Hidden Treasures in Maputo

As most of you know I like to take photos. I am not a professional by any means, but once in a while...like about 1 in 100 pictures a nice photo emerges. That is what is great about digital cameras. You can take like 1,000 pictures and find those perfect 10 without spending one dime on developing. But to tell you the truth I kind of miss my film camera and the anticipation of developing the roll to see what you captured.

So back to the point of this blog...Yes, I like to take photos and I have been lucky enough to find two friends in Maputo that share my hobby. I say hobby because all three of us are learning as we go.

Today Juan, Paty and I decided to tour the city on a "Workshop de Fotos." You would be surprised at what we found walking around the city on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Maputo is full of hidden treasures. The picture above is mine, but I can't take all the credit. A couple of weeks ago Juan found these abandoned mannequins in a store window and thought they would be the perfect subjects. Gracias Juan...this was our first stop on the "tour." Click here to see some of my favorite photos from today. I will see if Juan and Paty have their photos ready and link them to here when they are done.

I hope you get to see a little bit of Maputo through my eyes today. Yes, there is poverty and sadness, but there is also hope and the people here have an AMAZING spirit. I am starting to really love my temporary hometown.

Happy Birthday Jan Jelle

Join me in saying Happy Birthday to JJ today...he officially turns 30!

Welcome to the club honey...I think that my thirties have been the best by far. Don't most of you agree. Well, except for a couple of minor things like my metabolism slowing down, gray hairs, etc. But you are a guy and don't have to worry about that stuff. Gray hair is sexy on men...women, don't you hate that!

Anyway, have a great day and enjoy this momentous birthday.

For those of you that are in Maputo, I hope you can make it to the party this Saturday. For those of you that are in lands far away...have a toast to JJ today.

Happy Easter

JJ and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter. Enjoy this wonderful season of new beginnings! And don't eat ALL the chocolate bunnies...

We just said goodbye to our first visitors. JJ's father and step mom (Jan Erik & Coby) came to visit us for a week in Mozambique. It was great to finally have family to show around. We went to Kruger National Park in South Africa to see wild animals. This time the highlights were the cheetahs and buffalo. The morning walk was also pretty cool, we didn't see any animals, but just the thought that we were waking in the bush and could come face to face with a lion at any minute was very exciting. I am sure that our armed guides would have protected us, but between you and me I am kind of happy we didn't meet up with any lions.

We also took a boat ride to Inhaca - an island about 2 hours off Maputo's coastline. Okay, so there weren't the beautiful beaches they talk about in all the guide books about Mozambique. But it was pretty and very relaxing. We finished off the week with a tour of Maputo. It was a nice change of pace to show off our new "hometown" and really appreciate all it has to offer. It made me realize how lucky we are to live in a place like this and be able to truly enjoy everything that life has given us.

Just to make you jealous and hopefully entice our other family members and friends to come visit I have posted pictures from the week to our Photo Album. Enjoy!

Thank you Jan Erik and Coby for being our 1st guests and we hope you made it back safe and sound to Holland.

The Americans Blow Up The Four Seasons in Maputo

April Fool's, okay so the building did go down and it was the Americans, but it was an IMPLOSION, not an EXPLOSION. Gotcha....here is the real
story.

Yesterday was BIG NEWS in Maputo. The Four Seasons building was imploded. Most of you reading this might think...what it the big deal so they took down a building. Well, let me tell you....everyone in Maputo was up at the crack of dawn to see that baby go down.

I am not sure when The Four Seasons was built (sometime in the 1970's). It was actually never finished and The Four Seasons never actually used the building, but that is what everyone called it. It was built while the Portuguese still ran Mozambique, but when Mozambique gained its independance and the Portuguese left Mozambique so did the construction workers and the building was never finished. And just to make sure that no one could use the building concrete was poured down the elevator shafts and throughout other shafts to make the building obsolete. Isn't that nice....

After MANY years of just being a monument...Ode to the Four Seasons Hotel that would have been there...it was taken down. Guess by who...The Americans blew up the building..well sort of. The US bought the land and it will be the future site of the US Embassy and USAID offices.

For your amusement check out the photos and videos we took at our "Implosion Breakfast." Yes, we attended a breakfast for the event. Come on...its Maputo. Click here for PHOTOS and VIDEOS.

