I'm sick...

and I’ve been sick for a week now although it is finally showing signs of slowing down. We had a major cold front come through (and boy does it get chilly here) signaling the start of winter, which led to me getting a cold. This of course led to a sore throat and general achy body, which was then followed by an infection in my nose. My upper lip and right nostril is pretty swollen and sore, but the rest of me is feeling better. Of course, that was until I got out of bed the other day and strained my lower back. GETTING OUT OF BED!!! What 24 year old strains their back, especially just getting out of bed??? My nana is 93 and plays golf every week, but I can’t get up in the morning without pulling something. There is no justice…

I used to kinda enjoy getting sick in the states. Think about it…you get to miss work and watch movies all day, you get sympathy from friends and family and people bring you soup. But here, I am confined to my cold house with nothing to do but read and sleep. I found myself huddled under my blanket, the springs from my mattress jabbing into my back, dreaming of the days when I could just run out for an Egg McMuffin, or a McGriddle, or a McSOMETHING!

While I was in bed one day, my neighbor (the owner of the house) and his wife came over to have a chat. They were concerned that I wasn’t eating properly, which is what made me sick. I assured them that I cook a variety of healthy meals and that me being sick was just a passing thing. They told me that the eggs I was eating in the morning with my various scrambles weren’t as nutritious as American eggs, so I had to eat different foods to stay healthy. Then they asked me what I had for dinner the previous night and I told them I had salad with lettuce, cabbage, tomato, boiled egg and some tuna that was sent to me. "NO NO NO," they said. "You needed to eat more rice and xima with traditional Mozambican cuisine - that’s where you’ll get your vitamins!" I tried to explain that a salad like the one I had made had sufficient nutritional value, but they were convinced otherwise. So, realizing I did not have the strength to bust out my nutritional presentation at that given moment, I relented and said I would eat more Mozambican dishes and lived to educate another day. They were happy.

One positive thing in my life is my empregada. I know, I know…I wasn’t comfortable getting a housekeeper at first, figuring that I could easily wash clothes, clean dishes and carry water. In fact, several of us in training felt that way. But we came to find out that culturally it is expected that if you have the money to hire someone, you do so. There are such few jobs available, it seems greedy for you to horde money rather than pay someone to do things for you. So when I arrived to site my neighbors recommended a 15-year-old girl who was the daughter of a friend, despite my apprehensions about having someone that young. She turned out to be too afraid to talk to me so it didn’t work out. The 2nd woman they recommended was older but didn’t work out either. I won’t say why exactly, but she must have loved sweets because her fingers were very….sticky. Finally I told my neighbor’s wife, Aquima (whom I have bonded with) that I was looking for more of an older woman…a Dona, with kids, who actually needed some help and wanted the job. Turns out she knew of a woman who lives right behind them who has 3 kids and needs a job to support the family. She is a delightful woman, a hard worker and a great new addition to my life here. We sit and chat about life in Mozambique and she is starting to tell me more and more about herself. She moved to the village because of her husband, but is disappointed on how few jobs are available. She and the kids rarely see the money that her husband brings in from Xai Xai so I am trying to make sure that what money she makes from me stays with her and the kids. I can trust her to feed the pets if I am away and she has even started cooking some traditional Mozambican dishes with me. When we cook, she takes half the food for her and her family, since I really only need two nights worth of leftovers. For a beginning, we are meshing quite nicely.