It was
around 70 degrees outside on September 29th in Maputo. I felt the breeze caress my cheeks as I sat in
the back row of a chapa (a vehicle that is used as a taxi and
it looks like a van). I felt the seat in
front of me dig into my knees and I was sandwiched between two other
volunteers. A second year Peace Corps
volunteer warned, “You guys think that cramming 14 people in a chapa is bad, you’ll see how it’ll feel
when there are 30 people in here when it’s 100 degrees. You’ll have someone's chicken trying to fly in
your lap or you’ll be holding a baby.”
I couldn’t
stop thinking about how uncomfortable it would be to travel in the chapa.
My stomach felt like it was being squeezed like the last bit of toothpaste
because I was also thinking about meeting my host family. I thought, “Is my family going to understand
me as I speak broken Portuguese? Am I
going to understand them? Will they be able to accommodate to my non-meat diet?”
After the
hour and thirty minute drive from Maputo to Naamacha, all of the volunteers
climbed their way out of their chapa or bus. I grabbed my backpack, ukulele,
and my emergency safety kit. My suitcase
was already delivered to my host family’s house. When I looked around, I saw that we were parked
in front of a school. All of a sudden, I
heard singing and clapping in the distance. The group of volunteers slowly walked
towards the basketball courts with confused looks on their faces. When we arrived to the stadium, I almost cried when I saw the host families
singing and dancing to welcome us. I saw
children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents.
I scanned the crowd and I tried to guess who I would be going home with
that day. I’m sure that they were
wondering which volunteer would be staying with them for the next ten weeks. After the song, they pulled out a piece of
paper with our names on it. I saw
volunteers running to their mothers and siblings, giving them bear hugs. After about a minute, I still didn’t see anyone holding my
name. Did my host family forget to come get
me? Finally, another volunteer pointed
at me and said, “This is Gina.” My lips
were trembling and my voice cracked as I stated, “Prazer. (It’s a pleasure).”
She gave me a kiss on my cheeks and said, “Obrigada, prazer (Thank you, it's a pleasure).”
To be
continued….
What a great experience you're having! You must be extremely busy getting acquainted with your host family and with life in Mozambique. Since I'm an animal lover, what animals are you seeing? Can hardly wait for your next entry.
ReplyDeletecan't wait for the next episode. :-) what is the scenery like?
ReplyDeleteI'd feel claustrophobic in the chapa! I just got teary eyed reading about the families welcoming you.
ReplyDelete