Sunrise at Shop-Rite and a Special Visitor

I have always been in love with the risings and settings of the sun. Florida. Ireland. Cape Cod. Santorini. You name it and I will usually make people climb to the highest point just to catch a glimpse of a good sunrise or sunset. So Mozambique would prove to be no different. I am generally up before the sun rises because I run every morning. I run with three other volunteers and one of their host brothers. We usually meet outside my house at 5:30 a.m. and run for about 40 minutes on the main road. While we would usually see how the sky was brightening up with the sunrise we never really stopped to watch the sunrise. I proposed to the group that one morning we should go down to Shoprite, Namaacha’s open market, and watch it. Shoprite overlooks the mountains to the east and on a clear day you can even see Maputo. We decided to announce it to our whole training class that we would be going on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, just Sabrina and I showed up at 5:15 a.m. at our designated meeting place to go. A couple people said later that they set alarms and wanted to go, but it was just too early. We walked down the main road to Shoprite and chose the best viewing spot for our sunrise. We definitely overestimated how long it would take us to get down to Shoprite, but we got to see all of the maes carrying their goods on their heads to set up what they would sell for the day. They carried everything on their heads: sacks of rice, capalanas, bread, water jugs, you name it. There was a layer of haze across the horizon so it took a while for the sun to break through. Leading up to it, reds, pinks and oranges painted across the sky. I felt as if we were watching the previews before a movie was about to start. Finally, the great African sun broke through the haze and the feature presentation started to run. Despite the wait for the sun to initially rise, it was on a fast track across the sky. It was gorgeous. (Pictures to come at a later date.) We seemed to be the only ones taking it in as the hustle and bustle of Shoprite moved around us. After our brief interlude we decided to move along with the day’s course as well. But, we had one more stop. We had heard about a German bakery in town, but because of our tight training schedule, we had not yet had an opportunity to check it out. This was our chance. We followed the directions we got and made our way to the bakery. They had a selection of breads and cookies in the window. We decided to split the raisin bread which was just 20 meticais, which is less than a dollar. $1 = 27 meticais. It was delicious. It had a light glaze icing and then was chocked full of raisins and doughy goodness. What a treat! We devoured it on our way home.

We got home with just a few minutes to spare before we had to leave for training. For training we were going to visit the medico tradicional. It was really interesting to visit the medico tradicional because his house was “la” (which in Portuguese means “far”. Mozambicans love this phrase when they are either giving directions or trying to describe to you where something is.) It was also kind of down this rocky slope, so we were trying to figure out how if someone is really sick they are going to get to the medico tradicional in the first place. He showed us how he communicates with the spirits through a conch shell and his supply of medicines and lion fat that he uses to heal people. It was interesting to hear how often he does send people to the hospital, especially if they come to him with HIV or tuberculosis. When I got home from the visit, my mae was horrified that I had not taken my bucket bath that morning. I didn’t have time. Eek. She made me take one before I could eat lunch.

A couple weeks ago now, we had a very special visitor. The U.S. Ambassador Leslie Rowe came to speak with us. I found out a couple days before that because I lived so close to the HUB, where all of our trainings are, the ambassador would be visiting my house after lunch. That morning when I returned from my run, my mae asked to come into my room to see if it was clean for the ambassador’s visit. I said it was clean, but then soon realized my standard of clean and her standard were two very different things. She first picked up all my shoes and threw them in a pile outside my room, then she moved the chair and started to move the bed. I jumped in to help her. She then grabbed the broom and started furiously sweeping my floor. I tried to help, but she was on a mission. Then, she grabbed a bacia of water and a rag and started scrubbing my floor. I told her I could help and finally she gave me the rag and showed me how it was done. I followed her lead and thought I was doing it just as she showed me. I should have known better. She told me I was doing it wrong and demonstrated again. Then it was my turn to try. She seemed to be pleased with my work. Then, she realized that it was getting late so I had to take my bath before training. While I scurried off to the casa de banho, my mae stayed cleaning in my room. When I returned, she was still cleaning. As I finished getting ready, she was in and out making sure everything was just right. I left with seconds to spare before I had to be at training.

When Ambassador Rowe arrived at training, we had a great discussion about her role in Mozambique, her experience in the U.S. Foreign Service and the current state of Mozambique. Her post in Mozambique ends this month and she will return to D.C. After our discussion, she ate lunch with us. Somehow I got to sit right across from her and she asked all of us around her to tell her what we were doing before we signed up for the Peace Corps. Her husband is an RPCV so she is really interested in the  Peace Corps. After lunch, Sabrina and I walked with her and Peace Corps staff to visit our houses. When we got to my house, I introduced her to my mae and then she thanked her for taking me in as her daughter during training. They spoke for a little while and then the ambassador gave my mae a pin with an American and Mozambican flag. My mae was truly touched. We took a picture together and then went on to Sabrina’s house next door to meet her family. When I got home from training that day, my mae told me how nervous she was beforehand because she wasn’t sure if the ambassador would like her or her house. In my broken Portuguese, I assured her the ambassador liked her and was just happy to be a guest in her home. She smiled and seemed to take comfort in that. The pin she received was set in a place of honor on the table for a while.