Noticing the Impalas

I'm interested to hear others' perspectives on life in Maputo so the other day I did a search for blogs about Maputo and came across one backpackers' take on my beloved city. I think their reflection on the city would be indicative of most tourists' opinions of Maputo:

"We have really enjoyed our day in Maputo, but don't think we would want to spend too long here. There is a certain charm to it, but there is more rubbish here than any Asian city we have been in- parts of it are extremely dirty and smelly."

Reading this made me chuckle to myself. There certainly is a "certain charm" to Maputo and when you first arrive, it is certainly hard not to notice the trash and smells. However, if I had met these backpackers, I would have let them know that if they moved here, they would fall in love with the city. Maputo is not a place for tourists- there really isn't much to see for travelers- but it is most definitely a great place to live. After a few weeks, the trash fades into the background, the smells seem to disappear and beauty seeps out of the corners of the city in places you might not expect. It truly has been a wonderful city to live in but that being said, it is also necessary to escape into South Africa every once in awhile. Madalena and I recently went to Kruger Park on my final "farewell trip" through the park. This is one of my favorite spots on the planet which I will greatly miss.

To give some semblance of order to the gazillions of pictures I took on my farewell journey, I'll start with the animals at the end of the alphabet because there were a ton. First, vultures. I've never seen so many in my life and would be OK if I never saw them again. Did I mention my slight bird phobia? I wasn't kidding. We stopped to take pictures of a bunch of them sitting in a tree which was odd and then suddenly there were at least 50 of these terrifying feathered beasts flying over our car and circling a carcass that apparently was lying behind a bush right by the road which hindered our view. I was incredibly tempted to run out to sneak a peek but then I remembered how I run extra fast past crows because I'm scared they will pluck out my eyes (I think I was traumatized by that scene from The Passion of Christ) so we opted to just take pictures as they landed on some poor dead animal.












We also saw several of the not-so-adorable-in-my-opinion but very entertaining vermet monkeys. I do not believe in evolution but could not help but notice this one particular fella who seems to be blessed with the infamous "Hardeman toes." At least we don't eat the jam from our toes like he was doing. I don't ever get this apparent "jam" in my toes and don't really understand that expression if I'm totally honest. Do people really get gunk stuck in between their toes?

























Now to the W's... The very first animal we saw was a Pumba (aka a warthog). We stopped at the bathrooms at the entrance and a mama warthog was feasting on the grass with one of her little ones. I don't have a fear of pigs so I squatted rather close to get the picture. A man watching me take the pictures said, "Aren't they beautiful?" which made me awkward because I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not. "No, no they are not beautiful. They are hideous," is what I was thinking but I guess some people think all of God's creatures are beautiful. I, however, do not belong to that school of thought. Some animals are just plain ugly. They're still cool but let's face it, they're quite repulsive. Later, we were delayed on our drive by another mama going for a jog with her 4 little ugly offspring trotting along behind her.













The next animals don't sound as impressive as they truly are. Wild dogs are really rare so they rank up there with the big 5 and cheetahs. We didn't get to see lions or leopards on this trip but it was pretty cool to see this rare species hanging out by the side of the road. Funny how if something is rare, it makes the animal that much cooler.












We also saw a bunch of waterbuck on this trip. They are the ones with a white target on their butt (how could anyone deny that God has a sense of humor?). I've only really ever seen their rears so it was a rare treat for me to get a good look at their faces. Why don't the females get any cool horns? Unfair.












The final "w" animal was one of the most common beasts on this particular trip: the wildebeest. They are usually quite anti-social so I've only ever seen them from quite a distance but this time we saw several very close. Mada and I went on a tiny back road early in the morning and stumbled upon a big herd of them right by the road. Horses get a lot of crap for having long faces but check out the length of the faces on these guys!












We didn't see any Xenopus toads or yaks but we did see plenty of one of my all-time favorites: zebras. Zebras win the "party animal" award of Kruger because they seem to have made friends with several other species. They even have befriended the typically anti-social rhinos and wildebeests.
























