New pictures! Swearing in and my house in Macia

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Megan in Mozambique

Being a Foreign Woman in Mozambique

Being female and foreign presents additional challenges here in Mozambique. Mild sexual harassment occurs whenever I leave my house, but it’s really more annoying than anything else. For example, during a brief trip to the gas station (about 10-15 mins each direction) I was offered a ride (which isn’t always creepy but the statement “you’re pretty, let me give you a ride” raises some red flags), was asked for my number twice, and called over (sometimes with a lewd noise that sounds like “psssst!”) by men numerous times. Generally, I just ignore, decline, or stretch the truth (“my phone is only for work” or “I already have a namorado”; the latter has a surprisingly high fail rate).

Unfortunately, in Mozambique it is extremely difficult to have cross-gender platonic relationships. This makes integration more difficult as men (especially young men) are much more likely to have free time. So far I’ve only meet a handful of women around my age, whereas I have met many young men. My best Portuguese conversation with a Mozambican since I’ve been in Macia was with the 22-year-old carpenter who changed my locks. At one point, we were discussing soccer. He asked me, “You know Ghana?” so I answered yes. He smiled and said, “They beat you.” The fact that he was mocking the US soccer team was hilarious. Of course, this was a very short-lived friendship since he shortly thereafter asked for my number. My refusal might sound cold; maybe he did actually want to be friends. However, that would be a rare exception and until my Portuguese improves and I become more familiar with gender relations, I’m sticking to that.

There’s another side to being female in Mozambique that’s bothersome in an entirely different way, especially when one is a proud feminist and regular Jezebel (a feminist blog) reader, and that’s the traditional gender roles. Since I’m foreign I’m already regarded as a bit of a freak and thus am much less expected to conform, thankfully. For a Christmas party for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), the women prepared a meal for several dozen kids. The meal was preceded by a few songs, and one of the older men turned to me and jokingly asked, “So are you just going to accompany the kids?” Confused, I looked around the room and realized all of the other women had left to start serving the food. I was very tempted to say, “Fuck you, dude, go serve me.” However, I decided it was much more important to me to show solidarity with the women than to win this battle with the man.

The issue of gender roles is very complex, of course, and is not just the result of obnoxious men. I spent a day helping to construct a home for an elderly woman, and both the men and women found my insistence to help with the build bizarre. Two women were present and prepared meals for the men working. I hung out with them at first, talking in the shade. When I joined the build (to his credit, my counterpart called me over to join), it was clear many of the men found it amusing that I insisted on working with them, but they let me. They repeatedly told me to go rest in the shade, but I’m sure my previously-mentioned tendency to turn bright red in heat played a role. When I eventually took a break, the women declared construction “men’s work.” They found it amusing as well that I “like to do work” (as if chasing down a chicken, plucking it, and cooking it wasn’t work). When it was time for meals, I was offered a chair at the table with the men as opposed to a spot on the straw mat with the women, more due to my status as a foreigner and something of a guest in the country than to my insistence on doing “men’s work.” Once again, though, I insisted on sitting with the women, not to fulfill gender roles but to show solidarity.

First 3 Weeks at Site

Adjustment to Life in Macia

My first week as a resident of Macia was predominantly about meeting my basic needs. Thankfully the town is centered on a large market along the main highway in Mozambique, so I was easily able to purchase an electric 2-burner stovetop and some other basic cooking necessities. Even with electricity and running water, however, just carrying out the daily cooking and cleaning can be exhausting. I eat a lot of potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, and onions as they are the most widely available in the market. Not the most balanced diet, but onions always kept me from getting scurvy in Oregon Trail, so I’ll be fine. With a little more effort and meticais, other produce as well as canned beans and tuna can be found in the market as well. I plan on being mainly vegetarian until Shop Rite (the Mozambican equivalent of Wal-Mart) opens in my town and I can purchase previously-killed and plucked chicken.

Overall, my adjustment is going pretty well. It is definitely frustrating at times, especially since I’m often tired, hungry, thirsty, and hot. The heat in particular is a big change, as the temperature frequently hits 90 degrees by 8am. Braving the heat one afternoon to buy a standing fan (totally worth it), I had multiple Mozambicans ask me if I was feeling okay. Not used to white girls of Irish descent turning bright red and sweating profusely, I guess. A puppy back home (shout out to Casey Schneiderman, love you bitch) would act out when she needed to be let outside to pee. Similar to that dog, I’ve found that when I start to get in a bad mood, it’s a sign that I need to take a cold shower. (Yes, that’s a very bizarre analogy, but that’s what happens when you have a lot of alone time.) However, my body is adjusting. When the temperature dropped to just under 70 degrees the last week of training, I wore jeans and a North Face sweater. Maybe in a year I’ll be like the Mozambican worker at an internet café with air conditioning who had to keep running outside to escape the cold.

