The Birthday Party

This past Sunday we were invited to a celebration of the first birthday of our neighbors' baby girl. We've gotten to know the family a bit since moving in six months ago--particularly the children as our kids sometimes play on the sidewalk out in front of our houses together. The parents own a used car parts shop in town and are often gone long hours so although we've spent quite a bit of time with the children and the "nanny", we haven't been able to get to know the parents as well as we would like to.

If when you think of Mozambique, you think of mud huts and thatched roofs...and, for example, our neighbors (on the other side) who raise large quantities of loud foul in their yard and regularly slaughter goats...and if you think of Nampula as being a heavily Muslim area with women wearing long skirts and covering their heads...you would be completely right! And last I heard, Mozambique was still ranked up there as one of the most impoverished countries in the world. But there are also the more privileged and less religious Mozambicans who make up this country and culture and this birthday party turned out to be quite an interesting cultural experience that had us adjusting some stereotypes!

We knew that the invitation was for our whole family, and understanding the generally relaxed sense of time here, we arrived at the location for the party a little past the time given. We were told that the party would be held on the ground floor of one of the larger buildings here in Nampula that houses several businesses, shops, and a cafe. As it turns out, the location of the party was a night club--which appeared to be locked up when we arrived. After about a half hour, the host family with the birthday girl arrived! And we were escorted into the night club (turns out we were the first guests) where we waited for another half hour for the party to start.

Cohen and Christian had fun throwing around balloons that were being used to decorate the room. It was an interesting atmosphere, to say the least! Lights were dimmed and other colorful lights were flashing...Heavy liquor lined the walls surrounded by clusters of balloons. The party was being set up by the same people who typically run the night club...and let's just say that their attire was more along the lines of their night job rather than your typical capulana and conservative dress!

And then the music started. Apparently the night club didn't own any children's music so they played what they had...the lyrics of which would be completely inappropriate to repeat on this blog...we were thankful that our children lacked any comprehension of most of the phrases! Maybe to balance out their lack of children's music, the night club people projected a Disney cartoon beamed in by satelite onto one of the walls...although it was quite impossible to hear.

After a while, the other children began to arrive...probably about 30 or so in total...some with their moms and dads, others with their nannys...and I'm quite sure some were just dropped off at the door (if the chaos were any indication!)

Cohen and Christian got right in with the rest of the kids and played with the baloons...but I have to say that they mostly seemed in a daze with all the over-stimulation of the lights and music and children running around unsupervised.

Speaking of over-stimulation...the birthday girl (remember, she is turning ONE!) seemed a bit overwhelmed. She readily went to a face she recognized and clung to Stefan while chewing on her fingers.

The food was pretty amazing...tray after tray of sweets and cookies and cakes and salty snacks and chicken pastries...In the end we didn't get much visiting done with the mother or father of the birthday girl afterall...but it was a really interesting experience. And we were glad to have been invited.

Oh...and did I mention? It was an open bar....!?!?!?! And we're not talking orange juice and milk!

Head injury

A unique thing about Christian that you may not know is that on any given day he will likely be sporting a number of cuts and bruises in varying stages of healing on his head. It has become sort of a "normal" thing in our house to hear a thud followed by a screech, followed by Cohen running to tell me or Stefan that Christian "hurt his head." Again. And of course, every time, my heart leaps up into my throat and I wonder if this time it is really and truly serious.

When these injuries first began to take place right about the time Christian became mobile (It seems he went pretty much from a squalling baby lying on his back to running and climbing--altogether skipping the crawling and toddling stage, although I'm sure it was in there somewhere), I felt like surely we must be failing in propper supervision and correction of the boy. It certainly hadn't been our experience with Cohen, who although has had his share of little boy injuries in his 3 and a half years, just doesn't tend to always be hurting himself. But it seems we are having to adjust to the idea that no amount of supervision for our youngest son is going to be able to protect him from the trouble he gets himself into. The boy just does not STOP! His combination of curiousity and boldness seem to be more of a factor than any amount of supervision. Which is scary, becuase I can only imagine what will be interesting and motivating to him at the age of 8...or 14 for that matter!

We all had to learn the hard way to insist on icing whenever Christian came up with a new "owee" (We had one particular bruise that took months for the coloring to subside!) As you can imagine, a toddler is not too keen on having ice on his head for 20 minutes. So it has sort of become a family affair. Whenever Christian hurts his head, we all got together and take turns holding the ice on while we try to entertain and distract him by singing or reading books or talking. Cohen has gotten good at helping out and Stefan and I frequently pass the job off to him.

Oh, son! You wear your mamma out! Good thing you're so cute.

