Forever Mozambique

Yes people, it seems like I fell in love with this beautiful country and never ever want to leave again. ‘Cause I’m still here. Well, tiny Lamego has been changed to huge Maputo, but still… I am here and have no idea when I can leave… The trick is very easy, the South African embassy just needs to give me a visa. This hasn’t happened so far, after 1, 5 months trying. And very soon, in about 2 months I’ll already fly home to my dear icy country. So let’s see if my African adventure will finish here or shall I get to know any other places.

The first few weeks of my waiting I spent in beautiful Lamego, but it got a bit too depressing after all my team mates left to the civilization and there was nothing to do, and not even a will to do anything… so I stayed with Antonia (a nice woman whom I met in my investigation) for a week, saw some beaches (missed the sharks, unfortunately) and relaxed a lot. And now I’ve been in the capital of Mozambique, the Real City of Maputo for a few days and actually it’s not so bad. I feel like back in the real world, it’s really… I mean, they have everything here- THEATRES and (art) museums and INTERNATIONAL (DOCUMENTARY) FILM FESTIVALS…like we say in Estonia: what else can my soul desire… so I’ve walked my feet sore during last two days, breathing in the precious polluted city air, walking actually on a pavement, not being stared at t h a t much and sometimes feeling like I’m in Brazil in some reason.

But the one thing that hasn’t still changed is the dumbness and chauvinism of Mozambique men. For all those who’ve been secretly or openly wondering about my dating and extra status I can assure it’s not only big fat zero, it’s already in minus, I’m afraid. I just cannot bring myself to tolerate the total lack of respect here for anyone without a penis. And when some volunteers find it funny or amusing that all the women here are good for just hard (physical or any other type) of work and exploiting, then I have unfortunately lost any hope for an African man, be it generalization or not, and cannot take them seriously in any level (the few exceptions I know are just confirm the statement).

Kristiina,

Maputo, 21.09.2006