The Best & The Worst

June 1 was a national holiday- Dia da Criança (Children’s Day). To celebrate, we had a party at the escolinha. I didn’t have to help cook, but I did have to entertain the children for 7- 8 hours while the others did. I also blew up about 50 balloons (where is a balloon pump when you need one!?) that Irma Monica strung up for decoration, but by the time we actually started the party only about five remained, having all been destroyed by the heavy wind.
When it finally came time to eat, we all sat down to a grand feast of grilled chicken, goat, noodles, cassava root, potato salad, vegetable salad, French fries, and cabbage salad. At least there’s one day a year I am rewarded for being an unpaid babysitter.

June 2 was my 23rd birthday, but I spent most of the morning on a chapa going to Maputo for the REDES planning conference. (And, sadly, I got the buttcrack seat, the terribly uncomfortable spot between the bench and the fold-up seat. Also- Mozambicans would rather breathe in stale, recycled body odor chapa air the entire time, than open up a window to let in fresh air. But that’s another story.)
I got lost on my way to the hotel but eventually made it, albeit in a bad mood. This was immediately rectified by the presence of my friend Jordan, a volunteer from the north who happened to be in Maputo for medical reasons, and who I ended up sharing a room with for the weekend. We went out to lunch and got delicious Thai food and passionfruit ice cream, and then went shopping at the craft market, which ultimately made my birthday a fun one. I was also fortunate enough to pick up a package at the Peace Corps office, and thus was able to get my birthday presents in a timely manner.
(In the package, among other things, was a box of See’s Candy truffles. I ate one the night of my birthday but was surprised to discover the next afternoon that actually two were missing from the box. The choco thief had placed the ruffled paper of the stolen chocolate on top of the one I had eaten, to make it appear as if only one was gone- except for the giant gap among the truffles. When I brought the box downstairs and told the owner of the hotel, she promptly called over the two maids and made me explain the situation again. Both maids immediately began denying the deed, saying they had no idea where the chocolate even was, that they don’t even eat chocolate, that chocolate can be found at the market so why would they need to eat mine? I just shrugged and went back upstairs to take a shower, during which the two maids barged in again to confront me and found only Jordan. “Did YOU find anything missing? “If we ate her chocolate why didn’t we eat THESE then?” They asked, picking up her crackers. I found the whole situation rather amusing, but made sure to hide my valuables at the bottom of my bag for the remainder of my stay.)
Jordan and I actually went shopping several more times over the weekend, as she loves spending money as much as I do. (BUT, most of the stuff I bought were gifts for people back home.) The second time we were at the craft fair, two men who had unsuccessfully tried to sell a batik (cloth painting) to me the previous time waved me over as we were leaving to offer me a small yellow batik (not the same one) as a birthday present. I was so surprised that they’d even remembered me from several days prior, but it made me very happy because most of the time all the vendors are trying to rip me off because they think I’m another tourist.
The REDES conference took up actually very little time, and was more of a small group conversation than anything. (That’s why we had so much free time.) We had to go over the preliminary schedule for the National Conference in August and make some changes. I am trying to get more involved with REDES, although I don’t have a group yet (because of the moving situation). I’m also looking into taking over the National Financial Coordinator position for the upcoming year, but that’s only in the preliminary stages.
Overall, one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time.

THE WORST CHAPA RIDE EVER
I headed home on Sunday (June 5) on a chapa/bus that took FOREVER to get me home. The trip should have been four hours but took over six, because the car wouldn’t start (and had to be pushed a few times) and then looped through XaiXai before arriving in Chibuto.
As I got on the bus, an obnoxious man leaned in through the window and yelled “CHINA! CHIIIINA!” To which I responded, “I’m not China. Go away.” Apparently, that wasn’t blunt enough for him because he continued his annoying litany, until I lost my temper and began yelling back at him “MOZAMBIIIIQUE, shut up” and trying to push him out of the window so I could close it. All the while, no one was doing a thing to help me, even though almost every person on the bus was a woman. Couldn’t they see that I was being harassed and that I needed some help getting rid of this guy? They could’ve told him off in Changana to leave me alone (which obviously I didn’t know how to do, and Portuguese wasn’t cutting it). But the man refused to budge, and he kept hollering, “CHINA, I want to be your lover! CHIIIINAAAA” and no one would raise a finger to help me.
Meanwhile, I was still trying to get situated in my cramped little seat (another flimsy fold-down chair) with my duffle bag, my purse, and my large box. The ladies to my right and my left both had two children each, none of whom had seats. So the only room they had to stand in was what was meant to be my leg room, and I was forced to put everything on my lap. I accidentally pushed a little girl with my duffle bag and the mom leaned over to tell me “Watch out, there are children here.” And I snapped at her, “WHAT exactly do you want me to do.” Immediately following this whole ordeal, the man behind me leaned over his seat and began talking to me/hitting on me. Even after I said that I was married, he kept asking where I lived and suggesting that he come over sometime to “visit” me. I put my head down and tried to sleep but he would continue to try to instigate conversation until I finally said to him, “I am MARRIED. I have a HUSBAND. He lives at my house WITH ME. Do you get it?” At this point he backed off for a bit (he resumed later), but I just didn’t understand why any of this was happening in the first place, considering I had just made a huge scene about one man making lewd comments at me. Does anger not come off the same way here? I feel like I made it very clear to everyone on the chapa from the moment I got onboard, that I was not in a good mood and I did not want to tolerate anyone’s bullshit.
I’d like to think I’ve cultivated a “tougher skin” since being here in Moz, especially when it comes to racism and sexual harassment. I’ve come a long way, and it’s not easy. But obviously, I’m only human and there’s a limit to things I can tolerate. This chapa ride was probably the worst I’ve experienced thus far, because it was a culmination of all the things that piss me off. I spent a great, relaxing with my friends but I felt like all of it was instantly nullified by one chapa ride.
I finally got home in the dark, (with a broken sandal, no less) after I managed to step on a tree branch WITH HUGE THORNS. One of them (of course) lodge about an inch into my foot and I sat on the side of the road cursing and crying as I pried it out. What a terrible, terrible day.

Moving day is fast approaching (one week!), and Irma Monica still has not received official notification from Peace Corps that I’m leaving, although I broke the news to her a few days ago. I’m not sure how they expected me to continue putting on a front of normality the EXIT door is already open in front of me. I have high hopes for my move to Chicumbane, because God knows I need a change in my life right now.