Hot

Today was the hottest day yet and the hottest one we remember here. Perhaps it is more noticeable where we live now because we are more inland. However, the 'in-the-shade' temperatures were really something today. We went to our Mavalene church this morning, which is an out-side church adjacent to a home and the temperature really escalated through the service. The chickens and ducks joined us this morning because it was cooler in the shade of the cover. We returned home at mid-day and there was just no getting away from the heat.

Of course, this is Africa (TIA) and you expect it to be hot, so that's ok, but we're thinking this stretch of hot will bring some rain to cool things off a bit - or at least that is what we experienced in the past. However, one thing I have learned is that the past is certainly not a good predictor of the future, although many talk as if it is!

In the midst of this heat, a friend called who lives near here speaking in rapid Portuguese. I grasp the meaning that his baby is really sick and he needs a ride to the hospital or a ride from the hospital, I'm not really sure which. From the tone, I think it must be bad and he knows we're very attached to his baby (Carol is her name). So, we jump in our oven of a car and quickly drive to his house where everyone is sitting under the trees with baby Carol in a small bucket of water, mom splashing her with water to cool her off. Ok, so Ernesto comes to the car wondering why we raced to his house, and so now in face-to-face conversation I learn that he tried to come see us this morning to help him take Carol to the hospital because she was very sick. But, we were at church and they took her anyway and brought her home. She has malaria (the second time in this 13-month old's little life) and had been given re-hydration solution to drink and the malaria medication. Ok, I got most of the words, but not in the right order and I certainly missed the difference between past tense and present tense.

Remember yesterday when I was thankful for a small victory in language. Drat, I knew I shouldn't have said that!

We visited a while and returned to our little oven, I mean our home. There was no one out and about today - it was just too hot. As we drove through the narrow dirt streets to our house, we could see the people laying on their grass matts in the shade of the trees. That is how you deal with this heat and what a great idea for a Sunday afternoon. Nap-time.....

Blessings,

Dave & Ann

"And you think it's hot here!......"

(A sign we saw on a church as we drove into Las Vegas when we were in our 20's.)