Summary of my fist week

Arrival in Namaacha

I copied some of this from my journal on the first day…

I arrived in Namaacha on Saturday afternoon.  (I still can’t believe we have only been here for just a week!)  During that bus ride from Maputo to Namaacha, we passed houses of all sorts, many the kind you might imagine in Africa, built out of tin or cardboard and defying gravity as they stay standing.  Realistically, I grew nervous of course because here we were, seeing firsthand those photos you see only on the internet, and the reality of the situation could not be avoided.  Here I was about to meet a family for the first time and live with them in their house, unsure what to expect, would I be living in a “house” like these we were passing?  I certainly felt guilty thinking how there was no way I could live in a house like that, yet clearly these were some peoples’ homes!  What had we gotten ourselves into?!  Instead, I tried to focus on the landscape around me and not freak out too much. 

About two hours later, we arrived in Namaacha, hopped off the bus and were escorted to chairs facing many African men and women, almost oogling us as if we were an exhibit, waving, smiling, whispering to each other.  We then found our maes and walked to our new homes.  Many maes held their volunteer’s hand as they escorted them, mine however seemed less enthusiastic and quickly learned that I did not understand her Portuguese barely at all.  After that, it was a pretty much silent walk home and I was shown my room and met my siblings and cousins, feeling totally overwhelmed in every way possible. 

My mae, with another mom and volunteer, then took me to the Shop Rite, which resembles a swap meet and occurs every Wednesday and Saturday.  I felt like a lost puppy just following her around, unable to really say anything and understanding only some of what she said.  Mostly I just walked with the other volunteer and her younger sibling who would answer our questions about how to say the clothes, shoes, foods, etc. in Portuguese.  Following that, we returned home, had dinner and I went to my room soon after, like around 8:00 because I was just mentally and physically exhausted!  I was surprised that I understood more Portuguese than I expected to, but that still isn’t saying much.

Summary of the Rest of the Week

So that was my first real day in Africa.  On Sunday I attended mass with my family, a Catholic service.  I understood almost none except the occasional prayer I recognized or like the blessing of the eucharist but even then there were some changes, or maybe it was mostly because it was in Portuguese and sometimes in Changana, a local language spoken here and in other parts of Mozambique.  Mass lasted about 2 hours long, and it was some special holiday for their church and there was also a baptism.  Lots of singing, some songs fast and they clap and sway side to side, and some songs slower and a few people sing a line and the next is a response line everyone sings.  There are several other religious groups in the area, but there seems to be a large Christian demographic. 

I also met some of Senina’s friends, and though they quickly learned I can’t communicate very well and didn’t understand what they were saying, I had an amazing time playing these games with them!  A game similar to down by the banks, and several circle games where they sing a song and someone goes in the middle and dances and then picks a new person to dance in the middle.  Apparently I am a hilarious dancer!  All those years of dance class really paid off! 

October 4^th marked the Day of Peace in Mozambique, the end of their civil war.  We attended a ceremony in which we gathered around a monument commemorating the end of the war and a few people spoke and then everyone lined up to place flowers on the monument and we sang the Mozambique national anthem.  We then paraded to a lecture hall and there were more speeches, in Portuguese of course.  To our surprise, about half way through, they had someone summarize what was being said in the speeches for us in English.  Basically, the city administrators discussed the need for continued peace and told people to be nice to us because we represent peace. 

As far as training goes, my day begins at 6am and I am off to language class by 7am.  This week, we had language class all day (7:30am-5:00pm) with a two hour break for lunch three out of five days.  The language classes are very small, the largest with only 6 volunteers, mine has only 3, so there is a lot of personal attention.  We have also learned a little about the Mozambique education system and a brief outline of the history of the country, but you can Wiki that if you are really interested, or more to come about that stuff later. 

A funny story: I woke up in the morning, exited my room then returned and was changing for my morning bath when I tried to open my door to no avail.  Thinking hm that’s odd, it opened a minute ago, I thought maybe somehow I had locked it unknowingly or something.  So I fiddled with my keys a bit in the lock and, this not being the quietest thing, my family in the nearby kitchen heard me fiddling with the door.  I think they thought I was dumb and kept telling me “Usa a chave” (Use the key) and I was trying to explain that the door was unlocked, just not opening.  I heard a tapping on my window and my irmao had me pass him the keys through the window so they could try.  They soon realized the door was unlocked yet wouldn’t open and I could hear them begin to unscrew the handle from their side of the door, hoping that would get me out.  Long story short, about 15 minutes later my sister ordered “Senta na cama” (sit on the bed!) and she came barging through that door, ramming it with her body to open it! 

I could continue on for days writing but I am sure I will have many more exciting stories to share soon and I hope I could paint at least some kind of picture of what life is like here.  At times, two years sounds like forever, but other times I just get lost in the moment and am just enjoying it, living one day at a time, and taking in as much as I can. 

I wish I could better describe the feeling of being dropped in to a situation with little familiarity, a huge language gap, potential cultural misunderstandings, total change of daily routines, etc. and yes it is certainly hard and I wake up still thinking how long two years sounds, but then there are some moments, simple ones like when I tried to translate some American songs for my sister and cousin or when I played those dancing games, where I get lost in those moments and find myself simply smiling, thinking about how those moments are why I am here and why I wanted to do this: to experience that new culture, challenge myself, and expand my knowledge of the world as I become part of a new community.  Sure it will probably get harder before it gets easier, and two years is a long time, but right now I am taking it one moment at a time and learning what I can in those moments.  And, at the same time, moving here isn’t much different than say moving somewhere else away from home.  One still has to adjust to a new routine, new people, build that support network, etc. no matter where you move in the world.  Yeah, some comforts from home are gone but hopefully I will find some new comforts soon J  Miss you all and thanks for following my adventure!