Ahh the marketplace… rows of wooden stands all built right against each other going from the main road back until a line of trees and houses. To think such a paradise of inexpensive, quality fruits, veggies, and fish is but just a 3 minute walk from my house. Yet another reason to thank God daily. :)
As I mention in another blog, the market is just about a daily stop for me. Yes, I have to buy whatever ingredients I need any given day to make dinner, but I also go there specifically to enjoy some of the people that I have gotten to know over the past few months. There are the same shoppers who walk around the market when I do, the same kids playing while their parents work, and then of course there are the venders that work the stands themselves.
One of my favorite stands to visit is that of my friend Angelica. She’s a bit older, probably enough to be my grandma, and boy does she act like one towards me. I met her a few months ago when she called me over, recognizing me from my greeting the congregation in Church a few Sundays before. We got to chatting and next thing I know, I’m at her stand everyday and being spoiled rotten every time. It’s like she said one day to me right before I walked off, “Don’t be afraid to take bacelas. Your family is not here so you need other people to be your family here in Mozambique.” She smiled and as usual gave me a few free goodies in my satchel.
A bacela, for the non- Portuguese speaker or Mozambican, is at it sounds… a free item. And thankfully it’s not solely given away at the market near my house. As the general unspoken rules go, they are given when asked for by the customer, especially after buying lots of items. In other cases, however, when you shop at the same stand often and/or become friendly with a vender like Angelica, they are just offered. And what tastes better than a mango? You guessed it… a free one… :)
Meanwhile if somebody were in the mood to settle for a mere bargain, there’s also the option to haggle. Of course, while haggling is always a good way to get a decent price, there has to be a little bit of discernment involved. Is this person just trying to take advantage of the foreigner to get some extra spending money or is she (or) he simply trying to make ends meet? Maybe it’s best to not haggle unless the first situation is very apparent. Maybe it’s better to protect oneself regardless. Whatever side one may choose, I find that it’s better to give others the benefit of the doubt in most cases because you just cannot always know for sure.
Thankfully within my own marketplace there is a level of trust between myself and the women whose stands I go to. If the price has indeed gone up, they tell me and they always give me good quality. Meanwhile I return the favor by always going to them and buying lots of items from their stands everyday.
That said, the marketplace has become more to me than just a place to make transactions since I first arrived in December. The relationships, however basic they may be, have indeed been a great blessing to have at the end of a long day at work. Sometimes a smiling face and a talk about the weather is enough to both remind me that I belong here as well as to make some of the toughest days just a little bit better. Now that’s something to thank God for everyday, isn’t it?
Monday, March 2, 2009
What I Do
My job in its basic form is to collect the reports that schools and organizations hand in to ADECI every month and type up their numerical data on accomplished programs. Besides that I also work on computer maintenance (which is actually needed more often than one might think). . . Yeah, there’s not much to my current work day here.
It was my brother last week who said exactly what I have been thinking since I got here when he (James) bluntly asked, ‘So… when are you gonna…like… start helping people?’ Good question indeed little broski.
And my answer… the answer I’ve been reassuring myself with through this entire process is this:
time and patience.
Ok, so in the grand scheme of things I have roughly 21 or 22 months left here as I’ve already gone through just about 3 months at site. By now I am much more comfortable in my surrounding than before. I know people in my neighborhood better. I have a better idea of resources and needs in the area. I have ideas and I have friends and coworkers that are interested in these ideas. AND in just about a week or so I get training from Peace Corps on writing grant proposals (aka getting funding) and project planning. Things really feel like they are finally coming together.
Having said that, there are some potential challenges to overcome. First, I have to go around and make sure that, no, there are not other organizations doing the same or similar things as I am proposing to do. Second, in a country where jobs are scarce, working for NGO’s has become a popular profession for people whether dedicated or not. The simple fact is that people need to feed their families, so of course they will work somewhere even if their skills and talents don’t really match the job.
On the first point, I am sure that having other programs like mine isn’t going to be a huge issue. Granted I am still relatively new here, but I have been asking questions like crazy and have a good idea of what is going on in Maxixe. Still, I would like to visit these organizations to hear from their own mouths what they do and maybe even see what kind of resources they can potentially support me with. That’s what I will be doing this week and the week after in service training.
As for the second challenge, I have been blessed to find a great ally in the local Catholic university (Sagrada Familia). I have made friends with the President, the Deacon, and the head of Pastoral ministries and they have expressed great interest in having students help with some of my possible projects. And why not? Students volunteer there all the time not because they need the money but because it is simply what they love to do. If any of my programs are to succeed, it will be because of that fact.
