A sad goodbye and getting out of a pickle March 7, 2009

I always have trouble readjusting myself when I thought something was going to happen one way and then it unexpectedly changes. I thought my friend Cornelia was leaving on furlough early in April; last Saturday she told me she would be in South Africa for a few weeks before going to Germany, so I guess if I thought about it at all I thought she would leave a bit later in March. Then on Thursday I found out she’s leaving this coming Thursday, and suddenly there’s no more “we’ll visit when I’m less busy”, she’s just gone! Afraid that next week is going to be hectic, I and Angie, who is also good friends with her, went over for lunch and a movie  today – Agatha Christie movies has been our “thing”. Just as I was leaving, Cornelia phoned to check that I was bringing bread as well (I thought we could just have avocado and bread, since she has been too busy to cook) and then I started thinking that perhaps I didn’t have enough bread, so I went back for more – and locked myself out of the house AGAIN! After some guy that was sitting around our building tried to help me, with no success (this time there was no open window), I eventually just left, because I felt I just couldn’t ruin this last afternoon we had together. At Cornelia’s I phoned DJ Morrison and he said he could try to help when I got home, so I tried to just relax and enjoy our time together. It was really nice, and it was a blessing to be able to pray together for Cornelia, but I hate saying goodbye! It seems as if it took us such a long time to become friends and then just as we were growing close, it all ends. But that is simply the way it is, people are always going on furlough or changing course or something… I got back later than I had planned, about 17h00, but by about 17h45 everything was sorted out. DJ eventually just kicked the door in, which wrenched the lock out of its screws, and then the remainder of the time was taken up by screwing everything back up again. But thank the Lord he could help! I really need to start leaving a set of keys at their house!

I ended up not going to the customs agent today – yesterday he had said he would be at the office, but when I phoned he said he was at home and even if I brought him the documents he would only deal with them on Monday – so I’ll just go there on Monday. I got some grunt work done before leaving this morning, after several hours of housecleaning, so I still feel I haven’t rested. But I am staying home and just listening to a sermon here tomorrow, don’t tell anyone…

Feeling better and making progress March 7, 2009

On Thursday, going to work was about the last thing I wanted to do, but I had no choice. The morning wasn’t incredibly productive, as I had to make some stops in town first and then at 11h00 Julie, I and the girls all went to get haircuts. My hairdresser Manuela used to live really close to me, then they moved their house to a fairly new development (on the same side of town as the SIL compound), but for several months the salon was still in the old place. Then in December they moved the salon over as well. I was wondering where I was ever going to find the time to go now, but when Julie said she and the girls also really need it, it sort of justified taking the Landrover and making a whole outing out of it! I made really slow progress on Thursday afternoon and was just feeling miserable, and when I went by Cornelia’s house after work to drop something off, I got stuck there because of the rain and didn’t get back until 18h00, when it was already dark – not clever. Yesterday was much better, though, except that it started with a baaaad chapa ride. Three ladies with big plastic basins with 5 or 6 chickens in each got on at one point, and the smell of the chickens was very unpleasant. I was so happy when they started getting off, but unfortunately only two got off and then one lady was taking some more of the chickens of the lady who was staying, and they were flapping their wings and feather particles and droppings went flying through the air. Yuck! At work,  despite my irritation with the workers who seem to have a knack to come and ask me, in Dr Woodrow’s absence, for loans just when I am sitting down with a cup of tea or am really engrossed in my work, it was a very productive day and I think I only have about 5 pastors’ books left to take care of, aside from some new people whose packets will hopefully not take very long. It seems that Dr Woodrow really just needs to leave for things to go wrong though – on Thursday night the church building fell down! I had noticed recently that some of the supports were very skew… O well, I guess a wood-and-bamboo structure can only last that long! I had hoped that the documents that I need to take to the customs agent would be emailed to me yesterday afternoon, but alas not, I will have to go do that quickly this morning. And then hopefully rest well the rest of today and tomorrow before the containers start arriving… Thankfully my cold is much better, aside from annoying mucus in my throat I feel fine today.

