Pemba: Strange & Beautiful

I arrived in Pemba a few days before the "International Art Camp" began because that was the only time I could get a flight to Pemba from Maputo without arriving late. I felt quite lonely being in a new place by myself where only a select few speak English. I hired a "private taxi," a guy and his personal car, to take me to Russel's Place, the only real budget accommodation in Pemba. There, I was pleased to find my own sturdy tent with a double mattress inside. It was surprisingly comfortable except during the mid-day heat. I liked my tent and the food at Russel's, but the atmosphere was a bit strange--almost all white South Africans. The day I arrived, the only black people at Russel's were the guys working. Not so comfortable or normal.

I lulled around with the ex-pats at the beach and at Russel's for a couple days, reading and writing and relaxing, until Vitor finally picked me up to go to the Cultural Center in a nearby village. Finally! I was back in Africa again, in a village with dirty little kids and drunk men, and simple homes! I was happy to be there after the string of backpackers I had stayed in. I met my roommate, a sweet Brazilian woman who speaks Portuguese and English, and others attending the camp. I am now staying in a still-under-construction house in the village, sleeping on simple woven cots with mats on top of them and using grandma's "African fabric" as sheets. :) Sorry Grandma! There's no running water and no mosquito nets, but I'm quite happy there.

The first day, we went to Arte Makonde where artists of the Makonde tribe in Pemba create beautiful wooden carvings. They all sit outside on burlap sacks on the ground outside, sitting next to each other, and work all day. They worked so fast and effortlessly creating their wooden art. I was mesmerized and excited to try it myself. I was pretty disappointed with my work. My hands were incredibly awkward with the tools and hard wood, but it was fun to try anyway. Yesterday was a sort of literature and poetry day. The discussions in Portuguese were quite boring for me because I didn't understand anything, but a small group of English speaking Mozambicans gave me and the only other non-Portuguese speaker a brief summary of what we missed which was nice. Then some people read poetry and folklore stories, again in Portuguese, but I liked it because you could see the emotion in the poets' intonation and expression.

Today was a beach day. Wimbe Beach is gorgeous, a photo-perfect tropical paradise. It was a nice morning. This afternoon, we will go visit a historical site in Pemba which I believe will include a visit to a mosque and listening to an Arab-inspired choir. Everything is day-to-day with the camp. I'm still in Africa! The cultural experience and exchange has been fabulous so far, though, despite the hiccups in scheduling and communication.