Let the Adventure Begin!

The second trimester has come to a close, and I'm ready for an epic journey! Tomorrow morning at dawn I'll be setting out on a trip with my friends Szasha and Joanna to go to Lake Malawi. On our way, we're going to make a few stops -- Angonia, to visit some Peace Corps colleagues in the mountains of Tete; Dedza, a Malawian border town which has a particularly famous restaurant that makes cheesecake (Yes, cheesecake! That thing I've been craving for nine months!); and finally Lilongwe, the capital and largest city of Malawi. After Lilongwe, we'll spend three or four days doing absolutely nothing on the beaches of Cape Maclear, and it will be bliss.

Right after my super fun vacation, it's right back to work, as I have a conference to go to with two of my colleagues. We'll be learning more about the "Books for Africa" program that I've been selected to do, as well as get more info on how to organize and fund other community projects (like the computer lab I'm trying to build at my school.)

Long story short, it might be a while before I can update my blog -- there's a lot going on these next two weeks! However, rest assured that once I do finally come home and things settle down, I'll have a lot to write about.

Ode to Winter

O African Winter
How I love thee
As I sit and ponder
With my hot cup of tea

It's cool and pleasant
The world has transformed
I stay under my blanket
All huddled and warm

Day after day
Under cloudless blue skies
The mosquitoes are dead
and so are the flies

I teach in comfort,
And you know what's more?
Even the goats
Don't poop on the floor

The locals are bundled
Like there's a great freeze
As the temperature drops
Below 70 degrees

I put on my hoodie
Scarf and socks, too
And I think O Dear Winter,
How I will miss you!

Eine Kleine Wanderung

These past few months, I've felt my world getting smaller with every passing day -- I spend a lot of time reading at home, a lot of time teaching at school, and the rest of my time hanging out with my colleagues, who all live a stone's throw away. While it's super convenient to live next to school and next to all of my friends, it means I don't get out a whole lot.

So today, when Szasha came over for the day, we decided to take a walk down the river. Now that it's dry season, what used to be a gushing torrent of water is now just a peaceful trickle. It was beautiful! Sometimes I get so caught up in complaining about the heat, about chapas, about greedy children, that I forget how lucky I am to live in such a lovely place.

But enough blabbering. I'll let my photos do the talking!

The calm river.

A skull fragment. An unlucky goat? No idea.

We watched these goats get harassed by an egret for a good 20 minutes.

Look how dry everything is! (And notice how cold, too! A hoodie!)

I ended my day with a nice cup of tea and a good book.

"I SWEAR that's not what I meant!"

There exist in Portuguese the following two very similar words:

Aprovar (verb): Approve (also used as "to pass" in school)
Aproveitar (verb): Take advantage of

There is, in fact, a very big difference between these words, and one would do well not to confuse them. I got some rather weird looks from my colleagues this morning as we were discussing our students this trimester.

What I thought I said: 
I love my students! I passed almost all of them this trimester!

What I actually said:
I love my students. I took advantage of almost all of them this trimester!

Er... oops.
 

There's No Place Like Home

After exactly 12 days of being in limbo, I'm finally back home in Mavudzi-Ponte, and let me tell you something: It feels so good to be home!

Last week, some guys from Peace Corps Safety & Security went all around the region, doing an assessment on the situation. Things have (thankfully!) calmed down, no more incidents, and I was cleared to go home yesterday.

As happy as I am to be home, I'm also having withdrawal symptoms of Szasha, hot showers, and the Food Network. I came home to a house that hadn't been swept or cleaned in two weeks, and let me tell  you something: it was not pretty.

A mountain of work.

It doesn't help that I also came home to a gigantic mountain of piled up work. The two weeks of school I missed included not only revision period, but also end-of-trimester exams. My students were not pleased, and neither am I. Still, there's nothing I can do to change it, so I might as well get started chipping away at this mountain of grading.

Still, nothing beats the feeling of sleeping in your own bed at night, under your own mosquito net.

Home, sweet home.