Scooter and I tried going to church that morning, but the church she had thought to be Catholic turned out to be Anglican. While searching for another church, a window shattered some 10 stories up casting broken glass into the street, not far from where we were standing and apparently caused by nothing but the powerful winds that were blowing through the city. Later we asked a taxi driver if such an occurrence was common and he replied that, in fact, it was.
We spent the day "restaurant hopping" going from Thai for lunch, to another place with Belgium beer on tap, to Korean for dinner.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
23/07/2011: Day 7 in Cape Town: The Old Biscuit Mill and the District 6 Museum
Saturday we went to the weekly "Neighbor-Goods" market at the Old Biscuit Mill. If you ever go to Cape Town, it is definitely worth planning your trip around this market that occurs every Saturday. There was every kind of food and delicacy you could imagine from pastries to samosas to pizzas to jars of different pestos to breads to poached eggs and on and on it went. Following the advice of a friend, we made sure to walk through the entire market at least once before we allowed ourselves to buy anything. It was a smart move or we could have easily spent all of our money in the first twenty feet.
Afterward we went to District 6 museum which was incredibly interesting. Unfortunately we were still battling sleep deprivation from the last few nights and the having just ate tons of delicious food didn't help matters.
Hostels and backpackers are the perfect places to meet new people and that night we made several more friends: Samir (who Carlos originally mistook for Paul), a French/Tunisian traveler who had been on a bike trip in Namibia before he was impeded by a leg injury and hitchhiked to Cape Town, Carmen, a German woman teaching primary school classes in Cape Town for 6-8 weeks, and Dennis and Patrick, a pair of Harvard students coaching basketball for a kid's special olympics in Joburg and taking a brief vacation in Cape Town.
Afterward we went to District 6 museum which was incredibly interesting. Unfortunately we were still battling sleep deprivation from the last few nights and the having just ate tons of delicious food didn't help matters.
Hostels and backpackers are the perfect places to meet new people and that night we made several more friends: Samir (who Carlos originally mistook for Paul), a French/Tunisian traveler who had been on a bike trip in Namibia before he was impeded by a leg injury and hitchhiked to Cape Town, Carmen, a German woman teaching primary school classes in Cape Town for 6-8 weeks, and Dennis and Patrick, a pair of Harvard students coaching basketball for a kid's special olympics in Joburg and taking a brief vacation in Cape Town.
22/07/2011: Day 6 in Cape Town: Robben Island
That morning we took a taxi to the waterfront where we boarded a ferry for Robben Island. As the ferry pulled out of the harbor, we got a spectacular view of the city, sitting in the lap of Table Mountain which was currently covered on top by a strange, isloated layer of cloud that we learned was referred to as the "Table Cloth". Once we arrived on the island, we boarded tour buses which took around the small island, showing the different sites including the prisons, the lime stone quarry, and the modern day village. After that part of the tour was done, we were shown through the prisons by ex-prisoner who had spent 5 years on the island in the late 70's. The tour was concluded by passing Nelson Mandela's solitary cell.
When we got back we had the afternoon to kill and spent it doing something the girls hadn't done in ages: going to the mall. We happened to run into Paul and Carlos in a toy store who were buying gifts for children back at their site. They were able to direct us towards the movie theatre which we headed to promptly. On our way, we were accosted by an enthusiastic Billabong sales man who promised a to do back flip if we checked out the big sale the store was having. A few days ago, this guy might have seemed over the top, but after hanging out with Michael, he was absolutely tame in comparison.
That night there was a reggae party on the roof but we were all way to worn out to go.
When we got back we had the afternoon to kill and spent it doing something the girls hadn't done in ages: going to the mall. We happened to run into Paul and Carlos in a toy store who were buying gifts for children back at their site. They were able to direct us towards the movie theatre which we headed to promptly. On our way, we were accosted by an enthusiastic Billabong sales man who promised a to do back flip if we checked out the big sale the store was having. A few days ago, this guy might have seemed over the top, but after hanging out with Michael, he was absolutely tame in comparison.
That night there was a reggae party on the roof but we were all way to worn out to go.
21/07/2011: Day 5 in Cape Town: Penthouse on Long Backpackers
After a wonderfully greasy breakfast of McDonald's, we checked out of the apartment and walked down Long Street to Penthouse-on-Long Backpackers, the next place we were staying. It turned out to be a really cool place located on the top floor of a building right next to an African Crafts market which we returned to after checking in and dropping our stuff off.
