Friday Fragment: T I A Part 2

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Originally posted July 27, 2008

Esmé pours rocks inside a plastic bag with no bottom. Her girlfriend had had this wrapped around her foot, and when she took it off Esmé was quite fascinated with it. She tried putting the plastic bag on her foot, too.

And girlfriend found some ribbon from a cassette tape in the rocks and was "flossing her teeth" with it. Esmé had to try that, too!
Another little girl who found plenty of entertainment in a piece of tape!
There is JOY in Africa, friends! Found amidst the rocks, plastic bags, cassette ribbon, and tape.

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Friday Fragment: T I A

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Originally posted July 25, 2008

You know that joke about the employee who takes time off because he would like to attend his mother-in-law's funeral, only to ask for time off again the next month for the same reason? (The punchline is that she isn’t dead yet.)

Well, in Mozambique I don't think people would get the joke.

For starters, people refer to extended relatives as brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. So when someone tells you his “sister” has died, it might be his cousin. And his “mother” might be his mother’s cousin. Seems sweet, but it’s a little disconcerting from an employer’s perspective when one tries to be sympathetic and keeps giving time off and funds for employee family funerals.

Remember our gardener, Antonio? The beanless guy? Yesterday he informed me that his wife just died, and he needs 2 weeks off and some travel money to fetch his son.

What? His wife died late last year – he took a month off then. Did he marry again already?

No, no. That wife was his second wife, his Maputo wife. His primary wife lived 3 days travel up north. And his son now has no one to care for him. The grandparents are dead, too.

How many more wives does he have????

Just these two. No more. Now he has no wives left.

My heart grieves for the motherless son. And once again I’m troubled by my lack of sympathy and compassion as an employer.

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Friday Fragment: What Esmé Needs

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Originally posted July 23, 2008

Here’s how it works – Google your name followed with a verb like “needs." Copy the first few results and add your own commentary.
So here are our Thursday Thirteen for this 15-month-old bebe:

1. Esmé needs to go date about 3 different guys and have the time of her life. Okay – I can do this, but I’m not sure Mommy and Daddy would approve until I’m a little older, say 16 months?
2. Esmé needs her story now. Did you know there was a song by Jawbreaker about me? Neither did I! It’s not exactly kiddie music, though, so I’m not linking.
3. Esmé needs love. Definitely! I’ve got plenty of it, thank goodness.
4. Esmé needs to address her bank accounts. And which ones might those be? I got a piggy bank full of change – maybe I should bank it?

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Friday Fragment: How to Make Raisin Pie

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Originally posted July 14, 2008

1. Have a 15-month-old child.
2. Buy a 2 kg bag of expensive raisins, since they’re cheaper in large quantities.
3. Open the bag and use a few.
4. Place the opened bag on the bottom shelf of the pantry.
5. Leave the pantry door open.
6. Discover 15-month-old in a pile of raisins on floor of pantry, happily eating away.
7. Cry over spilled raisins.
8. Pick up raisins off pantry floor, carefully separating them from onion skins also on pantry floor.
9. Wash raisins.

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Friday Fragment: Update on Beans

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Originally posted July 12, 2008

Me: “Do you know what was wrong with Antonio?”

E: “His stomach was like he was pregnant.”

Me: “No, I mean what caused his stomach to be like that?”

E: “Well, he had this dream that he was digging his wife’s grave alongside his brother-in-law. His father-in-law came to him and told him he had a younger daughter and would like Antonio to marry her. And then Antonio woke up and couldn’t move his face.”

Me: “Oh.”

I was way out of my comfort zone on this, so didn’t pursue the conversation further.

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Friday Fragment: Growin' Up in Mozambique

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Originally posted July 9, 2008

How you know you’re a 15-month-old American bebe growin’ up in Mozambique.

1. You fall asleep while riding on the potholed roads and wake up on the smooth tarmac. And you pray before every drive in the car – even just around the block.
2. Going to the doctor for shots is an all-day excursion across the border. And when you get funny bumps on you, you’re treated for both chicken pox and fly maggots.
3. You have to add pages to your passport before you’re 15 months old.

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Friday Fragment: Nine Months with The Incredibles

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Originally posted July 6, 2008

I’m far more likely to have a supervillain name than a superhero one. It would be something along the lines of "Guilt Complex Queen." I have an overdeveloped guilt complex. You name it, it’s my fault.

• Baby’s diaper is wet? My bad.
• Husband comes down with the flu? I haven’t been feeding him enough orange and green veggies.
• Our Mozambique building project is out of cash? Guilty, your honor. I haven’t reconciled petty cash yet.
• People feel unloved and alone in the world? Guilty again. I love you all, but I have 400 emails and 89 blog comments I haven’t responded to, and I haven’t sent out Christmas cards in two years.

