It's occurred to me that I write only a fraction of the thoughts and events that happen every day. Even when I write for 8 or 9 pages. I've only touched on what happens in a single day here. I could live a year in the States and not find one day that rivals "average" here.
For one of my lessons, I wanted to demonstrate a tree stump and the rings that form every year. Unfortunately, there were none around school, and walking with one of my students, he suggested I try cutting a branch off a tree. I didn't want to be too destructive, so I found a mostly dead branch on a tree just outside our house. I asked a couple neighbors if they had a saw, but unfortunately they didn't. Five minutes later, a kid I asked comes back and says he found a saw, so I walk with him to another house, where a woman is cooking. She hands me a saw, very sheepishly - which I've come to recognize as shyness and not reluctance - I thank her and ask the kid if he wants to help. He grins and agrees wholeheartedly. I jump into the tree, have him hand me the saw, and just as we're deciding what to do, he arrives.
The tree-trimmer guy!
I hadn't seen him for a couple weeks, which was the usual interval. But I didn't know where he lived, so though he was my first consideration, I had no idea how to contact him. I forgot his name, too. But here he was, undoubtedly hearing that I was fidgeting around with a saw in a tree.
Unfortunately, he speaks as much Portuguese as I speak Changana. Which is to say, our conversations are comical. He's a nice young guy and is always gracious, even when we don't have work for him. But the job was there for the taking this time.
I had the kid translate what I wanted and came away only 5 Met (20 cents) poorer for a nice specimen.
I realized it needed some sanding, but had forgotten to run to Home Depot. Hehe... The "Home Depot" here is called Kawena. They have huge warehouses, so the first time I approached one, I got very optimistic. Though I was told they only have a dozen items, I was sure that was an exaggeration.
Nope. I walked in and sure enough, there were 12 items in front of me, backed by tons and tons of the same thing, over and over again.
Since then, I've learned to go to the market. If it's not there, Mozambique doesn't have it. Sure enough, a friend helped me and guided me to some mid-coarse sandpaper. I arrived at home a few conversations later, with enough time to sand down the wood, eat lunch, and shower before class.
So now you have a brief overview of two hours of my day, from the "what I did" perspective. Wow. I'm really doing this, this big adventure.
Peace
John
