Africa

Sometimes it just hits me => I am in AFRICA!! Like yesterday when I was in “my” kitchen washing a pair of shorts I want to bring to Zanzibar (normally I don’t do my own laundry, but I’ll come back to that) and looked out the window at the palm trees and the Indian Ocean… Or earlier when I was at the market buying children’s books to learn Portuguese or on my way to the market when close to everybody greets me with a “bom dia senhora”. It’s strange how familiar everything is already and yet it feels kind of surreal when I think about it, I mean REALLY think about it. If things would have been “normal” I would have been at the office in Stockholm instead of trying to get a man at the market to understand what I wanted when I asked for “livro pour bebe!?!”

And the learning how to speak Portuguese is a chapter by itself. I’m usually throwing in French words (like above) when I don’t know the Portuguese ones, but sometimes also English or even Swedish – you never know, it might actually work :) And, as in lots of languages, there are similarities even with Swedish words. Spanish is closest to Portuguese, but it’s also helpful to know some French and Italian. I haven’t had any luck in finding a teacher, although someone promised to organize classes and get back to me some time ago. I have a new solution though and I’ll try to work that out when coming back from Zanzibar. Meanwhile I will bring my new books and study on the beach in Nungwi. I do study on my own still and are getting there slowly but surely; I can order food and buy children’s books, you know ;) And I do understand quite a bit already!

About me not doing my own laundry; I just give it to the day “guarda” in the morning and the same night I get it back ironed and very neatly folded. I pay approximately 40 SEK per wash, and wow, it is worth every öre! We also have Maria, who is the “embrigada”, she comes 3 times per week to clean and wash the dishes etc. That is luxury!

I was telling you yesterday about the wind and “winter” heading this way – today I was told that the next last rain came this morning… (I don't even know if you can say that in English - but I guess you know what I mean)


In and around Pemba: