30/01/10

At lunch today I happened to ask why they were baking an incredibly large cake. They responded that tonight we were celebrating the day of Dom Bosco, the man who founded the order of Salesians (to which the sisters at my mission belong, as do the priest across the street). They were quite incredulous that I didn’t know this. Mozambicans have a way of not explicitly telling you anything, and then being very surprised when you have no idea what is going on. We held a mass in the girls’ cafeteria because it was just us from the mission: the sisters, the girls in training, and the girls from the orphanage; and the priests from across the street. The power went out (like it always does in Mozambique) at the beginning of mass, but it actually made for a wonderfully beautiful ceremony in the fading twilight and then by candlelight after the sun had set. Then we had a wonderful meal followed by the large chocolate cake that was brought in, as always in Mozambique, with a procession of singing and dancing.
Every night this week I have stayed up to help some of the girls with their chemistry, math, or English homework. There will probably be nights when I will wonder, in frustration, why they waited until 9pm to ask me for help, but right now I am loving it.