I'm having such fun learning Portuguese vocabulary! I'm sure I make a lot of errors, considering I'm working from a few lessons, some study, and Google Translate, but oh it's so much fun. I love being able to even just say hello and thank you in Portuguese. Hello, thank you, how are you, I'm well....those are probably the words I've used the most! (My title for this post is "Weddings and Health and Happiness.")
On our walk today, Mom and I took a new route to the Praça de Independecia, where there is a statue of the first president of Mozambique. I don't know if you can see it in this photo, but just to the left of the palm tree, you can see the moon was already visible. We sat for a few moments at this monument. As we did so, a wedding party arrived. When wedding parties are coming down the road, you hear them. Everyone in the caravan of various types of vehicles honks their horn repeatedly. I snuck a picture of a few bridesmaids standing on the back of the truck, which you can see below. There must have been at least six bridesmaids. The entire wedding party was coming to this moment and presumably also the beach to get photos taken. Mom and I decided to continue walking, rather than end up in the background of their pictures.
This is a "chaperro!" I'm completely guessing the spelling, because this seems to be a local name for these taxis.
I know I've mentioned the pavement (sidewalk) here, but it continues to entertain me. I complained about the uneven pavements in London. Truly, perspective is everything. I love to look around as we walk but I have to be very careful not to gawk too much!
I do love these old homes. This one could use some tender loving care and a coat of paint, but the architecture is so beautiful. I didn't see any occupants when I took the picture, but I'm sure some people do live here regardless of the state. These homes are well built.
We don't have language classes this week, so we've been trying to do some work on our own. Mom and I have had some hilarious moments with our language mistakes. I meant to ask Mom about a city in Southern Moz, called Xai-Xai. I kept mispronouncing it, saying "Shay shay." Mom corrected me, "Shy shy." I still struggle to say it the correct way, because my mind connects it back to 6 weeks spent in China, when I learned "shay shay" to say "thank you." There are entirely too many bits of languages floating around in my memory. I really should buckle down and learn one language someday soon!
I've now been here two weeks and it has been delightful. The main challenge continues to be my health, and it isn't really a challenge at all. I'm not really sick, I just have swollen lymph nodes/sore throat and now I'm getting an annoying cough. It is fantastic to have a nurse in the family. Momma is taking good care of me. Hopefully, this will go away soon. It doesn't diminish the fun of being here with my parents and the adventure of getting to know a new part of the world.
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