this is 'bob'

He normally resides in my pantry or up along the top of my kitchen walls. This evening he delighted me with his presence in my shower!!! Ola Bob!

visa run

I made a visa-run to Blantyre, Malawi this past weekend. On the ride there I slept - when I awoke at the border it felt as if I'd arrived in a completely different land! The air was COOL, the humidity was gone, mountains provided a brilliant backdrop to bright green tea plantations and tall rows of corn. It was so lush and green and colorful. Absolutely beautiful!! The mud and straw thatched huts turned to log and concrete homes. The road became paved. Bicycles were replaced with trucks and cars. Blantyre has a shopping center with a ShopRite, a Malawi version of Target, more than two restaurants :-), and a cinema! And...in Malawi they speak ENGLISH! All too good to be true! I couldn't believe I hadn't come sooner. I didn't want to leave. :-)

A colleague of a colleague gave me a ride to Blantyre and offered me to stay with his family in their home. I enjoyed home-cooked Peruvian meals and played legos with their youngest son. He is four and very talkative. :-) The compound they live on is just outside of Blantyre, up on a hill, with the most magnificent view. The air was so cool and fresh. I slept like a baby!

Here are a few (motion) snapshots from the truck - starting in Moz, crossing the border, and back again. The ride there took about six hours; the return trip took 12 1/2, complete with a flat tire on a new Land Rover (with an inadequate jack) on the one stretch of land that no cell phone reaches, no electricity can be found, 8pm, and it was raining. Thankfully I had a flashlight and an umbrella with me! The chickens on the top of the truck weren't so lucky...

belly rumblings

I was lying in bed early this morning listening to the children laugh and play in the street. My belly started to rumble and I held it for a few minutes. I could feel the morning hunger creeping in. I am reading a book titled "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life story of a Sudanese “Lost Boy”, Achak, who traveled through Sudan to Ethiopia and then to Kenya on foot, displaced by a horrific civil war. Thousands of Sudanese boys made this walk; hundreds died along the way. Achak speaks of the pains of hunger; the signs of death. As I lie in my comfy bed I think of Achak and the hunger he must have felt. I have no comparison. Its easy to think of this story when you’re reading it as a horrific account of war; painful acts of violence in a different time. Except that it’s not a different time. It is still happening today. Many children are hungry all around the world. Many have pains in their bellies; their bellies extended, their lips cracked. Achak tells of the boys rubbing their necks to try and get moisture in their painfully dry and cracked throats.

I don’t see this hunger here in Mozambique. I’m sure it exists. It may even be here in Quelimane or outside in the zone. But it’s not visual to me on a daily basis. I wondered how I would feel when faced with the hunger season. I am no longer in the village and therefore my eyes are shielded. My belly is quite full. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I just can’t see it. I wish I lived in a world that if I couldn’t see it, it didn’t exist. I wish I could live a positive and joyful life with complete confidence that if I do, everyone else will. We speak about faith being a belief without seeing. Do we have faith in the people we don’t meet? In their lives, their circumstances to be real without seeing it for our own eyes? Do we have faith that someone else is caring for these unseen? Or do we just lie in our comfy beds long enough to think of what we should eat for breakfast, forgetting what’s outside our windows? I admit, my brief moment of thinking of Achak and his story was fleeting; my hungry belly won out and I found some coveted granola with berries (which we don’t have here - thanks Mom!); once the cold milk filled the bowl everything else faded away. Its far too easy.

p.s.

“yeah, i'm sure its not raining there. and the taliban put down their ak's and homemade bombs and started farming again. :-)”

I found this last little line on my brother’s email this morning quite funny! (He’s currently in the Middle East) I had received an email earlier in the week telling me to be careful because there are news reports of flooding occurring in Mozambique. In my "p.s." response I briefly stated not to worry, it’s not even raining! (Tis the truth, Andrew!!! :-)) It’s not raining. And there are no floods. Whoever is showing that footage is LYING! I am here. It is dry and hot!

There are no floods this year. At least not yet. There are predictions that some may occur in early February, but only in very lowland areas that flood with normal rainfall. I find it a bit funny that the year I spend abroad working on an emergency response program there is no emergency. I’m blaming this on my mother’s diligent prayers. :-) Not that I want the floods for these people – I don’t. A girl just needs a little excitement sometimes. It’s getting a little boring over here. :-)

p.s. - think I just jinxed it?!

feliz ano novo!

I finally have a chance to sit and read through some news, my friends blogs, catch up on my emails. My inbox is flooded with disturbing photos of what's happening in Gaza. Pictures no one should ever see. I wish they were created in some sick-o's mind and computer generated to spread evil - but I have a feeling that's not the case. My heart aches. My stomach churns. How do things get so out of control? And how do we stop it? History continues to repeat itself. Each new year comes, we make resolutions, we have good intentions, and we're back to our old habits by Valentine's Day. Is it our fault? Is it human nature? Are we just not programed to change? The thing is, there seems to be a lot of horrible happening; a lot of changes for the worse. This is why I don't keep up with the news or read my emails. :-) Its discouraging. However, reading through my friends blogs I was encouraged. I have some amazing friends doing amazing things around the world. Fighting against the discouragement, the horrifics, the lack of humanity in our actions. There is good being done; we just need to keep fighting for it. And maybe this year we fight a little harder. I'm going to steal a friend's happy new year from her blog (thanks, jill!) - she wishes us all peace in this new year. As do I. May it be a happy one. A one of good cheer. AND a year we STOP the horrifics and start to bring PEACE. May that peace begin with each of us. Feliz Ano Novo! - as we say in Mozambique. :-) May this year be full of blessings we share with one another. Blessings of peace.

"the Lord bless you & keep you;
the Lord make his face shine upon you
& be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
& give you peace."

*Numbers 6:24-26

2:17 am

i awake by the slap of a hand. i sit straight up. i hear buzzing. i can feel my cheeks dripping with moisture. where am i? what just happened?

its only mosquitoes. i am safe. but why am i so hot?

the air is thick. i open my eyes. i see nothing. i start to itch. another slap to the face. now there is only silence.

the power has gone out.

i stumble in the dark and find my flashlight. i drink some water. i go to the window to get some air. the room has started to get stuffy. the air outside is even hotter. i close the window.

must kill the mosquito flying around.

i check the clock. its 2:17am. i check the fuse box. no trips. i look outside. down the street has light. across the way has light. our block has no light. dogs begin to bark. a fight has broken out. within minutes it is silent again.

i only hearing buzzing. i only hear mosquitoes. i lay back down, cover my head with the sheet, try and hold my breathe. its too hot to lay still. i close my eyes and wish for sleep.

4:30 am