Year 1 - Week 32: The Price of Modernity

Giving myself two days to recover, I was back on the road on Sunday, this time to Vilanculos. I woke up refreshed at 6:30, cleaned up and closed up the house, and was on the road by 7:00. And then the waiting began. I sat at the river, along with six other people for thirty minutes, before the canoe guy decided that he was ready. Then once I got into the villa, I sat in the chapa for 90 minutes before it filled out. At this rate, I would never get to Vilanculos.

But once I got to Maluvane – the crossroads between the EN1 and Mambone – my luck changed. A few cars passed me, but the ride I got was sweet: front seat of private car. On a freshly repaved road, we bombed it down to Inhassoro. And I didn’t pay a metical for the ride. Sweet. Within minutes of getting out of the first car, a second car flew around the corner and I snagged it. Two Italians took me in the rest of the way to Vilanculos. In all, the first 50 kilometers of the trip took four and a half hours. The last 100 kilometers took 90 minutes. And cost me nothing!

I made my way over to one of the Volunteer’s houses in Vilanculos where I was greeted by a bunch of Volunteers, but not the one I expected. She had left for a conference in Maputo, but was gracious enough to open her house up to other Volunteers. Some long-lost souls from the northern part of the country had made their way down. Of the three that came down, two of them I hadn’t seen since December, so it was really nice to see some old faces.

I had one reason and only one reason to come to Vilanculos so soon after being away, and it was to pick up the four laptops that had found their way into the country. The last of the four arrived on Sunday, so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect, but some bad luck got in the way. I couldn’t get in touch with the Volunteer who had all of the computers. She had dropped her phone into a swimming pool, making reaching her impossible. It’s okay. I had nothing but time. I could pick them up tomorrow. I repeated to myself what has become my life motto – “We’ll make it work” – and put it on the shelf for the day.

The afternoon with a bunch of Volunteers was pleasant. We mostly just watched movies and talked about work. I was especially interested in talking to a Volunteer who was teaching computer classes, as that will be my task once I do get my hands on those computers. Over the course of the afternoon, I was happily interrupted by phone calls, one from my parents and one from one of my best friends at home.

The afternoon bled into the evening, when one of the Volunteers made some delicious eggplant and rice. I’ve never been one to eat eggplant – the look of it just weirds me out – but I figure if I can eat pig brain, I can eat eggplant. The night ended with a group viewing of a hilarious pirate porno, which was not only the worst porn I’ve ever seen, but the worst pirate movie I’ve ever seen.

I slept comfortably through the night in spite of an uncomfortable bed. It’s only a little frustrating that I can sleep well everywhere but Machanga. A couple of the Volunteers headed out early in the morning, and I left with them. I had one mission for Monday: get my hands on those computers. Without being able to reach the Volunteer by phone, I had to go old-school. I went over to the hotel where she was staying with her family, but they had just left for town. I left a message for her at the front desk, hoping that she would get it.

In the meantime, I stuck around near the hotel. I did some shopping for household essentials then headed down to the beach to study some GRE vocab. After finishing off two lists of words, it was nearly lunch time, and how convienent was it that the pizza place was just 100 yards away. I enjoyed what was, by far, the best pizza I’ve had there. Just as I finished eating, I got a call from the Volunteer with my computers. They were walking out the door, heading out of town at that moment. Sigh. Tis life in Mozambique: never quite going to plan. It’s not all bad – I got my pizza and I was pretty happy. The computers will have to wait until another time.

As soon as I returned back to the house, the rest of the Volunteers made their way out. I was in for a lonely afternoon. I finished another list of GRE vocab, making this the most productive learning day I’ve had in a while. And as a reward, I played a bit of solitaire (some reward, huh). I finished off the rice from last night, checked email, and went to bed, once again ready to get back to Machanga.

I didn’t sleep nearly as well as I did last night. I was up at 3:30, feeling pretty good. Waking up that early did, however, give me the opportunity to be the first person to wish my mom a happy birthday. So what if it was still July 20 in America – it was the 21st in Mozambique, and that was good enough for me. Right after receiving a text back from my mom, I went back to bed for a bit. By 7:30, I was up for good. I cleaned up the house, fed the animals, and made my way into the villa.