Email Forwards

Like probably many of you, I recieve many email forwards on a daily basis. Most of the time I read the subject line and either hit delete or decide to open it and succumb to my curiosity. To tell you the truth most of the time I hit the delete button.

But once in a while, after you have gone through all the dirty jokes, chain letter, emails from Bill Gates telling you he has money for you and then requests from people for your personal informaiton becuase they have a business deal you just can't pass up.....after you deleted all those emails you get one email that was worth it.

This happened to me the other day....my friend Paty sent me an email that I thought I would share with you. The funny thing is that I had actually deleted it and she kept asking me if I opened the email...I wasn't sure what email she meant, but she resent it. Gracias Paty!

I won't say much about it, just that it gives you great advice on life and it was truly refreshing and inspiring to watch. It was GREAT. CLICK HERE

Have a great day.

A Deadly Explosion in Maputo

Last Thursday started off like a normal day. JJ and I went to work. At about 4:30 pm the Science Fair at the American International School was underway. The event was busy and the kids seemed to be excited about showing off their science experiments. I was handing out programs to the parents and celebrating some of the kid's inventions and experiments. There was a dog feeder, ant farm, rocket launcher and much more. We were outside and started hearing noises that resembled thunder and you could feel the ground slightly shaking. We were not really sure what was going on. Then it happened....a huge explosion that you could see clearly in the air! I had NEVER experienced anything like that my entire life. It was like a scene from a movie. The sky over the explosion turned pink and shades of orange followed by a cloud of smoke.

We all panicked. Some of the kids started to cry. I was so perplexed. I immediately called JJ to see if he knew what had just happened. He told me that he had heard that the Mozambican military had planned to "clean out" their armory and were getting rid of old weapons. Okay, that could be the case. It could be a controlled explosion...

Well, the Science Fair quickly ended and I went home. As JJ and I got home we heard another strong explosion. Our building shook and I thought that our windows were going to break. We don't have a local TV channel at home so we started listening to the radio. All sorts of rumors were stirring, but it was clear that Maputo was in a panic.

As I sat at home, I thought....could someone have hit Maputo with a bomb. I thought...oh, no...they have bombed the US Embassy. Just as I thought that, we heard (well thought we heard) that the USAID building had collapsed, been hit or something. We still didn't know what to make of it.

We knew that most of the blasts were coming from the direction of the armory and we knew that Elizabeth - our "empregagda" - lived nearby. We called her and could not get through. Finally we were able to talk and she told us that part of her roof had come off and some windows had shattered, but she and her family were okay.

The next morning we woke up and we heard the real story. For some unexplainded reason (maybe heat, maybe poor maintenance) the Mozambican arms depot had started to explode and shoot off some of its weapons. 93 people had been killed. We couldn't believe it. How could this happen? Check out CNN.com for stories and pictures - Click here.

Can you imagine sitting at home watching TV and a bomb lands in your house? That is exactly what happened to many people. There was a house where all 13 family members died. The picture above shows that house, where a bomb landed and killed everyone. JJ went out with co-workers from the embassy to assess the damage and was able to take some pictures.

Well, it has been almost one week since the incident and life in Maputo has gone back to normal...normal for some of us. But many people were affected, not only with damage to thier house, but hundreds of people were hurt and many people are having to deal with the consequences of severed limbs or other terrible injuries.

This was a stupid accident, something that should have been taken care of when a similar, but smaller incident occured in January of this year. This is what happens when you have a very young country just learning how to run the government and with limited resources. Remember the Mozambican government has only been in existence a little over 25 years.

Check out www.cnn.com for more information.

Home Sweet Home

It has been a week since we arrived back home in Maputo. Let me tell you, I never thought I would miss this "home" so much. I don't mean to sound cheesy and cliche, but I guess it is true what they say that "home is where the heart is." JJ and I have made Maputo our home and although we enjoyed every minute of visiting with family and friends while we were in Holland and Miami, we are happy to be home back to our life in Mozambique. I think I was extra happy to finally get home after 46 hours of traveling! Almost two days....

