Our hosts in Beira in their home.
Jenny studying Portuguese with our Hostess.
Our room.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
We Made It
We arrived here Sunday at about 3:30 by plane from Johannesburg. As we flew out it looked like we were flying across the western plains with huge farmlands except that the dirt was red. South Africa felt like the US or Europe at least the areas we saw from our short time there. It was a little bit of a shock to us because we didn’t realize how modern South Africa is compared to the rest of Africa. Our guest house was great as you can see from the pictures and it was a very restful stop on our way to Mozambique. As we flew I was reminded that you can’t make any generalizations about African countries based on visiting just one especially South Africa. As we traveled we disappeared over the clouds and when they receded again the roads were gone and there was nothing but open country for miles minus a few roads here and there. We flew into the Biera Airport over dry rice fields, grass fires and savanna interspersed with palm trees. It reminded me a lot of flying into Managua in Nicaragua. It is the end of the dry season and much is brown and dry. Steve picked us up at the airport and told us that when they first got there the weather felt perfect for the first few months. However, yesterday was hot and humid. The temperature was supposed to be 95 degrees and we sweated the rest of the evening. We ended up taking a shower before and after sleeping last night.
The contrast between Johannesburg and Beira is very evident. It is a dusty city of about 500,000 but many of its buildings and streets are in disrepair or haven’t been repaired yet since reconstruction after the war. There are many colorful people but living in much poorer conditions than South Africa. We drove to Steve and Cheryl’s house which is two blocks from the beach in a neighborhood which seems to be decent compared to the others. It is a fairly large house for here yet is very modest by our standards. We ate a supper of pasta with a sort of tomato vegetable sauce and dried fish which is the most common eaten food here. Most of the people along the coast eat a lot of fish and seafood in their diet. That evening we briefly met with a young woman named Joaqina ( I don’t know if my names will be spelled right). She is to be Jenny’s language tutor and is going to take us around Tuesday to start getting to know the place and learn the language. We also met one of the night watchmen that come at night to watch over the house. I guess this is a very common thing in Mozambique and actually in all of Africa.
Yesterday morning the rains came and we are told it was the first big rain of the rainy season so we must have brought it with us. That was what William told us. (We met William this morning. He does maintenance around the house, office and on the cars. He is Zimbabwean and speaks English.) It rained most of the day and really hard and the temperatures were much more comfortable. William said that it wasn’t even a big rain. He said that in January it will rain everyday and it will take two hours after it is done for the water to clear in the streets to drive. He said that he had rain in his house last night and so is trying to figure out how to fix the problem. He also said that there are many people living in unplanned areas around the city. These areas are often low lying groundand so they have to move out of their houses when it rains because they flood. He said when it subsides they move back because they have not where eleo to go. We also met the house help today. Here name is Asiza and she does the cleaning, washing clothes and also cooks the noon meals during the week. Steve and Cheryl said that it was hard to get used to having people work for you in the house but that the culture here is such that if you have a house and don’t provide a job for someone you are viewed as being very ungenerous and tight with your money.
It is sunnier again this morning but the temperature is quite comfortable. We will see what it is like this afternoon. The rains cooled it down a little but they say it increases the humidity and so it will get hot again. The people here also say that the hotter and humid the day is the harder it will rain. The rain is a good thing because it means the rainy season has come on time. The last few years it has been a month to two months late and many people went hungry in the drought.
Last night I went with Steve to visit our host family and the host family of our co-worker Anthony Beers. Our host family is only a few blocks away from Steve and Cheryl. Anthony’s host family didn’t have electricity last night when we arrived so we had to visit by candlelight. I could understand some of the Portuguese because of my Spanish but I am realizing that the speaking is going to be the harder part.
Pray for us as we are still trying to get over jet lag.
