We have now been in Mozambique for six weeks, and it is around this time that culture shock is usually at its most severe. We have been rather more stressed recently than normal, but on the whole we are still feeling reasonably positive, so thank you to those of you who have been supporting us in prayer. 

We are now settled in our flat. It is a second floor apartment in a residential area. There is no garden for the boys to play in, but the road is so full of potholes that cars only drive about 10mph, and we are not worried about the boys playing in the street. (It strikes me that this is a cheaper alternative to traffic calming than putting speed humps everywhere!) Many of the local residents are in the habit of holding parties at night time, but we quickly learned to sleep through these. There were also some faults with the flat. The most alarming was that Gregory received a severe electric shock from the cooker socket. The most irritating was that the drain pipe from the kitchen sink leaked, and the water flooded all over the floor. We could avoid this by carrying the dishwater to the bathroom and throwing it down the loo (being careful that there was no cutlery lurking in the murky depths!). However our landlord has proved to be a responsible man, and these faults are now being fixed and we are feeling more comfortable. We calculated recently that in 15 years of marriage this is the 11th place we have called 'home'.

We finally took possession of our car this week after some delays in the paperwork. It is a sturdy and comfortable 4 wheel drive which should be suitable not only for our time in Maputo but for wider travel around the 'bush' in Mozambique. We thank the Lord for his provision in this area. The delay in getting the vehicle was not without its benefits though; we have become connoisseurs of the minibuses that ferry thousands of people around the city daily. We have also spent hours walking the streets and becoming infinitely more familiar with them than is possible to do in a car.

Our language study is going well. We have tuition daily from 8.00 - 10.00 and then spend much of the day consolidating what we have learned. We were most encouraged last week when we paid our teacher for the first 50 hours of lessons and she remarked that we are further ahead than most of her previous students after this time. When she gave us our receipt it felt almost like a certificate! The challenge is always to take the language out of the classroom and onto the streets. Only then do you learn to speak naturally. We were not making much progress in this, but last weekend another missionary couple gave us some suggestions. Since then Sharon has started chatting to the stall holders in the local market each day, and Gregory has learned to play the local version of draughts which is played by all the security guards who sit in the streets day by day. He has so far played our guard and another from across the road, but there is potential for him to play everyone in the street! Such informal social contacts are essential for gaining fluency. We are both able to see progress in our ability to communicate, though there are days when we still feel very inadequate and tongue tied. Our whole purpose in spending this time in Maputo is to learn Portuguese. If we fail to get a good grasp of the national language we will never be able to work meaningfully in this country. We are therefore making a concerted effort to stay focussed on this goal and not to become distracted by other projects.