Today we left Maputo and headed towards the village of Namaacha – where our pre-service training will take place. The village is very different than the rest of Mozambique as it is green and mountainous – more like the boarding country of Swaziland than actually Moz. We were meeting our new families in the outdoor gymnasium of the local secondary school. Despite feeling like a puppy in a pet store (where your new family would pick you up, take you home, and hope you don’t destroy their house) it was exhilarating. Then, there was this incredible singing- like- traditional tribal African music. And in came 75 women, singing, dancing and waving post-it notes – each with a name on it. Now, maybe it’s the malaria medicine (which I started last night and have yet to have the “lucid nightmares” or paranoia as side-effects) or maybe the fact that everyone’s emotions are so high, but people started crying at the singing. Myself included. It was such an amazing moment. Finally, I found a woman waving a wallet with my name on it! We hugged and kissed on the cheek (standard Mozambincan greeting), and she grabbed my backpack off my back and took my hand. We walked down the road a little ways, and then hopped in the back of a pickup truck and hitched a ride deep into Namaacha. Coming down the long dirt road, with little huts everywhere (and sprinkled with various animals – chickens, goats, etc) – I was mentally preparing myself for a one-room place with a thatched roof and an outdoor latrine. Just then, we turned off the path to face a little pink house. I don’t know if I was more excited about the house part or the pink part! Ha!
Mama Joana (that’s my Mozambican mom) showed me around her little house-which she is extremely proud of. It has a toilet inside AND electricity. Jackpot with Mama Joana. Now, Mama Joana does not speak English. And I do not (yet) speak Portuguese. So really this was a lot of hand motions and confused looks. We managed to have a cup of tea and attempt to assemble a water filter before she shooed me into the bathroom for a bucket bath. Honestly, bucket baths? Not so bad! Now, I haven’t tried to wash my hair yet, so that may be a a different story! When I finished, we had some lunch: a fried egg, and some freshly baked bread with peanut butter. PEANUT BUTTER!! We showed each other pictures of our families and had some a few broken conversations- but the Portuguese is a struggle. Really, I wanted to know if anyone would be joining us – or if the two of us were flying solo for the next few months. She is widowed and has 3 children. A daughter in Maputo, a daughter that is still in Namaacha (but grown and living away) and a 5 year old daughter. She could tell I was just barely hanging on and told me to go take a nap. Something I was totally fine with.
I woke up in to the sound of something grinding , and I wandered out of my room to see where she was. She saw me first and told me to come sit outside with her while she cooked. She peeled a fresh coconut, hopped off the porch to crack it on a rock and handed me a piece of the flesh. The rest she grated on this special little stool-grater contraption and made a broth with the milk….and later added some form of greens. My instinct was collard greens, but maybe that’s just because I’m used to Rat greens. Hah! She cooks everything on this little charcoal stove outside on her porch where you can look out over all of Namaacha and some Mozambican country side. It’s pretty awesome. She has her own mango and papaya trees in the front yard – so papaya is for breakfast! Wahoo! Maura (or Meninah), her daughter wandered home and played in the yard (errr rocks and dirt, is that still a yard? Or does yard mean grass? Who knows…) while she cooked and we sat barefoot and talked. She has asked me a total of three times about my boyfriend (non-existant) and still can’t figure out why I’m not married. Mysteries of the world Mama Joana, mysteries of the world....
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