Cinco de Junio, 2011, Maputo, Mozambique
Sitting in a small Pakistani/Indian restaurant(I love the harmony that results from foreign restaurant-based cultural fusion), green tables covered in plastic, large South Asian families gathered for a Sunday meal, speaking a universal European tongue in this far away land, the feel of cultural blending pervasive. What a wonderful town this is; take your average African city, water it down with wide avenues, few cars, an oceanfront setting, a laid back populace that blends every shade of the cultural paradigm, and take with this the unique feature that this is a walking town, that I can walk unencumbered by safety fears as in South Africa and in so many other large cities, that the local all stop and smile, say hello, an easy grace in this ramshackle African city-town-capital. Embracing my new found Portuguese skills (still milking my high school Spanish classes this late in life....) I awoke from a wonderful siesta an hour ago, and with no power and no water to be had (no worries, a happy tradeoff to the quality of life here), I set out wandering, photographing, observing the tiny streetside fruit stalls, the men in yellow mCell aprons proudly parading past selling cheap mobile air time, and about 95% of the shops shuttered for the Sunday day long siesta. A refreshing fact, this closure; a reflection on quality of life, a focus on spending Sunday with the family, gatherings of friends on corners, sipping rum, laughing, conversing; as I walked past a large family gathered on a covered patio, the children kicking soccer balls down the dirty lanes, and the small group of skateboarders using the steps of the main church, as they do in every town in America, to show off their new moves, I warmed to the rhythm of this place. This place, this last day, has reminded me of why I came to Africa; it has utterly refreshed me with its laid back charms, its rundown, ramshackle, dirty facades, it is everything that was so sorely missing from South Africa's modernity and development. The smiles, food, languidity all embrace me now. I feel safe, welcome, warm, and ready for the next month on the road. I am so glad to have finally made it to this country, only a year later than originally expected, but it feels, just in time.
