Life With Mama Maria

After living in African lala land for a couple of days (i.e. a lavish hotel in the capital city of Maputo), we have quickly learned what life is really like in Mozambique. We took another one of those overcrowded buses called chapas (say “shop-ah”) from Maputo to the town of Namaacha, where we are now officially Peace Corps trainees for the next 10 weeks.  As soon as we stepped off the Chapa, our Maes and Pais (Moms and Dads) were waiting in a line to greet us. We had about 2 minutes to sit down, let it sink in and allow ourselves to feel like we were about to pass out, and then it was time to find our names on a paper held by an unfamiliar Mozambican person. Our Mae, or Mama as she likes to be called, was the very first person in the lineup. We found out later this was because this women knows her shit! We are the 4^th volunteer she’s had, so she knows how to keep her American “babies” healthy and happy.  She quickly took our hands and led us to our new home.  That was only 6 days ago but it feels like we’ve been here forever. Mama has a way of making you feel comfortable, even if we often can’t communicate with words, so this has quickly become our casa as well.  We live with Mama, whose name is Maria, and her granddaughter, Lura and son, Julho. She has 5 children all together, but the rest are out of the house. With the language barrier, we don’t have all the details on this yet but we’re hoping to figure it out later!  Her daughter, Gillhermina, lives down the street and stops by often. Our living situation in the house is not too bad except that privacy can be an issue, which we are getting used to. We stay in a bedroom in the front of the house and use the bathroom that is across the hall. We are happy to say the bathroom is INSIDE! We are lucky, as many people have a latrine outside. We still have to take our bath and flush our toilet with a bucket, but it’s better than having to stand outside to bathe during the cold Namaacha mornings. The only issue is that the kitchen, which is where the main action of the house takes place, is between out bedroom and the bathroom (hence, the privacy issue). But we are getting used to the set up and how to live like a Mozambican in general. It’s amazing how quickly you can change your mind set when you are put in a totally different environment.  Things that would bother me in the US just don’t bother me here. Trash in the street is normal, getting your clothes and shoes dirty all the time is normal.  I don’t care as much about having my daily outfits in a rotation. You wear what is practical and that’s what matters. Vanity quickly goes out the window.  And, the lifestyle is slow, you need to take your time with everything. You aren’t able to just turn on the faucet and take a shower. It requires boiling water, then adding cool water and lifting up the bucket into the tub. If I did this in my normal quick, clumsy way, I would be sure to fall on my face and/or burn myself!  Taking things slower is a definitely something I will be able to take back to the US.  I have also found that here in Africa, I like tomatoes, beets and to drink tea every day, foods I was not into in the US. Mama is teaching us all about the food here and I have to say, it’s been great! Fish, potatoes, bread, rice, veggies and fruits.  Mama is teaching us everything about living like a Mozambican. As a married couple, we get to learn about the traditional gender roles for a couple including the fact that I should be helping my husband take a bath each day! We haven’t gotten there yet, but I do pour the hot water for him to show we are respecting the traditions. Each day, Chris and I go to our small language classes (we are in different classes) or our entire training group meets to talk about subjects pertaining to how to live in this new environment, what our jobs as teachers will entail, or Mozambican history.  In the evenings, we help our Mama around the house, eat dinner and study. We try to squeeze in a bit of social time with the other volunteers as well. The days are verrrry long. We get up around 5:30 and go to bed around 8:30-9:00 as is normal for this lifestyle. We will have classes on Saturdays and will only get Sundays off, but it really is necessary. We only have 10 weeks to learn how to live in a whole new world. Things are fantastic, we are both happy campers but I do have a dark cloud named “The Portuguese Language” over my head. The amount of things we learn in our language class in one day is insane and I am having trouble figuring out how to study since there is just soooo much to learn and not much time (and BTW, our language lesson is ENTIRELY in Portuguese!).  We get tested on our language proficiency in week 5 and I am not feeling very confident at this point, but, as they say, I will learn pouco a pouco (little by little)! 

Love to all!

PS- More information on sending packages: It’s been confirmed that if you write religious terminology on the package, it is much more likely to get to us without being opened. So I would just go ahead and pretend we are brethren of the church! It’s best to address us as Sister Laurie Williams and Brother Christopher Williams as well as drawing crosses and writing things like “Jesus is Lord”. I know, this sounds ridiculous. But we will be really happy when we actually receive the goodies you send!  Oh and if the post office makes you claim a dollar amount on the package, do not claim over $5.00 (even if it’s more) or there will be customs fees that we’ll have to pay out of our very small PC salary. Ok, thanks for listeningJ. We would LOVE letters or packages!!!

PPS-My apologies for the absolutely horrific grammar on my last post. I will blame that on jet lag and adrenaline! I am making a commitment to you, dear blogger, that I will review my postings before looking like I should not be an English teacher.