Practicing Patience

Patience, patience, patience…that’s what this week has been all about for me. One would think that after two months I would always know that “we are leaving now” means that we’ll probably go in half an hour or that “we are eating soon” means that they are just starting to cook, but for some reason I still believe people when they say these things to me. Today my host mom told me that we were going to a “festa”, a party, and that we were going for lunch. She even asked me what my plans were for later in the afternoon after the party, so I assumed that we were truly going around midday for lunch and then would go home afterwards. Needless to say, I was surprised when she told me to get ready to leave at 10am this morning. We left and arrived at the party at 10:30 and apparently my mom was meeting the other women attending the party to cook and prepare the meal that would be served. She told me to sit in a chair in the shade so I sat there with the grandmothers, babies, and some of the men (men don’t cook in Mozambique). I talked to some people a little bit, but most of the conversation around me was in Changana, the local language here, and since I only know how to say limited phrases in Changana, my conversation skills were limited so I just sat and observed. One hour passed, then two, three….four…and after four hours it looked like they were done cooking and then my host mom informed me that the guests of honor had not arrived yet so we could not eat. (The party was a wedding reception and I assume that they were married yesterday or this morning, but I’m not sure). So we waited some more. On another note…it was about 100 degrees and humid today and the only drink they had while we sat there was tap water and since it was not boiled nor bleached nor filtered, I was not supposed to drink it. I probably would have, and probably would have gotten sick, but my host mom forbid me from drinking it: needless to say, I was pretty thirsty. Anyway, around 3:30 or 4 the couple showed up and we all ate. The party then continued with cake cutting, presents, and lots of singing and dancing. Finally around 6:30 the party started to die down and my mom asked if I was ready to go soon (which I was)….and then half an hour later we were on our way home. Overall it was a fun day, just not what I expected, although I guess it really never is exactly how I expect it to be here! We are entering our last week and pack up to go to our swearing in ceremony in Maputo on Friday!