Honey in My Hair and Blood on My Hands

When we moved to Moz we acquired two pre-trained dogs that a previous MAF family could not bring with them when they moved back to the US.  Sarge and Lady have been wonderful.  They are two really sweet German Shepherds that scare people with their barks but are excellent with our kids.  Diego loves them and Lucas’ only problem with them is that they are the same height so he gets LOTS of kisses.  They go so far as to let Lucas crawl/fall on them without complaint. 

Dog ownership in Africa definitely has a learning curve though!  For example, did you know the flies like to bite the end of dogs’ ears, and if you do not put medicine/repellant on them it can get really bad.  There are dogs around that have most of their outside ear missing because no one treated the fly wounds. 

And until recently there were no vets in town so you had to wait for the traveling vet who came to town only once a month!  (Now there is one who is setting up her practice in town.)  Well, I went outside two weeks ago to see Sarge’s left ear swelled up like a puff pastry.   It was the weekend, so I called another MAF family who has dogs, and after discussing his fly bites we decided to try an antibiotic shot.  Dave bravely came over and administered it for us.  On Monday he was closer to his happy self, but his ear was not any better.  I began to wonder – maybe it is not an infection, maybe it is fly eggs?  Ewww.

Ear, or puff pastry?

So on Monday I loaded up two boys and the dog our borrowed LandRover and headed to the tiny vet office that had been pointed out to me just the week before.  No luck, they were locked up tight as it was a city holiday.  Through a phone call with poor service in Portuguese I gathered they opened on Tuesday at 8:00.

But Tuesday we had to leave town at 8:45 for four days.  So, I loaded up the dog again in the back – do you know how heavy a full grown male German Shepherd is!?  This time Grady was home so the boys aren’t along.  On my arrival at 8:05 the green painted security doors are wide open – I’m in luck!  Sarge jumps down from the back and stays trembling in fear beside the road – totally frozen.  Normally someone, (or usually multiple someones), offer to guard your car, but everyone stayed back because of Sarge.  Way WAY back.  When they say having dogs is a good deterrent to theft, I think they must be right. 

Anyways, I had to CARRY him across the road because he would not walk.   I walked to the green doors only to realize that the vet has the white doors next door–  the still locked white doors . . .  People confirmed the vet opens at 8:00, but I finally I gave up, got Sarge across the street and safely back in the vehicle.   I backed out into traffic only to find a man running and waving at me.  The vet was open.  So we did it all again and I carried Sarge up the stairs into the office. 

Well, guess what.  This guy is only the shop employee for their pet supplies.  He calls in the vet who cannot be there until at least 10:00.  After a call to Grady I decided to take Sarge home and wait out the four days.  (Sarge hadn’t been showing signs of pain.)  Armed with the vet’s phone number, I left yet again. 

The next week (this week) we began again with Grady calling the vet on Monday.  He got a Tuesday appointment.  So, while the boys played at Nikki’s house we took poor Sarge on another terrifying drive.  We arrived a little late but that was fine as we still waited another 20 minutes for the vet.  Only it turns out this was apparently a vet tech and still not the vet.  And he could not drain the ear, but he could give us a phone number for the actual vet who was getting back from a couple day trip on Wednesday.  And she would come do a home visit instead of us making another dreaded office run -  if we could give directions well enough for her to find the house… in a city with no road signs.

The directions I gave the vet tech were kind of like this, only in Portuguese:

Take the Eduardo Mondlane road outside your store past four corners (an intersection) and on down to Mercado Unico (a grocery store).  Turn right opposite the store and go almost all the way down the road to FPLM (another major road in town).  Before FPLM on the left side there will be a wall painted red with Vodacom written all over it, and a yellow hut selling chicken.  Turn left at the road just before the yellow hut.  Our house is bluish-gray with a black gate on the right, with a coca-cola distributor almost directly across the street.

The vet did not get back to Nampula until Thursday, but agreed to stop by around 3:00.  3:00 turns into 6:30 when you get really confused by the newbies directions in Nampula.  She took a look, in the dark, at Sarge’s ear and confirmed it needed drained.  The reason?  Otohematoma, ie it was so big because of a large amount of blood in the ear.  This meant a small surgery on Friday morning – to be done at our house.  Did we have a space we could keep him for a week out of the main yard?  A table she could do the surgery on?  After dinner, Grady ran to Kent’s to borrow their sturdy folding table, and then on to an ATM for the cash payment.

