6/2/2014: I have not fallen off of the face of the off

Wow! It has been a LONG time since I have written anything.
I can't say not much has happened, I have been very busy, but nothing super out of my ordinary has occurred.
Let me see. Where can I start?
Since the last blog we had a vacation from school, so I decided to finally make the full day trek up to Tofo Beach in the Inhambane province. During the break we had a volunteer reunion there for a few days. It was FANTASTIC. I not only got to see many Moz21ers but also spend time with 18ers (health volunteers getting ready to leave the country soon), 19ers (other education volunteers like my roommate), and 20ers ("new" health volunteers). It was amazing to be back on a beach, I've missed being so close to the ocean! We just hung out and laughed a lot...that's about all I can say. Except that I NEEDED a vacation. It was reenergizing for sure.

Tofo Beach Sunset

What happened next?
Hm. I went straight down to my regular stomping ground, Maputo, for an inservice training called reconnect. After 3 (ok...4-5) months at site, we 21ers were reunited for a 4 day conference. We talked about security, site, adjustment, teaching, lots of things. But I was mostly extremely excited to see some of my friends that are so far away I probably won't see again until our Midservice training in January. It was important for us to see each other, spend some time catching up, and swap stories about life at site and our schools. It was overall a great 2 weeks of vacation for sure and I came back to site reenergized and very excited for the next few months of school!

In service training 

One of my closest friends (also from the DMV!!) Matt

It's been pretty normal here at school though. Very busy with teaching and spending time with my students, trying to find some time to relax and run again.
Today (Monday the 2nd) was our School's Day so we had a big day long school party--music, food, clubs doing showcases...it was great fun and a nice time to be around my students and the other teachers without the pressures of the classroom. I however will be in a food coma until further notice as EVERY class wanted me to eat lunch in their room so I ate little bits with everyone and it was still far too much food for comfort.

Secondary school modeling club

Primary school modeling club and dancing

Last but not least on the story front, a couple of weeks ago I went on a drive with one of my friends and we found the graves of the children of the first mill owners. It was sad, the whole family died of malaria about a hundred years ago, but to find a piece of history fairly well preserved is cool!

Que mais? Not much. The factory is in full swing so we are constantly having to clean sugar cane ash off of our clothes and our veranda and the whole town now permanently smells of molasses. But since I previously lived next to Perdue Chicken Factory, I'll take the sickly sweet molasses smell, thank you.

There really isn't much going on as of yet. Like I said, I've been busy and enjoying life, but there's not really anything of note to be honest. Just enjoying the Africa Life.

Until next time, at least for now I'm still around, still kicking it in my village, and still throughly enjoying my adventures no matter how small or large they may be on a daily basis.