Raining with the sun out….

Well at least the temperature has gone down. Yesterday was the crowning day of my hating the weather. It has been so hot and muggy for the past two weeks I found myself looking at pictures of Alaska and deep snow drifts on the internet just to try to cool my thoughts down. I think I have been itching for the past couple of days with last night being the culmination of it all! As I was eating dinner, I noticed that my ankles were really swollen and itchy. I looked down and saw that they basically were twice the normal size and had little red hive-y bumps all over them. I was ITCHY!!!!!!!! This morning I woke up and they were gone. I swear we just had an inch of rain dropped onto us and now the sun is out. I don’t know if this is global warming, or just Jokwe, the one day cyclone next day tropical storm friend of ours, off in the Mozambique Channel. Whatever it is, I’m looking forward to air conditioning and showers at the hotel in Maputo for the next couple of days.

Well, I’m back from Maputo and don’t think I posted this blog. It’s rainy and very stormy outside right now. I’m back in Maxixe for a little bit. Then I go up to Chimoio on the Zimbabwean Border for a week conference with some boys that I am still working with in Homoine. After that week, I’ll be back down in Maxixe for 2 or 3 more weeks and then Noel and Sam are coming!!!!! It’s my first visit from the States since I’ve been in Mozambique. I’m very excited and trying to save a bit every week so we can have fun while they’re here. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and put them up of when they are here. Back to rain again.

Ian

Itchy, itchy, itchy

 

Last night was the first night in my house where I thought dear God I'm in Africa, kill me now!  Those of you that know I have a flare for the dramatic are probably rolling your eyes, but it is so DAMN HOT HERE.  There's been a quick succession of storms about the size of Katrina that have hit the northern parts of Mozambique and Madagascar over the past couple of weeks.  3 I think in 3 weeks.  That has kept the humidity up for days.  I'm a prickly pear due to this heat rash I have and every single one of my friends is a crabby moody bastard.  Can you blame them though?  Remember East coast Augusts when you would be reading the newspaper and the whole thing would just be saturated?  That's what it's like here.  Just imagine 10-15 days of it in a row without the temperature ever really going down.  Kinda makes you lose your train of thought, like I just did.  I'm in my office right now with the curtains closed, the light off and the fan on high.  I'm desperate to just get the heat down.  The thing that is embarrassing, the Mozambicans are just so used to this, they hardly break a sweat… me I've got my own private Victoria Falls streaming down my forehead.

 

This weekend will be a nice break.  It's time for some regional meetings in Maputo.  We stay at this little holiday resort on the coast of the city called Kaya Kwanga.  It's a really nice place.  It was my first taste of Mozambique!  I remember when I got here I thought the place was a little sleezy but with some refurbishments, it's all nice a new now.  I'm looking forward to the chance just to get away for a couple of days.  It is my monthly shower time and I also heard that Sweeney Todd is  now being sold on the streets in Maputo.  Gotta go and get it.  J

 

 

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~Ian~
+258 825 232 821
www.weltwanderlust.blogspot.com

The Weirdest Thing

 

Don't you just love it when you are right?  I mentioned yesterday something about my landlord just creating problems with my house.  Well, I talked to my boss and he said that he and only he can renegotiate a price for the rent.  So I told my landlord to come to the office and talk.  He showed up today and every single person in the office was shocked.  I didn't even recognize him.  He's usually wandering around shirtless and drunk in his yard.  Sitting in the office here, he looked like a Mafioso.  I swear to you, fake leather shoes and belt, black pants that were so creased it looked like they had tent poles in them, and dark glasses.  That gave it away that he was drunk.  But, my boss was really calm and collected; he asked what we were doing here, (Mozambican formalities) and then started the meeting by asking to look at the old rent agreement.  My landlord handed it over and the agreement said that it is automatically renewable for 2 years once it expired, which was about 6 months ago.  My landlord starts saying that nothing is owed by any party (he actually owes my boss 2,500 meticais because of repairs my work paid for on the house.  The landlord says that all the proper discounts have been made and he is just present to talk about renegotiating a contract.  My boss wanted to see proof of the discounts.  Senhor Lukas got in a huff, grabbed the paperwork, mumbled something about coming back, and ran off – that was two hours ago.  Most of my colleagues want me to move now because a "vida negra" will continue happening.  The landlord obviously wants 600 meticais a month rent for a house that we worked on.  Oh well, at lest I see that I've got a lot of people on my side!  I'll keep you updated.

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~Ian~
+258 825 232 821
www.weltwanderlust.blogspot.com

Africa’s opportunists are……

Africa's opportunists are……

 

You fill in the blank here.  I am so fed up with people seeing white skin and thinking money, money, money.  I can take it when it's just beggars on the street, but when it's people like oh say my next door neighbor who has had other Peace Corps Volunteers live in his yard, then it drives me bonkers.  I do have to tell you though, and I'm not making this up, the man is stupid.  I don't know what he's thinking but he is just a STUPID human being.  He comes to me one night at 9:30 at night saying that my rent has gone up to 600 meticais a month.  My rent has been 250 meticais for as long as there has been a volunteer living in the house.  This guy said it is because of all the new things done to the house that the rent will go up.  To make a long story short, all of the repairs on the house have been done by Peace Corps or by ADECI, the organization I work for. 

 

This morning I woke up to him just being his sleazy self saying he couldn't come into the city to talk with ADECI because he doesn't know where the office is.  I'm sorry but that's bullshit.  He once proudly said to me that he is born and bred Maxixe, pretty much on the exact same land where the house now stands.  He's just trying to take advantage of me as a foreigner and as someone who "apparently doesn't know the system."  I've been visiting people at this house for months now.  I just feel so angry towards him because he knows I know he's trying to rip me off, but he's still trying.  If he would just let me alone for the 250 mets a month until I leave here, then he'd have a house full of stuff when I leave, if he continues to harass me, he'll be left with the four walls….grrrr….

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~Ian~
+258 825 232 821
www.weltwanderlust.blogspot.com