Visiting the "first-world" for a month did have its perks I must admit. There are definitely things I realized I missed while I was back. For example:

1. The concept of "open 24 hours." In Maputo you sort of have to plan your shopping. Shops close at the end of the day and close very early on the weekends or don't open at all.
2. Fast Food - I know...I know this is horrible to admit. But I missed being able to stop at Subway for a sandwich or Einstein's for a bagel...yummmm bagels!
3. Lincoln Road & People Watching - There is not really a place to do that here. The best people watching we get to do in Maputo is from the balcony of our apartment...you don't really see the same characters you see in South Beach.
4. New Movies - JJ and I went to the movies close to 7-8 times while on vacation. It was exciting to see films that had just come out. The movies here take about 6 months to one year and many times I don't even recognize the film since it was a "straight to DVD" movie.
5. Coupons - I am such a nerd....but I love to use coupons and royalty cards. None of that stuff here. That is how I used to get my kicks back home.

6. Finding shoes in my size - I don't know what it is, but finding a size 12 in Africa has been impossible. I came home with 8 new pairs of shoes!

As I look at the list, these things are NOT important and I didn't really miss them until we were in Holland and Miami. Life in Maputo for us has become "normal" and we love it. We have our routines, our new friends, our work and most of all we have each other.

Truly, the most difficult part of being so far away from Miami and Holland is not seeing our family (Maxwell and Benthe have to be the cutest niece and nephew in the world!) and everyone that is important to us. Thank goodness for Skype! I don't what I would do if we didn't have the Internet. For me some days it is really hard being away and not being there for the day to day things, but being able to call and see someone just after a couple of clicks on the computer makes it a little better. Subtle hint for all of you that have not installed Skype.

These are just some of my random thoughts after a week back from holiday! It is late so I am sorry if I am not making any sense. You can see pictures from our trip here. You will get a kick out of our Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) dinner in February. My family re-enacted Noche Buena complete with all the Christmas trimmings. I don't want to know how they kept that Christmas tree alive! Well, until next week...

Where are they now?

It has been a long time since my last update. I apologize for that. My new job as Activities Coordinator for the American School in Maputo kept me much busier than I expected, but now we are on holiday and I have stolen a few minutes at the computer to update my diary.

Where are we??? Well, we are back in the "First World," for about one month. We arrived in Holland last weekend and have been visiting JJ's family. As we arrived in Holland and drove out of the airport we suffered a bit of "reverse" culture shock...just to drive around and see everything so clean and not a sign of any poverty in sight was a bit strange. But that lasted a short time, then it felt normal again. It took us a bit longer to start driving on the right side of the road again and get our wipers vs. our turn signals straight. But to tell you the truth...we kind of miss Maputo and its "charm," but are ecstatic to be in Holland and going to Miami to visit everyone.

We started our holiday in Zeeland in the south of Holland, where we stayed in a cottage near the beach with JJ's sister, husband and Benthe - our niece! A cottage on the beach sounds like fun in the sun, but hello...it is winter! It was freezing, but we did enjoy walks on the beach with our coats, gloves and scarfs and instead of cold drinks we had hot chocolate!

Then we were off to Apeldoorn to visit with Oma Stolk (JJ's grandmother). After a night's rest we were on the road to Groningen in the north of Holland and also where JJ's mom and father lives. Well, JJ's father lives in Bedum, right outside the city. In a small little town. Everyone walks and rides bike here...even when it is 30 degrees and snowing. No wonder all the Dutch people are so in shape! Just to put it in perspective for all of our Maputo and Miami friends....on Wednesday it was Marlotte's (JJ's youngest sister) 17th Birthday. Well, she usually bikes to school everyday. Being a nice sister-in-law I suggested that for her birthday, in light of the freezing weather and snow, that we drive her to school as a "treat"on her birthday. I was quickly reminded that strong Dutch girls are used to riding bike in this weather. Note to self...make sure to stay home on my birthday if I ever live in Holland. Oh, no my birthday is in June....won't have to worry about snow....wheww!

But right now the city is covered in white! It is beautiful. Seriously everything is covered in snow and guess who rode bike to school this morning...Yes, Marlotte! You go girl!

Well, I have to go bundle up and get ready to head out. We are headed to Miami on Sunday. Too see pictures from our Holland visit click here.

Merry X-mas, Vrolijk Kerstfeest & Feliz Navidad

As the holidays approached this year I wasn’t sure what to expect from our first Christmas in Maputo. I was feeling a little homesick and missing the Miami winter. I know this sounds crazy...but it is summer here and extremely HOT. Although it doesn’t get cold in Miami you have your random gusts of cold air and “sweater weather” that surprises you every once in a while during the holiday season. Maputo during Christmas is hot and humid. The other day is was over 105 degrees! It makes it hard to get into the Christmas spirit.