In the end, given my progress thus far and the new opportunities that have arisen as of late, I am very confident in the direction that my service is heading at my site. All I have to do now is start with meeting local organizations and then take it from there. One day at a time. ‘Time and patience’ right? :)
It was my brother last week who said exactly what I have been thinking since I got here when he (James) bluntly asked, ‘So… when are you gonna…like… start helping people?’ Good question indeed little broski.
And my answer… the answer I’ve been reassuring myself with through this entire process is this:
time and patience.
Ok, so in the grand scheme of things I have roughly 21 or 22 months left here as I’ve already gone through just about 3 months at site. By now I am much more comfortable in my surrounding than before. I know people in my neighborhood better. I have a better idea of resources and needs in the area. I have ideas and I have friends and coworkers that are interested in these ideas. AND in just about a week or so I get training from Peace Corps on writing grant proposals (aka getting funding) and project planning. Things really feel like they are finally coming together.
Having said that, there are some potential challenges to overcome. First, I have to go around and make sure that, no, there are not other organizations doing the same or similar things as I am proposing to do. Second, in a country where jobs are scarce, working for NGO’s has become a popular profession for people whether dedicated or not. The simple fact is that people need to feed their families, so of course they will work somewhere even if their skills and talents don’t really match the job.
On the first point, I am sure that having other programs like mine isn’t going to be a huge issue. Granted I am still relatively new here, but I have been asking questions like crazy and have a good idea of what is going on in Maxixe. Still, I would like to visit these organizations to hear from their own mouths what they do and maybe even see what kind of resources they can potentially support me with. That’s what I will be doing this week and the week after in service training.
As for the second challenge, I have been blessed to find a great ally in the local Catholic university (Sagrada Familia). I have made friends with the President, the Deacon, and the head of Pastoral ministries and they have expressed great interest in having students help with some of my possible projects. And why not? Students volunteer there all the time not because they need the money but because it is simply what they love to do. If any of my programs are to succeed, it will be because of that fact.
In the end, given my progress thus far and the new opportunities that have arisen as of late, I am very confident in the direction that my service is heading at my site. All I have to do now is start with meeting local organizations and then take it from there. One day at a time. ‘Time and patience’ right? :)
ADECI
I work at a NGO (or non -governmental organization) called ADECI (in English- Association for the Development of the Community in Inhambane). Yeah… bureaucracies really love their acronyms. :)
The basic functions of my org. are as follows:
They are essentially the bank for other organizations and schools that want to promote health and HIV awareness in the community. In other words, ADECI (which receives money from USAID) provides funding to these groups in exchange for merely following through on proposed programs and writing/handing in monthly reports on all activities.
ADECI also has a program of its own called ‘Vida Sobre Rodas’ in which there are trained activists (usually teenaged since ADECI likes to work primarily with youth) hired within different communities outside of the city to perform door to door HIV testing and counseling.
Finally, there is Chapa da Malta, a once a month program that utilizes many of ADECI’s own activists in promoting HIV awareness through theater, debate, and other social events.
The basic functions of my org. are as follows:
They are essentially the bank for other organizations and schools that want to promote health and HIV awareness in the community. In other words, ADECI (which receives money from USAID) provides funding to these groups in exchange for merely following through on proposed programs and writing/handing in monthly reports on all activities.
ADECI also has a program of its own called ‘Vida Sobre Rodas’ in which there are trained activists (usually teenaged since ADECI likes to work primarily with youth) hired within different communities outside of the city to perform door to door HIV testing and counseling.
Finally, there is Chapa da Malta, a once a month program that utilizes many of ADECI’s own activists in promoting HIV awareness through theater, debate, and other social events.
A typical day
While it might not be so thrilling on my end of the spectrum at least, I figured some of you might be curious to learn how my life differs from the normal day to day in the states. And so, in the spirit of the third part of the Peace Corps Mission (‘to promote a better understanding of other people on the part of the American people’) here it is… Enjoy!
6:30am Wake up to my phone alarm. Most people in the neighborhood have already been up since sunrise an hour before, so I’m starting my day relatively later. While most people have already cooked breakfast and gotten dressed, I’m tying my mosquito net together and making my bed. NOTE- There aren’t many mosquitoes in the area, but I have the net because you never know what other ‘fun’ creatures could make their way onto my bed. (ie. Spiders, roaches and non poisonous scorpions…goo!)
6:35am Feed my dog the concoction of boiled shrimp and Xima (see previous blog) that I’d cooked the night before.
My dog’s name?, you ask. Let’s just say that if adventure had a dog, then its name would be…
… yeah, I went there.
6:37am Sweep my yard. This was one of the things that caught me off guard when I came here since… well… people here are essentially sweeping a yard of dirt and sand. Many Mozambicans take pride in having a neat looking yard though, which includes making sure that the sand has a combed over appearance and is free of leaves and other garbage.
