Question: was that creek there before?
Answer: Um, no. Welcome to the rainy season!
So hi and Happy Thanksgiving Week!
Thanks in large part to Peace Corps, this Wednesday we PCT's are having a lovely, American Thanksgiving Celebration. American means we will all be together, probably speak little to no Portuguese, get information we desperately want (our site placement, here already?), gorg ourselves on food we want and don't need, and then play a rousing, already competitive game of American football. I say that the game is already competitive because teams are Health trainees against Education trainees (about 26 to 45, respectively) and the Education team has had a practice. Yes. They held a practice for what will be flag football. We clearly are aching for a personal win.
What food, you might ask, could a few dozen Americans and the USG backed Peace Corps whip up for America's most orginal holiday? Turkey, roasted veggies, sweet potatoes that are purple, pies,including pumpkin, cookies, including my own chocolate chip cookies, minus the chocolate chips because I haven't found them here and chocolate is like brown gold, deviled eggs (or so the gossip claims and I am eager to believe it), Mexican flan (glad to see the majority population of California stepping up), stuffing with walnuts, and a macaroni and cheese was suggested but I think might have fallen flat. Cheese is expensive, to say the least. So it will probably be a wonderful feast followed by a less than stellar, slightly sickened game of American football on the major pitch in town where all the Mozambicans can see us run a little until we get tired because we just ate seven and a half pounds of food per person. The perfect Thanksgiving.
Here in Mozambique, though, I like to think that we give thanks every day for little things. Here are some of the things that I give thanks for lately.
1) Lack of shame. The other day I was taking my morning constitutional, or run, and ahead of me a woman was walking. Nothing new. Even though I run relatively early in the morning (around 5am usually), it isn't that early in Moz. This woman, though, veered off a little to the side of the walkway, lifted her capelana skirt to about mid-thigh, firmly planted her feet a little over shoulder-width apart, and proceeded to urinate. As a health worker, knowing that last year cholera was all the rage, I was a little wary. But, urine is sterile, very few things can be passed through it. Blood, yes, but that's rare. Schistosomosis parasite? Well, yes technically. But unless she peed in a puddle and that puddle had a specific type of snail and then a person bathed in that puddle, it is ok. And the runner in me said, Heck yeah. Do it. You have to pee, pee. In Moz, there aren't public toilets. I take that back. I know of one, and that is in the Maputo shopping mall. I would argue that she probably couldn't hold it all the way to Maputo, nor should she. I especially liked that she didn't look around, didn't make sure nobody was coming. I know that, because if she had, I wouldn't have seen her. I was coming. So I applaud her style and am thankful for her lack of shame. Because when it comes down to it, what's a little public urination?
2) The English Language. This is because the other day I was spending a little quality time with my family, and we were all enjoying the riveting (and these days I'm not joking anymore) Brazilian telenovela, Parar Paralelo (yes, I know the title now). It has been unseasonable cold and seasonably rainy lately, so in order to warm up a little, and because she's so darn cute, I got little Mae to sit on my lap. All was right in the world for those warmer, adorable moments until. Until Mae looked at me with her devilish smile, stuck her chubby little middle finger up, and, after clearly rehearsing in her head, said the words that usually go along with just such a hand gesture. I was shocked! She's three! And it was perfect, clear English! So I told her those were bad words and it was bad to do that. She looked a little self-conscious, and I briefly congratulated myself on undoing what some naughty kid or teen did to her sweet brain. Until she did it again. My sense of morality made me feel like she should be punished a little. So I made her get off my lap. Which actually punished me more than her, since she just went to bed where it was warm under several blankets, and I was left to try to explain why I just banished the three year old from my lap. So thank you to English, for being so popular in Moz that one of the few phrases a school kid learns is so offensive, and for being easy enough for a three year old to perfectly enunciate such shocking words.
3) Knowledge. So this is a broad thing to be thankful of, so I will narrow it down for you. I believe it is (or should be) well known that when a person has a latrine outside, it is not recommended or fun to use the latrine at night. That is why someone very nice and wise and thinking ahead thought to invent the xi-xi (pronounced she-she) bucket, which is a bucket slightly filled with clean water in one's bedroom that you pee in at night. And sometimes in the morning when technically it's light and easy to use the latrine, but maybe you want to just lay in bed a little because it's Sunday and just read and you don't feel like walking the approximately fifteen feet from your room to the latrine. So xi-xi buckets are wonderful, and sometimes the hottest topic PCT's have to talk about. That being said, it had come to the attention of a few PCT's that their family, with a less buckets available than desirable, use the same bucket for several functions. Like for xi-xi, and then also for mopping the floor. Or, for those unfortunate PCT's, for xi-xi, and then bathing. I counted myself as lucky that my family only multi-tasked the xi-xi specific bucket for mopping. Until a little knowledge stepped in. Since Little Mae is only three, it is hard for her to use a tall bucket at night. Which is why their xi-xi bucket consists of one tall one within a wide, squat one. And I just noticed this the other day. That pee actually goes in the wide one. This makes sense, but I never thought of it probably because I never wanted to think of it. Because that wide bucket is what we use to bathe. Which is probably why my family insists on rinsing buckets out all the time before use. Sadly, we have no cleaner to clean the actual bucket in between functions. So I am now thankful that I know this, because from then on I have been extra careful to keep my eyes and mouth shut when I bathe.
