bric-a-brac

I got a hand-written letter from Hannah. Not only was it written in blue pen on lined paper that had been ripped out of one of her poli sci notebooks, it was written in old timey English, circa 1860. My dearest sister, your letter could not have reached me a moment sooner. The rains have commenced on the dark continent, and I long for home. Please tell mother and father I send my love, and God willing, I will return to Haverhill Manor in four and twenty fortnights.

Amy got a care package today filled with jcrew shorts, a new package of Hanes wife beaters, and double stuff Oreos. And that pretty much sums up Amy in a nutshell.

Today I'm doing interviews to find a research assistant. Requirements: can speak Portuguese and Chuabo; proficient with Microsoft Word; will agree to cook me mucapata and matapa at once a week.

Amy and I bought plane tickets to go to Cape Town, South Africa after Christmas. First of all, the flight from Quelimane to Maputo on LAM (Mozambique's airline) is more expensive than flying from Maputo to Cape Town on South African Airlines. Not only that, Amy's ticket was more expensive than mine because she's 26 and therefore an adult, but I'm only 25 and considered a child. Bem vindo a Moçambique!

Bushie's mosquito nets have been sitting in a box here at the Quelimane office for months now. And they will continue to sit here until at least January because this place runs about 10 times less efficiently than the federal government. I've been given every excuse as to why we have to wait to give them to the people who need them. I'm really thinking about changing the scope of my research to, "foreign aid: a glimpse of how your hard-earned tax dollars are being wasted."

The peanut butter truck has not arrived in Quelimane. But the coke truck has, bringing both Coke Lite AND Coke Zero. So I've got that going for me...which is nice.