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Friday Fragment: Dilemma of Beans

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Originally posted July 5, 2008

We were awakened at 7:30 this morning, first by hubby’s phone ringing, then mine, and then Cathrine (our empregada) letting herself in the house, which she never does on a Saturday. And now I’m nervously awaiting word from the hospital, praying our gardener Antonio is okay.
We eat a lot of beans. We don’t eat meat, and most foods, even staples, are very expensive in this country. Beans by the 50kg bag are relatively cheap, so beans seem to be a practical menu option.

We inherited Antonio with the house when we moved in last August. I initially attempted to feed him lunch, but after he refused my food several times, I decided not to push my cooking on him any more. I can take a hint. He’s a grown man and can take care of himself.

He showed up for work one morning this week with half of his face paralyzed. My husband took him to the hospital. Diagnosis? Deficiencies of vitamin Bs.

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Friday Fragment: Blog Keepers

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Originally posted June 25, 2008

When I first figured out Google Reader back in March, I started subscribing to feeds at a crazy rate. I knew I was in trouble when I went on vacation for a month and had limited internet access. Within the first week, my inbox had 1000+ items in it. Now that I’ve been home a bit and started working through it, I’ve been unsubscribing from a few blogs. Not as many as I should, but a woman’s gotta start somewhere.

And it’s a TERRIBLE process. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to good friends, just so I can have a real life. Selfish, isn’t it?

I’m no SheSpeaks seminar speaker, but I’ve been analyzing what makes a blog a keeper and what annoys me, and thought my very amateur perspective might be interesting to some.
Trying to see the glass half full, I’ll start with the keepers. Next week we’ll do the (more exciting) pet peeves.

1. People I Know. This trumps all. If I know you personally, I’ll read your blog. Period. It makes my life more interesting if you’ve got the other things going for you, of course, and thankfully all my personal friends do!
2. Similarities. I like people who have common interests. In most cases, that means kids. I love mommy blogs! Ones with a spiritual emphasis and wholesome lifestyle are even better. And Africa-related blogs are awesome, too.
3. Human Tragedy. I find myself drawn to others’ stories of personal tragedy. I’m sure there’s a happy ending somewhere, so I keep coming back to read more.

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Friday Fragment: Party Time!

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Originally posted April 6, 2008

Here it is as promised - the exciting story of my very first birthday party, right here in Mozambique. It started out with the delivery of 35 live chickens for a BBQ here at Daddy's shop in Machava.

I am going to break all blogging rules and post LOTS of photos, though we've made them small so hopefully they will load okay on your computer. I left out the chicken guts ones in case I have any sensitive viewers . . .

Guests

Including Ouma and Oupa and my cousins and the expat Maranatha team, all the Maranatha shop workers were there, so there were about 80 people total. Here I am making the rounds.

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Friday Fragment: Birthday Letter

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Originally posted April 3, 2008

My Dearest Esmé,

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since you splashed into our world! It was two agonizingly long weeks after we expected you to arrive, but though you may have been slow off the mark, you lost no time in catching up and exceeding all our expectations. You continue to amaze us every day!

It’s been a year to savor. We’ve been applauding each new milestone and accomplishment, but I’ve been secretly wishing time would slow down so I could enjoy each moment longer.

Happy Girl. When your first smiles popped out at 6 days old, even I was skeptical. All the books said it must be gas, since babies don’t smile until at least 6 weeks . . . But it quickly became evident that you were a smiler from the start, interacting and brightening the lives of everyone around you. You learned very early that when you smile at the world, the world smiles back. Even when you were suffering at your worst with allergies, it didn’t take much to get that smile to come out.

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Friday Fragment: Lion Sleeps Tonight

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Originally posted June 21, 2008

I’ve been busy today!

I started by pulling out all my onesies out of my suitcase and trying to dress my monkeys in them. I convinced Mommy to help me. Then I had her play the Lullaby mobile so they would go to sleep like good monkeys.

Then we did art with tempera paints. This was my second time – and I was so good the first time that I lulled Mommy into complacency. So this time I got to paint my fingers and toes and mouth and pants and table and walls and floors, plus I rubbed my eyes a lot after I painted my fingers. But we got some cool paintings on paper, too.

While Mommy was making lunch, I got into the fridge and took bites out of apples and put the apples back in the fridge. I also put some plastic dishes in (they’re better chilled) and some dental floss.

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Friday Fragment: Bizarre Comments

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Originally posted June 19, 2008

I made a list of things I’ve said to Esmé recently that I never dreamed I’d say to a 14-month-old:

1. Please take your foot out of my mouth.
2. How sweet! You’re feeding your dolly diaper rash cream!
3. The doggy isn’t going to eat from an empty bowl no matter how much you shove it in his face. He needs food in his bowl before he eats. He doesn’t like to play pretend.

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Friday Fragment: The Accident

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Originally posted June 16, 2008

Ever hear about the hero who just happened to be at the right place at the right time to save a life and wonder what you would do in the same situation? Me too.

We were rushing to the South African border early yesterday morning before dawn when we came upon the scene.

You see accidents more often than not when you drive in Mozambique - the roads/drivers here are atrocious. But this was the first "fresh" accident with fatalities that I'd seen. No crowds had gathered around yet to start the cleanup process.

