the new year

hi to the few people that still check this site, and Happy New Year!

As most of you know, I have come back to the States in one piece. I am currently on a tour of the Eastern half of the United States to see my family and a few friends. I have not forgotten about this blog- I want to wrap it up for the time being with a post about my leaving Mozambique. I ahven’t been able to sit down fro more than a few minutes at a time and collect my thoughts on paper, but I have been able to talk about my experiences almost non-stop with the folks who I have been visiting, and they have been gracious enough to let me ramble for many minutes before tiring of my act.

I expect to be back in Florida by the beginning of March, at which point I will begin the job hunt and the processof reorganizing my life. Hope to see those of you who I have not yet gotten in contact with soon.

Take care!

PS- The Inauguration was cold but AWESOME!!! Obama will do us proud.

 

The number 13 is a great thing…

From HAD-DLDD Trip- 29.7-18.8

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

39 days until you see me get off a plane in Fort Myers.

Until then, your birthday present will just have to be hope for a great 2009 led by an amazing man as our president!

I love you,

David

 

gobama.

I say, we’re finally headed in the right direction.

Here’s to change in 2009.

Hope everyone got out to vote.

 

day of the karateiros

Hey folks, I just found this in a draft folder from this time last year. Enjoy! I’ll try to have a post up soon on the events that took place THIS YEAR!

_____________________________________________________________________

Written in September-October 2007

There’s that overused saying that people reference whenever something like a fight breaks out that ends up becoming more interesting or more of the focus than the intended original event.

e.g. I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out

I was thinking about this saying as I ran over to a large mob of adolescents screaming and waving and generally causin’ a ruckus. I knew what had happened before I arrived to see the assistant school director putting a headlock on a boy or before the driver for our program took off to try and catch a soccer player who had been wielding a meter-long piece of bamboo like a sword. As I entered the fray, I thought “I came to a fight and a soccer tournament/health fair broke out”, and that was right before a kid blindly swung and almost caught my jaw.

So let me rewind a bit.

The ARSH team was wrapping up activities for  fiscal year 2007. I may have briefly talked about this before, but we helped some of our groups try to organize health fairs in their community. Basically, this would be an exposition of the activities that the groups are doing as well as a chance to invite other community organizations to present on health-related topics relevant to the community. All of this would take place during the final day of a community futebol tournament- Our thinking is, we attract the crowd with a highly touted game between two communities, and then during the breaks we have the different groups present their activities to the community.

The thing is, most of these groups are not at the level where they can plan an event like this. Even with our assistance, the health fairs ended up taking a back seat (though most communities did present) to the futebol games. Which, we realized, is ok. They still took away some knowledge in terms of event organization. They had to distribute transport funds, and keep track of team rosters and devise the agendas for the day- skills that they normally do not get to develop out in the bush. And this is the first time we have tried to have groups plan day-long events, so even though the results have been mixed, we feel like there is a good base that we can build off of.

We wound up our supervision of the fairs/tourneys last Saturday. The same Saturday that UCF gallantly played in it’s first REAL home game ever (sadly losing to No. 6 Texas by three points… but a good showing nonetheless, boys!) Luisa went to the fair hosted by Nhacutse in the Xai Xai districet, and I went with Manjate, our driver, to Mandlakaze (pronounced Mahn-jah-kahz-ee) to check out the fair in Mussengue.

When I arrived, the final game of the girl’s bracket had already begun. The other (visiting ) community that participated in the fair was Chalala. The women battled to a 0-0 tie before going to penalty kicks. Right before they started the shootout, Chalala replaced their goalkeeper (who was looking a bit worse for wear) with an Amazon-esque girl who had- up until that point- been playing defense. None of the coaches complained, so they started kicking.

*Quick aside- Flash poll: Do y’all think that calling someone an Amazon is a good thing or bad thing? I’ve heard that it can be positive or negative, but I use it in a strictly positive way. I mean, Wonder Woman was an Amazon, and she kicked ass! Just curious.

Ok, so to cut to the chase, Chalala won on kicks. The Amazon (named Sonia) only let one ball through, and combined with her good defense during the game we awarded her the MVP (and a new soccer ball). Then, it was time for the men to warm up. As the Mussengue girls gave their jerseys to the boys, the Chalala team could, for the first time, get a look at their competition.

Apparently, there had been some confusion with the rules, as Mussengue brought what reminded me of a Varsity college team. These guys were big, especially compared with the 13-15 year olds that Chalala trucked over to serve as cannon fodder. There was lots of shouting, and pointing of fingers, and pointing at papers. Chalala said Mussengue was trying to cheat, and Mussengue was basically calling Chalala a bunch of spineless wimps. Meanwhile, there is an argument brewing off the field between some of the female soccer players. Apparently Mussengue thought it was illegal to switch goalkeepers before the penalty kick phase (I honestly don’t know if it is legal or not; maybe someone can fill me in here on the FIFA rules.) So, we have an outbreak of machismo on the field, allegations of cheating off the field, and me trying to calm down the professors, who seem to be taking this stuff more seriously than anyone. Right as I am showing the professor from Mussengue the part where the paper says “ages of participants in tournament: 13-16″, the rumble begins.

