Suco de Coco (Coconut Juice)

Dad arrived back from the southern part of Moz last night after a long day of driving.  He brought a few gifts from his passengers, including onions, cassava, a monkey orange, and a few coconuts.  He discovered at conference that he likes coconut juice.

Although there was some discussion on what method should be used, Dad drilled into the coconut and drained the liquid from the center.  He then used a hammer to crack open the coconut.  We may be having coconut pie at some point this week. 

Coconut is used in a lot of ways here in Moz.  The wood of the palms are used for building homes and even boats. The fronds of the palm can be used for roofing.  The coconut itself is used for a variety of foods, as well as seasoning for foods.  One website I read states that 15% of the population in Moz depends on the coconut as their main source of revenue and nutrition.  

Arquitetura

As we walk around, I have started to love the surprises of the architecture.  The older buildings are each unique.  Some have undergone transformations, such as paint or additions of burglar bars, but others are worn and in need of repair.  I've been taking lots of pictures and trying to capture the beauty of these buildings.  I hope you appreciate their beauty as well, although a picture doesn't do justice.

This building above is right along the beach.  As you can tell, it needs a lot of work.  My parents tell me that many of these old buildings are purchased and renovated into restaurants.  I think this would be fantastic if the entire second floor would be restaurant seating with floor to ceiling glass.  The view would be purely beach and ocean.  A number of the buildings here have a rounded facade, like the building below as well as the one above. 

This is a more modern building, but there is still similar architecture.  I like the way the burglar bars are incorporated into the design of the steps.  

This last building is one of my favorites.  I love the various patterns!  The red and white part makes me think of giraffes. :)

Flores e plantas (Flowers and Plants)

We had winter weather today.  It was overcast and windy, with a high of 74 and a low of 65.  The wind felt cold when Mom and I went for our daily walk, although we both were still only wearing short sleeves.  We kept to the streets today, walking in the direction of the center of town rather than towards the beach.  Today the various colors of the plants and flowers seemed more vivid, perhaps because of the grayness of the skies.  I hope you enjoy some pictures of the flora of Mozambique!  

Casamentos e Saúde e Felicidade

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. 

Caminho da praia (beach walk)

Mom and I studied our Portuguese this morning, reviewing numbers, articles, the alphabet, diphthongs, nationalities, and a few other odds and ends.  Anybody walking by must have thought we were a little bit louco (crazy) when we starting singing the alphabet song with Portuguese pronunciation.

After exercising our brains for the morning, we took a walk down to the beach.

I've been down to the beach before, but this time, I actually walked into the Indian Ocean.  It is winter, and it was a little chilly.  As you can see from my apparel, the weather isn't too cold however.  

The beach is very pretty, but there is a lot of rubbish that isn't visible in this picture.  Because this is a port city, the water can also be rather yucky.  Some days it looks lovely and blue, but other days it almost brown.  The better beaches for swimming are north and south of our location.  Mom and I are a little limited in our activities while Dad is away in Maputo.  He has the only working vehicle, so we are staying within walking distance of home.    

Wandering on foot through cities like Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin, Madrid, Rome, and of course, London, helped me to appreciate the perspective given by walking tours.  Pedestrians need to take a bit more care here.  The chapas (minivan taxis) don't seem to feel the need to yield.  Most roads in the city do not have lines painted, so traffic determines how many lanes there are and in which direction they travel.  It is acceptable to proceed to the middle of the road if one side is clear, wait for traffic to clear from the other side, and then continue the rest of the way across the road.  Despite the obstacles, which include holes in the pavement, tree roots, rubbish, stray dogs, and fruit stands, I really enjoy these walks.  There are numerous homes from the colonial period, which some beautiful architecture.  These homes have numerous staircases and verandas.  Most of the verandas and windows are enclosed, some from the original architecture and some for modern security.  Regardless of the state of repair, each of these homes are unique, in contrast to the block apartment buildings from a later era.  

There are two different types of stop signs here.  They are essentially the same, except they differ in size.  As Dad told me, the smaller ones are optional and are regarded as a "Yield" sign.  Some intersections have traffic robots (lights), but often, only the post remains and the actual robot is missing (or not working).  If a driver is at such an intersection, he needs to make a decision.  His options are as follows: 1) try to see a robot facing another direction, 2) guess when the light is changing, or 3) proceed whenever traffic allows, or 4) disregard the light entirely and proceed whenever he sees fit.  Roundabouts, or rotaries, are a much easier solution to traffic patterns.  I say "he" for the driver because most women do not drive here.  Orlando, our language instructor, told Mom that he once saw a female taxi driver. 

