Happy Pi Day

I totally forgot today was Pi Day until I saw an article about it on NPR. (If you haven't heard of Pi Day, you should read the article. There are also some yummy looking pie recipes.)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/03/13/392637619/making-pies-for-pi-day-think-inside-the-circle

Since my avocado tree is bursting with ripe fruit, I decided to make an avocado pie. I went with this recipe: http://kirbiecravings.com/2013/07/no-bake-avocado-pie.html

However, since I am in rural Malawi, I had to make a few substitutions. I decided to substitute an egg for the yogurt since they don't sell yogurt in my village. Then I substituted bread for the graham crackers. And I left out the condensed milk, even though I have a can here at my house (they sell it in my village trading post). I also had to substitute a frying pan for the pie tin, and a hot plate for the refrigerator.

My modified ingredients:

Okay, so basically my Pi Day treat was a fried egg and avocado sandwich. Which isn't quite the same thing, but it was pretty good anyhow.

Happy Pi Day, everyone! Eat an extra slice of real pie for me : )

Revision Week Activities

This week was Revision Week at school, which is a week of review before the end of term exams begin next week. 

In a Physical Science we have been learning about electricity. Yesterday we played Jeopardy to review for the exam. I split the class into four teams and they answered questions in categories like Series Circuits, Electric Current and Resistance. By the last question the two top teams were only 50 points apart, so it was pretty tense. Team Special Forces (they chose that name) got the question right and won masweeties (candy). I had brought in some Conversation Hearts that my Mom sent me in a care package (thanks, Mom).  They loved the candy and I think by all the noise and laughter they loved the game too. I will definitely do this again next term.

Ever since I started teaching this unit on Electricity, I have had the School House Rocks "Electricity" song in my head. I decided to show the video to the class today during their free period. Since they had to watch it on a tiny laptop screen, I divided them up into groups of 12 and showed it one group at a time. They really seemed to enjoy it. I even saw a couple kids sneak into subsequent viewings so they could watch it again!

In Biology we have been studying the Human Circulatory System. For Revision Week I had them break up into groups of 5 and present on a topic to the class. Topics included red blood cells, platelets, double circulation and lymph nodes. I suggested they could do a skit or make a poster (I brought in paper and markers) or ask questions of the class. The results were about half the groups read off facts about the structure and function of their topic, while the other half asked questions of their own group members which the group members then answered. So it wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but hopefully they learned something anyway.

Ziua internațională a femeii (International Women's Day)

Today is Ziua internațională a femeii (International Women's Day)! This is a big deal in Moldova. It's celebrated similarly to how us Americans celebrate Mother's Day, except it includes all women! 

So here's to all of the beautiful, wonderful, awesome women in my life! I love you all so much and am so blessed to know you and be loved by you! Thank you for all you do!

These are the flowers i received for Women's Day! :o] The rose is from Grigore (Mama-G's boyfriend) and the tulip (my mom's FAVE!) is from Rada (my host niece)! 

Mărțișor

March 1st was the beginning of Mărțișor. Mărțișor marks the beginning of Spring and there are a lot of legends that are associated with its origin (http://worldofmoldova.com/en/article/martisor-moldova/). 

One of the main traditions of celebrating Mărțișor is the giving and receiving of red and white tassels, as seen below. They are pinned over the receiver's heart and are supposed to be worn the whole month of March (or for the 1st week of March, according to some sources). Then on March 31, people remove their tassels and tie them to a blossoming fruit tree, which is supposed to signify health and success for the coming year.

Above are the Mărțișor tassels i've recieved so far in the order i've received them (you can expect to continued to recieve [or give] them throughout the month of March). Who i've received them from from left to right: Mama-G, Natalia (my main partner teacher), one of my students, Grigore (Mama-G's boyfriend).

Below are the same tassels shown individually.

more in the life of Moldovan decor...

Oh, Moldova... 

Here is another apt that we stay at a lot. It's a different apt than the apt with the floral bathroom, although, i think that floral bathroom would fit in quite well with this apt.

This is the kitchen:

And the bedroom we refer to as the "love nest":

Yes, that's a mirrored back board. 

care package!

YAY!! Nothing's better than care packages from home! Like i've mentioned before, it's not necessarily the stuff (although the stuff is definitely GREAT!), it's just knowing you're thought of and cared for back at home...especially when you're super homesick!! 

The story behind the towel: 

Peace Corps Headquarters has a shower...Mama-G, does not. I average going to PC every other week, which is when i get to actually shower, and it's something i long for by the beginning of the 2nd week of not showering. 

I brought 2 REI "quick-dry" towels with me from America. I don't like them because they don't dry well, but they were all i had. I left one at PC, hanging with everyone else's towels in the bathroom, and had one at home, that i actually forgot that i had. 

Like i said, the 1s time i showered at PC, i left my towel hanging in the bathroom with about 20 other PCV towels. When i returned, excited to take my bi-weekly(?) bi-monthly(?) shower, my towel was gone!

A little while later i stayed a night in medical and was given a towel to use for showering. I decided to "borrow" it to use it as my PC towel (since it was PC property anyway and was staying at PC). But i also decided to keep it in my locked locker for safe keeping. 

After showering, i hung it over my locker door to let it dry a little before locking it up, but i forgot about it and left it like that. When i returned to PC for my shower 2 weeks later, it was gone!

So for Christmas, i went on Amazon to make a wish-list and put the weirdest/most unique towel i could find on my list...and what better than a pink shark?! 

My logic is that the REI quick-dry towel and the PC towel were both pretty generic (i've seen 3 other quick-dry towels and 2 other towels that other PCVs probably took from PC medical), so i'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt that my other 2 towels were mistaken for other PCVs' towels.

