Rain

I’m sitting here listening to the rain on the roof. But not just any roof. This is a tin roof. This is rain on a tin roof.

When it pours, it’s deafening. It hurts my eardrums. I can’t think. If I scream, the person next to me can barely hear me. If I’m alone, I just stand in the middle of the living room and don’t know what to do. It sounds like a never-ending cymbal crash. It is spectacular.

When it rains, everything stops. People stand on the nearest porch and look out. Conversations are halted, because you can’t hear. Lessons are interrupted. Since they would have to walk outside, teachers can’t walk from one classroom to another, and teachers already in classrooms can’t shout over the rain. It’s physically impossible.

Then after 20 minutes the cloud goes away and everything feels fresh and washed and the sun comes out and my buckets are full of water, people on their walks steps out from under the porches they had scurried under and continue walking, teachers wrap up and move on to the next class, and life continues on from where it left off.

My bucket fills up with rainwater coming off
the roof. Don't worry - this water goes
 into the toilet, not into my stomach.

The view from my front door - small garden,
bamboo fence, and mango trees.

Why I was actually kidding about the previous post

You know my love-hate relationship with the internet. And my minimalist tendencies. But here’s why I appreciate electricity more than I ever have:

-          At night, you can just flick a switch and have visibility for more than a 2-foot sphere around you

-          Machines are fast and easy. Washing machines, toasters, electric kettles, fans, cell phones with full batteries, shrink wrapping machines... Sure, we can live without them. But it’s so much easier, more comfortable and time-saving to live with them.

-          You can write a lesson plan after 6 pm without straining your eyes

-          The afternoon session of school could actually go until 5:30 pm like it’s supposed to, even in the winter when it gets dark as you are beginning your last class

-          Your hands don’t turn black with charcoal dust every time you want to drink tea

-          You can turn the stove on “low” and let something simmer, instead of burning everything (charcoal is hard to turn on low)

-          You can calculate your grades for 300 students with just a few clicks on Excel

-          Worksheets and tests can be printed and photocopied for students, instead of every student copying it off the board

-          When you don’t feel like being social, you can stay in your house and watch 15 episodes of New Girl in a row

So, try it sometimes, and you can decide for yourself how you would rather live. In summary, here’s how I really feel – the following 3 sentences were written by the same person (me), on 3 separate occasions:

“I’ll be able to say I didn’t have electricity for 2 years!”

“Having no electricity is annoying sometimes.”

“WHY IS THERE NO ELECTRICITY IN MY HOUSE?!?”

Clearly, I have mixed feelings about the issue.

Why everyone should experience living with no electricity for one year

-          Your other 4 senses become more perceptive

-          Your electronics will last 7 times as long

-          You learn to differentiate the animal by the rustle it makes

-          You look really cool carrying around a battery powered short wave radio with a flash drive sticking out of it playing 10 songs over and over

-          You have romantic candlelit dinners every night

-          Your time on the internet becomes very efficient

-          You spend more time with other people instead of staying inside on the computer (like I’m doing now)

Welcome to my house at 12pm

Welcome to my house at 7pm

Divas, Headscarves, and Pumpkins

Last week a Big Important Event took place in Nauela. Believe it or not, this does happen once in a while. For example, one day someone sold cucumbers in the market, and another day a student raised a question during class, and one day I used only 1 match and less than 10 minutes to light my charcoal stove, and yet another day my girls’ soccer team scored a goal during a real game.  Ok, so Big Important Events happen a lot.

But this time people came from all over Zambezia (the province I live in, basically like a state of Mozambique) and even a few from the other end of the country to celebrate the 100^th birthday of the Evangelical Church of Mihecane, located in Nauela.

The celebration lasted 2 days, and luckily in the middle of this rainy season it did not rain a single drop. At least, not one fell on my head. On Fridays, dozens of cars and pick-up trucks drove by bringing hundreds of singing people five miles down the road and into the bush where the church is located. Each group brought everything needed to prepare their own meals (kilos of beans and rice, along with cauldron-sized pots to prepare them in) and to sleep outside or in various abandoned buildings (tents, straw mats, blankets).

On Saturday I arrived in Mihecane perched on the back of a bike (someone else was pedaling). I had friends coming from other cities so I found them and then milled about marveling at the crowds that I don’t think Nauela had ever seen before. The main event of the day - a competition between 29 choral groups - began around 11, so I found a nice naturally well-lit spot to take pictures, and promptly got a sunburn.

At 5:30pm, when it was about to start getting dark and there were still 12 groups left to sing, I decided to start walking the 5-ish miles back home with 2 friends who were staying at my house. We had excellent luck and within 3 minutes of leaving, a pick-up truck pulled up to let us on. I settled onto the floor for a bumpy ride, listening to the people around me singing for all Nauela to hear.

We were welcomed home by poop splotches everywhere, left by a chicken that I accidentally named Gabriela. She and I had bonded during lunch the previous day after I bought her; she pecked her raw rice and I chewed my peanut butter sandwich, but I didn’t meant to name her since she would be my dinner for Saturday. But, all turned out well, and we had grilled chicken and good conversations that night.

I went back to Mihecane the next day on foot, arriving in time to see everyone packing up to go home. I caught another pick-up truck ride on the way back, and had another bout of excellent luck – just 2 minutes after I mentioned that I had been awaiting the return of pumpkin season since last March, I came across a woman selling a bucket of pumpkins, for 20 cents each.

So I bought all seven of them.

It was a good weekend.

I didn't know this many people knew that Nauela exists

Choral group with matching outfits

Animated choral group and Diva

The women stood in front and the men stood in back, so
the microphones only picked up the women's voices...

Crowds and headscarves.
This country is quite colorful.

Sitting in the back of a pick-up truck on the way home from the church.
Bumpy road, hence bumpy photo.

Singing in the pick-up truck!

Students Handling Chalk Caught White-Handed

I am pleased to announce the release of our first school newspaper, “Jornal Makarena: O Saber Ler” (“The Daily Macarena: Knowing How to Read”).

Before

After

In Edition 1, published just this morning, you will find a suspenseful rendition of the wall of a house falling down because of the rain, an exciting premonition of which school’s soccer team will have the most screaming fans this year (Headline: “Nearing the Days of Truth”) and even a poem in English (“Part I: When I Was Baby”).

Eighth, ninth and tenth grade journalist apprentices could be found copying their articles by hand onto blank paper in an empty classroom last Wednesday.

Allegedly, the press was then pressed eye-catchingly onto a blackboard using duct tape, and is now standing proudly in front of the school for all to appreciate.

During the Monday and Friday bi-weekly all-school meetings, select students read aloud, reporter-style, a summary of this week’s hottest news topics: the weather, a donation of 2 markers to the school newspaper, and an eraser thief on the loose.

Next week’s update - Edition 2 of the Daily Macarena - is not to be missed. It will include a color-coded level super-easy Sudoku, and the poem “Part II: When I Was Child.”

If Nauela wasn’t making it into the press, it is now making its own press!