The following is perhaps my favorite picture from all my ventures to Kruger. I didn't even notice the apparently very angry zebra until I put my pictures on my computer. Although one will often see the same animals when visiting Kruger, each trip is special because you never know what the animals are going to do. I've seen plenty of kudus, giraffes, elephants and hippos but I've never seen them do the following:












Need I remind you that I grew up sharing a bathroom with Trent and Travis? Of course I enjoy bathroom humor. Madalena grew up with 4 brothers so between the two of us, we got such a kick out of catching animals relieving themselves. Four pooping animals in one day! That has to be some kind of record. We really wanted to see a rhino in action because apparently they have some very unique bathroom rituals but the hippo made up for the rhino. We were in a viewing station with two other people who were speaking in whispers so as not to disturb the animals. Suddenly we heard what sounded like a machine gun rapidly firing. We whipped our heads around, searching for the sound and saw a hippo who had sneaked out of the river without us noticing and was projecting his poop like rapid fire and his tail was whizzing around in a circle simultaneously. The other two people watched in apparent awe while Madalena and I couldn't hold it in and started laughing hysterically. I laughed so hard I couldn't get a picture of it actually happening but did get a shot of the culprit so I'll never forget:) Mr. Elephant on the left appears to be a bashful about his doo doo and has ducked his head.













Speaking of elephants, I always love seeing these ginormous beasts and they did not disappoint on this trip. We saw a bunch of lil "dumbos" and for the first time I got to see them bathing at two different watering holes.
























Other highlights included seeing two types of animals which aren't often seen in the park and that I would never want to meet on foot: rhinos and ostriges. (That fear of birds is only magnified when the bird is super fast and giagantic)
























Just try and tell me that if you saw that monstrous beast to the right lifting his wings like so and exposing his muscular thighs, you wouldn't freak out too. Apparently that is what an ostrige does when it is hot.

There is a common tendency among tourists in Kruger Park to consider it an unsuccessful trip if you don't see a lion. I, however, strongly disagree. I love seeing lions but there is so much beauty in the park which sadly, often goes unnoticed and I made it a point to try to be more appreciative of the beauty around me. On this final trip, I was ooooed and awed yet again by God's creation. Even without the animals, there were many many breath-taking views with His fingerprints all over them. Here are a few:early morning
dusk
sunset
sunrise

Mada still teases me about the first time we went to Kruger and I made her keep stopping so I could take pictures of impalas. These antelope are full of grace and beauty but aren't appreciated because there are so many in the park. A common conversation in the car goes like so: "See anything?" "Nope. Just impalas." Just impalas. Just these amazing animals but they are common place so let's keep driving. We all do it. We all drive by without pausing because they are "just impala" and the park is overflowing with them. Sadly, I confess I often have this same attitude about God's blessings. I am eager for the "big blessings" for the "lions" and often fail to appreciate the "commonplace blessings" or the impalas. He provides and blesses me every single day with glimpses of beauty and grace and mercy, but do I take notice? Do I stop and thank Him? Sometimes I do, but not nearly enough. I am so thankful for the "lions" in my life- the big blessings of coming to Africa and now having a job at Valley. However, I want to also be daily mindful of His other blessings. Perhaps if I stop more often and acknowledge the simple beauties, I will notice amazing things like Mada and I did when we stopped once to acknowledge some impalas:

His beauty and blessings are everywhere. The question is, will we slow down to notice and appreciate them?

Where, O death, is your victory?

I think I could live in Mozambique for the next 50 years and still not completely understand their culture. It is vibrant and complicated and I've been learning quite a bit about certain aspects of the Mozambican culture lately. I've had several discussions with other missionaries recently about why development is so slow in Africa and specifically in Mozambique. One woman was telling us about how her job is to identify the cultural factors which inhibit growth here. Ironically the family structure, which is quite admirable- children are incredibly valuable- often obstructs economic growth. If one family member succeeds, they are expected to care for the entire extended family. I was recently speaking with a Mozambican teacher at CAM who explained that he is the only working member of his family and must care for not only his wife and son, but also his parents, brothers, sister and their entire families. Sadly, another cultural barrier to growth, is jealousy. If one rural church or village is prosperous, the neighboring churches or villages will get jealous and work to bring down the successful people back to their same level. Individuals are literally afraid to succeed in business, knowing that if they are successful, their endeavors will somehow be attacked by their jealous neighbors. Coming from a society which prides itself on the free market, this concept is bizarre to me but very real here. My prayers for Mozambique are that this tradition of jealousy would be diluted and wiped out.

