Weekday mornings, Taciana and I go for a walk at 6 am for an hour. It's tough getting up sometimes, but since I am old I usually am in bed by 10:30 so it's alright. I have also been taking a yoga class Monday and Wednesday evenings in a great spot.
I will totally miss this when I go back to Canada. There's nothing like doing yoga outside with the sounds of the night and the breeze around you. I have also found an ultimate team. I brought my disc with me with full intentions of starting a team here but I was lucky to find one already established by another Winnipegger Jared who left shortly after I arrived. Good one Jared! Anyway, it's been a blast playing with the expats and Mozambicans. We are arranging a friendly tournament with the Swaziland team, one weekend they will come here to play and another weekend, we will go there. That will be awesome!
I've also been hanging out with a new friend Chisa, a Japanese girl who has been living in Vancouver for the past 5 years with her husband and is here now for 6 months working with an NGO. I met her at ultimate. This is her doing the layout. I refuse to guard her because she is fast like the wind and I can admit that I can't keep up. I've also been hanging out with another Canadian contingent, Bruno.
I met Bruno for the first time about 2 weeks before I moved here through mutual friend. Like me, he lives in Ottawa, went to Carleton, was born to Portuguese parents, and is living and working in Maputo to boost the CV. This past weekend he and I went to Macanete beach about an hour and a half and a ferry ride away from Maputo. I burned a cd for the drive and off we went to explore the outskirts of Maputo and another deserted beach in Mozambique. There is no shortage of these. Driving out of Maputo there were many more outdoor markets with everything you can imagine. Leather chairs, lumber, doors, mattresses, balloons, bread, fruit etc...The countryside is beautiful, green in Africa just is not like any green I have seen before. Canada's forests are lush, but the green here is deep and glistening, and the leaves shine with the sun. We arrived at the ferry with no problems, squeezed the car onto the ferry which is basically a plank with a steering wheel. The tires were literally on the edge. But the ferry ride was only 5 minutes and we made it across fine. 
Once we arrived at the other side, we were informed the roads were inaccessible due to heavy rains and that we would have to take a detour. We would be guided by someone off the beaten path through farmers fields, livestock and mud. Bruno and I were a little worried since our companions had big 4x4 trucks and we were driving his little Toyota RAV4. But we had faith in the Japanese and the RAV did just fine. 
I was curious how we would find our way back but at that point I wanted to get to the beach. And it didn't disappoint. It was beautiful and nearly deserted. There were some locals playing soccer and swimming but we otherwise had the beach nearly to ourselves. There was also a great little restaurant and lodge where we sat and had a drink and watched the water. We were approached by some locals who asked for a ride back to Maputo. At first we were hesitant, but we didn't want to perpetuate the "Africans are scary" mentality and we both want to get to know more locals so we agreed on the condition that they could show us the detour back since we weren't sure if we would find our way. They took us back along the way and we turned off the road onto the field, aka detour. Within 5 seconds we were completely stuck in the mud up to our axles. Isaac, Alberto and I (in my dress) got out of the car almost knee deep into the mud and assessed the situation. The boys pushed while I supervised until one point I tried to help but it was hopeless. The only way we could push it was backwards so we tried to push but ended up covered in mud as the tires spun. I noticed a tractor approaching and joked with Alberto that that was what we needed. Isaac quickly went over and talked to the man who agreed to help us as long as we gave him some "orientation" The orientation consisted of 200 meticais (about $10), with which Bruno was attempting to haggle but dammit I just wanted out.
And really, what's $10? CAA sure doesn't charge $10, so I was quick to intervene and say "Just pay the man".So he hooked up the chain to the front of the RAV and away we went slipping and sliding behind the tractor through the mud back to the main road, the ferry and away back to Maputo as fast as we could. I was never so happy to see pavement. But these situations we encounter here are somewhat normal and you learn to go with the flow, no point in getting worked about things. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. As a South African I know said, "Africa isn't for sissies."
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