The Posh Corps: Our First Days in Mozambique

I started this blog because I figured it was the easiest way to keep everyone back home informed of my progress as a Peace Corps volunteer. I resisted at first because I am not an avid write and it is not something I would consider a hobby. Therefore, these posts, while informative, may not be the most intriguing composition you have ever read. However, I do hope you find them entertaining and use them as a way to share my experience.

After 26 hours of travel, myself and 55 other education volunteers arrived in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo. Our travel composed of a 2 hour bus ride from Philadelphia to New York, 6 hours of waiting in the airport, a 15 hour flight from New York to Johannesburg and another 1 hour flight to Maputo. The picture below is a view of the Maputo airport and one of our first views of Mozambique.

After going through immigration and customs, we spotted two Peace Corps workers who were awaiting our arrival. Our bags were quickly packed into an enclosed trailer and we were loaded into various vehicles.

 

We were whisked away to our luxury hotel. En route, we got a glimpse of Maputo and from what I saw, it looked like a really neat city. Our hotel is unlike what I imagined my Peace Corps experience to be. We are staying at the  Hotel Cardoso  which is a luxury hotel on the bay complete with two pools, various conference rooms and an amazing restaurant, not to mention the running water, hot showers, electricity and wifi. 

Half of our luggage lining the hotel lobby

The first day we had a brief orientation which included meeting some Peace Corps Mozambique staff members, receiving our training manual and allowance for the next two weeks. We wasted no time and received a few vaccinations as well. After that, we had an amazing buffet lunch. This lunch was not a typical buffet lunch. The food was elegantly prepared and amazing in flavor. There was everything from vegetable salads, amazing seafood salad, fish, chicken, beef, cooked vegetables. Not only was the quantity impressive but also the quality. 

Today included more orientation and training. First was a safety information session from an employee of the US embassy here in Mozambique. This session was meant to scare us and it worked. Next was some health training. The most exciting part was receiving our medical kits, which include everything to keep us healthy over the next two years. We also practiced assembling out 18 liter water filter. Last was more shots and the beginning of our Malaria prophylaxis. It turns our, we are expected to take malaria medication for the duration of our service.

Tomorrow we are leaving Maputo and moving to Namaacha where we will begin our 10 weeks of pre-service training. I will be living with a host family with 4 kids in their upper teens and early 20's, which I am excited about. I will not have internet readily available for most of my time in Namaacha. I will be able to use my phone with internet to access email and, of course, Facebook. They will be distributing our sim cards soon so stay posted.

View of the hotel from our balcony. The pools are behind the beautiful palm trees.