Highlights thus far:

• A Christmas party for orphans and vulnerable children: For a couple hours before the meal was served, I played games and sang songs with the kids, including Duck Duck Goose, Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, Sharks and Minnows (Lions and Zebras), and the Hokey Pokey, all roughly translated into Portuguese. It was one of my favorite days in Mozambique.

• A local radio station interview: Along with two other women from the same organization that held the party, our president interviewed us about the party and current events. Personally, I was asked various questions including how Christmas is celebrated in the United States and if I think education is important.

• Christmas at Xai-Xai: For the holiday, most of the volunteers in my province rented a house at Xai-Xai beach. It was a much-needed break from site, and spending the holiday with American friends helped missing celebrating with family back home.

My House (see pictures!)

My house is a depedencia, which means it shares a yard with a bigger house. I have a bedroom, kitchen/dining room, and a bathroom. None of them are connected; rather, they all open to a shared porch. So far, the electricity and running water have been fairly reliable. My counterpart from the faith-based organization lives in the main house with a wife (of three) and several kids (of 12) and grandkids. The children are cute and often come over to my porch to color. Finally, the location is great, as I’m far enough off the main road to feel safe but still only a ten minute walk from the market.

Random Bits of American Culture

Why certain parts of American culture make it to Mozambique and others don’t (sorry, Kanye) is a great mystery to me. Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, James Blunt (he's much more than a one hit wonder here) and the musical stylings of a Mr. Kenny G are pretty standard. If I ask a Mozambican which American movies they like, I usually recognize none of the titles with one exception… Rambo. Additionally, Mozambicans love to try out their English with me, and it’s often pretty funny. For example, a neighbor wished me “Merry X-Mas!” and a teenage boy declared, “Hellooooo, ladies” as I walked past alone. One morning a girl yelled “HALLO!” in such a way that I couldn’t help but laugh until I realized that this is what I sound like to Mozambicans constantly.

The D-Word: Shits and No Giggles

Warning: the following is especially for those weak of stomach. One of my favorite discussion topics is TMI (too much information; the other is fofoca, which means gossip) but if you don’t enjoy hearing about bodily functions, stop now.

Anyway, one can’t live or travel within a developing country without experiencing diarrhea. It’s a less-than-fun fact of life, especially for those who possess the “Lawless stomach.” That name is perfect, because not only is it passed (ha! poop joke) down from my dad’s side of the family, but it describes a stomach with no master. Pepto Bismal and Immodium be damned. It has definitely been my greatest challenge as a Peace Corps Volunteer so far, and a round of antibiotics offered only a brief reprieve. I never leave the house without toilet paper as Mozambique is mainly BYOTP and I don’t want to have to use notebook paper a second time. But hey, I heard a trainee in a previous group couldn’t find his latrine in the middle of the night, shit all over his backyard, and woke to find his homestay family sweeping it up. At least I haven’t done that.

Engordar (to gain weight)

Engordar-ing is generally a positive thing here and was a stated goal of my host mother. Despite the fact that food rarely stayed in my body for very long, she declared the mission a success. Unfortunately, under the carb-intensive Mozambican diet, American women typically gain weight while men lose weight. One of my first nights at site, at the exact moment that I was rubbing my pão (bread) stomach, my bed frame broke. On the other hand, I store my money in the world’s greatest money belt, my bra, and often forget to remove it, so I frequently make it rain when I get undressed to tomar banho. I’m choosing to go with the latter (that bed frame was shitty to begin with), but I’m glad to have control over what I eat finally. Plus I’ve kicked my pack-a-day cookie habit.

New pictures!

Pictures from the beach in Beline and from a hike to the point where the borders of Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa meet! To see them all, click on the flag.

Megan in Mozambique

My Site Placement!

Where: Macia, Gaza Province (Southern Mozambique)

We had a pit stop there on the way to the beach this past weekend, so I got to walk around the market and look around for a bit, and it looks great! I’m really excited.

