20/07/10

They had stopped in the bakery at our mission when it began to pour so they decided to wait out the rain. Two hours later it was still pouring so they decided to wander around the grounds a little bit, seeing there are too schools here. In their wandering they got welcomed to come inside and that is how a French couple biking on a tandem bike from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa ended up having tea in our main house this afternoon. They spoke French and English, and only the rudimentary Spanish and Portuguese that come from speaking such a closely related language (French). Some of the Spanish volunteers (there are currently 4), a Mozambican who speaks English well, and I sat down with them and we got to know each other in a strange combination of English/Portuguese/Spanish where I even got to be translator a few times because of everyone there I was the strongest in both Portuguese and English. They had started in December and planned to complete the trip in 6 months but as they met friendly people, saw beautiful places where they ended up staying for a week or so, and had to wait on visas, the trip had stretched into 7 and then 9 months. They are even using the trip to raise money for Handicap International, through friends and family who have pledged to donate a Euro for every Kilometer they ride. They were wonderful people and stayed the night with us. Then in the morning headed south on the highway.