I feel like being here in Africa is worse than my mission in that there is so much going on everyday that it's difficult to even know where to start when I'm telling all of you about my adventures. Since I last wrote we have have done so many more things. I'll start with the most fun. Last Saturday we had an activity to teach the students line dancing. WOW! I have never seen a group of young adults get so excited about line dancing. We would teach them a few steps and then do them with them and as soon as they had done them they would burst into cheers and clapping and jumping up and down...after every single time we did a new step! It was hilarious! And then their excitement when we turned on the music to do the whole thing was possibly greater than mine, and you all know how much I love to dance, especially to country music! We did Boot Scootin Boogie first and then we did Fishin in the Dark (Lisa I totally thought of our Ricks days when this was on). And we did the whole song from start to finish a few times, and they didn't want to stop. We had been going for over an hour, dancing on this porch outside in the humidity and we were all sweating like crazy. But after we turned off our music they put on theirs and they taught us one of their dances. They are all such incredible dancers...its just amazing to me the way they move effortlessly. So we dance for another hour at least before we had to get to bed so we could get up for church the next day. But we are going to do it again before we leave. SO FUN!! I actually gave a talk in church on Sunday. That was interesting. I speak Portuguese all the time here but I hadn't given a talk in over 2 years...so it was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. Everyone said it went well though...It must have been the spirit talking.

We also went to a museum last Saturday and went down to a different beach. Actually, first we went to visit the nicest hotel in Maputo...it's really nice. And then we decided to eat lunch at the Holiday Inn which is also right on the beach. Now get any image you have of a Holiday Inn in the USA out of your mind, because this was one really nice hotel. And we ate lunch out on the patio over looking the pool and the beach...then we went and played on the beach. It was wonderful...and although I felt like a rich, spoiled child, the lunch was farely cheap by our standards, but living where I'm living and knowing how the majority of the people in this country live, I felt guilty...there is so much poverty. It's hard to justify living like that. But that's why I'm here teaching English and Budgeting, so I can help this country in some small way to get rid of the widespread poverty.

Yesterday we actually went out to the really rural part of the country, it was about an hour away, to hear the President of Mozambique speak. It was pretty cool to be there and see him and all the people in that region out doing their traditional dances and singing. He gave a great speech about how poverty needs to become a thing of the past just as the colonialism that ruled them for 500 years is now a thing of the past. I have learned so much about the history of this country through reading their poetry. That is one of classes that I am taking while I am here. I wasn't excited about it at first because I don't really love poetry. But the poets of Mozambique also happen to be the political leaders. We visited a famous artist and poet at his home in Maputo last week. His name is Malangatana. He is close to 80 years old and he has a gallery of his work at his home. It's not really stuff I would hang in my own home, but it is very expressive of what he has lived through. He is a jolly old soul inspite of the horrible things he has seen. Two of his poems we studied he actually read for us and then explained them. One was about his brother who was a farmer and on his way home from the fields one evening he was brutally murdered by the members of the opposing political party. Another was about his sister-in-law who was at home sleeping when she was dragged out of her hut and raped, also by members of the opposing political party. These are just a few of the things that touched his life and the lives of so many others. Their civil war just ended about 15 years ago. And Malangatana was actually one of the leaders who was at the signing of the peace treaty in 1992. Wow. I am continually amazed by these people and their fight for freedom.

Sorry about the depressing aspect of this, but it makes the culture and the experience so much more real for me. And I want you all to understand what it's like here. Now on to a lighter subject...we are just having a great time. All the other folks who are here with me are great! We were just talking today about the fact that we have all only really known eachother for about 2 weeks now but we feel like family. We have gone through so much in that short time...it just brings you right together!! And Professor Williams has become one of my heroes. He has taught me so much already and shared so many stories about his life and experiences. I hope to be able to do to even a part of what he has done to help people. This is just the start for me!

Well that is about all for right now. My time is almost up and we are actually going to teach the Youth in our branch country dancing tonight. We're going to teach them the cowboy cha-cha...I love it.