Some observations

During the days I always see things and think “Oh, I should write about that on my blog” and then when I actually sit down at the computer, I can never remember what it was. Such is the case now, but I have thought of a few things to share with you.

The sidewalks here are very wide, yet there is never enough space to walk and we often end up walking on the edge of the street instead. The main reason is the cars, as I mentioned before. But there are also a lot of people selling fruits, vegetable, extension cords, paintings and several other random things on the sidewalks. Also, every five steps you find someone (usually a young guy) selling cell phone credits for one of the two companies.

On the way to ISCTEM, the university where Lilian and I are working right now, we pass by a policeman who stands in a little booth. Around the booth is a box painted in red on the sidewalk. Nobody is allowed to walk through this box. If you do, he yells at you to get out. One day Lilian asked him why he had the box. He replied that if people were in his box, he couldn’t do his job. Maybe there is some good reason for it, but it is still pretty funny seeing this guy there everyday protecting his little red box.

The other university, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), is a lot bigger and is sitting in a large field of sand. It’s like walking through a dessert to get there. Marco is working there right now. We did some presentations last Friday and he has been receiving a lot of applications. At ISCTEM things are moving a little slower. We finally have our posters up, and this week we are presenting to classes. Just two applicants so far, but we are expecting many more over the next couple of weeks. A lot of the students seem very interested in AIESEC, which is awesome. It will be a matter of making sure we select the right people to get us started.

Finally we are starting to interact with the students and get a better understanding of them. Of course the others have the advantage, since I can’t talk to all of them… yet. One thing that surprised me a little is the variety of people here. In Kenya, pretty much everyone was black with the odd mzungu around. Here, there is a lot more variety. Everything from very dark to very light, with a large Indian and Middle Eastern community. If I showed you a picture of the students here, I doubt anyone would guess they were Mozambican. There are also a lot of Portuguese people here. And of course the odd Asian as well. So overall, much more diverse than Kenya was.

Speaking of Kenya, I was thinking this morning about what I missed from there that isn’t available here. Not including specific people (because that is not fair), I have to say I miss the English (duh) and also the Kenyan tea. I guess that what I get for going to a former Portuguese colony… no tea culture. The downtown of Nairobi is cleaner than the downtown of Maputo, including garbage and air quality, as well.
Daudo mentioned at lunch today that just yesterday he witnessed some corruption in action. He said that we has shocked that the two men discussed their “arrangement” right in front of him, like it was not big deal. Just goes to show why an organization like AIESEC in so important for countries like Mozambique.

And lastly, because I always end up writing too much, something completely non-AIESEC and non-Mozambique related. I have become totally addicted to Great Big Sea! I can’t stop listening to them J Also, I finished Davita’s Harp last Thursday and really enjoyed it. On Friday I started The Picture of Dorian Gray and I finished it on Sunday night. I am going through my books much too fast! We have more free time in the evenings that I expected and no internet at home, so I have been doing a lot of reading. I might have to make a trip to South Africa to stock up!

P.S. Tried to upload a picture but 20 min later no pic. Sorry.