I flew JFK to Johannesburg on Tuesday. 17+ hours. Arrived Wednesday. The sun set on the Atlantic streaking colors like a Rothko painting - solid mass black, orange stripe, fade to blue-grey. When it came back up, however, I was asleep.

Today, I flew with a group from Joburg to Maputo. Peace Corps personnel greeted us at the airport. At the hotel, we received training materials. A director from the embassy briefed us on security and we were given shots.

First impressions of Maputo:
-red-orange dirt beneath long, paled patches of grass
-palm trees
-white-stone seaport-style downtown with full-building billboards
-the billboards are owned by Clear Channel
-Portuguese-style mansions face the bay, behind them, corrugated tin-roofed shacks, hanging sneakers for sale and streetside food vendors
-along a corrugated tin wall, children race car-size tires; nearby, coatstand-shaped trees made of rusty exhaust pipes stand upright
-a woman walking with a red Igloo cooler balanced on her head
-grid-structure paved roads in downtown, beyond this, roads seem convoluted and unpaved
-steering wheels on right side of vehicle: cars appear to be driven by ghosts