Here and There (and back again)

You  noticed the Hobbit allusion in the post title no doubt.  I hear that the long awaited Hobbit movie is coming out now or soon.  I suspect that it will not hit Quelimane for a while yet.  Please anyone feel free to send us a bootlegged copy (only if it is perfectly legal of course). 

Yesterday was thanksgiving.  Half of our young missionaries are not American so the day was not what it might have otherwise been.  We did invite the six youn-uns over to our house after work however and force them to participate in the Osborn family tradition of the THANKFULNESS GAME.  They complained far less (and there was no weeping at all) than did our children at home.  We served them ice cream afterward and most were appropriately thankful.

There was no turkey yesterday, but I would not have you think that there was no bird--we had plenty of them.

We were out of town in the morning and saw these two boys holding what looked to be bird cages.  We stopped and talked to them for a bit and they offered their wares for 50 meticais, which is a bit under two dollars.  Inside were about 15 finches.  I asked if they were to eat, which is what I assumed, but he responded with a look that said "stupid American" --nope, just for looking at.  I couldn't resist so I bought one and we took it home.

I didn't really want 15 finches, but the cage was really quite a creative wonder.  Its major timbers are a kind of balsa wood and its bars, which I first thought to be wire, are just little straight sticks which are strong enough to pierce the timbers.  We watched our birds for a while at home, and all who came admired them--but we turned them all loose before nightfall--eating nary a one of them.

 

 

Slowly we are finding that Quelimane contains just about everything, including every service and product that a small city needs to survive--it is just a matter of finding the right little "banca" or roadside shop made of sticks and palm fronds.  We found this cobbler a couple of days ago--the first one we had ever seen.  He doesn't have a lot of tools, but he had some needles for sewing soles back on and plenty of shoes to work on.  I personally and hoping that my shoes hold out for another few months so I needn't visit this guy in a professional capacity.

 

This is Debbie's visit to an "alfiate" or tailor today.  She picked her fabric (very nice I thought) and is being fitted for a traditional African dress (complete with headscarf I suspect).  No doubt you will see a picture when complete.

Kids--wherever we go, we seem to be the life of the party.  It is sad for us to contemplate going home and not gathering crowds solely for being white and funny looking and talking weird.