Estou contente

The first time I twisted my ankle was on Monday.  Quadrado and I hiked up the mountain, higher than I’ve been in Ile.  I walked across the plateau at the top and looked down on the town and the great expanse of green that surrounds it, the tops of mango and eucalyptus trees, the golden drying elephant grass and the orange-red of the iron rich soil.  It’s a different world up there.  Lichens and cacti grow, surprising purple flowers flaunt themselves in the breeze.  It began to get dark, and while we chased the sunset down the rock face, I slipped and twisted my ankle. 

The second time, I was tossing the Frisbee around with Eli and a few of the boys, Quadrado, Dionisio, Felipe, Innocencio, and Castelo.  Jovencio, Santos, and Admirador were playing music on the porch - playing the drums, the water bedong, the egg shaker that Eli brought back from the States.  It was a beautiful afternoon; the sunlight soft, the breeze slight, the air cool and light.  But it was beautiful because we were all laughing and enjoying each other’s company, and there was a sense of community - they are my community.  Children were hanging around, envying us, wishing that they were older.  While I was diving for the Frisbee, the same tender ankle twisted again.

The third time, I had a towel slung over my shoulder, my little plastic basket of bath products in one hand and a bucket full of warm water in the other, and I was walking down the slope to take a bucket bath.  I stepped in a crevice, and my ankle gave out, and I watched the water spill over the ground.  I hobbled back to the porch and waited for the nerves to stop burning.  Dionisio showed up while I was rubbing my ankle, and made sure that I was ok.

It’s fine, if you’re concerned.  I'm not going to climb any mountains in a little while, just to be sure.  Então, em resumen, estou contente aqui em Moçambique, e não precisa de preocupar.  Maybe this whole schpiel was counterproductive, but what I mean to come across is that I’m happy here, content, and you don’t have to worry about me.