Just to backtrack, I’ve now been living at Veki’s Guest House, the accommodation that, at least once, every development worker passes through when in Mbabane. It’s a convenient place to meet and make friends quickly, and Veki has come to be my fairy godmother here in Swaziland for all of the assistance and support she has shown me since meeting. But, the most precious thing she did was to introduce me to my Italian boys, without whom Swaziland would not be what it has been for the last few weeks. It’s been constant laughter and entertainment with these three, and I often find myself waking up in laughter from reminiscing of things said and done the days gone. Anyway, so it’s with this company that Mona and I were accompanied by over our weekend in Maputo, topped off with juicy, satiating seafood meals with bottles of white wine and incredible laughs by the ocean, climaxing with all-night partying at Coconuts Live, and concluded by meditative mornings watching the sunrise on the beach as each one of us enters a pensive state of reflection, before heading back to the hotel to catch a few Zzzzs, only to continue the cycle through the weekend.
The drive home evoked a different sensation, driving through the beautiful terrain of southern Africa from Maputo to Mbabane, stopping to enjoy the sunset over the tundra. It was one of the most breathtaking, beautiful sights for us all. Sometimes I admit to feeling guilty for enjoying this luxury in Africa as a foreigner when I’ve come here to engage in development work, but this type of reprieve is something to grab while one can when so far from home, family, and friends. In the end, we are only human.
Mozambique is another country where poverty is rife, but not always visibly so. I’ve never been to Brazil, but it still reminded me of what a large city there might be like. Portuguese is the language spoken here, and surprisingly there are many Indian Muslims who have settled here from several generations ago. It struck me as extremely bizarre to meet other South Asians here with whom I could hardly relate to, if at all. My communication with most was limited to broken Hindi, but at times having to settle for Spanish to substitute for my lack of knowledge of the Portuguese language. The South Asians across Africa differ greatly from each other as well as from those born and raised in the West. It felt more like discovering different species of a similar breed!
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