For dinner that night we made a salad with the vegetables we had left from our shopping excursion, and some pizza from a nearby restaurant. Exhausted from the previous night, the plan was to eat, get into pj's, and maybe watch some TV shows before retiring to bed early. But sometimes there are forces of the universe that intervene, and in this case the force's name was Michael. Michael worked at the backpackers and was indiscriminately/overwhelmingly if not aggressively friendly to everyone who passed through. A loud, eccentric combination of a 25/5 year old, he had a strong affinity for slapping his butt and humping (usually inanimate) objects. But like I said, he was very friendly and convinced us to at least come up to the bar on the roof for a bit which, after reasoning that we should get to know people at the place we'd be staying for the next several days, we did. It turned out to be a good idea and we made quite a few friends that night including Chaz, a Filipino chef from Australia and Carlos and Paul, two PCV's from Cameroon.
Anyways, just going to the bar on the roof eventually turned into all of us going out and exploring Cape Town night life. Jason, the bartender, went, partly for fun, partly to chaperon Michael; a full time job in of itself.
For dinner that night we made a salad with the vegetables we had left from our shopping excursion, and some pizza from a nearby restaurant. Exhausted from the previous night, the plan was to eat, get into pj's, and maybe watch some TV shows before retiring to bed early. But sometimes there are forces of the universe that intervene, and in this case the force's name was Michael. Michael worked at the backpackers and was indiscriminately/overwhelmingly if not aggressively friendly to everyone who passed through. A loud, eccentric combination of a 25/5 year old, he had a strong affinity for slapping his butt and humping (usually inanimate) objects. But like I said, he was very friendly and convinced us to at least come up to the bar on the roof for a bit which, after reasoning that we should get to know people at the place we'd be staying for the next several days, we did. It turned out to be a good idea and we made quite a few friends that night including Chaz, a Filipino chef from Australia and Carlos and Paul, two PCV's from Cameroon.
Anyways, just going to the bar on the roof eventually turned into all of us going out and exploring Cape Town night life. Jason, the bartender, went, partly for fun, partly to chaperon Michael; a full time job in of itself.
20/07/2011: Day 4 in Cape Town
That morning, Scooter and Ann went to take the GMAT and Erin and I went to the Mozambican embassy to get her visa renewed. Having spent the last few weeks doing nothing but study for this exam, it's completion alone was a major cause for celebration so after they got back we went out and hit the town...eventually. Traveling with three PCV girls is awesome because a) they're experienced and capable travelers, b)they're incredibly organized, and c) they never finish all their food so there's more for me to eat. If there's one downside however, it would be this: they can take forever to get ready. By the time we finally got out of the apartment and went to one a recommended bar only a few doors down, happy hour was already over. Nevertheless, we had a great time that night, a large part of that due to Wednesday nights at this bar happening to be Karaoke night.
19/07/2011: Day 3 in Cape Town
While Ann and Scooter continued to study, I used Ann's mac to sort through my photos and work on blogging (though even at that point I was behind). Erin made a spectacular dinner that night: breaded chicken, steamed and buttered vegetables, baked potatoes, and an ice cream oreo pie for dessert.
18/07/2011: Day 2 in Cape Town: Nelson Mandela Day
Scooter and Ann needed to study for the upcoming test, so Erin and I spent the morning walking down Long street, browsing through antique shops and books stores. The owner of one told us that it was Nelson Mandela's birthday (he turned 93) and many people were commemorating the even by doing 67 minutes of community service for the 67 years Mandela devoted to the struggle for humanity.
By the afternoon, Scooter and Ann had studied enough so we went grocery shopping, picking up food we'd need to make ourselves meals over the next few days. It was overwhelming being in a grocery store for the first time in ages with all the bright, colorful packaging filling the seemingly endless shelves.
By the afternoon, Scooter and Ann had studied enough so we went grocery shopping, picking up food we'd need to make ourselves meals over the next few days. It was overwhelming being in a grocery store for the first time in ages with all the bright, colorful packaging filling the seemingly endless shelves.
