A 2 hour flight, a 12 hour layover, a 15 hour flight, a 3 hour
layover, a 2.5 hour flight and a quick check through customs and I see Nunu’s
face peering at me though the airport window. That is the short version of my
trip.
One child accompanies Nunu at the airport, or so I think. I
glance down the road and see that a handful of children are walking back to the
Center (it might be a 10 minute walk). A few minutes later Pedro pulls up with
a taxi driver and we load my bags in.
Two months have passed in the blink of an eye; well that is how
it feels now. My trip home was great. I got to share with new people about our
ministry and catch up with others that are already involved. I got to meet my
new nephew; David and I got to fill both my heart and my stomach (never a bad
idea to be in the States for Thanksgiving!)
A few things became clear to me in my time home. One being that
2 months away from Nunu, was way to long. Another thing would be that 2 months
isn’t enough time to build our support team. Friends were so generous to give
me new contacts and I didn’t have the time to follow up with them.
I guess there is more to say but that is the short version and
I’d rather tell you about being back in Moz.
This is my first time coming to Moz in December. I knew it would
be hot, but after spending 2.5 hours shivering on an airplane my body isn’t
sure how to react to the drastic change. It’s like my body was in culture
shock… literally one minute I’m so cold my arms are inside of the hoodie I’m
wearing and the next I have beads of sweat forming on my forehead with the
hoodie wrapped around my waist.
All I can do is talk about how hot it is. What gets me through
is the thought of sitting in front of our fan with a cool wash cloth. We get to
the house and THE POWER IS OUT! What?
I can’t even wrap my brain around that because I think my brain
might be sweating too.
About 2 hours of just laying in bed with a wet rag… the power
comes on.
The kids are so great. I can tell they want to just stare at me
or show me something but they give me space and it is SO appreciated. Sure I
give out some hugs but I’m so exhausted and did I mention… I’m hot!
Nunu and I sleep inside of a bug hut, it’s a tent but with no
solid panels… the point is just to keep bugs out. And whatever other creatures
lurk in the night. It’s so hot Nunu convinces me to sleep with the tent open…
it sound crazy but the bug hut gets hot and it big time dulls the power of the
fan. So the compromise is to sleep with the light on. More than I hate the
things that go bump in the night, I hate not seeing them even more! If
something is in my room, I have no desire to step on it or walk into it… if I
can see it I know which direction to run in avoidance =)
My guess is it’s needless to say but I don’t get the best nights
sleep. I skip church on Sunday so I can unpack… for about 2 hours I unpack and
organize. But then I lay down and the heat carries me into the most beautiful
deep sleep ever. I wake a few hours later my hands and feet are all swollen.
It’s funny because I have this problem in the States. It’s cold
out, I come in and warm up and my hands or feet swell. Or the other way around,
it’s summer and I leave the nice A/C for some time out doors and my hand start
itching and then they swell. But it’s never happened here in Moz… until that day.
Julie isn’t here and her room has A/C, so I decide to see if she
has left a key. I find one and can’t turn the air on fast enough. Nunu drags an
extra mattress into the kitchen (which is connected to Julie’s room) and we lay
on the floor watching movies. Eventually the itching stops and my hands and
feet return to normal.
Monday we meet with the builder to talk about things. He says he
will have the building done on December 28 (10 days)… right. That is a whole
different blog.
I write Julie to see if we can use their room and A/C till our
room is complete… with A/C! And so I write you this blog from the comfort of an
air conditioned room… yay! But the funny thing is that their toilet doesn’t
work, so we still have to use our bathroom.
So each night at some ridiculous hour I find myself making the
walk outside over to our other room. One good thing did come out of that
though.
One morning on my way to the bathroom, I came across Nelson. He
was getting ready to leave to go visit family (buses here leave really early in
the morning here). I felt like I hadn’t even gotten a chance to say hi to
Nelson, so I told him I would miss him and gave him a hug. As I leaned in to
hug him, he put his head to the side, but not before I saw the corner of his
lips turn to a smile. Again I’m in awe of the smile that such a simple gesture
puts on a child’s face and as always… the smile melts my heart just a little
and brings me much welcomed chills.
My jetlag has been so intense. Worse than I ever remember and I
think in part to the fact that the temperature change was so great. They
(whoever they are) say that it takes about 10 days for your body to fully
adjust. Well on day 5 when I woke up at MIDNIGHT… I was feeling hopeless! But
it’s now day 11 and I’m feeling much better.
But the strange thing is that I’ve always a night owl, through
and though. Or so I thought… I’ve been going to bed around 9 and waking up at
like 5. And around 5:30 I’m out of bed and so productive… it’s ridiculous! Then
I got to thinking and in the States my best time is like 10 pm to 2 am… well
guess what time 10 pm is here? Yep… 5am.
I’m torn if I want to keep this sleeping arrangement, but for
now I like it… I mean with the exception of losing all conscious or productive
thoughts at 7 pm and the fight to keep my eyes open at 8pm… I’m okay with being
up early.
It’s good to be back, while the heat is a lot for this lady to
handle… like all things here in Moz… it’s by the Grace of God that I make it
through. He delivers a cool breeze, the shade of a tree, smiles that bring
chills to my body and of course the wonders of air conditioning.
Prayer Requests:
- Before leaving the States, I purchased Rosetta Stone (RS).
While I’ve used other things to learn bits of the language, my goal with RS is
to be able to have conversations. Prayers for discipline and absorption.
- We are getting ready to enroll the children into school.
Prayers that we are able to get them into the desired schools (as spaces can
fill up) and that they are excited to go back. As they are all enjoy their time
off of school.
- General health and safety. Everything from when we drive to
Malaria.
