Fun Sunday

At dinner last night, Juanita Anderson, a documentary filmmaker/professor who came with us on the trip spoke with Sumate and Nunu and wanted to interview them about their two personal opinions about Frelimo and MDM. It was pretty interesting to see two pretty distinct political opinions within the same family.

We woke up early and got the camera equipment ready and met up with everybody in the hotel parking lot. It was Todd, Dawn, Sumate, Nunu, Urnesto, Sana, Michelle, Sebrina, Juanita, and me...9 people in a pick up truck: ultimate carpooling.

We decided on shooting the interview by a palm tree by the ocean. Sumate, Nunu, and Urnesto answered some of Juanita’s questions and seemed very comfortable in front of the camera. Watching them talk about their country’s democracy was inspiring because they seemed to be so passionate and caring about what happens in their country. Sumate and Nunu’s differing views on Frelimo and MDM was a summary of pretty much what we thought was the case. Frelimo is favored because it is the political party that Mozambicans are used to. They are familiar with Frelimo’s policies because they have been in office for so long. I guess you do have to give Frelimo credit though. From the point of independence, Frelimo has brought Mozambique a long way. However, there is always room for improvement. Right in time, MDM comes into the picture and offers something new for the people. MDM is attractive because the party promises change. Also, the presidential candidate for MDM is very popular amongst younger people because he is very charismatic. I won’t go too much into the interview because I am sure that it will be brought up in the finished documentary later on. Just a note, if anybody needs the world’s most stylish mic holder/assistant, call Sana.

Afterwards, our group decided to split up for a bit. Sebrina, Sumate, Nunu, Dawn, and I decided to go to the Assembly of God church, while the others were dropped off. When I first walked into the church, I felt a hard smack on my head – it ended up being Caitlin and the “culture/religion” group. Again, I was surprised at how the city of Maputo was. We were bumping into everyone here!

The church service was very interesting, but I definitely felt God’s presence. The songs were in Portuguese and Shangala, but fortunately, I happened to sit next to Alejandro, who was a university student studying to become a translator. He helped to translate all the lyrics of the songs as well as the sermon. I had to admit though, not understanding the language of the sermon made it pretty difficult to concentrate. It reminded me of the non-Korean speakers who come to Korean speaking services – they must feel really confused. Even though the service ended up lasting 2.5 hours, everybody in the church kept singing and dancing until the service was over. Seeing the people praising God so joyfully was incredibly inspiring.

Cameron enjoying his lunch at Mundos...