Jane and I had the pleasure of having two college students from Africa stay with us for a week. Paulo (from Angola) and Alimo (from Mozambique) gave us a wonderful experience and have definitely inspired us to visit them in Africa soon.
The stay with us was made possible by the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS).
Our first meeting with them at FIUTS where they introduced their countries and afterward take them home.
Our big day together was on Satuday (Jan 20, 2024) when we took them part of the way up Mount Si near North Bend. This was the fellow’s first time up in the mountains, particularly in the snow. What made a little challenging was that the steep Mt. Si trail was literally just ice. Fortunately, I had four pairs of boot spikes (don’t ask why I have so many) which allowed us to take it on anyway.
Paulo and Alimo had a great time in the snow. The slip of the ice was a little sketchy at first. But it didn’t take long for these guys to run the trail!
And after the hike, the fellows wanted to take a walk through the Microsoft campus…
We got schooled in the kitchen by Alimo. The “chicken stew” in a pot, but the centerpiece was Nshima, “biscuits” made only of corn flour and water. Nshima is fabulous with spicy chicken.
The cooking included some dance since the fellows preferred having tunes piped in just about 24/7.
As a part of the FIUTS program, Paulo and Alimo were required to assemble speeches presented to the larger group. Both demonstrate not only a capacity for complex English communication but confident presentation. These two were quite amazing.
(Alimo’s group presentation on Mozambique is not available… yet.)
On our last dedicated day together we enjoyed a scoot down the hill to Pike Market on the bikes. The downhill was a little sketchy with these two having almost no fear. Let’s just say there was a good “oh shit” moment. Though, the uphill back to the top of Queen Anne was a different perspective, a view that was a little less thrilling, shall we say. 🙂