A little something for SIT

My Alma Mater for my Masters degree, The School for International Training, now known as the World Learning Graduate Institute, asked me some questions to put on their blog.

click here to see original blog

Homenagem para Damião

A beautiful memorial service and tribute to a student of Hotel Management at Eduardo Mondlane University's Tourism College, my school, that passed away at the beginning of the semester.

Modern Dance Tribute

Los Latinos Salsa Dance Group

More Los Latinos

Finale of Theatrical Comedy Student Group

Timbila Festival

Photos from the Timbila (wooden xylophone) Festival in Quissico, Zavala, Mozambique. People said that this years festival was not as good as in the past becasue the president came through earlier in the year and the city spent a bunch of money preparing for his "pass through." The show did go on, though.

My first published Photo!

A while back my contact at the Public Affairs office at the US Embassy in Maputo asked me if I had any photos of Moz to contribute to a story she was writing for the State Department's magazine. She choose one of them and it got into the mag! I am very proud of it. It is of Pig island, very close to where I live in Inhambane. Click on the title of this entry to read the full article from page 26-31.

Theives! Thieves! Maybe

So, I am in South Africa for a quick school and supermarket shopping trip so I am taking advantage of the internet. Rumor has it in Mozambique that "people" have been stealing the fiber optic wires so the internet hasn't been 100% for a month. I don't know when I will be able to post next but just wanted to let people know I was ok and still kickin'. I have posted most of my recent travel photos in my flickr site http://flickr.com/photos/akishaintheworld/so enjoy! I have found a place here that can scan my film negatives so you can see the photos I took with my 35mm camera too. I had an interesting plane ride from Nampula to Maputo which included a hilarious near-deal experience. I will write the whole story later. So...until the thieves stop messing with the "fiberopticas." :)

Trip to Anchilo

Workin it out!

Rainy Holiday

I am in my hotel room in Nampula now. It is a holiday in Mozambique (Moz Heroes Day), but instead of heading to the beach as I originally planned, I decided to stay in and continue working on the goals and objectives for the English curriculum I am working on for a Medical University in the North of Mozambique. I am so happy to be back to work. And doing teacher training and curriculum assessment and consultations is why I came here so to finally be able to do it is great.

It turned out to be a good idea to stay in: First of all because the internet started working after being off for an entire week--7 days! Second of all because the sky just opened up an it is storming outside. Here I am on my dry balcony at the hotel looking at it:

I will get to the beach soon enough. I really want to head to Ilha de Mozambique (Mozambique Island) to take photos with my new medium format camera! In the meantime it is back to work.

Hiking in the Rain had never been so much fun!

I had the privilege to work with a class of students in the Access Microscholarship Program given by the State Department. "The U.S. State Department's English Access Microscholarship Program provides a foundation of English language skills to non-elite, 14 - 18 year old students worldwide through afterschool classes and intensive summer learning activities. Access students gain an appreciation for American culture and democratic values, increase their ability to participate successfully in the socio-economic development of their countries, and gain the ability to compete for and participate in future U.S. exchange and study programs." (From here) They really were wonderful to work with, they asked insightful questions, even about grammar! They did their homework. They were so motivated it encouraged me to do more and more for them. I wanted to hike the Serra da Mesa, loosely translated as Table Mountain, a bit outside of town but I knew it would be more fun with some other folks. I recruited my class to come and almost all of them came. It was a first for some and the third or fourth trip for others. We also got the director of the Language Insititute, Mr. Sales, and teachers, Mr. Narcisso and Mr. Valente, to come as well. As we approached the huge rock the grey clouds were a bit too close for comfort. We got half way and it downpoured! The rain made the hot mountain steam up! In any case the students took it in stride and we waited it out so we could get some pics, then headed back down. It was much harder to come down. Mr. Sales told me I was the first of their foreign visitors to reach the top! What an honor. I wonder if they have a trophy for that?

Teachers' Workshop, Nampula