We've also several discussions recently about how Africa is much more "spiritually-minded" than the West. Henrik was telling me how in one village they were not allowed to use the water of the local lake because they believe the deceased witch doctor had turned into a crocodile that lived in the lake. Such stories sound so silly to me and it's hard to believe that grown, educated people believe such tales but it points to the fact that Mozambicans are bigger believers in the spiritual world than us "educated" Westerners. I internally scoffed when I heard that one village believed a lion that invaded the village and killed a man, was actually a reincarnated witch doctor, serving justice. However, to have the faith that such a thing could happen, reveals that Mozambicans are quicker to believe without seeing and without proof. They are more in-tune with the spiritual world, more aware of this unseen world I often ignore and thus they are quicker to believe in miracles and attribute acts to God or the "spirits" rather searching for logical, scientific explanations. Although I am saddened by the rampant "ancestor worship" and "syncritism" which is so prevalent here, I admire the simplistic faith of the Mozambicans. Science seems to have hardened our (referring to the West's) hearts towards the spiritual world so that even we Christians struggle to believe in miracles and to acknowledge this world that we cannot see.

Most Mozambicans therefore believe that death is obviously not the end. However, when one spirit does pass from this world, it is an indescribable tragedy which makes the funerals here very sorrowful. I had a very steep learning curve about Mozambican culture and traditions as I attended a funeral last week which I will never forget.

Teresa is our empragada. Every week day she does our dishes, washes our clothes, makes our beds, scrubs the floors, etc. It is a very common job here although the pay is quite little. Unfortunately she speaks no English so our communication has been limited to, "Hi. All is well?" "All is well thank you. And you?" "All is well." The father of her son died a few months back because he had AIDS but she assured us that she does not. Then last week her only son Francis, who was just 4 years old, complained of a tummy ache and then died a few hours later for unknown reasons. The day he died, I went with Madalena, Henrik and Henrik's sister Cecilia to pay our respects at Teresa's home. When we entered her 2-room, cement block home, she was laying on the floor, surrounded by 14 other women who were singing mournful songs in the local tongue, Chingana. Occasionally Teresa would let out a wail with such sorrow I had never heard before and the women would sing louder and continue stroking her arms. It was amazing to see how this culture deals with death- the family is not left alone and not expected to be strong- they are allowed to wail and be weak, knowing their community will take care of them.

The following afternoon was the funeral. Cecelia took her camera along which I was thankful for since it is a ceremony and day I will never forget. We arrived at the cemetery and were surrounded by vendors selling flowers which we bought, unaware of what we would later be planting them on top of Francis grave. We found Teresa's friends in the midst of the sea of bodies which was quite difficult because there were at least 20 funerals that day and the crowds were large. Teresa was still surrounded by the women as we waited for the cart to arrive to carry the tiny, wooden casket.When the cart arrived, we formed a procession behind it and walked through the graveyard for nearly half a mile. At one point a woman in front of me screamed in sorrow and collapsed. The woman behind her scooped up some dirt from the path and rubbed into the other woman's skirt- I'm still curious about this ritual- but then they continued on. We walked and walked until we were in a field of weeds and realized this was the part of the graveyard for the poor.There would be no headstone, no marking, simply a dirt hole which was dug while we stood in a circle watching. Teresa is a believer and the pastor spoke in Chingana and then several songs were sung. Since it was the middle of the afternoon, the sun was beating down on us and 2 women passed out from the heat and had to be carried away. The top of the casket was lifted to reveal sweet little Francis, lying peacefully with his blue beanie. The entire procession then walked around the casket and sprayed perfume onto Francis. Being so near to the body, there were many wails of sorrow. I was a mess when I watched Teresa at the funeral but when I approached little Francis, I was surprisingly calm. The verse that kept running through my head was, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" As I sprayed the perfume around Francis' face, it was so obvious that his spirit was not there- this was merely the shell. I knew without a doubt as I passed by him, that Francis was not in the casket, Francis was running and jumping in heaven.

