Random Tibdit #2: Things Happen... All the Time

Back in December, even as I was counting down in the last week before my flight home to the States, I didn't completely believe that I would actually make it. I kept thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong: the chapa on the way to maputo breaks down, being late for the bus to Johannesburg, the plane having technical difficulties, or maybe the flight I was supposed to be on would just be cancelled for no reason.

I am sure that this sense of trying to prepare for the worst has come about only since I've come to Mozambique; and why not? As volunteers here know, and as the newer ones are finding out, things happen all of the time here. In fact, they're so frequent that my friend Anthony and I refer to them as 'Vamos vencer' moments, a play off the Mozambican national anthem which literally means 'we shall overcome.'

For example:

1)It took literally 6 weeks last year to find out from Barclay's Bank that I could not in fact transfer money from my account here to my account in the states to be able to pay online phone credit. This of course was after a visit everyweek, filling out paperwork, and waiting an average of an hour, hour and a half per visit. Va-mos vencer...

2)A normal 7-8 hour trip to or from Maputo has taken 10-11 hours because either the chapa driver wants to stop every few minutes to greet a friend, pick up beer, pack the chapa to insanely uncomfortable levels, the car broke down (a common one)and or simply because he feels like it. Va-mos vencer...

3)"Ok, winter is coming... and so we can't start this chicken project until we get electricity installed to make the coop heated. Of course, the guys who were supposed to come install the wires delayed their visit for three weeks and finally, when they did show up, I wasn't there to let them know I had already bought the pieces they needed. Now, I'm not sure when they'll come back... Hopefully soon though..." Va-mos vencer...

That's the way things roll on this side of the world. Transportation is often unreliable. Time is mostly irrelevant. Customer service is about as useful as the help page on facebook.

Now, the way I see it, there are few ways that the volunteer can adapt. She can go crazy and quit the Peace Corps. He can become extremely bitter and angry, maybe even take out his rage on locals and/or other volunteers. Or you can take option C: suck it up, assume that you can't assume anything will go right, and just hope for the best.

Ya know... I did end finding out that my flight to the states was cancelled... a month before, without anyone telling me. But at least I eventually made it home, right?