I’m enjoying my time here in Mozambique so far. We’re settling into the community really well and have met so many nice families and couples that have really made us feel welcome.

Of course there are still a few things that we’re getting used to…

1.The language- although we’re picking it up, it has been a challenge. Even simple things are made tricky. The first time we went into the bakery and proudly used our Portuguese to ask for one bag of 20 buns, we came out with two bags of thirty buns. Another time I came out with a backpack full of buns because they had run out of plastic bags.

2.Snakes- while walking to a patient’s house yesterday the volunteers suddenly stopped and pointed to a big snake laying on the path with is head down a hole. Three men sprung into action throwing rocks and dirt clumps, and beating it with a stick. It turned out it was a spitting cobra. Once it was dead, our patient, an older woman with tuberculosis proudly held it up for a picture.

3.The Food- I am getting quite accustomed to eating a variety of meats and the traditional maize-meal staple of “sadza” or “pap”. Yesterday Dara and I took two 18 y.o. American girls with us out on our home care visit (there is a team of 20 young people here for 10 days). After the visits we usually eat a meal with the volunteers. The girls gave the food a try, but it was obvious that they were struggling. I realized that I was starting to enjoy the food a bit too much when I leaned over to one of the girls and said “are you going to eat your goat?” and finished it for her.

4.The Missionary Garb- Dara and I always have to wear long “missionary” skirts when we are out in the community. At times it’s a bit of a struggle to feel cute here- with the wardrobe requirements, bucket baths, bugs, heat, etc. Yesterday we were out with the above mentioned two girls. Dara and I were feeling pretty good about the long skirts and t-shirts we’d chosen for the day until one of the girls asked, “so do you always dress like this?” Um, ya, we do.

5.Bugs- There is a huge variety of oversized, weird bugs that live with us here. When we were first orientated to the house we found three monstrous spiders in our bathroom. Our host commented “oh those are crack spiders, we don’t kill those”. So Dara and I followed her lead and have been cautiously cohabitating quite nicely with them. I’ve been watching a 2.5 inch spider on the my ceiling the past four nights and am glad to say he’s only moved about a foot. We’ve gotten pretty used to all the geckos on the walls (although I was slightly alarmed to see one on Dara’s back while she was cooking), and don’t mind the mosquito nets. So far the only thing we always kill when we see are the cockroaches. We think we have those under control though…