18/06/11

This morning the REDES group from the primary school met and rehearsed the dance they will perform on the June 25th (Mozambican Independence Day). We were sitting over in the courtyard of the secondary school and a bunch of girls from the orphanage wandered over to watch, join in the dancing, or help with the choreography. Something was going on in the school, so a bunch of students were walking past, including some former students of mine and some students I know from English Club—they all gave me big smiles and waves. One of the little girls from the orphanage had crawled onto my lap and fallen asleep and one of the girls from the REDES group, mid-dance, looked over at her and yelled, “AAA, look!” The little one on my lap had a glob of snot hanging an inch out of her nose. Everyone laughed. Walking into town later a wedding procession drove past and one of my students was in the back of a one of the trucks, she gave me a huge grin and waved. And it’s times like this that I get incredibly sentimental and feel like I’m not ready to leave here. I finally feel like I have a place in my community and I know so many people and they know me and seem to genuinely like me.