But this time i know that no one else has a towel like this, so if it goes missing, violence might ensue. ;op 

...I'm not going to mention my drying methods in between towels, i'll just say that i don't want to revisit those times, and i'm SOOOOOOOOOO happy to have my new towel!!! Thanks mom & dad!!!

So, even though the towel is the only picture i took from that care package, it was actually one of the biggest, if not the very biggest, care package i've received and EVERYTHING else that was sent is much appreciated too (MUCH-NEEDED clothes, Trader Joe's treats, MUCH-NEEDED clothes, STICKERS for my students and other "goody-bag" stuff, a portable speaker for my iphone, and did i mention, MUCH-NEEDED clothes??)!! ...I just felt the towel was of the utmost importance and needed to be highlighted! :o]

Again, thanks mom & dad!!! I love you!!!

6 months at site kuno ku Mulanje

I was at a training in Lilongwe when I hit my six-month mark so this
is a little bit late.  It's okay though because I am in Malawi and
everything runs a little slower here, so this only shows I am
integrating well, right?

Compare and contrast how you thought your service would be by this
point, and how it actually is.
I think I imagined that after six months I would feel pretty
comfortable with teaching, daily chores, Chichewa, knowing transport,
all of it.  Still, six months isn't much time, so I wasn't expecting
to know everything.

I am pretty comfortable with my home and with teaching, but I still
come across new things everyday.  For example, I just recently learned
that my village trading post has fresh milk in bags.  And I just went
to my first PTA meeting last month, which was a whole new experience
for me. So I am still learning, but my life has more of a routine to
it than it did when I first got here.


What do you do in your free time...if you have free time?
I like to read, garden, play with my neighbor kids (lately we are
drawing with chalk), try to figure out new ways to cook  tomatoes with
onions and rice, read the news and of course blog!


How has "integrating" into the community been going?
For me, my community is my school, my village trading post, and my
neighbors.  When I am in those places, I feel pretty well integrated.
At school I know all the teachers and I have my students and my
classes and my work in the library, so I feel comfortable there.  In
the market I usually buy from the same 6 or 7 vendors, so we say hi
and chat in Chichewa when I go there. My neighbors are really friendly
and helpful, and I spend a lot of time with my neighbor kids.  So
while I will never be confused for a local, I feel like after six
months I have made a place here for myself.


If you have any type of media, what do you watch, read, listen to, etc?
Mostly I read books.  I usually have a few going at the same time-- a
couple new ones including the one I am currently reading for the book
club, plus rereading some of my favorites, like "The Mists of Avalon".
I listen to music sometimes.  I have been listening to a lot of
Frente! and Cat Power lately. I was also able to download some
podcasts when I was in Lilongwe, so now I can catch up on a few
episodes of This American Life!


Do you have any new hobbies?
Does weeding my garden count?  Because I have to do that everyday. I
have made a couple friendship bracelets with some embroidery floss
that the previous PCV left for me. Plus I just got a new book from the
PC library so I might have a new hobby in time for the next PC
milestone post.


What's at least one thing new that you've learned since being at site?
Let's see... I think the biggest thing I have learned is how to make a
little bit of water last a long time. I am pretty efficient with the
use of water for bathing and washing dishes and other household needs
now.

Other stuff: I have learned a lot about fire from burning my garbage.
I can now hang, repair and properly wash a mosquito net. And I learned
a new way to cut a pineapple.


What time do you usually go to bed?
I get in my net by 6:00pm since it is dark and the mosquitos come out,
but I usually go to sleep around9:00pm.  Hence all the reading.


What do you typically eat everyday? - what do you "still" like and
what are you sick of?
Breakfast - maize porridge with brown sugar, raisins and pumpkin pie
spice (thanks, Becca!)
Snack - energy bar from care packages, but those are almost gone so I
might try eating boiled cassava as a snack now
Lunch - egg on toast, piece of fruit if I have any, or peanut butter on bread
Dinner - rice with soya pieces, tomatoes, onions and whatever veggies
I can find (today it is eggplants)

I still love toast and peanut butter and eggs and maize porridge.  I
am kind of over the rice and veggies dish, but I try to spice it up to
make it palatable.  I make spaghetti once a week which is a nice
treat, and I've made pancakes a couple times, though it isn't really
the same without syrup.


What does your typical "work" day look like?
I usually wake up at 5:30am and start getting ready for the day. I use
the latrine, get my water for the day, start boiling my drinking water
and making breakfast.  I leave my house and walk to school which
starts at 7:30am.  This term all my classes are in the morning.  In
between my classes I am usually marking homework, preparing an
activity for the next day's lesson, or working in the library.  I
usually leave school around noon. I might stop at the market to pick
up a few things and then I head home.  I make lunch and maybe relax a
bit, then start lesson planning for the next day.  Usually the
neighbor kids will come by and I will take a break and hang out with
them for a little while.  Then back to lesson planning.  Around 4:30pm
I start my evening routine of bathing and cooking, so I can have
everything finished in time to be in my net by dusk.


What are you so over, but you still hafta do it for the next 1.5 years?
Well, there are lots of things that I won't be sorry to say farewell
to after I complete my service, but I try not to think about them too
much (because I still have to do then for another 1.5 years). I will say that I don't enjoy having my bathroom outdoors,
especially when it is raining and my yard is basically a muddy
obstacle course on the way to the latrine in the morning. But that is
more a Rainy Season problem, which won't last forever. And of course
the Rainy Season has lots of cool stuff too, like how pretty and green
everything is right now, and the gentle patter of rain showers on the
tin roof, and how fast my garden is growing, and all the cool frogs
and toads I see in my yard. So there are lots of things that I like
about this season too.  That is kind of my way of getting by here.  I
try to think about what is special about being here in Malawi, and
focus on that.