Getting to Normal

(Above: The road as you come into my town. My sitemates and I joke that there should be a sign that says "Road Ends in Ocean," but actually, it curves to the right--south--and you are on the main "street" of Inhassoro.)

So I was going to title this post "Getting Back to Normal" when I realized that, really, there is no "normal" here for me...so whatever I'm getting to will be the new "normal." And it's not like there's a "normal" Peace Corps experience or anything either...so we're talking what's normal for me in one little village washed up on the coast of Mozambique.

Ok, so to update the past few months. I finally returned to site at the end of March, only to find that it was the end of the trimester and I had to give finals, despite the fact that I hadn't been there to teach for most of the time. On top of that, our school was not yet repaired (and it still isn't totally), so we were teaching/giving tests in tents, with no chalkboards or really any control. It was sort of like summer camp. It was also exhausting. I have about 500 students, and I had to give each of them 3 tests over the course of two weeks...so if you do the math, that's me grading about 1500 tests. It definitely kept me busy, but it was hard (although sometimes hilarious as well, and not so bad once you get into the groove).

Katie and I are still waiting for our house to be finished. I will be really glad when it's done and we can move in--I'll finally have a place to settle in and unpack. And I know once we're settled, we'll have students over all the time, asking for help on homework or just wanting to speak more English. I plan to start a theater club for those who really like English and are good at it, so that should be fun.

The second trimester has been going smoothly so far. I've taught about health and nutrition, and part of the health component was on common diseases in Mozambique, which of course included AIDS. Talking with my students one day, I discovered that none of them knew the proper way to use a condom, although they all know that using condoms prevents AIDS and pregnancy....So that led to me giving a demonstration on an empty soda bottle on how to properly use a condom. It was pretty funny and also kind of sad...the kids have been given so much info so far about AIDS and how it spreads, but there is so little being done in practice. Either they don't have quite the knowledge they need, or they don't have the resources. But anyway, it was interesting and informative all around, and I felt one of those "Peace Corps Moments" where you think that maybe you are making a difference.

In the midst of all of this going back to site, waiting for our house, starting school again, I sort of had a break down. All the time away from site, all the stress of school, all the waiting for our house sort of culminated in a giant WHY...why am I here, why am I doing this? I thought maybe I was ducking out of "the real world" or missing out on something at home, something like getting a real paying job or figuring out grad school. And although I am still answering this question and probably will still be trying to figure out long after I've left, I realized that there is no one "real world," and doing the Peace Corps, for me, has not really been about "not wanting to have a life," as one of my friends at home so delicately put it, but rather about doing something different for a change. The "real world," the career and family and worries, the American dream (whatever that is), will always be there, waiting for me when I get home. Right now, I'm experiencing a different "real world," and learning that there are many facets to that phrase, and none of them is any realer or truer than any of the others. Right now, my real world is getting to normal, and it's pretty good.