That sounds so dehumanizing. Someone's father/brother/son wasn't gonna make it home for father's day. Nothing trivial about that.

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Friday Fragment: Mozambican Heaven

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Originally posted June 13, 2008

As daylight breaks, he pedals his bike through the dusty village streets, rushing to get to work by 7 a.m.

Not quite 20, still a teenager, he moved to the city several months ago to further his education. He had brothers here; a place to stay. But it quickly became evident that his sisters-in-law did not want another mouth to feed. So he moved out and got a job at my husband’s metal shop, putting together steel structures for churches and schools.

The lunch provided at work is his one meal of the day. When the shop closes at 4:30, he washes himself in the stagnant rainwater pond and pedals again, this time to class. At midnight, he finally arrives home, only to start the cycle again in five hours.

He’s been investing his hard-earned $100/month. Realizing the chapa (African taxi) was taking a huge chunk of his pay, he bought the bicycle. He purchased a variety of locks and now sells locks during his free time on the weekends. And he borrowed funds from us to buy a piece of property, slowly acquiring materials to build a house one of these days.

He’s going places - reaching for the sky.

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Friday Fragment: Causes

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Originally posted May 22, 2008

It seems like every day on the news there is something new for us to panic about. This week I’ve heard about the toxicity of flame-retardant sprays, the danger of using hard plastic water bottles, and the fact that government spending on cancer research has stayed flat in the past year or so.

You know, this stuff is so NOT news in Mozambique. When people are struggling to come up with food for the next day, transporting water in 25 gallon jugs miles by donkey cart (or more frequently human cart), and we have a cholera tent just around the block from our house, it’s hard for me to care what kind of plastic my baby’s water is bottled in. And when we’re loaning people $40 to bury their babies for NO GOOD REASON, I wish we could spend a little more on those diseases that cause the majority of deaths in this world.

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Friday Fragment: Read It Again!

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Originally posted April 18, 2008

…so now is the moment this mother has been waiting for – when Esmé KNOWS what she wants to read and DEFINITELY wants to read it. She brings the same book to me over and over, and I drop everything to read it every time.

Last night I picked out four books to read before bed, and every time I started to read a different book, she pushed HER book back into my face again – “This one, Mommy!”

I think we’re about up to 142 reads by now, or close . . .

It's called Colors of Creation, by Thomas Paul Thigpen. As far as choices go, I can’t complain. It teaches colors using the story of creation, chronologically following the Biblical account for the most part. It rhymes, so I can memorize it easily and therefore read it upside down…

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Friday Fragment: This and That

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Originally posted April 15, 2008

This blog is going to be a miscellany of this and that, kinda like my attention span these days.

Gecko. We found a tiny gecko with the skin falling off his head so you could see the inside. He was missing part of his tail, too. I wanted to play with him (he was a little slower than most), but Mommy wouldn't let me.

Bidet. I put my toothbrush down the bidet drain. (Look up the definition if you don't know what that is, though if you were Portuguese, you would know. The bidet - not the toothbrush. If you don't know what a toothbrush is, shame on you.) Mommy cleverly got it out and drenched it in mouthwash.

Log in Bathtub. I had my first log in bathtub experience. Mommy wants to know what the proper protocol is for this event. Do you grab baby out first, or log out first?

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Friday Fragment: Clean Underwear, Cheerios, and Gloryland

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Originally posted April 6, 2008

Maputo, Mozambique

Coconut and date palms, mango trees. Smells of frangipani and cooking fires. Trucks clattering through huge potholes. Children calling to each other in Portuguese and Tsonga. Barking from Groban the dog. This is home.

It hasn’t always been home. As the fog of jetlag evaporated when we arrived last May, we had to adjust to a different language and a different culture. I treasured our rare shopping trips to Nelspruit, South Africa, about three hours away. It was a place where English was spoken and understood. It had a shopping mall. And not only were you guaranteed to find bare necessities like milk and cinnamon on the store shelves, food prices were 1/3 cheaper, so you could afford luxuries like juice and pasta sauce.

I remember when Maputo became “home.” We had headed to Nelspruit on a Friday for a rushed day of shopping, only realizing in the evening that we probably wouldn’t make it through the border in time to clear the tools my husband bought. So we settled into a B&B, and on Saturday we meandered our way to the border via Kruger National Park.

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Friday Fragment: Ambassador Bebe

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Original posted March 29, 2008

Today we went to Machumbutane for their church dedication. Machumbutane is way out in the bush, down a long long long sandy road. True to regular form, I slept through the bumps and stayed awake on the smooth tarmac. I am becoming a true Mozambican!

Mommy was a little trigger happy at the Machumbutane church dedication today, so you shall see lots of photos here.

I seem to have achieved celebrity status at times, as you’ll see in some of the photos. Mommy and I have been talking about how being God’s ambassador here in Mozambique is my most important job, even more important than skateboarding!

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