Y'know...that really grinds my gears...

January 21, 2011

Living in Mozambique isn't all beaches and mangos and fun times. Some parts of living in Mozambique have been....downright annoying.

Of course, everything on this list is a normal part of everyday life...so I have no choice but to get over it. But anyway, here are 10 things that are currently grinding my gears...

1.)Chapas
- I've touched on the chapa experience in previous blog posts before, but last Friday's chapa trip was...well....it almost sent me over the edge...

I left my house at 11am and after a nice stroll through my neighborhood, arrived at the chapa stop at about 1120. I immediately saw a chapa turning towards the direction I was heading. They asked where I was headed. I told them Lichinga. I hopped on. I was kind of shocked, because the chapa wasn't full at all. This actually might be a comfortable ride...

Who was I kidding?

The chapa (like a mini-bus) is made for 15 people. I counted the seats. But we sure drove around...and waited....until it was packed with 22 people, 3 babies, and a chicken that I was afraid was going to start pecking at my feet. Did I mention that we didn't leave until 1255pm? Yeah...over an hour on the chapa, not going anywhere, because they didn't want to leave until it was "full"....all so they could make as much money as possible. It was hot. People were annoyed. Especially me.

Oh, and chapas aren't made for people over 5'7, so my knee was jammed into the seat frame in front of me, and during the entire ride, my legs were numb. And the woman to my right had nowhere to put her arm, so she put it around me...and was kind of caressing me the entire trip...and the woman to my left fell asleep on my cleavage. And the guy behind me decided to lean forward, and fell asleep with his head between my shoulder blades. And the baby in the back was hot and crying. And the road to Lichinga is only paved in random spots (and I don't think the shocks/struts on that chapa were any good) so the ride was bumpy and painful. And the chicken under the seat in front of me kept freaking out every 20 minutes...

Thank God it didn't peck my feet....


2.)People talking too low
- I'm quite aware that I am a loud, obnoxious, rude American. I can't help it, its in my nature. So maybe this is why I am annoyed, but people talk ENTIRELY TOO LOW. I don't get it. when addressing a room full of people, why aren't you projecting?? Its hard for me, because Portuguese is not my first language, so I need people to speak loudly and clearly so I can understand what they're saying....I find myself all the time wanting to yell "SPEAK UP!!". Ugh....people can yell things on the street to each other, but can't speak up at a meeting.

3.)The sun
- Yes, it is summertime in Mozambique. And its not that its hot...its that the sun is 7 inches from your face at 10am. In the shade, its usually nice. There's a breeze...its not too bad. But the sun here is oppressive and cruel. If it would just go away, life would be easier. And I wouldn't have this weird, awkward tan (and tan lines) that I now have to deal with...

4.)Mud
- mozambican summer=rainy season. The only time you find relief from the sun is when its raining. And when it rains, it gets REALLY muddy, REALLY quickly. Something about this mud...its different from regular mud. Its sticky and slippery at the same time. It sticks to your clothes and shoes and if you step on it the wrong way, you go sliding. And apparently I'm the only person who slips in the mud. I have yet to see anyone else slide...my shoes are always covered in mud....and then when I wash them, it rains again

Its a never ending cycle.

5.)Men
- most men are cool. But I'm just tired of refusing marriage offers and men staring at me drooling with their tongues hanging out.

6.)People on bikes
- I have never liked people on bikes. It was one of the most annoying things about Chicago and its the same here too...people on bikes think they get the same rights as drivers, and they don't. They want to ride on pathways where people walk, and demand the right of way. They whip around corners without warning and almost run you over, and then want to pretend its your fault...

7.)Crianzas
- or children. Kids. You know how I feel about them already. But in Mozambique, they are EVERYWHERE. They run in my yard and steal my mangos. They never say anything when I try to say hi to them. And the other day I found one playing in the corn my landlord had soaking outside. Why she decided to take a bath in the corn, I have no idea. Why he had corn soaking outside, I have no idea either...

8.)Greetings
-back to me being a rude American. If I greet a group of people with a "hello everybody", shouldn't that be sufficient? Why do I have to greet everyone individually? And why are the greetings so long and extensive?

9.)Unreliable phone networks
-my network was out for 2wks. I'm still not over that.

10.)Stereo systems
-the problem isn't the fact that the music starts blaring through the neighborhood at 6am and doesn't stop until 2am. I have earplugs for that. The problem is the fact that the SAME 5 songs are played over and over and over again. I know I can't be the only person annoyed by this. if I could find the exact house and give them a monthly mix cd...just so they would switch it up a bit....