Home with a cold March 4, 2009

When I got up this morning I decided in a very short time that I would not be going in to work today! I had also arranged to see Claudia, one of my Mozambican friends, before work, since I had only heard this week that she’s going back to Beira on Saturday. I asked her to come here instead, as the thought of sitting in a smoky coffee shop and shouting to make myself heard wasn’t very appealing. We had a lovely visit, and it seems pretty certain that she’ll marry in a few months’ time and then move back to Nampula, yay! She left just after 11h00 and I tried to get some work done, updating the lists of books each pastor on the APP has, but for most of the day when I was working, I felt like I should be resting and getting better, and when I was resting I felt guilty about not working. Last night the electricity kept on going off, so much that I went to bed very early, and then today until about noon we had no water, I don’t know what has been going on. This afternoon at least I could cook and then clean up the kitchen, so I was glad it  came back on. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better and be able to do more!

Not having a great week March 3, 2009

I was really trying to be calm about the week that was ahead of me, but when I got up yesterday morning a wave of anxiety hit me. It was hot, I had left my wallet at home and I was literally hot and bothered by the time I got to work. It ended up being largely unnecessary – there was no news and today we learned that the ship is being loaded tomorrow, so the earliest I can deal with anything (copies of documents that are emailed to us need to be taken downtown to the customs agent) will be Thursday. So I simply tried to go on with the neverending APP mailing and get an idea of everything else that needs to be done. I also had to make a trip downtown with Dr Woodrow – we needed a notarised document stating that I authorise him to drive my car across the border into Mozambique, and as usual we were given the runaround on what exactly needed to be done. I ended up going by there this morning with a copy of my passport and was told to come back at 10h30, when the clerk eventually typed the letter while I was sitting there, and then I waited I think another 30 minutes for another clerk to take it to the director for her signature. I was stressed out, because I thought Dr Woodrow was leaving the house at 11h30, but it turned out to be nearer to 12h30, so I had more than enough time. Aside from these two hours in my life I will never get back, I wasn’t very productive today because of the beginnings of a cold – I got up with a sore throat and a thick head this morning and have had very little energy all day. Another reason to be thankful that I didn’t have to deal with shipping containers!  I was also spoiled in the sense that I got a ride to SIL this afternoon, was able to get some library books and got dropped off at home – I simply couldn’t face walking even a few blocks. I hope this passes over quickly, there is just too much to be done to be out of action now!

So much for doing nothing all weekend… March 1, 2009

Yesterday morning early I was terribly industrious, cleaning my flat and doing some laundry, but then my plan of just staying home and getting lots of work done didn’t quite turn out that way. My friend Cornelia came by, which was nice, and then she wanted to go see Tricia Morrison (they’re the people who live in the building behind mine) and I wanted to borrow some DVDs from them, but then we had to wait for Tricia to come home, so it was almost 12h00 by the time I got home again and I felt like I had lost my whole morning! I had realised that I really needed to go by the bookshop and get all the necessary documents, now that the month was over, to have another look at the finances. So that was a fun, hot walk at 13h00 in the afternoon… I did relax a bit with a movie, but most of the afternoon and part of the evening was taken up with work. The only bit of “excitement” that I had was when I went to deal with the guard, absentmindedly only took a loose key for the back gate’s lock, and then locked myself out when the back door swung shut! Luckily one of the kitchen windows was open, so we had to tear the (nice, new) screen and then eventually got the other window, next to the door, open with the help of the broomstick, and could then open the door. I am just so glad the guard could help me and that this whole episode only took about 5 minutes.