6:40am Iron my clothes for the day and clean my shoes. I plug in my iron (I have electricity as many people do here) and brush off the dirt and sand from my shoes as I wait for the iron to heat up. Like I said… Mozambicans like neatness and if somebody shows up somewhere wrinkled and with tons of crap on their shoes (even though there is dirt and sand almost everywhere), they are not afraid to call you out. This actually happened to me once before. It’s not fun. Lol
6:55am Breakfast time! Fresh bread I bought at the market the evening before that I store in my trusty zip lock bag and South African peanut butter (optional banana and/or mango). Yeah… the peanut butter here (Black Cat) is A-mazing! My dog Indiana seems to like it too. :)
7:00am Shower time. So my shower is essentially a massive blue bucket (as tall as my waist and about a meter wide) in which I store water every Saturday for the week. How this works is you crouch down (still standing) and with another smaller bucket, pour water on the hair, back, chest, legs, and shoulders/armpits. Then you scrub with whatever shampoo and soap you have (Old Spice body wash/ shampoo, how I miss thee!) and repeat pouring with the bucket after you’re done. It’s very simple. And the water all drains off to the small hole in the wall off to the side. Important to note is that this is a room located outside which is separate from my house and is right next door to my concrete hole-in-the-ground bathroom.
7:15am Get dressed and brush teeth.
7:35am Start walking to work. The walk is about 20 minutes long and follows a series of winding roads through the trees which are made up of sand, dirt, tree brush, and the occasional garbage. By now I have taken the same route so many times that people and faces have become very familiar. And while the series of ‘good mornings’ and attempts at English greetings by others collectively make it a pleasant walk; the heat makes it a sweaty one. Let the countdown commence until Winter! :)
7:55am Run into the store near my work to buy ‘Maria’ crackers. ‘Maria’ crackers are essentially pseudo-graham crackers, but way better. They’re relatively inexpensive and serve as a good snack in between breakfast and lunch break.
8am- 1pm (or 13h); 2pm-4pm Work at ADECI (See ‘What I Do’ blog)
1pm-2pm Lunch Break. I walk from the ADECI building to the post office, which is a few blocks away, to check for mail at my PO Box. Then I trudge over to the ‘heart of the city’ as I like to call it (where traffic of people and cars is at its height) to a somewhat secluded spot off to the side under a big tree.
I like to go there because I can always find Mozambican women walking around the chapa stops and selling lanha (‘baby coconuts’). They carry the basin full of coconuts on their head and per request they pull out a machete and cut open the top of the coconut for me to drink. Then once I’m finished, they chop it in half and give me a spoon fashioned from another part of the coconut to scrape out the meat. SUCH a good snack!
Now its chill time under the tree until the end of break in which I usually am reading mail or a book. (Right now it’s ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’… highly recommended’)
4pm-5pm Very up in the air. But depending on what I did during lunch it either includes post office trip, reading once again, or just walking around for a bit. Regardless of the day I walk into the ‘heart of the city’ to buy what is in my opinion the freshest bread in all of Maxixe. It’s warm, it’s fluffy, and it’s D-licious!
5pm-6pm I make my trek up the dirt road back towards home which can include a stop to get samousas from the nice ‘samousa lady’ (as I call her) and/or the occasional visit to Anne’s (another Peace Corps Volunteer who lives by me). Whatever the case, I always like to stop by the marketplace by my house to buy the night’s groceries. (See marketplace blog)
6pm-7pm I come home and wash the dishes from the night before, straighten up my house a little bit then start dinner.
Cooking dinner, as I’ve mentioned before, has become one of my favorite things to do… always with either some classic rock or the blues playing. TO give you an idea, I have my share of pasta nights but I also make things like sushi, fried eggplant, and Spanish tortilla (French fried potatoes mixed in beaten eggs and cooked like a pancake) topped with bruschetta. Afterwards I make the dog her food, serve half and then save the rest for the next morning.
8-10pm Either hanging out with my neighbor Vaz, reading, writing letters, or watching something on my computer.
10-10:30ish Set up the fan and mosquito net in my room and go to bed.
Just another day in Maxixe!
6:30am Wake up to my phone alarm. Most people in the neighborhood have already been up since sunrise an hour before, so I’m starting my day relatively later. While most people have already cooked breakfast and gotten dressed, I’m tying my mosquito net together and making my bed. NOTE- There aren’t many mosquitoes in the area, but I have the net because you never know what other ‘fun’ creatures could make their way onto my bed. (ie. Spiders, roaches and non poisonous scorpions…goo!)
6:35am Feed my dog the concoction of boiled shrimp and Xima (see previous blog) that I’d cooked the night before.
My dog’s name?, you ask. Let’s just say that if adventure had a dog, then its name would be…
… yeah, I went there.
