Written on October 23, 2010:
Bom dia (good day) from Namaacha! I hope all's well on your side of the world. I'm stealing time between my regularly scheduled training activities to write this e-mail because I have a few new tales to tell.
So the news from here is that I am now living with a new host family. Long story, but basically my old host family had to move houses due to renovations and Peace Corps didn't like the arrangements in the new house. (They're essentially squatting, but it's really not like it sounds). Anyway, it was really sad since my first host family and I got along so well and had become close in that short amount of time... it's amazing how quickly that can happen when you arrive like a new-born baby in a very foreign country. :) Carmen, my 10-year-old host sister, cried the whole first night I was gone, according to her mom, but I've been going to see them almost every day. In a way it makes me feel extra-supported to now have two host families.
My new home is pretty different. It's on a traditional compound with several little houses/huts surrounded by a cane fence. The little house with my room has power and is made out of concrete with a tin roof. I usually wake up in the morning to the sound of doves cooing above my head as they scurry around on the roof... that is if the roosters don't wake me up first. Roosters, by the way, are the worst alarm clock ever... no snooze button.
There's an outdoor latrine where the giant cockroaches keep me company as I try to keep my balance while squatting on top of the concrete "chimney", which is exactly what it sounds like. Imagine going to the bathroom on top of a chimney of a house, but instead of the house it goes down into a pit in the ground (which I can see into, but I try not to). And you can imagine what it smells like. There is also a separate bathhouse and kitchen. The latrine and bathhouse are made of cane, and the kitchen and a few of the other structures where other family members sleep are made out of sticks, rocks and mud.
Even though it sounds rustic, it's all very neat and orderly and is definitely an interesting experience. I've also got a pretty amazing view from my bedroom window and backyard: rolling hills and mountains, and because we're sort of elevated I can see all the way to South Africa. Plus, the adorable baby chicks running around the yard almost make up for the freakishly large cockroaches. Almost.
My new host family is big: two parents, 9 (adult) kids and 27 grandkids, but they don't all live here. I'd say about 12 or 15 family members live on the compound. My host mom, Julietta, and host dad, Manuel, are friendly and warm. They've been living on this land since 1979 shortly after independence from Portugal, and also have a machamba (small family farm) nearby.
Manuel is the minister of the Assembly of God church across the trail from us. I haven't been yet, but there's always beautiful music coming from that direction and I think it will be a rich cultural experience to go on Sunday. I've heard that the service is mostly in Changana, the local language. Julietta and Manuel are more comfortable speaking Changana than they are Portuguese, so I usually have to initiate conversation. But there are several of their daughters/daughters-in-law/nieces who are always around and thankfully speak Portuguese very well. (Note: There are 27-ish local languages in Moz!)
I can also report that I survived my first bought of illness and am back to normal and feeling good as of today. I had food poisoning on Tuesday night, my second full day with my new family... nothing like vomiting out the window to make myself right at home! :)
Other obervations: Mozambique is full of surprises. For example, as I was taking my bucket bath in the outdoor bathhouse tonight by candlelight, I had to chuckle to myself as I heard the neighbor playing Justin Bieber's "Baby, baby, baby..." song for probably the 5th time today. Seriously, Justin Bieber (American pop-tart music, if you don't know) has taken Mozambique by storm. He is HUGE here. After I got my new cell phone, my host brother, Jacinto, downloaded some music onto my phone from his and, of course, Justin Bieber was the first song he gave me.
All of this was via bluetooth while standing at the neighborhood barraca (like a little store/hut that sells a few food & household items). I thought the cell phone/blue tooth/Justin Bieber combo was an interesting contrast with our surroundings, a neighborhood barraca that may or may not be carrying toilet paper depending on the day. So, what I guess I'm saying is that in Mozambique, Justin Bieber is more readily available than toilet paper (at least in Namaacha... in other parts of the country they might both be in short supply).
They also watch a lot of really raunchy Brazilian soap operas and game shows. There's one where the whole object of the game is for people to make out with each other. And then there's this Mozambican reality show that's like Dancing with the Stars ("Danca dos Artistas") but with more booty-shaking and grinding in little spandex outfits.
Yet, as a woman here I have to wear my skirts at least below the knee. I guess it's all good on the TV, but not in real life? The modesty does not extend to boobs, however. The mammas here will whip them out anytime, anyplace to breastfeed their babies.
That's all for now (and that was a lot). Ate logo! (until later)
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