This morning after church (which ended nice and early, I love it when Kent Woodrow leads the worship!) Dr Woodrow and I had a short meeting with 3 of our bookshop workers about the continuing problem of books and money disappearing, I really hope we can nip this in the bud. O yes, I have some good news – I’m still losing Aquiles as a worker, but at least he’s not leaving Nampula anymore! He had already regsistered in Montepuez and was making his plans to go there, when he heard that he had been accepted to the Universidade Lurio, the quite new Catholic medical school here in Nampula! I am so happy for him, because that’s what he’s wanted to do ever since he finished high school, but the educational system everywhere is just so corrupt and people don’t seem to get accepted on the basis of merit. Of course I am also glad not to be losing my translator/Portuguese checker… Praise the Lord!

Payday over and done with for another month February 28, 2009

My week ended relatively on a less exhausted note than last week. On Thursday, as I was home, I took a nap in the afternoon, went to cell group and was alert enough to enjoy it. Ida, the Brazilian dentist, had a pastor from Brazil visiting her, and he brought the message – very solid and edifying, for a change! I also got to meet Willemien, the wife of a Dutch doctor who recently moved to Nampula – I had met him, but not spoken to him, and I guess one of them needs to stay home with their kids. I discovered that they had lived in South Africa and so speak Afrikaans, so while there was some delay in starting we happily chatted away. Before and afterwards the visiting pastor talked quite a lot about African politics and international events, it was stretching to listen to him. However, I understood him better than Victor, the brother of Manuela, the lady who hosts the cell. That pure Portuguese accent is often still too much for me…

Yesterday was the day I had been dreading – pay day! I could finally use the laptop I was loaned, although I first needed to load Office onto it again so that I could have Excel, it was so odd that it didn’t have it. As far as the payroll went, I mostly felt useless – I did what I felt I could, then Dr Woodrow checked it and caught a lot of mistakes (still don’t really know what they were) and then I just prepared the payslips and otherwise went on with the mailing for the Adopt a Pastor Project. I think what upsets me about pay day is that I am not naturally good at financial accuracy and always seem to miss something, and then I start dreading talking to Dr Woodrow about the things I did wrong.  Yesterday I just refused to become emotionally involved in the situation and simply expected myself to mess up – I don’t think that’s a way to live, but it helped just to get through the day and concentrate on what I’m good at. I also talked to him about the bookshop finances and stock issues, but then started getting a creeping feeling that turned out to be right – I had never actually gone through the November to February financial sheets, I got so busy with other work that I somehow thought I had… So I was busy with that until quite late – I’m not used to an 8-hour day over there anymore! At least Dr Woodrow and I also talked about some things that needed to be setttled before he leaves on Tuesday. And then it was finally home, food, relaxing and planning what needs to be done this weekend.

Bit of a useless day February 26, 2009

I didn’t have the power source for the laptop on loan yet, so thought I would stay home another day and get a lot done here. Somehow the day passed and I was busy, but I didn’t get nearly as much done as I could have – and then when I was chatting to Allison when fetching the power source, I remembered all this stuff I wanted to do – aargh! Some news, though: the car importation is going ahead as scheduled, so please pray for a safe trip up. Also, Erica Sue obviously needs to raise support, so please pray for her and for the Lord’s continued guidance of us both regarding living together.

And then tomorrow is payday, I am utterly not looking forward to it, may the Lord be gracious!

A bit of this, a bit of that February 25, 2009

Odd day, not entirely unproductive, but not terribly satisfying either. I got the conference brochures mailed, got some money from the bank (always an accomplishment, you never know when the Internet is going to be down or the ATM out of cash…), did some shopping and came back home. I worked on bookshop things, unsatisfactorily, since I still can’t figure out if money is missing, tried to calculate prices for new books we got and are going to get soon, messed up labels I need for the mailing, registered some people for the conference, cooked something… One cool thing is that I’ve been emailing a lot more with Erica Sue, and we are so alike, Lord willing I think the living together really can work! She is also an early riser, from a similiar church background, also describes herself as other people not getting her routine. I will definitely be praying a lot more about the matter, but perhaps the Lord has finally given me someone that will fit in well with me!

