Atop a mountain in Montepuez we can see a wild Jeanette in
here natural habitat. Sun bathing in a low hanging tree as she waits to return
home for a nice bowl of peanut and banana porridge. It is clear she chooses a
location close near the edge, as Jeanettes like the view of the houses at the
base of the mountain. Let’s just hope the wind direction keeps us downwind. If this
wild beast catches our scent, our expedition could prove fatal.
I left Imala at 4:30 am on the first chapa for Muecate.
After a 2 hour ride over a distance of 50km south, I hoped off the chapa and
grabbed a bundle of bananas. I hoped on the next passing open bed truck and
shared the bananas with the other passengers. We sat in silence for the next 30
minutes until we reached the EN8. The place is called Nacavala, and it is the
crossroad where you can leave the main road and head almost 70km north to the
small post of Imala. I decided to walk down the road away from all the vendors,
and start flagging down a car to hop in. I was heading east about an hour to
Namialo. A nice man in his 30’s pulled over in a black SUV and let me hop in
with him. We talked about education in this country, and how corruption is
ruining the chance for children to properly learn. We picked up 4 more people
on the way, and when we reached Namialo the man charged us all 20 meticais. As
I got out of the car he proudly gave back my money, and told me to have a safe
trip. He said he appreciated our work here for his country. This left a mark in
my heart, because it is an extremely rare occasion that people show any sort of
appreciation for the Volunteers in this country. It is those moments that we as
Volunteers live for. It is those moments that keep us here in this country. I
thanked him, gave him the Mozçambican handshake with a snapping of our thumbs,
and I walked away from the black SUV. As I began to walk north up the road I
started flagging down cars for my next 2 hour leg to Nacaroa, where I would
spend a few days with Justin. Another volunteer, whom has become one of my best
friends. We nerd out to a level that I can only explain with equations and
integrals, so I will leave that out of this blog to save a shred of my
integrity. I hoped in an old beat down van with a group of people, and no one
said a word for 2 hours… It is the classic silence of this country. You become
quite used to it. Next thing I knew, I was hopping out of the car, thanking the
driver, and walking 2km down a dirt road to find Justin’s house. It is
typically easy. You just find a passing stranger and ask where the white
teacher lives. They typically give crappy directions, but good enough to find
the general area. I made it to Justin’s, and we spent the next 2 days cooking
pumpkin curry with a pumpkin that I had brought from my machamba. I forgot to
mention, it is quite common to travel with bags of food and carrying large
vegetables on your head. We had a great couple days together. He took me around
Nacaroa, we practiced some tae-kwon-doe, and cooked some phenomenal food. On
the third day I walked out to the main road and spent 3 hours on the side of
the road trying to flag down a car heading north into Cabo Delgado. I was
making my way to Montepuez. I was to visit my friend Jeanette and her roommate.
After a long wait, a car finally slowed down and let me in. They began speaking
in a language that was not native of here. I asked what it was, and they said
they were from Somalia. They were extremely nice. We had a great hour ride to
the boarder of Cabo Delgado, where we were stopped by transit officers. They immediately
began trying to bribe the Somolians and threatening to take them to prison.
While this was happening, another officer came and began to question me. Where
are you going? Why are you in this country? Who are you? What’s in your bag?
Finally I gave them the copy of my passport, because it is known for transit
officers to take a real passport until you pay them money to get it back. I
explained that I was a volunteer teacher. The officer then began asking if I
had any weed that I could sell him. I told him at least 20 times that I had no
drugs on me and that he was being extremely unprofessional. He raised his
voice, and walked away. After about 20 minutes we were finally allowed to pass.
Let me just follow this with the word corruption. It is a hugeeee problem in
this country. It is keeping this country in a constant state of mistrust. The
next 3 hours were fun as the Somolians and I talked about Somolia and the US.
As we reached Metoro, we exchanged numbers. They went east towards Pemba, and I
hoped on a chapa west, towards Montepuez. Here is where I talked with some
people about the area and bought some chick-peas on the side of the road. It
was a 2 hour ride, but we finally made it to Montepuez. It was gorgeous and
pretty developed. I immediately fell in love. I made it to Jeanette’s house,
and we spent the evening cooking with her roommate. I made some hummus, and we
chowed down on some delicious food. The next morning I took another 3 hour
chapa to Namuno to visit Salome, one of my best friends here in Peace Corps.
She lives in a mato site, a lot like Imala. We took a great hike through the
machambas and had dinner with her sitemate Senior Pope, a health volunteer. We
made macaroni and cheese from a care package her mom sent!!! It was phenomenal!
We had the usual chats about our life here as volunteers and shared our
experiences. The next morning we took a chapa back to Montepuez. 3 hours later
we reached Jeanettes house again. We spent the next couple days hiking the
mountain, exploring the city, and meeting people along the way. While buying
tickets for the bus back to Nampula City, we ran into an old man with an
infected leg. It was literally rotting off, and it looked like a hug animal had
bitten him. He said it was a crocodile bite, and it was apparent. He smelled of
whiskey, and I knew that infection was going to kill him. I gave him 10
meticais for the hospital and treatment. I have a feeling he just used it to
buy more whiskey, but I seriously hope he actually went to the hospital. We
boarded the bus after a few days, and took the 7 hour ride to Nampula City for
our reconnect conference. I will say, travelling in the country always brings
good stories and memories. So many details that I wish I could share. Only
through time will I be able to explain everything that we experience. I am
hoping this was at least a good taste.
No comments:
Post a Comment