Negotiations

 Nothing sold outside of stores on the streets in Mozambique has a fixed price. Everything is negotiable, and being able to bargain with the vendor is a skill, one that Emily has taught me. Here's how I used to negotiate...

 In Maputo one weekend, I come across a man whose selling purses made out of capulanas. I see one that I like and he jumps all over my interest and tells me the purse is 250 MTS. I tell him that's expensive and I want a discount. He then explains to me that no, actually, that's not expensive, then goes on to show me that there's layers of cloth which make the purse more durable, which will be good for me because I have alot of stuff, and says that he made it himself, and that it's beautiful, and mentions again that it's durable. After that little speech I almost felt bad for asking for a discount because wow, this guy had just convinced me that this purse is of great quality and why should I try to jip him of his talent and hard work? My response to him was pretty vague and he saw that I was giving in. Then Em swooped in and told me to think about it and we told him we'd be back if I decided to buy the purse.

Em: Mal, you really suck at negotiating prices.
Me: I know but 250 is still cheap and the purse was so nice and pretty and durable!
Em: No! You have to get the cheapest price! We're not tourists! Let me teach you how to negotiate. When you find something you like, don't show that you absolutely love it. They first give you a high price then you have to give them a super low price. Something ridiculously low. Like for that purse, you should have said you'd buy it for 100.
Me: 100 MTS for that purse! 1. there's no way he'd give into THAT price, and 2. I know it's worth more than that.
Em: That's the point. They tell you something high, then you tell him something ridiculously low, then you meet in the middle. Then if the price is still high, you just walk away and tell them that there's no way you'd pay that and that you don't really need it anyway. But, just be aware that they love to make you feel bad. Whenever you give them the first super low price that you want to pay, they're going to tell you that that's such an ugly price and that it's worth so much more, blah blah blah. Don't let them suck you in. When you finally get a low price that you'll agree to pay, then they really try to slap on the guilt trip to try to guilt you into paying more. They'll look like they're about to cry and look really upset about settling for such a price. But don't let that stop you from a deal, because we know that if they aren't still making a profit off of it, then they wouldn't sell it to you. Also, whenever you decide to hold the product just be aware that they won't take it back, trying to make you buy it. Just be prepared to set it on the ground or something. You can do it, Mal.

Ok so let's recap: 1.) Say a really low price after the first price. 2.) Don't show weakness for their story of why it's worth so much or show that you really want it. 3.) Start to walk away and tell them that you don't need it and you won't pay that high price. I got this.

 After this little lesson of negotiating we headed to the wood market in Maputo which is open only on Saturdays. It's basically an area where a bunch of artists get all their art and figures and jewelry-souvenirs, really. The first thing I spotted was a bracelet made of sea shells that were painted different colors..super trendy, had to have it. Here's how that went...

I stayed neutral. The person selling it was a teenage boy. I asked him how much he told me 250. 250?! No way, kid. I walked away. He came after me with the bracelet as I was looking at more art and stuff. At first I ignored him and told him I didn't want it. Then he said 225. Then I looked at him and said I wouldn't pay that. He asked me how much I wanted to pay for it. 75 MTS, I said. He laughed and said that wasn't possible. Then he came down to 200. Then I told him 100. Then he said no he couldn't do that and that this bracelet was worth so much more because he made it himself and painted it and it's well made and beautiful. I then told him that I didn't have to have it, I'm not a tourist and that I live here and I could eventually find the same thing for cheaper. Then he put it in my hand and let me try it on. I took it off and tried to give it back and he wouldn't take it! I continued to tell him 100 MTS. He kept saying ohh sister that's such an ugly price. After a few minutes he told me he'd sell it to me for 150. I told him 100. Then he told me the lowest he could sell for it was 120. I then told him the most I'd pay for it was 110. He agreed. So I reached into my wallet to pay to see that I only had a 100 and a 20. I handed it to him and told him I needed change of 10 MTS. The look on his face was absolutely depressing because he knew I had what he was asking for. A few minutes later he brought me the change and the look on his face as he gave me the 10 MTS automatically made me feel horrible and I almost told him to just keep it until I heard Emily tell me to not give in, that 110 for the bracelet was reasonable. I went back for the purse a few days later and bought it for 180 MTS.

