Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States. It will be a “normal” day for us here in Mozambique. As I reflect about what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, I find myself acutely aware of the chasm between those who have and those who do not have. This year, I am thankful that I have people around me who care for me – my husband who is a constant support and willingly listens to me as I process, family and friends in the States who are praying for us, our host family who have graciously opened their home to us and are patient with us as we learn Portuguese, our MCC country representatives who offer themselves and their home as an oasis in the midst of adjusting to culture, and our language partners who share their afternoons with us to familiarize us with the language and the city. I am also thankful for “things” – a house that keeps us dry when it rains, a mosquito net that keeps away mosquitos that could carry malaria (and that neither of us have come down with it yet), enough clothes to be able to change them daily, a fan that blows on us each night to cool us and drown out the outside noises, a reliable alarm clock, though between our neighbors or roosters crowing, we wouldn’t need to one, the MCC office that is on the fourth floor and has a constant breeze, the cooling breeze from the ocean and much more.

We are adjusting life here. I have yet to hear any silence. There is constant noise – banging (we can’t figure out if they are building or tearing something down), a lumber mill (located below the MCC office), roosters, dogs, neighbors yelling (seems to be early mornings, like 5:45 AM, or late at night), traffic, people walking on the street, sweeping sidewalks and walkways, and people walking down the street selling things like caranguejo (crab). Beira is very colorful between brightly painted buildings, flowering trees (it’s springtime), and women’s capulanas (fabric used as wrap around skirts, head dresses, baby carriers, and coverings for other things like food).

We are establishing a routine. We wake up “late” at 6:15 (most of our neighbors seem to wake up at least an hour before us and the house help arrives at our house at 6:00). We take bucket showers and then eat breakfast, consisting of a fried egg or omelet with rolls, Tang, and coffee for Joel and milk for me. At 8:00, Steve and Cheryl pick us up and we go to the MCC office. We have language class along with Anthony from 8:30 to usually around 11:00. We go home for lunch and come back to the office in the afternoon to study and to meet our language partners. We meet with our language partners every day for two hours to practice Portuguese. In the evenings, we have been bonding with our family watching the Brazilian novella, “Alma Gemea”. We eat supper with them around 8:00 PM and then go to bed around 9:00, very exhausted from the effort it takes learning a language and operating in a different country.

Our host likes to go fishing. We eat fish every day, usually for both lunch and supper. Our hostess cooks it with lemon, garlic and vinegar and then fries it. We usually have rice or tchima (like cornmeal mush) with a sauce consisting of peppers, tomatoes, onions and lots of oil. We have also eaten beans, shrimp, crab, goat, beef and chicken. I think I have eaten more fish in these past three weeks than I have in my entire life!

We anticipate visiting Gondola next week to meet with people with whom we will be working, people from the Mennonite church where we will worship and to look for housing. We will be in Beira until the end of January/early February concentrating on language so that when we arrive in Gondola, we can function in Portuguese. It will take years to speak it well, but we’ll at least have a solid base. Your prayers as we learn language are appreciated.

Jenny