Super Long Blog about Christmas in Mozambique

This was our third Christmas in Mozambique...and like the last two we especially missed family and friends and the cooler weather during the holidays. However, the Lord also gave us a neat time with new friends and co-workers here in Mozambique and the season was special for us despite the distance from home and the ever-present heat.

We kept really busy this December with work/ministy as well as finding ways to prepare for and celebrate the season with our boys. Cohen is just at the age now where he is beginning to understand the Christmas story and the various ways we celebrate Christ's coming. He is also beginning to understand more about sharing and giving and we had several opportunities to express that this year. One day we took the boys out to an orphanage on the outskirts of town and spent the morning making Christmas decorations with the kids. We had several Christmas gatherings with friends and co-workers over at our house both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--which the boys seemed to love.

We also had an interesting (but typical) cultural experience in giving some gifts to our guards and maid. We employ two men who trade off guarding our house during the night hours and one woman who helps out around the house. In thinking of what we wanted to share with them, we decided to put together some large boxes of food to give to them and their families as gifts. Saving and planning ahead is not as important in this culture as it is in ours, so often, by the end of the month of December as in other months, many families here are low on charcoal (for cooking their food) and low on even the basics...which makes it difficult for them to have a good meal during their holidays or to really celebrate with their extended families who all flock in from their small farms to spend Christmas in the city. Because of this, we wanted our gift to them to be a practical help...but also somewhat special. So the boys and Stefan and I did some shopping and bought some staples like beans and rice, as well as some special "treats"--sugar, drink mixes, cookies, and some candy for the children. We wrapped up the boxes and put bright red bows on them. You have to understand that exchanging gifts for most Mozambicans--who are extremely poor--is just not something typical--especially not going all out and wrapping with paper and bows. We really wanted this to be something special--an expression of kindness and blessing that flows from our own gratititude to the Lord who so generously blesses us!

So the day came to give out the gifts and...Well, I don't know exactly what we were expecting.... We have lived in Mozambique for over two years now and are somewhat familiar with certain aspects of the culture that are so foreign to our own Western culture...Anyway, let's just say the gifts were not received in a manner we would have expected after putting so much thought, effort, and resources into them. Our maid accepted her box without so much as a smile or a thank you and went on her way...very much as if she had expected to receive that or more. The response of one of the guards, though, was so completely shocking that I'm glad it was Stefan who had the experience instead of me! When Stefan gave him his gift and the man looked through it, his response was...not "thank you," but "Where's the oil?" Apparently, he felt that if we gave him beans to cook, we should also have given him oil to cook them with.

!?!?!?!?!

Here's the thing, no matter how good our intentions are...no matter how much we truly desire give someone a gift for THEIR sake--as an expression of kindness and love to them, there is something that we from our own culture just naturally expect or anticipate as a part of that exchange--some form of thanks or gratitude. But alas, as we found out this Christmas, that was just not to be...and somehow as with so many aspects of a culture so different from our own, we have to be able to get past that--get past the things that frustrate or annoy us about a culture to truly love the person that God does and that He so sacrificially sent His son to redeem.

We were able to celebrate in some ways that reminded us of home, though, and that were special for our family. The following are some pictures from our Christmas Morning with the boys.

We made a special big breakfast to celebrate the day. We found special treats at a local store that imports things from South Africa such as sausage (not typical in this heavily Muslim area), sparkling grape juice, plumbs, and even grapes!

Here is Christian getting ready to snitch a grape before breakfast...

Cohen and Christian shared a box of chocolate milk...also very hard to find around here!

After breakfast Stefan told the Christmas Story to the boys and talked about different traditions that we associate with celebrating Christ's birth.

Different friends and family had sent some gifts gift/money that we used to buy the boys some presents. This was the first year here that we actually had a Christmas tree--something we also found imported from South Africa. Before opening each gift, we talked about the person who had sent it.

Legos from some friends in the States were a big hit!

Hugs for the boys!

We knew the boys had some gift money coming their way, so in the months before Christmas, Stefan began his search for a bike with training wheels for Cohen. Although he's only 3 and a half years old, he is kind of tall and we thought he would be able to enjoy a bike already. We had him cover his eyes as Stefan brought it out...it was SO fun to watch his expression when he realized that this was for him!

Christian enjoyed the gift too, since the bike came with a seat at the back for a "passenger"!

We were truly blessed this Christmas despite missing home!

Weekend at the Coast

We took the boys to the coast on Saturday and spent the night. It was great to get away for a while--the boys enjoyed playing in the sand and water and we enjoyed the break from work and normal routine.