i could really use a friend like you

Feb 25 / 10 - I had spent a brief time back in the city and have already returned to the center. During the time I was gone, the food was not delivered to the center and they went two days without any food! I do feel thankful that I was able to eat good foods in the city, but also feel a bit guilty I was able to indulge while everyone else back here was hungry.

Of course the trip back was eventful, as in the tire underneath my seat blew and I thought we were going to plummet the chapa into the ditch. The driver raised his left hand to calm me and assure me everything was alright as my nails dug into the seat deeper then my mothers when I was in drivers-Ed and began to drive our ol’ Aerostar around the ‘hood’. I would rather have had him put both hands on the wheel, but we skidded to a stop, did the repair and were on our way.

Africans have many friends. Friends. I still cant decided if these friends are family, acquaintances, old comrades or the second time meeting (the first time being from a distance). But nonetheless, Africans seem to treat everybody they meet on the street as if they are first cousins. Walking on the street, yes I am everybody’s ‘sister’ and ‘friend’, but so are other people who pass by. I was walking with a local friend, and I stepped in a mess of mud. It had sucked my sandal and foot right in to create a dirty boot effect. The friend said it was best to ask for water to wash my foot to save me embarrassment and so we walked to the nearest house. There, as I washed my foot, my friend and the house owners greeted each other as pals, then later went into detail of who they were. They had not really known each other as I had first thought. To Africans, the more friends the better. This way they can benefit form the resources one has when in times of need. This is why everyone wants to be my best friend> because they see I have lots of money and when they are in need they can just call their best friend Alexis for a loan. Being white, you are a friend magnet.


March 1 / 10 – Information is a valuable commodity and Africans don't share this as freely as they do items or food and hospitality. Although it is sometimes hard to get historical and personal information out of a Mozambican, there are cultural clues that can let one in on secrets or information. Names have a large significance, especially in the Chindau culture. Mbepo – translated as Wind, lets one know that this baby was born on a very windy day. Okay, so that is not that big of a secret. But others have names such as Zhvipa – meaning cemetery – or others with the name translated as crying and tears. These children were born from a mother who’s previous children repeatedly died after birth, and so this child was also expected to die like the others, in which, if the baby died as expected, would be given to the cemetery, one would cry, and tears would be shed. But it is very typical to encounter people who grew up and carried this sad name into adult-hood.
Other names, unfortunately for the innocent babies sake, are aimed to take a nasty shot at ex-husbands who left their wives. When a woman is thought to be infertile, it is very common for the man to leave her for another woman. The couple will go their separate ways and find new partners. Low and behold the woman is able to have children with this new man and therefore it was the mans fault for the lack of children. The name given to this child is a name to put shame on the ex-husband. Since districts such as Machanga are not very big, word spreads fast about the name of the child and information revealed.

When a child is born, an elder relative of the child gives a blessing and instructions of how this child must grow and follow. Some of these instructions include things that the person can and cannot eat. Many people cannot eat things that have been chewed are eaten partially by zebra (even thought the war and floods /cyclones have wiped out almost all zebras), rats, monkeys and others are forbidden to eat chicken hearts or other specific parts of animals. When one goes against the instructions given, the consequence is the rotting of teeth. Many have rotting teeth here and they are seen as not having followed instructions and are seen as a bit careless or rule-breakers.

Chameleons’ are strange but beautiful creatures. Along with the myth of their deadly, un-healable bite, it is said that if one sees, with their own eyes, a chameleon shed its skin (like a snake apparently), it means one of the family members, of the one who viewed the shedding-skin event, died that instant. Tia Cacilda testified that this happened to her when she was 11. After seeing the chameleon shed its skin-coat, she went home and was informed of the death of her aunt.

Change is sparse. Were talking coins. So many things there are to buy that only cost 5 or 10 meticais, in which these denominations are coins. When making a purchase and the seller does not have change, you may find yourself waiting on the side of the street or in the store where you bought your item watching your seller run down the street to find a friend or another store owner to get coins off. After the change is given, the seller tries to succeed on making another sell with that change you have just received. Now you don't have that excuse to say ‘Sorry I have no more money, I just spent it on that last item’ the cat is out of the bag, or the change is out of the pocket.