All of the Lights

Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want ya'll to see this
You know what I need, want you to see everything,
Want you to see all of the lights
Fast cars, shooting stars
Until it's Vegas everywhere we go
All of the lights
-Kanye West


I feel like a little girl lost in a big city. Even Maputo, the big capitol city of Moz, is nothing like this. Instead of muted buildings, uneven roads, faded traffic lights, I see tall shiny buildings, sleek paved roads, blinking pedestrian walkways, vibrant colors. I'm in Cape Town, South Africa! From third world to first world... and what a world of difference, indeed.

At the airport, I stare in awe at the glass elevator. I squeal “smoothies!” as we pass by a smoothie booth. I am bewildered by all of the white people surrounding me. I'm overstimulated- my attention is being pulled in too many directions all at once and I feel like a bunny on crack. A moth attracted to light. A child unsupervised in a candy shop. It's all so overwhelming.

We head up to our terminal on the 3rd floor but on the 2nd floor I absentmindedly step off the escalator and without thinking, advance towards the glowing shops and restaurants while bewildered Kevin calls after me, asking me where I'm going. While passing through customs, I sidle up right behind the guy standing at the counter before Kev draws my attention to the yellow tape that marks where the line forms and where I should be waiting. While going through security, I get flustered because I can't remember what items I'm supposed to take out of my bag before putting it on the conveyor belt. Little signs here and there remind me that I've been gone from this high-tech world for over a year.

I've talked about food- steak, sushi, burgers, cheese, mashed potatoes- for so long, it seems amazing that when the time comes, I have three bites of my thick cheese-laden hamburger and feel full, even slightly sick. I guess you can't go from eggs eggs eggs to real meat, just like that. I drink a cream-topped Irish coffee and a cream- blended pina colada that give me diarrhea and terrible stomach cramps for a whole afternoon, and give me the realization that I have become at least partially lactose-intolerant.

Kev and I stay at a quaint Bed & Breakfast that has high-tech sensor gate keys, fast wireless internet, and a glorious view of Table Mountain. I'm in love with the wide silver shower head that blesses me at least twice a day with hot rain; I don't know if I can go back to bucket bathing for another year. Breakfast consists of poached eggs and arugula, honeyed granola, plain yogurt, fresh fruit medley (banana, strawberry, papaya, passion fruit, Cape gooseberry- which looks like a yellow cherry tomato with a sweet tarty flavor), wheat toast, real butter, brewed coffee. I'm in heaven. The only problem- it's a litter colder than I envisioned, and I've only got capulana dresses to wear. I've brought all of the halter and strapless tops and above-the-knee skirts to wear in South Africa, where I won't be rudely gawked at.

We tour the city on an open-top bus, hopping on and off wherever we like. We pass by mountain, city, beach, all intertwined. Everywhere we go, my bulky camera goes click click click, and Kevin laughs at me because he can tell I've missed having it. We stroll through the craft market square, where we mentally convert prices back and forth from Rand, Dollar, and Metical, and I make him buy me two necklaces. We have all-you-can-eat sushi for dinner and drink our bottle of white port back at the hotel.

Tomorrow: penguins, cable car to the top of Table Mountain, beach, more shopping- who knows? We're in a world of infinite possibilities.

Velocity

Of all the things in Mozambique, Kevin dreads chapas the most. For his first ever chapa ride in March, he had to climb in through the window. For his first chapa ride the second time around... all of our luggage fell out of the back of the car. One minute it's all there, piled behind our seat, tied down by rope and the next, the rope snaps and the back of the van flips open and our suitcase and duffel bags tumble out of the moving car like vigorously rolled dice. Kevin and I curse and stare helplessly at our vanishing belongings, and the chapa keeps moving. "Are you going to stop?!" I finally demand hysterically. The car does pull over, eventually, where the road is wide enough for other cars to pass and our baggage is just a speck on the pavement behind us. The cobrador and several men jump out and run back to pick up our stuff, while Kevin and I are trapped in the back seat wondering if the oncoming giant semi-truck is going to smash our things flat. I'm especially desolate- gone are the maple syrup, the macaroni and cheese, all the delicious and valuable goodies I requested from America! But no, the cobrador runs straight at the truck waving his arms and fortunately, it slows down. It even gives the cobrador a ride back to the car, with all of our luggage. The cobrador piles everything back in the chapa, announcing to me, "See look, the rope broke" as if this absolves him of all blame. This time, he ties the baggage to our seat. "So next time, we fall out too..." I say to Kevin jokingly. But not really jokingly at all.
Aside from that, Kevin also thinks we're going to die in a head on collision every time we get in a chapa. "I liked that guy, he went nice and slow," He tells me after we get out of another one. (Says the guy I'm always reminding to STOP SPEEDING when we're in the States.) "Look! Seatbelts!" He exclaims. Then, five seconds later, "Oh. They're broken."
We made it all in one piece to Chicumbane. Miraculously, everything in the suitcase was undamaged save for the little animal figurines we had just bought in Maputo. (Nothing a little glue can't fix.) Kevin commented that my house was small (it is) and cleared the two month old dead spider carcass off of my mosquito net. He met the little puppies and greeted Mel and Xima- the former remembered him while the latter did not.
The following day, we went to the English Theatre competition in Macia with my theatre group Amizade, where Kevin was asked to be a guest judge after one of the original judges on the panel failed to show up. "Does he have any experience?" The English Theatre coordinator asked me. "Other than being a native English speaker? No." I answered. Good enough. My group came in 3rd place, and I was extremely proud of them.
The next two days will just be us hanging out at home and winding down, before our big South Africa trip. Can't wait!!!