Reasons

January 8,2011

One of the many reasons why I love Mozambique....

I spent a good part of my two week vacation taking out my braids. It was time...they were hanging on by a wish and a prayer. I washed, conditioned, twisted my hair and rocked a cute fro-hawk for NYE and New Years Day. (I got all cute both days with nowhere to go...) During this period of time everyone thought I was Brazilian...I guess Brazilians are the only people who wear curly fro hawks....anyway... On the 4th, the nurse from my org came by (she calls me her daughter. She said she missed me) and noticed I took out my braids. She asked if I wanted more. I told her yeah, it would be nice if I could find somebody to do them. She left and about 20mins later she came back with a girl. We went to the market, bought some hair...

And voila!! My hair is braided again. And it looks really good! And I only paid 100mts. Which is the equivalent of like...3dollars. And this girl is probably the fastest braider on earth...

Yep...I love it here. Its the simple joys :)

One of the reasons why being in Mozambique isn't always so great...

All kinds of people were texting me the past two weeks, but the mcel network was out, so my blackberry didn't have service. How the service could be out for TWO WEEKS is beyond me....ugh. So annoyed. Thankfully, I could still communicate because I have a vodacom phone, and that cell phone provider is actually more reliable here where I am. But anyway, today when my service came back, I got a text from my cousin (you know, from my host family in Namaacha) that he had sent on Wednesday. He was asking how I was doing, saying he missed me, asking when I was coming back, etc etc. I responded by saying that I didn't have cell phone service, so I couldn't respond on wed. Then I asked how he was doing. He responded with "I'm fine".

That was weird because he's usually way more talkative/expressive than that. I responded with "so where are you? How's the family in Namaacha?". And that's when he responded with "I'm in Namaacha. Vanya died.".

If you remember, I had 4 host sisters. Vanya was the 2nd youngest sister. She had a 9month old baby boy. I was shocked and immediately called him. He said she had been sick and she died this morning. Then he got another phone call and said he'd call me back.

The thing about Mozambique is that people die. A lot. Granted, people died everywhere. But in Mozambique, it happens way more often than in the States. Its one of the things that they prepare us for in training. People will die. On my home visits here in Niassa, I see people who are sick. Really sick. Everyday...and already, just this week, one of the people on our home care program, died. When you see these people everyday, emaciated and weak, with high fevers or low blood pressure....its a little easier to process the fact that things may not get better.... you hope they do get better. And that whatever antiretrovirals or other meds that they're on work to make them healthier. But that's not always the case. Sometimes people don't make it, and when you work with mostly HIV+ people in a country where there are so many complexities adding to the problem...you kinda prepare yourself for these things.

But when someone who was seemingly healthy passes away, its a little harder to accept. Then...when it's someone who isn't REALLY your family...but was a part of the only family you had for the first 10wks in a new country, who took you in and made you one of their own....well that also complicates things. And when you're way across the country, unable to see them...it adds to the frustration. And when language barriers and cultural differences get in the way of knowing what to say or what to do....well.....

You see where I'm going.

Everywhere in the world, life has its ups and downs.

New Years!

January 1st, 2011

Happy New Year!!

Since I couldn't leave my site for New Year's, I rang in the new year...well....asleep.

Yeah. I slept through it.

Everyone thought I had left the town for the weekend, so no one thought to invite me anywhere. I thought people had left for Lake Malawi, so I didn't think to call anyone to hang out with them. My landlord and I were supposed to go to church...but I fell asleep. Turns out, he fell asleep too...

Oh well.

This was the first NYE in a while that didn't involve the "usual NYE activities". Actually, I tried to stay awake...but I couldn't. I woke up at 12:06am because people outside were playing music, singing, and cheering loudly. I said a prayer, thanking God for allowing me to see another year, put in my earplugs, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Today, my landlord invited me for lunch at his father in law's house. We walked over, and entered the quintal to this gorgeous...estate. We walked in the main house, and I was immediately shocked....

Did I feel...AIR CONDITIONING?? I sure did!!!

I sat on the couch and noticed how large the house was, and how nicely furnished it was. It was almost...unnecessary....

The front room is a livingroom. It had a table in the middle, which looked like a dining table, but it wasn't where we dined....and there were two TVs. And both were on. Playing two different stations. And some people were watching one, and some were watching the other. Oh...and they had cable TV....

Then there's the next room, which was also a livingroom, with more couches and things....and two MORE TVs....those weren't on though...but why would someone need 4 TVs? Then there was the diningroom. Where we ate our lunch....and were waited on hand and foot by the domestic help...

