Bem-vindos a Moçambique: Quick Update #1

After a crazy few days, all 56 new Peace Corps Mozambique Volunteers have arrived safe and sound. So far, so good. It has been a very interesting experience to meet such a big group of people who have in many ways been living in parallel for the last few months. We all went through the same long application process, followed by a similar rollercoaster of emotions and same process of saying goodbye to our friends and family. We come from different places and probably have different reasons for being here, but already know we have a fair amount in common, just for wanting this experience. We also know that we will need each other for support over the next two years. Altogether, this has made it easy to feel like a big family almost immediately.

Our trip from Philadelphia to NYC to Johannesburg and - finally - Maputo, was long but relatively smooth. One group of volunteers hit a snag with their visas that left them waiting in the airport an extra 45 minutes, but in the end we all made it intact without major complications. We were shuttled to a very nice hotel in a rather posh part of town, fed a fantastic meal, shot full of vaccines and then left to enjoy the pool.

So far, we really only saw Mozambique from the plane and the shuttle from the airport. The hotel is like a small resort, that could be almost anywhere. There was American music playing at the restaurant, all of the staff speaks English. One striking feature from the plane was the complete lack of paved roads outside the city. Only miles (I guess I should start saying kilometers?) from the center of the capital, there were only dirt roads visible. In the picture below, you can make out the beginning of the city in the top left, while the whole right-hand side is still completely rural. It doesn't quite do justice to the contrast, but it shows a little of what I saw.

Tomorrow, we have a full day of more orientation and shots here in the hotel, then we will leave on Saturday for Namaacha, where we will spend the next 10 weeks living with host families for Pre-Service Training. I found out that I will be staying with a 65 year old woman named Maria and her 22 year old nephew named Hélder. I will have much more to say after I live with them for some time, although I will probably be without internet for a while after leaving the hotel.

Take care, everyone!