Information about Macia

• The languages spoken are Portuguese and Changana (a local dialect)
• It’s super close to great beaches: about 30 minutes from Bilene (went there this past weekend; see below) and 45 minutes from Xai-Xai. It’s also about two and a half hours from Maputo, the capital.
• A main road runs through the town, which is medium-sized and has a large market where one can get everything from produce to dishes and bacías (the wide buckets used for bathing, washing clothes, xi-xi-ing in the middle of the night so you don’t have to go outside, etc.) to a new weave.
• I will definitely have electricity and cell phone coverage, and there is most likely internet somewhere in town.
• The gas station next to the market has lots of good treats, including: Kit Kats, Snickers, Pringles, Peanut M&Ms, and ice cream. Pumped.
• I will have two education site mates (not roommates), and lots of Peace Corps Volunteers living nearby. From Moz15, there are 15 of us going to Gaza Province, plus 5 going to nearby Maputo Province. Plus there are plenty of Moz14ers in the area as well.
• This is a new placement, meaning that the three of us are the first volunteers to serve in Macia.

My Organizations:

I have a joint placement, which means I will be balancing my time between two organizations. They are both small community-based organizations (CBOs), and one of them is also a faith-based organization (FBO). The descriptions I received about each organization are below, but I won’t really know what I will be doing until I’ve been there for a while. I’m most excited for the opportunities to work with kids.

The CBO/FBO, Associação Crista, provides material support (housing repair, food, home-based care visits) to about 40 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). They also have a beneficiary base of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and youth which was increased quickly to about 110. Therefore, the development of programs and activities for OVCs and youth is a major priority. They currently meet at a local bible school but have a plot of land where they hope to construct an office.

Requested assistance:

• Assist with home visits
• Develop projects in relation to the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses
• Develop initiatives to promote treatment adherence
• Develop income generation projects
• Assist in the organization’s food security activities (including diet and nutrition education)

The other CBO, AJAAB (I don’t know what that acronym means), helps vulnerable members of the population access local health care and support services (including psycho-social, moral, and material). They work with local government institutions and other community development players to do so.

Requested assistance:

• Develop/obtain/organize/improve creative psychosocial and education materials for OVCs affected by HIV/AIDS
• Train youth as peer educators in the prevention of HIV/AIDS
• Carry out community education on children’s rights
• Facilitate exchanges with local artists and authors of children’s educational materials
• Participate in meetings with local government institutions and other key players in community development
• Visit and evaluate other community pre-schools, as well as adult literacy centers
• Identify OVCs in the community to participate in the organization’s programs
• Organize a tree-planting project throughout the community using the help of the organization’s OVCs
• Construct play centers and areas for the organization’s OVCs using locally available materials
• Assist local students in further education opportunities and exam preparation

The Rest of Training

Ups & Downs

A motto of the Peace Corps is “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” As the current volunteers have warned us, the next two years will be filled with some of the highest highs and lowest lows of our lives. During training, it is not nearly that extreme, but each day brings its own ups and downs. Overall, however, I'm very happy with the experience and very excited to get to site.

Ups:

• Finding treats: We’ve found Pringles and refrigerated Kit Kats at a gas station here and dark chocolate at a grocery store in Matola, a nearby town.
• Being served chicken.
• Receiving messages, calls, and care packages. Another shameless plea: even if it takes me a while to respond, keep sending me messages. Chances are the weak internet connection on my phone will let me read but not respond or I can read them but am waiting to type up a long response on my computer. Either way, I read them.
• Getting tons of movies and TV shows to put on my external hard drive from other trainees. I’m currently addicted to Mad Men.
• Playing Taboo, Bananagrams, and my all-time favorite card game Asshole at a baraca.
• Hearing juicy fofoca (Portuguese for gossip).

Downs:

• Finding bed bug bites: Realized that I had bed bugs just as it proceeded to storm for the next few days. Not very helpful when you need to put your mattress out in the sun.
• Being served canned sardines. With onions. For breakfast.
• Larium dreams: A major side effect of mephaquin, the anti-malarial medicine I’m required to take is extremely vivid dreams, usually for a couple nights after taking my weekly dose. My dreams are frequently scary (woke up thinking there was a rat in my bed) or frustrating.
• Unwanted roommates: having a cockroach run across my back while in bed (I then killed it and left it smashed on the wall as a warning to its brethren); hearing rats during the night.

My First Birthday in Moz

Thanks for all of the birthday messages! I really appreciated them. Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond to them; as I previously said, it can be difficult to respond. We celebrated at the bar after class, and I had a great day. The only negative was the lack of acknowledgment of my birthday by my host family (yes, they knew it was my birthday), but culturally, birthdays are not nearly as important here.

