Eventful Week!

 This was an eventful week.

 On Monday, the missionary that was having foot trouble got worse so dad

 took him back to the clinic (4th trip!), while I stayed and waited for the cable guy because we had been

 trying to get cable for 2 weeks and they were coming to hook us up. We decided that he was worse and 

recommended that he be sent to Maputo to see a Dr there. So we brought him back to our place,

 fed him pancakes, and put him on a plane.  He ended up having surgery the next AM. 

 On Tuesday, we had the 4 ZL's in our area over for training with Pres K via Internet and 

I made breakfast for them.  On Wednesday, Chanelle came in!! Her trip was crazy! We didn't

 realize it when we planned on her coming that it was such an ordeal for her.  She had to take

 a bus, a matutu (those packed van taxis), and  a boda (scooter), to get to a hostel, where she slept over, 

and then take a shuttle to the airport.  We were waiting at the entrance to customs and I panicked 

 some because we could not see her.  A nice passenger that spoke English asked if we were looking for our 

daughter and said that she was being held up because her paperwork wasn't right. So I asked/told

 the customs guy that we needed to come in because our daughter was in there and he let us in. 

 (Sidebar: eg. African thinking - when I tried to come in the grocery store that I'd just exited 10 min before,

 they wouldn't let me because they were closing. I told them my husband was inside and pointed him

 out to them. No, I could not go in, but a secure area like customs, they were ok. Oh Africa....). 

It turns out that she needed an address to put on the customs form and she didn't know it.  Anyway,

 a broken printer, 20 minute wait and we were clear!  

 Thursday AM we went to Gorongoza Park for a safari and stayed overnight. It's a small park and doesn't really have many animals. We hadn't made reservations and the safaris were full but dad had made friends with the guy that took us to our room and he asked dad if he wanted him to get someone to do it. So he got Simba, who is a guide there and spoke English. We did see an elephant, which the morning safari didn't see so it worked out good.

Saturday, we got up and went for a walk on the beach and looked for shrimp. The catches weren't good that day and none of the fishermen had any, but we saw Armando, who was our first seller and he had some. Then we came home and went to a wedding at the church. The missionaries had asked me to play the piano so I played hymns - God Speed the Right was the wedding march. ;) I told dad they would not know the difference, but the members might have recognized a few songs.... Chanelle made friends with the 2 little daughters of the couple getting married and held them during some of the wedding.

 Afterward, dad dropped Chanelle and I at the market in town, while he got a haircut, and it was the dirtiest, craziest market that I've ever been in.

  We were the only white people there and got a lot of stares and calls. It's the only time I've been called to since we got here. Probably not a place I'd wanna go to alone but it was interesting. We got some used pants from India for 50c a pair.

  Then Sunday, Chanelle and I went to Primary instead of Sunday school and it turned out that no leaders were there - not the presidency, a teacher, nobody. The elders were trying to figure something out so I told them that I'd do sharing time and singing time but I'd probably need a translator. So an elder from Portugal translated while I told the story of David and Goliath and The Good Samaritan. Then we did singing time and I tried to teach them Popcorn Popping in English. That was a flop! So I taught them Smiles in Portuguese. 

 

 That was tricky....trying to learn the Portuguese words myself while I taught them w/o any music. That was moderately successful but then I decided to do "Do as I'm Doing" in English and they loved that. I asked the elder to take a picture and he ended up recording about 10 minutes. Chanelle and I were cracking up when we watched it at home! The classic line is when I turn to the elder, after singing Popcorn Popping, and say, "I think they know this song!" when not one child has made a peep. I guess it was positive thinking or maybe stress-induced delusion. Ha!
 

After church we made a yummy lunch of sautéed shrimp, crockpot potatoes, green beans, and salad, all purchased from the vegetable market. Later on, Chanelle dyed my hair. I had to text Crystal for instructions, which surprised the heck out of her.  Chanelle did a really great job, which made me even more afraid for when dad and I have to do it ourselves..... 

 

 

 This AM, we took Chanelle to the airport and she headed back to Uganda via the long route. Dad gave her a blessing so I could not be so, so worried for her. And that's our week!!  Love you!!!!