Orientation Weekend

Friday 5/31/13

Moz 20ers!

26ish hours after leaving Philadelphia, I finally made it to the hotel in Maputo! We were greeted at the airport by the country director, health program coordinator(?), and current PCVs. It was a short ride from the airport to the hotel but I got to see glimpses of Maputo. The hotel is reallyyy nice! but we were told by our country director to enjoy it but "don't get used to it because it is not typical at all" .. aka this luxury compared to the bucket bath and latrines we're gonna be using in a few days :(

Girassol Indy hotel.. my last chance to enjoy electricity, taking showers and having a toilet

After our buffet style lunch, we walked over to the PC headquarter for orientation. They took a mug shot picture of us right away when we got to the office to put on the picture map (a map of where the volunteers are located in Mozambique) toward end of training when we find out where our 2 years site is. We were all tired from the long flight so the pictures were not pretty haha... I guess it will be something to laugh at at the end of our 2 years service. We had an initial safety and security orientation and then they distributed us a SIM card, walk around allowance, and our PST (Pre-Service Training) manual (our bible for the next 10 weeks). I took 2 shots today, rabies (the first dosage.. gotta take 2 dosage later) and meningococcal. It hurts :(

After dinner I had to reorganize my two suitcases to pack the things I will need during training since Peace Corps will collect our 2nd bag in the morning and we won't see it until we get to our site which is after training. I knocked out in bed by 8:30pm. I haven't slept this early in a longgg time!

Saturday 6/1/13

Breakfast buffet

Bye bye '2yr site' suitecase.. see you in 10 weeks!

We had an introduction to PST, presentation from the Medical Staffs, and learned how to put together the water filter and how to filter our water. We received our medical kit and malaria prophylaxis medicine today. I'm starting Mefliam tonight and I have to take it once a week every week for the next 27 months. They said the side effect is vivid dreams.. I usually don't dream much but lets see how this goes!

The 'cutter' group

We cut our sim card to fit our iphone 4 and it was a success! I don't have a plan yet though. I've been freeloading wifi at the PC headquarter. We're not allowed to leave our hotel so I'm using the free 1 hr wifi that the lounge offers right now. We're going to Namaacha tomorrow to meet our host family and then intensive training begins on Monday. Training is 399 hours in 10 weeks.. Mon-Fri from 7:30am - 5pm ish and Sat 8am-12pm ish. From what I heard, we won't have easy access to wifi during training so it will be awhile before I can get online again. Until then, byee!! Wish me luck :)