So You Think You Can Dance? …..Like a MOZAMBICAN?!?!?

After that last blog post, I felt the need to lighten the atmosphere a little. It’s not all a serious, depressing, looming past, present, and future…people here make a life for themselves with what they have AND enjoy it too.

This here blog is for you to witness the bright side of Mozambique: to make note of Mozambican style and dress, to hear the language up here in the North (Makua),  to listen to Mozambican music, to glimpse with your own eyes the infamous Mozambican dance moves, and to observe our lovely little town of Carapira. My new life for your entertainment. Be amused : )

Firstly let me say that I hope the video to accompany this blog loads. It’s what makes this blog alive. Otherwise, read on anyway, and be much less amused.

Last month I helped two kids from the bairro film videos for their music to turn into music videos. Morinho and Germano. Morinho (El-Morinho) still attends high school in Monapo and has the Monapo volunteers (Leah and Ariel) as his teachers. Germano (Chico Motors) graduated from Carapira this past year and is now starting to attend institute in Nampula. We spent a total of about 2 hours walking around (in the time before my foot got infected) and filming in sites throughout the bairro to make two music videos; which they did all the editing with a guy (Mr. Cassimo) that has a studio in Monapo. The boys asked if I could sing and dance in one video, and I didn’t think they were actually being serious, just being nice, but turns out I was genuinely mistaken as you’ll hopefully see in the video ; )

Mozambican Style and Dress

The young boys in Mozambique are SO fly. Any chance of appearing cool, and they’ll do it. It just comes so naturally to them. The typical Moz Teen Boy Look is as follows:

o   Shirts are usually like the ones you’d see people wearing in Miami, Jersey Shore, or somewhere along the beach in Southern California. White or black with bright neon colors, or bright colored shirts with tattoo style writing and some kind of graphic design (As you can see with Morinho in the Billabong shirt and Germano in the purple and red shirts with graphic designs). The occasional vest when they are feeling especially cool (Morinho and kid dancing in the middle at the end). For the more professional look always go with a collared shirt (The boys in their red polos) or buttoned down!

o   Pants are always skinny jeans - a little baggy and sagging at the top. Or shorts which can be cargo, jean, or colorful beach shorts which go just below the knee.

o   Shoes are just as colorful. Nike pumps, colorful laces (note the differently colored laces), sheekier tennis shoes, knock-off ChuckTaylors. One of my students at the schools sports some Coach ChuckTaylors. Blew my mind!

o   Accessories can be anything small from the Live-Strong type bands that are in right now (Morinho with the blue arm band) to a gangsta hat (Germano in the red cap). Also, they sport any kind of glasses they can get their hands on. If they are sunglasses, you can wear them as is. But if they are a normal pair, to make them look “cooler” you should poke out the lens and wear the frames only.

To get the Moz Teen Girl Look I’m less certain there is a definite trend, but I’ll attempt give you a general image:

o   Tops are much like the boys. Tight fit shirts, tank tops, tube tops with flowery graphic designs and tattoo style writing. The occasional collared polo shirt like the boys.

o   Pants/Skirts are fit jeans. The sheekier girls, usually that have studied in the cities, are much more open to wearing skirts and shorts that go up to the knee or just above. Cute jean skirts, flowery skirts, and colorful knee length shorts. Dresses are knit or cottony which are usually tube tops with a loose fitting lower half that go down just above the knee or are full length.

o   Shoes are generally flip flops or cute sandals or flats. High heels and wedges are for the extremely sheeky girl.

o   Accessories are all in the hair. “Mesha” or weave is generally considered more sheeky than natural or naturally braided hair. A girl can change her whole look just by changing the style of her mesha. Belts and jewelry and nice hand bags are also for the extremely sheeky.

Mozambican men just aren’t as fly as the younger generations. To get the Moz Man Look:

o   Shirts can be all sorts for the average Moz man.

-T-shirts of all variety: The discarded t-shirts which got sent to Africa are ever so present here and are always so delightful and amusing to see.  American city and college shirts, the oddest of American slogans and graphics, family reunion t-shirts, and of course some of my favorites: In Namaacha I saw a boy with an orange Tennessee Volunteers hoodie. My neighbor occasionally wears an Atlanta Braves T-shirt to work!!! (but this one is cheating because the volunteer who lived here before me is from Atlanta, Georgia – what a coincidence!).  I saw a man the other day wearing a Breast Cancer race shirt. Oh so many more! And always a pleasure.

            - Long-sleeved collared shirts: Mostly white or blue for those who work. Other colors too.

