chao maputo, ate logo

Writing this from my gate at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg. The day started with a wee hangover thanks to a late night, first for a really fun dinner at Emma and her husband's place, with Aman, Padran (sp?), who runs the handicrafts project in Pemba and another couple that Emma and Gary are friends with. Cuttlefish stew and caprese salad with lots and lots of wine.

Gary is a big-time African music enthusiast and even saw Fela Kuti play a number of times. Apparently he was drugged out of his mind (Fela, that is) so the shows weren't that great. Oh well. But he shared a bunch of CD's with me, which I've now burned and am looking forward to listening to on the way home. The first one I put in, by Franco and TP OK Jazz, is awesome.

Aman, Padran and I went out after that to a bar that's open at night in the main train station. It was a good time. They are both very funny and interesting and we mostly just stood around and chatted. Got back to the hotel around 3 and drank a bottle of water.

This morning I went with Aman down to the annual national craft fair, held in part in an old colonial fort in downtown Maputo. There were some lovely things and some ugly things, and I think some genuine ivory carving, which may or not have been legal or ethically obtained. It's true that the hassling here isn't as persistent as elsewhere. People come up to you and try to sell you their shitty magnets or whatever but if you say no they go away. Other places I've been, people are a lot more insistent about stuff like that.

The AKF-wide rural development director, Tom, was on my flight from Maputo to Johannesburg this afternoon, so I had a chance to talk with him for quite a while. He had been in town for the AKAM Mozambique board meeting, which was this week. It's very refreshing to meet someone who's been in development a long time but isn't at all cynical about it. My cynicism is sometimes just knee-jerk at this point, probably in large part because Washington is such a cynical town, so speaking to someone in the same business but with a different attitude gave me pause. Cynicism is easy and sometimes right, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be taking a look at the things I feel that way about. God that's an ugly sentence. Tom also told me straight-up he could get me a job in Afghanistan or Tanzania tomorrow: the overt poaching Jo is always warning me about when I travel. I'm not ready to go yet but it's nice to get such a blatant offer.

Alright, think that'll do for now. Busy, short week, now gonna start a relaxed, long plane ride. Here's hoping for a couple of seats to myself again.