Happy Birthday, Feliz Cumpleanos & Eku Ojobi to Maxwell

Here are some pictures from Maxwell's First Birthday Party. Isn't he handsome? It is hard to believe that a year has passed since he was born. I will never forget that day! Monica and Wole gave me the best present ever - allowing me to be there when Maxwell was born. It was such an amazing experience...one that I will not even attempt to put into words...but one that I will never forget. It was the perfect day.

Not only was it Maxwell's Birthday, but JJ arrived in Miami and we were reunited after months of being long distance newlyweds. I wasn't able to greet him at the airport like a proper wife, but I had a job to do at the hospital.

Maxwell, I am sorry that I can't be there with you today...but I do get to see you almost every day on Skype. Good thing you are at abuela's house during the day and with the six hour difference we get to chat all the time. I think you will be a Skype expert by age 3 and be able to call me on your own. All ready last week, you learned how to hold the phone on your own and I think you know now that the crazy lady on the monitor is your Tia Melissa.

I hope you know that your uncle JJ and I think about you all the time and love you very much. We want to wish you a very Happy Birthday on your special day. Don't eat too much cake!

2,190 Kisses & Counting

It was three years ago today...July 15, 2004 that JJ kissed me for the first time. We are not really sure who kissed who first...but we are sure on the date. So that makes about 2,190 kisses when you average about two kisses per day. But being an optimist, I hope it is a lot more than that...we will stick to 2,190 for mathematical purposes!

Do you know how many times you have kissed your sweetie? Most of you are trying to figure it out right now...aren't you. But maybe you don't remember the date. I have my parents to thank for the "Kissing Anniversary."

Growing up every May 30th was a kissing celebration at my house. My father always got my mom a "First Kiss Anniversary" present & card calculating the number of kisses they had shared. My parents are a little romantic to say the least. Now after 34 years they still celebrate it. Let's see that means that my mom and dad have kissed a minimum of 24,820 times! That is a whole lot of kissing...

So that is the story on the anniversary we celebrate today. Remember to kiss someone special today!

Another letter from Maxwell...

This letter from Maxwell is a little dated. He actually wrote it to me on March 6, 2007, but I never got to share it with the blog. His letters are always so entertaining. Although he is getting older I think he still gets a lot of help from his grandpa (my dad). Since he wrote the letter he has learned to walk and this month he will turn one year old! Boy, how time flies.

Enjoy the letter and I hope I get another one soon:

Dear Auntie and Godmother Melissa:

I have not seeing in a while, so I suppose you have gone back to Maputo with the tall blonde guy. You were only here a few weeks, but I remembered you right away, because you look beautiful, a lot like my mommy. The thing I didn’t remember is how loving and caring you are with me. You are going to be a great mom one day. You have the ability to be patient, loving and caring. You are the only member of my family that does not mind changing my poopoo diapers!

I know I will see you soon. Don’t worry...even if I'm growing real fast according to the experts, I will never forget you and I will keep track of you thru Skype so I can see your pretty face and JJ's big head too.

I was crawling when you were here, but now I'm so fast that nobody can catch me. I like crawling better than walking. Walking is too hard, I don’t think I'm going to be able to master it in 5 months, like they said. I have no idea how to stand, unless I grab something or someone grabs me. Walking is not really a big deal. Crawling is better. I can go faster, I can get under the furniture and see how dirty it is under the sofa. The only adults that like to crawl with me are mom, dad and grandpa.

Grandpa looks funny when he crawls, I'm a lot faster than him, but he grabs my legs when I get to far ahead. He has a very hard time getting up, so I told him to stay down like me, but he apparently didn’t know what I was saying and got up.

I got a new swing at grandpa and grandma's house. When they put me in the swing for the first time, they hook the seat belt and THEY LEFT ME ALONE AND THEY PUSHED ME. It really got me by surprise, I didn’t know I was supposed to be alone on the freaking flying chair. I panicked and started crying and grandpa took me away...thank goodness! I heard they were going to try it again next time I'm at grandpa's house. I want to see someone sitting with me at the same time. It was really high and fast, even for a smart baby like me.

Well enough for now....I missed you, but I know you are thinking about me. Tell JJ I love him too. He is not handsome like Dad, but I guess he is lucky enough to be married to the second prettiest woman in the planet (after my mommy). Don’t tell any of the grandmas this because I tell them all the time they are the prettiest one!

Love,

Maxwell

Cape Town...add it to your LIST

Quick...get a pencil....write this down..."I need to go to Cape Town, South Africa some time in my life!"

