May Day

I've always loved the month of May. I love all the blooming flowers and the wonderful California weather and the fact that summer is just around the corner. This May has been unlike all the past Mays because I'm in Africa and winter is around the corner so on some weekends I'm wearing sweatshirts and drinking hot chocolate instead of reading by the pool getting a tan. Also, I'm going through this odd transition period of life which I haven't experienced before. It's called the "detachment stage." I didn't realize it had a name until Mada gave me a little booklet to prepare me for the mean mess of reverse culture shock coming my way in a few months. Here's a snippet of what the book says about the detachment phase:

"We now have adjusted to the job and to missionary life. Our work has become a part of us and may even become mechanical. We begin to count the days before that needed home leave. We push to finish the projects we've begun, and try not to get involved in new ones. A search begins to find someone to take up our ongoing responsibilities. Socially we don't want to make new friends, which may result in withdrawal. Because it is hard to say goodbye, we may start the process of detaching ourselves from the culture, the people and the mission. Certain factors about the culture may begin to bother us again. We can hardly wait to get on the plane for home. These months can be a confusing time if, as first-term missionaries, we struggle with guilt and rejection. Looking back we may see mistakes we've made and wish we had done many things differently. Comparing prior expectations with what actually happened we may feel a sense of loss. Feeling of guilt about leaving with no replacement nag at us. This stage can be an unsettling patch in the zone."

Unsettling is a perfect word. I read this and at first I denied that I was experiencing any of it but I am. All of it. My job is easy and mechanical for me, I am counting the days til Europe, I don't feel like starting new projects at school or making new friends. I regret that I didn't do more, invest more, be more influential and I definitely feel awful about leaving CAM in such a tumultuous time for the school with almost no new teachers on the horizon. I have been detaching myself from the culture and am easily irked by the hissing men, the constant stares, the inefficiency,the communication barrier, and that crazy obnoxious, incessant nails-on-a-chalkboard sound of sweeping around every corner. (In the mornings the night guards keep themselves entertained by sweeping the fallen leaves with the palm brooms which makes an incredibly irritating sound. Our guard was sweeping right outside my window at 5 am the other day and I yelled in fast English so he could hear but not understand, "Please stop that stupid stupid, pointless sweeping- it is driving me crazy!!!" He didn't stop.)

Do I sound a mess or what? I was so relieved to read that such feelings were normal and after the initial sense of relief, I decided to try to fight against some of these inevitable traits of the detachment phase. I've tried to limit my eye-rolling when men hiss to get my attention but I just can't- it's plain annoying. To combat becoming a recluse, I've enjoyed several fun outings with friends and even met a new Brit/Kiwi family who I enjoy so much. I met them at Judith's birthday dinner which was especially memorable when I dug out the eyeball of my fish and Rebecca ate it! The next night Henrik had a delicious Brazilian BBQ at his place with the Brit/Kiwi family, a German missionary and some Swedes. We had a hilarious conversation about how animal sounds are not always universal. For instance, in Sweden a pig says, "noff" instead of "oink," a dog says "vov vov" instead of "ruff ruff" and a rooster says "ku cke li ku" instead of "cock-a-doodle-doo." After enjoying two dinners with my new friends, I had to admit that I was disappointed because I had met them so late and will have such little time with them.

I'm still counting down the days until Europe and can't wait for home but I forced myself not to throw in the towel at school and planned two more units and accepted the job of planning all the activities for the school picnic. This turned out to be a huge blessing and the day was one of my highlights in Africa. I drove with the Bower family to the compound outside of the city where one of the missionary families lives. After some delicious BBQ, I grabbed the megaphone and the games began. Sometimes I can be incredibly introverted. I'll never forget when I told my history advisor at Westmont that I wanted to be a teacher and he said, "Reeeally?" I responded with, "It's OK Dr. Pointer. I actually do have a personality. I've just never showed it in class." Put a megaphone in my hand and the introvert goes into hibernation. Most of the kids from the school were at the picnic with their families so I put the kids all onto 4 different teams and explained the rules to the first relay. The following are a bunch of pictures from the festivities that day. I love these pictures because they capture expressions on the kids' faces other than just smiles. The first shot is a stampede of kids running for their shoes in a giant pile. I named the next relay, "CapulanaSpin" because each member had to put on a capulana which is a piece of material Mozambican women use as skirts, and then they had to spin and run around their teammate.






















Next, another classic relay: eat 2 crackers, show the judge your clean mouth, get a piece of gum and then blow a bubble. Unfortunately I bought gum that was nearly impossible to blow a bubble with but it still worked out and was hilarious to watch kids struggle to eat crackers quickly.






















Next, the relays involving water:The following pictures come from one of the funniest relays to watch. Kids had to run with their cheeks full of water and spit as much water into the pitcher their judge was holding. Neel mastered this technique as you can see in the picture.Don't these pictures just look odd?











I think the highlight of the games had to be the egg toss. I couldn't find water balloons but eggs turned out to be a perfect substitute. Look closely at all the different facial expressions and try to see the egg they're catching. In the first one Orlando has his classic look of concentration and focus. This kid is incredibly competitive at everything and is at the top of the class. His sister, Charlene, insisted on wearing the capulana to protect her clothes. Notice one of the eggs went past one of the catchers? This is one of my favorites because you can see Varita's egg breaking in her hands in the background.
Despite her cradling technique, the egg exploded in Natasha's hands when she caught it.
This might be my favorite shot from the day; egg exploding all over Stephen's face:)
After the games and prizes, we moved onto the volleyball pit and played girls vs. boys. Here I am with my lovely girls.
I am by no means a volleyball expert. In fact, on the first day of Volleyball PE class at Westmont, the coach said, "Gosh Katie, I thought you'd be better." Gee thanks for the vote of confidence coach. In my defense, basketball requires different movements and I had never really played volleyball. With my limited knowledge however, I decided to teach the girls how to bump, set and serve (we weren't quite ready for the spike) because we kept losing and my crazy competitive nature was creeping out. Here Jenny stands in ready position- doesn't she look tough? She is super sweet but can give some of the craziest dirty looks when she's mad.











I'd like to say I blocked Andrew's spike but judging by the amount of "air" I'm getting, it's doubtful.The day of the picnic also was the day of my brothers' college graduation. I was bummed I couldn't be there to support them and was thinking a lot about them- especially as I played with the hilarious twins, Ahok and Mafat.
Each brother is very different from his twin but both sets have a unique and special bond that seemingly only twins can have and they all crack me up.

Despite missing my brothers, this was one of my favorite days in Mozambique. I've come to know my students on a level that is impossible with giant classes and love hanging out with them and their families. I know that I will miss these kids dearly once I'm gone and I'm so thankful for this sort of "last whoorah" before I leave.