The Beginning

Bom Dia,

Good Day everyone! I decided it might be easier to keep in touch and tell everyone what I am up to here in Mozambique this way.

Well I have been here since Sunday. The flight was uneventful (except for my crying while watching Marley and Me), but long (14 hours from JFK to JoBurg). I have begun to believe that economy seating is a new form of torture. I met some nice people on the plane, who were going to Africa to do some sort of relief type work. I met a grad student from MD. It was her first trip out of the country and she was going to Malawi. What a place to go for her first venture out of the US. The people that I met helped me to feel a little better about my decision. I was definitely not wanting to leave on Friday evening and Saturday morning when I got to the airport. I was thinking...why in the world am I doing this. I must be crazy. Of course, I was up all night on Friday packing (the Myers-Briggs P in me), so I am sure the lack of sleep was not helping my mood.

I arrived in Maputo, Mozambique Sunday afternoon. (Maputo is the capital of the country). I almost got taken by some over zealous taxi drivers at the airport, when I was saved by my CDC driver who was running a little late. I was so tired and not thinking clearly. I was also the last one to get through immigration and figured he had left me! Of course, they would not do this. Luckily, he got rid of the other drivers, got my bags for me, and took me to my hotel. Driving into the city, you definitely see the poverty right away. There were kids playing in the mud of a road being constructed with big plows working away right around them. It was almost like it was their beach and they were building sandcastles. My hotel is pretty nice, but it is definitely not the true "Maputo" experience. It is very toursity and a lot of international people stay here. I may get moved, but that will be a story for another entry.

The weather is amazing. It is in the 80s, sunny, breezy, and no humidity (my hair is loving this!). The views are absolutely beautiful. The city sits on the Indian Ocean. The downfall is that since it is technically winter, the days are short. It is getting dark by the time we get out of work at 515 pm. It is not safe to walk around alone or at night, so figuring out logistics on how to get to the store, etc., have been challenging. Also, I am still catching up on the lack of sleep from Friday-Sunday. I am off today for the Mozambican Independence day and will hopefully get my bearings around the city. You have to get drivers to take you most places and stores are definitely not common. I am starting to regret my decision to ditch a ton of stuff at home, because my bags were too heavy. Also, it didn't do me much good, both of my checked bags were still overweight. FYI: United charges ABSURD fees for this.

I am off to walk around the city with one of the girls that is here with me. She is in charge of the CDC IETA program in Atlanta and decided to take an assignment to see what we all go through. IETA is a training program for DHHS employees (mainly CDC, but they let some of us misfits in from other agencies) aimed at preparing people for more permanent over sees assignments and/or more short term stays, as needed. I am also here with one of my fellow IETA participants, who is a division director in Atlanta. This has been helping with my transition. Also, everyone in the office has been very nice. Various people assigned here on a more permanent basis have had us over for dinner three nights this week and everyone has been extremely welcoming. (I will write more about all of this and work later).