HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!!!!! Sorry I didn't get to post this week, but I will soon. I think about you all and according to my friends here has pictures of all of you too! :O) I will have the info the next time I'm on the web as to where I will be for the next two years! ONE WEEK AND COUNTING!
Give me a call sometime
Ianito
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Massinga!\
Okay everybody, keep your fingers crossed. We have 3 weeks left of model school. This is some crazy Peace Corps practice where I get up in front of a "smallish" class of 45. I think after these two years when i get back to the States and really do start teaching (you all can laugh now as I know what you are thinking) I'm not going to know what to do. Ill have a class of 30 and wait five minutes asking where the other half of the class is! :O) But after model school, we will have a big Thanksgiving dinner celebration and figure out where we are going for the next two years. They sent us last week all over the southern Provinces of this country and I went to Inhambane Province to a town called Massinga. IT IS PARADISE. The volunteer lives in a reed hut on school grounds and it is just everything I have thought about Peace Corps and more. Portuguese is only spoken at school and through strangers at the market but this volunteer speaks Matswa pretty fluently. I cant wait to be able to start on the local language as well. Inhambane is the beach province of MOZ. It is beautiful as you guys will see very soon. I've got to get some pictures developed. But they will be up as soon as I can get them up!
Speaking of photos. Everyone go to Noel's website to see pictures of my beautiful little nephew. He is gorgeous and everyone, keep him in your prayers please! Everyone have a happy turkey day and a merry Christmas if I don't talk to you. I'm cooking a candied yam casserole for all of us and I hope it goes over well.
Con todo amor
Ian
ps. letters et al take at least two weeks to get here. Anything and everything from home is wonderfully appreciated!
Speaking of photos. Everyone go to Noel's website to see pictures of my beautiful little nephew. He is gorgeous and everyone, keep him in your prayers please! Everyone have a happy turkey day and a merry Christmas if I don't talk to you. I'm cooking a candied yam casserole for all of us and I hope it goes over well.
Con todo amor
Ian
ps. letters et al take at least two weeks to get here. Anything and everything from home is wonderfully appreciated!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Oh the humanity
So here we go again guys, sorry about the typos in the last blog post. I realised that I had only 2 minutes left, so I started typing faster, than it just kept ticking and ticking away, so I just clicked send with out re-reading it. So anyway, let me apologise for the mass email. I've taken everyone off who wishes to be and will not send another one like that. I think I will stick to blogs. Gmail is a weird thing though. Every email that enters my mail box gets automatically entered into my address book. It could lead to trouble though too. :O) Won't do it again...
Now to the crazy news. I'm sitting here in Maputo (I love this city) at an internet cafe staying at Hotel Africa. I've just taken my first hot water shower in a month and nearly cried. I never thought it would make me so happy. Don't get me wrong, I love the bucket showers under the stars every night but sometimes, one is lazy. We have AC running today. Its 38 degrees outside and VERY humid. But, I'm loving life here. My Portuguese is coming along rapidly. I can already hold conversations with no difficulties. I did get highly confused witht he Spanish language but I've seen the pattern within the differences in the languages (Thank you German) and have even started picking up some Changana. the local african language.
Last week was the highlight of my time here so far I think. My Portuguese instructor is a regular Mister Rogers here on Mozambique. he has a regular Sunday morning LIVE show every week. Last week my friend Rhett and I were featured guests. A bunch of us from training took the Chapa(that is a whole 'nother topic) into the capital and then got picked up by the "studio" car for the ride to the TV studio. We come in and our introduced. eight of us dance the macarena and have a blast. There was a monitor on the wall behind us and I looked up once to see the camerazoomed in on my and Rhett's naldegas and show us shake it like they do. My teacher says we did him proud because I swear here in Moz, they learn how to shake their prosterior before they walk and long before they learn how to speak Portuguese! So then we are brought back stage to the "tan" room. We are handed cameras and told to act like tourists. So my friend Rhett and I are running around the studio acting like complete idiots (surprise surprise). Then the music stops and we're brought to the centre of the stage. Didinho then tells the audience that we like to learn how to dance like the Mozambicans. Music starts and we start dancing. We are up there with them clapping and hooting and hollaring for 5 or 6 minutes. When we got back to our seats, my friends asked us if we knew whether or not we would have to dance. We didn't. they were amazed, because they said it looked like it was coreographed!