 Negotiating's pretty fun!

The kitchen counter adventure

 A few weeks ago I finally was able to pick up my next piece of furniture from my carpenter: my kitchen counter. It's absolutely perfect and I love it! It's about six feet long and about a foot and a half wide. It's great because I had him build an extra counter/shelf underneath the top and the floor. Extra storage, always thinkin bout that! So, getting the counter to my house, or getting any furniture from my carpenter's house to my house, is always interesting, I've noticed. Since there's no home delivery, the thing to do to get the furniture to my house is to find someone outside of Limpopo market in Xai Xai and pay them 200 MTS to transport it for me. BUT, this time one of my friends who has a truck helped me out for free.

  Roads. It's all sand and hills. Sandy hills. It can  be difficult to drive in if the sand is loose and not packed- if you're not careful you could lose control...kind of like hydroplaning..but that's for water, is there a word for that for sand? Anyway, most of the roads have packed sand. So we finally get to the carpenter's house, get the counter loaded up and unfortunately my friend didn't have extra rope to fasten the counter to the bed of the truck. No worries, my friend had picked up two of his friends and so they and the carpenter hop into the bed of the truck and were holding onto the counter with their hands and sitting on the side of the bed. The site of this definitely made me worry- either them or the counter is surely going to fly off. But my friend was driving slow, taking it easy. We were just cruuuuising along until we come across the final road that connects his neighborhood to mine. We get to the entrance of this road to find a car ahead that is stuck in sand. There was about a ten foot pool of loose sand about two feet deep. Kids and men were trying to dig the car out. I thought well, surely we're going to go back and find another way because we're going to get stuck too and then we'll be here for hours.

 We didn't go back and find another way. We tried to go around the car into the grass but saw that the left side of the truck was in the sand and was getting stuck. So we backed up. Tried again. Failed. My friend and the other guys hop out of our truck and start trying to get the other car out of the sand. They finally dug it out and pushed it back. We attempted again but this time my friend decided to try to go through the sand where the other car had attempted. Of course that didn't work and we got stuck, too. I was just chillin' in the front as about twenty children and six grown men were trying to push the truck out. My counter was still in the back, not strapped down. Everyone finally pushed the truck out of the sand to the beginning of the road where we started. Then the guys start talking in the local language and next thing I know the carpenter gets in the driver's seat next to me and doesn't say anything. The other guys don't get in the bed of the truck and don't remove my counter from it either. Then he reversed the truck a little bit then starts revving the engine. Then he just looks at me, hails Mary, and floors it. I look back and my counter is wobbling, surely going to fall, I thought. I wasn't really sure what exactly his plan was. I didn't think he was going to go full speed into the pool of sand. Ohhh but he was. As we were speeding up there were some kids in the road, looking shocked and amazed and curious as to what he was going to do. Oh God, I thought, move!! They all did.

 As soon as we got to the loose sand we started to fish tail and lose some control but that didn't stop him. He was quick to turn the wheel the right way to avoid spinning. Next thing I know we kind of just glided over the top of the sand to the end of it. I looked back and my kitchen counter stayed not only in the bed of the truck, but upright!

 When we got back on normal ground we stopped and he has this huge smile on his face and says to me, "You didn't know I could drive, did you?"

Don't let the bed bugs bite

Last night as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep I felt like I was having small itches on my legs and feet. At first I tried to ignore it until I reminded myself nothing's ever really just nothing. So I grabbed my headlamp to see what the itch on my foot was all about, expecting to find nothing but another mosquitoe bite. I turned it on and shone it on my foot to find a really small bug that was sticking out of the top of my foot! I think it was trying to burrow itself...head first! So gross but whatever I killed it. Then I couldn't sleep for awhile after that so I decided to inspect the rest of my sheets and found some more of the same bug and also a few ants. I eventually fell asleep after getting rid of them. My sheets had just been washed so they were probably on them from when they were hanging to dry outside. I'll sleep tight for now on.