We put up a Christmas tree and decorated the house...but it just didn’t feel like the holidays. I was still feeling a little homesick and I spent the week before Christmas watching ¿Que Pasa, USA? everyday (My sister gave me all the episodes before I left Miami). Watching this show as an adult made me truly appreciate it and iI realized how “perfect” the show was at capturing the life of a Cuban-American family in Miami. After an overdose of the Peña family I decided that I wanted to have my own Noche Buena in Maputo.

JJ was hesitant at first due to my lack of culinary skills and to tell you the truth I have NEVER really made anything for Noche Buena. All that was left to my mom, grandma and Jose (our neighbor). JJ is a wonderful chef but he wasn’t really sure about lechon hasado, yuca, frijoles negros y arroz blanco. But after discussion and deliberation the plans for Noche Buena were set into motion. I don’t blame JJ for being nervous...have you ever seen me in the kitchen!

I spent the week on email with friends and family figuring out the recipes and ingredients. I want to thank my grandmother, my mom, Ana and Carlos for answering all of my questions and sharing your recipes with me! I think that from now on I will help with Noche Buena the next Christmas we spend in Miami.

Our friends were invited. We had 12 people for dinner...but that was okay since our pork was 18 pounds!!!! That is a big “bird” (as JJ and I affectionately referred to the pig). Let me tell you that the lechon came out delicious! I have to give props to JJ...he was on pig duty and I swear it was as good as Jose’s (our neighbor in Miami) but I would never tell him that. We might not have had a caja china...pero que rico!

Noche Buena was a success! No one got food poisoning (ha ha ha) and we had a wonderful time with our friends and their friends. We have been very lucky to meet wonderful people in Maputo. The dinner table was full of stories, talking, drinking...you know just like back home. It was very special and I will never forget our first Noche Buena in Maputo.

The party continued on Christmas Day. We had a Christmas Brunch. Everyone came over with food. We had mimosas...sat around....listened to Christmas Carols...played games...shared stories...had a dip in the pool (I bet you can’t do that wherever you are this December).

Our First Christmas in Maputo was perfect and although we missed our family and friends in the USA and Holland (a lot!!!) we are very blessed to have such great friends here in Mozambique.

To everyone not here with us....JJ and I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! We will be visiting Holland and Miami in February and can’t wait to see all of you.

Click here for pictures from Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) and Christmas Day!

P.S. Just a couple of personal updates I forgot to mention before. I am now not only the "wife of a diplomat," but I am also the newest member of the staff at the American International School of Maputo. Yes, I got a job! I am the Activities Coordinator. I can't wait to start full-time in January. I worked the last two weeks before Christmas break and I really enjoyed it. Okay, so I have a job...that brings me to my next BIG news. I need to get to work, right? Carpooling isn't really an option here...I finally learned how to drive stick shift. I don't think JJ ever thought I would learn...but I did. I still give people a little whiplash, but hey I can get from point A to point B. This is progress!

Visiting Orphanage in Bobole

Two weeks ago I finally went back to the orphanage in Bobole (just outside Maputo) to deliver the mattresses they so desperately needed. I want to thank my friends from Florida (Alberto, Elizabeth, Kirk, Ana, Io and Jazz) for sending donations. I also want to thank my friends over at the US Embassy Public Affairs Office in Maputo for donating the transportation and the driver.

I delivered five mattresses, bunk bed frames, coloring books and crayons. They were very grateful. Click here to see pictures and videos. During the visit I was able to talk to them and discuss other items which they needed. In January they will have close to 35 orphans. I am working on getting them the following items:

- Five additional beds
- Ten mosquito nets
- Three sewing machines (they would like to teach the children to sew and this way they would be able to make their own clothes)
- Electrical wire to complete their electricity project (once they have electricity they will be able to store food in a freezer. Right now their diet consists of rice, corn meal and vegetables once in a while)

If you would like to help with a donation please send me an email at mvigues@msn.com.

Happy Holidays!

Another Letter from Maxwell

My nephew Maxwell is almost 4.5 months now and did I tell you he is a genius. This is the second letter he wrote to me. I love receiving his letters, but I am starting to wonder if his parents know what a great writer he is. I enjoy them so much I wanted to share it with the rest of you. And did you see the photo...4 months and he can sit up all by himself. I love you Maxwell!

