Maputo

Sorry the posts have been so infrequent.  Writing a big grant last week.  But, I'm back in action.  So on with the story!

Part deux: Maputo

After obtaining sustenance, on a mission for a SIM card, which ended up being a lot more of an adventure than expected.  Apparently, Mozambicans are tough bargainers.  They are actually willing to watch you walk away unless they can kind of sort of rip you off.  We were able to complete our mission in the sense that we obtained a SIM card, getting it working was another story.  When we got back to the hostel, the other Peace Corps people we were traveling with had arrived.  After swapping travel stories, we proceeded to watch multiple hours of Trace TV, aka all music videos, all the time.  Awesome.

Eventually we picked ourselves up, cleaned off, and headed out to dinner to meet more Peace Corps people, Claire's friend from college who does Peace Corps in Mozambique and some of her colleagues.  Very fun, very Peace Corps.  We made plans to meet up with them the next day and then proceeded to return to the hostel to pass the fuck out.

The next day we got up and set out on an adventure to figure out how to get the cell phone working.  But, first things first, food.  The beautiful thing about Mozambique is that they were colonized by the Portuguese, which means they can make mean baked goods, bread, croissant, you name it.  So obvi we had to stop in and nourish ourselves before setting out on our mission.  A couple cinnamon rolls later, we were off.  We didn't make it very far before we felt it necessary to stop again for pastry stop part deux, with an added bonus of European influence, awesome coffee.

After this we did manage to get the cell phone working, with the help of a little haggling and some kind strangers, including a large security guard with a large gun.  Abrigado!  (Thank you in Portuguese)  So multiple pastries and a working cell phone later, we set off sight seeing in Maputo.

Maputo is a cool place, lots of old school European architecture from the Portuguese influence, including lots of squares with greenery and such that are very nice to walk around and relax, but it almost looks like a giant fire swept the city with the scars of the revolution still very present.

 
Not to mention all the streets are Avenida Vladimir Lenine, Avenida Mao Tse Tung, etc, etc.  Oh yeah, did I mention it was a Communist revolution?

We walked the city to arrive at the main market.  Mozambique's speciality: cashews.  And I have to say they are the best cashews I've ever had.  How can cashews be THAT good you ask?  I don't know, but they roast them in these charcoal fires and they are just unreal.

After the market, we headed across the street to this amazing fabric store.  Everywhere you look in Mozambique you see the most beautiful, bright, and vibrant fabrics.  They use them for everything: skirts, aprons, to carry their babies, carry their food, bedspreads, tableclothes, pillows, you name it.  You get the best show because most women tie them up to wear as skirts, often protecting their clothing underneath.  They call them capalanas and are sold everywhere you go as pre-cut bolts of cloth that are the perfect size for a wrap around long skirt or dress.  They are just gorgeous and are pretty freaking cheap.  And this store we walked into had the most amazing selection I have ever seen, probably at least 500 different patterns.  We definitely had to practice some self control being as we had limited space in our backpacks.  But, I definitely made a return visit on my way out of the country.

After shopping, it was obvi lunchtime.

So good!  Moz has some badass seafood.

We then went to meet up with Claire's friend and posse.  We actually met them at a Chinese restaurant, which was kind of a trip.  Too bad we were too full to eat.  We then headed off to this amazing photo exhibition:
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.php?option=com_photogallery&task=blogsection&id=20&Itemid=257&bandwidth=high
Check it out if you get a chance.  It's a little intense at parts, but really moving.

After the show, we took advantage of our unofficial tour guides who took us on some sightseeing and souvenir shopping.  While getting caught in a rain storm, we picked up some stuff for dinner to cook at the hostel.  After an.... "interesting" dinner, we headed out to a jazz show.  It was awesome music, but very African, not just in the sense of the musical influence, but as in play one song, take a 30 minute break aka drink a beer, play another song, another break.  Seriously?  They were lucky their music was good.  We headed home decently early because we had to go catch a bus at 4 AM.  Yes, you read correctly, four in the morning.  And thus, the adventure continues...