Indy Life

Girassol Indy Village is a compound, an expat compound living area set amongst embassy official dwellings on the east side of Maputo. It is where Andrew and I live. Indy has small units and larger 3 bedroom/kitchen type places for families. There is a large gate with 3-4 guards posted at the entrance. Compound living’s not bad really. It grows on you like the mold on the walls and carpet from leaking roofs.

A big deal at Indy compound has been Tuesday’s opening of the workout facility. It’s a flashcube looking structure with an open space concept. (Open space because there’s nothing in the building). A very nice woman at the front desk greeted me on my first visit and motioned for me to go upstairs and work out. I thanked her. “Obrigado!” I said. I really looked forward to finally getting some consistent exercise. As I crested the stairs there it was….a beautiful new treadmill, bathed in white light just like Jesus or the Holy Grail. It sat in the middle of an empty room with glass walls and mirrors. I opened the glass door and slowly entered the room, being careful not to disturb the peace of such a meaningful moment. I closed my eyes and stood in silence, breathing in the toxic smell of Chinese rubber floor mats and glue from freshly placed wall trim. I noticed several African workers with their faces pressed to the glass wall staring at me. They seemed surprised that someone was getting so close to the lone piece of equipment.

My trance was broken when Sergio, the short, muscular Mozambican health trainer man tapped me on the arm. “You work out?” he asked. “I was hoping to jump on your fancy new treadmill here. You know…take it for a spin”. I said. “Oh”, was his reply. “You work out?” “Yea, Sergio. I work out”, was all I could say.

As we worked through our language issues I learned that Sergio had some fitness training in Long Island, NY. He trained with some guy named “Quad master”. “You heard of him? He is very famous Mr. Quad master.” “Oh sure Sergio, the guy’s practically a legend in the US. He’s a hell of a guy that Quad master, a real peach.” I said. Sergio then spent the next 30min briefing me on all the treadmill features. The on/off switch, the incline feature, the heart rate bar, and some of the "advanced" settings that I should probably stay away from. I’ll admit the man does his homework. I could sell these things now. When he finished, I felt like I had learned enough to finally use the thing but then we ran out of time. Kind of like Bob Newhart, “I’m sorry but our session is over.” I didn’t know it but I guess I hired a personal trainer. Maybe on my next session we could plug it in.

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