April 7, 2014

Happy Mozambican Women’s Day! International Women’s Day was last month, March 8^th. There was a festival in the park with lots of singing and dancing, of course. Can’t remember much of it now except that later that evening our dog, Luca, chased a chicken around the yard until it tried escaping into our house and then under Elizabeth’s bed. I had to lock the dog in the bathroom while Elizabeth poked the chicken with a broom until it left. That was quite an experience lol

During the most recent Women’s Day, Pam came to hang out with us for the weekend. We got to relax, eat lots of food, and grade while watching Friends. We introduced Pam to many of our collogues and showed her our library. Pam also has a library and tutoring program at her site so it was nice being able to exchange ideas with her. Oh, funny story. Elizabeth put a pot with oil on the stove to make popcorn. I was on the phone outside when I heard yelling and ran back inside. She had opened the lid and there were huge flames shooting out of the pot. Grease fire! All three of us started, stupefied, at the fire a lot longer than I care to admit until Elizabeth yelled, “Baking Powder!” and threw the contents of the entire box into the pot, which then prompted me to empty a pitcher of water onto the flames. It worked! We didn’t burn the house down! Haha I guess it’s a tradition now. Something “exciting” always has to happen on Women’s Day :)

A few weeks ago we were invited by a priest, who also happens to be a Portuguese teacher at our school, to have dinner at his church. Elizabeth and I had passed the church a few times on the road and always wondered what it looked like inside so we jumped at the opportunity. It was raining and getting dark by the time we arrived but the church itself was so beautiful. Could not believe that a church that big would exist here, in the middle of nowhere, in Mozambique! The priests were very kind and served us tons of food (and fruit!) and then we watched the news on the television. I think they were use to having foreigners, especially Brazilians, come and visit this them. I definitely want to go back another time before I leave to explore during the day. Hopefully it’ll be sometime soon!

 

The beautiful exterior

Inside the Church.

Remember the pictures I posted of our garden? Well it is thriving! We have so much stuff growing in our backyard, I can’t believe it. I am so thankful to Lino, the student who planted everything for us. I keep remembering last year when we had no food and how much a garden would have made a difference. Check it out:

Beans! We had so many, Elizabeth ended up canning most of them.

Guavas from our tree.

We don’t know what this is called. Anyone have any idea? It’s a type of gourd. Tastes like a squash when it’s young but it gets very fibrous when it’s this size.

Cucumbers. They’re huge here! Elizabeth made pickles :)

Not shown: tomatoes, pumpkin, and corn.

This isn’t from our garden but they are so delicious. Sugar apples! The white meat that surrounds the seeds taste flowery. Don’t know how else to describe it but it tastes really good!

Also not from our garden but pickled okra tastes fantastic.