No bom caminho

Ilidio my Portuguese teacher said this week, estamos no bom caminho. ‘We are on the right track.’

I felt the same on arrival this morning at the shared co-working space, a few of which pepper the city. It has an allocated desk, a little bistro in the garden, a receptionist Carla who sings Fallin’ by Alicia Keys, wooden lockers and a printer that I can use for 100 black and white sheets per month. All the mod cons. The suave Mozambican-Portuguese manager Pedro greeted me and we had an espresso whilst he gave me some tips about the upmarket part of the city, Sommerschield, where the office is located.

The image is of me learning to speak at a decibel level ten times lower than normal now I am sharing a space. I had various Skype meetings today, and only when I felt I was going to boom too loudly did I retreat to an outdoor space. Where it was extremely sweat-inducing, but I interrupted others much less.

As the sun was setting, I went for a long walk through the city back to my digs. The workspace is not close to home, but Maputo is pleasant to wander, and relatively laid back and unthreatening for a capital. I stopped off at a restaurant for lasagne and salad to fuel me for a night of work.