Friday morning dawned and Grady headed off to the hangar.  I swept out the back patio and set up the table, using an old shower curtain liner to keep the table clean.  The surgery was set for between 8 and 9 but the vet and her tech showed up at 10:15.  Our other dog was put on the front patio to keep her out of the way and I slung Lucas into the Ergo baby carrier on my back to contain that little mischief maker.  Diego was busy building a Lego hangar inside. 

Patio - turned - operation room. 

The vet, who is from Maputo (Mozambique’s capital) also studied in Canada and speaks English really well.  She sedated Sarge but didn’t put him all the way under.  I held him still for the shots and then the tech lifted him onto the table.  The whole process was really interesting… and gross.  It involved needles and blades and an S-shaped cut through one side of his ear.  There was even one of those kidney bean shaped pans, all out on our patio.  They stitched multiple plastic tubes outside the ear to hold it closed while it drained and then in addition to some meds she asked for honey. 

Honey is recommended for its antibacterial purposes and was rubbed all over the ear before he got bandaged up.  While they bandaged him up Lucas got ahold of the honey spoon… and since he was still on my back, my hair took the brunt of that mess!  I got a great view of the entire process because I was right there holding Sarge’s head steady the entire time (that’s why there was blood on my hands).  It was quite an adventure with Lucas periodically pulling my ponytail and yanking my head back while I tried to keep from jerking Sarge! 

A very good patient.

The whole thing, including vaccination updates for both dogs and a discussion on how to care for the dogs took less than two hours.  Now Sarge is stuck for a week on the front patio with a cone around his head.  Poor guy.  The vet is coming by for a checkup today (update, it is getting dark so maybe not?).  Anyway that is the adventure you undergo when you live in Mozambique and your dog needs a vet!  I cannot imagine what we would have done before the vet moved to town! 

Firsts in Mozambique

There have been so many “firsts” in the last three weeks… but near and dear to my heart would be my first flights in Mozambique.  I was able to ride along on two of Kent’s trips last week (Kent is another pilot here who we studied with for six months in Portugal).  The scenery was spectacular and it felt FANTASTIC to be back in a little plane.  My flying may be rusty after over a year out of “the office” but my love for flying is holding stong.  Huge kudos to Grady for staying home with the boys AND doing the laundry so that I could go.  (Don’t feel too sorry for him – he got to fly two days later.)

My ride to the airport showed up at 6:45 and after unlocking the series of 3 padlocks to get out on to the street (our front door locks with a padlock), I hopped in the Land Cruiser for the bumpy ride to the hangar across town.  We preflighted the Cessna 206 (a 6 seater aircraft) and watched the low clouds on the horizon.  As conditions improved, holes in the clouds opened up and they rose to allow us views of the mountains in the distance.  With no/limited weather forecasting, our weather briefing consisted of Kent’s knowledge of the area, the view from the hangar and a phone call to our destination to check their conditions.  Kent made the decision to go, and we were off!

(waterfall enroute)

Our first flight of the day was an empty leg westward to Gurué to pick up a missionary couple there who have been working in Mozambique since 1986.

(approaching Gurue)

While Kent called ops to verify we were on the ground, I was talking with the couple and the guy who drove them to the airstrip.  The driver had never been around a plane, but he was really interested, so I had him hop in the pilot’s seat and attempted to explain the controls and instruments to him in Portuguese… we both had fun even if my aviation vocabulary is a little lacking!  On the return flight to Nampula, the guys sat in front because this missionary loves small planes but almost never has an opportunity to ride.  This offered me a great chance to sit back and soak up the views as well as hear about their work in Moz.

(Gurue airstrip - I think they're cutting grass.  Turn 160 degrees or so from this shot and you'd see the same building as the one used for our blog backdrop.)

They came to Nampula to teach the Bible while the country was still in civil war.  When they arrived, Nampula was full of people from all over Northern Mozambique who had fled the violence to the relative safety of the city.  Food was in short supply, and people feared even going to the edges of town to farm, as often those who did were killed.


