Photos by Deb.

Today we went to a small photo shop to get a passport photo of Alex taken. For some reason the bank requires him to have a passport photo to open the business bank account. We have been trying to open the bank account for weeks, but its one thing after another. Business is not easy in a 3rd world country. Back to the story.

Anyways, so we walk into the photo shop and it's pretty crowded. People standing at counters waiting to be helped, people sitting waiting, people standing in lines. We noticed there were about 10 people working behind the counter. But were they really working? No, they were working the Mozambican way. They sit around and watch one person work until the boss tells them to do something. No joke. There was one Chinese man (probably the owner) helping everyone. Everyone who needed help was crowded around his part of the counter trying to get his attention. I see this everywhere. You drive past a construction site, you see one person with a shovel working with 15 other workers with their hard hats on sitting and watching the 1 man work. How many Mozambicans does it take to dig a hole? Apparently 16 Mozambicans can get the job done. This is besides my story.

So we are directed to walk behind the counter to get his passport photo taken. As I walked back I thought I was walking into the photos by deb studio. (You know? From Napoleon Dynamite?) It was so old fashioned with the back drops, and when we walked in the photographer had a Mozambican posed so awkwardly, and he would not move a muscle from the pose. (I crack up laughing just thinking about his facial expression.)

Finally, Alex is next in line. He sits down in front of the back drop. The photographer looks at him, flips the curtain to a different color, then goes to pose Alex. First, he tells Alex to take the things out of his pocket on his shirt. So Alex follows the direction, without problem. Second, he tells Alex to "sit good". Annoyed with the photographer, Alex sits up a little. Then, the photographer touches Alex's face, trying to position it the way he wants. and "SLAP!" Alex slaps his hand away and tells him to hurry and take the picture. (side note: Alex hates people touching his face) The photographer looks around at his co-workers, so offended that Alex won't follow his direction. He continues to try to position Alex without actually touching his face. I was standing by the line of people who were waiting, laughing outloud.

We have been busy running here and there trying to open bank accounts, getting the businesses registered, etc. Tomorrow we are taking a team of people with us up to Chokwe to analyze the land we are looking to use to grow rice. (note: we changed our crop from corn to rice.) We will be there a few days. I hope we have progress.

Missing these guys! Plus many more! I love America!