Leaving Maputo

I drafted this last Friday, but didn’t have a chance to post anything until now…

Now that Friday is here, I realize that the trip has come and gone and I haven’t blogged a bit. Partly because there wasn’t that much to talk about – I worked, ate, and slept mostly.

Last night (Thursday) was a little different, though. I went out on the town with one of the US hires here to a couple karaoke bars. How many chances in my life am I going to get to do karaoke in Maputo? That’s exactly why it was safe to do! There are no incriminating pictures, but she (an alto) and I (a bari-tenor) did a couple duets. I think we started off with Desparado, by the Eagles, and one other tune that now escapes me (ah! It was Walking on Sunshine). These were really local places, one an expat guesthouse, and the other a club down by the water, so we were not the worst pair in the room by a long shot. It was shortly after midnight when I got back to the hotel.

Friday, it turns out, is a partial day of work at the Mission. During the rest of the week, they work from 7:30 – 5:30, and then on Friday they go from 7:30 – 11:30 and call it a weekend. I had been working “normal” 8 – 5:30 days. Anyway, the hard work of the week was done, and Rita, the person with whom I was working most of the time, lamented that I hadn’t been able to go shopping or see anything of Maputo except the road between my hotel and the Mission.

Rita is a woman of action when she puts her mind to it – half way through the morning, she got a car and driver and took me to the big market in town. About the only way to describe the Market is to imagine the biggest, most bustling farmers market you’ve ever seen. There was every imaginable veggie, fruit and spice you can think of. Since cashews are a major product of Mozambique, I got some to bring home. While I was at it, I needed some bananas for the trip, and then some cardamom for tea… It was fun!

The trip home was uneventful. My flight from Jo’burg to Frankfurt was delayed for 3 hours, but I was facing a long layover in Frankfurt anyway, so that didn’t matter a bit. We landed in Dulles a little early, and all was right was right with the world.