Natal and Ano Novo
Bom dia! Well, there is a lot that has been going on! Let’s begin with what I did over the holidays….it was definitely a lot of fun and I had a lot of food and drinks. Ok, so, I went to Xai Xai (Shy-shy) beach for the Christmas. A group of us were meeting there, and some ppl rented a house along the beach. Let me tell you Xai Xai beach is BEAUTIFUL. People are out dancing, drinking, eating, swimming, even surfing - which by the way I am definitely learning to surf and become a licensed scuba diver!- but yea back to the beach. The weather was perfect for me, I love a white Christmas, but spending it here with the sand in my toes and the cool water on my skin was just heavenly. There was a bunch of South Africans and other tourists that come to Mozambique for the holidays. I haven’t had many encounters with South Africans, but I must say the ones I had over Xmas break were….interesting. Yeah. On the beach, they also have this massive dance floor with a DJ and loud music right across one of their hotels. Everybody was just having a good time. Oh, and some of you have asked me, “are you getting darker, can you tan?” hahah, why yes…yes I have. Before I came to Moz I was like a coco-caramel, but now I’m like a coco brown-milky way-caramel lol. But seriously I have noticed a shade darker in my skin, I love it! And btw YES black ppl need to wear sunscreen. One of the PCV’s was like, “yea you need to wear sunscreen too,” I’m like, “Um yea obvi,” (not that I asked him in the first place). But this is the longest I’ve ever lived in a place where there’s sun….hot hot sun….so I try to protect myself as much as possible. I also learned to carry a bandana or some type of sweat rag, because as soon as I take a bath and walk around for 5 minutes, I’m drenched in sweat. Nice right? So for those of you that WILL visit me this year, pack a few rags.
As for New Years - um what an experience. So like, I kinda wanted a “quiet” New Years. I know that sounds strange, but I wanted to be with just one or two friends, have some wine, sit outside and talk, listen to music…..ya know. Im sure you’re wondering why on a day like NYE I wanted to be chill, but fact of the matter is - I was missing my friends and all that jazz back in the states…and thinking about what we did last NYE…(haa) So, Idk I was kinda moody and was just like, “yea its 2011 whoop-dee-doo.” WELL, in Chongoene you can’t stay at home on New Years, are you crazy?! Two of my Moz friends came over, and looked at me and basically gave me 15 minutes to get dressed, grab a drink, and head over to the neighbors house. So….I mean, I had to go, right? I put on some jeans and went to their house, and I must say, as interesting as my neighbors are, they definitely made me feel at home. Before I came, they were just chilling. But as soon as my friend asked them could Nana celebrate her first NYE with us, they were like yes! The mom got a table, put snacks out, fed me, and even sent my friend to the store to get my signature drink bc they didn’t have it haha. I’m like, “please its ok, I can drink soda.” The dad’s like, “Sprite, on New Years? Ayyy paaa!” and they laughed….I’m like ok well if you insist…..can’t pass up a free drink, now can you? Needless to say, within minutes the music was poppin, random ppl joined us and started dancing, and well….the drinks were flowing. It was nice. As the clock got closer to 12, my neighbor’s kids were lighting fire crackers - which is scary considering they nearly almost lit the house on fire! - but it was nice. “cinco, quatro, tres, dois, um….Feliz Ano Novo!” Literally the whole town was shouting, and believe it or not, this was my first time being up that late in my new neighborhood….I thought I’d sleep through New Years! But yea it was cool, I had a good time, and liked the hospitality my neighbors showed me that night. And well, that about rounds up what I did for the holidays. it’s a nice time to visit here, because you meet all kinds of people and toursists, and there’s ALWAYS a party to crash or a beach to lay on. All in all, my holiday’s were fabulous.
Vaca!
Michelle and I were walking along, just getting to know our hood a bit more, and out of nowhere comes a HUGE cow - basically one of those bulls that you see on tv - mooing and running in our direction. Needless to say, we were a teeny bit frightened! I see kids all the time spanking the cow herds and watching over them - but that’s only from a distance. Seeing a cow up close, and you’re not in a zoo - is a hot mess. Literally this thing was looking at me like he wanted to eat me for dinner. Me and Michelle just start laughing, then dodge the cow like we were dodging bullets! Luckily a girl “shooed” the cow/bull away, and me and michelle pranced along. We kept looking over our shoulders, making sure he was gone….and he was…..ahh fun times.
Why not everyone can be a Peace Corps Volunteer….you meet all kinds of animals!
SO, as some of you may know, lately I’ve had some unpleasant encounters with animals - or as I’d really like to call them “balls of rabies.” I’ve heard about a lot of volunteers in my groups having animals problems, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to be one of them….but NOOOOOooooooo, what would my experience here be without some balls of rabies to welcome me? Let’s start with the lil stuff - you already know about the cockroaches, flying-biting ants, long, orange spiders, hyperactive frogs, and the bettles. Well….let me tell you….you ain’t seen NOTHIN’ yet until you’ve seen a RAT hiding behind your bedroom door at night. I literally screamed, called my friend, and almost cried bc the rat looked like Flavor Flave n Shrek mixed together. He was soooo ugly and gross, and BIG. As soon as rabies saw me, he ran right up the wall back into his little whole like nothing even happened. I was freaked out, and I immediately wrote on my to-do list - FIND A CAT. I am not a cat person, in fact when they’re big they freak me out, but I hate rats more! So, I have a reeeeeeeaaaallly cute kitten (notice I said kitten, not a cat) and since I got her I haven’t seen a rat since. Her name is Sadie (Say-dee) and she’s tan mixed with light brown…adorable actually. I was worried about her in the beginning because she had diarrhea or something, but now she’s ok. A vet came to my house and get her shots for rabies, tapeworm, and fleas….and she’s literllay a blessing. I think I’m becoming one of those ppl who’s like “awww look at my kitty witty…so cute…” but I mean, let’s be real….a cute, cuddly kitten is better than a human eating rat…!
