A Day in the Life

The thing about being here is there is no typical day. But I am just going to pretend there is such thing as one and give you a summary of what my life was like today, for example. So, here’s how it goes:

6:28am: My alarm goes off

6:50am: I actually get up (some things are the same in Nova Scotia and Mozambique). I lift the mosquito net away from my bed and get myself ready for the day. I make sure not to brush my teeth with the tap water, and the clothes I wear are such typical missionary attire it’s not even funny: my outfit includes a long skirt and Birkenstocks.

7:30am: Prayer meeting in the office. A different office worker leads the meeting each day (in Portuguese) and we pray in the typical Mozambican style: everyone prays at once, all saying different things.

8am: My American colleagues and I have a meeting with our supervisor, the linguistics consultant for the branch. We discuss what we’ve done and what we will do this week. Right now we are analyzing some texts in Chuwabo (a language spoken in Zambezia province). We are also working on translating and publishing grammatical notes on various Bantu languages. These will be used to help Bible translation and literacy efforts.

10am: After getting some tea or coffee, we go to the office we share.  

"Linguistics task force" hard at work

12pm: Lunch time! In our house, this generally includes rice, meat, and salad. My favourite is the fruit we eat after the meal: fresh bananas, tangerines, and sometimes pineapple. Of course the meal is followed with a digestive cup of tea.

1pm: We take a walk around the SIL centre.

1:30pm: Back to work in the office

3pm: On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have one hour of Portuguese lessons with my tutor, Flora. She is a Mozambican woman around my age. Today, however, we take a break from office work and go to the English school to help move a bunch of books from one building to the library. This involves cleaning the books, putting them in boxes, moving the boxes, unpacking the boxes, and labeling and shelving each book. I feel very much at home doing this task because it reminds me of my first job as a student clerk at the library.

5pm: Finishing the work at the library, I go outside and see a beautiful sunset which I cannot help but photograph. And I thank God that I live in such a beautiful place Then I write a blog post…. As I write it, I hear the prayer call in the nearby mosque. I usually say a quick prayer for the Muslims in the area at this time, that they will come to know Christ. I also conclude, though I am a bit biased, that of all the major world religions, Christians have the best music. The joyful singing in church here, to me, sounds way better than the droning I hear from the mosques.

This is where I live

Every day

Am I making you jealous?

5:30pm: I go back to the house I live in with an English couple. We just moved in! But of course they will stay longer than I will. I eat the meal they call “tea,” which here includes, naturally, tea, and a roll with cheese and tomato on it, or maybe peanut butter and jam.

My Mozambican home

Then the evening is free. Some nights we have Bible study, or are invited over to someone’s house for supper. I have spent many nights watching Downton Abbey at my friend’s house, just a short walk away. Every time I go out after dark I try to make as much noise as I can, often singing to myself, because I want to alert any snakes to my presence. I have yet to see a snake though.

Peace and love, all!