Sunday, October 23, 2005
Hello everyone,
Today was a pretty interesting day. We got up early, and got into a chapa (bus, but really minivan), and went into Maputo with part of my language group and Paul. There in Maputo, we went to a TV kids show that our Peace Corps Cross Culture and Language coordinator presents every Sunday. Let me tell you that this is national TV, and that considering the limited TV channels in Mozambique, i'm guessing that a majority of the country watched us dance the hokey pokey. In addition, two other volunteers tried to dance a traditional mozambican dance, and Paul shredded some coconut on a thing called ralador (you sit on a wooden seat, and there's a sharp knife on it, and you basically shred the coconut with that). All on national TV!! It was pretty cool :-)
Now we're all checking our email, and after this i think we're gonna go get some pizza :-) and hopefully a pastry shop where i can buy palmeras (mmmm).
This week that's coming up should be pretty intense, more lesson planning, and language class. The week after that tho, we're going on a site visit for a couple of days, and that should be pretty cool.
Anyhow, that's it for me. I think Paul's gonna write something now.
Love,
Eli
p.s. can anyone post a comment on the blog explaining how to post a comment? Thanks!
::Paul::
Hi, I wanted to write a little more about what Mozambique is like, because in the early 1990's after they had just come out of a civil war it was generally considered to be the poorest country in the world. You know its poor because there isn't a single McDonald's anywhere in the country- which is fine by me (although to be honest there is a KFC in the capital city, don't ask me why). Eli and I actually live with a wealthier family in a poured cement house with a real roof and a very small lawn in the front. The majority of families in our town do not have a grass lawn, and most houses are made of cement blocks with tin roofs. Roofs are generally attached, at least on poorer houses, with heavy rocks. Driving into the city you can see houses which are made of reeds and mudded from the inside and incredibly tiny. Like I mentioned earlier, the people may have one set of nice work clothes, but it's ironed every day- even shirts with holes are ironed every day. Also, everything is cleaned and kept clean. We spend a lot more time bathing and cleaning here, and people go to great lengths to keep everything clean, which is hard because it's very dusty and can get windy. Another thing is that the obsessive cleaning doesn't really apply to the environment- there is no such thing as a public trashcan here, people just throw trash on the ground and don't give it a second thought. So you see lots of wrappers and garbage all over the streets (some of it does get eaten by the goats). Hopefully I will get some pictures developed next week and mail them out- then maybe my parents can scan them and post them here on the blog. Take care everyone,
Paul
Today was a pretty interesting day. We got up early, and got into a chapa (bus, but really minivan), and went into Maputo with part of my language group and Paul. There in Maputo, we went to a TV kids show that our Peace Corps Cross Culture and Language coordinator presents every Sunday. Let me tell you that this is national TV, and that considering the limited TV channels in Mozambique, i'm guessing that a majority of the country watched us dance the hokey pokey. In addition, two other volunteers tried to dance a traditional mozambican dance, and Paul shredded some coconut on a thing called ralador (you sit on a wooden seat, and there's a sharp knife on it, and you basically shred the coconut with that). All on national TV!! It was pretty cool :-)
Now we're all checking our email, and after this i think we're gonna go get some pizza :-) and hopefully a pastry shop where i can buy palmeras (mmmm).
This week that's coming up should be pretty intense, more lesson planning, and language class. The week after that tho, we're going on a site visit for a couple of days, and that should be pretty cool.
Anyhow, that's it for me. I think Paul's gonna write something now.
Love,
Eli
p.s. can anyone post a comment on the blog explaining how to post a comment? Thanks!
::Paul::
Hi, I wanted to write a little more about what Mozambique is like, because in the early 1990's after they had just come out of a civil war it was generally considered to be the poorest country in the world. You know its poor because there isn't a single McDonald's anywhere in the country- which is fine by me (although to be honest there is a KFC in the capital city, don't ask me why). Eli and I actually live with a wealthier family in a poured cement house with a real roof and a very small lawn in the front. The majority of families in our town do not have a grass lawn, and most houses are made of cement blocks with tin roofs. Roofs are generally attached, at least on poorer houses, with heavy rocks. Driving into the city you can see houses which are made of reeds and mudded from the inside and incredibly tiny. Like I mentioned earlier, the people may have one set of nice work clothes, but it's ironed every day- even shirts with holes are ironed every day. Also, everything is cleaned and kept clean. We spend a lot more time bathing and cleaning here, and people go to great lengths to keep everything clean, which is hard because it's very dusty and can get windy. Another thing is that the obsessive cleaning doesn't really apply to the environment- there is no such thing as a public trashcan here, people just throw trash on the ground and don't give it a second thought. So you see lots of wrappers and garbage all over the streets (some of it does get eaten by the goats). Hopefully I will get some pictures developed next week and mail them out- then maybe my parents can scan them and post them here on the blog. Take care everyone,
Paul
# posted by Paul and Eli @ 2:32 AM 
