Hey all, it’s week 3 here in Namaacha, and things are still going really well. I’m just gonna cover a few highlights of the last couple of weeks in this blog.
The first highlight includes me trying to begin my fitness regime here in Mozambique. For those of you who know me relatively well, you know this is a pretty big deal for me, as usually I absolutely hate moving my body in any way that could be considered cardiovascular exercise. But nonetheless, I recruited my 17-year-old host brother, Rickito (I’m pretty sure I spelled that wrong) to run with me one fine Wednesday morning at 5:15 AM. We woke up and he led the way on a nice and easy downhill run, and I had no problem keeping up with him. I wasn’t naïve, I released that usually running down a hill for the first half of the run means that eventually you have to go back up the hill. Yet, I held out hope that we may be doing some sort of loop at I wouldn’t have to run back up this very steep hill at 5 in the morning. Alas, we eventually stopped for a short break, then turned around and started back up the hill. I put on a pathetic showing and had to stop twice for a breather. We finally got home and Rickito assured me that I would be in very good shape in no time. He said the last volunteer that lived with them used to be “gordo” or fat but after three months running the hill he was now slim. I have stuck with the running, but now run in the afternoons by myself and try my best to avoid the big hill. Not that I am giving up on the hill or running with Rickito, it just works out to run after my classes instead of before the sun wakes up. On this past Saturday, my cohort of fellow Moz 29 education volunteers took a field trip to Maputo, the capital, to see some of the sites and to have some “transportation practice”. Transportation practice may seem like a strange way to describe getting used to public transportation in Mozambique, but public transportation here is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. There are two main types of public transportation in Mozambique. The first is via machimbombo, or public bus. These buses are similar to those in the United States except for how many people fit inside of one. When we arrived in Maputo, our language professor, who doubles as a sort of basic skills teacher and tour guide, ushered us onto the machimbombo to take us to the central market in Maputo. To me the bus already appeared more than full, but as the other three members of my language group squeezed onto the bus, it started to pull away. I hopped onto the step with the doors still open, threw my arm around my fellow volunteer’s neck (thanks Lorraine!) to ensure I didn’t fall back onto the street and off we went. We pushed into the bus a little more and the doors closed behind me. I may have made this sound more dramatic than it actually was, but it’s safe to say nothing like this would ever happen back home and I couldn’t help but laugh at how incredibly packed this bus was. I felt kinda like a pro because I was able to get onto the bus so smoothly, almost a like a local. This sense of false confidence was quickly shattered when we got to our stop. The doors of the bus open into the bus and I realized this and knew that I had to move out of the way when they opened so that they wouldn’t block my exit. Well, when we got to our stop, I was able to dodge the opening door, but it unfortunately pinned my back pack (which was still on my back) to a pole. I couldn’t move and was basically stuck on this bus with a glass door between me and my backpack. Another volunteer that I was with was thankfully able to help me take my backpack off so that I could safely get off of the bus (Thanks again Lorraine!) but as I was blocking a lot of other people from getting off the bus, I no longer felt like such an inconspicuous local. The other form of public transportation in Mozambique is via Chapas. These are basically like private yet also government regulated large vans that drive around the city with only somewhat of a regular route and basically no regular schedule. I honestly don’t really know how the system works at all. Anyway, these vans are similar to the machimbombos in that the driver and the guy who you pay cram as many people into these things as possible. After my group’s machimbombo ride we took a chapa. There were enough seats for about 12 or 13 people, yet we managed to cram 20 people into this van, and this was not even the fullest chapa that I have seen in while in Mozambique. Honestly I loved the chapa experience, I thought it was the funniest thing that all these bodies were just crammed into these small vans and no one would even bat an eyelid as more people piled in. There is a tradition in Namaacha where the Peace Corps Trainees cooks a few of their favorite dishes from home for their host families. So, on Sunday, I told my family that I would cook for them. I thought a bit about what I would be able to make with Mozambican ingredients and decided on Mexican food. I know I’m not Mexican, but I explained to my host family that Mexican food is very popular in most parts of the United States. I ended up concocting a taco salad type dish with grilled pineapple Pico de Gallo salsa, rice, and pork that I seasoned with taco seasoning that I brought from home. The house was full of sceptics as I began grilling the pineapple and my host brother told me that in Namaacha they would never grill a pineapple or most other fruits for that matter. After about two hours cooking on an outdoor charcoal stove, dinner was ready and myself, six of my host siblings, and two neighbors (my host Mae was at work) sat down to “Salada de Taco”. We broke out bottles of soda and everyone tucked in. Everyone said that despite how different the flavor was they really enjoyed the meal. I’m not totally sure how sincere this compliment was because as they were telling me how much they liked the food, they were putting huge piles of salt on their plates. Despite the mass amounts of salt being used, I considered the dinner a success and went to bed happy knowing I was able to show my family that although I don’t do everything the same way as them, I do know in fact know how to cook (this fact was doubted when I did not know how to properly peel a tomato. Who peels tomatoes anyway?). Anyways, those are just a few highlights from the last couple weeks. On a day-to-day basis, I continue to go to language and culture class and then hang out with my host family at night, helping them with chores when I can. On the weekends, a lot of the volunteers go out for a some beers at one of the local bars to unwind. I tried uploading some pictures, but that takes up too much data, so I'll have to find a better way and then I'll get back to you. I hope to do some hiking in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more some photos of Namaacha’s nature as well. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns, or just to say what’s up on facebook, email ([email protected]), or What’s App (+258-86-498-2265). Also Go Rockies Go!
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