As you can probably tell, I'm enjoying getting to know Moz.  One sweet gentleman told me, "Welcome!  Enjoy your time here.  This is now your country too."  I wish I could know he would get the same warm welcome if he visited my country.   

  

Flash back Fotografias

Yesterday, Mom and I started going through some old pictures and even books of slides.  For the sake of our eyesight, we quickly switched to just prints.  What a laugh!  I honestly think I had an ideal childhood.  

This picture makes me laugh so hard.  I think the caption should be, "Are you surprised that I became a vegetarian?"  I did not care for all of the times I was told to pose next to a hunting trophy.  

This picture is another fond memory.  Mom, Joy, and I had been sleeping in a tent when a hyena ran through the camp, startling everyone.  Later in the night, Mom heard a snake right outside the front of the tent.  She called for Dad, and after that, Dad slept in the tent while we slept in the truck!  I don't know if you can see from the picture, but Joy is sound asleep lengthwise behind the seat, and I must have been sleeping between Mom and the wheel well.  My family (and housemates) can verify that I still use to this day when woken too early.  

Best of all, I love this picture of my Dad!   

Fora e marinha (Outside and Sea)

Today is a gorgeous day in Sofala Province.  Mom and I decided we needed to have our breakfast outside to enjoy the lovely breeze.  There is a daycare or a school nearby and we can hear the kids playing outdoors.  I thought I would just send a few pictures of our peaceful pequeno-almoço fora (breakfast outside).

This is our view from Mom and Dad's veranda.  As you can see, they live in an enclosed complex, as most people do here in Mozambique.  I think some might feel claustrophobic to live within walls, but it feels normal to me.  It is a standard security measure here.  The tenants prior to Mom and Dad added nicely to the garden, leaving a peaceful green space for them to enjoy.  

This is not your typical garden gnome.  This is the skull of a sea turtle, tartaruga marinha.  Sea turtles live in all of the world's oceans except for the Arctic, but like many creatures, have been hunted for food to the degree that their populations are dwindling.  In some cases, they are hunted for their shells as well.  (I should add, this skull was in my parents' garden they arrived.  I'm hoping it was just found on the beach.  Hunting of most species of sea turtles is illegal.)  Did you know that sea turtles can live eighty years or more?  I also learned they are immune to the sting of the box jellyfish.  Sea turtles can then eat the poisonous jellyfish, which helps to naturally control the jellyfish population.  

I really love learning about natural systems.  The balance in the world is so delicate.  It is amazing when it functions as it should and heartbreaking when the natural order is disturbed.  Consider these examples of the connection of the sea turtles to their world.  Sea turtles return to the beach to lay their eggs.  Some even return to the specific beach where they were hatched.  The nutrients from the nests they create and from the eggs they lay help to fertilize the sand dunes and beaches, which in turn provide better growth of vegetation.  The vegetation is vital to prevent erosion.  I read that on one 22 mile stretch of beach in Florida, sea turtles lay 150,000 pounds of eggs annually.  If that number diminishes due to hunting of the sea turtle or her eggs, the beach will also be affected.  A sea turtle will lay about 100 eggs in a nest.

Sea turtles also eat the sea grass on the bottom of the ocean.  Sea grass needs to be cut back in order to grow.  The beds of sea grass are where many types of sea life lay their eggs.  Fewer sea turtles would mean less growth of sea grass.  This would then impact other marine life, including some which are a food source for humans.  

Well, now you've had your lesson in ecosystems for the day!  I hope it has been a helpful reminder to take care of our world.  

On the Mend

I mentioned in my last post that I've been a bit under the weather, but I think I'm now on the mend.  I still have swollen lymph nodes and a headache, but I have more energy and the headache isn't as severe.  I am very thankful to have had the best nurse here to care for me. 

Dad left this morning to drive to the capital with a car full of church members for conference.  They have been traveling all day and should arrive at some point this evening.  It's a 15 hour drive (1200 km but on rough roads), which they decided to make in one day.  Mom and I won't be going since I haven't been feeling well.  