We just returned from an entire week of total relaxation. I have never really had one of those vacations....you know those vacations where you don't have any plans or expectations, did I mention plans. For those of you who know me, you know that I am BIG on planning. But for this getaway I left my Lonely Planet at home. (I must confess it wasn't on purpose, but thank goodness I did).

JJ and I were due some R&R and we couldn't really go far, but my husband managed to surprise me with two direct tickets to Cape Town...I love my hubby! Well not only did he book the flights, but he reserved a room at the Cape Heritage Hotel. Trust me if you ever make it to this town, there is no place you would rather stay. They make you feel like you are the only guests at the hotel....this is in addition to the wonderful beds, gorgeous rooms. Did I mention they put rose petals and champagne in the room! Okay, I will stop making you jealous. Oh, they even sang for us when we left...yes, that sounds a little kooky...but it was cute...you had to be there. And don't think it is really expensive...what a bargain!

Well, back to Cape Town. With no plans, we explored the city and its surroundings. There were some incredible drives along the coast, walking in the clouds, hanging out with penguins on the beach, visiting Cape Point and looking towards the South Pole, catching HAIR the musical, whale watching of the coast (we really didn't see any whales), delicious restaurants and so much more. You can see photos of all of these things by clicking here.

So yes, I survived a week without any plans and it felt great! This "no planning" thing is starting to grow on me. I haven't made ONE list since I got back from Cape Town (a grocery list doesn't count, right?).

I will probably go back to making lists as soon as my vacation high wears off. It can't last forever. Just make sure that you don't forget to put Cape Town on your LIST.

32 and counting...

Yesterday I turned 32! Thank you to all of you that sent birthday wishes. A special thank you to Nina and company for the wonderful Pancake Birthday Breakfast. That was the first birthday breakfast party I attended, but what a great idea! For those of you that are not in Maputo, a pancake breakfast is hard to come by, so it was a very special treat to have my own pancake breakfast.

JJ spent the day spoiling me yesterday. It was the perfect quiet birthday! Thanks baby.

For pictures of the Pancake Breakfast click here.

Now back to reality...I am late for work.

So Much to Say...So Little Time

I really don't know where my time goes. I have been a really bad blogger lately. But the good news is that the summer (well winter here) is around the corner and I will have a couple of months of VACATION....finally. This is supposed to be the dairy of a Diplomat's wife...but lately I am a workaholic. But I am looking forward to a summer...there I go again saying summer. I can't get used to it being winter in May...what is up with that.

Anyway, I am looking forward to a SUMMER of rest and adventure. There is so much to do here in Mozambique, but JJ and I work so much we don't really have time to explore!

Back to the summer thing...it is so strange. This will be the first time I celebrate my birthday in WINTER. That is so strange. Actually this week has been full of firsts:

1. First time I was so cold a May morning that I had to go back upstairs for a jacket.

2. First time I was face to face with a card-holding Communist leader. The Cuban Ambassador came to speak to our 11th grade History class this week. It was very freaky for me to listen to her speak and go on and on about Fidel and how great things are in Cuba. Just to see how proud she was to be a communist was strange. I mean I am from Miami, where being called a communist is the worst thing you can call someone. It was confusing...her Cuban accent was somewhat comforting (I miss it) but the things that she was saying was just blowing me away. My family left Cuba for good reasons, so obviously I don't agree with most (anything) she was saying. But imagine she grew up her entire life in Castro's government....for her there is no other way of life. And then there is me...who grew up in a capitalist and FREE society. We are world's apart. I am still trying to digest everything that was said. But she did end her talk inviting the students and the director on an educational trip to Cuba. She asked if I wanted to go? Can you imagine: "Si Mami y Papi...me voy a Cuba y Fidel me esta pagando el ticket." Ha ha ha. Sorry I just have to laugh. No, I won't be going to Cuba anytime soon...but I have to figure out what I do about the dinner invitation for congri....do you know how much I love congri!

3. This week also marks the first time I am alone in Maputo :( JJ left to Holland for a training, but the good news is that the 10 days are almost over. He is back on Sunday!

4. This weekend will be the first time I build a traditional African house. Tomorrow I wake up a 6 am and go with a group of kids from school to build homes with Habitat for Humanity. Will talk more about that later.

Okay, now that i have rambled for a bit I really should get ready for a party. Today is the 10th Anniversary of Maputo's Latin Club...whew hoo!

Promise to be a better blogger in the future.

PS At the top is just a random fun picture I took last week. Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there...but especially our moms...Isabel & Joke. We hope you take the time to celebrate today. Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs in the world...so pat yourself on the back and enjoy this special day just for you.

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....