Something I've noticed here in Mozambique is that they make use of domestic help WAY more than we do in the States. Maybe its because we have more appliances to make life easier, so we can just do it ourselves...I don't know. But my house in Namaacha had an empregada. Here, my house has Miguel, who is pretty much performing the empregado duties until they hire a new one. And in this house, there was a guy who was pouring my drinks the entire time, like the butler. There was a girl and a guy serving the food. And there was the cook-who got yelled at for burning the meat right in front of everybody....talk about awkward.

(I didn't think it was burned, I actually thought it was pretty good)

I felt like I was the only one saying "thank you" whenever "the help" poured my drink, or served me food. Once they served us, they stood there...and watched us eat....and as each person finished, they rushed to clear the plate and serve the next course. I pretended like I was comfortable
But I wasn't.

After lunch, we got up and returned to the seating area. No one really said anything to me. We just sat there. Thankfully, one of the TVs was on the station from Malawi, so it was all in English. Much to my amusement, it was like a Malawian version of BET, so I was watching music videos and concerts and things.

Anyway, after lunch, we just sat. I was bored out of my mind....and I had no clue WHY we were still there....no one talked to me, and the other people were speaking a local language. It was just me, watching TV, playing with my cell phone, and getting googly-eyed glances from the little boy (who I've since learned has a crush on me. He's like 6years old...) After a few hours of watching Malawian BET, the other people asked my landlord a question, he responded and I knew they were talking about me.

(I've become really good at figuring out when people are talking about me in local language)

Anyway, turns out that these people were from Malawi (duh! THAT'S why the TV was on the Malawi station!!). This whole time, I could have talked to them in English, but they don't speak much Portugese and thought I was Brazilian, and I don't speak much Portuguese and thought they were Mozambican.

So we finally started a conversation, and then I found out why we had been waiting that whole time.....it was time for dinner! We ate again, then we finally left.

Oh yeah...the food was FANTASTIC!

And that's how I spent my New Years. Yeah I know...nothing special.

Stupid Me

December 30, 2010

So I'm on vacation from my organization until January 5th, but because of Peace Corps rules, I can't leave for New Years weekend. So I'm relaxing at site. Today, I woke up, washed and deep conditioned my hair, and decided to take a nap. After my nap, I walked to the store, bought some stuff, and came back and cleaned. After my intense cleaning session, I decided to get some water from outside to rinse my bucket....and that's when I found myself locked out.

Awesome.

I didn't want to leave my door open because bugs would fly in, and being the idiot that I am, i shut the door too hard. And it locked. It had just finished raining and it was now dark. There were about 100 fireflies in my yard and thousands of stars in the sky, as well as steady lightning strikes off in the distance. Mozambique is just as beatiful at night as it is during the day...too bad I was standing outside against my will, without bug repellant...

My landlord wasn't home. His wife has been in Nampula for the past two weeks, and Miguel (who I learned ISN'T the empregado...he just does all of the work while he's on break from school...to "keep him from getting lazy") was missing in action. So I was all alone, in the dark, with the fireflies, under the stars, stuck outside....

I had nothing to do but wait. My ipod was still playing music through the speakers. I leaned against my door and listened through the window. About 20 minutes later, my landlord showed up. I told him what was going on.

He laughed.

Then he went into the house, grabbed a chair for me to sit, and started working on opening my door. I soon found out that with about 5 different tools and about an hour of time, someone could successfully break into my house. From now on, I'm keeping my security gate locked at all times.

And I'm keeping my keys on me at all times as well.

Christmas

December 27, 2010

How did I spend Christmas you ask?

On Lake Malawi (well, on this side its called Lake Niassa)

Was is beautiful? Yes.

Was there a GIANT mango tree with a hammock under it? Yes.

Did I spend Christmas day laying in the hammock reading a book by Barack Obama? Yes.

Did I spend Christmas night on the beach under the stars? Yes.

Did I spend the rest of the time frolicking about on the beach, playing card games, eating delicious vegetarian food, collecting rocks and shells, and spending time with my amazing fellow Niassa PCVs? Yes.

Did I have an amazing Christmas?

What do you think?

Todays post is brought to you by the letter "b" (or "m" in portuguese)

December 13, 2010

There are two things that I got entirely too much of today. Breasts and Bugs. (In Portuguese "Mamas e Moscas")

(Yes. One of the words for breast in Portuguese is mama. Not to be confused with mama, which is what you call your mother...)