Xengana

   Mulungu in Xengana means "foreigner". If anybody ever calls a mulungu a mulungu, it's not necessarily rude, more of a fact. At work, on home visits sometimes, the people we don't know who we visit will ask who is this mulungu? The activistas will say oh, this mulungu? She's our friend and she works with us. Xengana is obviously a barrier in my work here but I've come to appreciate and respect it.  I think this is because Africa is currently developing and has numerous mulungu influences from several mulungu countries. So, I would say I like Xengana but I don't like it like I like chick flicks and ice cream. So, I'll say I respect it because being around people who are speaking Xengana makes the experience feel authentic...really African.  Which is strangely neat to experience because it's good to know that even though there's so much mulungu history and current influences here, not everything truly African has been lost in the assimilation of foreigners.


   I'm a huge Lost fan. I love the show and I can't wait to see the last season. Did Juliet really die? Anyway, sometimes being here makes me feel like I'm in a Lost episode. Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese.  Abandoned buildings have been left behind. The national language is Portuguese. The houses the Portuguese lived in are still here. They're really nice from all that I've seen. The ones that I've seen all have driveways and houses that are obviously very well constructed.  They mostly all have running water, or a very nearby source. I have visited a few of my Moz friends who live in these former houses and it reminds me of the Lost episodes when the gang moves into the old Dharma Initiative compound years after they left. It's not strange-I mean they have made it their home here.


  Even parts of Mozambican culture seem to have been adopted from mulungus. For example, Mozambicans love hot tea with sugar and drink it probably at least once or twice a day. Has that always been Mozambican culture? Even Xengana has certain words that have been taken from English.  One of my coworkers told me this is because of the proximity of South Africa, and as people traveled to and from, took some of the words and made it their own as well. For example, the word bejinho (Portuguese) is kiss in English, and khiss in Xengana.


  This past week I've been in Maputo and went on a day trip to South Africa. It's safe to say that Maputo is the most developed part of Moz. It's more modern-it has a mall, restaurants, clubs and hotels. Embassies and people from all over the world are here. I can't help but admit that whenever I'm in Mozambique, more so at site, and see another person who doesn't appear to be African I think that person must be a mulungu, too. I don't think it's bad to think that, to think to label someone like that because it's not a negative thought, just a fact.


  I'm not saying that mulungus should leave Africa for the preservation of African culture. Time and actions change things. Colonization happened, and now Mozambique and other African countries are developing. And because they are developing, a result is assistance in different ways from many mulungus. Hopefully over time, Africa will become completely self-sufficient and won't need mulungu assistance. Different things from different cultures as a result of mulungus here have been adopted by Mozambicans and surely other Africans.  These things that have been adopted by mulungu cultures have become what Mozambican/African culture is today.


  South Africa has a large white population. They look like typical mulungus. It's a strange feeling and thought process to try to explain because they are in fact, not mulungus. South Africa is now their home. So maybe someday, as Africa becomes developed nobody will really be mulungus anymore. It's just an observation and feelings that are hard to put into words- based on the direct, forever effects due to the colonization of Mozambique and of Africa.

