It has been a long time since I've written, written. I know I've thrown up a few quick posts here and there, and I'm sorry. I know I told myself I would try to journal more often, but time has been very scarce the past couple of weeks. All I have are excuses, but sometimes sleeping is just more important to me. Or when I can't sleep, thinking about my lessons has been taking up a lot of my time.
Since I've last talked/written some of you guys:
I took a trip into Maputo and got to eat amazingly delicious food aka normal food.
Peace Corps arranged for us to see a curandeiro, which is a traditional healer. It was really interesting just being able to see and listen to someone talk about what they do instead of just reading about it in my anthropology books. Although, it was a little comforting that he said he wasn't able to cure HIV/SIDA (AIDS). At least he didn't claim that.
Model school started for us education people the past week. My chemistry scheduled our lessons around chemical reactions and we each teach 3 lessons each week. Lessons are split into two blocks. First block and second block with a 30 minute break in between. We teach to two "classes" so the first two lessons are the same and the second two lessons are the same. However, compared to the previous years there haven't been as many students. I'm not sure why, but I've been teaching to classes of 5-6.
While it's not exactly like what I'll be facing at my school, it's been an excellent introduction to just getting up in front of students and teaching. I'm not going to lie, the idea of teaching chemistry has always stressed me out. However, with the pressing need to learn Portuguese, all concerns I had before I the issues of being an effective teacher were placed in the back of my mind. And when I had to think about teaching again, the Portuguese was still the most pressing concern.
In the beginning, I wrote out everything I possible could want to say and got it checked by my Chemistry facilitator. I would have my cheat sheet in front of me and just more or less read off of it. However, during practice parts where I didn't have anything written, I was able to relax and just interact with the students. I think that's one of my strengths, engaging and interact with the students. It's been enough to get the information across to them, and I think they for the most part understand everything. It's completely true though, you can tell when students have no idea or don't understand. You can see it on their faces.
One thing I need to work on is my board work. Most of the students don't have textbooks, so everything you write on the board is copied into their notebook and then used as their textbook. It's very daunting, but I figure with more prep I'll get the hang of it. But as lessons have come, and also due to limited time, I've been just teaching. As in not writing out everything I'm going to say. Although, I am still writing things out. Don't get me wrong.
However, model school has been excellent practice for all things. The science teachers like to poke fun at the english teachers a little because we have to teach in Portuguese while they get to teach in English. However, to be fair, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. You have to speak really slowly in English class. Painfully slow. And you have to think of different practices to learn the information. There needs to be a lot of thinking and creativity to integrate grammar and vocab, and to keep the student's attention. You also have to think of ways to explain concepts without using Portuguese and only very simple english. With science we have content we have to cover . We can always present something complex, interesting, or an experiment and ask why does this occur. There's definitely more structure, but the language is challenging. However, we're able to practice our Portuguese and learn more during class.
Another fun thing about teaching is that everyone here wears a bata, which looks like a science lab coat. But it keeps it professional and keeps the chalk from getting everywhere. Downside: it is SO HOT under those things. They're non-breathable, graduation gown material. Eh, but I think I'd still wear mine.
The next big thing since I last wrote was site placements. THAT WAS HUGE, and rightfully so because we were finding out where we'd be and who we'd be close to for the next 2 years of our lives. I already did a quick update for that day. But emotions were really high before, during, and after. I think most people, for the most part, are happy with their site. There were some initial dislikes, but after a few days, I think people have come to terms/found out more information that put them at ease. There's a lot of people who are in the south, but there are also quite a few in central and north. I have a really great group of people in my province and in the surround provinces. A lot of my friends are opening up new sites, which is nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. Hannah, one of my friends is going to be completely in the bush in Tete. She doesn't even have cell phone service and has to use the radio at the hospital to contact other people. The running joke is that there are only two letters in Tete, ET (early termination). But, I think Tete is going to be hoppin this year with the amount of awesome people who are going there. It's going to be interesting, but it feels like it'll be absolutely amazing. I've been meaning to write a list of question I want to ask the volunteer that's there, but I haven't gotten around to it. However, I'm excited because my province has already decided that we're going to have Christmas in Angoche, which is on the beach. And the house has running water and electricity. Whoot. I'm interested in hosting New Years. :) We'll just have to see.
Right after finding out, a large number of us set out for Bilene in Gaza province. The journal there wasn't too bad. It was the first time I spent a significant amount of time in a chapa and thought I was good. Some people were also able to see their sites, which was exciting for them. Bilene is kind of the beach stomping ground for South Africans. So it's a nice (read expensive) tourist city. We rented two houses, which were amazing because not only was there tiled flooring, but there was also running water. However, it's funny how I'm already acclimated to bucket bathing because I would turn off the water during my shower, which is something I never did at home. I actually think I prefer the bucket bathing because the water is at least warm. Running water here is a luxury, running hot water… almost unheard of, although it does exist (and some, read one, have it at their sites). But it was just nice to be able to hang out with people in fun, informal setting. Go to the beach, swim and lay out, and eat delicious seafood. Audrey and I split a shrimp curry and Hawaiian pizza. Delicious. One of the fun things about this beach, was that for quite a long distance the water only came up to my waist. I was able to walk very far out from the beach and the water seemed more salt heavy than the Atlantic even though it was a lake. There was a group that managed to swim across the lake to the Indian ocean. Needless to say, they were sun burned like crazy. But apparently they saw flamingoes and got to swim in the Indian ocean. I will soon enough though in Nampula. I'm really excited.
However, the ride back from Bilene was not fun. It was super hot, crowded, and long. Some people were even standing most of the time, and some people sat above the engine, which was HOT. Needless to say, my opinion of chapas is now not so good. The only good thing though was being able to go to Shoprite. This place is absolutely amazing. It's like a little version of Wal-Mart and you can find a lot of stuff there… for a lot of meticais. But there's one in Nampula and I foresee lots of trips to there.
No comments:
Post a Comment