Primeira Reportagem do Moçambique (i.e., I’m in Africa, y’all)

Portuguese, Changana, Echuwabo, English

Elections, Observation Missions, Fliers, Capulanas

Students, Orphans, Believers, Peddlers

Embassies, Credentials, Maps, Interviews

…………..

This Morning the class visited the U.S. Embassy. One of the diplomats made an appointment for us to interview the director of the law school of the main university in Mozambique, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. We interviewed a professor of Portuguese in the Social Sciences faculty as well. Tomorrow we go back. I appreciate the openness and candidness of the people who received us at the university. There was so much communion, so much good will. Our group has a lot to learn and I am excited for this challenge to fit so many interviews and lessons into the one week that we have remaining.

I am surprised by my Portuguese. I am surprised by the Portuguese of others too — “meh-tee-kigh-sh” instead of “meh-tee-kighs”. I didn’t expect to be this functional in the language, but I’m glad. It’s a blessing. In Maputo province Portuguese is very widespread, although I have met a number of people who are bilingual in other languages or who have limited Portuguese skills.

I went to an Assembly of God church service on Sunday and they were singing songs in Changana, one of the local languages. The message was missions. The service was linguistically taxing but the congregation was very open, there were doors even open to the outside at the front of the church, the whole thing felt light and much like the christian/protestant churches that I know from the United States.

We went to the main Frelimo political rally and interviewed various people about their party affiliation the same day. Who will they vote for, and why? What is the difference that their vote will make in this election?
What if an opposition party wins?

The hats, shirts, political fans walking around with bumper stickers and sticky posters stuck to their clothing, wrapped in skirts (capulanas) with Guebuzas face radiating from the hip, or the calf, or perhaps the temple of their well wrapped head. There is a creativity and soul to Frelimo that I know little of in the United States. I would never put a candidates headshot all over my car or my clothing. I might go as far as a tank top.

The day we arrived in Maputo, I think it was Saturday, we met the former president of the country – Joaquim Chissano. I asked him a question about the officialization of native languages in Mozambique (on camera during our interview) and also had the job of presenting him with our class gift. It turns out that his birthday was the day before, so it doubled as a birthday gift.

I was interested in the living memory of the occasion. How could it be possible that someone who has extended themselves into literature, poetry, songs, history books, a person that will not be forgotten, not for a long time, be listening to me (from Downriver Michigan) ask a question about my nascent interest in his country? My interest in his country is six decades younger than his. I am fascinated.
But these are the strange happenings of life, and I embrace life.

I am learning so much about developing nations, nationalism, poll observation missions

and the reddest dirt

that rivals the earth and anthills

of Hamilton, Alabama.