I got my first Mozambican-made shirt today. It has a Zulu icon on it, and it's pretty loud. It's funny to see and hear people's reactions, as they really want to compliment me, but the color scheme is just not...quiet. It's not "Africa" in the American mindset. But I like it. I love loud, outspoken clothing.
I discussed writing styles with Denny and Rebecca today. It seems that I actually do have a writing style that differs from many other peoples' - of course, they do as well.
There is palpable excitement in the air about being delivered to our sites. It's of course mixed with some sentiment towards our fellow trainees about not seeing them for 3 or 4 months, but that's to be expected.
I'm getting more excited about C--- as I hammer out the details and plan out what I'm going to do my first week there. I feel like I need to do everything the first couple days in terms of logistics (bank accounts, PO Box, etc.), then concentrate on my living space, routines, dishes, laundry, and all the other necessities. Of course, I have no idea how this is actually going to go, because I plan on spending a lot of time building relationships and differentiating myself from previous volunteers. It's not simply enough to go into the post office and get a PO box, but I need to be making friends with the people there so that I get all of my mail.
This is a reality in developing countries: the services we take for granted in the States are just not regulated here, simply because there are better things to be putting effort into. So the way things work is the same way people work - this person is nice to me, I'll go the extra mile for them; this other person was mean to me, I'll forget about their package.
In my opinion, I think this system is better than ours in a couple ways. First, it promotes people building relationships with everyone and supporting the whole community; secondly, it forces people to slow down and realize that if they take their time and do something correctly, it is more beneficial in the end.
I've been doing a fair amount of thinking about what I want to do after two years are done. Exactly what I've been thinking is for me alone, but it definitely involves returning to the States while keeping one foot here. We'll see if I still feel like Mozambique needs me this time 2004.
Peace
John
