The First Day of School

This is Jose and his family. We usually refer to it as Jose's family. He's not the oldest, but the family is his because he acts like the boss. I have written much about his family before. I could have a whole blog dedicated to the crazy things he, along with his older brother Jordao (center) and his younger sister Dorcas (right) do and say.

This year in school Jordao is in third grade. He was also in third grade last year. He failed. Jose is in second grade this year. He was in second grade last year. And the year before that, too. Jordao and Jose are mentally challenged, with Jose very much so. As long as he doesn't grow, Jose probably be in second grade until we decide to stop sending him to school.

Jose has a love hate relationship with school. He loves it, getting ready and dressed up to two hours before school actually starts, and then hates it at the end of the year when he finds out he didn't pass. This year was harder because the first two times of second grade he was with a teacher he really liked, but she isn't teaching anymore this year. For his third try at second grade he has a new teacher. Jose can't read, writes in squiggles, and the farthest I've gotten him to count on his own is six.

If Jose was not the happiest kid at the orphanage and such a goofball I would be really worried about him. But since he is the happiest kid at the orphanage I know that this is the perfect place for him. When he is in school he is known as the chief. This is because when the bell rings for recess to end and lessons resume he is passing the teachers lounge shouting at all the late teachers to do their jobs and go back and give their lessons. All the teachers play along and snap to attention and head back to their classrooms.

Jordao isn't exactly as thrilled with school. Where Jose can be described as a child with real deficiencies, Jordao is better described as having struggles. He is an incredibly hard and diligent worker, being 14 years old, but school and thinking just aren't his things. He so far has made it up to third grade in school, but just can't quite get the hang of reading or writing yet. It hasn't clicked for him. Jordao is also fun to have around a source of entertainment because he says the most ridiculous things.

This is the kid that said he wants to grow up to be an airplane.

This is the kid that came home from school early one day and said his teacher didn't show up because she was sick. I asked what was ailing her and Jordao pointed to his midsection and said, "she has a stomach ache." I had to remind Jordao that it wasn't a stomach ache, but his teacher was seven months pregnant.

This is the kid that returned from school from school one day and complained that all day they only studied math. I asked him what the lesson was. He said it was dividing words into syllables.

While Jordao and Jose each have their difficulties, their sister Dorcas seems to not have any of the same problems as her brothers. She seems to be a completely normal six year-old. Which is also hilarious, because six year-olds do some pretty hilarious things when they are not helping me with laundry.

More than any other family at the orphanage, these three really live and play and act like a family unit. Jordao is the older brother who is too-cool-for-school or for playing with dolls or racing cars across the floor. Jose and Dorcas are pretty much at the same mental level and spend all day playing with each other. They are always arguing with each other with Jose constantly reminding her that he is the older one and therefore knows better (and more) than she does. That is probably the one characteristic that is so endearing about the three, is that you can see all the kids together and automatically pick those three out as being family because the way they interact with themselves.

Schools in Mozambique are not full day, with each grade either studying at 7, 10, or 1 o'clock. This year, both Jose and Dorcas get to study at 10 o'clock and Jose is thrilled to get to accompany and protect his little sister at school. The first day of school they got ready three hours early and when we got there they were bummed to find out none of the teachers showed up and to wait one more day.

The next day I headed off with the two of them to show them where their classrooms are (read: to show them which cashew three they'll sit under). There are two paths to school. One cuts through our neighbors yard, and the other one doesn't, so I told them to always take the one that doesn't. This is the exchange that followed.

Dorcas: TJ, I don't want to take this path because there is dogs.

TJ: There are dogs. And no, there aren't dogs.

Jose: Ha. See, I told you there are no dogs.

Dorcas: No, I saw them yesterday.

Jose: Nuh-uh.

Dorcas: Yes I did.

TJ: Where did you see them.

Dorcas: Over there. They're the dogs that go "baaaaaah".

TJ:

Jose:

TJ:

Jose:

TJ and Jose: What!?!

Dorcas: You'll see...

Jose: You don't know what a dog is, do you?

Dorcas: Nuh-uh.

Jose: Uh-huh.

Dorcas: Nuh-uh.

Jose: Uh-huh.

*five minutes later after Dorcas and Jose arguing over who is smarter.

Dorcas: See, over there. TJ do you see the dogs?

TJ: The ones tied to the tree?

TJ: The ones eating grass?

TJ: The ones with the horns and that go "baaaaaaaaaaaah"?

Dorcas: I see them.

TJ: Those are goats.

Dorcas:

Dorcas:

Dorcas: That's what I said. Goats. See, I told you so.

Jose: *facepalm

So if Dorcas confusing goats for dogs wasn't enough entertainment for the day, it just continued. When we get to school everybody is greeting Jose because there is not a single person lives in our village that doesn't know Jose. Even the teachers that are leaving after giving lessons at the 7am shifts are saying hi to him. After seeing all his friends from the year before (that are now in third grade and studying in the morning) he get a dreaded looked on his face and starts tugging at my shirt, "TJ! TJ! TJ! Do you know what I just thought of?" It is hard know what Jose is thinking because A) I am not a mind reader, B) Jose is a kid, C) a kid that planted salt in the garden to see if it would grow, D) a kid that when the light bulb burned out in his room gathered his bunk-mates together to pray for the light bulb to not be sick and E), a kid that I daily see sprinting across the orphanage to the bathroom with one hand down his pants to "pinch it off". For these reasons it is a little hard to know at any given moment what is going through his mind.

Jose tells me that he just realized, after seeing all his friends, that Dorcas doesn't have any friends yet. He gives me his backpack to hold and then runs off. I choose not to follow him with my eyes thinking that sometimes it's just better not to know. Jose returns about two minutes later with a very small, very terrified looking girl and proudly declares, "Dorcas, here is your new friend." I start pondering that maybe this is how Jose makes friends, he just states that you are my friend and I am yours. I start laughing to myself while this scared little girl just stands with Dorcas wondering what is going on.

Then deciding to have a little fun with him, I tell Jose that if her new friend happens to be sick and stays home one day Dorcas will have no friends. Jose suddenly sees the problem and realizes that his sister needs one more friend, that way she won't be without a friend if one doesn't show up. He disappears again and returns in another two minutes with yet another wide-eyed, terrified looking girl and Jose proudly declares, "Here is you other friend." He then takes his backpack and then we—Dorcas, her two new friends, Jose, and myself—sit in awkward silence until the bell rings to start school.

I kept on eye on Dorcas two new "friends" and they were each in a different classroom. I got Jose off to his cashew tree and he starting meeting his new classmates. Dorcas was at this point noticeable more nervous as we walk off to her cashew tree which, fortunately, is right next to Jose's. She was there with about thirty other kids and was I standing to the side with about twenty other parents. The teacher took a moment to introduce herself to the parents and then dismissed us so she could start class for the day.

As I turned to leave to wave goodby to Dorcas she realized now that I was leaving and started to cry. Maybe crying is a strong word, but it was definitely audible whimpering. At this point I am thinking, "No no no no no. Don't start crying. Oh, great. Now she's really crying. Look at all the other kids, they aren't crying, why are you the only one. Look at all the other parents, none of their kids are crying. Why me?" I convinced her that Jose was right there the next tree over and he would take her home after school and then headed back home.

At the end of the day, the two returned smiling and beaming and Dorcas was at first happy to announce to me that tomorrow they were gonna learn how to write their names. Then she was sad to learn that tomorrow was a Saturday and there would be no school. But then happy that the next day she would go. But then sad to learn that after that is Sunday and there is no school either. But then happy to remember that Sunday is church. And then excited the next day would be school.