Instead, Mom and I will have time to explore the city a bit together.  I look forward to walking around together and getting a bit more oriented in the city.  Mom knows her way quite well, but I feel lost.  

There are several options for transport here.  Below is a popular one: bicycle.  I'm not brave enough for those here!  The other options are motorcycles (again, I'm not brave enough for that), chapas (pronounced shop-as, minivan taxis), chaperos (little green and yellow 3 wheeled taxis), or your own two feet.  Given the freedom of traffic patterns here, I feel most comfortable on my feet.

I'll be sure to take my camera with me on my walks through the city.  Until then, here is a pretty picture of the trees everywhere in Mozambique.  The tall coconut palm trees and the mango trees both provide fruit eaten by almost everyone here.  

Day 10

It took guesswork to start this post.  Lately, when I use something google related, it is all in Portuguese.  That makes things rather fun.

Well, I'm well into my second week here.  It feels like I've been here longer, but not in a bad way.  The time has been full, but full in an African way, not an American way.  If you've lived in Africa, you know the difference I mean.  It hasn't been a booked scheduled of running here and there, but it has been busy nonetheless.  Portuguese lessons haven't gone as I planned.  Mom and Dad have been faithful, but I've already missed two lessons.

I arrived in Mozambique pretty tired, and when jet lag, incredibly high pollen and dust counts, migraines, and two mosquito bites in an uncommon time for mosquitoes, are all added in, I feel pretty drained.  I'm not quite sure what is wrong with me, but it's not awful and Mom is a great nurse.  I'll be fine in no time.

I still managed to get to quite a few things with Mom and Dad.  I've been on fruit market expeditions, sewing classes, lectures, spare tire hunting, grocery shopping, and by now...I still feel lost in this city.  It is rather confusing.  I'm impressed that my parents have learned their way around without knowing most street names!  I had to laugh when they were speaking with another American here, asking Melanie where Mom could buy cloth for her sewing class.  The directions were entirely landmark based, including a "blue shop," Melanie's office, and the grocery store.  The funniest part was when they realized that there was more than one "blue shop" in the city!  Most buildings here are painted a faded yellow, so a blue shopfront does stand out.

  



Everyone has been really sweet.  Many people I have met have spoken a bit of English and most are keen to learn more.  A conversation doesn't get very far, and I often find myself wishing I could learn Portuguese more quickly.      I have found that I can follow a slow conversation in Portuguese and get the gist of it, thanks to the Spanish I know.  However, Portuguese pronunciation is very different.  I struggle with the sounds of the words more than remembering the vocabulary.  My parents have taken to introducing me in Portuguese.  I rather like being called Esperança.  Most faces light up when they hear me being introduced with a Portuguese name.

There are so many lovely people here.  I've had fun seeing the little kids, mesmerized by these strange looking people, sneak up to Mom and I.  Mom said she had one little girl try to rub her skin to see if the paleness was real. The women have been very friendly as well.  We've made conversation as best we can, between various bits of English and Portuguese.

It is winter now.  The temperatures have been in the 60s and 70s.  The hot water in our shower has to be used with caution, because it boils in the water tank during the day.  With a winter this mild, this is a growing season. Mango trees, among others, are in blossom.  Fresh fruit is easy to come by.  Mom and I were at the market the other day and we saw pawpaws the size of my head.  We've had pineapple, watermelon, and avocado aplenty.

And it's Ramadan now.  There are about four mosques in this city, one not too far away.  If the windows are open, we can hear the call to prayer.

I love how life goes on around everyone's personal lives.  Last week, Dad needed to get a spare tire for their vehicle.  The other tire had been punctured a while back on a trip in the bush.  We went to several different places before finding a place with better quality for at least the same price as the poor quality ones.  Dad needed to bring the vehicle in before lunch because in the afternoon, the manager would be at the mosque.  And Dad needed to bring the vehicle in before or after our language lesson.  And so, a time was worked out that would accommodate both schedules.  No appointment formally scheduled, no contact details exchanged, nothing written down.