Dear Auntie,

I'm dictating this letter to grandpa to let you know we have moved already to our new house. The house is big and beautiful and dad painted the whole house with his friends from Nigeria and did a great job!

I have a room all by myself, but it's really far away from mom's and dad's room. But I already learned how to get back "in" with them. Every night I sleep for a little while and then I start screaming and crying and then mom takes my back to her room with dad and I sleep there the rest of the night. It looks like mom is the softy of the family. She can't help but hold me when I start crying.

By the way, I am totally OK after the operation. I'm peeing like never before. I didn't know I was so clogged down there. Even the little incision is totally closed and it doesn't hurt anymore.

Oh, I discovered laughing the other night. I was playing with mom and grandma and I started to make a funny sound because they were being silly. Mom said I was laughing for the first time. Now I make the sound when grandpa tickles me under the arms. It sounds like HA HA HA or something like that. Every time I do it, they all laugh too.

Another sign of maturity according to mom, is that I can grab stuff with my hands, especially the left one and take the stuff to my mouth. When they show me a toy I can grab it and put it in my mouth. Mommy is really into my development. She bought this boring CD with CLASSICAL baby music and she plays it every time I am in the car with her. Its sooooooooo boring. I prefer rap music myself. Daddy has great music in his car from some rappers. I like the song "You think your poop smell like roses...."but I know the song its not about me.

Well I'm in my new house, but I miss Duke. He was really nice to me...I'm not missing any fingers or toes. Grandma and Grandpa have been really nice coming here and helping with the house. Grandpa put together my new crib, but he doesn't say anything because he wants dad to take the credit.

I love you a lot and miss you more than any other auntie.

Love,

Maxwell

Long Overdue Update

I have been a bad bad blogger. Since our return from the honeymoon things have been very hectic, but that is no excuse. Our honeymoon was fabulous. Our road trip in South Africa allowed us to see so much of the country and it is so different. We got to see Cape Town, the country, small villages, the bush, went on safari, stayed on a Ostrich Farm, walked the beaches, Nelson Mandela's prison cell...I could go on and on. But the best way would be to show you the photos. So click here and enjoy!

After South Africa we headed to Rwanda to visit our friends Jaco and Leontien. What a gorgeous country! It is hard to believe that most of the country was wiped out less than 12 years ago.

More news on our end....I got a job! I will be the new activities coordinator for the American International School in Maputo. I am nervous and excited at the same time...I will tell you more as the weeks progress.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday and are getting ready for the Christmas season. We will be preparing here in Maputo as well and we won't let "summer" get in the way of a perfect Christmas. Yes, it is summer here and man is it hot!

Oh, oh...I almost forgot. Check out our new video clips. Just click on "Our Video Library" to the right. Don't expect anything exciting. We were just having fun with our new little camera that has a video feature.

Well, hopefully the next photos will be of our Christmas tree.

African Honeymoon

Finally....Mr. & Mrs. van Herksen are going on a proper honeymoon. After many months of waiting (over 8 months to be exact) JJ and I are leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow! We will be visiting locations that are not on the TOP 10 places to visit on your honeymoon, but we are very excited with our South African road trip and trip to Rwanda. I have to give props to JJ. He has planned the whole trip. You can see a map of our trip above (the map is compliments of my father...he has a lot of free time).

We leave Maputo tomorrow by car and head to Cape Town, South Africa. There will be plenty of stops along the way including stays on the beach, in vineyards, elephant reserves, ostrich farms and much more. On the way back we will drive back from Cape Town to Johannesburg. On the way to Jo'berg we will again have some interesting stops including diamond mines....maybe JJ will surprise me...ha ha ha. From Jo'berg we will fly to Kigali, Rwanda.

Most of you are familiar with Rwanda from movies like Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April...both really excellent movies by the way. To tell you the truth that is most of what I know about Rwanda as well. I am looking forward to learn about the country and from the experiences it has had. I can't even imagine what to expect from some of the genocide memorials.

Okay, but this is a honeymoon right...Our friends Jaco and Leontien are there and they have promised us a "Thanksgiving" we will never forget complete with mountain trails, gorillas and beautiful views and hopefully a turkey dinner too. Another movie that was filmed in Rwanda was Gorillas in the Midst. I don't know if I will get as close as Sigourney Weaver, but we will see.