Nevertheless, the missionaries said those early years were very fruitful because so many pastors from all over Northern Mozambique were gathered together in the city due to the war.  So they studied the Bible together, and then after the war most returned back to their old villages.  Through that experience this couple saw a need for Bible translation, so when they could they moved to a village for that purpose.  Three weeks ago, the Bible translation they have been working on for over twenty years was submitted for final editing!


These missionaries used MAF to reach the airlines taking them stateside for furlough: 75 minutes in the air instead of a full day of travel time over the bumpy interior roads.  When they return to Moz, we are scheduled to fly them home where the translation corrections will be reviewed and then the Bible published!  Their dream is to go on to create a study Bible to aid pastors and believers when the current project is complete. 

(Nampula International Airport) 

(fields on final into Nampula)

After lunch we flew out to pick up another missionary couple, this time headed in a southerly direction to the coast.  On the outbound leg there were no passengers, which meant we were able to haul a little cargo as a favor.  We returned some iron lawn chairs and a table to their owners in Pebane.  (They’d been loaned out to a couple in Nampula who are moving away now, and would have made for a very full Land Rover trip if going by land).  I was thankful it wasn’t my job to figure out how to fit them in the plane!  Flying felt great, but until we hit the coastline of the Indian Ocean, the views were not that lovely - it was too hazy because of fire season obscuring the horizon. 

Pebane’s airstrip is right on the shoreline, surrounded by miles of sandy fields and palm trees.  It is apparently also one of the worst airstrips for people encroaching on the runway during landing and takeoff.  It is rather unnerving to see people lining both sides of the strip on approach.  Kent was prepped for a go-around if anyone came too close.  After shutdown the plane was swarmed by people, mainly kids.  They were super curious, but at the same time they spooked pretty easily.  Anytime you needed to move anywhere, people had to back out of your way.  We were so busy with unloading the awkward chairs and introducing ourselves to our passengers that I forgot to take pictures L.  Takeoff is a sight for the senses in Pebane – you climb out over the cliff and the Indian Ocean!

This couple has been in SE Africa since 2012 and they were out on a field survey.  They will soon be moving to live among the people they are translating the Bible with.  In a little over an hour, we made the trip that would be a very long and dangerous day by car.  (Travel on the roads in that area is not safe right now due to political unrest).  It was a great trip and they now have an invitation to come play games with us when they’re in Nampula. 

(Several views from final into Nampula)

I am excited to be back in a plane, getting back into the swing of things.  (I am less excited about studying for my upcoming Mozambique aviation exam.)  Please be praying for us as we continue with this transition!  The boys are adjusting well – and we’re finally getting settled.  Pray we can make friendships with our neighbors and others in our community and that Jesus’ love would be evident in our lives. 

(my shirts are still enroute to Moz... so I look a bit silly in Grady's shirt with the sleeves rolled up!)

Our First Few Weeks in Mozambique

Almost three weeks ago we said goodbye to Luis and Helena, our landlords who had become adopted grandparents, and drove a couple of hours to Lisbon, where we boarded our almost eleven hour overnight flight across Africa. 

It was actually a little bit more exciting than that, because even though we got to the airport more than two and a half hours before departure, the airline decided to charge us for the car seats, which we had to pay for in the separate and lengthy customer service line, so after that (plus regular check in, irregular baggage, security, and passport control), we sped through the airport in an attempt to catch our flight.  “Sped through" is a little relative as we had so much stuff even Diego was pushing a cart, but he was doing it fast for not being able to see over it.  Anyhow, we were among the last of the 270ish passengers to board the plane, and we walked through the boarding door about ten minutes before departure.

I am generally the guy who would say we wasted ten minutes by arriving so early, but this time, with two boys, tons of stuff, and only a few more days we could legally stay in Portugal, even I was starting to get nervous.

The flight went surprising well.  Lucas went to sleep right after dinner, and we woke him up when it was time to get off in Mozambique.  Diego did not sleep quite that long, but between sleep and the movies he did fine as well, so that was a blessing.

My back did better than I thought it would, (sitting is the least comfortable position for me), but I could not get comfortable enough to sleep, so by the time we got to Mozambique I was exhausted.  Staying awake did give me an appreciation for how big Africa is – it took several hours just to cross the Sahara, in a Jumbo jet.  Diego was really impressed with the size of the Sahara too, but he fell asleep before our aerial camel reached the other side.

