Bom Dia!!! (said in a really cool Portuguese accent and meaning "good day")

When we left off, Madalena had picked me up from the airport and we stayed over night in South Africa. The next day, after shopping for the month, we headed for the border. When we arrived, I was expecting something like the Mexican border....oh no, much more complicated. I never would have survived by myself but Mada made friends with the border patrol while I stood next to her smiling like a dumb mute. (pun intended) We had to stand in line to get our papers checked and I was wishing I had a basketball jersey on so I could be more aggressive. Mada had to push me to force my way into line- it was a chaos that was somewhat similar to clearance sales at outlet stores, but it smelled worse. One man asked to borrow Mada's pen and then we she gave it to him, he put the cap in his mouth while he wrote. I stood there disgusted saying nothing (surprise, surprise) so when Mada turned around she gave him the look of death and started chewing him out in Portuguese! It was awesome! The boys around us all started laughing because she is so fierce. Did I mention she is only 5 feet tall- yeah, we make for an interesting pair. After this incident, I knew I would be safe in her care.

Immediately after crossing the border, there was a dramatic change in scenery. The immense poverty of Mozambique was immediately obvious. When I pictured Africa, I pictured straw huts in small villages and that is exactly what we passed by along the highway. There are only about 10 huts in one area, all made out of straw and bamboo and no running water or electricity. Madalena has driven this route so often that a few months ago, she stopped at one of the villages and asked if they were interested in a church. They said they were Christians and were waiting for someone to come and help them. Isn't that so neat? So my hero Madalena, started a church there.
At one point in our drive, Mada pointed out the window and said, "Kudu!" The only reason I knew what this was is because Grant Thomas recently killed one in a hunting expedition. (all you animal-rights activists are probably peeved right now. sorry) Anyways, everything within me wants to boast that I saw the great African beast because it would make for such a better story. However, my nose is big enough as it is, so I'll tell the truth, I didn't see it. I considered asking Mada to turn around to see it like Jenny Swanson made me when she didn't get to see the roadkill on the freeway, but I refrained.

At this point some of you may be thinking, "Katie, why no pictures yet? Colorado and London are great but we want to see Africa!" Well at this point, I was still trying to trick Mada into thinking I was cool and felt like a dorky tourist pulling out my camera and taking pictures of the road. Don't worry, it's been a few days so Mada now knows about my inner-dork and I will take pictures the next time we return to the villages.

First impressions of Maputo:
* The woman really do balance everything on their heads! I've secretly always wanted to be able to do this and have practiced with books but I think my head might be the wrong shape.
* The people are beautiful!!! It's total chaos but not as crazy as India (no animals roaming the roads) Kids are EVERYWHERE and they are always pulling these giant wagons with colorful tubs/jars/tanks (kinda looks like a gas tank) filled with water.
* There are huge buildings and from google earth they looked really impressive but are not so impressive up close. Most of the tall buildings are apartments and there is a ton of hanging laundry seen everywhere. (speaking of laundry, today I saw this Mozambican wearing a George Strait t-shirt and it made me laugh, so random)
* Public transportation is actually just those long skinny vans with at least 5 people on each bench. I don't think I would do well on these- again, my space issues.

We arrived at our house and I was overwhelmed by how nice it is. I'll give y'all a picture tour of it later. The Miller family are also a part of OC International and they met us at the house. Kimberly will be one of my future students and is super sweet. We all went to dinner and then to an ice cream parlor for dessert. While looking at the ice cream I asked Kimberly a question and the guy working pointed to me and said, "Is this your first day in Africa?" my thoughts: how on earth did he know that? I've been trying so hard to look like I fit in and am totally confident. Am I that transparent? I know that dogs and bees smell fear (mainly from Jerry Maguire) but I didn't know Mozambicans did too! Not that I'm afraid of ice cream but it is intimidating to go somewhere and have no idea what every one is saying. Note to self: practice looking like you understand what it is happening. The brown hair is not fooling anyone.

