TIA or WAWA…

Even before our arrival we were warned about adapting to our new surroundings. Simply put…This Is Africa and West Africa Wins Again.

This about sums up our adjustments for the first month. We have become keenly aware that the only way to keep your sanity is to take a deep breath and accept the fact that things will always eventually work out. Here is our list:

- Air Freight: the point of our paying a ridiculously high fee was to get mostly Adi’s toys and our necessary effects quickly. Well between no follow-up and confusion between my company and the processors it took 1 month to receive our 2 boxes. They could not even locate it for about 5 days and we were told for at least 6 it would arrive that day. Would not have been as big a deal if its importance wasn’t reflected in Adi’s eyes when he woke up from his nap to find ‘Christmas’ unfold in front of him

- Housing: due to the influx of extractives related workers the real estate and housing situation is very pricy and competitive. So we decided to stay in our present accommodations for the first phase of our stay in Maputo. But the initial 2 bedroom they put us in was just too tight to really enjoy ourselves. We were on a list to get the 3 bedroom and was told we could move 2 Saturdays ago. Then they told us we couldn’t. Then they said nothing would be free till December. So we grudgingly accepted the reality we would be crammed. Then 2 days later the oldest house in the complex opened up and we got our present large and nice home. Aside for the sewage smell that waifs our way from outside every couple of days and the rather old set-up compared to our much newer last place, we are elated to have a dedicated playroom for Adi and more living space for the rest of us. Oh, and CNN decides to disappear every 3 days requiring 1-2 day wait to fix it.

- Internet: it is very slow, very expensive and very limited where we live. The new house wasn’t being reached by the wi-fi so they had to rewire a new unit. This only took 2 weeks and daily calls to get them to fix it. As for our phone, it still does not make outside calls within the city.

- Washing Machine: so, our new house does not have a washing machine and since the ‘hotel’ we are managed by charges $4 a shirt, our only option was to buy a machine. Luckily my office paid for this and after having negotiated the purchase of one in Portuguese it took 1 week for them to deliver it (was promised the next day) and for the hotel to actually install it requiring a notice from my work of how long we would stay there. This process took the assistance of 4 of my office stay, 3 follow-up visits to the store we bought it from and no less than 30 phone calls.

- Nanny: that actually speaks any English has been a challenge. We finally posted an add and had a nice women vouch for her current nanny, join us for the interview and help her through the English. But we find she is just a very good actress and knows very little but it a nice lady and really tries with Adi. She will help out half day as he starts daycare for the other half. After 1 month Pranvera will finally have a break from dealing with our little stinker.

Logistics aside, we love this place. The people, the scenery, the weather all fit into exactly what we all were looking for with this transition.