Several hours later we cleared customs in Maputo (the capital) without a problem, and had five hours before our two hour flight to Nampula (the city we live in now and the MAF base in Mozambique).

The MAF team was there to meet us and helped us collect the portion of our bags that had arrived.  While I went with one of my new coworkers to ask about the bags that had not, Holly and the boys went over to the MAF hangar and got a tour.

Our last four bags arrived on the flight that evening, and our team here took care of meals for the first several days, which was really nice as we recovered (actually a few of us got sick, but then we recovered).

Most of our shipment was already here, so it has been like Christmas unpacking things we packed more than a year ago, as well as getting to know our two new German Shepherds.  Except for Lucas’ lack of appreciation for dog kisses in the face, we all love Sarge and Lady.  Lucas even helps feed them every evening, and only drops the dish with all the food about 30% of the time.

We have been busy moving in, unpacking, rebuilding furniture, and fixing up a few things.  I have also been trying to child proof the place a little as Lucas is getting in to everything (he now moves chairs around to climb onto higher things.  He seems mainly attracted to knives and 220 electrical, but anything high up or dangerous will do).  It is still not child proof, but we have achieved some level of child resistance.

This process has taken longer than you would expect, as we are also adjusting to filtering our drinking water (after hooking up the filter a little unorthodoxicly), disinfecting our fruits and vegetables, shopping in several spread out places after we convince someone to give us a ride, etc.

We have also been more tired as Lucas has been waking up at or just after the first Islamic call to prayer in the morning – about 4:30 a.m. (It certainly is not the loudest noise in the night, so I’m not sure that is what is waking him up, but Lucas sleeping until 5:30 is a good day right now).

So far Nampula has felt a lot like a similar sized city in Latin America, albeit more like Nicaragua than Costa Rica.  The women carry babies wrapped in vibrant blankets on their backs, and even many of the hijabs (Islamic head coverings) are colorful.  Everyone carries impressive loads on their heads.  We live across the street from the Coca-Cola distributor, and it is not uncommon to see someone carrying three crates of glass bottles on their head (if they are riding on the back of a motorcycle they scale it down to two on their head though).

On the busy streets vendors are selling live chickens, rope, cell phone credit, fruit, miscellaneous hardware, etc. all from little stands – as one of my coworkers put it “you can buy just about anything you can think of, except whatever you need at the moment.”

Everyone has been friendly, and will greet you if you are walking.  To each other most people speak Makua, the local tribal language, but no one seems to mind switching to Portuguese to talk to us.  It is very common for someone to come up and ask for work -  women ask for a job cooking or cleaning,  boys insist on bagging your groceries and pushing your cart out of the store for a few cents, men guard cars and help you park, etc.  So far though, other than people obviously disabled - like missing limbs, everyone is asking for a job and not money.

You do see some people missing legs though, and I am told most of that is from the landmines left over from the war (they have finally been cleared now, which MAF was very involved with).

Nampula is not particularly dangerous, but MAF already had a night guard working at our house when we got here.  Violent crime is rare, but petty crime is high. Unemployment here is also very common, and labor is cheap, so having the money to hire someone is seen as an obligation to provide a job, and therefore night guards are normal (and if you are the only person without one then you are a good target for the petty crime).  Mozambique also requires a ratio of Mozambican to foreign workers for our business license, which we need to fly, and having night guards for all of our families helped MAF hit that ratio.

Anyway, Diego and I have been getting to know our guards (one works five days a week and the other covers the extra two).  Both of them have lost their parents and a few siblings, and they are only 34 and 24.  I should have expected that based of Mozambique’s statistics, but it is different hearing the stories of real people.

Armando, the first guard we met, dropped out of school when his parents died and he was forced to move, but he is going back now since he got the job with MAF.  A lot of adults here who did not complete their education during the war are going back now, and the high school runs three shifts (morning, afternoon and evening) to keep up.  Armando has been learning English with the other American MAF employees, and speaks a fair amount, plus Portuguese and Makua (the local tribal language).   I have not met too many people with less than a high school education who are tri-lingual, but apparently here it happens all the time (the wife of our other guard is tri-lingual as well).

