New pictures! Macia, Simba, and hosting Moz-style

My counterpart's grandkids. (Our houses share a yard.) They were much more excited that I received coloring books in a care package than it looks, I swear.

To see the rest, click the flag:

Megan in Mozambique

Community Integration: Weeks 11-14

I’m still not working much, but I’m making lots of progress integrating into the community. I’m getting to know more and more coworkers well and meeting more people. Pretty much every time I walk around town, I run into people I know. The grandkids of my counterpart (I live in his family’s yard) come over daily to color or play games. And I’ve earned some major street cred since I have been getting water from a nearby well for the past 3 weeks since we lost running water. Additionally, I’ve had a few really good days, as described below.

A Surprise Party

I went with AJAAB, one of my organizations, to see a dance performance by its group Crianças Para Crianças (Children for Children). Little did I know that the performance was part of a big, elaborate party for a woman’s christening. We had been playing games to pass the time for an hour and a half when a pick-up truck arrived with the woman and her family in back, all singing. The singing continued for a while, with all of the women slowly moving throughout the yard and finally into the house. Meanwhile, another large group of women had been cooking and setting up tables all day. We were served a feast, including chicken, goat, cow, and pork, all cooked various ways, in addition to large platters of salads, beets, French fries, rice, and cole slaw, as well as seemingly endless crates of soda and beer. The people at my table asked lots of questions about America, especially Obama. (Obama is HUGE here; you can easily find Obama flip flops, belts, notebooks, and even underwear in the market. I bought a pair of flip flops with Obama’s face and the question “Saviour of the world economy?” on them.)

Afterwards, various groups presented wrapped presents to the woman and her husband, both matching in red clothes. The presentations involved traditional songs and/or dance routines. Our girls group performed three routines to popular Mozambican songs and sang a religious song. At one point during the night, all the boys rushed the dance floor and started free styling, and one young boy was phenomenal. Apparently, it’s customary to stuff the pockets of great dancers with coins while they dance, and this kid made a killing. And finally, we ate absurd amounts of cakes and pastries, my favorite being one topped with fresh coconut, and then we were served more cake.

Dia Internacional da Mulher

I told a coworker, Sara, from the faith-based organization, that I wanted to have the activistas that I do home visits with over to my house one afternoon. This quickly turned into inviting all of the women of this organization for comida americana (American food) and bolo (cake), and the event just happened to coincide with International Women’s Day. After two days of preparations, 11 women came over to my house and several girls stopped by. Caitlin helped me during the party, and we followed all the Mozambican traditions, setting out straw mats to sit on and washing everyone’s hands by pouring water over them into a basin. It really could not have gone better. The women stayed for over 3 hours and seemed to really enjoy the food. Some stats of what this gathering entailed:

-5 cakes (3 banana/lemon and 2 pineapple upside down)

-7 loaves of bread

-7 liters of tea

-A giant bowl of guacamole containing 10 huge avocados

-20 oranges (brought by my counterpart’s wife from a tree in our yard)

-22 plates & 16 mugs

-4 straw mats

-1 American getting her hair braided (Caitlin)

And I’m doing it all over again this Saturday afternoon with my coworkers and the girls’ group from my other organization.

Simba

A few weeks ago, a stray kitten appeared on my porch one night. After leaving bowls of tuna outside for a couple nights and having the requisite Pride Rock ceremony, Simba officially became my pet. She’s not the brightest (one week she would repeatedly climb onto the roof and then forget how to get down) and she's a bit of an attention whore, but she’s cute and fun, like a young Britney Spears. But barring any future shotgun weddings or head-shaving incidents, having my first-ever real pet is a lot of fun. Sometimes we will meow back and forth or I will sing songs like “Simba, Winnie the Simba” (to the tune of Winnie the Pooh Bear, shocking I know) to her. I just need to train her to meow along to Lady Gaga with me. Clearly once Caitlin moves out, I’m in serious danger of becoming Macia’s resident crazy cat lady.

Simba just jumped from my lap onto the keyboard (Iz can type blog?) so I leave you with these words of wisdom:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkj\]nhhhhhh

‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

Favorite Quotes

Random African-but-not-Mozambican man in a bar: “I can tell you’re not from here.”

Anne: “Oh really? What tipped you off?”

African man (not hearing Anne’s joke): “You are for-Reagan, like me.” (He meant foreign.)

Me: “I can speak Portuguese”

Random boy: “No you can’t.”

I laugh and try to walk away.

Boy: “I’m going to take a bath, and then we’re going to converse.”

Me: “I’m working.”

Boy: “I love you.”

Susanna, a coworker: “When your namorado visits, I’m going to steal him. We’re going to go to America, and you’re going to get married here. You can have my husband.”

Japanese volunteer: “Where in the United States do you live?”

Me: “Delaware.” [Typical blank look] “It’s a state near New York.”

Japanese volunteer: “I’m from Hiroshima.”

Awkward silence followed by awkward laughter.

High school student: “How old are you?”

Me: “23.”

Student: “You grew a lot.”

Coworker, looking very concerned and pointing at my freckles: “Are those bug bites?”

Me: “No, everyone with white skin has them.”

Coworker shoots me look that says “WTF?”

Kids singing along to a Rick Ross song: “Every day you muscle me.” (The lyrics are “Every day I’m hustling.”)

Ridiculous Things I Hear Regularly:

Woman: “You need to learn Changana.”

Me: “Yes, I want to.”

Woman proceeds to speak at me in a stream of Changana.

Me: “Boa tarde.”

Man: “Boa tarde.Tudo bom?”

Me: “Sim, obrigada.” (The basic greetings: good afternoon, all well?, yes thanks)

Man proceeds to ask me to “walk around to get to know each other” or to propose marriage.