My African Ride...

When I thought that I would be almost without any means of mobility in this portuguese forsaken city... I found a car... (!)

In one of the many nights of clubbing, amidst a couple of drinks, I overheard someone mentioning a demolition party. "That would kill the stress!" I tought to myself. The question "Of what?" is thrown onto the table. "A car." "Can't you sell it?" I ask. "No." th guy replies.

Then, in a most defining manner, a stand had to be made. "I'm interested. When can we meet to make a deal?"

In a couple of days I met with the guy which, by sheer chance, is married to someone named Eva (my girlfriend's name is Iva), who also likes comics and movies (don't we all?), side from the same first name. It was like some sort of a nexus in life. Bizarre at least.

The paperwork for the car was done in 2 hours, considering that the procedure was to deliver a paper to a guy who signs it, a woman who stamps it, another guy who signs it again, and another guy who just scribbles something incomprehensible on the paper. He was probably dropping by and thought he could just sign something. "hey, let me sign someone's birth certificate, or a dinner check, or bill!".

The payment took a bit longer... Writing a check in africa is kind of complicated. I give it to the teller and he tells me the signature is not the same as the one in the computer. With my passport and residence card in hand, I try to tell him I'm the same guy who owns the bank account. The answer he gives me just doesn't make any sense: "keep signing it till you get it right". What a joke! After signing it 3 times, all 3 of me deliver the check. Then he tells me that I need clearance from my account manager to make the withdrawal, but only for sums of over 2500 USD. An obvious solution arises: 2 checks. The teller just goes: "here, see your signature on the computer screen to get it right this time". Another joke! The second time was like the first, but with one more signature. Well, from this awkward moment I retain a piece of my life: the check with my three attempts at the prize...

Dropping off the former owner, I rip the streets apart to get to work. Late, but happy.

And there you have it folks. An african car... These are my wheels to go around the city of Maputo. The curious thing about it is that it has leopard skin seat covers! To mingle in the wild...

Well, driving on the left side as become second nature to me. There's a great mnemonic to it: the driver always keeps the middle of the road to himself and the priority goes to the other side of it. And so, middle to the right and priority to the left. Vice-versa applies to right-hand driving. Easy right? Wait untill you try using turning lights. They're on the other (wrong) side. In the first few tries you tend to signal with the windshield whippers and clean the windshield with the turning lights.

So, with a couple of wheels and still with a lot to be known, I wander in the streets of Maputo with a leopard skin seat-covered car...

On the other side, a couple of friends from college dropped by. They'll work here for the next months, teaching in the local university and do some volunteering. On the whole, there'll be 9 new people in maputo. And they are still so fresh in town...

I'll tell you more as time goes... Txus!