17/07/2011: Traveling to Cape Town part 2: Arrival and Table Mountain
My flight to Cape Town left an hour before the girls' so went to the airport earlier to catch my plane. On the flight over it was just me and a kid who looked about 12 in our aisle and after a while, we got talking. His name was Divon and he was an avid fan of Top Gear; he had several magazines and a sizable deck of cards and we spent a good part of the flight with him teaching me how to play. His family had originally lived in Johannesburg but when his parents divorced, his mother moved to Cape Town and since then, Divon had been traveling back to Johannesburg by himself to visit his dad every holiday. He was the first person I had met to have something negative to say about Cape Town: "it's fun at first, but then you do everything there is to do and it gets old." I asked him whether it was true that Cape Town was much safer than Johannesburg and he said of course and nonchalantly counted off the three times his house had gotten broken into in Joburg: a brick through the window, a child fed througha small opening and then unlocking the door from the inside, and a gun held to the maid who was forced to give up the keys. It's the way that locals (even a twelve year old) can talk about the crime in Joburg so casually that frightens me the most.
After the girls' flight got in, we took a taxi to the apartment where we would be staying the first few days until Scooter and Ann took their test. The logic was that, while the apartment was more expensive than the backpackers we'd be staying at later, it would be more private and quiet and better for preparing for the test). At the time however, it was hard to not wish we could afford to stay there the entire 10 days of our trip; it was a very nice apartment with prime location.
If you ever go to Cape Town, or even just google image it, the first thing you'll notice is the immense mesa in the middle of the city. Table Mountain is easily one of the major landmarks and tourist attractions of the city and recently there has been a push to vote one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. While the hiking trails would always be open, our trip happened to be timed so that the cable car would only be open on our very first day (after which they would close it for maintenance) so we decided to make our trip to the top the very afternoon we arrived. It was a truly awesome experience with breath taking views that my pictures simply won't do justice. We spent a good few hours traversing the different trails that wandered over the expansive flat top.
After the girls' flight got in, we took a taxi to the apartment where we would be staying the first few days until Scooter and Ann took their test. The logic was that, while the apartment was more expensive than the backpackers we'd be staying at later, it would be more private and quiet and better for preparing for the test). At the time however, it was hard to not wish we could afford to stay there the entire 10 days of our trip; it was a very nice apartment with prime location.
If you ever go to Cape Town, or even just google image it, the first thing you'll notice is the immense mesa in the middle of the city. Table Mountain is easily one of the major landmarks and tourist attractions of the city and recently there has been a push to vote one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. While the hiking trails would always be open, our trip happened to be timed so that the cable car would only be open on our very first day (after which they would close it for maintenance) so we decided to make our trip to the top the very afternoon we arrived. It was a truly awesome experience with breath taking views that my pictures simply won't do justice. We spent a good few hours traversing the different trails that wandered over the expansive flat top.
15-17/07/2011: Traveling to Cape Town part 1
So Scooter and Ann needed to take the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test - a standardized test used for applying to graduate business studies) for the academic plans they have for after their Peace Corps terms end, but the test isn't offered in Mozambique. So they decided to travel to and take the test in Cape Town and, while they're at it, make a two week trip out of it to tour the city. I was initially dreading this two week interval without my sister; it would've been good for me as far as forcing me to really work on my Portuguese and my relationship with the sisters without the constant help of my own American, English speaking sister, but it would also be difficult and lonely. Not to mention I felt like I'd be missing out; everyone we talked to had nothing but great things to say about Cape Town. Then, I was offered the option to go with them which I eagerly accepted. Erin, who also didn't need to take the GMAT, was going along for the ride as well.
We got up early Friday morning to begin our trip, but it was only a couple of hours of standing beside the high way later that we finally got a ride. (It might have been a long wait, but it was worth it to watch Ann yell at passing drivers with obviously enough room to accommodate us.) The driver was very friendly and took us as far as Xai-Xai, a little less than half way to Maputo, our destination for the day. Along the way we saw multiple rainbows, one continuing through the color spectrum twice with an additional full rainbow slightly above - a triple rainbow I guess. We hadn't even gotten out of our first ride in Xai-Xai when Scooter spotted our next potential ride, so while Ann and I collected our bags and thanked the first driver, Scooter had already run up to the window of the next car and secured us another ride. What initially seemed to be an awkward ride with two unfriendly South Africans turned out to be the best boleia ever - even topping the one we got back from Swaziland. Small talk gradually opened up into fascinating stories of how the driver, Willem (pronounced like "villain" with an "m" at the end), had traveled the world: all 50 states, all of Europe and good deal of other countries though he admitted to have never been to Antarctica. He had to make a two hour detour two check on the lodge he owned in Macaneta and offered to let us out so we could continue to hitchhike into Maputo, but we decided to just go with him and wait. His lodge was located on an island separated from the mainland by only about 400 meters of water, but with a slow moving ferry as the only means of crossing the channel, it was pretty isolated from civilization. The way he talked about interacting with the local community - with respect and concern for (or at least awareness of) the problems affecting it - he reminded us a lot of John and Yvett and the attitude they took to interacting with the local community. In any case, in was a refreshing relief from the much too common alternative of foreigners coming in and opening businesses with concerns only for the money they make and not the culture they might be disrupting or exploiting.