We arrived here Sunday at about 3:30 by plane from Johannesburg. As we flew out it looked like we were flying across the western plains with huge farmlands except that the dirt was red. South Africa felt like the US or Europe at least the areas we saw from our short time there. It was a little bit of a shock to us because we didn’t realize how modern South Africa is compared to the rest of Africa. Our guest house was great as you can see from the pictures and it was a very restful stop on our way to Mozambique. As we flew I was reminded that you can’t make any generalizations about African countries based on visiting just one especially South Africa. As we traveled we disappeared over the clouds and when they receded again the roads were gone and there was nothing but open country for miles minus a few roads here and there. We flew into the Biera Airport over dry rice fields, grass fires and savanna interspersed with palm trees. It reminded me a lot of flying into Managua in Nicaragua. It is the end of the dry season and much is brown and dry. Steve picked us up at the airport and told us that when they first got there the weather felt perfect for the first few months. However, yesterday was hot and humid. The temperature was supposed to be 95 degrees and we sweated the rest of the evening. We ended up taking a shower before and after sleeping last night.
The contrast between Johannesburg and Beira is very evident. It is a dusty city of about 500,000 but many of its buildings and streets are in disrepair or haven’t been repaired yet since reconstruction after the war. There are many colorful people but living in much poorer conditions than South Africa. We drove to Steve and Cheryl’s house which is two blocks from the beach in a neighborhood which seems to be decent compared to the others. It is a fairly large house for here yet is very modest by our standards. We ate a supper of pasta with a sort of tomato vegetable sauce and dried fish which is the most common eaten food here. Most of the people along the coast eat a lot of fish and seafood in their diet. That evening we briefly met with a young woman named Joaqina ( I don’t know if my names will be spelled right). She is to be Jenny’s language tutor and is going to take us around Tuesday to start getting to know the place and learn the language. We also met one of the night watchmen that come at night to watch over the house. I guess this is a very common thing in Mozambique and actually in all of Africa.
Yesterday morning the rains came and we are told it was the first big rain of the rainy season so we must have brought it with us. That was what William told us. (We met William this morning. He does maintenance around the house, office and on the cars. He is Zimbabwean and speaks English.) It rained most of the day and really hard and the temperatures were much more comfortable. William said that it wasn’t even a big rain. He said that in January it will rain everyday and it will take two hours after it is done for the water to clear in the streets to drive. He said that he had rain in his house last night and so is trying to figure out how to fix the problem. He also said that there are many people living in unplanned areas around the city. These areas are often low lying groundand so they have to move out of their houses when it rains because they flood. He said when it subsides they move back because they have not where eleo to go. We also met the house help today. Here name is Asiza and she does the cleaning, washing clothes and also cooks the noon meals during the week. Steve and Cheryl said that it was hard to get used to having people work for you in the house but that the culture here is such that if you have a house and don’t provide a job for someone you are viewed as being very ungenerous and tight with your money.
It is sunnier again this morning but the temperature is quite comfortable. We will see what it is like this afternoon. The rains cooled it down a little but they say it increases the humidity and so it will get hot again. The people here also say that the hotter and humid the day is the harder it will rain. The rain is a good thing because it means the rainy season has come on time. The last few years it has been a month to two months late and many people went hungry in the drought.
Last night I went with Steve to visit our host family and the host family of our co-worker Anthony Beers. Our host family is only a few blocks away from Steve and Cheryl. Anthony’s host family didn’t have electricity last night when we arrived so we had to visit by candlelight. I could understand some of the Portuguese because of my Spanish but I am realizing that the speaking is going to be the harder part.
Pray for us as we are still trying to get over jet lag.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
We Made it to Johannesburg!
Eating Breakfast in front of our suite
Anthony and I working outside our suite
Pool and courtyard at Guest House November 4
We have officially landed in Johannesburg. We are staying in a neat little guesthouse that is beautifully landscaped and has very friendly hosts. I am currently sitting next to the pool enjoying the beautiful weather in the evening. Johannesburg has lush green rolling hills and is very modern. It is such a beautiful area. Tomorrow we head on a short plane ride to Beira and will start our language study phase.
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