Ariel was an idiot

I confess that on the first drive through the streets of Maputo, I was a bit disappointed. When I had first decided to move to Mozambique, I pictured myself living in a lush, rural area with dirt roads and open skies; running past monkeys swinging in trees and lines of grass huts, exploring trails along a white sand beach with a crystal clear ocean. Surely a combination of books and movies formed this image in my mind and even upon learning that I would be living in the capital city, the image of my life in Maputo was one in a quiet, peaceful, naturally beautiful area. Thus, as we drove through the congested streets of downtown Maputo all those months ago and I was coughing from the smog, squinting from the dirt in the air, cringing from the trash overflowing onto the streets, gagging from the stench of human urine and garbage, and searching for a piece of sky somewhere between the dirty high-rise buildings, I immediately had to come to terms with the fact that my expectations would not be reality. Don't get me wrong- I have come to love my somewhat smelly city:) It is colorful, vibrant, full of culture and beauty in unexpected places. Instead of passing by monkeys, huts and clear ocean water, I pass by laughing children, animated conversations, smiling women selling their veges and toothless old men giving me the thumbs up. It is not what I expected but it is beautiful in its own way and I truly love it. That being said, last weekend I drove with a group of friends about 6 hours north and ended up inside of my dream version of Mozambique. My Swedish neighbor, Henrik had planned this rondevu to Tofo (pronounced "Tofu") so me, Henrik and Lisa drove with Cassia and her two kids and met up with 4 American girls who were friends of Henrik. As we bobbled along the dirt road headed towards Tofo, we passed a tree with no less than 25 young boys sitting on the branches of a huge tree, all watching a soccer match below. It was at that point that I knew I was going to love this side of Mozambique.

We rented two houses just a few yards away from small "grass-hut communities" which both overlooked the aqua ocean. We were without some of the luxuries we enjoy in Maputo and were graced with plenty of roaches, but the clean air, open sky and amazing coast line more than made up for any of the "shortcomings" in the Mozambique of my dreams. When we arrived, we immediately began exploring the breath-taking surroundings and ended up eating lunch/dinner (linner??) at a restaurant right on the beach. I'll never live down my blond moment of the evening when Lisa told me that people from Whales were originally from China and I believed her. Yes, I taught geography and molded young minds.

On the first full day, I took a scuba class along with Stephen, Cassia's 10 year old son, so we could go on our first dive in the ocean later that day with everyone else. (Lisa, Henrik and Jen, one of the girls we met up with, were already certified) We practiced breathing underwater in a deep, murky pool and pretty soon I had adjusted to wearing a weight belt, knew how to adjust my vest to go make myself buoyant and I felt like I had gills. I didn't really have the option to ever be nervous since I was taking the class with a 10 year old and while our instructor was busy with another class, Stephen and I played, "find the hidden candy wrapper at the bottom of the pool." After enjoying a leisurely afternoon at "Tofo Scuba," and eating the tastiest panini of my life (I ate a total of 5 of these in 3 days), we suited up to prepare for our ocean dive. Here is our fearless squad wearing our super cool wetsuits. Yes, I am sporting a good ol' fashioned french braid which nearly killed me. (story to follow)Can you feel any dorkier while wearing a snorkel? I suggest that you cannot.

After some serious struggling, we pushed a little zodiac out into the ocean and headed out for the open sea. Our instructor had never taught Stephen and I how to actually get into the water so we gave each other a scared look when he said, "OK, hold onto your weight belt with one hand and your mask and regulator (thing you breath out of) with the other and flip into the water." Yeah buddy- how bout you teach us that first. It ended up being a piece of cake and actually quite fun- I've always seen them doing it in the movies and wanted to try. Stephen and I were the only "non-certified divers" so the instructor insisted on taking us down individually. This meant that everyone went down to the bottom and the instructor took Stephen down and said, "You'll be fine up here for a bit yeah?" Ummm...sure. Did I mention there were huge waves at the time? The boat had left and as everyone made their descent to the depths of the sea, I clung to a buoy for dear life and then tried to adjust my braid because it was hindering my mask. Suddenly I was slapped in the face by a huge wave, my mask came flying off and my arm nearly was pulled out of the socket because of my kung-fu grip on the buoy. I was clearly struggling. Apparently, during my mini-freak out a giant whale shark was swimming right past. I was too busy trying to stay alive but the divers already under the water got to see this amazing beast and yes, I was teensy bit envious although I still got to see many amazing things. Once the instructor came back up, he must have noticed my panic-stricken face and assured me it was much calmer under the water. He was right. I was glad.

