Friday, July 10, 2009

Science Fair!
We held our school science fair a couple weeks ago and I was really happy with how it went. Becky and I have been meeting with the students for about a month, developing their projects or experiments using the scientific method. Buuut of course, the bulk of the work was done in the days before fair. We had a couple projects on electricity, a couple on plants, one on chickens. They came up with some pretty cool projects for really not having much to work with. On the day of the fair, we had 6 students present projects. We had a good number of parents, other students, teachers, and the director of the school that all showed up. While I don’t think it quite lived up to the director’s high expeectations, (what? No sound system, cultural dances and ministry officials present??) the kids all had a good time and I think we’ll have a lot more people participating next year. This was a really rewarding project to be part of. The kids were genuinely interested in science (which is a refreshing change from the blank stares I get every day in the classroom) and the kids were all proud of their final products. Next up, we’re bringing two of our students with us to the regional science fair in August. Becky and I are also planning this, which is a much more daunting task than the school fair. Now I just need to find where they sell crepe paper and funfetti cake in Mozambique and we will be set!

2nd tri is over! And I am so happy for that. I need a break. Teaching is not getting any easier. You know when you were a kid and someone is pushing really really fast on a merry-go-round and your feet fly out behind you and you’re holding on for dear life? That’s kind of what it’s felt like the past few weeks every time I go into the classroom. And so, I’m going to the beach. Be back in a few weeks and hopefully it’ll get better!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009




The kitchen thief has struck again! Here’s the back story on the kitchen thief:

A few months ago, we woke up one morning, the find someone had climbed through an opening in our reed kitchen and stolen a bunch of random things (see earlier blog). Please keep in mind that one of the items was chicken stock. So our landlord who is so helpful and I love him is out there the next day nailing another board on to block off that hole and he put some mesh fencing stuff up as well. So I’m thinking our kitchen is pretty secure now, plus we got Rama the dog to guard the house now.

A month later… woken up in the middle of the night with Rama going crazy barking. Becky and I wake up, look outside, and see someone standing on the wall that fences in our yard, reaching into the kitchen and grabbing things from a 6 inch gap in the kitchen. So this guy has the dog barking at him…nothing. Then Becky and I start yelling at him to go away…nothing. We didn’t want to go out there, because it’s the middle of the night and we’re huge wimps, so instead we wake up our land lord and he comes over and the kitchen thief runs away. This time, the stolen goods are: cinnamon, yeast, curry powder, and cumin. Next day, landlord is out adding the fencing material to the other side of the kitchen to block off this gap as well. I am now convinced our kitchen is secure.

Last night…woken up in the middle of the night with Rama barking. I get up, look out the window, don’t see anything. He keeps barking , so Becky and I go outside to investigate. We don’t see anything and I’m convinced that people were just passing by and Rama was barking at them. So we both go back inside and eventually Rama stops barking. Wake up the next morning only to find a HOLE cut into our reed kitchen right at the level of our shelf with the spices! What is missing you ask? A Tupperware of delicious spices from home, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and more curry. I am so mad!

So what do we know about the kitchen thief? Assuming all 3 incidences are the same person, and I believe they are, I have amassed the following information: Young male (the one time when we saw him it was definitely a male and he had to be sort of small to fit through the first hole), not intimidated by dogs, or a couple of girls yelling from inside the house, really into spices, obviously. I have a clear footprint. All day today, I’ve been obsessed with examining the footprints of everyone that passes, I keep thinking he’s just going to walk by! I’m starting to think this is just a personal attack on Becky and me. This person is going through a lot of effort just to steal our spices, which are like our favorite thing. No one even uses spices in their food here besides chicken stock! So I really want to catch this person. Any ideas? Tonight, with the hole still in the side of the kitchen, I left a very harsh note for the kitchen thief. And a half a packet of chicken stock.

We also had our science fair this weekend and it went really well, but I am just way too worked up about our spices, so that will have to wait for a different post.