A Home at Last....

I know, it has been way too long since I have posted. And yes I promised to update the blog with details of my trip to Tofo with Kat. I would love to launch into a litany of excuses as to why, but I believe that like me, you who are reading this does not really care.

Tofo was an amazing, and relaxing experience. A quiet beach paradise, too far away to make it a regular weekend get away, but close enough that I know it has not seen the last of me. Best of all was being there with Kat. I cannot describe how nice it was to have a nice stretch of time together, alone, with nothing to do but enjoy existing. Like much we do together it brings us closer, and gave us a renewed appreciation for the role we play in each others life. So much so that less than two weeks after parting ways, I am again playing host to Kat. It has been a very special week as she has assisted me greatly in the task that has been preoccupying my time and mental sanity over the last two weeks; finding a home.

I have been living with a coworker since I have arrived (i mentioned him in earlier posts - Halfdan). It is a very comfortable place, with a large kitchen, air conditioning, large kitchen, and centrally located. But as i think most can appreciate, when it is not ones own place, it is difficult to settle in and feel at home, especially as you know the situation is temporary. That temporariness makes me feel as if i have been in a liminal state, preventing me from fully integrating into my surroundings, fearing getting too comfortable to some of the luxuries i will not be able to afford or will miss when i move out (ie. constant internet access, and a housekeeper).

At the same time, the process of finding a place of my own has been much more stressful than I had anticipated. I was forewarned before coming that Maputo was not a cheap city to live in, and that rent was surprisingly high. I had thus prepared myself to pay a larger amount than I would have hoped for, but decided that I would in return be specific and less compromising about what I wanted (clean, safe, not falling apart, furnished, 1 max 2 bedroom, and reasonably located), not too much to ask I thought. But what i did not know until I got here is that Maputo has a housing shortage. Unless you are willing and able to purchase or lease a brand new apartment, or house, and have the capacity to furnish it all yourself, than you are in for some fun.

Listening carefully to the advice emanating from all directions, and prior experiences of other expats with lesser language skills than mine, i distilled the two necessary conditions for being successful to: tell them what you are looking for exactly; and tell them your budget. I contacted three different real estate agents (one of which did not even get back to me) and felt very confident that within days I would have a choice to make and a major task of finding a home accomplished.

Kat was here when i was contacted to see the first apartment. While the building was nice, and the apartment had an ocean view, it was no where near what I had asked for. I made sure to then and there clarify exactly what i was looking for, and I thought, ok now we will be on our way. I was happy had come along as she is planning to be staying with me for some time beginning in June and I think that it should suite her likings as much as mine. She left back to Joburg shortly after, and I was left with the task of looking at more places by myself.

A few days later, I received a few more calls to see some places, and as they are available mostly during the day I took my lunch hour and headed out to go seem them. Again the apartments that i was shown were not suitable to my needs (large three bedrooms, furnished mind you, but not what i had asked for, and of course the price was at the top end of my budget). I began to get the feeling that what was important here was not to find me what i wanted but to settle me in some where so they could get the highest commission possible (which they collect based on the price of the rent), and move on. Particularly, since I was being pressured to make a decision almost minutes after seeing a place. At one point having seen only one other apartment (that I clearly had let them know was unsuitable), I was told that I needed to make a decision by the end of the day, and that i would not find much better than this.

Having a general good sense when people are bullshitting and when i am being taken for a sucker, I decided to tone down my sense of urgency and treat this as a learning experience. So what have I learned:

1. No matter what you say, more often than not the only thing that sticks in their mind is the budget limit you set for yourself;
2. A stove and oven, and refrigerator are considered furniture, and thus if a place is unfurnished it does not come with these things;
3. Consistent access to water is considered a feature to be mentioned, and access to hot water a selling point;
4. They will say yes to almost absolutely anything you ask that can be done to the place to get you to consider taking it, even though the owner may have contrary opinions;
5. You are negotiating at all times, and I mean at all times;
6. Conversations in Portuguese even about the smallest things have a minimum length of at least 10 minutes for some reason;
7. Being on time for a meeting or a viewing will just result in boredom filled waiting;
8. Never expect receive a clear answer to anything;
9. Be as assertive and demanding as possible without being rude or you will find yourself in a position to accept terms that are not to your liking;
10. I can survive in Africa ;)

In the end i will be moving into a clean, safe, not falling apart, furnished, 1 bedroom, reasonably located apartment on May 5th, with a fixed rent much lower than i had expected which will allow me to get internet installed (accomplishing that is my next challenge). Kat got to see this last place with me and was pleased with it (being the creative spirit that she is certain to add a homely touch to the place when she moves in - she has already talked about painting the place - i can't wait).

So was all this stress worth it? Besides the aggravation, and the loads of personal time that i had to put into it, I believe this experience will have positive outcomes. For one, i got what i wanted, and will have a place I can be happy and feel comfortable with during my stay here. Personally, i have had a valuable cultural learning experience as it has forced me to directly engage in local business practices and expose myself to the challenges of intercultural dialogue and negotiation. there are many aspects of my personality and approach that I learned need to be adjusted if I am going to survive here.

Overall, these experiences can be mentally and physically exhausting. I'll be thankful that i have a home of my own at last...

I'm a good driver...yeah...definetly a good driver...yeah

I know, I know. It has been two weeks since my last post and it looks like I have forsaken my blogging duties. But it is with good reason. I have been hosting Kat for nearly the last two weeks and everything else just seems to matter a little less. Letting go of her is never easy, and it has been difficult adjusting to her absence. Thus, I must say that I will not do this posting much justice, but promise to return this weekend to with a revitalized positive spirit.

