Well, I didn’t really says that, but he did ask me for
money. And he does have the only
internet café I’ve come across here in Montepuez. Not sure if it’s functioning
right now, but still, it’s the principle of the matter!
If you haven’t noticed, all this pedir-ing is starting to
get to me. To “pedir” means to ask for
in Portuguese, and people here love to pedir.
I’m still not sure if it’s cultural, or if it’s just because I’m white
(I’m thinking it’s the later…), but not a day goes by where I don’t get 5 or 6
requests for various things. Usually
it’s just money, and people will say “Da-me Cinco,” or “Da-me Dez.” But sometimes people are more specific and
will ask for bread or cigarettes: “Da-me Pao,”
or “Da-me cigarillo.” No
greeting, no superfluous conversation, not even a please. Nada. Just a “Give me this,” or “Give me
that.”
I have a feeling that it’s cultural things like this that
make the first three months the hardest (at least that’s what they tell
you…about the first three months that is).
Some days it really starts to wear on me so much so that I don’t want to
leave my house. But, I know better, and
I have yet to let it get me to the point where I want to lock myself in the
house, close all the curtains, get in bed and tuck in the mosquito net. I won’t lie, I’ve definitely thought about it
though…
UPDATE: I wrote the
previous section two weeks ago, but have waited a while to post it. I usually like to do this so I can post a
bunch of things at once. Either way,
it’s funny to look back on this know and think about how frustrated I actually
was. Things have changed drastically
since then, and I think I can credit it to taking a new approach towards
combating what is by far my east favorite aspect of Mozambican culture. Now a days, when I get asked for something, I
usually reply that I’m a professor and can give classes, not money. Then, I’ll ask the pedir-er if they’d like to
learn some physics.
Usually people hate the idea of school, so they’ll decline
with an irritated tone and let me go on my merry way. If they say yes though, that’s when the fun
begins. If they accept my offer, I then
try and whip out a quick and dirty summary of one of the lessons I’ve been preparing,
or one I gave earlier in the week.
On-the-fly lessons I’ve given so far have included demonstrations of
gravity, an introduction to waves, a discussion of thermodynamics, and a
disgusting attempt at describing Schrodinger’s Box in Portuguese. Sometimes though, if they are drunk and
persistent or just really being a pain, I’ll start lecturing them in English
about a variety of topics. Most of the
time it’s themed around how ridiculous it is that they are asking me to give
them money so that they can get drunk. It not the nicest thing to say, but I’m
comforted by the fact that they really can’t understand it anyway. Also, it’s really therapeutic. Like venting to someone.
Either way, my new method has been working. I’m happy, and most of the time, they seem to
be happy too. Pedir-ing will be
something I’ll continue to have to deal with throughout my time here. I can accept that. Even though I don’t look forward to being
asked for things continuously, I do look forward to coming up with new,
creative ways to change the topic or say no.
Or to just have a little therapy time and get something of my chest.
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