Well hey there amigo, I humbly want to say thanks for stoppin by and takin interest in what this girl is doing! While you read, Keep in mind that the ideas and thoughts expressed in this thing are mine and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Peace Corps or the United States government...blah blah blah...go read!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Brrrr. No place like home

My toes were a little chilly when I stepped off the airplane in Omaha.
What a week to make the transition from my tropical life! Walked right back into a blizzard wearing flipflops.
That's right folks, I traded sweating for shivering, black for white people, portuguese for English, rice and shrimp for pizza and milk, students for family Ben and friends. I'm home until January. Anyone want to hang out? So it was 105 degrees when I left Angoche. And here its -5. No big deal. Just a 110 degree difference.
Papa Frems.

When I told people in Angoche that it's cold where I'm from they say
"oh you mean like our winter?"
Nah, not exactly. You guys wear puffy down jackets and stocking caps for 60 degree weather because you're goofy. Where I'm from, ice falls from the sky and stays on the ground without melting.
"Do you have to wear a jacket?"
Yes. And boots, mittens, scarves, and hats.
"What happens if you leave your house?"
You mean without a jacket? Well, you could die if you stay out too long.
"Why do people live there?"
Smile. I dunno. Hot chocolate?


Thanksgiving

Mashed potatoes...a lot. Toam and I made em.
How we going to keep them cold if Katie doesn't have a refrigerator?
Oh well, they'll be ok if we eat them soon enough, right?
Did Miguel, Hammer, and Katia get a turkey?
They didn' have time to find a turkey.
How much are ducks? Lets get 2. The lady at the bungalow will cook em for us.
A sail boat ride to Chokas Mar.
I think one duck is sick.
Lady who usually cooks for us is not there.
Is there anyone else who can cook our ducks?
One duck escapes.
Hammer catches him again.
Anyone wanna play scrabble?
Can that kid cook our ducks?
He's like 9 years old.
Who cares. They know how to do that stuff.
No one in sight for miles in each direction on the beach.
Perfectly azure water.
Frisbee.
Is it time to try to make stuffing?
How do you make stuffing?
Just some veggies, bread, and some sort of bird juice?
Mashed potatoes are fermenting. Ew.
More beach.
Did anyone start the stuffing?
What are you reading?
Anyone in the hammock?
Sun burn.
Katia on guitar. "Octopus with one tentacle gone"
Stuffing looks weird.
They're back with the ducks!
Oooo, kinda tough.
Stuffing is interesting.
Pumpkin pie saves the meal, nice work David.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!





Beach Babies

Last trip to Praia Nova for the year. We got to go with our favorite Moz fam.

Shamik. We're in love.

My roomie and Danish (they're in love) and the boys' beautiful mom, and our friend Tonisha.
Sand art lessons from Tia (aunt) Alexi.

Thanks mom for sending the spider-man kites. This guy loved them!

Not long after this, he accidentally let the kite go and his Tia Xirene had to chase it down the beach to the amusement of the local village people.


Ahhh. Gotta love it.




Monday, November 30, 2009

Mango eating machines!

I know I write a lot about mangos. But they're just so good. As of late, many of us have had a little extra time on our hands now that classes are over. So when there's nothing else to do in places where entertainment options are few, we make contests out of lots of things. Like who can poke the most sticks up their nose, or climb this tree the highest, or balance on one foot the longest, or eat 25 pieces of bread in one day or .... the lastest...who can eat the most mangos in 30 minutes???After our famed bread-eating challenge in Nampula, Andrew, Alex and I decided we'd take it up a notch and try mangos. So the three of us sat down with a huge bowl of mangos and a timer set to 30 minutes. And how many mangos did we consume??? Any guesses? Look at those game faces!
39 and 1/2 mangos! I don't mean to brag, but I actually took home the gold after an embarrassing showing the previous week in the bread division. I put away 14 (the last was already rotting, I might add)...I did it for you, Mom.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Mozambique Island

Finally out! It had been awhile since Alex and I had spent time away from site so last weekend we made our way over to Moz Island to say goodbye to volunteers who will be making their way back to the states after completing their 2 years here. Friday night we had a very tropical version of a pub crawl. Here we have Mana Alexi and me kicking off the night with a few beers, a dance, and a lot of goofiness right next to the fortress on the island. After that...schedule full of other locations with no lack of dancing, eating, drinking, and more goofiness, but mostly dancing.
So if things weren't weird enough...Saturday night we attended the senior prom of the secondary school on the island (where our fellow PCV Katie teaches 12th grade English). I'm not sure we or anone else knew who we were or why we were there, so all the white people were conveniently contained at a table in the corner between the kiddie table and the start of the food line. LOL Tension was high because the food was a few hours late and they subjected everyone to weird, awkward archaic waltz-ish dance routines which suprised me 'cause Mozambicans are excellent dancers. But anyway, the food eventually came and the DJ started playing some real music and the white people hopped onto the dance floor with everone else and everyone enjoyed the senior prom they'd been hoping for.
Erin, another PCV here in the north of the country.

And here we have Andrew (not a PCV, but a kindred American spirit who certainly livins up our get-togethers) burying a small naked boy in the sand.
After the island adventures, Alex and I hopped onto a sail boat and took a beautiful 3 hour ride to Chokas Mar, quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth to relax for another day.

Ussene, our boat driver wanted to put on sunblock too. As you can see, he got really excited about it, even though he doesn't need it. He says when he puts on sunscreen, all his friends tell him that he smells like a white person for the rest of the day. So Ussene likes sunblock.

My beautiful and wonderful roomie, Mana Alexi.
Ahhhhh. Thats our boat heading back over to the island after dropping us off.



REDES girls

Aren't they cuties??? This is one of the more recent pics of our girls group. Their moms would be proud.
Just to update you on what we've been doing...the girls have been learning self-defense, womens health, sex ed, and a little goofiness on the side with Alex and me. Hopefully next year, most of them will stick with us.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Teachers Day

You guessed it! Another Mozambican holiday. Another reason to cancel school. What's the excuse this time for canceling classes??? TEACHER'S DAY. Just like every other holiday, this one started with a mini-parade that ended at the plaza where we sang the national anthem, threw flowers on this statue thingie, and listened to a few long-winded speaches before returning home to escape the sun. Yippee.


Here we are with our colleagues. Mozambicans take their holiday gear seriously.

Our shortest colleague who we lovingly call Papa. We look good.

Mana Alexi and one of our lovely students chillin at the beach for awhile with a bunch of our colleagues.

So most of the rest of the day we kinda just hung out, got wierd, and waited for something to happen. We drank a lot of pop, told stupid jokes, and tried to help get the food ready for the huge dinner party that was supposed to start at 7:00PM. So... the food was 5 hours late (wait, did you say FIVE HOURS LATE???) Yep. By the time the food was ready, our colleagues were all pissed. No worries though, after everyone had a full belly of delicious food and a few beers down the hatch, the tension wore off and we had a bit of a dance party. Whahooo! Happy Teachers Day!

Mangos are BACK!


What makes our lives bearable at the most terribly hot season in Mozambique?
What do my roomie and I consume at least 5 of daily?
What inspires a girl to carry around dental floss wherever she goes?
What makes a girls tongue burn because of some fruity acid reaction but she still eats them anyway?
What shares a number 1 slot with capulanas for my favorite Mozambican things?
What's enough to make any PCV extend service just to go through another season?
What do I dream our lame machamba (garden) would produce?
What makes the skin around the average PCVs fingers and mouth look like they have jaundice October through January???
What fruit feeds the nation when nothing else is in the markets???

MANGOS MANGOS MANGOS

Thats right folks, the beautifully delicious fruit whose very name my blog title bears is back in full force!!! What a great fruit. I'm considering going on a full Mango tour of the country. Did you know the various types of mangos are much like the various types of apples there are available in the states??? From the large juicy red ones in Chokas Mar to the slightly stringy but beautifly tartysweet green ones in Angoche, I'm hooked! Mangos OYE! OYE!!!




Angoche Day

I never knew so many people lived here! On Angoche day, the city's anniversary, the place exploded with people. Lots of festivities were going on. As you can see, quite a large crowd of people gathered to watch the main events for the day. There was a men's 10k foot race (that I'm thinkin of entering next year mainly because I was told I couldn't), a motorcycle race, and a race where women balanced water containers on their head through a marked course.
I'm quite shocked that no one died in the motorcycle race. I only saw one crash. Here we have the signature super man move to eliminate some wind resistance. A couple of our colleagues even entered this race.

People were all over the tops of buildings just to get a better view.

Fortunately, we got a bird's eye view from the house above the post office, where our wonderful friend and post office manager, Fabiao, let us watch from his balcony.

A bunch of other PCVs came to visit Angoche and party with us. They joined us for all the Angochian events and a nice evening of frisbee and relay races on the beach. Can't wait until next year.

Friday, October 9, 2009

THANKS!

