Bars in Africa: Zam-bro-zia

Welcome back to Bars in Africa, Part 2: Zam-bro-zia. In our last episode, we watched our heroes traverse the mighty Maputo harbor, haggle for overpriced fish, watch animals from a car, and obsess over their butt's (just Rebecca). Now, we follow them into the wild and undeveloped north of Mozambique, as their journey changes from pleasant safari to cross-cultural experience. Enjoy

We arrived in Quelimane late at night and headed straight to our hotel. After an almost 19 hours of travel, the comfortable beds and hot showers at Hotel Nagadas were a welcome site. Here we are sitting outside in the courtyard enjoying the perfect weather of Mozambican winter.

One of the big challenges of our trip was paying for things. Though many of the hotels and restaurants we were at had credit card machines, there was often issues in using them. Whether it was because they actually did not work, or if the owners wanted to avoid fees, we'll never know. Either way, my parents and I got to enjoy the pleasures of  Mozmabican banking: long lines, excessive paperwork, frequent cutting, broken machines, and withdrawal limits

Before we left Quelimane, I arranged a visit to my friend's sawmill. Though originally from Holland, Enrique relocated to Mozambique several years ago to make use of the large amounts of dead coconut trees. Thanks to a terrible blight that  has been mysteriously turning whole plantations into a sea of telephone poles, there is an almost inexhaustible source of free timber just rotting in the ground, and Enrique is making good use of it. This relatively low quality wood is in demand locally because of the high prices on exported hard-woods and timber

Upon arriving in Molocue, we made a quick stop at my house to securely store the goodies (locked trunk with sleeping dog on top) and made our way to my favorite bar/restaurant: Pensao Fambone. While we waited for our exclusive roof top terrace table to be prepared, I trounced my sister in a game of pool. Take that water slide!

The next morning, my sister and I left from my house and went to pickup my parents at the nicest hotel in Molocue (not saying much)  for our tour of the town. This started with a trip into the Mercado Central (central market) for the basic food purchases necessary for the next two days meal's

Though it was a Sunday, the market was pretty well stocked and we found everything we needed: tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, carrots, tangerines, bananas, tuna, bread, beans, eggplant, and rice

We also took the time to search through the wide selection of capulanas available. These colorful fabrics are used for everything from floor rags to baby carriers to material for dresses. My family picked out a few patterns for various uses.

For lunch, we invited Tojo and Gloria over. Along with salad and bread, Gloria brought a homemade Mozambican specialty, Matapa: Collared greens + coconut milk + peanut flour + fired tomatoes, onions, and garlic=Delicious!

My neighbor Gloria with her adopted son/nephew Raymundo. Having trustworthy, friendly, and hospitable neighbors like her have made my time in Molocue super easy

After lunch, we went to the Centro Juvenil (Youth Center) for the specially scheduled scout meeting. With the 4 of us seated in the center, and the scouts seated around us in a wide arc, we had a very entertaining question and answer session. Since all 4 of us were/are scouts, most of the questions revolved around that and our family life. One of the funnier exchanges happened when the scouts became convinced that my parents, and therefore all scouts, got married because of scouting. We also talked about their families and living situations, which was a real window into Mozambican life. Though I was there to translate, my parents and sister did a surprisingly good job of understanding and responding to the questions.

Afterwards, we walked around my school and neighborhood for a while. Here we are in front of the pump near my house

While dinner was cooking (rice and beans), my sister made this lovely addition to my home. I don't know what her obsession is with animal butts ("Look at that butt" was a popular phrase in Kruger), but it does make for funny art

The next day we went out to Monte Rupi for a visit with my favorite Italian Padres (equivalent to my mother saying "you're my favorite son")

Since both my Dad and I are engineers, they figured we'd want to take a look at the blueprints for the monastery under construction. Seeing the full vision was impressive, though it provoked a lot of questions about the point of a giant beautiful building in the middle of no-where. What I keep telling myself is that the combination of teaching locals new skills, providing an space for reflection and contemplation, and just pure getting-something-done in a region where most people are content to sit around and watch clouds go by make it worth it

During the trip, my sister and mom took it upon themselves to make up for my lack of English lessons with Tojo. Between Rihana, Justin Bieber, and MJ songs, they gave him a lot of new material, but what stuck was a new phrase: "Oh shit!". Rebecca used it when she realized that she had left her backpack at the monastery upon our arrival in Alto Molocue, and it instantly became Tojo's favorite expression. We've run out of rice: Oh shit! Our car to Ilha de Mocambique leaves at 5am: Oh shit! My dad loves rice and beans: Oh shit!

Sticky was a regular fixture of the visit and made a good show of his chilled out but loving ways. On our way out, he followed my sister and I from my house to my parents hotel, waited for our car to arrive, and then ran behind the car while we drove out of town. Such a good pup!

Family photo on top of Rupi. Showing your family where you've been living for the past 18 months in a quick 3 days was tough. But between the walk around, meals with neighbors and friends, scout meeting, and school tour, I think they came away with a good idea of what my daily life is like.

So ends Part 2 of the Bars in Africa mini-series. When we're back, our heroes will go on an epic journey to Ilha de Mocambique, enjoy some much deserved R&R, and get called "macuna" (white person) by at least 100 different children. See you next time.