Adjusting

Life in Mozambique is different than life in the United States. 51 of us have been thrown into houses in Namaacha and asked to adopt a different lifestyle than our own. Being here for nearly two weeks has given me time to adjust and reflect.

Business Casual?:
Business casual in the United States generally means skirts or dress pants with a nice blouse for women and either khakis or dress pants with a polo for men. In Mozambique, business casual clothing follows different rules. Sandals are business casual for women if they have a form of BLING attached (bling = shiney object)! The bling rule continues to confuse me daily. I had to change shoes today because I
wore my strapy Tevas to language class. Days earlier my language teacher, Sonia, wore sandals that were on their last leg. According to Mozambique dress code rules, her sandals were acceptable because she had bling. Someone please send me a beadazzler so I can bling my shoes!

I should also mention that if you dare test the waters and wear sandals to class, your feet need to be spotless. Just a hint of dirt and you're no longer business casual. The catch is that Namaacha is famous for its red dirt.  I scrubbed my feet with a rock for ten minutes today and my feet are still stained!

Water:
My family has no running water- not even a single pipe in their house. My sister fetches water at least twice a week and carriers a 45 pound jug on her head and a 15 pound jug in her hands each trip. On average, she takes three trips each time she restocks our water buckets. Last weekend I decided to make the trip for water with her. After filling our jugs she insisted that I carry the jug on my head, but I refused.
I was so scared that my neck would break with all of that weight. I carried a 45 pound jug in one hand and a 15 pound jug in the other. Long story short- I'm doing pushups every day in preparation for my
next trip to the water station.

Uncontrolled Burns:
People in my village are constantly burning their "gardens". My mom burns our garden at least once a week after sweeping our "lawn". For those of you without a bachelor of science in biological aspects of conservation I will explain the science behind burns (I need to practice my teaching skills before standing in front of classes of 100 students). The people here plant a root vegetable (in Costa Rica they refer to a similar plant as "the poor man's potato). The problem with planting the same crop in the same place year after year is that the crop drains the soil of the nutrients the crop needs to grow. By burning the surrounding area, the people are trying to replenish the nutrients without giving the soil a year to rest. The science behind the burn method is supported- burning successfully replenishes some of the nutrients the soil is lacking. The problem here is that the people have uncontrolled burns in severe heat. My neighbors started a fire and left (for reference, this fire was bigger than a typical Steve Macejkovic fire). The nearby houses are made of dried plant leaves. Smart idea? In my opinion, uncontrolled burns are a terrible idea no matter where you are, but maybe the people here know better than myself! Adjusting to clouds of smoke is on my list of things to do.

Greetings:
Similar to in the United States, greetings can be either formal or informal. Unlike in the United States, formal greetings get complicated here. From the time you wake up until 12, noon, you can say bom dia (good day). From 12, noon, until you go to bed you can say boa tarde (good afternoon). When you go to bed (and only when you are going to bed) you can say boa noite (good evening). Rumor has it, kids stare at clocks waiting for seconds to pass after 12, noon, so they can switch their greeting from bom dia to boa tarde!

Another custom in Mozambique is that you greet everyone you pass, even if you don't know them. When walking to class, I always give myself an few extra minutes because the neighbors are usually waiting outside their houses to greet me.

Life is going very well here. I was getting frustrated with what seemed like no progress in language class, but my language teacher had nothing but positive things to say about my progress. During tutoring I interviewed Sonia and then she interviewed me. The last question she asked was something along the line of, "how are your studies going?". I told her that learning Portuguese is much more difficult than I imagined and having a ten week deadline makes learning a language even more stressful. She stopped me in the middle of my sentence and said, "Anna, we are having a conversation in Portuguese and we haven't spoken a single word in English during this interview. That is amazing progress. In a week and a half you are able to have a conversation with someone entirely in Portuguese". While Sonia's obsevation was quite basic, it hit the spot. I realized that I really do know enough Portuguese to survive in Mozambique. I am excited to continue my studies and continue my steady progress! (I also just got a 99% on my paper about my family in the United States. I am so proud I am going to post it online because my family in Mozambique doesn't have a refrigerator to post it on).

Ate logo (until later)!