So I was invited to some sort of church celebration a couple of weeks ago by one of my students. I wasn't quite sure what it was for, but since she invited me I decided that I might as well go. It was in a little village in the bush and she told me that we would have to take a chapa there and leave early in the morning. She told me to meet her at a certain spot on the road at 6:30 am. It was about a 40 minute walk from my house so I left around 5:45 even though I knew that I would have to wait about an hour once I got there (assuming that they would be late). I, unfortunately, was right. At about 7:45 a chapa pulled onto the side of the road near me. A man stepped out and said "stora, o carro ta aqui", meaning, "teacher, the car is here". I got into a chapa that was packed full of people going to this celebration. One of the little girls hopped on my lap (since there was so little room) and held my hands as we headed off to our destination. The women in the chapa were singing songs in Changana the whole way there and everyone was wearing traditional capulana clothing. It really woke me up and I was excited for the day. About an hour and a half later, after driving the whole way on a pretty rough dirt road, we arrived at a clearing with a couple of small buildings (one of them was the church). I was able to assess the people around me for the first time as we exited the chapa. First of all, I assumed that my student had invited some of her friends from school or maybe another teacher or something, but I soon found out that that was false. I was the only person from the school that she had invited. This made me feel honored, surprised, and confused all at the same time(Why me???). Secondly, I have mentioned before that they really pack people into these chapas. Sometimes it really reminds me of that scene from Mary Poppins where she keeps taking larger and larger objects out of her purse, which is clearly too small. Sometimes I expect there to be 10 people in one of these cars, and then more and more people keep exiting and it seems to never end!
Anyway, back to the celebration...I soon pieced together that my student's parents were married at this church and they were celebrating their wedding anniversary. We were soon sat down at a table and served bread and tea (or water with sugar and instant milk, yum). Usually in these situations in foreign countries I like to watch other people serve themselves to see how they do it or see how they eat a certain food, or how much they serve themselves, but here in Mozambique they always make me serve myself first! I basically just have to hope that I do everything right and don't commit any social faux pas! After, my student, Rachell, introduced me to her mom and then we went to take our seats on the benches outside. Usually church here goes on inside, but sometimes for special celebrations where there are a lot of people, they set it all up outside. It was an Evangelical church and most of the service consisted of singing performances by different groups in the congregation, or people standing up in front and preaching really enthusiastically. Oh, and mass was 3 1/2 hours, which was a little bit long for me, but I lived.
After mass we had lunch, which was of course a huge meal consisting of rice, chicken, potatoes, cow/pig intestines (again), beef, hard boiled eggs, and several other dishes which I had to turn down because I was SO full.
After the meal we attended the gift presentation ceremony. Each group invited sings a little song and dances in and presents a gift to the guests of honor. The songs are in Changana so I don't really understand them, but they sound pretty and everyone gets really excited and dances. The presents at this party were serious too. Someone gave them a full fridge and freezer, like a normal one that you would find in the U.S. Other common gifts included capulanas, glasses, buckets or basins, pots, spoons, platters, plates, and other household items. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the shade and playing with the little kids there. One little girl in particular really liked me although she only spoke Changana so we couldn't communicate too well, but that's not as important with little kids. I also chatted with some of the adults there and lots of them played with my hair (yes, the adults). People always tell me that I have a doll's hair and ask me to cut it off for them so that they can weave it into their own hair.
When we headed back the chapa was even more packed with people. I was given the passengers seat and shared it with four small children. Three of them sat on my lap and I had to try to hold onto them there so they didnt bump their heads on the dashboard as we travelled down the bumpy road. Three of the four also fell asleep on the trip so it was a challenging task. When I got off at my stop I ran into two of my students on the road and one of them got me a ride home with the priest of the church in my town and one of the nuns there. They were very nice and the priest asked me to teach him English while I am here, so maybe if I can find the time I will do that too!
All in all, it was a really fun and interesting day and I really felt so honored that Rachell invited me to come along. Her family and friends were also so welcoming and I really enjoyed myself.

Other news this week:
IT RAINED! I had almost no water in my house the last two weeks and mostly all of my clothes and dishes were dirty. I heard it raining on Sunday night in the middle of the night and I rushed outside with two large basins. When I woke up in the morning they were full of water and I finally got to wash some clothing. It was a very happy moment.

I gave exams to all of my students this week which means that this week/weekend I have 600 exams to correct....yikes!

I celebrated six months in Mozambique yesterday! It seems like it all went by so fast, but when I look back at all the things that I have learned and done since I left the U.S, it seems like forever.

In two weeks the first trimester at school ends and I have a conference in Maputo with other volunteers. I'm already dreaming about treating myself to some ice cream and a couple new pieces of clothing.

That's all for now. Hope everyone is happy and healthy back home!
-Michelle