deslocados.

its has been too long.
time for another post, about a country, about a culture... about Anthony Bourdain.
i would apologize for writing about him again, i really would! but i just don't care.

the long awaited new season of No Reservations to air, in hopeful anticipation i sit down on the floor of my living room with some freshly cut yellow and red peppers (where are the green? the green are my favorite!) and some jalapeno chex mix. The Layover, Bourdain's last show on the travel channel was a sellout and a flop; so i must say, i was a little nervous.

but the episode started as i started up the DVR thing on my home tv with the same warning that i have found so much solace in..

The following program contains 

content that may be inappropriate

for some viewers.

Parental discretion is advised. 

ahhh, i am home. and then Tony chimes in, "our late model van whirs down the 2 lane highway in rural Mozambique. two white guys in front, our translator Carlos in the back.."

okay everyone, everything is going to be okay, order has been restored. Uncle Tony is back.

enjoying his local beer and piri-piri chicken

500 years of truly appalling colonialism...
18 years of enthusiastic but inept communism...
16 years of brutal and senseless civil war...

just 20 years ago Mozambique was just the shell of a memory. AK47s and dead bodies slumped in the ditches as the children walked to school. It was not uncommon to see someone missing an ear or a nose, those innocent people were simply in the wrong place and the right time. no one even knew what they were fighting over.

but as relentless as the painful years of nihilistic warfare, the positivity of these people shine through and can not be extinguished. 

Anthony described it best when he identifies the people as, "Afro-Portuguese-Laitn-Pan Arab-Asian mix" the rhythm in this episode just shows the motivation and passion of these people.

the beautiful array of colors and cultures make this place so rare that it seems to be a pearl, squeezed from all the pain and travesty that is Africa.

so, don't take for granted all the blessings you have in your life. the world is not ending if they run out of tater tots in the brunch line,  claims that Obama ruined our lives should be reevaluated (has the change in government personally effected your daily life?) and the pessimism that infects campus like a plague during finals week needs to be placed in perspective.

take a message of hope and love from the people of Mozambique.

one day there will be no more wars and the children will play,
rach.