Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Countdown to Mom

Time is dragging in a way that only happens when you are really, incredibly excited about some upcoming event.

My mom arrives in Maputo in a few hours and it is a massive understatement to say that I can't wait!

I am taking most of the week off work to hang out with her. Definitely one of the benefits of being a consultant - I can create my own schedule to some extent despite the fact that I am under a year-long contract with the BIC. Very cool.

I am on my way home in a bit to have some lunch and make some jewelry. I have a friend here who is easily my biggest jewelry client, and I need to finish some cluster earrings for her. The cool part is that she owns a day spa, so we trade my jewelry for her beauty treatments. Works out very well, especially with the wedding coming up (massages and facials are definitely needed on a regular basis!). I am going in for a back and shoulder massage before heading to the airport this afternoon.

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have a great time with your mom! There is nothing better than spending time with someone you love, respect and can appreciate. I spent last week with my family - the good ones, the awful ones, and everyone of them I love.

Anonymous said...

Hope you have a great time with your Mum. Mine visited recently, it was fab.

P.S Have done a version of your Meme.

Amber said...

Yay! Have fun. Has she ever come before? That's a long trip!

:)

Masood Ahmed said...

Enjoy and make her trip full of fun and love.

Unknown said...

I'm excited for you! Say hi for me!

Anonymous said...

April 2005

"And now I am writing with the hope that people I've never even met somehow stumble across this blog. Not to be grandiose, but I have a feeling that the experiences that are about to come my way will certainly be life-changing; I can't help but think that it will all make for good reading!"

I did just stumble across your blog and stayed to read your very engaging writing.

My curiosity was peaked because I love the Swedish writer, Henning Mankell's work--especially the Kurt Wallander series, and I know that he lives in Maputo and underwrites a theater there. So, "stumbling across your blog" was intriguing since I don't know anyone personally who has emigrated to Mozambique.

Additionally, I work in a Spanish & Portuguese Department on a UC campus and one of our faculty's specialities is Afro-Portuguese literature.

Then there is the "uprooting oneself to move to another country" aspect of your life. My husband and I just packed up a 20ft container of our worldly possessions and shipped it off to France. We will soon follow it and people ask me if I'm excited and I can't really explain how I feel.

Your writing is very compelling. I will come back to see how you are doing. I hope that you have a good time with your mother. She must be very excited to be visiting you.

I packed my container on what would have been my own mother's 75th birthday and March 31st will mark the 17th anniversary of her death by self-inflicted gunshot wound to the right temple. It was Easter Sunday that year. Isn't it amazing what there is room for in human experience? I am happy that you have a mother who can come to visit you in Africa. That, in and of itself, is lovely.

Have fun and make a lot of wonderful memories!

Bart Treuren said...

hope your time together will be a meaningful one...

keep well...

Ali Ambrosio said...

~Southern Goddess - Your description of family made me chuckle. I had a great time with my mom, my only wish is that her trip had been longer.

~Safiya - I just checked out your version of the meme. Isn't it cleansing to do this?

~Amber - It was my mom's first time here in Moz, or in Africa for that matter. Definitely a haul from the Bay Area!

~Masd - That was certainly my intention; I hope I succeeded despite my moments of stress and tiredness.

~Laundrygirl - Will do. While here my mom was talking about the DeYoung and I thought of you...hope you are well!

~Anonymous - Wow. I am so glad you stumbled across my blog, and I wish I had some sort of contact info so that I could write you back a proper comment. My undergraduate degree is in Latin American Studies and Portuguese, so I spent a lot of time in the Spanish/Portuguese department at the Uni of New Mexico.

Your story about your mother made me so incredibly grateful that mine was here, in good health and good spirits, to spend Easter with us despite the fact that we are literally on opposite ends of the earth from each other.

Good luck with your upcoming move to France, and please come back here to visit more times.

All the best,
Ali