The next morning Mada mentioned that one of her friends was going to an orphanage so I asked to tag along with no idea the blessings God had in store. Mada's friend Connie also had her husband and 3 American friends coming along. Plus, 2 sisters from North Carolina who are travelling the world wanted to come so Mada's car which usually holds max of 5 people, squeezed in 9. We headed to the orphanage outside the city but first stopped at the church to meet the pastor. Pastor Vosca is INCREDIBLE!!! He started the church and school and orphanage after having lived on the streets himself! 800 students come to the school and the teachers are paid about $20 per month. Crazy. The really neat thing about the facilities which you may think are insanely rudimentary (I know, second time I've used that word but I just can't think of a synonym.) is that they were built only with the funds from the tithes! This, coming from an incredibly poor community. Talk about giving your last coin to God! The classrooms reminded me of "Little House on the Prairie" and I realized that although it had been my dream to be like Laura Ingels, I really hope CAM (my school) has more than chalk boards. (I just hate the sound chalk makes on the board)

Next we headed over to the orphanage. When we showed up there was a group of about 8 boys sitting against a wall staring at us with hard faces. Talk about a "tough crowd." One boy in a ripped green shirt was more animated than the others and decided to impress the silly Americans by showing how many push ups he could do. (my thoughts: yeah, that's pretty impressive but I'm sure I can do more.) Mind you, the boy was 10, this competitiveness in me is sick. I waited til everyone had passed by to get the tour of the orphanage and once they were gone I challenged the little man to a push up contest. Please try to picture me doing this when he spoke no English and I, no Portuguese. Good thing I'd been playing lots of charades this summer. When I finally have communicated that I think I can do more than him, we get in the sand and start the contest. Perhaps I should have let him win. I mean, he's 10 and an orphan, most would fake it and let him win. Not me. My arms were shaking but I was determined to win. I even tried to make him laugh to weaken him. I know, some of you are having second thoughts about supporting me financially. I blame this competitive nature on my dad. Madalena heard the commotion after I won the contest and came and challenged the boy herself. Please picture a 5 foot Brazilian woman dressed in nice slacks getting in the dirt and busting out 30 push ups. Oh wait, you don't need to visualize, here's a picture.

The others continued to listen to Pastor Vosca and I continued to brainstorm ways to play with these boys, of whom many had yet to smile. I stood there looking at all their beautiful faces and dirty, torn clothes and literally scratched my head. How could I befriend them without words? hmmmmmmm....Then I remembered that a double chin is universally funny. Most of you probably know that making ugly faces is pretty much one of my spiritual gifts, so I put it to use. I busted out my camera and taught the boys how to be as ugly as possible. They loved it. Suddenly they opened up. One boy, Shoka, hadn't cracked a smile but when I put the camera in his face and signaled to make a silly face, he came up with a face that almost made me pee.
One boy then came over, Peter, who could speak English which made things easier. Still, me and about 10 boys of all ages and I was fresh out of ugly faces and I think they were getting tired of me teaching them how to cross their eyes. There was no ball or court or field around so I busted out a classic game....down by the banks. You know it, "Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bankee with an eepse, ops, soda pop hey Mr. Willy and he went kurplop!" What does that song mean by the way and who is Mr. Willy? I remembered a time in India when a bunch of girls loved this game and another time in the Philippines when we had played it with the village kids. These boys loved it too. After we tired of that, I taught them the "fast hands" game. At one point I did feel a little strange slapping the hands of these boys but they just laughed. For the record, I dominated at fast hands. So let's recap, I taught them how to make ugly faces and slap each other. I wonder if they'll let me come back...

This was such a blessing to spend time with local Mozambicans and have so much fun. God humbled me greatly when talking with Peter. I asked him how he knew English and he told me the pastor had taught him. Then he said the sweetest thing out of the blue, "I love God." Just that. No explanation. Just a simple declaration that draws me to tears thinking about. Here this boy who has had such a hard life thus far, does not seem angry,resentful, or unsure, but rather joyful, grateful, and confident. I was inspired by his attitude and faith while also humbled by my own lack of faith. I often think of the unfairness in this world and how so many are born into poverty like Peter and wonder why God allows it. Then Peter goes and blows me away by his simple 3 word declaration. Yes I live in poverty and am orphaned and have a tough life, but, "I love God." Simple as that.