Flying Days and Hotel Stays

Even though our flight wasn’t until mid-afternoon, all of us were up bright and early. With so many people with so much luggage on an international flight, and a three hour drive from Philadelphia to New York, I’m sure Peace Corps didn’t want to run any risk of us missing our flight.

We arrived in New York around 11 AM. I made a few final phone calls to family members to say goodbye one last time. And then the waiting began. With our flight leaving at 5:20, check-in doesn’t start for another two and a half hours. The group of us put down our luggage and found ways to kill time until check-in began. Some people went to change some money from US Dollars to South African Rand. Others went to buy food. Lots of decks of cards are broken out and, with the airport being absolutely dead, a Frisbee is thrown around for a couple minutes. While we were waiting, a group heading to Madagascar joined as at the check-in line. They, too, were on our flight to Johannesburg.

Check-in went surprisingly smoothly. There didn’t appear to be many issues when it came to weight limits of luggage. My one bag weighed exactly 50 pounds, the weight limit for a single bag. The line moved fairly efficiently, which meant we would just have to weight more at the gate. But the waiting at the gate seemed to move much more quickly than at the check-in line. I’m sure everyone started to get a lot more excited as the time of our flight got closer and closer.

The flight was long. Really long. From New York to Dakar, most of us sat for some seven and half hours. Some of us wanted to sleep, but the timing just wasn’t right. Landing in Dakar was spectacular, as the sun as just starting to peak over the horizon. There was so much humidity sitting in the air in Dakar that we could barely see the end of the wing on the plane. After being up for some 20 consecutive hours on a mere four hours of sleep, the flight from Dakar to Johannesburg was a lot easier. I was a asleep for most of the eight hours of the flight. It wasn’t great sleep – it was just enough to keep me going through the night in Johannesburg – but if felt pretty good.

We landed in Johannesburg two days after taking off from New York and were greeted by some higher-ups from Peace Corps Mozambique. We gathered our luggage and tried to catch vans to our hotel, but people kept jumping in front of us. I guess that, like in Ghana, one has to be a little aggressive to catch a van.

The hotel we stayed at in Johannesburg was rather swanky. We were greeted by complimentary glasses of wine, of which many of us took advantage. We showered, relaxed, and ate some dinner. One of the people at my table ordered ostrich. I asked for a bite, and it was actually pretty good. With the texture of chicken and the taste of beef, it might just be the perfect animal for eating. One more glass of wine right before bed and I was out like a light.

The next day, October 2, started early as well. With a 9:40 AM flight, we had to be at the airport around 7:45. Even with the early wake-up time, I still had a great nights sleep. We bussed over to the airport, eased our way through security, and waited for our flight from Johannesburg to Maputo.

While we waited, I met a woman who was in Peace Corps in Togo in 1977. After Peace Corps, she went to grad school and then worked for U.S.A.I.D. for 27 years. Currently, she is working independently, doing the same kind of health work she did while with U.S.A.I.D. She has traveled everywhere from Haiti to Ethiopia, and currently, she was finishing up a trip that started in Mongolia, took her to China, Washington DC, South Africa and Mozambique. She’ll be here for five weeks, setting up HIV/AIDS and women’s health programs. I got her card, figuring that there may be a Volunteer who would be interested in working for one of her programs – and having a contact who worked with U.S.A.I.D never hurt anyone.

Arrival in Maputo was very smooth. We picked up our luggage (everyone’s arrived without problem) and boarded a pair of busses which took us to a hotel just a couple of minutes away from the airport. We were greeted by a couple of current Volunteers and our Training Manager, who set us up with our room keys. After a quick lunch, we were introduced to some of the medical staff, where we got our first round of shots. Even with all the shots I got for Ghana, I still had to get a couple. We also had some interviews in Portuguese to determine in which level we should be. Despite the hours I put in prior to leaving, I still got butchered during the interview.

With the mornings starting early, our evenings have been pretty open. Most of the time has been spent getting to know each other. A couple of us played “Theme Scrabble.” Whatever word we played had to fit into a theme; our theme was “myths.” It presented a pretty good challenge because a lot of the words that I’m used to playing couldn’t be played.

Friday started bright and early at 8:30 AM. Our morning started with an introduction to our Country Director and the Charge D’Affairs from the U.S. Embassy. Most of the day was committed to our safety. We learned about some of the risks in Mozambique, and what we can do to prevent poor things from happening. Part of keeping us away from risk was learning how to purify our water. We also, for the first time, broke up into our job groups to discuss some of the challenges and solutions of our jobs. Many people also took another round of shots, but I was let off the hook for the day.

During the evening, there was a wedding at the hotel where we are staying. Lots of kids were running around, and came toward where many of us were sitting and talking. Some of the trainees started talking with the kids in a combination of bad English and worse Portuguese, but conversations like those are always fun. Meanwhile, some of the kids were somewhat blown away by the Frisbee I had been throwing around with another trainee. They wanted to get involved and were eager to learn how to throw it. Pretty good way to spend a night.

Saturday was committed to what our next ten weeks would be like. We got our first Portuguese lesson. Much of it for me was a review, but it was a good opportunity to pick up some new words, and learn the accent, which is much different from the Brazilian Portuguese I had been learning. We also got a lesson on how to take shower baths and use “squatty potties” – nothing I haven’t done before but new to most. Most importantly, though, the last couple days have been a good opportunity to pick the brains of current volunteers. We received a lot of good advice from the people who are in the know.

Our Saturday ended with a small party, and with that, we are off to our home stays. I don’t know what internet will be like in Namaacha, but I will try to post again soon.

Hope all is well with everyone.