            - Collared shirt or polo: Not like the bright colors worn by the boys, but much darker and professional or white.

o   Pants are often loose, tattered, dirty, baggy jeans or baggy slacks of all colors: khaki, tan, gray, black, faded bluish-gray.

o   Shoes are usually old tattered tennis shoes, sometimes nicer dress shoes for the more professional, and flip flops.

o   Accessories aren’t many but are amusing if you happen to see them. A baseball cap, a straw hat, a one shoulder messenger bag.

Mozambican women in contrast to the men, are almost always extravagantly dressed. The most colorful, beautiful, wildest colors you’ve ever seen never fail to stand out and sparkle in a drab and sand covered “terra.” To get the Moz Woman Look:

o   Shirts are usually the same tight fit variety the girls wear. But sometimes you see fancy “fatos” or suits with top half and bottom made of capulana material. The blouse usually has slightly puffed sleeves and buttons, which make any woman here look extremely authoritative.

o   Skirts: Your average Mozambican woman sports a “capulana” which is a piece of fabric about a meter long that she ties around her waist like a skirt. The number, color, and variety of capulanas are innumerable. They vary depending on season, year, region, and even districts have their own capulanas. I don’t know the company that makes all these capulanas, and I don’t know if there are different manufacturers but you can buy them anywhere…anywhere in Africa that is; they just have different names in other countries. There are stalls of just capulanas in any city you go, and are about 5 US dollars a piece. The ways in which you can tie a capulana are also innumerable, and every woman has her own unique way of tying a capulana for different purposes. You aren’t Mozambican if you don’t know how to “amarrar” or tie a capulana.

o   Pants: You don’t really see women wear pants here. It’s rare, and sometimes looked down upon for Mozambican women to wear pants, but I love it when I see it. My “empregada” (the lady that brings my water) is unique in that she is extremely sporty and is not ashamed to wear pants. 

o   Side note on other news in Carapira:  I was just made “Donna” of the women’s soccer league here. I had heard that the women of the bairro have a soccer league of their own which starts during the dry months, and I had expressed to my empregada that I would love to join and play with them. Then a few days later I had women of the bairro coming up to me and asking me when we were going to start playing, and just the other day Manuel (my neighbor who is the coach for one of the men’s teams) came over and basically made me in charge of the team. I wasn’t really looking for the responsibility of managing anything, just hoping to play once in a while, but I am happy that I am able to help these women enjoy a little something of their own. These beautiful women are all mothers. Most of them do not have jobs, but work in the farm and raise their children, have no money of their own to spend on themselves, and even if they did they would probably spend the money on their kids. I bought them a few balls (just whatever ones I could find in Monapo) and they were so happy and excited to start practicing. I went out to the field with them the first day of practice and absolutely loved their enthusiasm, even though everyone else just laughed. They wore long pants, or tights, or even like me - tights with shorts over them! What a hoot!

The Soccer Field

The Women in Training

o   Accessories: #1 accessory you’ll see a women with, is a baby on her back. Tied up securely as can be with a capulana along for the ride whatever that may be. Actually this is not just with women, but with women and girls of any age. If you can walk, you can carry a baby on your back. I’ve seen kids of the age of 6 or 7 carrying little babies on their backs. To me it’s unthinkable to allow a child of that age to carry another child of an even smaller age, but here it’s completely normal. My favorite accessory that distinguishes a women aside from her capulana is a “lenso” or a bandana sided piece of fabric that serves as a head wrap. Much like a capulana, there are several ways of tying a lenso.

Mozambican Dialects:

The dialects spoken throughout Mozambique are known as the “BANTU” languages. There is a drastic difference among the dialects spoken in the south, central, and north of the country. In the south, it’s primarily Changana or Ronga, in the central it’s Cena, and in the North it is Makua, but there are several others far and wide in between depending on the region, province, and even small town or community. I absolutely love the sound of Changana, and think it’s much easier to learn than many of the other dialects. Makua is the language spoken in the northern provinces and the version spoken in Carapira is different from that in Nampula City, in Ilha, in Nacala, in Pemba, etc. The song is sung almost entirely in Makua so you have a taste of what it sounds like, but there is much more of a Northern/ Islamic language influence from Kiswahili etc. It’s so difficult for me to learn and understand. It’s a pity that I have no interest in Makua and would much rather learn Changana even though no one speaks it up North.

“Kina Khuma,” the title of the song, means “I have to go.”

