This morning I saw my breath as I was drawing water from the well. It's really getting cold. We're smack dab in the middle of our winter season. I have to wrap myself like a mummy at night in capolanas so I can sleep because it's so chilly and of course I didn't bring enough warm clothes because when I was told I'd be in Mozambique during the winter I grunted and rolled my eyes thinking, yeah, sure, eighty five degrees instead of one hundred. What's that thing they say about hindsight?
I am really letting myself go. I'm barely recognizable. I've begun to do strange things that I wouldn't have done before. A few days ago, I drank water with ants, twigs and debris in it, I figured it was alright because it was boiled. Yesterday, I drank my coffee even though there was a fly in it. I just couldn't be bothered with boiling another pot of water and waiting, waiting, waiting, so I just tipped it on back. I didn't even remove the fly. I've become extremely comfortable with roaches, they don't phase me at all anymore. A few days ago, I swatted one away with my hand because it was crawling too close. Ordinarially, I wouldn't get closer than ten feet of one. I used to drink bottled water, boiled my tap water, but now, here, I've let myself go, for better or for worse.
Who knows how my re-integration into American society will go. I can see myelf now, my hooves, because that is what has become of my feet, will be clickity clacking down the terminal at JFK, my hair will be wild, I'll be dressed in mis-matched capolanas and everyone at the arrivals gate will wince in horror as I trot through and inevitably get detained at immigration. Hmmmmm...
I have seen so many rainbows lately. The cool air has created lots of fog which has created a community of rainbows that seem to link one palm tree to another across the horizon. I try to photograph these rainbows, but they never come out very well so I've given up and I'm taking it all in.
Yesterday, I had my first day back at work since my investigation. It is nice to be back to my regular schedule. I've been keeping busy fine tuning my pre-school curriculum which I think is turning out nicely.
The students have exams all week so my classes are cancelled. I hate when my classes are cancelled, I have so many things I want to do with the students and since I only teach twice a week, I really look forward to my time in the classroom.
I had the best week-end. A few of us rented a bungalow on Morungulu beach, a few hours North of Inhambane. It was beautiful and secluded. We had the beach and the resort to ourselves. I was in heaven. The water was so warm, I was swimming and being tossed around by waves. I collected so many shells, I can now add clam shells to my collection, large hand sized ones for holding jewelry and sage. I wrote poetry, that I'll be kind enough not to share with you and worked on my book. I spent hours meditating and sleeping in the sun. The resort was lovely, I'm definitely going to re- visit for my honeymoon. It works out perfectly that our American summer is the off season for the South African tourists who usually occupy the resort. Ha ha ha ...
