Quick Basketball Update

The Lady Divas competed with two other schools in our town for the past three Saturdays.  The first two games we lost, but yesterday, we squashed the other team like a cockroach! The girls sang and danced with their smiling faces beaming in the sun. I was very proud of them.

 There won't be any more games for a while.  In the meantime, the damas, ladies, will continue practicing  their lay-ups and free-throw shots.  Their defense is good, they steal a lot of balls and jump for rebounds, but they need to score points and handle the ball better. At the same time, it's amazing to see how much they've already learned in the past three months.  When I first started coaching, many of them didn't know how to dribble a ball.  I'm excited to see how they'll be playing in the next few months.  I'll upload a video of them playing soon.

How much does food cost in Mozambique?

I bought corn, dried beans, a kilo of rice, 10 sweet potatoes, 8 bell peppers and carrots for only five

dollars yesterday.  If I want to travel from my town to Nampula, a big city about five hours away,

I'd pay about $7 USD for the

bus ride.  Produce and traveling is very inexpensive here.  That is, if you're earning a a decent salary 

according to U.S. standards.

In the past, when I visited other cities over the weekend, the teachers asked me how I was able to travel so

much as a volunteer.  They were stunned that I could visit so many sites

in Mozambique, seeing sites that they've never been to.

How much does an Ipad cost?

While produce can be inexpensive here,  electronics like smart phones, digital cameras, and laptops are very expensive.

An Ipad can cost about $2,000 USD here.  It's no wonder

the teachers hover over my  kindle touch when I bring it to the teacher's lounge, asking me the cost and if I could get them one from the States.

Unfortunately, I always have to say no and tell them that I won't be going back to the U.S. before my

service ends. 

How much do some teachers make in Mozambique?

The other day, I was in the teacher's lounge and a teacher wanted to know about how much it would cost

to visit the U.S.  I told him that it would depend on which state he wanted to visit, but if he were to go

to the East Coast (which would probably be the cheapest option), it would cost about 60,000 metacais, or

around $2,000 USD.  He replied, "Wow, that's very expensive.  Let's see, I make just a little over that each

year. I make around 75,000 metacais per year." My mouth dropped learning that he made only $2,500 USD every 

year and $208 every month as a secondary English teacher.  I was even more baffled at the fact that

I earn more than that as a volunteer.  It made me sad to think how little many of the

professors here earn, as

they grade tests and some teaching 40 hours a week. I wonder how these teachers have enough money to support their families.

Although food, transportation, and housing are relatively cheap here, it's not that inexpensive where

 a full-time teacher only earns

$2,500 per year.  Now I understand why many people, including professors, think I'm rich here.  

How much is my Peace Corps experience worth?

Recently, I've stopped

complaining to my friends about how little I make in Mozambique.  The Peace Corps treats us very well.

I don't pay rent, I have medical and dental benefits, and I have enough money to pay for internet, food, household supplies,household help,

and for traveling with great friends.

Invaluable.

Caranguejos

Sometimes, the experience of learning a new word

 helps me with remembering words in Portuguese. Today, I learned a new word, that I probably won't soon forget. I was coming home

from a trip in a chapa, a minivan that is used as public transportation in Mozambique, when I felt something

tapping the tip of my shoe.  Breathing heavily, I asked if there was a chicken on  the chapa and everyone said, "No."

I thought that I must have been imagining the tapping. So I stretched my legs as much as I could in the compact vehicle.

 About two minutes later, I felt something running on 

the arch of my foot like a pianist running her fingers across black and white keys. I screamed and said, there's some kind of animal down there. Right then, the woman next to me started screaming as well, claiming that she felt it, too.

The man next to me, moving slower than molasses, looked down at his feet and said, "Acho que os meus caranguejos saíram da minha pasta.  'Ta bom.  Só são caranguejos."

After he explained that his little friends escaped from his bag, he said that I can put my feet down and he'll get them.  I said that my Portuguese isn't the best and I didn't know

 what caranguejos were and until I knew what they were, I wasn't 

letting them use my feet as a playground. Biting my fingernails, I wondered, "Are caranguejos tarantulas, a type of mouse, or could they be baby alligators?"

 The woman on the other side of me explained, "Sabe, vivem na beach.  E tem..."  She then formed her hands into a claw.  Half relieved and still a little scared, I said that caranguejo probably meant crab in English.   About four other people and I laughed at the fact

 that because I didn't know one word in Portuguese, I was afraid and confused

because I had no idea what had escaped.  Then someone asked the man next to me in Portuguese, "Why the heck do you have a basket full of crabs, anyway?"

He explained that he just got back from the beach and he was surprising his family with caranguejos.  They were for dinner.

Naturally, I'm learning a lot of

Portuguese since I have to use it every day with co-workers and community members and I learn new words all the time like caranguejo.

Anyway, it's been awhile since I last posted a blog and I just wanted to share this story with you. This is just one of many examples of 

awkward and silly encounters I face as a someone who isn't a native Portuguese speaker or knowing any of the local languages here in Mozambique. 

Further, I just wanted to check in to say that all is well here and I've been very busy teaching and with secondary projects.

Also,  my basketball team has a game next week and perhaps I'll write a blog about the meninas, girls.  Até logo!