A couple weeks ago Xai-Xai was inundated with representatives from all 10 provinces in Mozambique as the 5th Annual National Cultural Festival kicked off on July 11. During the week, there were performances by theater, music and dance groups as well as a food expo, a craft fair and even films from Mozambican directors.

One of the things I have been bitching about since I got to Xai-Xai is that there is very little attention paid to cultural affairs/events. During holidays, there are the obligatory women’s/youth groups that dance and sing and say “Oye (insert occasion or organization here)!!!!” and “Mata SIDA!!!!!” (Kill AIDS!!!). But there is rarely an occasion where you see a mass gathering of people to just celebrate Mozambican (or Shangana) culture. Maybe it’s because most people “celebrate their culture” enough on any average day of living- the work that goes into their farms and houses and families seem like cultural staples that have been around quite a while.

I was very happy to see the festival come to Xai-Xai. It not only brought a lot of people to the Southern region of Mozambique who had never seen this part of the country before, but it injected a bit of life into the population here. It also got vendors and businesses excited enough so that many did some refurbishing of their businesses. It was great to just meet people on the way to work who were from places I have never seen like Tet and Niassa. The presence of the President and Minister of Culture also lit a fire under the provincial government’s butt to make some quick fixes to the road (which are already back to being horrible) and some construction of some new buildings in the downtown area that used to look like bombed out war relics (despite the fact that the war never really reached Xai-Xai; the condition is due only to negligence.)

A couple highlights:

- I was told by an acquaintance at the kick-off party that (and I’m paraphrasing) “Mozambique is so great that I could pass out drunk in the middle of this party [which was quite big] I would wake up in the morning with my wallet and keys and phone still in my pockets… that doesn’t happen in South Africa for sure!”

Well, thank god for that! That’s why I love Mozambique too!!!

- At the film night that I went to, they showed a film about a woman who is beaten by her husband while eventually becoming pregnant with his child. Soon after she is encouraged to get a HIV test, which comes out positive. Her sister convinces her husband to support the mother (read: not beat her and protect her against discrimination) and due to regular check-ups and treatment, the baby is born and raised HIV negative (the Dad also realizes that he is HIV-positive).

The film was good in the approach it takes to female empowerment and the importance of family in the fight against HIV. The only bummer was that the film was all in Shangana, a Bantu dialect that is spoken only below the Save River. All of those participants from Tet or Sofala or Cabo Delgado or Nampula (among others) couldn’t understand what the people were saying. Subtitles were obviously needed.

Good News: There were subtitles

Bad News: The subtitles were in ENGLISH!!! (Doh!)

- I had clam stew, chicken zambeziana (coconut and spices), and matapa with shrimp at the food expo- and that was just at the Zambezia stand! They totally beat the pants off the other provinces in the cooking department. Gaza was kind of boring, but still good. Nampula had dried fish… really?! Couldn’t get some regular fish?!?! Interesting that “Maputo City” had a different booth than “Maputo Province” and yet they ahd basically the same thing.

- The craft fair was cool. It was split into provinces like most other expositions. You could see that certain provinces have been much more influenced by western culture and art than others. For example, the Manica section, with a city close to the Zimbabwean border (which up until a few years ago was an advantage for getting supplies) had crafts that used a lot of synthetic paint as well as more mechanized ways of sculpting wood and other mediums. The Niassa section has contact with, well, no one, and it shows. Their crafts mostly dealt with mats, pants and hats made of pulverized and dyed reeds. IT was really cool to see the differences between the crafts that each area had to offer. Unfortunately, they only let “official photographers” take pictures.

- The Zambezia delegation included students from a fellow PCV’s JOMA theater group. If that isn’t proof that JOMA helps kids develop their skills in areas of communication that leads to better/interesting opportunities, then I will quit (go Mocuba!!!!)

- I went and saw the National ballet company. It was pretty interesting, esp for someone who has only watched about 2 hours worth of ballet (and that was because it was in the Robert Altman movie The Company, not one of his best). I just felt bad for the guys who were int he middle of their routine and the CD player kept skipping, sometimes throwing them off the beat. Can we get a CD in this country that isn’t scratched to hell?!?!?!For the National Ballet Company, please?!?!?!

- The kick-off concert was great. I showed you one of the clips as a test of the google video application, which seems to have worked. A couple more 30 second clips are posted below. It exhibited different languages, a bunch of really good Timbila players and some ridiculous dancing. Here are a couple more videos from the concert. I know that 30 seconds are such a tease, but it gives you some idea of the fun I had.

FYI- My Mom gets here in less than a week (Wednesday the 30th to be exact).

Holy crap is this going to be fun.

Ok, tchau, ‘brigado.