Olá

I'm happy to say that all of Moz 15 (what my group is referred to) made it to Maputo safe and sound. Staging went well - all 71 of us officially became PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees).

The traveling from Philly to Maputo was probably the most exhausting experience I've ever had. Not only were we all completely sleep deprived (most of us averaging 6 hours of sleep the past two days), but we were furiously moving and repacking our bags to get under the 50 pound weight limits. Imagine getting to the terminal 2 hours before the desk even opens and being hoarded around with two 50 pound bags and an almost 40 pound carry on. Imagine arriving 4 hours early for a flight to check in and see 71 people lined up already with massive amounts of luggage. "Is this the queue?" Why yes sir, it is.

The plane ride was definitely more difficult than ones I’ve been on before. But the flight food was actually very delicious as long as you didn’t get the fish. Wine and liquor was free if you were over 18, which definitely helped. The Johannesburg airport was really pretty, but by this time we were even more exhausted. Group 2 had a 4 hour layover (Group 1 was on a separate plane which they had to hold for them because we were late). The best part was probably finding these amazing plush couches and just plotting down on them. The $11 chicken, bacon, and tomato Panini was well worth it, as was the $4 latte. I was probably most surprised by the large number of Chinese people there. There was even an advertisement completely in Chinese. 

The gate for our connecting flight to Maputo wasn’t scheduled until 1.5 hours before takeoff, and even then they changed it 40 minutes before. We waited in line to take a shuttle to the plane and then climbed up the stair-tram thing before we got on the plane. Another PCT sat next to an African, and was asked the standard where are you from, why are you here, etc. He didn’t know what biology was or science. I’m not sure if it was a language problem, but it was really interesting try to think of a way to describe what science is.

When we landed in Maputo and walked off onto the tarmac into the airport. It was pretty much a two roomed building. One for customs clearing and another for baggage claim. Luckily there were PC Moz staffers there to help us and everything.

I’m staying at the Hoyo Hoyo Hotel, which was much better than I imagined. The rooms are tiny, and that’s coming from me (smaller than the ones from Beijing Mom) and thus the beds are tiny. The shower curtain doesn’t keep the water in, but I’m really grateful for the either boiling hot or freezing cold shower (I alternate between the two during showers). But what probably was the worst was carrying both of my 50 pound bags up 4 flights of stairs as well as my too heavy carry on. However, I managed to do that all by myself of which I’m really proud of. We have patios, AC, electricity, running water... It's surreal.

Most importantly, the food is AMAZING. You seafood lovers would be jealous. The first night we had crab curry, and delicious fish is served pretty much every meal. I’m surprised at how much curry based food we’ve been served, but I love it. I hear diets here are very starch heavy – breads, rice, potatoes, pasta etc. As if I mind, but I’m sure my knees will from the weight I could gain. Just kidding! I’ve been somewhat good at limiting myself to seconds for the entrée and dessert. ;D Haha. 

Also, I've seen the straight, which I'm going to pretend is the Indian Ocean. Amazing!

Training has been a massive overwhelming of information. I don’t even know how to describe it. But it’s been absolutely amazing. I love it. The people are amazing. It’s strange to think that I’ve really only known them for 4 days. But, as you can tell we’ve been living really comfortably. It still doesn’t feel like I’ve joined the Peace Corps. It feels like camp. 
  

Tomorrow we’re finally going to our training site in Namaacha, which is when it really begins. I am so excited and nervous (I know no Portuguese). We’ll be separated into three neighborhoods based on where we’re health or education, and then if you’re science of English. There are 8 other chemistry teachers, 5 math teachers, and the rest are biology teachers. But, PCVs have emphasized how flexible these titles are, so I’m hoping I get to teach some computer classes too. There’s a bunch of stuff I wish I had time to talk about, but I’m about to get my second round of vaccinations. The two I got yesterday already left me with a sore arm and I hear there are 6 up for possibilities. And the next few weeks are going to be pretty much communication-less. 

Miss you guys!

Also, apparently it’s free for me to google voice you guys. So look out for that!