Breasts-

Today I arrived at my office and started the day with another meeting with activistas. All of them were women with one of our CBOs. Understandably, some of them had to bring their children along. Whenever the child cried-breast whipped out, shoved in child's mouth. Most of the time in mid sentence. The woman who was sitting directly in front of me was the main culprit. I'm pretty sure her son was too old to be breastfeeding anyway, but that didn't stop her. She sat right in front of me, breastfeeding the boy, switching to the other breast, adjusting, putting it back, pulling it back out....not to mention that everytime another one of the activistas talked, she massaged her breasts. Only when she spoke...and she spoke way more than anyone else. I don't really know why she was massaging her breasts when she spoke...it was just....awkward....

I tried not to stare...but she was also right in front of me.

I've been here for a little less than a week, but something about today...there were breasts everywhere. I mean..there are usually one or two per day, but something about today.... As I walked down the street, women were breastfeeding. We visited the hospital...women were breastfeeding while waiting. Half the time, the child would just grab it an pull it out, and the woman would just let it happen. Other times, the child would finish, let it go, and if the woman was in a conversation, she would just let it hang out for a while.

Breasts don't bother me. But a visual overload is a bit uncomfortable. Today, I was well over the "comfortable amount of breast exposure" threshold....

Bugs-

It's mango season. That means two things: there are mangos everywhere. And there are flies everywhere.

The flies are absolutely obnoxious.

ABSOLUTELY OBNOXIOUS.

Everyone says that once mango season is over, they'll go away...but there are so many... My landlord wanted to sit outside and have lunch and talk for a bit. We spent the entire time swatting flies. It seems like the second I step outside...here they come. Flies bother you if you're sweaty and smell bad. Flies bother you if you're freshly showered and smelling good. They don't care...they're so annoying. I waited while the nurse from my org accompanied a woman on a doctor visit at the hospital. Of course, there is no "waiting room". In Mozambique, you wait outside. With the flies. So I sat there....swatting flies, while women breastfed and babies cried.

In addition to flies, there are also these other bugs. I'm not quite sure what they are, I've gotten different stories...I've heard termites, flying ants....whatever they are, they're disgusting. They come out at night, they're attracted to light, and they're huge with giant wings that fall off when they mate. So in the morning, you wake up to all of these wings laying on the ground. Oh, and did I mention that people eat them? Yeah...people roast them with salt and eat them. Disgusted yet? I am....

I was walking through the market with the nurse and she asked me if I knew what it was that one of the women was selling. It looked like insects to me...but I assumed it was some bean or spice I had never seen before. She said the word in Portuguese...I had no clue what it was, so I smiled and nodded, and we went on. Once we got back to the office, she picked up the wings that these disgusting, annoying bugs leave behind, and said "this is what she was selling. Here, we eat them.". And sure enough, later that day we were walking down the street, and a woman came up to the nurse with a tupperware full of these bugs, and she took one and ate it...and said "hmm..needs salt".

Then she offered me some. I quickly (and probably offensively) declined...

In addition to the random flying things and the flies, I found a baby scorpion in my bathtub today. And the other night, I killed a giant cockroach-the biggest one I have ever seen in my entire life. (I swear it was like the size of my index finger....) Not to mention, the top of my mosquito net is hosting a collection of various dead insects...mostly flies. Its gross, and I have to figure out a way to clean it without touching the bugs and without them falling onto my bed...

I am so over insects.

Day 4

December 12, 2010

Day 4 at site

Its about noon. I was awoken (or awaken...I dunno. I can't speak english anymore) this morning at about 7 by Miguel (the empregado) bringing my water for me to take a bath. Since I like to take a bath on my own accord, and since I know he's probably going to bring me more bathwater at about 5pm, I used that hot water to clean my tub and my toilet. And by "tub" I mean the little porcelain area I have with a drain where I take my bucket bath. After that, I laid in bed again. Mornings are usually rough for me in this whole "adjusting to site" process. Everyone is going through it, and everyone handles it differently. Next week will be different, because next week I have to actually be in the office at 8, so I won't have time to sit and think. But so far, mornings are when I have time to lay in bed and reflect. Everyday brings something new, and everyday is different from the last. That is equally exciting and scary. Lately, I've spent my mornings laying in bed thinking about what the day might bring, what my friends are doing at their sites, what my family is doing at home, how much I miss Namaacha, how far away I am from everyone else, etc etc. this morning was the same, and then Miguel knocked on my door with my breakfast.