6:37am Sweep my yard. This was one of the things that caught me off guard when I came here since… well… people here are essentially sweeping a yard of dirt and sand. Many Mozambicans take pride in having a neat looking yard though, which includes making sure that the sand has a combed over appearance and is free of leaves and other garbage.
6:40am Iron my clothes for the day and clean my shoes. I plug in my iron (I have electricity as many people do here) and brush off the dirt and sand from my shoes as I wait for the iron to heat up. Like I said… Mozambicans like neatness and if somebody shows up somewhere wrinkled and with tons of crap on their shoes (even though there is dirt and sand almost everywhere), they are not afraid to call you out. This actually happened to me once before. It’s not fun. Lol
6:55am Breakfast time! Fresh bread I bought at the market the evening before that I store in my trusty zip lock bag and South African peanut butter (optional banana and/or mango). Yeah… the peanut butter here (Black Cat) is A-mazing! My dog Indiana seems to like it too. :)
7:00am Shower time. So my shower is essentially a massive blue bucket (as tall as my waist and about a meter wide) in which I store water every Saturday for the week. How this works is you crouch down (still standing) and with another smaller bucket, pour water on the hair, back, chest, legs, and shoulders/armpits. Then you scrub with whatever shampoo and soap you have (Old Spice body wash/ shampoo, how I miss thee!) and repeat pouring with the bucket after you’re done. It’s very simple. And the water all drains off to the small hole in the wall off to the side. Important to note is that this is a room located outside which is separate from my house and is right next door to my concrete hole-in-the-ground bathroom.
7:15am Get dressed and brush teeth.
7:35am Start walking to work. The walk is about 20 minutes long and follows a series of winding roads through the trees which are made up of sand, dirt, tree brush, and the occasional garbage. By now I have taken the same route so many times that people and faces have become very familiar. And while the series of ‘good mornings’ and attempts at English greetings by others collectively make it a pleasant walk; the heat makes it a sweaty one. Let the countdown commence until Winter! :)
7:55am Run into the store near my work to buy ‘Maria’ crackers. ‘Maria’ crackers are essentially pseudo-graham crackers, but way better. They’re relatively inexpensive and serve as a good snack in between breakfast and lunch break.
8am- 1pm (or 13h); 2pm-4pm Work at ADECI (See ‘What I Do’ blog)
1pm-2pm Lunch Break. I walk from the ADECI building to the post office, which is a few blocks away, to check for mail at my PO Box. Then I trudge over to the ‘heart of the city’ as I like to call it (where traffic of people and cars is at its height) to a somewhat secluded spot off to the side under a big tree.
I like to go there because I can always find Mozambican women walking around the chapa stops and selling lanha (‘baby coconuts’). They carry the basin full of coconuts on their head and per request they pull out a machete and cut open the top of the coconut for me to drink. Then once I’m finished, they chop it in half and give me a spoon fashioned from another part of the coconut to scrape out the meat. SUCH a good snack!
Now its chill time under the tree until the end of break in which I usually am reading mail or a book. (Right now it’s ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’… highly recommended’)
4pm-5pm Very up in the air. But depending on what I did during lunch it either includes post office trip, reading once again, or just walking around for a bit. Regardless of the day I walk into the ‘heart of the city’ to buy what is in my opinion the freshest bread in all of Maxixe. It’s warm, it’s fluffy, and it’s D-licious!
5pm-6pm I make my trek up the dirt road back towards home which can include a stop to get samousas from the nice ‘samousa lady’ (as I call her) and/or the occasional visit to Anne’s (another Peace Corps Volunteer who lives by me). Whatever the case, I always like to stop by the marketplace by my house to buy the night’s groceries. (See marketplace blog)
6pm-7pm I come home and wash the dishes from the night before, straighten up my house a little bit then start dinner.
Cooking dinner, as I’ve mentioned before, has become one of my favorite things to do… always with either some classic rock or the blues playing. TO give you an idea, I have my share of pasta nights but I also make things like sushi, fried eggplant, and Spanish tortilla (French fried potatoes mixed in beaten eggs and cooked like a pancake) topped with bruschetta. Afterwards I make the dog her food, serve half and then save the rest for the next morning.
8-10pm Either hanging out with my neighbor Vaz, reading, writing letters, or watching something on my computer.
10-10:30ish Set up the fan and mosquito net in my room and go to bed.
Just another day in Maxixe!
Friday, February 13, 2009
A Random Scene
What a fantastic day! It was sunny for the first time after a week of rain and there was a nice breeze coming off of the ocean. It was so relaxing to just hang out for a half an hour in my favorite shaded area in the heart of the city, picking out a recipe for dinner from my trusty Peace Corps cookbook. Yeah, I was sure I had all the ingredients for this one dish… all I needed was to go find an eggplant.
