More proverbs!

I have always loved proverbs.  I think they can tell you a lot about a culture, which is why I've enjoyed finding the proverbs credited as Zimbabwean in this little calendar.  Here are some of my favorites:

Every elephant has to carry its own trunk.

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The heart never reaches where it longs to be.

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Politeness is the key to the heart of people.

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Treat the days well and they will treat you well.

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A careful hyena lives a long time

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To climb a mountain, you zigzag.

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Place a grinding store where you come from and where you go to.

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If you begin by walking slowly, you will run at sunset.

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These last two are listed as African, not attributed to one particular country:

Habit is a tall mountain, hard to overcome or pull down.

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Be wiser than other people but don't tell them.

Job, Homework, Job, Lesson Plan, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Today is my day to breathe.  I have a lot of homework to do and a meeting for my teaching job, but other than that, it's a slow day!

Teaching last week was amazing.  I love my students.  I had seven students for the week.  It was so exciting to see them start to understand what I was teaching!  The job at the fitness center is also going well.  I had an intense 5 days/30 hours of training and Tuesday night will be my first night working solo.  I think it will be ok.

I have to do one project for Linguistics, and one more week of class, and then I will be my second class!  I can't believe how quickly this is going!

In a fun twist of events, I met a South African girl at the fitness center.  We started talking and now we are meeting for coffee on Wednesday because she has been thinking about doing a Masters in Education!  Life is fun.

Morphing into My Mother...

I love my momma (and miss her!) and I find myself thinking that I am turning into her!  (By the way, I think that would be a great thing because she is pretty awesome.)  This morning, as I sat in my little breakfast nook, enjoying coffee and banana bread, I was thrilled to see a cardinal in the bush outside my window.  The other day, I saw a bird flitting about and thought, "Hmm...I should get a bird book and start finding out what some of these birds are named."  (Haha....Mom, you never thought you would hear those words!)

I am even attempting to grow a green thumb, among other things.  Mom has always had lovely flowers, both inside and outside our home.  I may bring beautiful flowers home, but they don't always stay that way!  I think I'm a compulsive over-waterer.  

I now am the proud owner of three African violets, one yellow primrose, and one peace lily.  I have googled "how to take care of African violets" and I hope I'll do the job well!  I am being especially careful to read the watering instructions!

My spring and summer goal is to get some potted plants for my patio (love that alliteration!) and hopefully some succulents for inside the house.  

I have always loved Zimbabwean gardens.  Aunt Liz, a member of our Zimbabwean "family," has always had gorgeous gardens.  If I could have a fraction of her skill, I'd be happy!  Here are some pictures from her lovely veranda.  

My own little veranda won't compare to this, unfortunately.  First, I don't have this much space and second, I don't live in the right latitude to make this possible year round! however, I will endeavor to make my little corner of M-burg beautiful and green.

Christmas

It's almost mid January and I'm just now posting Christmas pictures!  We had a special treat this year.  Our entire family was together for Christmas, something that hasn't happened for a few years.  And as can be expected, Christmas was mostly all for Anna!

Little girls in Mozambique often wear wigs with beads woven into them for special occasions.  Anna's Pap decided she needed one!  We just laughed and laughed.  She looks adorable and she thinks it is a hat!

Resettlement

Three weeks ago, I was enjoying 95 degree weather and the warmth of Mozambican culture.  I've traded palm trees for pine.  Pennsylvania has experienced its first snow and the weather outside, while not frightful, is definitely chilly.

I love airplanes and flying but I wonder if they have hindered our appreciation for the transition between one place to another.  I've never crossed the Atlantic by any means other than an airplane.

It is a bit surreal.  In January, I would have said, "I live in London."  On the last day of January, I boarded a plane and seven hours later, I was in the USA and I had officially moved.  The trip from Moz took a full day of travel.  The transition is more startling.  It only took a day to go from one place where clean water is scarce to another place where we are focused on buying excess material goods with our excess income.  

A longer journey would not change the differences between locales, but perhaps the time to reflect would change the traveler.   

Planes come equipped with a personalized entertainment system for each seat.  (As a child, I can remember having a TV screen for the entire cabin.  If you didn't like the movie, you listened to music or slept.)  You might watch movies for the duration of a 19 hour flight from South Africa to the USA.  An ocean liner today can cross the Atlantic in a week.  When Henry Hudson crossed from Amsterdam to New York (in 1609), the crossing took two months.  

Imagine a relocation journey taking two months.  Days of ocean and waves and no land in sight.  No entertainment system.  No wi-fi.  No seclusion except in thought.  As an introspective person, I love the idea of having days to just look at the waves and the clouds and simply ponder.  Time to consider where I've been and wonder where I am going.  Time to write in my journal until I run out of words or pages.  

