Some of those goodbyes, when they came, were very difficult. Let me clarify now, before any rumours get around: there were absolutely, unquestionably and categorically no tears shed on my part. And if anyone tells you otherwise, they're probably lying...and anyway, it was getting dark so nobody would be able to tell, it was probably just a trick of the moonlight…so there.
Now that I've cleared that one up, I'll tell you what really happened. So, when saying goodbye to the adults I'd gotten to know; they'd almost invariably ask, "When are you coming back?" What does one say to that?! The obvious and most likely answer to that is "probably never", but I obviously didn't want to say that because it is a small possibility that I might get an inkling to go back one day. But it's also just as difficult to explain that "I probably won't be back and this might the last time that I ever see you". After a few awkward goodbyes whilst I worked out what to say, "hopefully see you later" or "goodbye for now" seemed to go down the best, so I stuck to that.
I thanked the football team for including me and for eventually listening to my ideas. They thanked me for coming all the way to Mozambique and said it great to have me playing with the team. The feeling is mutual. I left some footballs and my football boots: on that surface, they both should last someone a month or two! Oh, and I should probably give a very small mention to the fact that we lost my final game. Inhassune 0, Panda 1. They had an actual football kit (most in yellow, except for one in blue, they must have lost one!) and the majority had shoes on, I should have guessed it would be a tough game! Out of 3 games, winning 2 out of 3 ain't too bad. It's a lot better than Reading are doing for a start!
Please excuse the dodgy shots, my mate Armando hasn't handled a great many cameras in his young life.
Saying goodbye to the kids was the hardest. I didn't say goodbye to everyone, just the ones that I'd got to know and the ones that knew my name (surprisingly, quite a lot)! In the dark I didn't manage to find that many but those I did find were hard enough, I found Paulino, Fernando, Nausea, I didn't find Delio, Salvador, Mira, Armando, a muslim kid whose name I can't remember and of course Fatty (Vernacio). I had to go to Fatty's house, it was dark, he was pretty ill too but his mum kindly carried him out to say 'ciao'. My friend Armando did some translating, but there wasn't much to say, Armando vaguely translated 'I'm leaving tomorrow, goodbye and it was very nice to have met you', we both said 'ciao', we held hands for a bit, I stroked his very ill and equally chubby cheeks and I let him get back to being ill. That. Was. Hard.
I'm sure that the kids hardly understood or cared what was going on, and it was probably all in my head, but it felt a little like I was abandoning them. I hope that doesn't sound in any way arrogant, it's not meant that way. But I hope that I've left enough ideas for future volunteers to work on and develop. I really hope that those kids grow up to want to make something of themselves. If nothing else, and I know it's small, I hope they've learnt something about lixo!
My final evening was a bit of an anti-climax. I was going to pay for Francis and I to have chicken and chips at one of the shops in the market. We usually ate at around 6:30-7, so we were pretty hungry by 7:45. We turned up at Ophelia's shop only for her to explain that someone had stolen the cooking chicken straight from the BBQ!! Very disappointed and even hungrier, Francis managed to call in a very large favour from a good friend. In the end we went to a house and were given - for free - rice and beef. So there we sat, on her porch, in the darkness, eating some lukewarm meat. It's rather fitting that we didn't end up eating some slap-up meal; it's not what the village is about! For me, most importantly, it highlights how kind strangers can be: even though most of the villagers of Inhassune have just enough to feed their families - and though there may have been a few beggars along the way - they still remain happy and smiling. There are quite few lessons to take home for this trip, but 'to be thankful for what you have' seems quite an important one in this case.
And so it was, after the goodbyes and very fortunate meal, the next morning I got the 5am bus and was on my 6-hour way to Maputo. We look terrible because it was 4:30 in the morning ok?
I'm grateful for a lot of things from my time in Inhassune, but most of all I'm very glad to have made so many friends. The rather large language barrier didn't prove too much of an issue and I'm thankful that I was completely accepted. Recently one kid even had my name written on his arm, I thought it was a bit weird so I asked Francis, he said that since it was after church, it was probably because he was praying for me. I don't think anyone's ever done that for me before.
My apologies if this blog comes across as a bit too sentimental, but I did warn you at the start that this was for me to remember how I felt. So hopefully when I read back in a few years, this has been a good representation of how I felt.
And finally, to add to cheese-factor, I'd like to dedicate this blog to my bestest ever Mozambican friend in the whole wide world...ever, my buddy Fatty.
Goodbye Fatty, goodbye (and Paulino of course).
