First Day Back in Africa...

Here I am at the end of my first full day back in Mozambique. Hard to believe a whole day has gone by - they are much shorter here of course as it's winter time. I've been walking around in a skirt and t-shirt with flip flops and everyone else is bundled up - pretty funny. It was beautiful weather out today though.

The journey was a good one, and for the most part was pretty uneventful. The Boston flight left on time and I found my second flight in D.C. with no problems and time to spare. The 17 hour flight was rather tedious and almost unbearably long. I did have nice "row-mates" to talk to though, so that helped the time go by. The first one was flying as far as Dakar, Senegal. A guy from Texas now living in DC and working for the World Bank, he was going to their West African office for training and meetings. We arrived in Dakar in darkness (it was 5am there), but by the time we left, the sun was rising over a fascinating landscape... turrets on mosques lined the horizon and almost everywhere I looked there were 2-3 story cement block buildings. Far off in the distance loomed the controversial African Renaissance Monument. I wish I'd had my camera at the ready to take a picture of it as we taxied down the runway.

We got a bit of a late start leaving Dakar, waiting for passengers. One of them sat next to me, a Dutch lady teaching in Bamako, Mali and whose husband, a Zimbabwean, worked as an administrator for a mine. Interesting conversation! As we got underway, I tried to sleep, but wasn't very successful as the dry air hurt my sinuses and gave me a headache (should've brought Tylenol).

We finally landed in Johannesburg (Joburg) in the evening and we were treated to that characteristic African winter sunset. It was exciting to be back on familiar turf, but I was tired and really anxious to push on and get to Maputo. There was some problem with my ticket when I went to check-in. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but after a short wait, they handed me my boarding pass. The last leg of the trip was in an old Boeing plane, lights were shut off for take-off and landing, plunging us into almost complete darkness -that was new!

We arrived at the fancy, brand new international section of the airport - I didn't recognize the place! I saw Dad waving as I walked the concourse in. Made it through as far as immigration and customs, when officials decided to open my suitcases... and discovered all of the yarn I'd brought with me. (Audrey, my dear friend and landlady, passed away last November and I was given several boxes full of her yarn, to bring with me for the ladies at the Bible College to use for knitting, etc.)  The immigration official, decided I needed to pay and would I please give him the cost of the yarn. I tried to explain my situation, that it was given to me, I didn't know the value and I was not selling it. This went on for a few minutes and we were at an impasse. Mom and Dad were waving excitedly from behind a glass window over the official's shoulder and after a few minutes, Dad somehow managed to get in to the immigration area. With he and I both protesting the official, he asked us into an office, where again, we recounted the story of where the yarn came from and where it was going. There was a woman official who rolled her eyes at the guy giving me a hassle and said, "let them go". The guy huffed and said, "okay go, go". We hesitated and said we were willing to pay something if it was the law and he just said, again "go on".... makes me think he was only out for an extra buck.

Anyway, we were at the house in short order and I got to see Timmy, our little dog, and Oddie ("Odd" for his one white paw) who I met for the first time. After a light snack it was off to bed for a sound night's sleep.

I was up at 7:30AM this morning, with golden sunshine pouring in and the sound of birds chattering and roosters crowing. Oh--it is SO good to be back! I felt well-rested and refreshed. After some oatmeal, Mom and I wandered around the campus and I got to meet the students' kids at the "escolinha" ("little school" or creche) and meet old friends, the ladies who care for the kids and the ladies down at the dining-hall. After that it was over to the chapel service, where I got to see more friends and meet the college students. It was an uneventful day really... I wandered around our yard and got some great pictures of birds, played with the dogs, sat and chatted for a couple hours with Majka, a gal volunteering here from Slovakia and staying on campus. It feels funny not having worked or accomplished anything today, but I feel so relaxed and just at peace.

Here are some photos taken today in our yard....

Laughing Doves on the roof of our house

Oddie, wanting to play!

Beautiful bouganvillea

Female masked weaver, checking out her new digs

Weaver birds at work on their nests. There's a whole colony in the backyard!

Red-eyed Dove

Masked weaver and a Bulbul, enjoying the birdbath.

Brown-Hooded Kingfisher in the backyard.