So I walked the bustling streets where vendors were selling burned DVDs, egg sandwiches and coconuts; dodged the fast-moving, unyielding traffic; and trudged up the road toward the entrance of the Mercado Central. The entrance itself wasn’t so hard to spot anymore. After a few days I had gotten used to finding the somewhat hidden 6 foot entrance in between two tin shops right by the street.
When I passed through to the front of the market, I stopped to look around at the rows of wooden stands, trying to see if somebody might finally have eggplant that day. My eyes scanned over the fruits, veggies, and fish that I saw at every table until I finally found it. It was right in front of me…
‘Good afternoon!’ I greeted the middle-aged woman.
“Good afternoon!” she replied as she smiled at me like I was someone she’d known for years. “What would you like? Tomatos? Onions? Bananas…?”
‘No, actually… how much are the eggplants here?’ I said nodding toward the edge of the stand.
“Oh…umm… it’s 50 MT for a kilo.” Roughly two dollars in American.
I couldn’t help but gasp. *That sounds pricey.* I thought to myself. *If I’m going to pay 50 MT for eggplant, I better get my money’s worth.*
‘How much makes a kilo?’ I asked.
She took a plastic bag and hung it from a scale which she was holding with her other hand. I was relieved to see her fit like 8 fist sized eggplants in the bag to measure out one whole kilo.
‘Hmm… that’s a lot of eggplants. How about three? How much is that?’
“30 MT.” She said right as the words left my mouth. Immediately a red flag went up in my head.
‘You didn’t even measure it. If you’re gonna charge 30MT, then you should make sure it weighs more than half a kilo.’
She weighed it again. “Half a kilo. Ok… 25MT then.”
I nodded my approval, paid her, and turned around to leave.
“SON!” A woman called from the stand I was then facing.
I walked up to her and said my usual greeting.
“You came here looking for avocados and you said you would be back to get some Tuesday!” She sounded kind of angry.
*Ohh crud… I totally forgot about that. I ended up finding avocados in the store by my house.*
‘Umm. Sorry mother… I haven’t really needed it.’
“AND you bought eggplants overthere?! I have lots of them right here that you could buy.”
‘How much are they?’ I asked while trying to gauge her anger.
“10MT for one.”
*Wow… and these suckers are HUGE too. I really should have bought them here. Oy! AND I should know better than to buy something at the first stand I see.*
‘Well mother, I will buy them from you next time…’ Her face soured a little. She didn’t believe me.
‘Hey what’s your name again?’ I asked with a smile.
“My… oh…my name? It’s Maria.” Suddenly her face softened dramatically.
‘I’m Victor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
Next thing I know, she and I were going back and forth chit-chatting for a little bit. She was mostly asking me questions about my background and what I am doing here, while I was just trying to not look like a goofball with my language abilities. After a few minutes though, I started to realize how hungry I actually was.
‘Well Maria, it was good to meet you and next time I come by this way I will buy my eggplants AND avocados from my new friend Maria. Ok?’
She started to laugh. “Ok. Ok…”
‘Until later.’
“Yes of course. Until later, Victor.”
She was laughing still as I turned and walked out of the market. The streets were still crowded with people and noisy cars zipping by. I stopped for a second to look down the road straight ahead as it’s met in the distance with the beautiful, bright blue Indian Ocean. *God, what a wonderful day.*
So I walked the bustling streets where vendors were selling burned DVDs, egg sandwiches and coconuts; dodged the fast-moving, unyielding traffic; and trudged up the road toward the entrance of the Mercado Central. The entrance itself wasn’t so hard to spot anymore. After a few days I had gotten used to finding the somewhat hidden 6 foot entrance in between two tin shops right by the street.
When I passed through to the front of the market, I stopped to look around at the rows of wooden stands, trying to see if somebody might finally have eggplant that day. My eyes scanned over the fruits, veggies, and fish that I saw at every table until I finally found it. It was right in front of me…
‘Good afternoon!’ I greeted the middle-aged woman.
“Good afternoon!” she replied as she smiled at me like I was someone she’d known for years. “What would you like? Tomatos? Onions? Bananas…?”
‘No, actually… how much are the eggplants here?’ I said nodding toward the edge of the stand.
“Oh…umm… it’s 50 MT for a kilo.” Roughly two dollars in American.
I couldn’t help but gasp. *That sounds pricey.* I thought to myself. *If I’m going to pay 50 MT for eggplant, I better get my money’s worth.*
‘How much makes a kilo?’ I asked.
She took a plastic bag and hung it from a scale which she was holding with her other hand. I was relieved to see her fit like 8 fist sized eggplants in the bag to measure out one whole kilo.
‘Hmm… that’s a lot of eggplants. How about three? How much is that?’
“30 MT.” She said right as the words left my mouth. Immediately a red flag went up in my head.