I hit a prime seat in the chapa for Mambone: first row on the far window. I wouldn’t have to get up for anyone as people piled in and out of the car. My seat claimed, I headed into town to buy an eclectic collection of items – vegetables, a newspaper, and a five-in-one war movie DVD. The ride in was no problem, with very few stops until the very end. Once in Mambone, I did some last minute shopping for bread and vegetables.

When I arrived at the river, there was only one, soft-spoken old man, with hands that had history written in the wrinkles. On the river, two boats sat about 10 yards out. The man yelled something in Ndau to one of the people in the boats, and then did something that has never happened to me before: he translated what he said from Ndau to Portuguese. Even though I generally knew what he was saying – “Come on, buddy, we’re waiting to go across” – it was still extraordinarily kind for him to explain what he was saying.

Once we arrived at the Machanga side of the river, I expected to part ways. I tried to get my bag from him, but he wouldn’t let it go. I figured that I was going to walk like an American – quickly, with purpose – and he, with his walking stick, was going to putt along at Mozambican pace. He put me in my place in one fell swoop: “I may be old,” he said, “but I can still walk fast. Nobody should have to walk alone.” And we did. I tried again to pry my bag from his hands, but he wouldn’t have any of it. He, unnecessarily, walked me to within 100 yards of my house, something I certainly didn’t expect.

Even an easy travel day takes its toll. I arrived home tired and hungry, but I had something to look forward to: a real salad. It’s been a long time since I had a salad with more than two vegetables in it, but with the bounty of veggies being sold in Vilanculos, I was able to make something almost appropriate for a restaurant. It was a good preface to the rest of my dining experience, which was a stir fry that, like my salad, had more vegetables than usual with the addition of bell pepper, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and carrots. And oh yes, for the first time in a while, that stir fry had chicken in it!

The rest of the evening, I was shockingly occupied. Most of my night was spent in the computer lab trying to repair a computer. A virus haunted one computer – the one with the printer attached – but unlike my computer, I was able to repair this one. I cleaned the hard drive and it was good to go. The Brazilians who are bringing me the materials to repair my own computer will also provide materials for this one also. Satisfied with my work, I relaxed with a magazine – and after the power went out, a couple of candles – before going to sleep.

I woke up on Wednesday relieved to not have to travel. I have logged way too many miles over the last ten days and I am looking forward to not doing much traveling in the foreseeable future. Even the short trips from Vilanculos take it out of me.

Most of my day was spent sitting on the patio, which I was happy to do. I continued to catch up on reading, shifting my focus to a more vocabulary-intensive “Economist”. With every GRE vocab list that I finish, these magazines are easier to read. By the time I am ready for the exam, I should be flying through them.

After lunch – a failed attempt at an omelet which turned into scrambled eggs – I switched between Kakuro and reading, switching every time I messed up a Kakuro. All in all, it was a thoroughly unproductive afternoon until I hit the sack for a nap.

I was back on computer duty tonight, although I managed to eat a delicious chicken sandwich before heading over to the computer lab. The task was much easier tonight, to the point that I didn’t have to do anything because, well, I couldn’t. One of the teachers wanted to open Microsoft Word on his computer. He didn’t have Office. I can’t do anything about that, but I did show him how to open WordPad, which is essentially the same thing.

As I walked back from the computer lab, I noticed something new: the usual darkness of Machanga was broken by a string of now-functioning streetlights. They haven’t quite reached the school yet, but they are inching their way closer. As one of the teachers noted, it will be beautiful once they get here.

During the day, though, those light posts are pretty ugly. The wide openness of Machanga is no longer so wide open. There’s a beauty that is certainly lost by having this convenience, a convenience that a majority of people here probably won’t use (or afford for that matter). And now that they have wrapped around the school behind my house, my gorgeous sunset view now has a wire running right across the middle. I guess that’s the price of modernity. With that said, I’m sure I won’t be as sentimental when I can flip on a light at 9:30 in the morning.

I actually had something to do Thursday morning, which made me exceedingly happy. Low on food, I made a late morning run to the market. Hopefully, this is the last time I’ll have to shop for one. With any luck, we should be paid tomorrow, which means Richie will make his way back to town over the weekend. Returning from the market around 11, I had little time to sit around before prepping for lunch. For the first time in I can’t remember how long, I didn’t have eggs and potatoes. I just couldn’t do it. So having not eaten spaghetti for a couple of nights, I made that my lunch.