Fun fact: There is now a degree option at the university level on the origin, history, preservation, and study of all the Mozambican Bantu languages.  I think it’s a wonderful way of preserving Moz culture and would be super interesting studying the origins and history of how they came about.

Mozambican Music:

I love Moz music and dance! Moz music can be traditional, in the Bantu languages, or in Portuguese. The genres vary from hip-hop, rap, passada (also a romatic slow dance between a man and woman), marrabenta (the dance of Mozambique which is literally two steps, but took me so long to learn), etc. There are many local artists and it’s very easy to produce your own music. My favorite artists are Lizha James, who is Mozambican, and Anselmo Ralph, who is Angolan.

Mozambican Dance:

I also love Mozambican dance. Everyone who can move any part of their body knows how to dance here. It just comes so naturally, and is a huge part of the culture. There are very traditional dances which have been passed on from generations, and very current dances that everyone and their moms know how to dance in all of the regions of Mozambique. Marrabenta is probably the most famous of dances known for being Mozambican. Then there are current songs which each have their own dance like the Bondorro by DJ FIRE. And then there are some dance moves which you can do to nearly any type of Moz music. The one shown in the video is a move where the boys pump their arms up and down and move their knees and legs like a chicken flapping its wings.

So getting to the part about me dancing in the video… My host family had spent hours teaching me Moz dance moves, so naturally when the boys asked if I knew any Moz dances I said sure I can try and show you what I know. Big mistake! I can try, but there is absolutely no way I could have even imitated anything close to the way Mozambicans dance.

When the boys came back with their final video, I had no idea they included the clip of me dancing with them. Ugh! Then one of my students, Samuel, found out that I had helped make a video for some of the kids in the neighborhood and is a good dancer and song writer himself so he asked to see the video. All of a sudden there were so many of my students crowded around the computer seen. I’ve never seen my students laugh so hard. They were literally rolling on the floor about to cry. They asked to play the video in front of all the students in the salon (the auditorium), just so they could get a good laugh out of everyone. Then after all the commotion died down, Samuel says to me, “Teacher, you don’t know how to dance.” With a solemn, admitting yet longing sigh, “Yes, Samuel, I know.” As much as I want to, I’ll never be able to dance like a Mozambican. I’ve sadly accepted this fate.

“Mais de” Carapira:

In my last blog post I posted a few photos of things in Carapira including the church, the health center, and TB clinic. Those and the school are pretty much all there is in Carapira aside from the “bairros” or neighborhoods, which are just random houses and huts which extend way out for an hour or two by foot into the “matu” AKA the bush. But the video puts our little town of Carapira to life. At the end of the video Marinho is standing on the main path from the main road into Carapira. An entirely sand path with tall grass and grand mango trees on either side, and you can just make out the church in the distance. Beautiful. Especially at sunset when there is a cool breeze to respite the heat of the day and the sky turns an unusual orange glow and casts a dark yet brilliant shadowy light over the whole town.

The part with me and the boys was filmed in Jill’s backyard. Bamboo fences, cleanly broomed sand yards, straw roofs or tin roofs, mud-brick houses. All of the teachers who live in our bairro live next to one another in the same row of houses, much like the house you see in the background. This is our hood.

The part where it starts zooming in on Morinho towards the end of the video is right in front and to the left of the church coming in from the main road. The path he is standing in front of goes out back behind the school and there you can see the little damn where they found the crocodile, and it keeps going beyond that for miles. This is the trail I run, and it’s absolutely idyllic and peaceful. Such splendor and fullness I never knew. Beautiful farmland green beyond the eye can see. Corn stalks, peanut plants, beans, grass, small streams, the biggest trees you ever saw that I wish I knew the name of, small isolated mud houses, little naked children playing in the sand in front of the verandas, the random stranger on the path who looks absolutely bewildered to see me running, me looking absolutely bewildered when I run into butt naked people taking baths in the streams...etc. The farthest I’ve been is about a 20 minute run out on the path and 20 min to run back, but it’s absolutely breathtaking.

O Final!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this blog and have gotten a sense of a bit of Mozambican culture. It’s exhausting, but good. Difficult, but worth it. It’s an experience and a time which I will never forget. What I have learned from these people, this time and experience here, I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

But most importantly, I am extremely thankful that I have been connected with this country, this culture, and these people. That God has allowed me to get to know this place and be a part of this community. It is changing me radically and the way I think and live my life every single day that I am here. I have complete faith that this is exactly where God wants me. Of any other place or time in the world, right now I am meant to be in Carapira, Mozambique! I place my trust in Him that He will bring me through it for His glory.