A Simple Life

June 24^th, 2018

The Fam Bam at da Older Sis's Wedding Reception

Stepping off the plane in the Dubai airport it hit me and hit me hard. What is everyone doing? They’re all staring down at their screens!! How strange. I pass by a stranger and make eye contact, slow down, and greet them. They respond with an awkward head nod and keep walking. Daniel, come now, remember you’re no longer in Mozambique! You don’t talk to strangers here. And yes, I know we are aware of how our society is addicted to technology and the liking – so let me paint a picture.

No AC? No problem, that’s life. One sits outside under the shade of the Mango tree. And guess what your neighbours are doing? Sitting under the shade of their tree as well. So you chat. A man on a bike is passing by in the late afternoon clearly exhausted after his trip to the city. What does he do? Well, he walks up to your house and asks for a cup of water. You’ve never met him before and yet it’s not an awkward situation. It feels completely normal. You ask him about his health, his work, and his family. You share a polite conversation and he asks you about your kids so you have to explain that you actually don’t have any kids or a wife! He’s quite surprised and doesn’t quite understand. The conversation wraps up and he thanks you for the glass of water.

Strangers talk to strangers and it’s not awkward!! Until you get off the plane in Dubai or step onto US soil – then it becomes very awkward and strange quickly. I’m going to say something many of us already know and recognize. Life in the states moves fast. Constantly from one thing to the next. In Mozambique the only thing that matters is the current moment that one is living in. And yes I acknowledge that has some drawbacks when it comes to planning and preparing for the future. However, there is also a marvellous bliss in presence, in being able to acknowledge the strangers around you, in being able to go up to a random house and ask for a glass of water amidst having a warming conversation.

Not being socially allowed to strike up conversation with strangers is just one aspect that made my transition back to the states feel so strange. There’s also the Mozambicain handshake! It’s similar to the “bro-shake” but slightly different. And oh boy did I throw a lot of people off with it, whoops!! We’d be doing a normal “bro-shake” and then I’d go for the Mozambicain thumb flick and you could see it in their face “What is Daniel doing!?! Uhhhh this is weird” or the classic continue to hold hands for the next few minutes as you converse – I guess that’s also not normal in the states…

The first thing I recognized stepping onto US soil was the amount of concrete – everywhere. Concrete, concrete, concrete. Where’s the soil? Where’s the dirt I’m so used to walking on? Where’s all of the life? Yes there are some trees around and road dividers with grass and plants. But Americans even walk on concrete sidewalks! Strange. Who would want to walk on concrete when you could walk on soil/dirt/sand?

Walking into a grocery store, I took a double take and had to slow down. Too much. There’s just too much stuff here. Where does it all come from? Who’s making all of the boxes and plastic everything is packaged in? Why are the peppers and tomatoes so abnormally big? How does a mango cost 1 USD!?! I can buy 12 for that price back in Moz!! And why are there gallons upon gallons upon gallons of milk all being stored in fridges….? And who needs 50 different choices of BBQ sauces? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen! 50?? Like why?

Living in excess influences people. Living in extreme poverty also influences people.  One lifestyle removes you from the earth and from day to day life. The other has you only living in the day, forever unprepared for tomorrow. I won’t claim to know where the balance or solution lies – I’m still learning.

I’m incredibly grateful I was able to return to the states to support my sister and her new husband in their marriage! It was my first time back in 21-22 months. Living in extreme poverty has affected me – probably both for better and for worse. It’ll take me sometime to sort it all out. I can say I’ve learned how to appreciate the little things like pleasant conversation, not having to worry about water, and constantly having energy. I’ve also learned how to take things in stride. Serving in the Peace Corps, I have grown in my ability to adapt, grow, love, and be resilient to the curveballs of life. I’m finding that it takes a lot to be thrown off my game.

To be fair – the last two weeks have been incredibly emotionally challenging but that’ll be for a future blog post!

I’ve grown in my ability to just spend time with people without needing to be doing anything. I’ve grown in my ability to compliment people for what they do well and to state the things I appreciate about them. I’m better abled to stand up for myself and speak out when something frustrates me. Overall, I’d like to think I’m a simpler person or at least I have much simpler needs. Just the pleasure of a hot shower makes my heart sing! Or having learned how to bypass the awkwardness and strike up random conversation with nearly anyone (hint, hint even in the states in can be done! What I’ve learned is that in your approach and first 5 seconds you need to make the stranger feel comfortable). Being able to cook at any moment is truly amazing – no need to light charcoal.

All in all, since the majority of my readers are Americans: may we be more intentional with how we walk through life day to day. Planning and forward thinking is important – but it is not worth sacrificing life to achieve it, and remember life can only be lived and experienced in the present moment. But don't just remember that, do something about it! Invite a random neighbor over for dinner. I dare you.

One last pro-tip (but I am no pro so take it as you would a grain of salt): it is much easier to be happy when living a simple life. 

With all my heart,

Daniel Bladow

The Adventure Never Ends

June 11^th, 2018

Favors. Friendships and favors. That’s what we’ll be talking about today! Sometimes in life you find yourself in a unique position to help someone else, and you help them. So many months later when they are in a position to help you, they do! I’ll go out on a limb and say the vast majority of kind acts are done without expecting a favor in return, however we often do hope and assume that if we are kind, it’ll pay off right?