Scooter had been stressing out about not being able to purchase our bus tickets online, but this suddenly turned out to be a stroke of luck when Willem offered to take us all the way to Johannesburg, seeing as that's where they were headed the next day anyway. We happily agreed and set up a time and place to meet him in Maputo the next day to continue our journey.
While Scooter went to get some stuff taken care of for REDES, Ann, Erin, and I went to the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) compound to visit a family they had become close friends with and would be staying with that night. Polly and Mohamed are an amazing couple working in international development who have been all over the world together. They have three daughters, the older two (5 and 7) already being trilingual (the youngest is 3 and just starting to talk). After catching up withthe family, we went out to meet up with a large crowd of other PCV's who were in Maputo at the time. We hung out at the Teacher's bar and then went next door to Mundo's, probably the most famous restaurant in Maputo and easily identifiable by both the delicious aromas of pizza and the large vine draped tree growing out of the corner of the building.
Willem and Mark (the other guy in the car I forgot to mention) picked us up the next morning alongside the highway where we had a taxi drop us off. They now had a trailer where we could put all our bags, leaving the trunk empty for me to curl up in a nest of pillows and blankets they provided and fall asleep. In case I haven't emphasized the unpleasantness of crossing the Moz-SA border enough, we chose to go through Swaziland to completely avoid it, even though it required crossing two borders. Finally, they dropped us off in Johannesburg at the airport from which a man picked us up and took us to the hotel we were staying at. From there we went out again, meeting up with John, Yvett, and their daughter Simone for dinner. Being the first time we had been in actual civilization in ages, we overloaded on milkshakes, nachos, and real beef burgers, that put us all in a state of pleasure/feeling ready to burst by the end of the meal. When John went to take us home, we discovered one of his tired had gone flat, but luckily he had a spare and a (very poorly designed) jack and we were able to change the tire.
We got up early Friday morning to begin our trip, but it was only a couple of hours of standing beside the high way later that we finally got a ride. (It might have been a long wait, but it was worth it to watch Ann yell at passing drivers with obviously enough room to accommodate us.) The driver was very friendly and took us as far as Xai-Xai, a little less than half way to Maputo, our destination for the day. Along the way we saw multiple rainbows, one continuing through the color spectrum twice with an additional full rainbow slightly above - a triple rainbow I guess. We hadn't even gotten out of our first ride in Xai-Xai when Scooter spotted our next potential ride, so while Ann and I collected our bags and thanked the first driver, Scooter had already run up to the window of the next car and secured us another ride. What initially seemed to be an awkward ride with two unfriendly South Africans turned out to be the best boleia ever - even topping the one we got back from Swaziland. Small talk gradually opened up into fascinating stories of how the driver, Willem (pronounced like "villain" with an "m" at the end), had traveled the world: all 50 states, all of Europe and good deal of other countries though he admitted to have never been to Antarctica. He had to make a two hour detour two check on the lodge he owned in Macaneta and offered to let us out so we could continue to hitchhike into Maputo, but we decided to just go with him and wait. His lodge was located on an island separated from the mainland by only about 400 meters of water, but with a slow moving ferry as the only means of crossing the channel, it was pretty isolated from civilization. The way he talked about interacting with the local community - with respect and concern for (or at least awareness of) the problems affecting it - he reminded us a lot of John and Yvett and the attitude they took to interacting with the local community. In any case, in was a refreshing relief from the much too common alternative of foreigners coming in and opening businesses with concerns only for the money they make and not the culture they might be disrupting or exploiting.
Scooter had been stressing out about not being able to purchase our bus tickets online, but this suddenly turned out to be a stroke of luck when Willem offered to take us all the way to Johannesburg, seeing as that's where they were headed the next day anyway. We happily agreed and set up a time and place to meet him in Maputo the next day to continue our journey.