Sooo much has happened since my last post, but as always it is difficult to incorporate all one wants into a posting. Blogging, like any form of writing exercise, requires difficult choices about what to say and what is left for another day. So what shall I say?

Well, putting aside more about Kat's visit until this weekend, I must announce that at 26.5 years old I have finally acquired what every 16 year old dreams of having; a car. Yes, after mooching off my parents for 26 years, and making my life in Ottawa as least car dependable as possible, I move to Africa and find out that sometimes having a vehicle is essential. While Maputo is a very nice city, with much to offer, I have come to appreciate the finer aspects of city planning that characterize Ottawa. Not only am i going to have to be flexible in where I find housing in the coming month, as rent is surprisingly expensive in the most convenient areas, I also have to deal with the fact that to be close enough to walk to work means that I am inconveniently far from downtown and all the destinations for entertainment and getting food. And while I considered the option of locating myself centrally and arranging transportation to work, I again come to be nostalgic about the benefits of having OC Transpo. I did consider taking the Chapas every day (they are cheap and abundant), but I also had to factor in that I would be very limited in what I can do, and where I can go while I am here. After justifying to myself repeatedly that it is OK to own a vehicle (and still live an environmentally friendly lifestyle) I decided to go for it. So with the kind and generous assistance of my parents, and some looking around I am now the proud new owner of a Toyota RAV 4 (yes a mini SUV, stop rolling your eyes, if you saw the roads here you would be applauding me).

Having never purchased a vehicle before, I must say doing so in Africa is quite easy. The hard part is being assured that what you are doing is legit, and that who you are buying from is not tying to rip you off grand. I was advised to target the expatriate market as they are least likely to rip you off, but the problem is that they mostly drive very large, and still very expensive vehicles. And while it is fun to test drive hummeresk vehicles, it is really a waste of their time and mine. Luckily, I was given the name of a trust worthy individual to contact when I inquired about renting a car in time for Kat's visit so that I could take her somewhere special. It turns out that he also helps UNDP staff with their car purchases abroad. And as luck would have it, he also buys back cars from expats who do not want to be bothered in doing it themselves. After, testing the waters with him, and driving the vehicle for a day, we got down to negotiation. He turned out to be a very decent individual, and has offered a lot of support and guidance through the entire process, not to mention a level of patience with banking issues that most car salesman would probably have trouble with. Just to emphasize the point, the other day, I came downstairs to find my car had a flat in the morning before work. I called him up, for assistance as it was parked in a tight spot in which i would have difficulty accessing the spare tire. He picked me up and drove me to work. Had someone come to the car change the tire, take it to his garage (he owns one) fix the flat, rotate my tires and return the car to me at work.

Now like I said, buying the car was the easy part, learning to drive in Mozambique has been the true challenge. First, in Moz they drive on the left side of the road, so all my driving habits and postures are reversed. This was what took least getting used too surprisingly. Aside from occasionally turning on my wipers instead of my turn signal I have mastered driving on the left side of the road.

Second, I think I have mentioned this before, driving is mass chaos here. The level of situational awareness here is unbelievable more than in Canada. While in Canada you can have the confidence, all be it limited, that the majority of the individuals will exercise caution and responsibility when driving, here it is best to assume that everyone is an escaped inmate from an insane asylum that has robbed a car to escape authorities. At no point should you assume that you have right of way simply because all rational and logical thought would tell you that green is a sign to go and red to stop, or that just because there are 25 people crammed into a van made for 12, that the driver is going to show any kind of regard for the amount of lives he is responsible for. All I can say is that I am very grateful and thankful to have had such amazing teachers as my parents and older brother. I really feel that it is dangerous to show intimidation, apprehension or hesitation here as it will be seen more as an opportunity to engage in further reckless maneuvers. Confidence and attention are the key to surviving, and still I have three or four near accidents every day.

The third, and finally, the roads. What can I say? I am actually impressed with how good they are in some places. Particularly the highways. Mozambique has been trying to successfully decentralize the development process, and in the last few years has earmarked significant portions of the national budgets to the provinces for infrastructural rehabilitation. One of the priorities has been revitalizing the road network. The main national road (EN1) has been the benefactor of a lot of this money as it runs through most of the provinces (north-south). However, as it is a provincial effort, the provinces begin the re-paving of the highway at their southern most borders (in the direction of Maputo). The result being that as you enter a new province your tires are met with smooth, amazingly new and sophisticated highways. But as you near the north end of the province, the money appears to run out, and as the money goes so did the road. While the change in Maputo province was gradual, and the remaining stretch of highway was pretty good, in the subsequent Gaza province, once you pass the major city of Xai-Xai you better hope you packed a spare tire and that your suspension is not on its last legs. At points there is more pothole than actual road; towards the last stretch of this 90 kilometre expanse of stressful, winding driving the road appears to be being eroded from the sides making the middle of the highway the ideal place to drive. This makes games of chicken with oncoming traffic (sometimes extremely large 18 wheel trucks) part of the driving experience. Now add torrential rain (which fills up and obscures the potholes), poor visibility and the same insane lunatic driving habits found in Maputo at much faster speeds, and you have a mix for a truly unique and terrifying driving experience. Luckily I have an amazing and loving partner who can calm my nerves and make the best of such experience.

I can't wait for the next road trip. Just call me Rainman ;)