Our guards are our best window into the culture right now, and Diego enjoys going out and kicking the soccer ball around with them even on the nights I cannot be outside, and a couple nights ago we taught one of them how to throw a Frisbee.

We do not have a car yet (the MAF Land Cruiser we will be using just passed the Suez Canal on its way here), but I drove the program Land Rover for the first time yesterday, and driving on the left side takes some getting used to (and getting into the passenger side on the left is weird too).

Our road is dirt, with a huge puddle/pond just a few hundred feet from our house, but still the roads so far have been better than I expected.   When I said that to a coworker, he laughed and said “just wait for rainy season.”

There is a lot more bike, pedestrian, and crazy motorcycle traffic than even in Latin America, so that keeps driving interesting.  At night most of the motorcycles do not have lights, so that adds points for degree of difficulty.  Walking is interesting too, as pedestrians NEVER have the right of way (unless they are hit, and then I hear sometimes the driver goes to jail for a few days).

We went out to Diego’s school the first week for a placement test for first grade.  The school is about 30 minutes away, out of town, and it is beautiful.  It is surrounded by huge granite rock formations and is very green.  Diego got to meet his new teacher and he likes her.  He also passed the first grade entrance exam (whatever that is . . .).

This week has been our first going out to the airport and working.  I am still waiting to get a medical certificate to fly, due of the whole broken back thing, but Monday I helped with a 50 hr inspection on our Cessna 206, and learned my way around the shop a little.  Holly has been starting her Mozambique pilot training.  Yesterday our team met to discuss the ministry plan for next year, and today Holly is riding along on a couple of 206 flights for Bible translators.

Monday one of the other pilot’s wives watched the boys, but Tuesday (and today) I am being a stay at home dad.  I am thinking of starting a daddy blog to share all my pro professional dad techniques.

For example today we ran out of bananas and oranges.  We are without a car, and while I can carry Lucas for a while, with my continuing broken spine recovery, carrying him all the way to the closest fruit stand is still inadvisable.  Luckily last week I connected Diego’s bike to the kid trailer, so I got Diego to do all the work pulling Lucas there for the second time (not quite all the work – this bike/trailer setup is one wheel drive on roads they recommend a 4x4, so I had to push them out a few times).

Bikes around here tend to be more tools than toys, so kid bikes are not common, and I do not think anyone had ever seen a trailer.  A white guy running next to a six year old blonde kid, pulling a blond one year old in a trailer turned some heads and generated a fair amount of laughter.

People definitely remembered us from the first time, although I’m not sure if we are making friends or just spectators.  Anyhow, that is all the time I have for now.  I will try and talk Holly into writing a post about her flights in a couple of days.  Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

Grady

Flight Schedule to Moz

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

~Psalm 139:9-10

Our plane tickets are purchased! We're headed out on Friday. A huge thank you to everyone who has been supporting our ministry, encouraging our hearts and praying for our family.  Below you'll find our flight schedule. And here is a link to our latest prayer letter: July 2016 Nace Update & Prayer Letter 

Friday, July 29th: 

* Load up the rental and drive to Lisbon

* TAP Portugal: 7:10pm departure for Maputo, Mozambique 

        (Diego wants you to know we're going on an Airbus340 and it has FOUR engines). (This is noon US mountain time).

Saturday, July 30th:

* Arrive in Maputo (Moz's capital) at 6:50am 

        (here's to hoping we all sleep on the plane). 

* LAM Flight departs at 12:20pm for Nampula 

* Arrive at 2:25pm.  Home Sweet Home! 

The End of An Era

What will a year of life in Portuguese schools do for your children?

Diego spent months crying and worried about school.  Every day was a challenge to get him to school, and sometimes it started the night before.  But now? His school year is done and he is sad to be leaving his friends and teachers behind.  We have even been by to visit the school and play for a couple hours (they have a summer program).  It is amazing to see this guy's transformation throughout the year.  He now eats so many more food options. Even lulas (squid).  When I see him in action, talking with the other kids - in PORTUGUESE, at high rates of speed - I can hardly keep my jaw from dropping.  His language skills far exceed mine.  Diego's favorite songs are Portuguese, he can sing the chorus to the Portuguese national anthem (he learned with when Portugal won the European soccer cup) and Happy Birthday in Portuguese as well.  He knows the Coimbra city bus routes better than I do and he recognizes all the different types of trains in Portugal...This kid even had a few lines of Portuguese up on the stage in the year end play - he was an airline captain! 