Once the casket was lowered into the freshly-dug hole, we threw the dirt onto the casket and it was quickly covered. Once there was a mound of dirt, all of the people holding flowers went to the mound and planted the flowers on top of the grave. It was the constructed in a matter of minutes but perhaps most beautiful garden I've seen.

The pastor later thanked us for coming and explained that the "employers" rarely came to such occasions so it made quite an impression. It was difficult to watch Teresa endure such pain and be so helpless to help her and offer any words of encouragement. Since that day, I've yet to see her smile. Please pray for Teresa- that the LORD would restore unto her the joy of salvation; that she would be reminded of where Francis is and that she will one day join him; that she would be strengthened and comforted; that she would not lose faith in God and that He would shower her with His peace.

50 days to soak up Africa

The 50 day count down officially begins today. 50 more days to soak up Africa. 50 more days until Europe. 50 more days to stuff my face with fresh bread, run along the coast, hang out with new friends, laugh with my students, and fellowship with my brothers and sisters here. I am immensely excited about my adventures after Africa, but continue to strive to "make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil" and am trying to soak up every moment. The following are things that I will miss once I leave this mysterious continent and thus, am trying to absorb as much as possible:

MY STUDENTS- of course I will miss these hilarious and sweet kids. Although teaching junior highers has been a new and difficult challenge, it also has been very rewarding and these crazy adolescents will always hold a special place in my heart. The other day they were reading silently and Ude looked up and sweetly said, "Miss Katie? No offense but has anyone ever told you that you look like the White Witch from Narnia?" Awesome. I don't know what's worse, being told I look like a terrifying witch or Kevin Bacon. The kids laughed and laughed until I said I was lowering their grade with each giggle.
One of the junior high girls continually lies about doing her homework- I know that's not funny but I was in a strange mood the other day so when she told one of her lies I made it into a "teaching moment" and taught them a song my friends and I used to sing all the time. Let me preface this by saying it was a song we only sang around Christians because it is terribly untrue and the verse is taken completely out of context. We actually got in trouble for singing it by our youth leader. Why, you may wonder, did I decide to teach such a song to my kids? I really don't know. Sometimes I forget to filter what I say and this was one of those moments. The song lyrics are as follows: "Revelations, Revelations, 21: 8, 21:8. Liars burn in hell, liars burn in hell. Burn, burn, burn. Burn, burn, burn." I know, I know, it's awful and my students learned it quicker than anything else I've tried to teach them this year and sadly, I'll bet it's one of the few things they'll remember. In the picture some of my junior highers are reciting Psalm 1 at the monthly potluck. I tried to convince them to do motions while reciting since they always sound so monotone when they recite verses. They didn't buy it. However, I couldn't resist and when they recited the part about a river, I did the motions for a river and made half of them start giggling. Oops.

We've been having some tough conversations recently about slavery and how people justified it in the past. Teaching about slavery to Africans is, as you can imagine, a sensitive topic. I'll never forget Silvio's face when I mentioned how some people tried to say black people weren't even human. He has these big doe eyes and in a high, squeaky voice he said, "They don't think I'm human?" He said it with such a funny tone of voice that the whole class, including him started laughing. I love that in our world today, suggesting that someone like Silvio isn't human is just plain silly. In the picture, Silvio is the boy throwing the peace sign.

Speaking of teaching tough subjects... in my 9Th and 10Th English class we were reading a story aloud and kept coming across the word, "bosom." The first person pronounced it "boe sum" and I knew no one knew what it was but I just ignored it. Then the second person read it as "boe sum" and I felt guilty for avoiding the awkward conversation but still let it slide. Finally, once the word came up a third time and the new reader also pronounced it wrong, I stopped him and said, "OK...so it's actually pronounced bosom. Do you guys know what that is?" Praying I wouldn't have to explain it I unfortunatley only got confused looks and no snickers so they obviously were oblivious to the meaning. Of course they all busted up laughing when I awkwardly explained what it is.