I don't want to divulge too much....then I would have nothing to write about when we get back. I won't be updating the blog or posting pictures during our honeymoon. I have been banned from email and the internet, but I am sure you will survive. I will probably go through withdrawals without email...just kidding...I think.

Until the next posting in about three weeks. And off we go....

Visiting a Muslim Orphanage in Bobole

Yesterday was a great day...I had the chance to visit Masgid Nuru - a Muslim orphanage in Bobole (in the Maputo Province). The orphanage is run by a Muslim refugee from Burundi who arrived in Mozambique in 2001 and built a small mosque and orphanage with about 22 boys. The ages of the boys range from 8 - 17.

On this particular day as you can see there were many more children than just the orphans. It was a Muslim holiday - Eid ul-Fitr and everyone from around town gathered at the orphanage and mosque for the festivities and to greet us. This holiday marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Fitr means "to break the fast" and therefore symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. It was the perfect day for us to visit the orphanage and bring our gifts. We brought food, clothes, blankets, toys and some school supplies.

When we first got there it was all very surreal. We drove up and saw all these children sitting waiting for us. It seems like everyone had put on their best clothes just for us. When we got there everyone just sat there and looked at us. I wasn't sure what to do. We sat down with them and they thanked us and Kristin (from the US Embassy) said a few words in Portuguese to the group.

After the greetings they took us on a tour of the "facilities." They showed us the sleeping quaters, classrooms, kitchen, chicken coop and their on-going project to bring water to the orphange. The children followed us and were excited to show us where they lived.

It was quite difficult for me to communicate with the children. My mix of Spanish and Portuguese did not work well in Bobole. I got as far as "Hello, my name is Melissa and yours"...and I was able to ask them their age. The children were quite serious and shy...but the minute I knelt down and asked them their name they opened up and the smiles came pouring out. The little toy cars I had in my pocket also helped to break the ice. The toy cars were perfect...later that day they were going to a nearby house to watch a movie for the holiday. Guess what movie....CARS! I don't think many of the children had any toys at all.

The pictures speak for themselves. These children don't have much. They sleep in a room with no windows and many sleep two to one small bed. They orphanage does not have any running water. I don't think they they have electricity either. They must walk 2km for water. I can't even imagine having to care for all these children with such little resources.

I am going to try and work on raising enough money to purchase a sewing machine, 10 beds and complete thier water project. Please let me know if you would like to help. Just send me an email at mvigues@msn.com.

To see all of the pictures from the visit click on Our Photo Album.

Lunch with Fatima

This week was amazing! JJ and I completed an "Orientation Course" on Mozambique. We spent the week participating in discussions with historians, editors of newspapers, leaders of political parties and writers. We also had field trips all over town. It was part of a course that taught us about Mozambique's culture and history.

We are living in a country that we knew nothing about. It is a strange feeling living in a country where you did not know the national holidays, political parties or any basic history. Imagine living in the United States and not knowing why there is a 4th of July or who George Washington is. It sounds strange...but that is what it is like for us...well, at least for me. JJ might have been a little more informed. Now we are both familiar with the history...everything makes more sense as we walk around the city and go around on our day-to-day activities.

The best part of the class was the FIELD TRIPS! We visited museums, monuments, markets and took walks around the city. But by far my favorite moment was having lunch with Fatima and her family! Fatima's granddaughter works at the school that was coordinating the class. She welcomed us into her home and made a Mozambican feast for us...complete with appetizers and dessert.

As we first drove into this neighborhood with dirt roads and streets wide enough to barely fit our car we could see kids playing in the streets and families going on with their daily chores. It was a particularly warm day so everyone was outside trying to enjoy some of the breeze. None of these homes had air conditioning and you are lucky to have running water in your home.

As you start to look at the houses you can see that each house is built differently and with materials that they have found and collected over the years. Some houses are made of brick (you are considered rich if your house is brick or tile) and other houses are made of aluminum panels (like Fatima's) or any other materials they can find. The kitchen is usually outside and stoves are powered by coal.

This is how most of Maputo lives, but these are NOT the really poor folks! The rest of the country is filled with families that have much less than Fatima's. It is amazing to see their resilience and ability to get through every day and be thankful for what they do have.