(Diego's last day at the Jardim de Infancia)

Lucas turned 7 months the day after we arrived in Portugal, and now has a whopping 20 to his name!  That's almost 2/3 of his life spent in Portugal.  He has always gone happily in to school and would be heartbroken if he understood that he isn't going back.  He can be given instructions in both English and Portuguese and will usually understand what you are saying.  He loves soup and his favorite meal at school is spaghetti noodles with chicken sauce.  His teachers say that he speaks about 10 words (we can only understand olá, agua, sopa, mama and dada).  He also knows each of the other kids' by name in his class.  He gives beijinhos (kisses) and abraços (hugs) with joy.  And he loves to clap and dance!  Lucas has become our little Portuguese explorer... cats have nothing on him when it comes to curiosity! Everything must be climbed.  This includes kitchen counters, suitcase stacks, fountains... And every space must be discovered. Every kitchen drawer and door, every little thing must come out and be dumped on the floor.  Keeping him away from the knives and breakables is a challenge!  

(Lucas' last day at the Creche)

We've been doing the summer life for the last couple weeks, waiting on our visas and going a little stir crazy.  Most of the toys are packed (we finally unpacked some of the legos for Diego) and many of our friends have moved away or are gone on holiday.  Every so often we take a field trip, some little and some big. To the market, to the playground, to the windmill, to the Douro, to the grocery store... Diego says they are all fun because they all involve a ride on the bus! :) 

(Stircrazy antics - wrestling on the bed and climbing on the dresser)

(It was a pleasure to visit this windmill and watch the corn being ground - fascinating!)  Grady's video on how it works is here on youtube: VIDEO

(A ride down the Douro River to Porto. We went through one of the world's tallest locks 35ish meters.)

And then, at the end of this week, we got the email I had been obsessively checking throughout the weeks for... our Mozambique visas arrived at MAF Headquarters!  They're currently in France, in the care of Fedex, and headed our way.  Tickets are being purchased for the end of next week.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying for our visa status, this is a huge answer to prayer  and there is much rejoicing this weekend in the Nace household! Praise God for his continued provision! 

(Chilling in the square... waiting for those illusive visas)

The Fourth of July

Happy Independence Day (late)!

Because the Fourth is also a Coimbra city holiday celebrating the Rainha Santa Isabel in Coimbra (A Portuguese queen-saint who lived here), we were able to watch a fireworks display!  We’d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful fireworks setting – along the shores of the Mondego River, with the skyline of Coimbra rising as a backdrop with our University's clocktower standing tall and proud above it all.  It was at midnight… so Lucas slept straight through to the ending bang!

(Grady & Diego worked together for some great shots)

Rainha Santa Isabel, married to the king that founded our university, had a heart for the poor.  Legend has it that Dom Dinis (her husband) caught her stealing food from the royal kitchens and dispersing it to the poor.  He demanded she open her apron, but when she did God miraculously transformed the food into roses which spilled out over the street. 

(Queen Isabel with her roses)

While we were waiting for the pyrotechnics to start, we dropped in on an outdoor Fado concert.  (Fado is a traditional Portuguese music genre).  Take a listen:

Perhaps not your average Fourth of July weekend (no corn on the cob, BBQ or American flags in sight) but still fun!  Some of the songs were even about the sadness of leaving Coimbra (a common occurrence for graduating students).

We are still waiting on our visas, BUT the good news is our work permits have been approved!  They are required for the visas and took a fair amount of work by our teammates in Mozambique.  Our visa applications should have arrived at the Moz embassy by now, so please pray that they are approved with no delays.

There has been a lot to do as we wait.  Much of it has centered around insurance logistics from Grady’s accident.  After going back and forth many times between insurance and the bike shop, Grady is now being reimbursed for his totaled bike.  We still aren’t sure how he managed to bend the frame in two places but still leave the wheels undamaged!  Grady has also gone through the whole process of listing and selling our car, writing letters to the boys’ schools, and much more.  I have been meeting weekly with one of my professors (one hour of English and one hour of Portuguese: it’s a win-win for us both), studying for a Moz aviation exam, packing and cleaning.