We have several pets at the moment.  Truvia is a tiny little gecko who is migrating through the house.  He earned his name because he is smaller than a packet of truvia sweetener.  He does have a much larger brother (as yet unnamed) who lives in the ceiling and sometimes creeps down through the tiles to say hello.  There are a few stray cats who wander through the yard and enjoy taking a nap on the chairs on the patio.  And of course, we have at least one big, flat spider.  I don't know what they are called (I attempted to ask Mr. Google for their name, but a search resulted with WAY too many pictures of spiders for me to sort through), but they live on the walls for the most part and eat mosquitoes.  Mom always refused to remove them from my bedroom as a child, reminding me that they would eat the mosquitoes and for that reason, they should be considered friends.

Architecture and Fruit Shopping

Last night was a rough night for me due to a headache, so I skipped our morning Portuguese lesson.  Mom and Dad went on their own and had a good time learning the alphabet.  After they came home and we had lunch, we went out to run a few errands: looking for a tire, cloth for an embroidery lesson Mom will be teaching tomorrow, and also some fruit.  

I love taking pictures as we drive around the city.  I try to be sneaky when I take photos, so that most of my subjects are unaware.  I also enjoy taking photos of the architecture here.  This city is a mix of styles from the various groups who have run the country.  I love the oldest buildings.  I wish I could see what they would have looked like when they were newly constructed.  

Dad buying fruit from his favorite vendor

Fruit Market 

The more functional buildings aren't quite as pretty!

This last picture is of an old building that is home to a few different families now, as you can tell by the laundry hanging on the second balcony.  I think there are shops on the lower level.  

There are more difficult sights than the architecture.  On the way to the fabric shop for Mom's material, we saw a man crawling on his hands and knees across a fairly busy street.  He wore knee pads on his knees.  He was crawling because he only had his right foot.  Once we reached the store, I saw a second man on crutches, also missing a foot.  There are so many examples of how life is difficult here.  Not even a week into being here, it is still overwhelming.  There are so many different types of help needed, one doesn't know where to start.  

I started reading a new book while Mom and Dad were at their language lesson.  The first chapter reminds the reader that God has a unique and creative plan for each of our lives.  I'm so thankful that I don't have to create a plan for the people of Mozambique.  My creativity would shrink in the sight of the challenges they face.  But there is hope here (and I don't mean me!), and where this is hope, there is possibility.  There is a proverb of sorts which says, when the world says "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."  I think many Mozambicans will keep trying one more time until something improves.  

Day 5

Moz is difficult for me to describe.  It might take me a while to do so.  In some ways I feel very comfortable here, but in other ways, I feel distinctly uncomfortable.  Life is not easy here.  It is easy for me, but not for so many people.  There are a number of structures damaged by the events of the previous decades, but there are also new buildings yet to be used, or old buildings restored.  Many seem to want to advance but at the same time, they are content that life will go on regardless.  

Apartment block next to a destroyed building

Fruit and Veg sold on the streets

Street Vendor selling Cokes and candies 

I had my first language class on Monday, with the next one tomorrow.  Portuguese confuses me, because it looks like Spanish but doesn't sound like it!  The grammar seems to be fairly similar though, which will be helpful.  Our instructor is a very nice young man, with a good grasp of English.  He is very wiling to teach a cultural lesson along with a language lesson.  I think both lessons will be beneficial in the long run.

Day 2 in Moz.

Today has been a slow day.  I couldn't fall asleep until two in the morning, and I slept until nearly eleven.  Mom made pancakes for breakfast/lunch for me, and then we talked for a while before walking down the beach.  My experience of Africa has not included beaches, other than Alexandria and Dahab in Egypt.  It feels somewhat disorienting, but I love the beach and I love Africa :)  I'm certain I can adapt.  

I love the many dug-out boats we saw.  This one had such a pretty multi-colored sail.  Mom said it is actually made of feed sacks!

There are many buildings in a very bad state, but I loved the style of this lovely one!

the golf course  "green"

A lot of Mozambique seems very different right now, but there are some things that remind me of Zim.  For instance, these trees have a long, machete like seed pod.  They are a variety of acacia (I think that's what Mom said) and I remember them from Zim!  And of course, bougainvillea's bright pink decorates many places in my memories.  

Here is a quick picture of Mom and Dad's veranda.  I'll try to get more pictures of the area, and I'm sure I'll end up with more than anyone will ever want to see!