Written December 31, 2012
Happy New Years Eve from Quissico!
Written from my small living room – I’m cooking banana bread
in a dutch-oven set up, drinking REAL coffee, and waiting for mom to wake up.
That’s right. My mom is in my house. And I’m drinking REAL coffee. My mind is
blown.
It has been so surreal to me to have her here. I’m trying my
best to be informative without being overwhelming, show her things in small
doses without things being too alarming. . . . I think I failed day one when I
put her on a bus to come to Quissico. In typical Mozambique fashion, the bus
took about an hour to pack up and leave, and then it stopped about 3 or 4 times
before actually leaving the big city. Along the road we were traveling at a
comfortable speed (unlike some break-neck speeds I’ve experienced) but made
stops in just about every town. It was hot, crowded, and Mom obviously doesn’t
speak the language. . . so I can only imagine what she was going through.
I try to put myself back in a mindset about what things were
like for me here when I first started service, how anxious and scared I was,
how overwhelming things were. Now I’m just jaded. The chapa ride sucked, but it
wasn’t the end of the world for me, I would just pull my baseball cap down a
little further and sleep. Its all part of life here. There is no reliable
transport in this country, one of the things I had to come to terms with.
So yesterday I dragged mom all over Quissico. We went into
the town itself, I showed her the one road of shops, and the other road of the
open air market. We made some purchases, I introduced her to all of my produce
ladies in the market (they LOVED her), mom bought a capulana, and some
flip-flops for showering and that was that. I took her into the shop where my
good friends are – I think you remember me mentioning Dona Julia in a previous
blog? They were really excited to meet her, and I spent the next few hours
translating back and forth, while we sipped on a 7Up. Something cold and sweet
to beat the heat.
Came back home, where I did some things around the house,
and mom took a nap on the grass mat. The baby (my dog) has taken to Grandma
right away, and proceeded to nap on the mat with her. I took a picture. It was
adorable.
Speaking of, they are both passed out right now. Mom over in
my bed, and Ceu on the floor underneath. Too cute.
In the afternoon, we walked around a bit more, and I showed
her where my old house was – when I was living with ACOMUZA. We checked out the
overlook of the lagoon, and had a glass of wine while the sun was setting.
Came home to make some dinner – coconut beans and rice YUM. We
watched a movie, and called it a night.
No big plans for the day today, making banana bread, maybe
doing some landry, showing mom around a bit more – then the NYE party tonight!!
I’m really looking forward to it, I think mom is a little anxious because of
the language barrier, but everyone is very excited to have her here.
Quick story before I leave you- last night, after my bath
right before I started cooking, my neighbor Amina came up to the house to check
in on Mom. She wanted to know how the first day went, if she was ok, upset,
sick etc. . . The thoughtfulness of this gesture was so heartwarming. I’m lucky
to live here in Quissico with such wonderful neighbors and friends.
Happy New Year
Your friend (and her mom) in Moz
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