Parabens! Throw up your cap and celebrate!...or not…

Wow. I am home. I am home in Mozambique that is. Finally. What a journey it has been as so far. Next Year, I will be teaching primary school teachers how to teach English as a foreign language. As one of three English teacher trainers in my group of 68, I lucked out living in housing made for the professors. I have running water and electricity. I have huge windows and internet. Posh core anyone. This will not be the experience I had anticipated, but I am very excited all the same (plus the energy, water, and internet are on and off as they feel like it- I am in Africa after all). I arrived at site a few days before graduation. A time of pure madness. I was thrown into work right away (well not sure if I would call it work because we sat around a lot for hours and accomplished very little, but it was overwhelming all the same). I met all my colleagues and many students who seemed wonderful. The ceremony was not as I expected. It was a HUGE ordeal, similar in many ways to ceremonies in the states. There was name calling and diploma giving, extravagant decorations and meals, family and long speeches. There were also some key differences. 1) The chefes (important people such as governors, school directors and ministry of education personnel) sit up front and stare out into the crowd. Over 800 people waited over an hour for the governor of the province to arrive, be greeted with songs and handshakes before the ceremony could commence. In many ways the ceremony seemed to be more for the chefes than the graduates. 2) No one in the audience hooted and hollered. There was only some polite clapping. 3) The students set-up, cleaned-up and prepared the food. 4) The students wore suits and sashes. Not caps and gowns. 5) Instead of celebrating afterward the students cleaned in hopes of receiving their diplomas and leaving the next day. It was an interesting first glimpse into the culture of my new school and an eye-opening realization about my life for the next two years. Feeling awkward, out-of-place, special, foreign, on display, right, wrong, helpful, useless, scared, courageous, very white, and confused all at the same time. Here goes!