Hello everyone!
I am unable to post the entries from my time in South Africa right now (I am writing this from an internet cafe and those entries are on my I-Pad), but I will as soon as I can! Photos will be posted at the end of my trip.
Today we left South Africa and flew to Mozambique. It was a busy morning, packing everything back into our suitcases, which was made difficult by the souvenirs we had accrued during our stay. Natalie then drove us to the airport. Carly and I really enjoyed staying with her, and her apartment was so cute! I would love to live there. Thanks for putting up with us for a week Natalie! And for introducing us to wonderful things like rusks, koeksisters and Ms. Fischer’s Mysteries!
After checking our bags at the South African Airways counter, where the lady helping us was in a bad mood, we said goodbye to Natalie, breezed through security and had time to checkout some shops and take advantage of the wireless internet (which we had to pay for and which kept booting us off) before boarding the flight.The flight was only an hour, and for once we were all sitting next to each other, so it felt like we had just taken off when they were announcing our descent!
We deplaned, and went through immigration and customs with no problem. Our bags made it as well, which is something we’ve been worried about every time we’ve been at a baggage claim! So far no lost baggage, knock on wood. And even better, nothing has been stolen! Dores’ friend Gil was there to pick us up from the airport. His car barely fit us plus our luggage, but finally we were packed into the car like sardines and off we went to our accommodations. Driving in Mozambique is even crazier than in South Africa, which I didn’t think was possible! There don’t seem to be lanes, and everyone just does what they want when they want to, and then people honk the horn like that will excuse them or prevent an accident! If I lived here I would never drive. The locals know what they’re doing though, and our taxi drivers and Gil have gotten us to our destinations in one piece so far!
Gil dropped us off where we are staying, which is a huge building owned by an order of nuns. Dores thinks it used to be a school, but Carly and I are thinking more along the lines of a hospital. Currently the nuns run a hostel in one wing and then live in the other with some other girls who I think are training to be nuns. I believe the nuns also run a school there. We each have our own room, with a sink, shower and bedet. The toilets are communal and down the hall. It’s pretty nice, although at night the hallways and unused rooms can be creepy. Combine that with the echoing, and it feels like an abandoned mental hospital straight out of a horror movie. That aside, the rooms seem cool (I can’t sleep when it’s hot!) and clean, which is all I could ask for.
Once we settled in, Gil took us to Dores’ favorite casual restaurant right on the beach. It was dark so we couldn’t really see anything, but hearing the waves and smelling the salty air was so great. I had a delicious salad with tuna, and shared that with Carly and had some of her Greek salad. We both helped ourselves to Dores’ clams too! Gil works for an NGO here in the city, and I think he is going to be a great resource for Carly during her time here. He is also really nice and full of information about the city.
Gil had to leave to go home to dinner with his wife and children, so we took a taxi back to the hostel. I was so tired when we got back that I went straight to bed. We are starting early tomorrow because we have a meeting with the director of ARPAC, which is the center for anthropological research I believe. With all this Portugese being thrown around, I am having trouble keeping up!
Até logo (which means see you later),
Jennifer
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