The move
So it’s official. We’ve moved houses and boy was it a lot of work. My mom always says moving 10 minutes away is often harder than moving far (like around the world!) and after this “little” move I definitely agree with her. The trouble is that you think “Oh it’s not that far. I don’t really have to pack things well and in boxes. We’ll just make a few trips!” Yikes, those few trips turn in to 20 and that’s a lot of hard work! But we did it and we survived to tell about it.
We are mostly unpacked. The things that are left to be put away don’t have any place to go right now. We’ve moved from a partially furnished house to an empty one so we will have to hunt around and find some places to buy furniture. Much to Steve and my dismay there are no garage sales, flea markets, antique stores or second hand shops here. Therefore we will have to buy new. Oh well, there’s a first time for everything!
Our new house is just lovely. The kids are thoroughly enjoying the yard (front AND back) and the room to roam. There are lots of windows and a huge glass ceiling above the stairs, which floods the house with sunlight all day long. We have a living room with a corner fireplace (very unusual in Maputo) and a big dinning room for lots of friends to have dinner! A decent sized kitchen and a great back porch. There is a door from the kitchen that opens to the sidewalk, which leads to the back yard, and a door out of the porch. We have a long driveway with a covered area to park the car. We have 4 bedrooms which allows for a guest room since the girls are sharing a room and 2 bathrooms! All the floors are hardwood and have recently been sanded and stained. Unfortunately there was no varnish or polyurethane put on the stain so it comes off on bare feet, but we are getting a quote to finish sealing the floors. An absolute must with three children who love to run around! We have a little eat in room off the kitchen which is now our computer room and allows us to jump on the computer for a quick chat at any hour of the day. We are incredibly grateful for our new place and so very happy to be here.
Our yards are fabulous! The grass is a nice change (compared to the concrete at the other house) and there are several flowerbeds waiting for plants. One of our guards is very fond of gardening and has been self-appointed to take care of the vegetation. I think we may give him a patch of ground to farm for himself and his family. He will be able to grow some veggies and greens without worrying about others stealing from his garden. He has already done a great job pruning our plants and cleaning things up around the yard. We are fortunate to have some fruit trees in our yard – mango, papaya, coconut and avocado. Right now it’s mango season and every day we have “showers” of ripe mangoes. It’s absolutely wonderful.
Our new location is much closer to downtown and makes for easy walking into the city (for restaurants, shopping or bread). Our street is quiet during the day with one funny exception. For some reason the driving schools in town (both car and semi schools) use our road for teaching new drivers. So every morning around 9 am a dump truck drives up our street, stops at the “shade tree” across from our house and leaves about 12-15 young men on the sidewalk. Then they each take turns being in the driver’s seat while the others hoot and holler at their mistakes! It’s really entertaining and our guards especially enjoy the show.
So far our new landlady seems very nice and we hope to get along well for the next several years. We love our new house and new location and hope to stay here for our time in Maputo.
We hope all is well in the good old US of A. Know that as you are preparing to enter the winter season we are coming into summer. Days are hot (upper 90’s and higher) and nights cooler. The rainy season is approaching as well. Today it rained for 8 hours. We had a few leaks given the amount of water that fell, but nothing a few towels couldn’t take care of.
Much love to all you faithful readers! May you be abundantly blessed today!
Sarah
We are mostly unpacked. The things that are left to be put away don’t have any place to go right now. We’ve moved from a partially furnished house to an empty one so we will have to hunt around and find some places to buy furniture. Much to Steve and my dismay there are no garage sales, flea markets, antique stores or second hand shops here. Therefore we will have to buy new. Oh well, there’s a first time for everything!
Our new house is just lovely. The kids are thoroughly enjoying the yard (front AND back) and the room to roam. There are lots of windows and a huge glass ceiling above the stairs, which floods the house with sunlight all day long. We have a living room with a corner fireplace (very unusual in Maputo) and a big dinning room for lots of friends to have dinner! A decent sized kitchen and a great back porch. There is a door from the kitchen that opens to the sidewalk, which leads to the back yard, and a door out of the porch. We have a long driveway with a covered area to park the car. We have 4 bedrooms which allows for a guest room since the girls are sharing a room and 2 bathrooms! All the floors are hardwood and have recently been sanded and stained. Unfortunately there was no varnish or polyurethane put on the stain so it comes off on bare feet, but we are getting a quote to finish sealing the floors. An absolute must with three children who love to run around! We have a little eat in room off the kitchen which is now our computer room and allows us to jump on the computer for a quick chat at any hour of the day. We are incredibly grateful for our new place and so very happy to be here.
Our yards are fabulous! The grass is a nice change (compared to the concrete at the other house) and there are several flowerbeds waiting for plants. One of our guards is very fond of gardening and has been self-appointed to take care of the vegetation. I think we may give him a patch of ground to farm for himself and his family. He will be able to grow some veggies and greens without worrying about others stealing from his garden. He has already done a great job pruning our plants and cleaning things up around the yard. We are fortunate to have some fruit trees in our yard – mango, papaya, coconut and avocado. Right now it’s mango season and every day we have “showers” of ripe mangoes. It’s absolutely wonderful.
Our new location is much closer to downtown and makes for easy walking into the city (for restaurants, shopping or bread). Our street is quiet during the day with one funny exception. For some reason the driving schools in town (both car and semi schools) use our road for teaching new drivers. So every morning around 9 am a dump truck drives up our street, stops at the “shade tree” across from our house and leaves about 12-15 young men on the sidewalk. Then they each take turns being in the driver’s seat while the others hoot and holler at their mistakes! It’s really entertaining and our guards especially enjoy the show.
So far our new landlady seems very nice and we hope to get along well for the next several years. We love our new house and new location and hope to stay here for our time in Maputo.
We hope all is well in the good old US of A. Know that as you are preparing to enter the winter season we are coming into summer. Days are hot (upper 90’s and higher) and nights cooler. The rainy season is approaching as well. Today it rained for 8 hours. We had a few leaks given the amount of water that fell, but nothing a few towels couldn’t take care of.
Much love to all you faithful readers! May you be abundantly blessed today!
Sarah
posted by Sniders in Africa at 11/06/2005 07:13:00 PM
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