To get a boleia...

Last month we had to go to Maxixe in Inhambane province for a project design and management workshop. We took counterparts, it’s basically to teach how to manage funds and start a business/project from the ground-up. I took one of my activistas because they want to start an income-generating project selling coal and firewood.

The trip was fun…especially on the way back. Emily and I got a boleia. Boleia is a ride. We decided to save money by paying for a chapa and instead try to get a ride. Eventually some south Africans came along with a huge truck and a huge boat on the back of it. They agreed to take us back to Xai Xai after they fixed a flat tire. There were some local kids waiting with us. One of them wasn’t being very nice to some of the children so em and I tried to tell him that that behavior is really rude and that it’s good to treat others with respect if you want to be respected. He had been yelling and hitting this little boy with no shoes and a jacket with holes in it. So we bought him an apple and he cheered up a little bit.

They finally fixed the tire and it was time to go and they asked us where we’d like to ride. Emily asked if we could hang out on the boat but they said no. So we got in the back of the truck. The ride back was fun. It was such a beautiful day. Emily and I were sitting back there with the sun shining, the wind blowing, people constantly waving at us, and we were listening to music on our ipods and eating a chocolate bar. That was a great day!

Bichinhos...more bugs!

I came home from the end of a weekend once to find that the inside of my house was absolutely infested with ants. They were grouped together stuck on the walls. It looked like they were making eggs. Not in my house! I’ve never used that much raid in one day. I’ve never seen so many dead ants in piles on the floor like that either. It was pretty gross. Then that happened again a few months later. I shouldn’t complain. They could have been cockroaches or rats.


The other day I made a sandwich. I was about to take a bite and noticed a small beetle was crawling out of my bread. I just picked it out and threw it on the floor and didn’t let that stop me.

One day my empregada made me feijoada-which is basically bean soup. It had been sitting on the stove for a few hours by the time I heated it up. After I heated it up I saw these black specks on the surface. At first I thought oh cool my empregada is finally learning to use my spices. Until I picked one up and saw that they were one of those annoying little flies that hang out in my kitchen. At least they were boiled.

To get a care package...

One Monday morning. Emily was soon leaving for world cup so I was trying to spend as much time with her as possible before she left. She’d been waiting a pretty long time for a care package and she wanted to get her package before she left moz. So, I decided to accompany her.


We got to the post office around 7:30 a.m. The box arrived. But we had to wait for some guys from customs to come to open the box and make sure there’s not anything like cocaine inside. As soon as we got there the post office ladies called them and they said they would be there “soon.”

So, Em and I sat our happy, patient selves in the park next to the post office. We were pretty hungry. One of the great things about Mozambique/Africa is that there’s no fast food restaurants like in the states but fast food comes directly to you. We were chillin on a bench and saw this kid from across the street that had a bucket that looked full of bread and bujias. Bujias are fried bean patties and they are delicious. So we whistled at the kid and he looked around like whose calling me? We whistled again and he looked at us like “what, these 2 mulungus want my street food?” heck yes we do. So he ran over and we got some of that. Ten minutes later this girl came up to us selling samussas. Samussas are like empanadas which are like fried triangles filled with meat or veggies. Her samussas were special because they were filled with fish. So we got some of those too. Some time later this lady came by with a bucket full of oranges that she was selling. Got some of those. By this time it’s about 11. Still no customs guys. Some kids later walked by with cookies. Yup, got some of those too. We then went out for lunch after asking the post office ladies to call the customs guys to come.

Mozambique has a mobile market. It’s just a matter of time before what you need/want walks past you. And time doesn’t really matter here so why not just wait for it, like waiting for the customs people to show up. We saw people selling all sorts of stuff walk by. Selling stuff like: pillows, jewelry, cell phone chargers, cell phones, plastic bags, kapulanas, dvds, music…you name it it probably came by. Even 2 other pcvs from a different district walked by!

Emily eventually got her box. After 8 hours of waiting. Patience is a virtue!

Customer Service

Last week pcv Jenna came into town because we had a meeting with ICAP. Our supervisor’s brazilian and I actually understood about 75% of what she was saying, as opposed to when I arrived and I really didn’t understand her at all. She’s really sweet, I wish I could understand her completely! Small accomplishments…my favorite thing about ICAP meetings is they always give us free notebooks. Free stuff is great! Never again will I walk around somewhere in the states and pass up anything that’s free. Thank you very much.

Later that evening Jenna, Emily, and I went to restaurante Limpopo for some pretty awesome Indian food. I’ve been there a few times and it seems every time I go there I’m always with different people. Anyway there's this older Indian guy that works there. He’s kind and speaks decent English and he’s always helpful in making suggestions on what to order. He asked Em what she likes. She said something I don’t remember. What’s memorable is what he said next. He asked me what kind of food I like. I said well, I really like spicy food. Like really really spicy. And then he casually said, “I am spicy.” OMG the 3 of us burst out laughing and Emily absolutely lost it and buried her head into her jacket she was laughing so hard. Then he started laughing. So we were all laughing. Whatever so we all finally ordered food then later when we were eating he randomly came up to us, grabbed Jenna’s hand and kneeled down. She was in mid-chew when this happened. And we just looked at him, waiting…Emily already started cracking up again. But I wish I’d taken a picture of jenna’s face when this happened. As she's eating and saying “what are you doing? WHAT are you doing?!” So he kneels down, takes jenna’s hand, and pauses. Then he asks smoothly, “can I get you another drink, my dear?” Jenna: “no. please just let me finish my food!” then he goes away. Then comes back and leans in close to me and says “I need to talk to you.” I said, “about what?” “well, in private” Sorry buddy, I don’t have private conversations with strangers. What’s up and by the way can we please get the check? Then he asked me for my number. Emily starts laughing again and says (out loud) "Mal, I’m sooo glad I don’t have this problem that you have!” I respectfully declined, saying that no sir, we can talk here whenever I may come, but everyone asks for my number and I can’t give my number to everyone…How about that check, PLEASE?!

Sorry for the wait!

Several people have asked me through my parents why I haven't updated my blog. To tell the truth, I don't have an excuse. But, luckily for my deprived followers, I'm about to post a few. Do y'all really find this stuff interesting? That's one reason I don't post much anymore. Stuff is starting to seem normal and I don't think people back home will find it amusing or interesting.

So go grab a cold Dr. Pepper and some salty potato chips for your next fix of my blog...