This is a really great site to be a volunteer. The town is pretty big, but not so big that it's intimidating. There are essentially two main streets that intersect, which have most of the commerce, but of course there are shops all over the place. And these are real shops, too. They're big enough for a dozen to be Mozambique-ly comfortable in, and are usually populated with flies. The flies don't bother me. The mosquitoes at night bother me, because I know some of them are malarial.
This may seem random, but I'm finding that I'm censoring myself in this journal because of PC sensitivities way too much. I wish there were some way around this, but I understand why PC is apolitical - otherwise, host countries would think twice about have volunteers coming in - and controlled by lawyers. It is like any other U.S. organization, defined by the limits of their liability because people equate life and happiness with money. So we can't do or say certain things because our parents/loved ones could (in theory) sue. I mention this only because this seems so ridiculous. The culture I'm in right now is very much concerned with living life and not about being afraid. So to try and explain to Mozambicans why we have to wear helmets when riding a bike is difficult, once you get past language.
"Speaking" of language, the two volunteers I'm visiting, Tober and Blake, and I had some good conversations about learning Portuguese. Tober is fluent now (he's in his second year and will leave MOZ in December), and he set my mind at ease. He was in the middle of the pack, was focused on pronunciation and learning Portuguese the slow and methodical way instead of the quick way. He's also a Biology teacher. Additionally, we look alike - and everyone the past couple days has been calling me Tober or Tober's brother (irmao). Since there are 4 unmarried male bio teachers, one of us will end up here with Blake. I'm not sure I want to be here - it's a great town, and the people are fantastic. There's a lot of opportunity for music and theatre, and a bunch of people speak English well. However, life here is relatively easy compared with Boane. I don't know that I want that. And since I resemble and have similar interests to Tober, it might be quite difficult to create my own identity and change peoples' perception of what to expect from me.
I think I'm going to wait and see what the other bio sites are like before I put down my preferences. I love the idea of having an indoor shower when it's cold, but I also like staring at the stars.
I didn't come here to be picky - far from it, actually. But I just want to make sure I have the opportunity to really make a difference in people's lives, which I think both Blake and Tober have done, however, I have different ideas of impacting others.
In other matters, both the guys here are big into basketball. The French came in and built a great multisport court here in town, and so that's where everyone plays. It's kind of strange to see this relatively modern court built by the French in the middle of Africa. I mean, the French aren't that good at basketball. Maybe they built it for recruiting :)
In the Maputo paper today, there was a story about the local roller hockey league. There's one court in Maputo (and probably in all of MOZ) where they play roller hockey on roller skates (the 2x2 kind) with limited equipment. But apparently this is the latest craze in this part of Africa. If I'm near Maputo, I'll definitely have to find this place. Talk about big fish in a small pond. How many MOZ grew up on hockey??
Now for something completely different...
On the Internet today, I saw how much of an influence - rather, how well-known - this journal is getting to be. It's intimidating, but definitely a good thing. I think the more people can learn about different cultures, the better, even if it is secondhand. Especially when it happens all over the world, like it's happening. I'm definitely going to try and distill these experiences into a book after I return, as there seems to be genuine interest.
I'm getting a better handle on the personalities of the MOZ people little by little. There's an incredible variation in personality styles once you get past the universal cultural differences. Just like the U.S. People are sensitive, combative, curious, loud, laid back, fun-loving, etc. Just like anywhere else. So what is it about humans that we have such different personalities, even among the same people? How is nurture and how much is nature?
As these are questions that will take years to answer, I will keep them in the back of my head for a while and let 'em simmer. Right now, I have to focus on my job and learning language.
Monday I have the phone again!
Peace
John