While Scooter went to get some stuff taken care of for REDES, Ann, Erin, and I went to the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) compound to visit a family they had become close friends with and would be staying with that night. Polly and Mohamed are an amazing couple working in international development who have been all over the world together. They have three daughters, the older two (5 and 7) already being trilingual (the youngest is 3 and just starting to talk). After catching up withthe family, we went out to meet up with a large crowd of other PCV's who were in Maputo at the time. We hung out at the Teacher's bar and then went next door to Mundo's, probably the most famous restaurant in Maputo and easily identifiable by both the delicious aromas of pizza and the large vine draped tree growing out of the corner of the building.
Willem and Mark (the other guy in the car I forgot to mention) picked us up the next morning alongside the highway where we had a taxi drop us off. They now had a trailer where we could put all our bags, leaving the trunk empty for me to curl up in a nest of pillows and blankets they provided and fall asleep. In case I haven't emphasized the unpleasantness of crossing the Moz-SA border enough, we chose to go through Swaziland to completely avoid it, even though it required crossing two borders. Finally, they dropped us off in Johannesburg at the airport from which a man picked us up and took us to the hotel we were staying at. From there we went out again, meeting up with John, Yvett, and their daughter Simone for dinner. Being the first time we had been in actual civilization in ages, we overloaded on milkshakes, nachos, and real beef burgers, that put us all in a state of pleasure/feeling ready to burst by the end of the meal. When John went to take us home, we discovered one of his tired had gone flat, but luckily he had a spare and a (very poorly designed) jack and we were able to change the tire.
Friday, August 26, 2011
11-14/07/2011
Classes steadily... well, maybe "improved" is too strong of a word, but there was definitely a sort of structure developing, the students and I were becoming more familiar with each other, and my spoken Portuguese, as botched as it was, was coming out more fluidly. We had gotten into the routine of having class for an hour and then going down to the field to play some sort of game. Until now, I had been teaching them different games with varying levels of success (the popularity of "Pato, Pato, Ganso"/"Duck, Duck, Goose" being the high end, the abysmal and nearly injury inducing failure of "Red Light, Green Light" being the low), but today we tried something new that was so exceedingly popular and obvious, I respectively continued this activity everyday for the rest of my time teaching and smacked myself in the head for not thinking of it before: soccer. It's hard to even begin how successful it was: everyone participated and was actively involved, it could last an entire half an hour without any major fights breaking out (!!!), and all I had to do was chill in one of the goals and watch my students play.
There were two new PCV's who, having just completed their period of homestay training, were now doing their site visit (visiting some current PCV's and seeing how they lived their lives at site) at Ann's house, so one night we all met up to give them a proper welcome to the Peace Corps experience. We cooked up a storm of vegetable tempura, red curry, and carrot cake, and watched Modern Family on Scooter's computer. Her computer was having some problems and would occasionally freeze up, but between the good food and company, it hardly damped the mood.
There were two new PCV's who, having just completed their period of homestay training, were now doing their site visit (visiting some current PCV's and seeing how they lived their lives at site) at Ann's house, so one night we all met up to give them a proper welcome to the Peace Corps experience. We cooked up a storm of vegetable tempura, red curry, and carrot cake, and watched Modern Family on Scooter's computer. Her computer was having some problems and would occasionally freeze up, but between the good food and company, it hardly damped the mood.
Looking back at the end of the trip
To anyone who still reads this blog, I really appreciate your readership and support despite my falling behind on posting over the last few months. Right now, I'm staying with some friends in Maputo until my plane leaves to Johannesburg on the 29th, two days from now. Until then, I think I'll take advantage of the amazing high speed and practically unlimited internet to catch my blog up to the current date so at least it will be complete even if only at the last minute.
Friday, August 12, 2011
04-08/07/2011: Another week of teaching
This week I tried to start teaching the kids in my morning class music. I was still unsure how I'd go about teaching the subject to kids who have never even seen a page of sheet music in their lives (they didn't believe me the first time I showed them a page of a music book and told them it was written music) so I tried starting with the very basics. My plan was, if I could get them to be able to read the different lengths and pitches of notes, I could get them playing basic songs on the recorder or keyboard. My success was limited. The style of learning here is, unfortunately, very much copying and memorizing orientated, so while I could get my students to recite "um semibreve tem quatro batimentos" ("a whole note has 4 beats"), getting them to understand what this meant was something else entirely.
