After I was able to meet Princess Ann (she is a patron of VSO International) at the Royal Jubilee I then was able to see some exhibit by a local artist that was wonderful.  On the weekend I was then able to visit a beautiful portuguese island that was completely abandoned and full of sand dunes and then we sailed to the island called Inhaca and sailed back home looking at the sunset.  It was a perfect day and I was soo happy to be in Mamma Africa.  

I am slowly falling in love with Mozambique and the simple way of living.  I know if I left tomorrow I would already miss many things.  I would miss the beautiful colours in Africa and the colours on every African women's garments and capalanas.  A "Capalana" is a beautiful large piece of fabric that most Mocambican women buy to make clothing out of most of the times.  You can use it for almost anything, from table cloths, to head wraps and beautifully tailored dresses.  There are also many special capalanas for different occasions, such as the capalana for baptisms and certain ones for weddings etc.  Let me give you some details of how simple life is here and how much you need to let go of very quickly in order to adapt.  However just by talking, listening and observing to people that travel and live in many different continents it seems that humans tend to adapt to their immediate environments pretty quickly.  So when you go to the washroom here you have to throw the toilet paper you have just used in the garbage bin not in the toilet because the drainage system is not very good.  A volunteer has named me the person that rates every toilet here and the rating of 9 out of 10 which has been met maybe a handful of times consists of the following in working mode; the toilet can flush, it is off the ground, it is clean, there are no mosquitoes or major bugs in sight, there is toilet paper (always major points points bc there rarely is you must always bring your own toilet paper along) it has soap can be same major points as toilet paper and paper towels is and major bonus.  Oh and forget about any dairy products like milk, cheese or cream or any other products that you're so use to buying because you know their name and trust the product is good.  If you find what you want to eat in a can then you have struck gold!  Buying fresh product is usually sold on the streets and believe me when I tell you that Africa puts a whole new meaning to the word "hustling."  The streets sell way more products than any store does, I can only find certain products easily here on the streets than I can find in any "loga" aka store.  Do not doubt for any minute the streets here are disorganized, people hustle like you have never seen before and everyone on the streets actually gets their products from a buyer.  

I even took my first "chappa"aka the bus the other week, I am quite claustrophobic so when it get a bit too crowded and smelly I do get off and walk the rest of the way.

I would also miss the way women wrap their babies in their capalanas and how they carry stuff on their heads.  I would also miss the simplistic way of things here that comes with the lack of fashion and no need to be obsessed with material things or disillusioned ways.  There is a beautiful scene here of art and music that I haven't even barely touched as of yet.  Here are some photos of the arts and crafts parks all over the city.

TALK SOON LITTLE MOONS!!!