Getting attacked by love

My internship is coming to an end, and even though I was feeling homesick and really looking forward to seeing my missed people at home, suddenly it hit me - leaving means a lot of goodbyes O.o !

Here I am in my dear dear friend Salma's house. She made a wonderful big goodbye lunch for me and our other friend. And as you can see, I was freezing so much I had to put on my polar fleece and borrow her gloves, while the others were running around in short sleaves.. Brrr 18 degrees!!!


Looking back my absolute favorite task while working with IBIS has been my trips to the children's center "Crianca Feliz" to make videos, take photos or gather information. Even though it is dificult work, and I really have to concentrate, there is always a little room left to play with the kids - read books, or take of my shoes and run around with them in the sand. Its pure therapy, and they are so sweet and always wanting to make friends.

Trying to make video diaries with the kids have been the absolute most dificult and fun tasks of my internship - it is really not easy to come with my silly questions expecting long elaborate answers from nine year olds. After bothering the kids with all my questions one time, I told them to do an interview with me so that I would be the one being bothered by the questiones for a change...

- It looked something like this:

I only have three more days left at the office now, and I was looking forward to having a holliday, traveling a bit, and seeking new adventures. But today two of my colleagues who are going to travel this week told me goodbye, and I managed to hold my breath all the way out the door – or almost, because then my friend called me on the phone and asked me how I was doing, and then I just burst into tears, and kept crying all the way to the place I was meeting her (that's a 40 minute walk)

It hit me like a bus hits an old lady with a brand new hip: I'm not sure how or when it happened but I love this place. I love my daily routine of getting up at 6 and going to IBIS, I love the pot holes, I love the big yellow wall I pass on my way (where there is always someone peing, and it totally reminds me of the great yellow wall in Nørrebro), I love my friends, I love mozambican humor, I love the climate, I love being far away. I love it that my friend's sister, who I barely know, keeps touching my hair and medeling with my earrings when she is talking to me.

I love the occasional powercuts (which mean walking up and down 19 staircases in the dark) I love the people always wanting to sell me stuff I dont want. I love watching the sun come up as a fat juicy orange from the ocean every morning,


I love the chocolate corissaints from the baker across the street, I love the girl selling me fruit, and I love walking to work (always in a hurry because it is very very early)listening to marrabentas and kuduros in  my mobile radio....  When I in a few days leave all of this behind, it is going to be alongside with a big chunk of my heart and a IMENSE feeling of gratitude.

(Photo: here I am with some friends at sunset on a small Island called Inhaca, just a few hours in boat from Maputo) 

And just so it doesn't end all sad:  

<3 <3 <3 KANIMAMBO MOÇAMBIQUE <3 <3 <3

 

Tamojuntos!

I look up into the tree, "what?" I ask. "God" he says.

Im standing in the street at night outside a restaurant, waiting for two friends to go with them to he opening of an italian-mozambican photo exposition, when an elderly, drunk gentleman stops to talk with me. He tells me he is a marrabenta musician, from Nampula, plays the guitar. spent two months in Canada sitting on the street playing (must have been so cold!!). then went to washinton, came to germany, recorded a disc in portugal
"Can I find this cd somewhere?" I ask him. he smiles, and lifts his hands to his face. walks a circle around himself, distancing a bit from me. "you can have my number" he says, medeling with his phone, but then puts it back into his pocket. he looks a bit past me "I can sing u a song, a beautiful song". I cant help but smiling with all my teeth - this guy has so much enchantment "I wanna hear it";

a guy selling batique stops, he looks at him "go away, we dont have money to buy your art. Im going to sing a song to this princess" "I also want to hear the song", the guy says "no, I only want to sing it to her. you wont understand it". he starts reciting a poem, Im thinking I shud ask if I can film him, but Im affraid to ruin the magic. I forgot the name of the guy, the poet he was reciting and the words, I just remember the opening was something like "sem amor não existe saudade" and poem concluded that "sem saudade - não existe amor!". "its beautiful!" I really mean it - fit right into my day. he smilingly walks another circle around himself.

"you are a good person" he says, "your housband shud be a musician". "Its too late" I show him the ring on my finger. he smiles again. it fills his face out silently, and he looks like he is bursting with laughter from inside his spine.

He points up into a tree "you see?" I look up into the tree, "what?" I ask. "God" he says. "God is right here". I cudnt agree more. "you are a wonderful person, you're precious. a beautiful princess!".

my two friends arrive and find me with a silly smile on my shining face "he was praising you huh?" one of my friends say, as we walk away. "he has enchantment!" I respond and try to remember the words of the poem, his name or anything else - but its already tucked away in oblivion.

