Flying

Time in Mandimba seems to be flying already.  The activistas have continued on their mission to prove to me just how badass they are by taking me on 15km uphill bike rides without even breaking a sweat.  No, really.  The other week, Lourdes took me to a town called Lissiete (which is actually the official administrative post of the district, but for all intents and purposes, Mandimba is where business happens).  We biked 5km uphill on a paved road, and then turned off to the right to continue another 10km on a sandy, still uphill, path.  She had pity on me, and we walked our bikes up the worst of it.  We got back on our bikes when the slope was less steep and the sand gave way to red dust.  As I was still puffing away, she proceeded to tell me all about the history of the abandoned farm that we were biking past – how it was owned by a Portuguese couple before independence, how it gave jobs to a lot of people in town, how, in those times, there was much less fome (hunger).  

Lourdes is one of the oldest activistas, with a mild goiter, a serious need to see a dentist, and the faint tattoos common here on the women of three parallel lines between the eyebrows or right in front of the ears.  She likes to wear of pair of earrings from which dangle little white plastic high heel shoes, and she has the air of someone who is not opposed to beating people up, but I’ve never seen her get confrontational.  She is also the activista that has the most patients she visits on a regular basis, and her plot in the association’s garden is particularly vibrant.

After arriving in Lissiete, Lourdes introduced me in the administration building, the hospital (they have a doctor AND a PA!), to the neighborhood boss (the old one just died, so some kid took his place and seemed pretty clueless), to a previous patient of hers that she had discharged, and to two of current patients.  On our way back out of town, we caught up with one of the international NGOs that does a lot of community health work in Niassa province, stashed our bikes in the back of their truck, hopped in front, and caught a ride back to Mandimba.  Thank goodness, I was out of water.

I’m nearing the end of my home visit regimen – of the 26 neighborhoods and communities that these activistas work in, I’ve already visited 16.  I’ve been prohibited from visiting 6 of them because they are even further away, and I think my bosses are afraid of breaking their brand new Peace Corps Volunteer.  I would like to think that I can do it if the activistas can, but honestly I think the possibility of me keeling over, 20km away from Mandimba, under that hot Sub-Saharan Africa midday sun is pretty high.  Yet again, proof that the most of the activistas are way more hardcore than I am, despite being HIV+, having suffered and recovered from full-blown AIDS in the past few years, and experiencing serious side effects on a daily basis from their ARVS.  Again, they are beasts.

The remaining 4 communities and neighborhoods are on the schedule for the next week, but there is yet to be discussion of what will happen after I finish the list.  I tried to gently approach my supervisors about it, and they give happily vague answers. So, again, I am being patient and will just wait and see.  That is very normal around here, but it makes sense.  For example, the other day the electricity was out.  Electricity in Mandimba comes from the Malawi power grid, and I guess they occasionally go on a “power trip” (ha… excuse me.)  So, they cut of energy from 7am until 6pm.  If I had plans to do anything productive in the office, they would have been made moot by the lack of energy, because most office work happens on computers.  Instead, because there were no plans to mess up without energy, the whole plan for the day just shifted.  

The Activista's Horta

I started the day going to visit the orphanage that ESTAMOS is building, and then going to Irmãos Unidos to pick up a head of lettuce someone had brought me from the garden.  Then my supervisor suggested I go back home to put it in the fridge, even though the fridge wasn’t on, due to the lack of electricity.  After putting my lettuce into a warm fridge, I stopped by and chatted with a local shop owner for a while, and got some town gossip.  I went back to work to check in, and ended up talking with two of my supervisors for a very long time about Mozambican politics and economics.  They are very interested in outsider’s opinions on the foreign investment that is happening in Mozambique’s natural resources, and what it means for their population.  Then, I went back by the shop to chat and gossip some more.  Then I went home, and waited for the electricity to come back on to cook dinner.  See?  If I’d had plans, they would have been messed up because there was no electricity, then I (probably) would have been a typical Westerner and got bent out of shape because of messed up plans.  Instead, I had a lovely, laid back day full of unexpected conversations. 

I think Mandimba has power outages, on average, 1 to 2 times per week, but they usually don’t last all day.  Regardless of power outages, I do end up with lots and lots of free time.  I like this very much.  I have found good ways to fill up my free time.  I have started some little seedlings (mint, thyme, cilantro, peppers, basil, cherry tomatoes, and dill), I have an adorable puppy, I have been reading more books than I have had the time and motivation to do for many years (about one per week), and I sit in my plastic lawn chair in my kitchen and just think for long periods of time.  When I finish a good period of thinking/sitting in my solitary chair, I go outside, do some gratuitous plant watering, pick some fleas and ticks off my puppy, then perhaps I’ll go to the market and see if they have the good kind of bananas.  They rarely do.  However, green mango season is in full swing – I’m just not sure what to do with them yet.  I then may go by one of the shops in town – one has better gossip (and a generator, which is good for getting cold drinks on those electricity-free days), and the other one will usually give me free chocolates.  Jackpot.

Miga!

So, yes, time is flying in Mandimba.  I am pretty sure it is because I am having fun.  I think a lot of people might not find the above-mentioned series of events fun, but I am very lucky in that I do.  It is probable that my schedule will not be this loose for all of the next 22.5 months; I’ll probably have some times when I feel like time is crawling by, and when work gets busier.  Maybe I’ll get sick of extraneous shopping trips around town down the road, but I am really pleased that, for now, I’ve got things to do, places to be, and people to see – even if they aren’t that important in the big picture, they make life a lot better for now.

P.S.  Speaking of flying, I biked down my town’s airstrip the other day.  This is because it is just a spiffied up section of road to outlying communities.  However, the view from the airstrip of the surrounding landscape is exceptional.

Airport