07/10/10

Last weekend I rode down to Xai-Xai in a large semi-truck. During the 3 hour drive I saw 3 different primary school girls (I knew by their uniforms) who appeared to be about 9 or 10 year old dance provocatively at the truck as it passed. It wasn’t that they were playing with friends on the side of the road, but they were pointedly dancing at the truck as it drove by. Since I have been traveling in this country for over a year now and have never seen this before, I seems that it cannot be a coincidence that I saw it while in a semi-truck. I know that truck drivers in Mozambique are considered a high-risk population for HIV transmission, but is it possible that some truck drivers actually stop for these prepubescent girls? Why else would they be doing that? The thought is horrifying.
I went to buy apples and when I asked how much they were the woman told me 10 Meticais. Knowing that this price was wrong I scolded her for trying to overcharge me because I am white and started to walk away. “Wait! They are only 7 Meticais!” she called after me. “I KNOW they are only 7!” I responded. “I’ll give them to you for only 6!” It may sound stupid, but I was really excited about the 1 Metical I saved on each of those apples.
After I wrote about two girls from one class I teach sitting in on the lesson for another class, they came back a few days later to do it again. And then today three girls from the other class showed up to yet another class I teach and asked if they could watch the lesson. I am still completely perplexed and I also don’t know how to deal with it. Part of me doesn’t want to call on them when they know all the answers—of course you know, you’ve already been taught the material! But then again should I punish the few students who seem to be genuinely interested in the material?