FORçA MOçAMBIQUE

Somebody is digging in my pocket, and he is not being descrete about it either. my phone is in it, so I pull out his hand and take a step forward. not two seconds after someone else gives it ago. we are almost at the front now, and it seems like this entrance isnt the right one either - so we run to the next one, where they tell us to go back to the previous. Its raining and Im sliding on my sandals. "We have tickets, we have tickets" and finally we enter into this spectaculare world of football which is same same but ô sô different evrywhere :-) today is Zambia vs. Mozambique, and we are here to chear on the Black Mambas FORçA MOçAMBIQUEEEE !!! The half time show presents kick-ass dance crews among them two mighty guys in orange suits dancing kuduru (which is by far the coolest dance for guys in the world.). the air is full of smells of grilled chicken. and something else... something in the area of wet goat. hmm appears that its coming from me xD. Its a good crowd, and the rain stops after a while... the game is so-so though, and after the second goal from Zambia, people start walking out.... We ride back to the city while listening the soundtrack of the lion king (which inevitably makes me send happy thoughts to Hanna, Tolga and the studenthouse´s crappy DJ´s one hit wonder) and end the day with chilli-chicken-piri-piri.

Rain rain rain

Finally the rain came.... the last many days it has been extraordinarily humid, when u open the window in the office its like a hot river pooring in.

I sat in my window pane with my legs crossed and had bisquits and milk while watching the tiny cars and people running around in the street below, and lightening after lightening after lightening after lightening....

This weekend I have to go to Swaziland again, which means it has almost been 2 months - past by rapidly. Sometimes I feel completely disconnected from the reality of people here - we went to visit our maids house (me and Luciana) last saturday, its so strange driving back into the center, when uve been in the outskirts of Maputo....

Driving out doesnt feel strange, to see the concrete buildings being replaced by dirtroads, informal shops and markets and small brik houses with tin roofs and without a squirt of paint. Sara (our maid)s family received us like royalty, we brought a small lunch and an old TV (the latter was the official cause of the visit). Sara lives in an annex to her parrents house with her two daughters, their dad doenst help her with anything so she has to provide for them herself. around the house are apart from Saras mom and dad a lot of ppl who I dont really manage to place: a niece, a grandmom, an aunt, brohters and sisters, a chubby tumbling who is from one of the neighbours...

This apart a kitten who is comepletely dead in the heat, a few chickens and ducks, one of them with more than 10 small yellow ducklings running around her. Saras dad tells us the duck had her own kids, and then adopted the ones from another duck who wudnt recognise her ducklings, and then they go to sleep they are so many that they cant all fit under the the wings of the one duck, so some of them have to sleep out in the cold.

Saras dad was a worker in the mines in South Africa for 35 years, and came back with his lungs completely destroyed, Luciana tells me, even so, the man sitting besides me is an energetic guy, with sparks in his eyes telling stories from close and far with intelligence and caress. he is skinny and has lines on his face, but Im surpised to know he is 75 years old and have so many years of hard labour behind him...

Saras mom is 15 years younger, beautiful, round, smiling and with gipsy earrings. Luciana brought her a capulana, and she claps her hands together and laughs out loud. completely contageous!

after a few hours there we unload the TV and say goodbye to the family and Sara... Sara follows us out and thanx us a lot for coming, I say we are the one who are thanking for this wonderful receptiveness, and then she says that its really rare for an employer to ever go visit the house of their maid.... Im spontaneusly surprised, even though maybe I shudnt be, but really happy we had an excuse to come.

then we drive back into town... its not much more than a 12 minute drive, but its another world: halfway home all of the sudden tall concrete buildings appear - do I really live there?

This and that ....

Monday-weds and friday there are classes of traditional dance in the big building down the street from Mimos with a sadist demotivating girl for the choreography and a guy with a back made of rubber for the warm-up. all + 7 percussionists with drums so juicy it makes my mouth run over with water!!!!

Monday weds and friday last week I was honoring the sacredness of the siesta after sweaty walks to and from the office, and 8 hours lots of writing, uploading, translating, drinking coffee, drinking Ricoffee, drinking chocolate, editing photos, trying to find out who kidnapped the remote to the aircon, trying to get ppl to give me stuff for the newsletter, changing the cord with Silvestre every hour because my laptop cord got stolen from my bosses checked in luggage last week and "other ad hoc tasks" xD

I finally feel like I settled in in the job, and I dont even need a nap...  mh. I mean map! (but I want another nap) I dont even need a map to find my way, and even be on time. I finally learned ppls names, and manage to remember what they do (ok more or less, but enough to avoid most aquard scenesxD).