Apparently, a girl from Chalala shouted one too many “we won, you guys suck” taunts at Mussengue, and number 11 came out swingin’. Then, a dude from Mussengue started whipping around his bamboo whuppin’ stick and all hell breaks loose. Aforementioned headlocks and beatings ensue. Manjate and Magaia chase kids into the bushes (kids are not seen again for the rest of the day)

I just couldn’t believe that this harmless soccer tourney/health fair turned into the royal rumble. Adfter we got things settled down, we tried to ask the kids what they were thinking. Responses included the following:

“He looked at me weird”

“They were bigger than us so we deserved to cheat” (we never CALLED you cheaters!!!)

“I am sick, I don’t know what I just did”

So we’ve got a temporary insanity plea, a self-defense arguement, and a whack-job who just likes to lie. Nice.

I felt so depressed upon leaving mUssengue. Not only were thie kids acting like kids, but the professors were just as bad. After all of the ruckus, the Chalala folks were leaving. I asked “so, where is the rest of the money for transport? You used XXX meticais and I gave you XXX meticais.”

The response by the ped. director? “We bought food.”

DAMMIT! If you want to buy food, use your own money or ask us if it’s ok. DOn’t just assume it’s cool to blow over a mil (which is not how much some 30 egg sandwiches cost to make) on food.

Sufficed to say, this was a dark day for the ARSH team. We have meetings with both schools to discuss the behavior. And David is not going to play the nice, caring PCV. Groups need to learn that some organizations do not appreciate getting money stolen from them and used to put on a community karate exhibiton.

 

counting down

I’ve got about a month left at work, and some days have been pretty excruciating. Here are my meeting notes from yesterday:

From Fun with the Scanner

I am still loving my time here, but there are days at work- especially when we are talking about things like budget monitoring reports- where I just zone out.

Let me say that I’m focused on what I need to do to leave “my affairs” in order (projects that I was working on while I was here)… I’m just not focused on discussions about logistics and implementation plans for 2009.

 

shout-outs for a sweet surprise

This is one of the best things anyone has sent me since I have been here.

I want to thank Janet and George for sending me this cool collage of old photos. It came int he mail quite some time ago but I only received it last week since it was accidentally put in a different post office box.

From Fun with the Scanner

Oh nostalgia.

I don’t really remember “Jazz on the Green” too well, but I remember having fun there. This picture made my month!!!!!
I’ve received a lot of great things since I have been in Mozambique. Those of you who read this are the same people who have thought to send me little treats or fun things to read or even just a note to say hi. It’s the small things like this photo that really help on days where you want to just hole up in your house and wait for it to be December 2008 already. Thank you to all who have taken the time to write, e-mail or send me anything over the past two years.

 

2 months

From HAD-DLDD Trip- 29.7-18.8

As of Wednesday, I have two months left in my service. I COS on December 1, then head to Cape Town and Paris for a few weeks before coming home on December 22.

Don’t mob me

I haven’t been good with writing posts. Just haven’t felt inspired. I was hoping my Mom could contribute a summary of the trip for my blog and I could add in pics, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Here is a link to the Picasa album with just about a fifth of the pics we took over the course of the trip. My Picasa account is officially pretty full, so I can’t put any more pics up right now.

HAD-DLDD Moz Trip 2008

I will say that I am excited to see everyone when I get home. It may take a bit of time to get around to see folks, but I will do my best in 2009. I will also be starting the job hunt (hooray, idealist.org) and I hope to see Obama’s inauguration in January. Republican, Democrat, Independent- if you think McCain has a chance in hell to win this election you better do what Ice Cube said… “chickity-check yo’self be’fo you wreck yo’self“.

It means Obama’s got it locked.

Anyway, I’m having a reflective last couple of months, making sure to say goodbye to those folks who have made an impact on me throughout the past two years. I’ll at some point post a bit of a catch-up entry to talk about September, October and November are going/will go.

One more thing: by the time you all see me, I’ll be SCUBA certified. I’m completing the last part of my certification on October 18th, after which I can dive to 18 meters without a dive master.

Anyone wanna go tickle some lobsters next spring? Just let me know

Take care all, and good luck to our Knights… they need every bit of it, it seems.

ok, tchau, ‘brigado.

 

not an option

well, i guess that making $100.00 a day off of the School District of Lee County is not an option for when I get back from Moz.

Anyone know if ECC has subs?

 

Culture comes to Xai-Xai

A couple weeks ago Xai-Xai was inundated with representatives from all 10 provinces in Mozambique as the 5th Annual National Cultural Festival kicked off on July 11. During the week, there were performances by theater, music and dance groups as well as a food expo, a craft fair and even films from Mozambican directors.