The boys are still in school (although they’ve already had their year-end parties/performances).  We let Diego decide if they should continue these last few days/weeks or stay home and it was a definitive YES to going to school.  We are so thankful to see how far he has come from the continual dread for school he had last fall/winter!  He is already talking about how he is going to “ter saudades” for the jardim de infancia... (a very Portuguese way of saying he will miss/long for his school after he leaves).

(Lucas was a little shy... he cried during his time on stage) 

Grady’s back is slowly improving.  He has the least pain when walking, and the most when sitting.  We have been able to go on a few longer hikes through the hills surrounding Coimbra lately – it’s a joy to watch him marching along with his walking stick!

(Monsanto, hiking down from the castle) 

(Schist village in the hills outside of Coimbra)

Please continue to be praying for our visas to be approved and arrive safely to us.  Also be praying for the upcoming travel to Moz.  Grady is GREAT at entertaining the boys and can hold Lucas for longer periods now, but we’ve got a LOT of luggage to corral.  

Thanks for checking in on us - much love from the Naces

Home

Lately I have been contemplating our approaching move (still no visas or set date).  While we are all eager to arrive in Mozambique and begin life there, saying goodbye is rough. Over the last year we have made our home here, and home is never an easy thing to see in the rearview mirror. I always feel like I’m leaving a piece of my heart behind.  But we’re also bringing some of home with us through memories and through experiences that have changed and shaped us into who we are today. 

(driving by some sardinheiras aka geraniums)

(a small fraction of Dona Helena's garden; see the Birds of Paradise and think: Costa Rica)

When we arrived in Portugal everything was blooming, bursting forth in full glory. Every walk past the small gardens of our neighbors up to the car, every pass through the botanical gardens on the way to class, even zooming past gardens on the bus brought forth a sensation of sights and smells that calmed, soothed, and comforted this out-of-place, discombobulated soul.  Over time I began to view them as little gifts from God, reminders of his care for us, even in the littlest ways.  And I was comforted by the memories I found, even as I moved across the world.  Things that, amongst the sometimes overwhelming differences and the challenges that come from being isolated by language barriers, helped me piece life here into a new normal.  There are blue hydrangeas (like at our wedding), deep red geraniums at the windowsills (Grady’s mom and I hung them outside our windows all summer while we lived in WA), nasturtiums clambering over the edges of retaining walls (like home in WA), grapevines leafing out (like the wild ones along the roads in TX), vibrant bougainvillea formed into archways (my favorite in Costa Rica), on and on I could go.  They offer memories of home, connecting my life today with my past, keeping me whole.

(nasturtiums - when it heats up they even get bugs & shrivel like WA)

After a year, Portugal has become home to us.  We have made friends, found a church, picked favorite restaurants.  We know where to find dairy free icecream and which parks are best for kids. You know you’re settled somewhere when you can plan your grocery shopping list aisle by aisle through the store! Diego has good friends at school and favorite activities to do in town. 

(Tulips decorate this Coimbra convent cloister)

And now we are looking at moving again… to make a new home in Mozambique. We are going to sorely miss Portugal, and especially Sr. Luiis and Dona Helena (our landlords) who have treated us like family.  But I am excited to discover: what will God use in Mozambique to bring us smiles? What things will we pass on the street that remind us of our lives in Texas, Tennessee, or North Dakota? What will we fly over that bring back our days in Washington or Costa Rica? And what will swing our hearts and minds back to our time here in Portugal?  As we prepare to leave, the flowers are once again in full bloom, vibrantly proclaiming to me a promise of God’s faithfulness.  So I know God has little gifts in Mozambique already prepared to comfort us, to connect us – both to our past and to our new home that awaits us! And ultimately, all this uprooting and transplanting in our lives draws us closer to The One who helps us thrive in each new setting and our true, forever home that is to come. 

 (a neighbor's garden: chock full of flower eye candy)

(the next door neighbor grows his grapes raised over his parking spot)

(our landlords are growing passion fruit & blackberries along the path)

(out for a walk)

(bougainvillea sighting!)