty much any music we wanted. Also, we had a very nice "Ngoma Time" - a bunch of talent came out in the group, led by Carolyn's singing prowess.
(In case you haven't noticed by now, I refer to everyone by their first name because I don't want to spoil their relative anonymity :) )
Anyway, before all this happened, we were told by PC (Paolo specifically) that we wouldn't be receiving mail this week because of problems in Maputo. Well, this was pretty rough because of the week we had had, so it didn't get the night off to a great start.
About midway through our party, Didinho (dih-dee-nyoo) let us know that mail had just arrived in the office and it was being delivered right then. Jubilation ensued!
I didn't want to build things up too much, but I ended up having the best mail day yet. I got 3 letters from the States, all sent around the end of October/beginning of November from my Dad, Lisa and Cara! I also got a RANDOM letter from this woman in Malta, Rebecca. She had foundmy address on this journal and wrote a very nice letter!
Receiving my first communication from Lisa was really big, especially since I got my first phone call from Eric this week too. As soon as I got hime, I told my host family that I got the letter, and my host dad told my host mom to go cut a rose.
We have two rosebushes around the house, and one of them has 3 blooms (2 now). They presented the flower on top of the letter and handed it to me very respectfully. I just about died, it was so thoughtful! Sometimes I wonder if my host family understands me and what is important to me (and of course, vice versa), but yesterday it was clear that they knew.
I read my Dad's letter with my host dad, helping him with pronunciation and trying to translate a very colloquial letter. It was a good time, especially since I had been drinking!
This is probably the first day I feel significantly more comfortable about being able to make it 2 years here. Not because of language, teaching ability, etc., but because I'm starting to reestablish communication with the people I'm close to, and it seems to be not only as important for them, but they all completely understand why I'm here and not there, with them. It's hard to admit, from both ends, but we all know that this is something I need to be doing right now.
I'm trying to really take account of how I feel right now, and why it feels good so that I can remember the next time things suck, which could be as soon as this afternoon.
I found that when I was getting stressed out lesson planning this week, it was relaxing to take a step back in my mind and look at the big picture: I'm in Moz, teaching Bio in Portuguese. This isn't supposed to be easy. And I'm not expected to be a good teacher for a few months yet, even a year. So the fact that I'm concerned that the homework I gave didn't make sense except to a couple of students, or I pronounced the word "vagina" incorrectly (with the accent on the first instead of second syllable), should tell me that I'm really doing quite well.
I have a lot of goals for myself this next week of model school, mainly involving Portuguese. One of my perceived weaknesses this past week was my energy level. I had a VERY quiet class of 6th and 7th grades learning 8th grade biology. It was tough to teach them when I was trying to be energetic and not getting anything back. Monday, I get the 10th graders who are apparently very energetic. It should be a good time!
Peace
John
