Slow Days and Mo-Mo-Mozambique

Get it? Ho-Ho-Ho-Mo-Mo-Mo? Not the best caption I guess, but it's 2:00am here and about 30 degrees Celsius so bear with me.


Nothing too exciting has happened since my last post, just work life in Grahamstown. We're winding down from COP17 and planning our work for January, which will be a lot more science based. All of the Rhodes students are gone and like any university town the place feels empty. A few of our favourite places have closed for three weeks and sometimes when I walk down the road I can faintly hear that cowboy whistle music that is often followed by a tumbleweed blowing across the sand. 

It doesn't really feel like Christmas, even though there are decorations everywhere, and when you shop for new sunscreen you hear White Christmas playing on the radio. Rather than feeling like 2011 is ending I feel like the year is just on pause while I finish this excursion down south. Sometimes I have to remind myself of what everyone at home is in the middle of, and it makes me a little jealous. There are times when I wish it would snow or that I could be magically transported home to eat turkey dinner and listen to Kenny and Dolly. 

Tomorrow the jealousy disappears though, because Carolyn and I will be getting on a bus headed for Ponta D'Ouro in Mozambique. We'll be there for 12 days and will be spending our time diving on the world-renowned reef, learning to surf, hiking, eating and just generally beaching. After that we head to Maputo for 4 days and then on to visit family friends in Johannesburg. There will be a lot of time spent on the Greyhound but I've armed myself with some good books and snacks. I'm expecting to either meet a lot of fellow travels on a budget or develop a hatred for all public transport systems. 

As for everyone at home, I know you're all shovelling snow (or cursing global warming), wrapping presents and wearing your homemade wool hats. As excited as I am for this Mozambican adventure, I wish I could spend Christmas a little closer to you all. I won't have internet in Ponta D'Ouro, except occasionally at the internet cafe, but I'll be regularly checking my email so if you're feeling sentimental I'd love to hear from you. Maybe you can take a break from drinking hot chocolate around a fireplace and remember your friend who is battling the sun with SPF50. 

I hope everyone has a relaxing holiday full of family and food. I'll be missing you all and thinking of you more than I'd like to admit.

Love,

Jill