Tomar Banho

6 Oct 2010

“Rubber Ducky, you’re the one. You make bath time just so fun!”

How many baths do you take in one day? (Normally) How many baths do you think Mozambicans take? I go from living in the woods in Montana getting a shower once every 2 weeks to living in Mozambique where I take 2 baths every day. My family here would prefer I take 3…

No, it’s not just me and that I stink! (I would hope I’m not that bad) The culture here is to take a bath before each meal. And yes, it’s a bath… a bucket bath. No running water. You put water in a basin, use a can or pitcher and dump the water on yourself. Then you soap up and rinse off. I actually only took one bath this past Sunday, and I felt like something was wrong… J

So, when I say no running water, I mean no running water for the toilet, shower, sink, kitchen…for nothing. Every other day we go fetch water from nearby. We have 2 water drums in our house, one in the kitchen and on in the bathroom. It’s pretty easy to get used to. The toilet is a manual flush at my house. By manual, I mean you put a good amount of water in a bucket, you take that water and you dump the water in the toilet and it flushes. Might have to do it a couple times for the major ones…J

I guess it’s time to talk about my house and family and what I’m actually doing right now here in Mozambique besides for bathing. Until the first of December, I am in training staying with a host family in Namaacha (just outside of Maputo). It’s a really cute house and a great family. The house is made of stones and cement and reminds me of Bedrock. (No, I do not live with the Flintstones). Our kitchen is incredibly small; it has a propane stove and a couple basins to do the dishes. It barely fits my mama and I. In the backyard we have a garden, and we have a veranda in the front. I have 2 brothers here. Ada, who is 7, and Isly, who is 3. My papa is only home about once a month because he actually teaches English in another city. (I’ll explain how the education thing works on a later date.) My papa is actually 19 days younger than me… but I still call him papa… My mama is 29 and really pretty. Oh yeah, my papa is tall…taller than me. J I have an avo (grandma) that lives with us also. She is my papa’s mother. I feel bad because I get a room to myself and all of them share one room… a requirement made by Peace Corps to the families when the families were interviewed and chosen to host us.

During these 10 weeks, I am learning Portuguese… lots and lots of Portuguese. Here’s an awkward story of mine: So, Peace Corps brought us up to Namaacha on a Saturday morning, but our first class wasn’t until Monday. That means we all spent the whole weekend with a family we just met and they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Portuguese. Charades is a fun game… J

It’s been awesome to have kids at my house. And they love to dance! And they love to see me try to dance the Mozambican style. Every time I come home, Isly yells for me, “Mana Amanda. Mana Amanda!” (which means Big Sister Amanda). Ada one day was dancing in the house and kind of making the music noises for “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson. I got my Ipod out and my little speakers and played the song. His eyes lit up and for the next hour, Ada and Isly danced like Michael Jackson, with the whole crotch grab and everything (you’ll have to see the video… Isly’s crotch grab include grabbing the top of his pant and just pulling them up!) J

Life in Mozambique has definitely been fun. There are a lot of different norms, but I feel good here. Portuguese is coming along…slowly. I’ve actually had some deeper conversations with my family here. They don’t quite understand why I don’t want kids or my own and that being an aunt is great… J My mama continues to say “when you have kids…”blah blah blah

Overall, I’m loving it so far. I’m soaking everything in, the sun, the people, the experience.