Oh My GOD, Mozambique...

I want to fit in here.  I really do.  Sometimes, though, I feel like I will never, ever, ever understand this culture.  There are times where I want to put my head in my hands and cry out,

“Mozambique, WHY?!”

Today we found out, unexpectedly, that classes are canceled for the rest of the week.  For the record, today is TUESDAY. 

How, exactly, did we find out that school was canceled for an entire week?  Were we notified in an email, perhaps?  A memo or a personal note from the School Director?  Nope, nope, nope!

We found out that school was canceled when we showed up, chalk and lesson plans in hand, only to discover that all of the desks, chairs, and students were OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL, ON THE LAWN.  After a few little inquiries, we found out why.  Here is a near-exact transcript of our conversation with another professor.   

Lisa and Dan:          (Clutching notebooks and pens, looking perplexed)  "...What is this?"

Professor Watch:     "There's no school this week.

Lisa and Dan:           "But… why?  Why is school canceled?"

Professor Watch:     "Because masked dancers are going to be sleeping in our classrooms, that’s why.  This weekend is the District Cultural Festival."

Lisa and Dan:           "But… why is school canceled ALL WEEK?  The festival is only a few hours long."

Professor Watch:      "Because today, Tuesday, the students are cleaning the school.  They can’t clean the school AND have classes.  Ha-ha-ha!  Then, for the rest of the week, the school will be CLEAN.  So the students can’t go in and make it messy again."

Lisa and Dan:            "What?

Professor Watch:      "You heard me.

Lisa and Dan:            "Why didn’t anybody TELL us?"

Professor Watch:       (shrug)

In addition to this unexpected blow, the trimester has been shortened by three full weeks in anticipation of the National Cultural Festival in July (the continuation of this week's District Cultural Festival).  So, here is the original trimester plan, juxtaposed against the new, crippled trimester plan.

Week	Old Plan	New Plan
1	Vacation	Vacation
2	Verbs (Present)	Verbs (Present)
3	Reading Comp.	Reading Comp.
4	Jobs	Jobs
5	Exam 1	No School
6	Determiners	Exam 1
7	Question words	Determiners
8	Adjectives	Question Words
9	Exam 2	Adjectives
10	Prepositions	Provincial Exams
11	Verbs (PresCont.)	No School
12	Provincial Exams	No School
13	Trimester Review	No School

Oh, Mozambique.  Sometimes, I feel like I will never, ever understand. 

Note:  There was no school for most of week 3, either, due to a funeral.  The school janitor died.