‘You didn’t even measure it. If you’re gonna charge 30MT, then you should make sure it weighs more than half a kilo.’
She weighed it again. “Half a kilo. Ok… 25MT then.”
I nodded my approval, paid her, and turned around to leave.
“SON!” A woman called from the stand I was then facing.
I walked up to her and said my usual greeting.
“You came here looking for avocados and you said you would be back to get some Tuesday!” She sounded kind of angry.
*Ohh crud… I totally forgot about that. I ended up finding avocados in the store by my house.*
‘Umm. Sorry mother… I haven’t really needed it.’
“AND you bought eggplants overthere?! I have lots of them right here that you could buy.”
‘How much are they?’ I asked while trying to gauge her anger.
“10MT for one.”
*Wow… and these suckers are HUGE too. I really should have bought them here. Oy! AND I should know better than to buy something at the first stand I see.*
‘Well mother, I will buy them from you next time…’ Her face soured a little. She didn’t believe me.
‘Hey what’s your name again?’ I asked with a smile.
“My… oh…my name? It’s Maria.” Suddenly her face softened dramatically.
‘I’m Victor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
Next thing I know, she and I were going back and forth chit-chatting for a little bit. She was mostly asking me questions about my background and what I am doing here, while I was just trying to not look like a goofball with my language abilities. After a few minutes though, I started to realize how hungry I actually was.
‘Well Maria, it was good to meet you and next time I come by this way I will buy my eggplants AND avocados from my new friend Maria. Ok?’
She started to laugh. “Ok. Ok…”
‘Until later.’
“Yes of course. Until later, Victor.”
She was laughing still as I turned and walked out of the market. The streets were still crowded with people and noisy cars zipping by. I stopped for a second to look down the road straight ahead as it’s met in the distance with the beautiful, bright blue Indian Ocean. *God, what a wonderful day.*
Saturday, January 24, 2009
I'm sorry, eu no falo...
‘… And we also have a visitor here from the United States named Victor. He is new to the Church and to Maxixe and will be with us for the next two years… is he here today? I didn’t see him.’
*Oh crap. Should I pretend I didn’t understand? Wait, what are you saying?! Get up there… if this were the States you’d already be up there addressing the crowd.*
‘Oh there he is. Would you like to say something?’ He motions for me to come forward.
I stand up and walk to the front of the Church. I can feel everyone’s glare on the back of my neck and I’m a bit uneasy as I get ready to introduce myself before a large crowd of people in a language that I just started learning in August.
I reach the podium and the announcer repeats his invitation for me to speak. ‘Just a few words about you and what you’re doing here would be nice.’
*Ok. I can do this.*
‘Good… Good morning. My name is Victor Perez and I work for the Peace Corps. Yes… I am from the United States and I’m glad to be living here in Maxixe for the next few years. Thank you so much for your welcome and…well… I’m very happy to be here. Thank you.’
*Wow, Vic. Nice. Way to explain your job. ‘I work for the Peace Corps.’ Brilliant… because I’m sure they all know what that is… sigh… ok, ok just go sit down…*
‘Thank you very much, Victor. Now for our next…’
That was the scene in my new Church, Sagrada Familia, a few Sundays ago when I went to the earlier Mass for the first time. Funnily enough, that was actually my third time introducing myself before a congregation here, the first being back in October when I arrived in Namaacha for training… so I had some practice. What was the big deal then? For one, thanks to my nerves, my Portuguese vocab just went out the door the minute I stepped up to address the congregation. A crowd isn’t a big deal, but a crowd that may not understand what you are saying and/or may look down on you slightly for your limited language ability is something to worry about.
It’s such a frustrating thing when a person opens her mouth to speak and she knows that no matter what she says, the other person is not going to be able to fully understand and appreciate her thoughts or feelings. Maybe just as wearisome is when she cannot completely understand what the other person is trying to communicate.
Portuguese for me has been an adventure. It and this experience in general have already challenged me in ways I didn’t even know I could be challenged in. Some days I feel like I’m getting it after having a conversation about… say… the US electoral system with a Mozambican. Meanwhile there are the other days as well when I say something simple, think the other person understands, and then pause as I notice their blank stare. That’s life though. . . Take it for the good and take it for the bad. Live and learn from your mistakes.
On a side note, while I’m thinking about it, I can honestly say that I feel a lot closer to my father even with us being so far apart. Granted I’ve only been here for four-ish months, but I can at least picture what it must have been like for him to move to a country and attend school where he didn’t understand a vast majority of what people were saying. What he did and I guess ultimately what I have to do in this situation then is to just give it time.