What food, you might ask, could a few dozen Americans and the USG backed Peace Corps whip up for America's most orginal holiday? Turkey, roasted veggies, sweet potatoes that are purple, pies,including pumpkin, cookies, including my own chocolate chip cookies, minus the chocolate chips because I haven't found them here and chocolate is like brown gold, deviled eggs (or so the gossip claims and I am eager to believe it), Mexican flan (glad to see the majority population of California stepping up), stuffing with walnuts, and a macaroni and cheese was suggested but I think might have fallen flat. Cheese is expensive, to say the least. So it will probably be a wonderful feast followed by a less than stellar, slightly sickened game of American football on the major pitch in town where all the Mozambicans can see us run a little until we get tired because we just ate seven and a half pounds of food per person. The perfect Thanksgiving.
Here in Mozambique, though, I like to think that we give thanks every day for little things. Here are some of the things that I give thanks for lately.
1) Lack of shame. The other day I was taking my morning constitutional, or run, and ahead of me a woman was walking. Nothing new. Even though I run relatively early in the morning (around 5am usually), it isn't that early in Moz. This woman, though, veered off a little to the side of the walkway, lifted her capelana skirt to about mid-thigh, firmly planted her feet a little over shoulder-width apart, and proceeded to urinate. As a health worker, knowing that last year cholera was all the rage, I was a little wary. But, urine is sterile, very few things can be passed through it. Blood, yes, but that's rare. Schistosomosis parasite? Well, yes technically. But unless she peed in a puddle and that puddle had a specific type of snail and then a person bathed in that puddle, it is ok. And the runner in me said, Heck yeah. Do it. You have to pee, pee. In Moz, there aren't public toilets. I take that back. I know of one, and that is in the Maputo shopping mall. I would argue that she probably couldn't hold it all the way to Maputo, nor should she. I especially liked that she didn't look around, didn't make sure nobody was coming. I know that, because if she had, I wouldn't have seen her. I was coming. So I applaud her style and am thankful for her lack of shame. Because when it comes down to it, what's a little public urination?
2) The English Language. This is because the other day I was spending a little quality time with my family, and we were all enjoying the riveting (and these days I'm not joking anymore) Brazilian telenovela, Parar Paralelo (yes, I know the title now). It has been unseasonable cold and seasonably rainy lately, so in order to warm up a little, and because she's so darn cute, I got little Mae to sit on my lap. All was right in the world for those warmer, adorable moments until. Until Mae looked at me with her devilish smile, stuck her chubby little middle finger up, and, after clearly rehearsing in her head, said the words that usually go along with just such a hand gesture. I was shocked! She's three! And it was perfect, clear English! So I told her those were bad words and it was bad to do that. She looked a little self-conscious, and I briefly congratulated myself on undoing what some naughty kid or teen did to her sweet brain. Until she did it again. My sense of morality made me feel like she should be punished a little. So I made her get off my lap. Which actually punished me more than her, since she just went to bed where it was warm under several blankets, and I was left to try to explain why I just banished the three year old from my lap. So thank you to English, for being so popular in Moz that one of the few phrases a school kid learns is so offensive, and for being easy enough for a three year old to perfectly enunciate such shocking words.
3) Knowledge. So this is a broad thing to be thankful of, so I will narrow it down for you. I believe it is (or should be) well known that when a person has a latrine outside, it is not recommended or fun to use the latrine at night. That is why someone very nice and wise and thinking ahead thought to invent the xi-xi (pronounced she-she) bucket, which is a bucket slightly filled with clean water in one's bedroom that you pee in at night. And sometimes in the morning when technically it's light and easy to use the latrine, but maybe you want to just lay in bed a little because it's Sunday and just read and you don't feel like walking the approximately fifteen feet from your room to the latrine. So xi-xi buckets are wonderful, and sometimes the hottest topic PCT's have to talk about. That being said, it had come to the attention of a few PCT's that their family, with a less buckets available than desirable, use the same bucket for several functions. Like for xi-xi, and then also for mopping the floor. Or, for those unfortunate PCT's, for xi-xi, and then bathing. I counted myself as lucky that my family only multi-tasked the xi-xi specific bucket for mopping. Until a little knowledge stepped in. Since Little Mae is only three, it is hard for her to use a tall bucket at night. Which is why their xi-xi bucket consists of one tall one within a wide, squat one. And I just noticed this the other day. That pee actually goes in the wide one. This makes sense, but I never thought of it probably because I never wanted to think of it. Because that wide bucket is what we use to bathe. Which is probably why my family insists on rinsing buckets out all the time before use. Sadly, we have no cleaner to clean the actual bucket in between functions. So I am now thankful that I know this, because from then on I have been extra careful to keep my eyes and mouth shut when I bathe.
A quick shoutout to my Mamá, who started singing in a group and won the local talent contest last night. Grand prize? A rather chique capelana. Parabéns (congratulations)!
So this is all for now. This week is a full week. I am leading my practicum session, which is going to teach kids about nose-blowing and hand-washing. Then a trip to an orphanage, followed the next day by site placement and Thanksgiving, followed by real Thanksgiving. I am sure I'll be writing again soon, with so much excitement on the horizon. Until then, I'll give you this tip.
If you're a Portuguese speaking man and want my attention, it is not to your advantage to yell across two lanes of traffic “Whitey! Whitey! Whitey! Whitey!”.
So this is all for now. This week is a full week. I am leading my practicum session, which is going to teach kids about nose-blowing and hand-washing. Then a trip to an orphanage, followed the next day by site placement and Thanksgiving, followed by real Thanksgiving. I am sure I'll be writing again soon, with so much excitement on the horizon. Until then, I'll give you this tip.
If you're a Portuguese speaking man and want my attention, it is not to your advantage to yell across two lanes of traffic “Whitey! Whitey! Whitey! Whitey!”.
And no, in this case persistence does not pay off.
No comments:
Post a Comment