THE BEACH- although I will be in California, I will miss living a block away from the beach. I will miss my running routes along the coast, watching the sunset behind rows of palm trees. I will miss the sailboats bobbing on the sea and the many fisherman on the wall cheering for me and saying, "forsa! forsa!" as I speed past. (OK so maybe "speed" is the wrong verb) A few weekends ago I was "babysitting" for one of my students when her parents were out of town. We had such a great time at the beach and I felt like a little kid as we searched the shore for sea creatures. We found over 20 live starfish and tons of sand dollars and played with these for hours. Some local boys started collecting the starfish for us so we ended up with a pretty impressive collection.THE LOCALS- I will not miss the begging and persistent vendors, but I will definitely miss the Mozambicans I interact with on the streets. I'll miss Ernesto from the bakery, Isaac from "blockbuster," the security guards I pass each day who never fail to laugh and give me a thumbs up as I breeze past them, and the workers at the gas station where I daily buy snacks. I will miss random encounters like I had the other day while hunting for starfish with Kimberly. There were 3 local boys doing handstands and cartwheels and I was feeling like a little kid and wanted to play with them so I taught them how to do headstands. (my dad said he would only give us money for candy if we could do a headstand for 30 seconds so I used to practice a lot) We then had a cartwheel competition and although I did 10 in a row, I was beat by the 10 year old boy who did 12 in a row. By no means did I let him win just because he's small and poor; I am too competitive for that. I actually ended up shamefully falling on my butt after the 10Th cartwheel. I suppose I can have cartwheel competitions with strangers in America too, but there is something special about doing acrobatics with African children on the beach.

DEPENDENCE ON GOD- living in a third world country obviously changes one's perspective on life and I have loved how living here has forced me to cling tighter to my Savior. Life is much less complicated and hectic here and although I love living in California, I know I will sorely miss the simplicity of Africa. With less worldly distractions, I have discovered a deeper intimacy with God which I am terrified will disappear when I return to the hustle and bustle of life in a developed nation. I see that I am susceptible to falling prey to the lie that I can do everything by my own strength. Living in America, it is so easy to think I am providing for myself and I often fail to acknowledge the many ways God is taking care of me. It has been much easier here in Mozambique to see how God daily provides for me and I have loved the continued reminder of my total dependence on Him.

MY NEW FRIENDS- one way God has provided for me in a big way this year is by providing new friendships. Lisa recently had a birthday so Mada taught me how to make a Brazilian treat which Lisa always has on her birthday. Cocoa + butter+ sweetened condensed milk+ sprinkles= mouth-watering bites of sheer deliciousness. To make these treats which I cannot pronounce so I will not even attempt to spell, one must cover their hands in butter to roll the dough into balls and then roll in sprinkles. This is why Mada and I are smiling although it looks like we have nastiness spread all over our hands. And yes, you'd better believe I licked my hands when I was done. Leila had the less messy job of rolling the balls in the sprinkles but she also didn't get to lick her fingers afterwards. We had a semi-surprise birthday party for Lisa at Mimos and enjoyed some of their famous pizza.












After pizza we went to Lisa and Sabina's apartment to try out the cake Sabina and I had slaved over the night before. We made the mistake of asking Martha Stewart herself (aka Madalena) for a good cake recipe and she gave us quite possibly the most complicated recipe known to man. 10 eggs+ 3 hours+lots of confused looks and laughter= a tasty sponge cake made from scratch.












