School begins!!

Claire Marques very bravely decided to homeschool Stephen and Kimberley while we are in Mozambique! She has been AMAZING - preparing lessons, amassing resources, thinking up exciting topics and ways of teaching different concepts!!! They are set up very cosily in their Alpendre with desks, blackboards and a 'resource' tent.
Kimberley, 'School here is fun, but kind of different...there are lots of people coming by with wheelbarrows etc'.
Stephen, 'School is fun and mom is a good teacher'.

Electric Shock Therapy

It all began so innocently with a request for gravy...Being the good wife that I am I immediately acquiesced. Because our room is still only partially completed and we don't have enough plug points (and because for some reason Mozambique has these incredibly stupid two prong plugs!!) I leant over the stove (placing both hands firmly ontop of it!) and proceeded to try to unplug the stove and plug in the kettle. The result was a massive explosion of electricity up my arm across my chest and down the other arm!!! It was incredibly painful!!! I screamed and burst into floods of tears...feeling that I was about to throw up and faint all at the same time. My dear husband lead me outside to console me while I had a good cry - needless to say it was very theraputic! I am now petrified of plugs, ovens, laptops and anthing electric!!! My hands still tingle but my chest and arms have stopped aching - yay!!

Sssscott, Sssstephen and lots of Ssssnakes!!

Every day the workers clearing the bush for our new homes and chicken sheds find and kill about 4 snakes (cobras, puff-adders and many other delightful varieties!) - cobra in Portuguese! Scott and Stephen love to collect all the dead snakes (usually keeping them in Claire's fridge for a while) and skin them. Thankfully this cobra bit the only worker wearing boots!

Marching Ants!

The other day we ran into some black ants on the move!! They were incredible - in a perfectly formed line, carrying larvae bigger than their own bodies... Scott and Stephen were particularly intrigued and when Scott ventured too close he got a nasty bit on his toe inside his croc!! (He immediately got goose bumps and started sweating!! Hilarious!!) The boys then proceeded to steal a few larvae from them and off we happily went!!

Moving into our tents under our newly constructed Alpendres!

Had a fantastic day!!
Very busy...cooking, washing, checking chickens and various other (back-breaking) things!!
Tonight we all sleep in our tents under our lovely Alpendres...hope that is the correct Portugese word?!
Dan is cooking two chickens on the weber tonight....smelling delicious!! (I'm sure we'll be sick of chicken very soon!!)

Marques' and Mutangara's move out to the farm!

Today the Marques and Mutangara family will be moving out to the farm!! Yay!!
This will save them the hour (or more!) trip in from town each day - potholes, crazy traffic and loony taxi drivers...
The Marques will be joining the Tansers in tent-camping style (long-drops and portable showers etc...) and the Mutangara's will be moving into an almost finished room!!
Think the menu for tonight will be braai's all round..