First Impressions

So I'm here. I made it. I'm staying in a very nice hotel in Maputo with 54 other volunteers, and after the disaster with my missing Peace Corps passport in New York (they told me I couldn't get on the plane becuase without the PC passport I didn't have a visa, but then they relented and I got on, harried and anxious, at the last minute), I'm very glad to be here. I have to say, I don't really feel yet like I'm in "Africa," because all I've seen so far is the inside of hotels and a little bit of Mozambique on the van ride here. My first glimpse of Africa was as the sun rose over Senegal, and then we took off for another 8 hours in the sky and all I saw was clouds and the backs of my eyelids. And last night in Johannesburg we weren't allowed to leave the hotel, for our own safety, so I pretty much saw nothing there either. Nice hotel though. Picture white buildings and red tile roofs.

Tomorrow we start officially training for the Peace Corps. I guess we've technically been "training," but tomorrow we officially start learning Portuguese, so I'm going to count that as the beginning. I also received four semi-painful shots this afternoon. We're here for only three days, and then I move to an area just outside Maputo called Namaacha and meet my homestay family. I'm hoping that I have a lot of siblings there because that's what I'm used to.

From what I've seen, Mozambique is beautiful, as everyone assures me it is. I don't want to sound superstitous or overly dramatic or anything like that, but the overwhelming feeling I've had so far on this trip is one of peace and that this is right. It feels good, and it feels right. And now, it feels like sleep.