While enjoying the cake, the topic of "novelty dances" got brought up and Sabina proceeded to bust out her computer and show everyone the videos she had taken of the three of us doing synchronized dances in our pajamas. Not cool Sabina. However, we then convinced the group that they too needed to learn these synchronized dances and had loads of fun doing the random dance moves from Lisa's little town in North Carolina. In the picture below we were all supposed to be doing one of the poses from the dance but for some reason I'm the only one who ended up looking ridiculous and awkward. Why does that keep happening?THE RANDOMNESS OF AFRICA- it's a good thing I got into teaching where random moments happen quite often but they are certainly magnified when living in Mozambique. The other day I was walking briskly on my normal route home and was concentrating on the ground in front of me so I wouldn't fall into a random hole or trip on a giant crack when I came to a sudden halt; a giant tree had been uprooted and was lying right in my path and across the entire street. A fellow walker made a joke to me in Portuguese, surely making fun of the fact that I came within inches of walking right into a giant tree so I laughed with him and continued on. Speaking of holes in the ground, another day there was a traffic jam because a bus had driven over a giant gap in the middle of the street and the wheel got stuck in the giant hole. Only in Maputo. I've recently found a new Muslim grocery store where I've found my favorite loaf bread. Yesterday as I was perusing the 3 aisles, a tiny, old man started chanting super loud right outside the store and I saw the owner grab a giant stick, storm towards the little man and my jaw dropped as he lifted the stick and then swung and hit the wall next to the chanting man and yelled at him to leave. Ahhhhh. Then today I was signing out the students as their parents picked them up from school and very persistent beggar reached his arms through the gate and grabbed my arm. He refused to leave and our guard had to grab a literal club, pull him by the arm and walk him down the street. Ahhhhh. Speaking of security, I was running past the President's house the other day and decided to peak over the gate. When I did, I saw a bunch of guards who all freaked out to see a "peeping Katie" and yelled and signaled for me to cross to the other side of the street. Apparently we're not even allowed to walk on the sidewalk that runs along side his property. I had myself a good giggle as I ran to the other side of the street.

MY DOGS- I can't wait to see Swishy but I will miss my little family of Rhodesian Ridge backs. One of Gizmo's daughters was staying with us for a few weeks so for awhile I was hanging out with Gizmo, Simba (Gizmo's puppy who is quickly turning into a giant) and Miya who was malnourished at first so I fed her with a baby bottle. As you can see, it is quite difficult to take a family picture with 3 dogs.












FELLOWSHIP- I will miss Wednesday night Bible studies and Sunday night worship at the ambassador's home. We recently finished going through the book of Ezra so before beginning Nehemiah, we had a "Vikings dinner." Henrik, being from Scandinavia, was a bit insulted when I explained that a "Vikings dinner" meant we would act somewhat barbaric and eat spaghetti without forks. Each person brought a random kitchen utensil which someone else had to use to eat their spaghetti. I ended up with the strainer which was a bit of a challenge but do-able. Lisa did quite well with her can opener but I had the most fun watching Molly eat with a whisk. We also had pudding for dessert which was eaten with no utensils at all- wonderful excuse to lick my plate clean without looking like a freak.

Besides enjoying fun and random things like Vikings dinners, I also love how much I am learning through these studies. I've never taken such an in-depth look at the history of Israel and it has been so neat to discuss how God has worked in the lives of His chosen people. I also didn't realize how applicable the books of Ezra and Nehemiah can be to our own lives. I've been learning a bunch about repentance, accountability and prayer from these amazing men of faith.

In Ezra chapter 9, Ezra prays a moving prayer after realizing that the Israelites had disobeyed God by marrying foreign wives: "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens...But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage...What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this...."

In the midst of being exiled, Ezra acknowledged that never did God desert them; rather He offered relief in their bondage. I love that. Ezra didn't rant and rave about being forced to suffer bondage, instead he praised God for being righteous, acknowledged the sin of his people and repented on behalf of Israel. This led to a thought-provoking discussion on repentance and accountability. I can now see that I need to have a more repentant heart. My sins seem often seem small to me but in light of God's holiness, my "little sins" that others might never even notice, are grossly offensive. My prayer is that God would cast a search light on my heart and reveal the true ugliness of my sins to me so I might have more reverence, more repentance and more appreciation for God's amazing forgiveness and grace.