I've always loved snorkeling because you can peek at this mysterious, wondrous, beautiful hidden world in the sea but when scuba-diving, you can do more than just peek- you can actually visit this underwater world and mingle with the locals. For forty minutes, I was in the midst of part of the world I had never seen before and it was by far, one of the coolest places I've visited:) As we maneuvered over vibrant coral reefs, passing schools of fish with colors Crayola hasn't imagined yet, I was in a constant state of awe. Giant blue starfish were sprawled out around every corner; giant fish with stripes and polka dots and every pattern imaginable leisurely swam around us and I couldn't help but think that Ariel was an idiot. She had it pretty good "under the sea." My main line of thinking while diving was that it would seem impossible to see this intricate beauty and deny the existence of a incredible creator. I hope to get certified one day so I can continue visiting this absolutely amazing part of God's creation. Lisa mentioned that she felt a bit like a super hero when she sports the wetsuit. Indeed there is a feeling of invincibility when wearing all the gear and although I didn't feel like a hero when I was clutching the buoy, I did feel unstoppable under the water. We decided to do a "superhero pose" post-dive and apparently this is how I think a superhero would stand...what the...?The dive was definitely my favorite part of the trip but a close second was my morning runs. I have discovered my new favorite beach in the world. I've been to quite a few but this one takes the cake. I could try to describe it to you but my words would not do it justice and the second day I brought my camera along with me so I'll never forget this amazing spot on the planet. It was even more spectacular than the run I had envisioned when I had idealized Mozambique. Here is a virtual tour of my run:One of my favorite aspects of this beach besides the obvious splendor, was the fact that I had it all to myself. Miles and miles, as far as I could see and not a single fellow soul. I did pass a herd of goats grazing on the hills beside the sand but the only humans I saw were a few solo local fishermen. The last day I saw three rocks move in the ocean and then realized I was actually seeing three heads and as I neared, three little naked boys popped up from their baths in the ocean. They stood in the water holding long sticks for fishing poles, waving at me and if I had fewer inhibitions, I would have taken their picture- the image was straight out of National Geographic- but I couldn't bring myself to take pictures of naked little boys although I was at quite a distance. Here is a fisherman that I did sneak a picture of by feigning that I needed to tie my shoe. I should have joined the CIA.
At this point my batteries died which is a shame since I explored the cave to the left in the above picture. I have always been an "explorer" so this run each morning turned into a mini-exploration for me as I harassed crabs, collected shells and found awesome hiding spots. I will forever be a little kid:) The first day, I ran until it started to rain and then raced the storm clouds back to the house. The second day, I ran until my legs hurt and then turned around and ran back. If I lived in this community I think I would be in the best shape of my life.

In the evenings we would hang out at on our balcony surrounded by silence and stars- two things you can't find in Maputo. One evening while we were playing the celebrity game (aka "CINQUE!") I looked around the room and couldn't help but observe the oddity we were. There we were, 6 blond American girls in our twenties sharing a small room in a little house on the coast of Mozambique. It was so neat to hang out with girls whom I have much in common with and it was really strange how not only did we have similar personalities, we all kinda looked alike. It was an unexpected blessing for the trip and I only wish I could have had more time to get to know these girls. Lisa and I felt a bit spoiled because the other girls all live in remote areas and were stoked to have running water and cereal.

Between the incredible beauty, adventurous escapades, peaceful surroundings, delicious food and fabulous company, this was definitely one of my favorite weekends in Africa. I sincerely enjoy life in Maputo but was so refreshed by this venture into a more remote area of Mozambique. When I reflect on my time spent in Tofo, I am reminded of the well-known Psalm speaking of how my God comforts me:

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake....Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."