Welcome to Maputo!

Welcome to Maputo!

Mozambique 17

Myself, and the 50 other education volunteers that are a part of Mozambique 17, arrived yesterday to this amazing country. Surprisingly, the first people we saw when exiting the airport were not Mozambicans, but the Chinese construction workers building the new terminal for the airport (figures). After a furious and overwhelming drive through several neighborhoods of Maputo, we arrived at the very swanky Hotel Cardossa where we are staying till we leave for the training facility in Namachaa on Saturday.



Till then, we have been enjoying the many

Hotel Gardens- que bonita

 amenities of the hotel, as surreal as they may seem. For a group of  people who signed up for a minimalist livelihood, its a little uncomfortable to be having doors opened by hotel employees and meals served as a giant buffet. On top of that, we're prohibited from leaving the hotel because of our lack of cultural experience. As far as introductions to a country, this is as close to dipping a toe in as possible.

Our day today was filled with 12 hours of information meetings that gave brief, but important, descriptions of training, home stay policies, medical kits, safety and security issues, water filtration, and administrative policies. We also got to meet with Ambassador Rowe for a talk about her priorities for the region (women's education, sexual education, american business investment). The funniest part of the day was when one of the Peace Corps Trainers described how some of our host mothers might try to bathe us, as they've been instructed to treat us like children. I quickly learned the phrase "Eu posso me banho" (I can bathe myself). All in all, it's been a mentally exhausting day, setting a high bar for the next 10 weeks of training.

I'm looking forward to leaving this air-conditioned cage and meeting my Mozambican family tomorrow, cause it's about time for this to get real!

Oh, oh, oh I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel

Man! I feel like a woman!

(song played in the hotel lobby while this post was written)

Mo-Sam-bique

So in case you don't know, on September 28th I'm going to the bique to visit my bros from Moz for 27 months of Peace Corps service. The idea is that I'm supposed to be a secondary math teacher, but considering how things are always in flux, that might change.

What might also change is my reasons for going there. Though they have been evolving and revolving since the moment I decided to join the Peace Corps over a year and a half ago, the foundations have remained the same: The Program, Their Life, and My Growth.

The Program: Since I've heard about the Peace Corps, it has seemed like one of the best programs our government runs. Sending some of our best and brightest young citizens abroad to do volunteer work, learn about foreign cultures, and teach host country nationals about what Americans are really like is as important for our nation's political discourse, growth, and safety as any other government program. To be one of these chosen few is a true honor and I hope to live up to the expectations I have set for myself.

Their Life: Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, attending a top flight high school and university, and having to worry about mostly first-world problems is a privileged life. But it makes it easy to forget how difficult life in the rest of the world can be. So in order to truly appreciate where I come from and properly orient myself for where I want to go, its important for me to see the world as it truly is.

My Growth: Being one of the lucky few who have grown up in a multi-cultural home and had the opportunity to travel the world, much of my education has been done while living out of a suitcase. By throwing myself into a completely unfamiliar environment with unknown challenges, I will be able to build on my strengths, understand my weaknesses, figure out what really matters to me.


Right now I'm ready to leave and I'm woefully under-prepared, I'm motivated to make a difference and I'm discouraged that it won't really matter, I look forward to all the upcoming adventures and I'm cautious because the cost of a mistake will be much higher, I'm confident in the decisions that led me here and I wonder what the hell I'm thinking. 


I'm excited about everything being new and scared about having to relearn all I know

A man walks down the street

It's a street in a strange world

Maybe it's the third world

Maybe it's his first time around