Since I don't give homework or tests, I thought it'd be best to assess what they've learned in a sort of Jeopardy game with two teams, each getting points by answering questions right, etc. Again, limited success; they were fine once they got going and a lot of students proved they had indeed learned the material, but getting them into teams in the first place was a feat in and of itself and of course there was plenty of bickering throughout the game. When the game had ended, one of the students, Victor, was being particularly obnoxious so I thoughtlessly whapped him in the head with the cloth we use to clean the chalkboard. Perhaps I hit him in the eye or maybe he was just faking for attention (that happens way too often) but he started crying. I made my second mistake by trying to hold him back after class and talk to him which was dumb because a) it was just giving him the attention he wanted and b) I don't speak Portuguese, so my attempts at communication were simply feeble and ultimately pointless. It hung over my head all day and I honestly wondered if Victor, or any of my students for that matter, would come to my classes any more. I shouldn't have worried; Victor was there the next day and classes went on as if nothing had happened.
This week has been a exam week for the high school and I wasn't sure what that meant for the primary school kids in my classes. For my afternoon class, it turned out this meant only the girls from the orphanage came along with one boy named Edigar. This actually went very well though; you can get a lot done when you have a small group of students, all eager to learn. We spent the week doing basic addition, and by the end they were able to add double and triple digits and even carry numbers.
Because it was exam week for the high school, my sister didn't have to teach any classes but she did have to supervise a few exams everyday. Otherwise, she spent her time studying for the GMAT which meant by the end of the day she was utterly drained. We unwinded by spending the evenings in her room, cooking food on her hot plate, and watching TV shows on her laptop. In retrospect, we agreed it would have probably been better for me to have eaten dinner with the sisters as far as improving my Portuguese and integrating into the community but it was nice just chilling with my sister.
On Friday we went to Ann's and had another excellent meal to mark the end of a long week: matapa and no-bake cheesecake. We watched "District 9" which was interesting because it was loosely based on the system of Apartheid in South Africa, something that'd we'd be earning more about in a couple of weeks when we would be going to Cape Town.
Since I don't give homework or tests, I thought it'd be best to assess what they've learned in a sort of Jeopardy game with two teams, each getting points by answering questions right, etc. Again, limited success; they were fine once they got going and a lot of students proved they had indeed learned the material, but getting them into teams in the first place was a feat in and of itself and of course there was plenty of bickering throughout the game. When the game had ended, one of the students, Victor, was being particularly obnoxious so I thoughtlessly whapped him in the head with the cloth we use to clean the chalkboard. Perhaps I hit him in the eye or maybe he was just faking for attention (that happens way too often) but he started crying. I made my second mistake by trying to hold him back after class and talk to him which was dumb because a) it was just giving him the attention he wanted and b) I don't speak Portuguese, so my attempts at communication were simply feeble and ultimately pointless. It hung over my head all day and I honestly wondered if Victor, or any of my students for that matter, would come to my classes any more. I shouldn't have worried; Victor was there the next day and classes went on as if nothing had happened.
This week has been a exam week for the high school and I wasn't sure what that meant for the primary school kids in my classes. For my afternoon class, it turned out this meant only the girls from the orphanage came along with one boy named Edigar. This actually went very well though; you can get a lot done when you have a small group of students, all eager to learn. We spent the week doing basic addition, and by the end they were able to add double and triple digits and even carry numbers.
Because it was exam week for the high school, my sister didn't have to teach any classes but she did have to supervise a few exams everyday. Otherwise, she spent her time studying for the GMAT which meant by the end of the day she was utterly drained. We unwinded by spending the evenings in her room, cooking food on her hot plate, and watching TV shows on her laptop. In retrospect, we agreed it would have probably been better for me to have eaten dinner with the sisters as far as improving my Portuguese and integrating into the community but it was nice just chilling with my sister.
On Friday we went to Ann's and had another excellent meal to mark the end of a long week: matapa and no-bake cheesecake. We watched "District 9" which was interesting because it was loosely based on the system of Apartheid in South Africa, something that'd we'd be earning more about in a couple of weeks when we would be going to Cape Town.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
03/07/11: The Aftermath
We all gradually woke up the next morning and sat in the furniture we had left out in Ann's yard around the remains of last night's bonfire. Firewood, cinderblocks, trash, and bottles littered Ann's yard, her kitchen was a pandemonium of leftover food and dirty dishes, and somehow Amendoim (her dog) had managed to get a small tube of of superglue adhered to his leg: in short it had been a great party.