Yes I started learning Portuguese a few months ago and yes I have been living in it for almost as long, but I am getting a little better everyday with each new word, phrase, or pronunciation I learn. With any luck, the next time I have to introduce myself in front of a group of people or even have a basic conversation I can feel a bit more comfortable knowing that in the end things will get better in the span of two years... they have to right? :)
*Oh crap. Should I pretend I didn’t understand? Wait, what are you saying?! Get up there… if this were the States you’d already be up there addressing the crowd.*
‘Oh there he is. Would you like to say something?’ He motions for me to come forward.
I stand up and walk to the front of the Church. I can feel everyone’s glare on the back of my neck and I’m a bit uneasy as I get ready to introduce myself before a large crowd of people in a language that I just started learning in August.
I reach the podium and the announcer repeats his invitation for me to speak. ‘Just a few words about you and what you’re doing here would be nice.’
*Ok. I can do this.*
‘Good… Good morning. My name is Victor Perez and I work for the Peace Corps. Yes… I am from the United States and I’m glad to be living here in Maxixe for the next few years. Thank you so much for your welcome and…well… I’m very happy to be here. Thank you.’
*Wow, Vic. Nice. Way to explain your job. ‘I work for the Peace Corps.’ Brilliant… because I’m sure they all know what that is… sigh… ok, ok just go sit down…*
‘Thank you very much, Victor. Now for our next…’
That was the scene in my new Church, Sagrada Familia, a few Sundays ago when I went to the earlier Mass for the first time. Funnily enough, that was actually my third time introducing myself before a congregation here, the first being back in October when I arrived in Namaacha for training… so I had some practice. What was the big deal then? For one, thanks to my nerves, my Portuguese vocab just went out the door the minute I stepped up to address the congregation. A crowd isn’t a big deal, but a crowd that may not understand what you are saying and/or may look down on you slightly for your limited language ability is something to worry about.
It’s such a frustrating thing when a person opens her mouth to speak and she knows that no matter what she says, the other person is not going to be able to fully understand and appreciate her thoughts or feelings. Maybe just as wearisome is when she cannot completely understand what the other person is trying to communicate.
Portuguese for me has been an adventure. It and this experience in general have already challenged me in ways I didn’t even know I could be challenged in. Some days I feel like I’m getting it after having a conversation about… say… the US electoral system with a Mozambican. Meanwhile there are the other days as well when I say something simple, think the other person understands, and then pause as I notice their blank stare. That’s life though. . . Take it for the good and take it for the bad. Live and learn from your mistakes.
On a side note, while I’m thinking about it, I can honestly say that I feel a lot closer to my father even with us being so far apart. Granted I’ve only been here for four-ish months, but I can at least picture what it must have been like for him to move to a country and attend school where he didn’t understand a vast majority of what people were saying. What he did and I guess ultimately what I have to do in this situation then is to just give it time.
Yes I started learning Portuguese a few months ago and yes I have been living in it for almost as long, but I am getting a little better everyday with each new word, phrase, or pronunciation I learn. With any luck, the next time I have to introduce myself in front of a group of people or even have a basic conversation I can feel a bit more comfortable knowing that in the end things will get better in the span of two years... they have to right? :)
Potent Potables
Coming to Mozambique I had no idea what to expect about… well… a lot things I’d say. I imagined everything from architecture to landscape based on educated guesses and whatever I could research before I left the states. At least one thing was for sure though: there would be no Dom’s, John’s, Presto’s, or Pino’s; no Mighty Taco; no La Nova… jeez… would they at least have cream soda in Mozambique?! Doubtful.
When I got here in October what I found was lots of rice, beans, bread, various veggies, xima (pronounced chima), and exotic fruit. Most people here fall below the line of poverty (80% as of 2003 based on a document I recently read for work) and so the most popular foods are that which people can get for the cheapest.
Xima is especially common as this cornmeal based food is both inexpensive and filling. By mixing the cornmeal powder with water and bringing it to a boil, the mixture hardens into a substance almost like potatoes. This is taken and topped with any kind of sauce for a little bit of flavor. (It’s actually pretty good too depending on the sauce).
As for what xima or rice can be topped with, there are many difference recipes of course. If I’m talking about Mozambican food, however, I have to talk about Matapa (Mah-tah-pa). Matapa is made with crushed cassava leaves, nuts, coconut water, and shrimp all cooked together in what turns out to be… well… a blend of delicious-ness. You can’t come to Mozambique without trying it, but if you’re on your own you might hesitate to make it yourself: properly prepared matapa can take 1 1/2-4 hours depending on the circumstances. Crushing everything is one challenge as you need lots of patience and muscle strength. Imagine a wooden chalice, times 15-20 in size (knee length), with most of a massive wooden pole sticking out of it. That’s what you crush things with when you’re making food for more than a few people. Yeah… I’ve only made it once. Lol.