Fatima was born in this house that was built by her parents. I got to speak to Fatima...struggling with my mix of Spanish and Portuguese she asked me about my family and where I was from. I also found out she loves to watch soccer. I can just imagine her glued to the TV during the World Cup yelling and shouting for her favorite team. She is a riot! She also told me she was Muslim and then asked me if I knew what Muslim was? I laughed and told her yes. She went to explain that she was fasting for Ramadan and although she was making all this food for us she could not eat until later that night.

I also met some of her friends that were visiting from Ilha de Mozambique. Her friend had come to Maputo to have her tooth pulled out so she was not doing so well, but still joined in our conversation. Little by little her nieces and other members of the family stopped by to say hello. It reminded me of being in my abuela's house while she was cooking and the family coming in little by little to chat and spend some time together. I loved it!

Now I can say that I am a little bit more familiar with Mozambique and have taken a closer look at Maputo. I hope you like the pictures.

Letter from Maxwell

I really love living in Africa. Maputo has welcomed us with open arms and we have no complaints. But...there is always a but, right. I really miss being close to my family...especially my nephew Maxwell. I have been lucky enough to see him grow up the last couple of months via internet video phone (thanks to our ultra-fast connection in Maputo). I think he even recognizes my voice and even smiles when he sees my face on the screen. Seriously, what did people do before they had the internet!

In any case, this auntie is missing being an auntie! I think they told Maxwell how I was feeling so he decided to write me a letter. You could imagine my surprise when I received a letter from a three-month old baby! As a very proud aunt I have no doubt that Maxwell is a genius, but I think in this case he got a little help from his grandfather (my dad). I laughed so hard when I read the letter that I decided to share it with everyone:

Dear Auntie Melissa,

I miss you a lot. I know that I will see you soon in February, but I want to send you some pictures so you can keep track of my progress.

I love you a lot. Everybody tells me you are a lot like my mother. She smells good and she makes me laugh a lot. My dad is really big and he grabs me and pretends I'm flying. I like that a lot.

I want to tell you a secret...but you have to promise not to tell mom because she gets really weird about the subject, I LOVE FORMULA!!! She is still pumping left and right (literally) trying to make sure I have at least 3-4 rations a day.

I went to a very nice hospital and had a rough time, but mom was with me and it was not that bad anymore.

I heard you are trying to make me a cousin. Please try hard and have fun. I remember how much fun mom and dad had (especially dad) in making me.

Well, you know my writing is very limited and my grandpa doesn't let me write any adult subjects. By the way grandpa is always grabbing me and making me cry. I think "he is losing his touch" like mom says. But I feel he has good intentions.

Well I got to go, I can see mom's nipples ready for me.

Love,
Maxwell

P.S. As soon my mom lets me take a picture of my circumcised penis I will send you one. They did a good job, they didn’t cut any big part, just the skin. But let me tell you it was scary to see that asshole with the surgical knife grab my thingy.

Regatta in Maputo

Yesterday was a picture perfect day in Maputo. The weather was fabulous. There was just enough breeze to even call the day "cool." JJ and I spent the day at Club Naval watching a regatta. It was my first regatta. The only regattas I had seen were on TV or in movies. Although this regatta was not as grand as those I had seen on TV and the sail boats were definitely not as big...I think it was spectacular. The participants in the regatta were locals, mostly fisherman. They used their fishing boats, many of them with "homemade" sails. The first prize was $10,000...that is a whole lot of money considering these fisherman make $1-5 dollars a day!

While at the event, I heard some other people talking and they said that close to 80 locals registered in the race. I don't know if I saw 80 boats come in...maybe there were 3-4 entries per boat...that sounds about right. In any event it was great to see the faces of the winners. There were also cash prizes for second and third place.

Enjoy the pictures...it was truly a unique experience for us. The day didn't end with the race. The festivities continued with a luncheon. They party had live music and interactive African drumming. Basically they distributed drums to everyone and there was a drum leader that taught and lead the crowd. Some people were great...others not so good, but everyone had FUN.

Meeting the Real Pumba

Okay, like most of you reading this right now...my only point of reference for the animals I would encounter on our first African Safari were The Lion King (movie and Broadway show) and two trips to Animal Kingdom. Oh, yeah and channel surfing through the Discovery Channel. Let me tell you....the real thing is so much better!