Scooter reminded AJ, one of the PCV's, that he had yet to make his promised dish: fried pies. So, using some left over pie crust, he made one of the most incredible things I have ever eaten. They were like chocolate empanada's, deep fried and coated in powdered sugar, and simply exuding heavenly deliciousness.
Everyone took off back to their sites and we headed back to the mission, but came back to Ann's that very evening to meet up with her, Erin, and Donna and Luis (two more PCV's), for dinner. Using the shrimp Scooter had gotten the other day and a can of blueberries from one of our mom's care packages, we made shrimp green curry and blueberry pie - it, along with the fried pies, was almost more than my tastebuds could handle all in one day. To complete our patriotic celebration in true American fashion, we watched a couple of TV shows while we ate which was nice since we were all completely wiped from the weekend.
Scooter reminded AJ, one of the PCV's, that he had yet to make his promised dish: fried pies. So, using some left over pie crust, he made one of the most incredible things I have ever eaten. They were like chocolate empanada's, deep fried and coated in powdered sugar, and simply exuding heavenly deliciousness.
Everyone took off back to their sites and we headed back to the mission, but came back to Ann's that very evening to meet up with her, Erin, and Donna and Luis (two more PCV's), for dinner. Using the shrimp Scooter had gotten the other day and a can of blueberries from one of our mom's care packages, we made shrimp green curry and blueberry pie - it, along with the fried pies, was almost more than my tastebuds could handle all in one day. To complete our patriotic celebration in true American fashion, we watched a couple of TV shows while we ate which was nice since we were all completely wiped from the weekend.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
01-02/07/11: Independence Day Celebration
Sarah and Stefanie traveled back to and stayed with us for a couple of days in Inharrime, just in time to celebrate American Independence, PCV (Peace Corp Volunteer) style. On Friday,we went into town to Ann’s where the 4th of July celebration would be taking place but before we went to her place, we scavenged the second hand clothing stalls for some patriotic attire. Our luck was good; we got a red, white, and blue baseball jersey for me and, for Sarah, a dress shirt that looked straight out of Uncle Sam’s wardrobe. Additionally, Scooter had a few tshirts she had found earlier, one that she had bought off a boy’s back at the Mozambique-Swaziland border.
About 15 PCV’s from all over Mozambique showed up that afternoon and we all went to the local hotel/restaurant for dinner. It was the most PCV’s I’ve ever seen at once, and for most people in Inharrime, it was probably the most white people they’ve seen at once. Indeed, we were quite a sight, but it was nice not being the sole focus of all the locals’ stares for once.
The next morning we all went into town, first for a breakfast (we got a round of cheap hamburgers from the Teka Way trailer/convenience stall) and then grocery shopping for whatever ingredients everyone would need to make their Indepedence Day dish. Back at Ann's, we dragged all her furniture out into the yard so we could sit in the sun and, over the course of the day, people began making their dishes. Sarah and Stefanie made a carrot cake, brownies, and a cookie cake, and Scooter made red, white, and blue icing to decorate them. One became an american flag, another the Peace Corp logo, and the last just slathered with whatever icing was left. In the late afternoon, Raits, a South African friend, came with a bunch of hamburger patties which we able to cook and eat for dinner. Stiaan, also a South African friend who's father owns a restaurant in a nearby town, also came and, over dinner, told me everything I ever wanted to know about rugby.
About 15 PCV’s from all over Mozambique showed up that afternoon and we all went to the local hotel/restaurant for dinner. It was the most PCV’s I’ve ever seen at once, and for most people in Inharrime, it was probably the most white people they’ve seen at once. Indeed, we were quite a sight, but it was nice not being the sole focus of all the locals’ stares for once.
The next morning we all went into town, first for a breakfast (we got a round of cheap hamburgers from the Teka Way trailer/convenience stall) and then grocery shopping for whatever ingredients everyone would need to make their Indepedence Day dish. Back at Ann's, we dragged all her furniture out into the yard so we could sit in the sun and, over the course of the day, people began making their dishes. Sarah and Stefanie made a carrot cake, brownies, and a cookie cake, and Scooter made red, white, and blue icing to decorate them. One became an american flag, another the Peace Corp logo, and the last just slathered with whatever icing was left. In the late afternoon, Raits, a South African friend, came with a bunch of hamburger patties which we able to cook and eat for dinner. Stiaan, also a South African friend who's father owns a restaurant in a nearby town, also came and, over dinner, told me everything I ever wanted to know about rugby.
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