One of the things I have been bitching about since I got to Xai-Xai is that there is very little attention paid to cultural affairs/events. During holidays, there are the obligatory women’s/youth groups that dance and sing and say “Oye (insert occasion or organization here)!!!!” and “Mata SIDA!!!!!” (Kill AIDS!!!). But there is rarely an occasion where you see a mass gathering of people to just celebrate Mozambican (or Shangana) culture. Maybe it’s because most people “celebrate their culture” enough on any average day of living- the work that goes into their farms and houses and families seem like cultural staples that have been around quite a while.

I was very happy to see the festival come to Xai-Xai. It not only brought a lot of people to the Southern region of Mozambique who had never seen this part of the country before, but it injected a bit of life into the population here. It also got vendors and businesses excited enough so that many did some refurbishing of their businesses. It was great to just meet people on the way to work who were from places I have never seen like Tet and Niassa. The presence of the President and Minister of Culture also lit a fire under the provincial government’s butt to make some quick fixes to the road (which are already back to being horrible) and some construction of some new buildings in the downtown area that used to look like bombed out war relics (despite the fact that the war never really reached Xai-Xai; the condition is due only to negligence.)

A couple highlights:

- I was told by an acquaintance at the kick-off party that (and I’m paraphrasing) “Mozambique is so great that I could pass out drunk in the middle of this party [which was quite big] I would wake up in the morning with my wallet and keys and phone still in my pockets… that doesn’t happen in South Africa for sure!”

Well, thank god for that! That’s why I love Mozambique too!!!

- At the film night that I went to, they showed a film about a woman who is beaten by her husband while eventually becoming pregnant with his child. Soon after she is encouraged to get a HIV test, which comes out positive. Her sister convinces her husband to support the mother (read: not beat her and protect her against discrimination) and due to regular check-ups and treatment, the baby is born and raised HIV negative (the Dad also realizes that he is HIV-positive).

The film was good in the approach it takes to female empowerment and the importance of family in the fight against HIV. The only bummer was that the film was all in Shangana, a Bantu dialect that is spoken only below the Save River. All of those participants from Tet or Sofala or Cabo Delgado or Nampula (among others) couldn’t understand what the people were saying. Subtitles were obviously needed.

Good News: There were subtitles

Bad News: The subtitles were in ENGLISH!!! (Doh!)

- I had clam stew, chicken zambeziana (coconut and spices), and matapa with shrimp at the food expo- and that was just at the Zambezia stand! They totally beat the pants off the other provinces in the cooking department. Gaza was kind of boring, but still good. Nampula had dried fish… really?! Couldn’t get some regular fish?!?! Interesting that “Maputo City” had a different booth than “Maputo Province” and yet they ahd basically the same thing.

- The craft fair was cool. It was split into provinces like most other expositions. You could see that certain provinces have been much more influenced by western culture and art than others. For example, the Manica section, with a city close to the Zimbabwean border (which up until a few years ago was an advantage for getting supplies) had crafts that used a lot of synthetic paint as well as more mechanized ways of sculpting wood and other mediums. The Niassa section has contact with, well, no one, and it shows. Their crafts mostly dealt with mats, pants and hats made of pulverized and dyed reeds. IT was really cool to see the differences between the crafts that each area had to offer. Unfortunately, they only let “official photographers” take pictures.

- The Zambezia delegation included students from a fellow PCV’s JOMA theater group. If that isn’t proof that JOMA helps kids develop their skills in areas of communication that leads to better/interesting opportunities, then I will quit (go Mocuba!!!!)

- I went and saw the National ballet company. It was pretty interesting, esp for someone who has only watched about 2 hours worth of ballet (and that was because it was in the Robert Altman movie The Company, not one of his best). I just felt bad for the guys who were int he middle of their routine and the CD player kept skipping, sometimes throwing them off the beat. Can we get a CD in this country that isn’t scratched to hell?!?!?!For the National Ballet Company, please?!?!?!

- The kick-off concert was great. I showed you one of the clips as a test of the google video application, which seems to have worked. A couple more 30 second clips are posted below. It exhibited different languages, a bunch of really good Timbila players and some ridiculous dancing. Here are a couple more videos from the concert. I know that 30 seconds are such a tease, but it gives you some idea of the fun I had.

FYI- My Mom gets here in less than a week (Wednesday the 30th to be exact).

Holy crap is this going to be fun.

Ok, tchau, ‘brigado.

 

Google Video Test- Xai-Xai Cultural Fest Video

Hi folks,

Here is a 30-second clip (the longest my camera will let me take film) from the National Cultural Festival held in Xai-XAi all last week. This little clip is from the kickoff concert on Friday the 11th. I am trying to see if this will work on my blog. If it does I will post more videos soon.

I know it’s poor quality with regards to both visuals and sound but you get the idea. It was awesome.

ok, tchau, ‘brigado!