Now means now

I once took a class that focused on the social construction of time, basically discussing how open ended time really was depending on cultural interpretation. While interesting, I never really connected with its ideas until I experienced them on a tangible, emotional level. I say emotional because when someone is late--or god forbid when I am running late--the response is visceral. Being late is bad.

We say that we are on Mozambican time here. We are finally getting used to it, or at least expecting it, after a few months in the country. Yesterday I was told we'd play basketball at 2:00, and we didn't start until 3:15. A part of me wanted to be livid, but the rules just aren't the same here, and patience as they say is a virtue.

The most telling difference is the word "agora." Agora means 'now.' No bones about it, look it up in the dictionary, the word means 'now.' So when I ask my host brother if he's ready to leave and he says "sim, agora" and I wait for him as he chases Caozinho around I am in disbelief. How rude! How inconsiderate! 'Now' is one of the most unambiguous words in the history of words.

I've discussed this with my fellow PCVs (that's Peace Corps Volunteers to you citizens) and we've all experienced frustration with the word "now". There's even variations on "agora." We have "agora mesma", loosely 'right now.' We have "de aqui a nada" or "de aqui a poco", which can mean anything from 'right away' to 'right this very second' to some other vaguely nowish time.

Despite these words I remained confused. I was leaving for the local hang out spot to catch up with some friends, I ran into my host mom along the way and told her I'd be back soon. She said, "No, we say I'll be back agora, or de aqui a nada." But I wasn't coming back now, I was coming back soon. Aha! Agora really doesn't mean now! I'd been lied to. This means war.

Surprise, surprise, it turns out to be a little more complicated than that. The concept of "now", as evidenced by the very words in their lexicon (the ones that express ideas, thoughts, feelings…) are wishy-washy on this whole "now" thing. It's not because they are all a bunch of lazy scallywags, its because they experience time a little differently.

In the states we feel time as a precise and pressurized thing. I absolutely despise being late. More metaphorically, time Is constantly chasing us down. Here it is less confining. That isn't to say that the way we (United States) view time is necessarily negative, it allows us to fit more into our day and maintain a tighter order on things. But equally it doesn't mean that Mozambicans are a bunch of lazies that never get anything done--on the contrary what a Mozambican mother can do in a day is at times staggering. It's just a little different.

I manage to convey "now" by leaping up and down, pointing at my feet and shouting "THIS SECOND, THIS EXACT MOMENT" in Portuguese.

Anyways a week and a half at site, and things are going pretty good. I've cleaned out my house and am planning to paint it. I've been meeting people everywhere, playing volleyball, getting to know my town. In moments of boredom or loneliness I walk outside and look at the ocean, and that pretty much solves it right there.

Three days until Christmas, I have been attending the nightly masses, and heard "Silent Night" in Portuguese. But myboy Bing Crosby does it better. I've been blasting it on my computer all day.