Just wanted to say thanks to Mr. Kruzel (my roomie's dad) for comin to visit and spoiling us a ton. When people send us packages, come to visit, read our blogs, and just generally take interest, it definitely makes us feel loved. Mr. K just came right in time to enjoy a pretty insane week of party after party here in Angoche. He arrived just at the end of Ramadan which includes lots of celebrating (after a long month of fasting), a national holiday, town anniversary, and Alex's birthday. Holy moly! Mr. Kruzel's arrival was also a source of celebration as he is a big supporter of the youth center Alex started. He was definitely the most famous guy for a week. So far Alex' mom, sister Emelia, friend Marcella, and my friend Jesse have come to visit good ol Angoche and enjoy a week of being the center of attention. You could be next! Thanks to everyone who sends stuff, visits, and keeps track of us. Thanks Kruzel and Freml families! thanks Ben! Thanks readers! We really appreciate it! Love yas!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Rice Sack Penis

How do you get 150 8th graders per classroom to pay attention during the last month of school in Ramadan season while everyone is dry fasting from sun up to sun down??? You guessed it! Talk about sex, of course! I've never taught sex ed before, let alone sex ed in Mozambique in Portuguese to a population where HIV/AIDS is at the top of the list of problems plaguing the country. Its been kind of funny at times, shocking at times, and all-around frustrating. First problem: few resources...so I had to draw huge diagrams of the male and female reproductive systems on rice sacks to hang in the classroom.

I started out with male and female anatomy and moved on to fertilization, good decision-making skills, family planning, and HIV. The first day I walked into the classroom and hung the giant penis on the board thinking it wouldn't be that big of a deal (since statistically, many of them are already very sexually active). I tried my hardest not to laugh as 75 8th grade girls screamed and 75 8th grade boys laughed, cheered, clapped yelling out "Professora...biggie, biggie, biggie!!!" Roudy start, but things eventually calmed down. I was rather impressed, in fact, by their relative control. If I was a Mozambican 8th grader sitting in a classroom with a funny white lady in front talking about big penises and vaginas on the board in a funny accent, I'm not sure I could keep myself under control.
So sex is sometimes a tough/complicated/sensitive topic to teach within your own set of people, and here it's even harder with cultural and linguistic issues and differences. To give a few examples of cultural differences: fidelity (what it means and how it is practiced), people's attitudes about/motives for having sex, what is/is not sexualized, and the complexities of biological and emotional involvement surrounding sex. And then there's my personal beliefs. I certainly have beliefs that make my perspective on relationships a minority here. So what do I do with my beliefs or how do I present information to a group of students who believe very different things. Epa! So much to think about. I definitely have a ton more respect for my fellow health PCVs who have to tackle these issues on a day to day basis.
Anyway...after the initial discomfort/goofiness passed, my kids started asking a million questions. Some of my 15 year olds--15 year olds!-- were honestly asking why men don't get pregnant and other questions that shocked me considering how sexually active the population seems to be at a much younger age. I found that many of my students who openly expressed, in one way or another, that they had already become sexually active (either by requesting condoms for themselves or asking questions that indicated experience) did not even understand the basic physiological process or anatomical structure of their own body. What a scary situation to have a very uneducated population engaging in an activity they don't fully understand. It has become obvious to me how the lack of education contributes to the prevelence of HIV. I also wanted to scream as my kids asked questions about many of the sexual myths that are so engrained here like...if a person does not have sex on a regular basis they will go mentally insane or if a woman does not have enough sex, her vagina will permanently rot or if a man does not release sperm frequently enough, he will blow up like a balloon and ruin his chances of having children in the future. When I asked my students where they heard this stuff, they often responded that other teachers had told them these things. I was extremely frustrated to find out that my female students are being influenced in this way by my colleagues, considering inappropriate relationships between teachers and students are not uncommon. On a more positive note, I was relieved and excited to see that many of my students seemed to trust me and believe the things I tried to teach them. Many of them commented that no one had ever explained all the embarrassing stuff or responded to question after question. I havn't quite made it yet to the end of the unit, but so far its been quite the experience personally and professionally.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Catamoio

Islands finally! Being here a year now and not yet making it to one of the islands sprinkled between Angoche and the open ocean was definitely leaving a huge gap in my understanding of my site. The islands are full of Angoche's history and culture. Thanks to my roomie's father's generous contribution of a nice speedy boat ride (other option: toast away in a sailboat with other ppl, goats, chickens, etc), we made the hop to Catamoio rather quickly and in style. Thanks Mr. Kruzel. Here we have my lovely roomie, Alex in full boat attire.
Angoche's very own Marina
One of those boats I was telling you about.
There she is...Catamoio, the most important of the islands. Back in the day, the sultans ruled Angoche from this island. It is said to be the center of power in the area and if anyone means the islands any harm, they will never be able to step foot there. During the war, many people fled to the islands.
Naked baby greeting! Heyoooo!
Never imagined any place would be more slow-paced and quiet than Angoche...yep, could definitely take a few naps here.
Baobab...comin back to climb this one. Unless its sacred or something. I dunno.
TAKE MY PICTURE! What a bunch of goofball old ladies. lol


And here we have Alex and Mr. Kruzel approaching the oldest (arguably) Mosque in Mozambique. The beautiful little building is slowly crumbling, but supposedly renovation is underway.

I think next time we come, Alex and I will build a lil mud hut so we can have a place to sip coconuts in utter peace and quiet.