15.03.2006

The second week here, should start to really be here

I have been here in Africa now more than a week. Still, I feel like not fully living here
yet, I feel like visitor rather than an inhabitant. Well, its actually true, but you know
how it is with the volunteer dreams like being part of the community and blah blah.
Actually, I think, It'll come. Right now, it feels really like being a celebrity. We get
different treatment and attention everywhere and anywhere we go. On our way here, for
example, when we were having a ride on that chicken bus, I went to a toilet in gas station
and there was a line. Women in front of me insisted on letting me use the toilet first.
Yesterday we visited local hospital and there were lines of sick people behind every door.
However, we were introduced to doctors and they spent minutes on formalities with us. Last
night there was an assembley of students and we were welcomed like movie stars or something
like that. It was really amazing and a little bit scary. The first question we received from
the crowd of about 100 people was if senhorita Kristiina is married or not. Funny, huh..
After ten months mastering in cleaning, cooking, dishwashing and building in CICD life here
feels like in a care-home. The school has employed senhora Amelia, who's cleaning the
volunteer house every day, she also cooks a dinner for us during the working days.
Actually we could eat all our lunches and dinners during the whole week in school cafeteria,
but beans with something (usually massa, cornmeal stuff or sometimes rice) can get a little
bit boring for spoilt people like us. So we only eat lunch there. The only cooking we have
to do is prepare a sandwich or peel a banana in the morning and organize something in the
weekends. Amelia does also all the dishwasing. She gets paid 1 million medicais per month
(about 25 GBP) which is twice as much as she'd get anywhere else. The water for washing,
drinking and cooking is brought from a pump nearby by two women and they get half a million
together in one month... They carry big canisters of water on their heads, both carring a
baby on the back and little one by the hand. Another woman washes all our clothes twice a
week in a river (basically just beating the hell out of the clothes against rocks, I haven't
seen it yet though) and irons them all afterwards (to kill the bacteria and stuff). I
haven't wore ironed clothes for ages! :)
So, you can imagine our lives here. Don't forget to turn on the fan (I've got a cold because
of it, it really sucks to be sick here in so beginning because of my own stupidness...)
and stuck the mosquito net behind the mattress and wooden bed. I'm dressed so fully in the
evenings, using at least two repellants etc but the damn mosquitos still find me and bite
the hell out of me...
Anytime the students need to wait for something in a meeting or something, they all start to
sing together. And the way they sing, is just amazing. Without anyone conducting them, they
start different voices and tunes and sound without any practice better than world famous
gospel choirs. Yesterday another volunteer from US was doing an English club and they were
singing Amazing Grage and No woman, no cry. You can just imagine how it sounded like...
I have a little cold right now, and some rash on my hands, but otherwise am quite healthy,
hopefully. The weather has been really hot, only two days ago it was a big thunderstorm
near by (it was BEAUTIFUL, I've never seen so many lightnings) and after that it's been
rather cold (about 20 C) and rainy. We visited Beira (the second biggest city in Mozambique,
about 1,5 hours away from here) and went to the beach as well. It was so nice and hot and I
burned my back, of course. Indian ocean was brownish and had rather big waves. And the local
white people were having nice cold beers in a restaurant wearing nothing but bikini as
local black girls swam in their full clothes and local black guys were doing athletics on
the sand (rather impressive). There are quite many muslims in Beira and there are even more
when you go further North. In rural areas people are rather Christian. In Lamego, where we
live there are about 50 churches from different beliefs. We went into one rather big one
which looked like an animal stable from outside.. it was crazy, it had just some benches
made out of soil and a wooden cross... I'd love to go for a communial there one day..

12.03.2006

First days and first impressions...
On Tuesday we left Hull and enjoyed British coach services for like 6 hours. The flight to Johannesburg (South African Airways) was not too comfortable and the attendats not too friendly, but the entertainment program in personal screens was cool. In joburg the weather was so nice and warm, especially considering that we came from cold, rainy England. In the airport our team split up (one went to Cape Town to spend his time until the Namibian visa arrives) and others stayed in Joburg for one day and took the bus to Maputo the next morning. Me and Danguole form Lithuania had visa problems and we flew straight to Maputo. It means, we spent about 6 hours~in Joburg Airport international transfer zone, drinking delicious smoothies in a fancy restaurant with a view to the take-off and all the planes. The border between Mozambique and SA was obvious even from the air as we were flying quite low. When approaching Maputo, the size and poverty of favelas was so amazing.. and at the same time, there was a city in the coast of Indian ocean just behind the shabby huts made out of Coca-cola boxes. When we got off the plane in a tiny airport (Mozambiqian most important airport), the heat stroke us. The air was heavier, full of new smells and new.. senses... The customs were ok, not too much pain.. Finding a taxi neither, because I simply reminded myself how I survived in South America on my own and used my Portuguese-left-overs plus natural insticts. We got to the Humana headquarters quite easily, warm wind in our hair and a live documentary scenary around us. Well, I have seen a lot of similar things in Brazil, but still... On Thursday 4.30 am we started our journey with other members of our team to Beira (check the map for instructions). To do this, we went to kind of a market for transport where there are hundreds of different buses of different sizes to choose from and they go to any place in the country (the furthest journeys take up to week I think). It was incredible, and a bit scary. The drivers were fighting who gets us to their bus. They promised different things, but for us the time was most important so we took a kind of minibus that the driver promised to take us there the same day (Beira express). As we learned later, it wasnt quite the truth. First of all, we did not leave at 6 as promised, but about 2,5 hours later. The bus only left once it was packed with people and a lot of luggage (most of it ours). And after 6 hours ride we checked the map and had moved just a tiny bit more to the north. Oh well.. the roads were partly paved, but partly NOT AT ALL. The driver was going as hell anyway, and the luggage put up to the shelfs fell down several times on the heads of people sitting in the middle (I was safely by the window). We kind of freaked when in one place some people got off and among the new passengers was a guy with two chicken (alive). He sat just between volunteers, one row before me, luckily. It was quite scary. but I guess they dont have bird flew here yet.. Everywhere and anywhere on the road were people who were selling eggs, bread, coke, water, cookies etc etc. They just run to the bus when it slows down and they block the windows, offering you the goods. I cannot describe it, it just felt like we were part of a fly paper.. Well, at around 9.30 pm when it had been pitch dark for hours, the bus stopped in front of a some village pub and the driver went to sleep on a mattress in front of the bus. The policia supposedly does not allow passenger transport during night. So we spent a restless night trying to overcome being dirtier than ever, feeling homeless, smelly and quite disgusting. The horror ended (actually continued) the next day when we took off at around 4 am again. We finally got to Lamego, the place of our projects around 9.30 am. Phuhh.. how we enjoyed the shower from bucket! Its not that bad at all, actually.. I use 3 big cops for full shower! It probably less than most people use to brush teeth once a day..
To be continued, when I can use the net again. It takes me at least 1,5 hours of jorney to be able to do it. So please dont freak when I cannot contact for some time. Iºm allright, enjoying and getting to know beautiful and hot Mozambique..Take care Kristiinaps! sometimes walking around i feel like in zoo and i am the animal!!!