All in a day's work

Back in Maputo again, this time saying final goodbyes to previous sitemates Erica and Alycia, and picking up my boyfriend Kevin from the airport. Funny enough, it looks like Erica and Alycia are leaving on the same plane that Kevin is getting in on- What are the chances?

Life has been crazy busy at site, less so with my primary project (Tsembeka and CACHES) and more with my secondary projects (REDES and English Theatre). Saturday the 15th, 70 girls showed up at the Secondary School of Chicumbane for an inter-group exchange, where they learned to make capulana flowers and peanut butter, did an activity regarding gender in contemporary music, and interacted with a panel of HIV+ activists. I've realized that being the financial director for the program is a lot of work! I felt like a chicken with its head cut off, scribbling receipts right and left, and double checking our budget. Two hours after the event ended, I was still organizing receipts and filling out excel sheets. It's great though. I love it.

The English Theatre group is busy preparing for the upcoming competition, which means long nights of sitting through rehearsals for me. The piece that they are doing is pretty heavy, involving themes such as prostitution, multiple concurrent partners, sex before marriage, HIV, and the importance of education. I laugh, finding myself constantly correcting students on the pronunciation of interesting words like "virginity", "whore",and "ultimatum."

The puppies are doing well, still living in my latrine but not so content to stay there all the time now that they can walk and see and play. Mel seems to have little interest in feeding them anymore, so they swarm me and try to jump on my legs anytime I'm near and especially when I'm going to the bathroom. Heather, another PCV, came by to claim the first, who she named Solzinho (Alone) because of his tendency to wander around and explore by himself. I've fallen in love with one of the other puppies, a big fat brown one that the kids have named Magorducha. I don't need a third dog, but I am still reluctant to give this one away. Fortunately, all the people I have promised puppies to live close by and I can always visit. (As long as no one steals any while I'm out of town.)

Several days ago, I was sitting in my house drawing with some of the kids when a girl showed up at my front door saying that someone had taken two of the puppies. I leapt out of my seat and ran to check. Sure enough, two puppies were missing. Some kid down the street had up and decided to take two to his house, without saying a thing to me. The other kids called him back, and as he was putting the dogs back in the latrine I yelled at him that he had no right to take them out of my yard, but he didn't seem fazed in the least. When I went to his house to speak with his aunt, she explained that the kid is raised by his grandparents, who never discipline him. Because of this, he tends to steal things and do whatever he wants. I returned home very disturbed by the situation, and paranoid about the safety of the puppies.

I have also currently banned XimaXima and Mel from the house, after finding fleas in my bed. My new kitten Mazambane ("potato" in Changana) should be ready to leave from my friend Megan's house soon, so pretty soon we'll just be one big happy family.

Aside from work work work, I've been really looking forward to play play play- Kevin's whisking me off to South Africa in a few days!!! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Candyland

I love Mozambique's capitol city, Maputo. It's a land of many wonders for this Peace Corps volunteer: Thai food buffets, real hamburgers (ie. cheese jalapeno) and pizza (ie. gorgonzola, pecans, caramelized onions), numerous and efficient banks, African crafts, capulanas galore!! My most recent shopping conquest resulted in the acquisition of a wooden crocodile, wooden kissing giraffes (see photo) that would love fabulous on top of my wedding cake, and a necklace made of bone.

In other exciting news, I am officially the new National Financial Coordinator for the REDES program and...Kevin will be here in 10 days!!!!!!