A Sunny Anniversary

The sun is shining again here in Mozambique and we are in cheery
spirits. July 4th came and went without any ado, us being the only
Americans here. We were a little jealous of the Malawi volunteers who
all got to celebrate together at the US embassy, but Moz is too big,
with its volunteers too spread out, to make that practical. We tried
not to think about all the folks back home barbecuing and watching
fireworks to celebrate our nation's birthday. To make up for an
uneventful July 4th, we celebrated July 5th in style, marking the
second anniversary of our wedding. People here are very interested in
the fact that we are formally married, since most couples here just
live together without any legal recognition of their union. We went
out to our fanciest/only restaurant, but since it doesn't get much
business, we pre-ordered our meals at lunchtime and came back later
for dinner. They set up a special table for us out in the gazebo, with
romantic views overlooking the rolling green hills and mountains
glowing at sunset. Janet got roast chicken and french fries, her
favorite, and Luc was tempted to try the gazelle steak on offer, but
reconsidered since it was probably poached from the nearby forest
protected area in Malawi, and as development workers we shouldn't
support the bush meat industry. So Luc ordered bean stew instead, his
favorite. After dinner we exchanged anniversary cards we had secretly
made for each other, Luc's written in Chichewa 'Ndimakonda inu,' and
Janet's a video montage on the laptop with photos of our lives
together, set to our wedding song. It was a very happy occasion for us
as we reflected on how many adventures we have had so far and how
lucky we are to be together serving in far away Africa.