We decided to leave for Masana at the same time as the day before, but today we would take a chapa. We got there shortly before their singing and tea time began. The activity for the day was going to a beach slightly north of Maputo. All of the boys were given new "bikini" underwear to wear at the beach. Many of the boys enjoyed wearing them on their heads which gave us quite a laugh. Once everyone was dressed, we piled into the two vehicles owned by Masana.
The boys had a blast at the beach. The staff brought along a beach ball, 2 soccer balls, and 2 kites for the kids to play with. The boys also enjoyed playing with the animals they found on the beach which included hermit crabs, tiny regular crabs, and a starfish (about the size of a 50 cent piece).
One of the older boys found a large hermit crab and built a house to keep it in. He used an empty bottle he found to bring water from the ocean for the crab. Eventually he dug a trench and a small door so water came in on its own. He named the hermit crab, Diana, after one of the workers at Masana.
Christina was having fun playing with one of the tiny crabs that I was holding in my hands. She would poke it in the eye, and the eye-stalk would drop to the side. I thought this was probably annoying to the crab and it didn't like this very much so one time when she poked it, I pretended the crab pinched me. Her reaction was priceless. I found it funny, but I don’t think she was as amused as I was.
A little while later I brought Christina a surprise in my hands. I made her close her eyes while I put it in her hand. Then I told her to open her eyes. It was a tiny dead fish. Again, she wasn't as amused as I was (but it was worth it :) ).
About this time, one of the leaders near us noticed that the beach ball had gotten away from the boys. We watched as it sailed away to be a present for some fisherman's kids.
Some of the older boys were kicking a soccer ball back and forth. Then two of the younger boys got the other soccer ball, drew a pitch in the sand, and began playing a 1-on-1 game.
Meanwhile, the other boys drew pictures or made other art in the sand. The funniest piece was a toilet that one of the kids made (he converted the house of Diana the hermit crab for the bowl). A lot of the boys practiced writing their names in the sand. One of them made a heart that said, "I love Africa" inside of it. Christina took a picture of the piece along with the artist. This started a series of pictures since all the boys wanted their pictures taken, especially the younger ones.
The sun was really beating down on us so Christina and I decided to sit in the shade. While we were relaxing there, some of the younger kids brought us "lunch". Our "lunch" consisted of rotten fish skeletons and sandy, dried lemon halves which they found among the trash on the beach. Yum!
Soon it was time to head back to Masana. Everyone piled back into the cars. Ian, one of the leaders, drove a new truck that had just been donated by a church in the United States. Diana (the actual Diana, not the hermit crab version) took a picture of all the boys piled in the bed of the truck to send to the church as a thank you.
When we arrived back at Masana, there was some down time. One of the boys was really interested in my watch so I taught him how to work the alarm. I was surprisingly successful even with my limited knowledge of Portuguese. In case you’re curious, my instructions were, "Aqui, dois. Aqui. Aqui. Muito bom!" (“Here, twice. Here. Here. Very good!”) In addition to setting the timer, he also enjoyed counting down from 20, “Vinte…dezenove…dezoito… dezessete…dezesseis…quinze…catorze…treze…doze…onze…dez…nove…oito…sete…seis…cinco…quarto… três…dois…um.”
After a while the leaders called all the boys to gather around the tables. They had a time of singing and a short Bible lesson. During the lesson, many of the boys were tired and started dozing off. The boy on my left was having an especially hard time staying awake despite me trying my best to keep his eyes open. One of the workers had a cup of water that he was using to splash anyone who was falling asleep. This still didn't help the boy beside me so the worker picked him up, carried him to the sink, and stuck his head under the faucet. This had a much better effect.
When the lesson was over, it was time for lunch. Christina and I weren't planning on staying, but they had extra food and asked us to stay and eat. Lunch consisted of a plate of rice with a mixture of beans and vegetables on top. Since this might be the only meal some of the boys got that day, it was hearty.
During lunch, I believe I may have had a cultural/language misunderstanding with one of the boys. While I was eating, a boy came over and sat beside me. He had two oranges with him (they were out of oranges when I went through the line, so I had zero) and set one of them on the table near to me and walked away. I thought he was offering it to me since I didn't have one. I took a slice from the orange and ate it. Then the boy came back and picked up the orange he had set by me and moved it to the other side of his plate. He said something to another of the boys and they laughed. I wasn't sure what he said. This was another disadvantage of not knowing the language.
After everyone was done eating, a water fight broke out. Almost everyone (including the staff) got soaked except Christina and me. I got hit by the edge of a wayward strike from one of the staff members directed at one of the older boys, but that was about it. When all the boys were completely soaked, the water fight ended. Christina and I took this break in the action as a good time to leave. It was already after 1:30 pm. We walked a few blocks until we were able to catch a chapa home.
Back at the house, a Mozambican lady was waiting to be let in to do some work for the Perssons. Another lady, the wife of one of the night guards also showed up. Christina worked on a cover letter for the position in Lesotho while I journaled. Christina then decided to take a nap. I was planning to take a short nap too, but ended up chatting with Zack Wilt on Facebook.
Christina got up and started preparing dinner. She didn’t need any help so I jumped in the shower. When I was done I found Christina watching Bones while our dinner was cooking. Neither of us had really watched Bones before but it was nice to watch someone in English. After the episode was over, Christina took a shower and I watched another.
When she got out, dinner was ready. She had roasted a chicken with peppers and onions. We also had some noodles. It was very delicious.
DISCLAIMER: What you are about to read may be considered by some as damaging to my manliness. If you would prefer to keep your former view of my manliness, please stop reading and wait until the next post. Otherwise, proceed at your own risk!
In addition to carrying the extra suitcase for Jonathan and Becky, I also brought a care package for Christina from her parents. The most meaningful thing was a bottle of Roaring Spring Bottled Water. We both grew up in Roaring Spring, and the water there is the best tasting water in the world.
Okay, so maybe it wasn't the most meaningful thing (although she did say she would save it for a special occasion). The most meaningful thing was probably the wedding video from her cousin Garrett's wedding.
After we had finished eating, we watched the wedding video. I’ll share a few of the highlights. There were two ring bearers. During the message, the one got bored and decided it would be fun to slide down the steps of the stage. This was quite hilarious. Unfortunately his mother didn't think so and walked up front to take him back to her seat. The other highlight was from the pastor’s message. He made a great analogy about marriage. He described that old bridges often have tiny cracks that go unnoticed until a Mack truck drives over it. Marriage is the Mack truck driving over the bridge of your heart. We enjoyed this analogy.
Despite the fact that watching a wedding video wasn't my ideal activity, I still enjoyed it. It was especially meaningful for Christina and even more so for her to be able to watch it with a friend from home.
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