Let’s shift to Mozambique. For most Peace Corps Volunteers meat is a specialty and specifically I mean chicken. In my site you can buy chicken, goat, and pig. Generally we PCVs prefer to spend money on travel and experiences than meat with most meals, so we forgo it. We buy chicken when we feel like treating ourselves. I will clarify that if your site does not sell frozen chicken that also deters many of us – there’s the killing and the time that goes into the prep work; plus there’s not a lot of meat on local chickens. With that said, I probably have butchered around 10 chickens thus far in my Peace Corps tenure! Okay, back to the point, we PCVs generally forgo meat. Second point – when we travel, housing options are expensive so when possible we crash with friends or other foreigners in the area willing to put us up.

A few months back I was passing through Montepuez and crashed with Richard and Caroline (Zimbabwean and South African immigrants living and working in Montepuez). They constantly support us PCVs in any way they can. Not only did they put me up for the night, they also decided to cook a marvelous steak dinner with sweet corn! It blew my taste buds out of the water. It must’ve been over 9 months since the last time I had tasted such sweet bliss. They expected nothing in return – no money and no favors.

About a month ago, Richard mentioned they were trying to get some more young female goats to prevent in-breeding amongst their small herd (currently about 16 goats total). What did I do? Well I jumped on the opportunity to help them find some goats!! Goats are no longer raised or easy to find in downtown areas anymore. A few years back the prices of goats soared so thieves started stealing goats in the cities so now you can really only find them out in the bush and more remote locations.

They also do not raise goats in Namuno, but I was determined to help. I had been given an opportunity to return the countless favors Richard and Caroline have bestowed upon me and many PCVs for the past decade. I call up Eusebia, a nurse in Namuno who takes personally responsibility for the health and safety of all PCVs in Namuno. She often works in the aldeias (the suburbs/remote areas) and she jumped on the opportunity to help me get some goats! I’ve helped her with electrical issues in her house and various other things. Heck, I taught her how to make pumpkin bread just a few weeks ago!

So a favor for a favor for a favor – all amongst friends and I’m left walking a goat across my town on my back! It’s humbling to be helped and receive a favor. Sometimes we have to swallow our pride and be like “Hey Richard and Caroline. I could use some help with… (transporting a fridge, installing security grates, building a water tank, selling Peanut Butter, you name it)”. Every now and then we are given an opportunity to give back to those people and it feels like a duty and an honor to repay the massive “favor debt”. And so often we find ourselves helping strangers and repaying our “favor debt” by paying it forward.

I’m currently stateside with my grandma. We had to transport 12 8ft 4x4s from Lowes to her house for a yard project. It’s about 1 mile. In Mozambique I’d just walk them back 3 at a time! However, that’s apparently not normal here in the States? So of course, the middle age gentleman named Rob with a truck helped me out. He’s a plumber. He served in Vietnam for 2 years. He loved the idea of helping a young kid like myself (yes I am still a young kid! We’ll see how long I can hold onto that title) transport some wood for his grandma. It’s amazing how we are all in this together. Sometimes we need to ask for the favors. Sometimes we can see when someone needs help and we can offer the favor.

Here’s my bit of cultural exchange for the day – in Mozambique if you give someone cash it means you are extremely close friends. One of my closest colleagues one day tried to give me 50 mets. I was incredibly confused and had absolutely no idea why he wanted to give me money. Did he need me to buy something?? And this was a few months back, so the issue was not communication or language. I understood the words coming out of his mouth. In the states cash is not given out to signify friendship. Maybe we buy our friends coffee or a meal or offer to help them do some yardwork on a Saturday.

Regardless of the culture some aspects hold true – friends help friends. However sometimes we are unable to repay our friends or those who have supported and given us so much. In those instances all we can do is an occasional favor when called upon and pay the rest forward. A favor for a favor for a favor leads us helping a young kid transport wood to his grandma’s house. It has us buying a meal for someone who cannot afford it. It has us taking an extra 30 seconds to truly greet the cashier and ask them how they are doing, but not just listening for the classic “good how are you?” but rather listening intently and purposeful to engage in a meaningful human interaction. Heck, we’ve got plenty of tech around us and I think we could all benefit from a little more good ole human interaction!

It’s been a wild ride the past week and a half. My life is a-changing once again but I’ll save that story for another post! I also plan on writing a post specifically on what it’s been like being back stateside after living in an area of extreme poverty for nearly 21 months. Here’s the foreshadow – we are crazy. Like you can turn on a tap and water comes out! Not only that, it comes out fast! But hey it gets better, you can actually control the velocity with which it comes out! Wowowow I’m not done yet – you can make it hot! Or cold! Or something in between like WARM! Absurd. Absolutely ridiculous. Oh, and get this, you can even DRINK IT. What. Like How!? It’s magic (well not really). But seriously it is truly amazing and pretty dang ridiculous. Just think about it… Could you design a water system that would provide yourself unlimited water at any temperature at any time of the year?

Any who, thank you all for the support and reading yet another adventure! I’ll see y’all soon. In the meantime, may we be brave enough to ask for help when needed and bold enough to give it when we see the opportunity. A favor for a favor for a favor may lead you walking a goat across the neighborhood on your back! You truly never know.

With all my heart,

Daniel Bladow