First Weekend in Homestay

I absolutely love my family so far. My pai, Vasco, is a mechanic in a mine in Johannesburg, and he left Tuesday to return to work. My mãe, Rosamaría, is kind but very no-nonsense when it comes to getting work done. Whenever I hear “Mee-gon,” I know it’s time to learn a new chore. The best part of my family is the kids, two girls and a boy. Zaida, 18, is quiet and very sweet. Justina, 15, is fun and very outgoing. Eduard, 9, is shy but curious and super cute. They’re all very helpful for learning household chores as well as Portuguese. For example, we will take turns drawing various items (pineapple, cat, etc), and they will teach me how to pronounce and write the Portuguese names. When at the house, I spend most of my time with them, and on the second night they said, “We love you so much.” Precious.

Como se diz “I swear I’m a functioning adult in the United States, everything is just different here”?
My host family spent most of my first weekend teaching me how to do household chores and laughing at me (sounds mean but really all in good fun). Every daily activity is done differently, from bathing to cooking to bathing again to cleaning to bathing once more. A big part of training is learning this new routine so we can be fully functioning adults once again. The most interesting facet thus far has been cooking. Under the instruction of my host siblings, I gutted several fish for Sunday dinner, which was delicious.

The red-headed stepchild of minha família
The Peace Corps Volunteer stereotype of dirty hippies most certainly does not apply here in Mozambique. The first thing my mãe said to me Sunday morning was “your clothes are bad.” Through some hand gestures she explained that I needed to iron immediately. And despite my three daily bucket baths, she still felt the need to cover my hair with a bandana she personally tied on my head.

This great pride in appearances also extends to housekeeping. Every morning, I need to sweep my floor (and occasionally scrub it with a soapy rag), make my bed, and organize my things. Upon seeing my daily care products in the bottom of a nightstand, I was told to make it look bonita. This is not your standard tidying up; the whole house must be immaculate.

The Perez Hilton of Mozambique
My health assignment here is mainly related to HIV/AIDS, but another major epidemic has recently hit Mozambique… Bieber Fever. Not only did Justina and her friend gush over him, they watched an entire montage of his clips on TV. Although they were disappointed I haven’t met him, I earned back some cred since I’ve seen Rihanna in concert. I, on the other hand, was disappointed they don’t know Kanye West (good thing I left my Glow in the Dark Tour t-shirt at home). Chris Brown is huge here, and I shocked them by saying that he’s mau (bad). I explained in terrible Portuguese that he beat up Rihanna, and I’ve since been demanded twice to tell others this (long outdated) celebrity news.

Funny Quotes
“Would you like to have a black boyfriend?”
“Is it good to be fat in America?” (trying not to take that one personally)