Not the most productive day ever February 24, 2009

Things didn’t turn out the way I had planned, so this morning I decided that getting a bit sweaty on the walk wouldn’t be the end of the world, and so went to SIL to get the laptop I was promised I could use. I was a bit upset to get there at 9h00 and to find that Pastor Benedict wasn’t, but luckily he was on his way and arrived about 15 minutes later. He’s not the kind of guy to just deal with a matter in 5 minutes, though, and with him searching for a power source to demonstrate to me that my laptop is truly dead, telling me about the dreadful drama he’s been going through with a Mozambican that has dragged him to the police on a ridiculous charge, and having to talk on the phone, I was there for quite a while. O well, I chatted to Allison and to a very friendly British couple who are just passing through on their way to Angoche and also were waiting for help with something, and could also hear that it seems the Lord has brought Pastor Benedict’s case to the attention of a sympathetic official who will sort it all out, so that’s great. Plus, the timing was actually perfect for me get a ride with my friends BG and Evvie who are centre managers at SIL, and meet up with Dr Woodrow’s driver at the Vodashop in town. His one Bluetooth phone needed to be reconfigured so that it could connect to the Internet again, and after going down there several times unsuccessfully, today, even though they didn’t have Internet, they simply phoned their office in Maputo again and had it all fixed in a matter of minutes – and I had a ride back to the property. There I couldn’t do much, since I still need to get the power source of the loan laptop, but Dr Woodrow and I did get a chance to talk about everything that needs to be done next week and later in March when we receive containers with building materials. It’s all very neatly set out, but I still feel nervous…

I left quite early in order to meet up with our guy Aquiles at the bookshop, so that he could check a radio ad I had written, and then show me where the station’s offices were and who I needed to talk to, since in future I can’t send him to take care of that anymore. We climbed about 7 flights of stairs, and I nearly got a heart attack learning how much their prices have gone up, so hopefully it will all be worth it. The cherry on the cake was that it started raining quite hard. I really wanted to get home, though, so I decided to brave it, but I had forgotten how ineffective the storm drains are – a strip of more than a meter wide of water a few centimetres deep lines almost every street. After searching in vain for a place I wouldn’t have to wade through, I finally decided to just make a go of it – and promptly lost my one flip-flop! I was glad to see that it wasn’t just being carried down the entire street, but it was lodged beneath a car and I couldn’t figure out how I was going to get it. As if sent by the Lord, the driver of the car arrived and moved it, and I could retrieve my shoe and make my damp and uncomfortable way home. Now I really, really need to get these brochures mailed out, I will be so happy when it’s done!

Making some progress February 23, 2009

I started the week with a strong desire to make some progress with the conference publicity so that I can get around to everything that’s been put on the back burner. I went to town this morning, had some more copies made of the brochure and checked out some car prices – o dear, if Dr Woodrow thinks the road will be fine, hassle or no hassle it will be best to import the car, I can’t afford anything here! I got home around 10h30 and after a few hours was finally done printing the envelopes, what a ridiculous amount of time to spend on something so simple. The rest of the afternoon went by with folding brochures and stuffing envelopes while watching a movie, and catching up on some emails. Next I need to sort the envelopes, since many pastors use the same post office box and I can save postage by putting all those together. Dare I hope that they will all be mailed at the end of the week? I hope to get the borrowed laptop tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning, and I really need to get to the Woodrows’ tomorrow so that we can talk about things that need to get done before Dr Woodrow leaves for a speaking engagement in South Africa next Tuesday. My nemesis, Payday, is also looming, I had almost forgotten about it… It was a lovely quiet afternoon with some rain and I was glad not to be running around in town. I am getting very excited about the conference now, I just wish that I could devote more energy to everything that I’m doing, instead of feeling that nothing gets done properly because there aren’t enough hours in a day!