And um yea, (knock on wood) Im hoping bats aren’t my next problem. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard something chewing through the wood in my roof. I have a tin roof, with long pieces of wood that hold it together. And when the thing stopped making noise it flew away…..it sounded like a scene from that movie Birds or something. Im praying its not a bat - my site mate Michelle has them in her house, and spends a fair amount of time killing or chasing them out the house….I can obviously handle many things - but a BAT…not so much.
Trocar cultura
Just like any other person, living in a new place will have its classic moments, none other characterized by “culture shock.” As I said before, nothing really “shocks” me here, as I sometimes find myself comparing it to other African countries. But I try not to do that, because Moz in itself is another world of its own. Let me be frank - I like it here so far, but noticing certain aspects of Mozambican culture that makes me think. Before I get into it, know that I am only generalizing, not all of my encounters with Mozambicans have been the same, and furthermore, I am only stating my opinion of what I’ve seen in almost 4 months. So, one of the major things I’ve noticed while being here, is the attitude of some Mozambicans - and I don’t mean this in a negative way. I noticed that they feel their way of doing things is the ONLY way of doing things, and if you do something a different way - you’re wrong. Um, here’s an example…..
Yesterday I went to Chongoene beach (20 mins from my house) with my neighbors - the ones whose house I went over for New Years. It was the parents and their kids, two of my friends, and the guy who was the driver. We all got in his truck and headed for the beach. First of all, the beach was absolutely beautiful, it’s the perfect place to go to for a relaxing day. But, I couldn’t really enjoy the scenery because of what was happening. On any other day, I would take my bathing suit along to the beach, go in the water to cool off, and walk around like there’s no problem. But I didn’t bring my bathing suit on this trip - for the simple reason I’m not comfortable showing my body like that in front them. it’s a little different if I was just with the mom and her two kids, but with the father, their friend, and my two other guy friends, I’m just a little conservative. Here, its no problem to swim in your underwear, which is still a little akward but is growing on me. I think my main concern is being around men in my bathing suit. It may sound silly, but I would’ve felt like their eyes would be on me…and my belly ring haha. So with that said, they all kept asking me, “Nana, tomar un banho agora,” - “Nana, take a bath now.” (They refer to swimming as taking a bath) I just smiled and said “nao obrigada, eu nao tenho ropa do banho,” trying to say I don’t have a bathing suit. They looked at me like I was nuts, “porque?” I just kept on smiling bc its what I do best, and said I’m good, thank you. Next time. The mom made a face and mumbled something to her husband, and then the kids looked at me….and they kept looking at me….and it was awkward. One of my friends sat on the beach with me which was nice, but I still felt weird. This was something they just didn’t understand, and literally the whole ride home they talked about how Nana didn’t get in the water, what’s wrong with her?
The ride home was also weird because they were asking me interesting questions. Like,
“why do you stay in your hosue, you sleeping all day?”
“why don’t you have an empregada, you need help doing housework.”
“why don’t you drink Milo?”
“why did your parents only have 3 kids? You only have two brothers?”
And so on. I havent been asked these questions from my neighbors alone, but from a lot of ppl. For the first question, Mozambicans have this thing where they think if you stay in you’re house during the day, or even at night, that you’re sleeping. They don’t understand the concept of alone time. I like and appreciate my along time here. I always just smile and say, no Im not sleeping, I’m doing a lot of things around my house - reading, studying Portuguese, watching movies - and they still say to me, but why do you stay in your house? And I often will get asked about my family back in the states a lot. Its just me and my two brothers, and here, depending on who you talk to, its good to have a lot of children. But of course, this is a mentality that I want to make ppl think about. I want women to realize that having a baby = having money and being prepared. And that’s part of the reason why I appreciate these moments when ppl ask me these questions, because it allows me to plan what activities and conversations I can have with my community.
I’m saying all this to show that in my experience, Mozambicans expect me to learn and respect their culture, and how they do things, but I haven’t really felt that respect in return. Don’t get me wrong, I have met a few Moz’s who really listen when I explain, “oh in America some ppl do this,” or, “when this happens, my family does this,” and so on. But generally speaking, I feel like some ppl judge me. They give me a disapproval look, they mumble things in Portuguese or Changana to one another, or still tell me that the things I do are wrong. I’ve never really seen or lived in a culture where the ppl feel there’s only one way of doing things. With this said, I still walk around feeling positive, because being here I don’t judge their culture, but it definitely is frustrating when you don’t feel like you’re being respected. Now of course, a lot of my friends say the same thing about their encounters with Mozambicans, but this is just my experience. But I know not all Mozambicans are the same, and I;ve only seen a small portion of this country…..so I look forward to meeting more ppl, and learning all that I can - the positive, and negative!