On the way back to teh Chapa terminal, a man stops Rhett and me on the street. He congratulates us on our "bonito" debut on Mozambican TV!!!! It was crazy! The white community is not that big here so I wasn't surprised, but Rhett and I are seriously rockstars now. We cannot leave our houses without getting at least one kid running up to us for a hug. Its really cute and all of you definitely know that I'm lapping up every minute of it.
I'm excited for tomorrow because I am going to Massinga with my friend Justin. Its in Inhambane Province, about 9 hours from here. I get my own seat on the bus and everything! Those of you who have been to Latin America know what I am talking about. Inhambane Province has the best surfing and diving on the African Indian Coast so I will scope things out for those of you that would like to come and visit. Remember though my school year in January to October, so come and visit mid November-December to escape the snow!
Some side notes, everyone please keep my friends in Guatemala in your thoughts. They were destroyed by the latest hurricane to hit the coast and need all the help they can get. Keep on sending the emails and letters. I have gotten stuff from Monique, Mag and Margaret Cavanagh. It seems to take 2 weeks. Here are some thoughts for care packages if anyone wants to.
Film
Duct Tape
Gallon Freezer Bags~
Hand Sanitiser
Please please please send me text messages! It only costs a quarter. My wonderful siblings have my cell phone number and notes from home brighten my day. Thanks Kris!
I am saving all your emails and once I get to site, I will be replying.
Com tudo minha coração
Mano Ian
Now to the crazy news. I'm sitting here in Maputo (I love this city) at an internet cafe staying at Hotel Africa. I've just taken my first hot water shower in a month and nearly cried. I never thought it would make me so happy. Don't get me wrong, I love the bucket showers under the stars every night but sometimes, one is lazy. We have AC running today. Its 38 degrees outside and VERY humid. But, I'm loving life here. My Portuguese is coming along rapidly. I can already hold conversations with no difficulties. I did get highly confused witht he Spanish language but I've seen the pattern within the differences in the languages (Thank you German) and have even started picking up some Changana. the local african language.
Last week was the highlight of my time here so far I think. My Portuguese instructor is a regular Mister Rogers here on Mozambique. he has a regular Sunday morning LIVE show every week. Last week my friend Rhett and I were featured guests. A bunch of us from training took the Chapa(that is a whole 'nother topic) into the capital and then got picked up by the "studio" car for the ride to the TV studio. We come in and our introduced. eight of us dance the macarena and have a blast. There was a monitor on the wall behind us and I looked up once to see the camerazoomed in on my and Rhett's naldegas and show us shake it like they do. My teacher says we did him proud because I swear here in Moz, they learn how to shake their prosterior before they walk and long before they learn how to speak Portuguese! So then we are brought back stage to the "tan" room. We are handed cameras and told to act like tourists. So my friend Rhett and I are running around the studio acting like complete idiots (surprise surprise). Then the music stops and we're brought to the centre of the stage. Didinho then tells the audience that we like to learn how to dance like the Mozambicans. Music starts and we start dancing. We are up there with them clapping and hooting and hollaring for 5 or 6 minutes. When we got back to our seats, my friends asked us if we knew whether or not we would have to dance. We didn't. they were amazed, because they said it looked like it was coreographed!
On the way back to teh Chapa terminal, a man stops Rhett and me on the street. He congratulates us on our "bonito" debut on Mozambican TV!!!! It was crazy! The white community is not that big here so I wasn't surprised, but Rhett and I are seriously rockstars now. We cannot leave our houses without getting at least one kid running up to us for a hug. Its really cute and all of you definitely know that I'm lapping up every minute of it.
I'm excited for tomorrow because I am going to Massinga with my friend Justin. Its in Inhambane Province, about 9 hours from here. I get my own seat on the bus and everything! Those of you who have been to Latin America know what I am talking about. Inhambane Province has the best surfing and diving on the African Indian Coast so I will scope things out for those of you that would like to come and visit. Remember though my school year in January to October, so come and visit mid November-December to escape the snow!
Some side notes, everyone please keep my friends in Guatemala in your thoughts. They were destroyed by the latest hurricane to hit the coast and need all the help they can get. Keep on sending the emails and letters. I have gotten stuff from Monique, Mag and Margaret Cavanagh. It seems to take 2 weeks. Here are some thoughts for care packages if anyone wants to.
Film
Duct Tape
Gallon Freezer Bags~
Hand Sanitiser
Please please please send me text messages! It only costs a quarter. My wonderful siblings have my cell phone number and notes from home brighten my day. Thanks Kris!
I am saving all your emails and once I get to site, I will be replying.
Com tudo minha coração
Mano Ian
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