The Green Hills of Africa

What an inspiring day! Yesterday we woke up at the butt-crack of dawn and headed to the border of Mozambique and Malawi to renew our VISAs. First of all, the sunrise here is just as awe-inspiring as the sunset. Secondly, Hemingway wasn't joking when he wrote, "The Green Hills of Africa." It was amazing. The terrain changed from the palm tree-clad city of Quelimane, to fields of mandioca, papaya, and pineapples. Then came the rolling hills and the brisk weather of the western plateau, around the Alto Molocue area. Blue skies, red dirt road, chickens, people on bikes and working in the fields, thatched huts, and an excellent music selection that I was jamming to.

If ever driving through the green hills of Africa, here are my suggestions for the perfect music mix:
1. Into the mystic--Van Morrison
2. The boy in the bubble--Paul Simon
3. Catch the wind--Donovan
4. You're gonna make me lonesome when you go--Dylan
5. Nothing but flowers--Talking Heads

On another more clinical note, Inhassunge (the clinic where Amy and I are going to do the majority of our projects) had 2 cases of leprosy last week. And also, we've learned a bit about ritual scarification, which is an interesting cultural practice in this area of Mozambique, especially Inhassunge. Sort of like tattooing, but the women are the only ones who have it done as a coming of age ritual, and it is often done with unclean instruments and can be a vector for transmitting HIV. More to come on that later...