The good
thing about going to several African countries is to experience diverse
culture, food, and sightseeing. I originally thought it should be cool to visit
countries as many as possible, but on the other hand, it could also be just
nominal that I only add one more country in my travel list. Have I seen the
real beauty of each country? I cannot say yes. Within short period of time, I
was overworked, so sometimes I did not really know where I was and what I was
doing. Am I in Tanzania? Malawi? right now? I am confused myself, and yesterday, I did not even
remember the capital city of Zambia. Literally, my memory was like a blank
slate. I was embarrassed and googled “Zambia” to see its capital city; it was
Lusaka. Though I spent most of my time in Southern region, Choma
when I was in Zambia, I did spend a few days in Lusaka... My brain needs some stimulation to match capital city
with each country I visited.
Although I
am fortunate to work many different places, I cannot avoid having superficial
knowledge of each country. When I went to Sierra Leone, I purchased online
books about Sierra Leone to understand that country. I got serious empathy with
the story of brutal Sierra Leone civil war, learned history and geography, and I also used
to introduce local food in serial in the blog. However, the more country I go, my affection
for the new country kept cooling down. It has to be different, but I regarded
every unique characteristic in a certain country as the same thing in other
Africa region. The weather is hot and humid, the food is just similar, and
mosquitoes always irritate me, end of story (?). I am so terrible! It cannot be
the same. Staying only one location as long as I can to feel all-about one country might be much better. I was initially interested in learning the local language, so I tried to speak
Swahili in Tanzania. Once I left that country, I lost interest in knowing
totally different language in Zambia and Malawi. Now I confront with
Portuguese, and I have to ask having English menu at the restaurant. I am sorry
to lose the opportunity to feel and love the country where I stay. I am just
busy doing my work in a hurry without deep understanding of country.
I have
been to five African countries – Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, and
now Mozambique – and went to more than 20 locations since last June. I did not
intend to do it, but things beyond conception happen. The greatest difficulty
was not the work itself. Handling the exact same process of miscellaneous stuff
to settle down in the new place wears me out. Immigration people in any country
were always suspicious what I am doing in many African countries, and I sweated
hard to explain how I got the visa outside of my home country while feeling
people’s glare behind me. I repeat exchanging money, finding restaurant and
market, procuring cell phone and Internet, getting friendly with new people,
and introducing myself.
The number
“five” should be meaningful to me, and it cannot become a mere number. At
least, I have to know where exactly I am located, and how the country map looks
like. I would also like to know what is going on in the country, politically,
socially, and economically. Understanding health, water, and sanitation part of
the country was the tip of an iceberg. I would like to have the infinite affection for
the country!
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I am here in Maputo! <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13890416>
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