Reality

   Work.
    There are over 20 activistas and not all of them have phones and not all speak Portuguese.  Four different activistas work each day; 2 in the hospital and 2 in the community to make home visits.  Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, I go into the community with the 2 to make home visits. Wednesdays and Fridays I stay in the health center.
   Home visits. Everything is spoken in Xengana.  These are domestic visits to monitor treatment adherence for patients. Visits are also used as an opportunity to invite people to go to the hospital to take an HIV test. My last home visit I invited a girl who had a baby to take a test. She said she never had. I asked her why and she said she didn't know. We told her it was important because if she was positive she'd need to start treatment to not infect her baby. The next day I was in one of the nurse's offices and she came in and got a test done. We sat together waiting for her result, which was negative. That was a relief.
   There are two palestras (educational lectures) given in the mornings. One at 7 a.m. and one at 9 a.m. to the pregnant mothers in the maternity ward area.  They are given in Xengana. I still am not totally sure about everything that's being said. So how can I really improve them?
   We have a monthly support group called Cha Positivo. It's the last Thursday of every month. Anybody can attend. We talk about a different topic each month. The activistas aren't really fully trained on facilitating this group. In January and February, my counterpart (coworker w/ ICAP) who is the aconselheira (like a counselor) facilitated the group and spoke generally about HIV/AIDS. It's also all spoken in Xengana. But, my counterpart will translate a summary of what's going at some point during the group.  One thing I'm excited about is I'm able to choose some of the topics we discuss.
   ICAP also provides funding to start another support group for HIV positive mothers/pregnant women and their children.  This is supposed to be Wednesdays and Fridays. We're still waiting to actually form a group, so during our home visits we invite people to come to Cha Positivo and to this support group, which is still "under construction".
  I see great potential working here in these different areas. One difficulty I've noticed is communication with the activistas. It's hard to get a hold of them or know whose going to work the next day.  So, last week I told them we were going to start meeting every Friday afternoon to touch bases with what's going on with our progress in work.  My first meeting with them was a success.  I made a contact list with all their names, their phone numbers or number of a neighbor, and which neighborhood they live in.  I'm still lacking a few, but I'll eventually run into them. I also used that time to explain to them that I still don't really know exactly what's being said in the palestras, and how can I help them with them if I don't understand them? I brought a notebook and I told them they were going to help me write down each palestra...an outline, really. In Portuguese. We were able to translate two out of seven before they got tired and we called it a day.
   So, work here is improving and getting better. Slowly, but surely. Small, positive changes in anyway are significant and important.

Seasons

     We get fruit according to its season here. Which is good because it makes you appreciate it more. Mango season was from November/December and ended in January. Mango season is fun because kids will climb up into the trees or throw what they can to get some down. Including Emily. She has a mango tree in her yard and I have a picture of her climbing to the top in order to get the very last mango. Once she got it and cut it open we came to find out that worms had gotten to it before she did. That didn't stop her. Ha. Em loves mangos so much she's trying to think of ways she can save the mangos that are destined to fall and rot because there's so many. She's already got some good ideas like making drinks and drying them.
     Anyway there's different kinds of mango trees. The more abundant type from what I've noticed seems to be the kind that's super tall that grows smaller, yellower mangos that are stringier (made that a word) inside. I personally don't care for this kind. There's a bunch of this type of mango tree in my yard. The other type of mango tree from what I've noticed I think is the best. It's generally shorter and its mangos are much bigger and pink and aren't really stringy inside and they're super delicious! I'm not super crazy for mangos because they're messy and get in your teeth. But now I wish I could have one!
     After mangos came pineapples. Pineapple season started in dec and it looks like its going to go until this month or April. I should ask my neighbors. I remember when I was in college I brought home a pineapple and my roommate Taylor asked me if I knew what to do with it. "either I figure out how to cut it up now or I figure it out when I go to Mozambique." I'm still not really sure there's a right way. Just cut it!
     And this season...oranges and watermelons! More oranges though. I love oranges like Em loves mangos. For some reason they're mostly green here. But they're so good! Each little pulp is like a bullet full of juicy citrus flavor. I just can't get enough of them. I'm going to buy more today. Watermelon. I finally found the perfect one last week. A few weeks before I had bought one but it spoiled by the time I got home because it was in a bag and it was so hot that day. But last week I found one that was perfect on the inside and the lady at the market sold it to me for half the price. I finished it in 2 days. This week I bought another watermelon because it was cheap and my hopes were high. It ended up being white inside and not very sweet. Well now I know how to pick 'em!