Six Months

I opened my planner this morning and there it was, dutifully written in: "March 27th: Six months in Mozambique."

However, at the time, I didn't have time for quiet self-introspection. I was too busy being overwhelmed with my grading frenzy.

In my last post, I expressed annoyance at having my 10th grade class randomly canceled mid-evaluation. Well, if that was at a level 3 on the Mozambican Frustrations scale, I am currently at a Level 10.

I was talking with one of my colleagues about how peeved I was on Monday. He shrugged and told me not to worry about it.

"Yeah, I'll just do the test next Monday instead." I said.

He looked at me, head tilted. "Uh...you know there's no class next Monday, right? It's Easter holiday."

I stared. "No, no one told me about that either. Hmm....I guess as a last resort, I can do the test on the final Monday of the trimester..."

He looked at the floor awkwardly. "Yeah, about that... that's Mozambican Women's day. There's no school."

I closed my eyes and breathed deepy. Don't let it get to you, I told myself. Stay flexible.

"Ok. Well they have last period on Fridays off, right? I'll tell them that we're doing the English test this Friday. They'll complain about it, but its really my only option left at this point."

He was silent. An apologetic smile started to form on his face.

"Oh, jeez, now what?" I asked.

"Well, Friday is Good Friday... there's---"

"Let me guess. No class." I rolled my eyes.

"Exactly."

So I have no more class with my tenth graders this semester. Somehow I am supposed to fill out grades for a class that I currently don't even have a class list for yet, much less complete grading information.

I was justifiably upset. My school administration doesn't tell me anything -- dates for important meetings, school holidays, curriculum changes... these things are always springing up and surprising me. Maybe they think I'm psychic? I don't know.

I went home and I complained to my friend, another teacher, about how frustrating it all was.

"Still, I guess its only tenth grade," I said to her, "Tenth grade is always challenging. At least I'm on track with the other grades. Our final next week is the only score I still need for them."

 She gave me a strange look. "Your final... next week?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah. We're doing  review this week and then I'll give the test next Tuesday and Wednesday.... oh no, why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, panic creeping into my voice.

She gave me a pitying look.

"Didn't anyone tell you? We have provincial exams next week.... there's no class. Just exams. Besides, why were you planning on giving a test next week? Grades are due today."

WHAT!?

At this point, I am at my wits end. Not only am I not able to give my test next week, but my students have to take some other test that they have not studied for and probably won't pass. I haven't prepared them for the Provincial Exam because I didn't even know that it existed until this morning. I also have not prepared grades for any of the classes because I was under the impression I still had three weeks to put them together.

This was all about 12 hours ago. Since then, I've been running around, trying to collect as many grades as possible to try and complete my grading. I've collected and graded about 350 notebooks. I've hastily made up new grading schemes that will stretch the number of grades I can put in the gradebook. I spent hours on end at school, copying names so I'd have an accurate class list, only to find that most of the lists were outdated and have since changed.

I'm exhausted. And there's still so much to do.

So on this date, marking six months in Mozambique, I'd love to sit and think about what the last six months have meant, how I have changed, and what I hope to accomplish in the next six months -- but I'm too busy. Right now, I have time only for grading.

Snow Days

Growing up in Virginia, some mornings we woke up to the glorious surprise of snowfall. My brother and I would immediately turn on NPR, listening attentively as we munched on our Cocoa Puffs, waiting for "Traffic and Weather on the 8's!" Finally, the moment would come.

 "Inclement weather advisories for the following counties: Montgomery County... Prince George's County..."

We'd hold our breath, our spoons of soggy Cocoa Puffs stopped mid-way to our mouths, all attention turned to the radio.

"... Loudon County... Arlington County..."

Come on! COME ON! Fingers crossed!

"...and Fairfax County."

YES! SNOW DAY! NO SCHOOL!

We'd jump up and down in excitement, and immediately dash to the closet and pull out our jackets and boots, prepared for a busy day of snowball fights, sledding, and fort-building. The second we heard those fateful words, our hearts filled with joy.

This is approximately the feeling I can imagine my students are feeling today.

It started out as any other Monday might. I headed over to teach tenth grade at 1:30, as usual. The trimester is coming to a close, so we were doing some graded group work before our test next week. They were supposed to write sentences about healthy living. "You should always wash your hands," and "You should never eat trash," that kind of thing. I explained the assignment to them, answered some questions, and then they dutifully started working.

Then one of my colleagues knocked on my door.

"Classes are canceled today. We have an assembly. Have your students pack up and go to the village center."

"Wait, what?" I said, "But we're in the middle of an avaliação. They're not finished!"

"Director's orders, sorry. You'll have to finish next week."

I scowled.

"OK, class, I know you just started but please hand in what you have done and go to the assembly. I'll only grade what you managed to finish so far."

There was a communal "WHOOP!" and the class emptied within ten seconds, leaving me with a dozen unfinished assignments, and a thoroughly messed up lesson plan.

Now, usually, I am a very flexible person. I know that things here run differently than in the United States. Classes have been canceled on a whim before, but never mid-class, and never while I was giving what was effectively a test. I was peeved.

I happened upon my director as I was leaving the classroom.

"What is this meeting about?" I asked him, "And why is it so  important that we have to cancel classes for it? Why was there no advanced notice?"

He laughs. "A representative from the Provincial branch of the FRELIMO party is coming to visit. We forgot to tell the townspeople, so there's no one in the village square. We're making all the students go so that there will be a crowd there."

I fumed.

"You're telling me that I had to stop my test because someone screwed up and now you're sending all my students to a meeting of a political party!?"

"Yes. It's very important. You need to be there too."

I had to tell myself to take ten deep breaths.

The meeting was long and useless. I used the time to re-arrange my grading scheme for my tenth graders. And while I was sitting under the shade of the giant tree that marks the village center,  I thought back to those days in Virginia.

I always assumed that everybody loved snow days. But now, looking back, I'm realizing that teachers probably don't always love snow days. Teachers don't love surprises like canceled classes. It messes things up.

But what can you do? Not much. You take it in stride, you remember to breathe, and you think on one of the favorite sayings on Mozambicans.

Vai passar. It will pass.

Victory!

Every class period, I tell my students that if they have any questions, or just want to practice English, they can come to me anytime for extra help. The total number of students who have taken advantage of my offer of free unlimited tutoring: zero.

Until today!

This morning, I woke up early after sleeping badly. It was barely 6:00 in the morning, and I opened my door to see two of my ninth graders sitting on my porch.

"We came for English help. We want to learn to speak better."

I was still half asleep, hadn't brushed my teeth or eaten breakfast, but they were looking at my expectantly so I let them in.

"Just let me uh... get something," I said, frazzled.

To buy me some time, I had them do an exercise from my grammar book, and once I had somewhat composed myself we tried a reading and speaking exercise.

After we finished, Hélder and António wanted to know how to say a bunch of random phrases, so I wrote them down and we practiced the pronunciation and meaning together. They wanted to know all about my family and where I was from, I took out my world map.

We worked on English for an hour. I don't think they learned anything groundbreaking, but I do think they enjoyed themselves. For them, it was a small victory.

For me, this was a huge victory. Finally, my students are realizing that I'm not just some teacher whose here for the paycheck at the end of the month. I'm not some random foreigner who is going to disappear next week. I am here for two years. I am here for the sole purpose of their English learning. I want them to learn. I want to help!

Finally, someone asked for help!

When I walk in the classroom these days, the students perk up. They say "Good afternoon, Teacher!" when they pass me in the hallways. They actually volunteer to answer questions. They speak! It's these little things that have been happening recently that are giving me the motivation to continue with full force.

What a great feeling!