I cannot explain my thankfulness that this past year has included time to consider my options.  Had I needed to go from my last job, which finished in May, to looking for another job immediately, I would have been incredibly frazzled.  Instead, through generosity and grace, I was able to take the time necessary to consider my next steps.  I've been back in Pennsylvania for three weeks.  In those three weeks, I've purchased a vehicle, gotten car insurance (for the first time on my own!), made decisions about where I will live, applied to academic programs, started job applications, took my computer to be fixed (which isn't possible but I am going to attempt some data recovery), and am considering my options in the areas of phones, computers, and more practical things like mattresses and winter coats.  While it is sometimes overwhelming to make all of these decisions, it is possible because I have had time to consider my options, needs, and my Provider.  

The title for this blog, The View from a Thousand Hills, comes from Psalm 50:10.  The Lord says, "For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills."  This verse reminds me that my future is in good hands, and those hands are not my own.  

On the Road

I think I've started a post about ten times and each time, I've just not finished it.  There are a number of reasons, lack of time, lack of means (I knocked my laptop to the the tile floor by accident while still in Mozambique and it is not turning on!) and a few other things, but either way, it's time to start writing again!

I can hardly believe that two weeks ago today, I was attending my last church service in Moz.  Various church people had presents for me and presented them to me in front of the entire congregation.  By the time they were finished, I had tears streaming down my face.  These are good people.  I have been blessed to get to know them. 

I left Moz on the following Monday.  The trip from Beira to Joburg to DC took a full 24 hours, plus a seven hour time change.  Normally, I have no problems sleeping on planes, but this 18 hour flight, sleep eluded me.  There was a surprisingly bad selection of films and a rather negative woman in the seat behind me (who didn't mind sharing her opinions rather loudly with her husband and those of us in a ten seat radius.)  Aside from that, the flight was uneventful.  I like adventures, but in terms of plane rides, uneventful is a good quality!  

It was wonderful to see family once back in PA.  I swapped my swim suits and sandals for sweaters and slippers, but the fall leaves are gorgeous and I love sitting by a fire on a chilly evening.  It doesn't hurt that there is usually a little Jack Russell Terrier who is happy to sit with me.

Farewell to the tropics

Today is my last full day in Mozambique.  I'm surprised by how sad I feel to say goodbye.  The church had a special place in the service to say goodbye to me.  I was given several really thoughtful gifts and during the process, I started crying.  I think that was actually a source of great entertainment for the church, although not in a malicious manner.

The community pool for my parent's little complex has been a source of much joy for me.  In the last few weeks, the pool's temperatures have soared to perfection.  It may not be an ideal pool by American standards (considering the water is very chlorinated and usually has a variety of palm fronds, ants, and occasionally a roach floating in its depths.  But I'll miss it.  I'll miss the little Bronze Mannikins who line up side by side on a branch of the almond tree to catch the last rays of the day.  I'll miss the pink blossoms of the frangipani.  I'll miss the bliss of warm water on a hot day.

 

My parent's house has been home for four months.  I keep snapping "just one more picture," wanting to capture people, places and memories in megapixels for preservation.  I have mementos taped into my journal to accompany my written notes and souvenirs packed into my suitcases.  But the best parts will still be here in Mozambique, waiting until I come back, whenever ever that may be.  In the meantime, I'm so thankful that I will be able to picture my folks at home and at work.  Mozambique and her people will have a special place in my heart.  

 

The next step of my journey will begin tomorrow.  I have a sneaking feeling that the East Coast of the USA will offer weather a teensy bit colder than I like.  Although goodbyes are making me sad today, with every goodbye there is another hello.  The hello at the end of this journey will be my US family :)  See you the other side of the Pond!



It had been five years since I was last in the gorgeous Matopos Hills.  Two weeks ago, I made a trip back to what still feels like home to me.  I truly think the Matopos are one of the most beautiful places on earth.  It felt so good to climb about on the rocks again, although I know I'm a lot less agile on them than I was as a child!

 

 

 

For those of you who are also familiar with this gorgeous part of the world, I'm sure you can tell how badly they need rain.  The cattle's bones are all too prominent and the dam is very low.  On my last day there, we did get some rain, but they will need much more to last through the year.  If only some of the rain from Hurricane Sandy could be sent to Zim!  Please, keep praying for rain for Zim. 

Trees

I have four favorite trees.  Jacaranda, Baobab, Acacia, and Gum trees rank among the loveliest trees in my opinion.  It is incredible how the sight or smell of a tree can awaken so many memories.

I may not have listed flame trees specifically among my favorites, but the blooms are too pretty not to share!

Travel in Moz

October has been a busy month!  As I've spent some time on the road here in Moz, I've snapped some interesting pictures.  I wish I could capture the roads in a picture, but you truly have to feel the bumps to know what it can be like!  In some areas, the roads are being repaired very well.  Other sections of road have gaps in the tar ranging from potholes to asteroid craters.  

Regardless of the jolts, bumps, and lurches, a road trip offers a number of fascinating sights.  In the picture below, the middle truck is overtaking the truck on the left.  I'm not entirely certain what the motorbike plans to accomplish.  