The first animal we met as we drove through the gates of Kruger National Park was Pumba and his family (Warthogs). From there we saw monkeys, giraffes, zebras...the list goes on and on. You are so close to the animals and at times they look at you like you just showed up to their house unannounced. You can see pictures of all the animals we saw at Our Photo Album.

In Africa when people talk about the “Big Five” they are referring to leopards, elephants, rhinos, buffalo and lions. From the Big Five we only saw elephants....but I am hopeful for our next trip. We are really lucky to live so close to Kruger National Park. Anyone that comes to visit will certainly get a trip there (HINT).

But back to the safari, in addition to all of the animals we saw, the experience was amazing. The smells are distinct, size of the bugs are out of control (that is what I was most scared of...I am such a girl...but I am over it). The sunset was...I can even describe it (You can see some of the pictures we took, but the pictures don’t do it justice). There is something about the African sky that is different from anywhere else I have been to. As JJ and I were taking our sunset safari drive I kept pinching myself because it all felt so surreal. It makes you realize how much more there is in life to see.

Enjoy the photos and we look forward to reporting on other adventures. By the way the trip started out to be a 4-day trip in Kruger and White River...but got cut short after JJ and I got food poisoning. Note to self: Don’t eat poached eggs with a secret sauce at the park cafeteria. Kruger is great...just stay clear of the cafeteria food. It was a rookie mistake!

Hashing in Maputo with Sugar Ray the Boxer

Yesterday was my first "hash" experience in Maputo. Before you start thinking I did something naughty...let me tell you that it involved lots of walking. On the advice of a friend I went to my first Hash House Harriers walk/run. Let me tell you...I was surprised every step of the way. By the end of the day, I had beer poured over me and I had a new nickname "Too Cheeky." I won't tell you how I got the nickname...but let me tell you more about the Hash House Harriers.

Okay, I had never heard of the group. Here I thought I was going for a walk for the purpose of exercising. Uhhh, NO! The HHH is a "Drinking Club with a Running Problem." It is a large group of foreigners, expats and locals that like to have a good time, drink and somehow manage to squeeze in hour runs....and walks. Half the group (me included) are walkers.

Every week it is a different walk. This week we drove about 45 minutes outside of Maputo. The drive took us through dirt roads all the way to a place that I would have never visited if it wasn't for the HHH. The walk took us through a local village, where there were no roads. The only points of reference were train tracks, tons of goats, various fields of crops and some make shift houses along the way. We did see many locals carrying on with their weekend chores. It was great to see the country from this perspective.

I was also excited about accompanying Sugar Ray...Yes, Sugar Ray the Boxer...a dog. He is fawn and about 60 pounds...he reminds me so much of Duke. I miss you Dukie! Anyway, I had a blast with Sugar. Sugar's mommy is going into labor soon and I think I will be taking Sugar out for his Saturday Hash walks. I think he likes it more than some of the people. He even partakes in the beer break following the run.

Oh, yeah did I mention that there is lots of beer involved! Well, in any event it was fun and DIFFERENT to say the least. I don't have photos of the walk, but I should have photos of the "after party" soon. I will let you know if I get photos of me in my wet t-shirt.

As far as an update, my volunteer job as an English teacher is going great. JJ's job at the embassy keeps him very busy, but he still manages to start his weekends on Friday afternoons...one of the perks of the foreign service.

Our house is set and ready for friends. Paintings and curtains have been hung up with up care in hopes that many visitors soon will be there!

This week we are headed to Kruger National Park to see lions, cheetahs and anything else that gets in our way. Hopefully we will have some good photos!

Happy Birthday Moqui

Today my little sister turns 28....This is her first birthday as a mommy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOQUI! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you...but we did go "out" on your birthday and saw the perfect movie - Sisters In Law.

The documentary was showing at the Mozambican Film Festival. Set in Kumba in South West Cameroon Sisters in Law follows adultery, rape and abuse cases led by a female judge and state prosecutor. It was a powerful and fascinating movie...to see how these women fought for the rights of the victims. They are changing "their world" one case at a time. The movie also showed the first spousal abuse case in 17 years, in which the men were found guilty. According to the attorney in the movie it was the first time a Muslim man had been found guilty of domestic violence.

Moqui, you would have loved the movie. I thought about you and all the reasons you love being an attorney.

After the movies we went to have Indian food. It was a first for me and I loved it! Why hadn't I tried it before?

Well, it's late and we have to go to bed...but one more time....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!