First impressions

Several people have said to me that they feel safer in African countries than South American countries. I've never been to  South America but I can say that so far I haven't felt threatened here. There's no feeling of hostility or danger from other people that some places in South America apparently might have. People in general are very nice as I had come to expect. That said you still need to be careful where you walk during the night and there are some no-go areas and streets. People have been robbed, entire restaurants held at gun point and even people kidnapped. I was told that this sort of crime increases closer to Christmas and New Year's. Understandably people need money for the presents.

The first thing that surprised me here was how chilly it can get in the night and even during the day. It's winter here but still. I should have brought more pants and shirts :D Another thing was how early the sun sets here. It's completely dark before six o'clock. A South African guy on the bus to Maputo was bragging how in the winter they have sunlight until seven. I just had to tell him about the Finnish summer nights :P

I was warned that it's not cheap here. Rents are as high if not higher than in Helsinki. I still kind of refused to believe that the same goes for food in supermarkets as well. Almost everything is as expensive or at least close to it as in Finland. The universal beer index is around 40 Meticals per 33 cl bottle which is about 1 Euro. On the other hand beer in cheaper bars and the so called barracas might actually cost less. Also eating in the barracas is relatively cheaper. You can get a meal for 2 euros. This does however pose some requirements at least in the first weeks for your stomach's adjustment to local bacterial strain :P Barraca is a very loose term that can mean anything from a kiosk or booth to small restaurant bars in the bairros selling food and drinks and to in-city areas built of tin plates and wood also offering local cuisine and cheap alcohol. These are the places where many locals go for afterwork beers and to hang out. The Big Mac index is non-applicable since the city doesn't have a single McDonalds (KFCs exist though). Hooray!

Barraca.

Another barraca.

By the way, for all you SI / metric system nerds out there I can tell you there seems to be at least one thing where this part of the world is on the leading edge. Most products you find in the supermarket only contain the energy amount in joules not in calories. I have to recalibrate my inner calory calculator :P

I've been really struggling to put into words my reactions to seeing poverty here in the bairro of Chamanculo. Walking here doesn't make me feel sad. I don't feel pity towards these people. I don't feel guilty. Maybe it's a good thing. I don't know. Sure, many people don't have electricity or have to buy water from their neighbours and do their business in a pit in the ground. But people seem happy. I find this place extremely sympathetic. The weather is always nice. Maybe it's worse when it starts raining in the summer and the streets are flooding and then I'll feel differently. I'm wondering if I have been too well prepared (if that's even possible) for this. If I simply knew so well what to expect. Or if I'm just not understanding the extent of the difficulties in the lives of these people. Maybe I don't know and see the problems here. Or am I just simply not empathetic enough. I don't want to believe that. In any case it sometimes makes me feel stupid when I need to be told by friends that a girl picked up from the street to a car is a prostitute finding a customer or that smiling kids playing on the street have run away from their homes because their parents were beating them. I guess I'm just that naive and that my background of not having learned about these things in studies or so shows.

It's hard to believe it when a colleague mentions that it's good to have a football tournament during the school holidays so these around 10 year old kids won't spend their time drinking. It's hard to believe when I'm told that me just being here has a significance to these young people. That me saying a few words in Portuguese before a football game is in any way inspiring. That me giving a presentation about Finland to potential vocational training participants would raise the self respect of these youths. Anyway, it does create a powerful emotion when kids answer a shout of "Chamanculo" by the incredibly charismatic front man of ASSCODECHA, Amândio, with a loud "Oi!" Somehow a beautiful display of pride of their roots. Also it's humbling seeing the reactions of the youngsters told that this guy from Finland is working here for nothing and even taking the chapa to work every day. "Doesn't he even have a car?" Sometimes I forget how I'm different from most people in the bairros but there are always the small things to remind me about that fact and also the bigger things, the regular shouts of mulungu (white person) at me.

I want to repeat that Chamanculo seems like a nice place and it does tell something that a man who's travelled and lived in Finland for example still returned to this place to live and that a white Canadian has actually set up his home in here. Guys standing at a puddle of mud jokingly answer, when asked how they are, that they are fine there relaxing at the beach.

This can't be the whole picture though. Otherwise there would be no ASSCODECHA. Behind these smiles there must however be difficulties caused by low level of education and poverty, and sad things happening in the lives of these people. All the kids are playing on the streets on their own without a sign of their parents. The average age of people here must be well under 40. I have a feeling that this is telling about a high mortality rate to AIDS and other diseases.

I mentioned chapas earlier. They are the most common form of public transportation in this part of the world. My predecessor here in ASSCODECHA, Jaana, wrote about them. Not having any sort of timetables has its perks. I have never had to wait for more than a few seconds for the next chapa when commuting. There must be an incredible amount of these minibuses in this city. Still it's not enough and the cars are often so full you can't simply fit in. Not feeling like pushing your way in and waiting for a less full chapa is the only reason having to wait for a ride for minutes. In addition to not having timetables the chapas don't have marked stops either. The answer to the question why was simply that there's no need because everyone know where they are :) This has a perk too. You can easily ask the chapa to stop where you like or just exit when the car is stopped in traffic. Being used to bus drivers quickly accelerating away when seeing someone trying to run for that last bus of the night, having chapa compradors going to great lengths trying to get you on their ride is incredibly refreshing.

Chapa at the stop closest to my work. This one is in untypically good condition.

We met this guy in a bar. Apparently he's famous here.

One more song from the wedding.