The Rum Diary

While my life does not very closely resemble the life of Paul Kemp (his of excessive drinking, volatile friends, journalist affairs, island hopping, and burgers every day), I do think there is an underlying current of similarity. To point out the obvious ones: I don’t go to work until the afternoon as well (although that’s because I only teach afternoons), I frequent only one eating establishment (though not with the same frequency of Kemp), and I live in a stifling hot house with another American.

Life here has a fluid characteristic to it. Nothing here is set in stone. I have a set schedule of times to teach my classes, but I’ll teach early sometimes to avoid students escaping, or I might miss a day due to one of the many Mozambican holidays, or I might show up to a class only to find that another teacher has commandeered my time slot. There is no bus schedule; I’ll get to my destination when the chapa drivers have finally crammed that 27^th and final person into the van. Mozambique might be the only place where it’s positive to wait for your food; if you have to wait, you know it’s fresh, and the longer you wait, the fresher it is.

These commonalities might just be a result of living in a developing country. But it makes for a much differently paced lifestyle. It’s the type of lifestyle where you sometimes just need to put up the hammock and read the afternoon away. (Special Thanks to Mike Hankinson for making these afternoons possible!)

Incidentally, it also makes for interesting discoveries, like the lizard eggs we found nestled in the chamber for the lock of our back door. It’s an interesting life, and definitely not for everyone. But I find it fantastic.