Dia de Heroes

So today (3 de Fevereiro) I got up at 4:25 and went to meet my fellow Guijanians at 5 to head out to an event in the provincial capital of Xai-Xai for Hero’s Day – a national holiday here in Mozambique to commemorate the nation’s heroes. Got there at 5 and no one was around so I went back home and sat around until around 6 and then returned where I found close to 30 vehicles – chapas, cars, huge trucks, etc. packed with things and people going to Xai-Xai and soon enough we proceeded to head out in a 30 vehicle caravan for the next 2 hours. Word on the street was that Guebuza, Mozambique’s Present was supposed to be there and that he was. I listened to him and a number of other important figureheads speak in the middle of this jardim where they inaugurated a statue of Samora Machel – Mozambique’s first President since independence – this year marking the 25^th year since his death. It was really great to see how many people showed up for this special event. Roads were blocked off for people to walk, police were directing traffic, streets venders and food carts lined the streets, there was so much life – an avid people-watcher would have had field day!

Eu tenho bebe scorpiao na minha cama!

Yea so the other night after I had just squeezed out 5 mango-fly parasites out of the newest addition to the family, a puppy named “Sumo” (yea so the other volunteer in Guija got a pup and a kitten on Sunday…we did however lose the other two cats…so the count is one kitten and two puppies). Okay so I was laying in bed inside my tucked in bed net and all of a sudden I feel something crawl up the back of my thigh I brush it off and decide to turn on my head lamp and to my surprise it turned out to be a baby scorpion! I jumped out of bed and luckily my roommate was still up saw it in my bed and brushed it out it then bounced off her foot and onto the ground it hasn’t been seen since…