After I ate, still feeling guilty that these people are feeding me when I should be feeding myself, I grabbed a book and started reading. A little while later, just as the loneliness was starting to set in some more, Miguel knocked on my door and told me that someone was here to see me. It was the nurse from the organization I work with. I wrapped a capulana around my waist and walked outside (capulanas are these fabrics that women wear. You tie it around your waist, like a skirt. Its pretty much an all purpose fabric...essential to any Mozambican woman. It can also be used to tie your baby on your back, as a towel, to clean, to go out, to wrap things to carry, etc etc) She just came to check in and see how I was feeling and we sat outside under the lime tree and talked. It was really nice having someone to talk to. She's an older woman, probably in her 60s. She said she had been wondering how I was feeling and adjusting, and she knows that being in the house alone, I was likely "thinking too much", so she came to get my mind off of things for a bit. Just what I needed. We talked about all kinds of things. She asked me lots of questions about America.

I told her the women don't wear capulanas.

"The women don't wear capulanas?? Well what do they wear? Dresses?"
"Yeah, or pants, or shorts, or skirts. It depends"
"Even the older women?"
"Yes, even older women"

She asked about the type of food we eat in America:

"You don't eat xima in America???"
"No, we don't eat xima"
"Well what do you eat? Rice?"
"Yes, we have rice"
"Potatoes?"
"Yes, we have potatoes"
"But no xima?."
"Nope"

(I find it funny that people in this part of mozambique think the only options are xima, rice, potatoes, or pasta...)

She was shocked to hear that people couldn't marry until they were 18. She told me that here, girls marry as young as 11 or 12. I remember having this same conversation in Namaacha with a language professor who agreed that 11 year olds were still children. The culture is completely different in the north. When I told her that my mother was 29 when she had me, she exclaimed "29!! There are women here who have grandchildren at that age!". She went on to explain that a lot of times, when people can't even afford to feed their children, its easier for them to marry them off. At least they'll be taken care of and fed.

She asked if I was allowed to marry a Mozambican. I told her I could if I wanted to, but I'm here to work, not to get married. She asked if my parents would be upset. I told her probably not, its not like they have much control over who I choose to marry..... I hope she isn't a part of the "let's marry off that American girl" committee that I feel is forming....she did make the comment that I was pretty and fat and would therefore make a good wife and good strong babies....then I told her I didn't want children. To which she replied "you have to. You have to have 1 boy and 1 girl, so they can help your mother around the house"

Guess she's got it all planned out.

We talked about rituals where they take boys out to the mato to be circumcised, and girls to be educated about life. I told her that boys are just circumsized in the hospital when they're born in the States. She said that's also an option here, it just depends on how traditional the parents are.

Its so interesting here...there's the people that live in the middle of the town, who use the ATM and drive the motorcycles and go to the discoteca and live the more modern life....and then there's the people who live on the outskirts...who live the "mato" life, grow their own food, live in simple houses with no electricity.... Everyday I get to see both sides of life.

Like most people here, she was shocked to hear that I am my mothers only child and my father only had 3 children, total. I explained to her that a lot of people choose not to have many children, because its expensive and more people take advantage of ways to control pregnancy. I also explained to her that a lot of times, people who are more educated have less children, much like in Mozambique.

She was shocked to hear that people don't really work in the fields and grow their own food...we just buy it from supermarkets.

"What about the poor people?"
"Well, there are some poor people that receive money or food from the government to help them take care of their children"
"They don't just work in the field and grow food?"
"Well...a lot of places, especially cities, don't have space for fields"
"But the poor people outside of the cities grow their own food in their own fields, right?"
"Well...no. Not very many people grow food."
"Is the soil bad?"
"Um..."

That part was kinda confusing for the both of us. I tried to explain to her that there are poor people, and some people are on welfare, some live on the streets...but the concept of poverty in America, and what it is here, is COMPLETELY different. Our conversation made me think a lot about privilege, and how my little two room house with a tin roof and a tiny dark bathroom seemed "nice" to her, since she lives in a house with only 1 room. As I told her that every house in America had pipes for running water, and even if someone can't pay the bill, their house is still wired for electricity, and people just buy food, they don't have to grow it, and the US imports all types of food from all types of places, I thought more and more of privilege, and even the disparities I was reading about between south Mozambique and northern Mozambique.

Anyway, it was nice to talk to someone and practice my Portuguese. As I type, the lizard that lives in my room (I'm naming him Paco) came out and ate something that was buzzing about.

Thank goodness for Paco.

And thank goodness I'm safe under my mosquito net.