A Stark Contrast (translated)

[A rough translation of Jess's last post, using a few online translation tools.]

Look at a map of Mozambique. Nampula City and Gurue (NW in Zambezia province) do not seem to be 12 hours apart. But sometimes they may be. After the conference, I decided to visit another volunteer for a few days on site in Gurue. We were very excited that the Peace Corps driver needed to make a visit to a nearby city, so we could get a free, fast ride there. Or so we thought. We left half an hour after the departure time indicated, which is, by definition, not late here. We had a good first hour-and-a-half drive, but then got a flat tire. The driver knew how to change it, and there was a spare tire ... only problem was that the spare tire was already flat. Then, after waiting for another spare, and then waiting for another transport, and at one point being harassed while waiting, we finally arrived in Gurue.

Let me make some comparisons between Gurue and Nacaroa: Gurue has actual stores where you can go in and look for products and choose what you want and take it to the cash register to pay. Nacaroa has shops that consist of a counter, behind which are some shelves that are stocked with a selection of basic products. You tell the worker what you want, and he or she takes it off the shelf and gives it to you. There are no cash registers, and people tend to use calculators to add 15 + 30, or multiply 3 x 6. Gurue has street lights that work, computers and a computer room at school, an internet cafe (where I am now), electricity (obviously) and running water at certain times of the day. Nacaroa has street lights that are, apparently, a decorative item as there is no electricity. Ironically, the only time you can see the street lights is during the day. The whole town has no public computers, no Internet, and running water is not even in anyone's thoughts. Electricity is on everyone's mind, though. How to have a chicken dinner: Gurue – go to the store and buy a pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Nacaroa – buy a live chicken, kill it, defeather it, skin it, cook it. Gurue has real streets and gas pumps. Nacaroa has dirt roads and guys who sell gas in water bottles. (I'm not sure where they get the gas from, but they painted “BP” on the side of the stall that sells it, which makes me laugh.)

On the other hand: in Gurue, men harass you at the market, and the people don’t really know each other and rarely greet you in the streets. In Nacaroa, people greet each other and smile. I cannot go to the market without meeting at least 3 people I know and ten foreigners in a 10-minute walk. In Gurue, there are other white people, so there's nothing special about me. Everyone in Nacaroa is interested in talking to me because I'm the only white person around and they do not know what to think. In Gurue, starting work by 7 am is super early. In Nacaroa, I see at least three people I know on the streets before 6 am – when I'm running, just before leaving for work.

Overall, Gurue is amazing, but Nacaroa is much more of what I expected and wanted for my two years in Africa.

I'll probably post again tomorrow.