#2 Would you like some tea with your sugar?

Continuing with the breakfast themed rules... It’s hard to describe in words what it looks like when my neighbor, Anli, puts sugar in his tea. You just have to be there to see it. One spoonful, and another, and another, and another, and then one more for good measure. And this is for a small cup of tea. One day when this blog gets savvy enough I’ll add a video so you can believe me. But it makes sense why Anli and others do this. With the diet here the way it is, sugar goes a long way for providing the energy and calories they need for a long day of work. Even for me, I’ve never been prone to using sugar in coffee or tea or even drinking sodas, but I’m drawn to it every time its put in front of me. Like a moth to a flame, sugar is the elixir of life.

#1 No Papayas Before 10am

Believe or not this is an actual rule. Papayas consumed in the morning are believed to give you stomachaches and possibly hernias. Derek and I normally eat them for breakfast. We wake up, pick a papaya from our tree, and enjoy a nice, fresh way to start the day. Our neighbors are horrified how casual we are and it’s great for us to offer to share because we know they will always turn it down, hence more for us! Side note on papayas: The trees here grow like weeds which is great. They can grow about anywhere and with little water, but when they get water they shoot up like crazy. Twice a year we will have a month of fresh papayas. Beautiful trees too. Thank you to Sam and the other previous volunteers for planting them years back.

Introduction to the MCR (Mozambican Cultural Rulebook)

Going a day without observing or hearing about a new "rule" Mozambicans have is a rare thing. These rules are basically cultural norms and control to a degree how people here live their day-to-day lives. Some rules are quite odd, others actually make sense, and the rest only make sense having lived here for a year. Through this blog I hope to pass along stories and cultural experiences of which I observe by means of a "rulebook". Each blog post will be a rule that I have either been explicitly told or a rule that I will create through observations in order to summarize an unique aspect of Mozambican life. The idea of a blog like this is not to make generalizations about Mozambicans or Africans so please take notice that these stories may just be what is found in my neighborhood or within my immediate surrounding. My posts should not be perceived as to make statements about all Mozambicans in general, but to comment on my time spent in Mozambique as an English teacher in the Peace Corps.