In the weekend I went out dancing with Salma and Agata, which are these two really nice girls I met really randomly at a concert, and who live close to me.. we went to a wonderful pop disco, and yes: Maputo's got kuduroooooooooooo!!!!!!!! but the first song they were playing when we came was.... MEDINA !

The girls show up practically naked, or in amazing dresses - Im constantly feeling underdressed in this country xD - and the guys actually behave themselves very well... apart from this, there is this wonderful concept of bar-with-food (just like in nosso querido brasil) so u dont need to get low on energy when ur dancing ... chorizo is always near <3

We got a ride with a random guy in the morning and drow by the beach when the sun was rising from the ocean, behind the palmtrees...  xD maningue niiiiiiiiiiice

(Photo: Salma, Agata and m(i)e^^)

sunday I went to Swaziland with Kat, in a one of these small crammed vans, where u have to change who gets to lean back and relax the back, since everybody has this multiple entry visa that exides u leaving the country every 30 days.... we got our stamps, and more than a few wedding offers on the way - including from the boarder guards who insisted on getting our phone numbers, but since my housband doesnt let me have male friends and Kats boyfriend is very "nervoso" can can explode any minute, we had to let them down..

 

(Photo: Prohibited to pee )

my goal for this week are as follows: tonight: sleeeep. and: as soon as water returns to our building: have shower. then make salmorejo (this is a priority!!!), stay awake at work tues weds thurs and friday while uploading english webpage, get my butt to danceclass and make some more friends, friday Im going to the baixa (which is more like a real city center than the place we live were evrything is very clean and expensive) to buy clothes and shoes (urgent need for sandals, preferably with glitter!!!) and food and eat (special emphasis is given to this last part). Hopefully something fun will come up for the weekend...


(Photo: 05.50 from my window)

Alto Molócuè

Allready in my first week at IBIS we went on a field-visit to one of our projects  in the North  in the province of Zambezia. The landscape is extreemly wide and wast, and since we came in the rainy season: green green and more green, with blue mountains in the horizon. it was really beautiful... and like Clovis from the office said to me "You see Mie, we have a lot to space to live on here in Mozambique".

In Alto Molócuè IBIS works with education and strengthening of civil society, and we went to participate in a ceremony to hand over some lapdesks and other different school materials ....

several things apart from the wonderful landscape  impressed me on this trip, like - how long it can take to drive 15 km when the road has almost rained away (and how tired ou get from bumping around inside a car), how many orphans who get by on less than nothing, both concerning material goods but certainly also

affection and support from adults.

(above photos: teachers being capacitated in HIV/Aids prevention)

(Photo: kids in front of the school)

(Photos: Women at a IBIS supported Community development center, where u can come and learn different practical skills such as painting, knitting, sowing, or computer skills etc.)

Polana, my first night out & the first day at the office...

During the day Sunday I walked around a little bit (a lot!!) to try and get to know the city. I had a long walk to a cathedral, which in the end was closed, but at least I got to talk to a lot of random people in the street while looking for it, and this was a lot of fun!

                      (Photo: wonderful view just down the street from my house)

 (Photo: "Prove your love, do the HIV test with me")

I'm sharing the wonderful oceanview of our apartment with a german girl Katarina and our landlady Brazilian Luciana (who I didnt actually meet yet since she is in Europe). In the evening Kat took my out to a really cool place close to our house called Núcleo da Arte - its like an integrated bar/music venue/gallery/atallie.... On sundays there is live music and the artists who paint here, also paint during the shows, so u can walk around enjoying the music while watching art being born

                      (Photo: Chanchan with one of his paintings).


Today was first day at the office at Ibis, and I mostly spent the day receiving informations about Maputo, my work schedule and about the organisation of Ibis in Mozambique... Wednessday we are going to make a field visit to hand over some lap-desks (which is basically a board which you can use for a desk, and which are handed out to schools who lend them to the children, so they can take them home and have an easier time doing homework) in one of the Northern provinses - I am going to be the lady behind the camera, and should also write a little story about it - this should be exiting :-)


And.... last but not least important news of the day: u get fresh maracujá (I have been dreaming about this fruit since I left Brazil 1½ years ago xDDD) !!!!