MozamBIOLOGY!

This next week we have model school. I should be planning my 45 minute class, but instead I’m writing a blog. I guess teachers procrastinate too. Tomorrow I will be teaching a class of eighth graders the importance of Chemistry. In Portuguese. I think I lack motivation because it’s so hot and humid here my room feels like a rainforest, complete with cockroaches, lizards, and one very elusive, but noisy mouse. I’m also unmotivated to plan a Chem lesson because I found out this week I’ll be teaching Biology instead of Chemistry. YAY!
We got our site placements this week. I will be staying in southern Mozambique in Gaza Province about an hour outside of Xai-Xai (pronounced Shy-Shy) in Chibuto (Shee-boo-too). I’ll be living with another Peace Corps Volunteer named Mary. She’ll be teaching English and Computers at one high school and I’ll be teaching Biology at a different high school. Apparently the house we’re moving into has had many volunteers before us so we are the proud owners of a gas stove (unfortunately there is a gas shortage in Southern Africa, so although we have a fancy stove we may be cooking on charcoal for the first few months). We have electricity, but according to the current volunteer living there it goes out when it rains, when its windy, when its hot, when its cold, all the time really. My school does not have electricity. Our bathroom is outside and is basically just a hole in the ground. My roommate is determined to build a toilet. I told her I wouldn’t stop her. We plan on getting a puppy and making a garden. I plan on eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a week (SO. SICK. OF. RICE.). My friend Anna is going to live about 2 hours away on the ocean with nuns and flushing toilets. I plan to visit her and her toilet every weekend. My host mom is so excited I’m staying in the South because she seems to think I’ll visit her every weekend. I told her, maybe. She’s also trying to teach me the local language Changana. I can say thank you (kanimambo=kah-nee-mam-bo) and good morning (lixile=lee-she-lee). Only 2 and a half weeks left until I move to site!
The funny thing is I went on site visit to Chokwe, which is only about 45 minutes from my site. Good thing I had fun on site visit…
Time for the sad news: We are down to 2 baby ducks. We started with 10. I definitely think this is why we have so much grief and loss training. I really hope Chompy and Skoofus make it. After the loss of Snoop (the dog) and 8 baby ducks, I don’t think I could handle any more casualties. Also I think we ate the pet chicken that lived in the kitchen. I’m not so upset about that one though. She just pooped everywhere. Wasn’t ever her number one fan.
Last week we went to the orphanage in Namaacha. I’ve never been pet and prodded so much in such a short period of time. We played with 5-8-year-olds all morning. We played duck, duck, goose. I seemed to always pick the future Olympic sprinters to chase me. Still not good at duck, duck, goose strategy apparently.
Next week is Thanksgiving and I will attempt to make banana bread pudding (no pumpkin here ☹), apple crunch cake, and peanut brittle. We’ll see how this works with no oven or dairy products. I smell a challenge! All of the UW-Madison alums (there are 4 of us) are also trying to figure out how we can watch the Packer game this Thursday. Fingers crossed for satellite TV at the swanky hotel…

MozamBLACK MAGIC

Today I ate lunch with my teenage host brother, who’s really my host uncle (Still figuring out this family tree). He informed me a lot of Mozambicans believe in Black Magic (Voodoo), including my host dad. The other day I was sitting in our outdoor kitchen with my host mom while she made dinner. It started to storm. Almost immediately I found myself surrounded by my entire host family in this tiny kitchen. My host dad was convinced if he went back outside he’d be struck by lightning sent by someone who wanted him dead. My host mom and grandma wouldn’t let me text because they were convinced I’d be electrocuted. So there we all sat, in silence, watching my host grandma kill and clean 6 chickens because none of us were allowed to leave the kitchen (or text) until it stopped lightning. The power went out 3 or 4 times during this chicken slaughter and I definitely got splashed with chicken goo. My host family also unplugs the refrigerator during storms, but unfortunately forgets to plug it back in. That fridge gets real funky by the next morning. Just another reason not to eat mayo…

Although I have a long list of possible puppy names, I’d like your suggestions. E-mail them to me at lenajenison@gmail.com. Or just tell me about your life. I’m dying for American gossip/news/stories. I’d like to thank Papa Jenison for his daily haikus. The rest of you, however, have been lacking on the e-mail front (grandparents and mom excluded). No excuses, you have trustier interwebz than me. If you want me to blog more, harass me via e-mail (that’s what Mama J does and it seems to do the trick). MISS YOU!

Not that I’ve received any packages yet, but if you felt compelled to send me letters, nail polish, Cosmos, coffee, gum, yourself, etc, you can sent it to 345 Avenido de Zimbabwe, Maputo, Mozambique. I will love you forever.

I forgot to mention my host mom and grandma have decided it's totally cool to walk around the house in the morning topless. Holy sag-fest. It also doesn't help my host mom is like a foot taller than me, which puts her "mamas" at my eye level. And I can't show my knees in public? Seriously?