Once again, the afternoon was rather quiet, spent mostly with an “Economist”. Every once in a while, a teacher would come around and state the obvious “fica sozinho” – you stay alone. Yea, I don’t have much choice in this one. Later in the afternoon, I hit the GRE vocab book. I nailed down another list of words. I will be ready for this exam vocab-wise well ahead of the test.

I had no major plans for the night, but I promised a teacher that I would help him with some computer stuff. What I didn’t bank on was typing up all of the revisions for a 40-page school paper. Whatever. I can’t really complain about having to work a whole two hours. It gave me something to do for most of the night and it gave me reason to make quick and easy mac and cheese. After eating, I settled in bed with a magazine and slept shortly after the energy went out.

Another Friday, another tough work week over. Ha. In theory, we should be starting work again next week, but with an anticipated presidential visit – for real – next week, no one is expecting work to really begin until the first week of August. Most of the teachers will be busy preparing for the executive visit. All that really means for me is I’ll have another week to sit around, read magazines, and study.

Friday was nothing special. The only big difference between Friday and the rest of the week was that a little rain came along with the strong winds we’ve had all week. It’s a little strange to have rain in this time of year – dead in the middle of the dry season – but I guess it’s a welcome change.

I returned to eggs and potatoes for lunch today. Spaghetti’s one day reign came to an end quickly. After eating, the rest of the afternoon was pretty regular: more reading, a little vocab review and a bit of necessary cleaning. The rain, in the sense, helped me since it gave the patio a good rinsing.

I put off eating dinner for a bit in order to help another teacher with some computer stuff. This was a lot less work than I had last night. All I had to do was load a printer driver onto his laptop. As I walked out, I came across two unexpected surprises. The first was an Austrian volunteer working in the ESMABAMA office. We met while I was in Beira and she was as happy to see me as I was to see her for the same reason: we just really wanted to speak English. Since Richie has been gone, it’s been all Portuguese all the time. It’s been really good for me, as these past few weeks were some of the best weeks I’ve had with this language, but every once in a while, a break is necessary.

With her presence, I had high hopes. If a car came from Beira, that means I should have packages. She said she didn’t see any boxes, but as we talked, the school manager came over and said “I have something for you”. Not just something: five somethings! ESMABAMA came through on their promise and delivered the rest of my packages with the first car. I spent the rest of the night opening up packages and organizing the bounty of goodies that arrived. With their arrival, an ordinary Friday became extraordinary.

My run of loneliness finally came to an end on Saturday. Richie texted me in the morning, told me that we got paid, and that he was coming home. He just needed to get lucky to catch the chapa either in Inchope in Muxungue. While he was on the road, I spent the morning cleaning up the house. No one should have to arrive to a dirty house. Sweeping, washing dishes, and mopping took up the better part of my morning.

Having finished all my cleaning duties around 11, I was feeling ambitious. I didn’t really want to eat eggs and spaghetti was not going to happen. So I turned to a meal I haven’t tried in about seven months: gnocchi. The last time we tried to make gnocchi was sometime in January, I think, and it was an utter disaster. Note: using corn flour for gnocchi does not work. Armed with good old wheat flour this time, I gave it a run. Making gnocchi is a labor-intensive process with a delicious end result. The truth is, though, for all the time and effort it takes to make, it’s not just worth it. It’s a good rainy day activity. And it’s nice to know that I can turn to that when I really have nothing to do. Right after eating, I was right back to cooking, this time beans for chili tonight.

Satisfied with my meal, I sat on the patio anxiously awaiting Richie’s arrival. Even though I’ve been alone, I haven’t been lonely, which is a good sign. But having someone else here is always better than the alternative. Finally, around 4:00 he arrived. He looked exhausted, but as I have felt the last few times, he was happy to back in Machanga and stunned by how different it looked.

The night was pretty regular for us. We cooked up a delicious turkey chili, by far the best chili we’ve made so far. And now that we have a functioning computer again, we were able to once again be entertained, this time by the new “Batman” movie. Modernity, once again, is back on our side.