Here is a fine example of a bush gas station.  These should only be used in cases of extreme desperation for the sake of your vehicle. 

Often children are sent to collect water for the family, once or even twice a day.  They use the yellow containers to carry them and if they are lucky, they will have a bicycle to help them haul the water.  I think the saddest sight I have ever seen was a little boy using a metal cup to dip water from a muddy puddle into his yellow jug.  

I do not know how these goats got onto the top of the truck!

Butterflies on Bougainvillea

I have always loved bougainvillea.  We have three different colors blooming in our little corner of a garden: purple, a dark reddish pink, and a very beautiful orangey red.  As I sat on the veranda reading, I noticed two butterflies flitting around the blossoms.  

I think every African garden I've been in has a magical capability to slow time.  Maybe American yards have the same affect, but I suppose we don't sit in them long enough to feel the effect.  It takes me back to my childhood to sit on a camp chair in the shade, feel the hot breeze, and believe that this day will last forever.  

The stillness is a little deceptive, because it's only the larger creatures that stay in one place.  Butterflies fly from one flower to another and the wood borer bees disappear and reappear from their holes in the support beams.  Geckos and other lizards scurry around on the support beams, floor, and walls, and dash under the shade of ferns.  Doves, bronze manikins, bee-eaters, orioles,and the occasional coucal visit the birdbath in the corner and retreat to the shade of the bushes.

A garden is a grand place to wake up slowly.  I am savoring the days when I can crawl out of bed, make a cup of coffee, and sit in the quiet.  Oh, it is not entirely quiet, given the school children, air con, and traffic on the road in the distance.  But is a good place to think, observe, or just be still.  I saw a lizard drinking water laying in a puddle under our air conditioner.  I don't think I've seen a lizard lapping water before.

Summer is arriving in Mozambique.  The grass is getting a sun bleached look despite the best efforts to water it.  Temperatures are rising.  Last Saturday, we slowly baked in 36 (96 F) degree weather, with a heat index of 46 (115 F).  Most days are not quite that hot, but the typical temperature seems to be in the thirties.  Mosquitoes are becoming bothersome.  Deltaprim and mosquito nets are once again a part of my life.  I don't mind the mosquito nets though.  I think mosquito nets took the place of a canopy bed in my childhood fairy tale princess dreams.  

And now it is October.  I have thirty nine days more to savor the Southern Hemisphere.  

Goats

Goats can be found in the most unlikely places in Mozambique.

Momma and Baby both getting a drink 

Enjoying the shade at a gas station

Poor things!  I thought the humans were packed into the chapa, but the goats don't even get a seat!

Goats generally seem to end up as a meal.  While in the village last week, we frequently had matumba (goat intestines stuffed with goat meat) and rice for dinner.  Our first night in the village, there was a goat tied to a tree near the village.  The next day he was suspiciously absent.  

Unbeknownst to me, one of our translators told the cooks that I do not eat meat.  For our lunch and supper meals, they would provide beans or eggs for me.  I didn't ask for it, but I will admit to being very grateful.  In this setting, I could have simply not taken meat and no one would have been offended.  It would have been a long few days to only eat bread for breakfast, and rice, ncema, or millet for dinner.  The beans were very tasty and they cooked the eggs well also.  

The one night, Lazaro and Luis started asking me about my diet.  Lazaro could not believe that I would voluntarily eat only vegetables, fruit, rice, and bread.  (He didn't seem to mind having an extra portion of matumba!)  Lazaro said something in Portuguese to Luis with a little chuckle.  Luis translated into English for me, prefacing it with a little explanation.  "He wants to joke with you.  He's saying, 'Is she sure she's really African?'" We all had a good laugh over that comment!  I told Lazaro that he isn't the first to ask me, but I know two other Africans who are vegetarians.  We are certainly a rarity.  

Innocent's Barraca

For a treat and for our friend's Orville and Cheryl's last night in Beira, we went to Innocent's Barraca.  (A barraca is the general word for a tent, stall, or hut in Portuguese.)  Innocent makes seafood like no one else in town.  His establishment is tricky to find at first, but it's worth the search.

The decor is simple, mostly flags from football teams and countries.  The lampshades are baskets turned upside with seashells dangling from the rims.  This last visit, our waitress was a girl from Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's flag

Innocent arranges the seafood beautifully.  I admire it even though I don't eat it.  My usual option is fish, but my time in Mozambique is testing my commitment to eating fish as well.  (I don't like it when my food looks back at me, and most of the time, fish is served with entire body still entact.)  However, it is impossible not to appreciate the color and visual appeal of Innocent's food.  

African women amaze me with their ability to carry items on their heads.  Most of these pictures aren't clear because I was taking them out the window of a fast moving vehicle (Dad was driving), but I love them nonetheless.

This is my favorite!

While out in a village, I saw a girl carrying her hoe in from the field, balancing it across her head!  Although I've grown up with images such as these, I continue to be impressed.  I think I'll have to stick with a suitcase with wheels.