It's HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

It’s slowly been getting hotter and hotter here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in Africa… I expect to sweat. But wowzers it’s HOT! Nunu and I have our daily meetings out on the front porch. As far as I’m concerned it’s the best spot in the house. I don’t think the sun ever hits it and it usually has a nice cool breeze.

My room also isn’t bad, at least nothing that a cool rag and fan can’t fix. But lately it’s been so hot that I’ve opted to sleep with bug spray and skip the mosquito net. It sounds crazy but the net makes it hotter… I can handle hot, but hotter I just can’t do =)

The funny thing is the ladies who run this place. They are about 65 and 80, they are from Maine. However, they have been here for over 60 years combined and they love the heat. In fact they wear multiple layer and even sweaters if it’s in the 80’s! They see nothing wrong with baking bread in the house when it’s 90 degrees outside. When we sit down for dinner you can feel the heat coming out of the kitchen. For three days, dinner was SO hot… that I would be dripping with sweat before we even got to dessert. But the ladies are sitting there happy as can be loving the hot air… sometimes they even ask if we can turn the fan down.

When I found out yesterday that Filipe wasn’t coming, I asked Nunu if he could take me to the beach. Well on Friday I was getting ready and I mentioned to Michael that we were going to the beach and he asked if I planned to swim. With a confused look on my face, I said “uh yeah?” He was like, “have you ever been to the beach here? It’s pretty dirty. I even heard that they dump their sewage off shore.” WHAT?!

When I took the barge home from Catembe I looked down and thought to myself this water is disgusting! But never had I imagined sewage. I called Nunu and asked if this was true, he told me he hadn’t been to the beach in 6 or 8 years and he didn’t know. We asked a few people in the house and they said they had heard that rumor as well.

I’m so grossed out. I’m so sad. Every beach I have been to has been so incredibly beautiful. How could they let this happen here?! Corruption is the answer I get.

I take my suit off, but I’m curious and the beach usually has a cool breeze, so we still go.

As we take the schapa up the coast, there aren’t many people. I’m surprised at all the little vendors lined up along the beach. One after another roasting chicken, selling pop, beer, sausages, candy, and so on. I ask Nunu, “Who are all these vendors selling to?” I get my answer an hour or 2 later. It seems this is the place to be after school or work. It’s like a tail gate party but switch the stadium for a beach. The main event is socializing and cooling off. It is Friday, I guess it all makes sense (I often forget what day of the week it is).

We find a shady spot under a tree. I lay my towel down and get comfortable. Let the people watching begin! Well first I start by checking out the water. I don’t get close though maybe like 20 or 30 feet away. This is a strange form of torture. I’m so hot, it’s in the 90’s and that is without the heat index. I’m afraid if I get to close to the water, I will put my foot in. If it’s cool who knows… so I keep my distance.

So the water. Definitely NOT a Gatorade beach (see a few blogs back if you don’t know what I mean). It’s the ocean, it’s supposed to be a beautiful shade of blue, but it makes me think more of a lake.

I watch people play and have fun. I wonder if they have heard about the rumor. To be fair, none of what I’ve heard is fact. It’s just local speculation and rumor, but why is this water so dark when just 3 hours south it’s a crystal clear blue?

I’m not even sure what else to say. It’s just a very sad situation. Not just the ocean, but all this talk of sewage has me thinking about sanitation… everything from littering  to washing your hands after using the bathroom. While a lot of people get these things… it’s the ones who don’t get it that I worry about. I don’t even know what else to say. I don’t want to be disrespectful, so it’s probably best to quit while I’m ahead.

Prayer:

- Forget me… pray against corruption.

- Pray for this countries leadership.

- Pray that people would understand the importance of sanitation.

- Pray that if the dumping reports are true, that someone would put a stop to it.