Comida Americana

During one afternoon of Portuguese class, our host moms showed us how to cook a traditional Mozambican meal of coconut-flavored rice, roast chicken, and a sauce of cooked pumpkin leaves and ground peanuts. Then one Saturday morning, each language group cooked an American meal for their host moms in return. After our host moms dressed us each in a traditional capulana skirt and a lenço (head scarf), my group made French toast with bananas, caramelized apples, and homemade syrup with hash browns. Cooking American food under Mozambican conditions proved to be quite a challenge. We had no cinnamon or vanilla for the French toast, pots instead of skillets, and two “burners” on a charcoal stove. The hash browns took over 45 minutes to heat up and were more of a mashed potatoes-hash browns hybrid, and some of the French toast was a bit burnt since we couldn’t regulate the temperature. However, our moms loved it, and it felt great to serve them for a change. My host mom has since made French toast twice for me when I need a packed lunch, which is super sweet.

Beach Weekend (See pictures!)

We had three free days this past weekend for a mental health break. About 50 of us trainees rented a couple beach houses in Bilene, a beach in Gaza Province about 6 hours away. The beach closest to the houses was on a beautiful lagoon with clear water and no waves. It was very peaceful; there were very few other tourists, just a few wooden boats. My site is only 30 minutes away from this beach, so I will definitely be going often. We lounged on the beach, ate lots of pizza, drank, had a dance party with a DJ one night, and played Asshole (president three times in a row, bitches!). The weekend was great break from training, and now we have less than 2 weeks left until swear in!

Pictures!

Weeks 2 & 3

Typical Day

5:45 Wake up, iron my clothes, take a bath

6:45 Eat breakfast (bread with jam)

7:30 Portuguese class

10:00 Health class

12:30 Return home for lunch (either soup or salad)

1:30 Health class

3:30 Portuguese class

5:30 Return home; take bath; help with dinner

6:30 Eat dinner & wash dishes

7:15 Study Portuguese; do homework

8 Bedtime (usually relax for a bit in my room first)

I also have class Saturday mornings 8-12. We do get some breaks, though. A couple times each week we’ll go to a bar for a drink after class, and on the weekends we have time to pasear (walk around) and hang out.

My house

Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon, but my house is very nice. It is made of stones and concrete with a metal roof and has three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a veranda, a back porch, and a garage. The living room is especially nice with multiple couches, a TV, and a stereo system. They have a car but it is rarely used and currently is in disrepair. Cooking occurs in both the veranda and porch. In the backyard there’s a latrine, a trash pit (trash is periodically burned), a clothes line, and some crops. My mom cares for various vegetable plants as well as banana, avocado, and papaya trees.

Cooking Moçambicano

Cooking is done in pots over a charcoal stove. Dinner typically consists of a sauce with vegetables, beans, fish, or chicken over rice. Often, the sauce primarily consists of various leafy greens, such as couve. A standard dish is matapa: a green sauce of couve and ground amendoim (peanuts) over rice. The amendoim is ground into a fine powder using a pilão, a giant mortar and pestle. Rice is often flavored during cooking with various ingredients, such as onions or coconut. The latter is done by using hot water poured through ground coconut to cook the rice. The result is so good it’s now one of my favorite ways to eat rice, and that says a lot, as I love me some rice.

The Circle of Life

I used to say that it was difficult to gross me out. I also used to be vegetarian. I officially resign my post of not being squeamish, but I am tempted to go back to vegetarianism. All thanks to Randall. Warning: the following is pretty gross.

This past Sunday, my mom announced that my sisters and I were going to cook dinner. When she called me out to the veranda to start, there was a live chicken chilling in a wheelbarrow. Already feeling a bit queasy about the whole situation, I followed Justina as she took Randall (yes, I named him) out back behind a shed (the stereotypical spot for killing animals). She stepped on his feet and wings to hold him down and chopped his head off. Yes, chicken bodies do keep moving after they’re decapitated. They convulse, in fact. She casually tossed Randall’s head in the trash pit, and I carried Randall inside, horrified. We then poured scalding water over him and plucked his still-warm body (I warned you). That was by far the grossest part and was the point where I admitted to being squeamish. My sisters noticed my discomfort, which they found hilarious, and repeatedly asked me, “Tens medo?” (are you afraid?).

Making Progress

This week, I finally felt some sense of accomplishment. Sunday, I was determined to do some household chores completely by myself. After running around like a chicken with its head cut off (too soon?) all day sweeping and then mopping with a rag my room, washing my clothes and shoes by hand, and taking a bath without being told, my mom was very impressed with my hard work. And I was excited to finally feel some sense of competence, although it quickly disappeared when I tried to cook with my sisters.

I am starting to feel more confident with Portuguese as well. Learning Portuguese is definitely a struggle, but my conversations with my family are getting better and better.