Samousas are another tasty, inexpensive treat that can be found in an outdoor market for 1 Mt apiece, or 5cents in the US. Samousas are the same shape and size as a Dorito, but much thicker as it is basically fried dough filled with a mixture of veggies and maybe some fish. (Fish is also common being that we are so close to the water). This may or may not be one of my favorite snacks to grab on my way home from work.
As for what I’ve been doing about food, I’ve found that I like to cook… very, VERY much. That’s right, maybe some classic rock or better yet… blues music and smell of whatever I purchased that day simmering on the stovetop… what a perfect way to start the evening. So far I have been experimenting a lot with the PC volunteer’s cookbook and have made everything from bruschetta to spaghetti with homemade mango sauce to homemade baked beans to mashed potatoes and stuffing and so on. As I wrote Leah in a letter a few weeks ago (which she’ll probably get a year from now thanks to somewhat slow postal service lol) it’s like I’m going from Chef Boyardee to Chef Emeril faster than you can say BAM! Cheesy I know… sorry, couldn’t help it.
Seriously though, I work with what I have… which thankfully is quite a bit: tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, onions, cucumber, pineapple, mangos, apples, bananas, and dried shrimp are commonly sold in most neighborhood outdoor markets, among the other cheaper foods already mentioned. That’s not even mentioning some of the things I can find if I scour some of the bigger markets inside the city.
All in all, I would say that I have been blessed with a decent amount of resources. I can find a lot of good food for relatively low cost and I can sample local plates at whichever outdoor stand or small restaurant I stumble upon. There’s no McDonald’s here, but there is a small place hidden away from the street in the marketplace where I can get a good meal and a fanta for 40 Mts. There are no La Nova’s BBQ wings, but there are fresh pineapples in season now which serve as a delicious way to start the day. Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that Maxixe is starting to feel like home…
When I got here in October what I found was lots of rice, beans, bread, various veggies, xima (pronounced chima), and exotic fruit. Most people here fall below the line of poverty (80% as of 2003 based on a document I recently read for work) and so the most popular foods are that which people can get for the cheapest.
Xima is especially common as this cornmeal based food is both inexpensive and filling. By mixing the cornmeal powder with water and bringing it to a boil, the mixture hardens into a substance almost like potatoes. This is taken and topped with any kind of sauce for a little bit of flavor. (It’s actually pretty good too depending on the sauce).
As for what xima or rice can be topped with, there are many difference recipes of course. If I’m talking about Mozambican food, however, I have to talk about Matapa (Mah-tah-pa). Matapa is made with crushed cassava leaves, nuts, coconut water, and shrimp all cooked together in what turns out to be… well… a blend of delicious-ness. You can’t come to Mozambique without trying it, but if you’re on your own you might hesitate to make it yourself: properly prepared matapa can take 1 1/2-4 hours depending on the circumstances. Crushing everything is one challenge as you need lots of patience and muscle strength. Imagine a wooden chalice, times 15-20 in size (knee length), with most of a massive wooden pole sticking out of it. That’s what you crush things with when you’re making food for more than a few people. Yeah… I’ve only made it once. Lol.
Samousas are another tasty, inexpensive treat that can be found in an outdoor market for 1 Mt apiece, or 5cents in the US. Samousas are the same shape and size as a Dorito, but much thicker as it is basically fried dough filled with a mixture of veggies and maybe some fish. (Fish is also common being that we are so close to the water). This may or may not be one of my favorite snacks to grab on my way home from work.
As for what I’ve been doing about food, I’ve found that I like to cook… very, VERY much. That’s right, maybe some classic rock or better yet… blues music and smell of whatever I purchased that day simmering on the stovetop… what a perfect way to start the evening. So far I have been experimenting a lot with the PC volunteer’s cookbook and have made everything from bruschetta to spaghetti with homemade mango sauce to homemade baked beans to mashed potatoes and stuffing and so on. As I wrote Leah in a letter a few weeks ago (which she’ll probably get a year from now thanks to somewhat slow postal service lol) it’s like I’m going from Chef Boyardee to Chef Emeril faster than you can say BAM! Cheesy I know… sorry, couldn’t help it.
Seriously though, I work with what I have… which thankfully is quite a bit: tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, onions, cucumber, pineapple, mangos, apples, bananas, and dried shrimp are commonly sold in most neighborhood outdoor markets, among the other cheaper foods already mentioned. That’s not even mentioning some of the things I can find if I scour some of the bigger markets inside the city.
All in all, I would say that I have been blessed with a decent amount of resources. I can find a lot of good food for relatively low cost and I can sample local plates at whichever outdoor stand or small restaurant I stumble upon. There’s no McDonald’s here, but there is a small place hidden away from the street in the marketplace where I can get a good meal and a fanta for 40 Mts. There are no La Nova’s BBQ wings, but there are fresh pineapples in season now which serve as a delicious way to start the day. Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that Maxixe is starting to feel like home…
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