Sunday, June 29, 2003
I have managed to sort out accomodation much sooner than I hoped. Me and the three Brasileiros on the team are going to share a big flat on 24 de Julho Avenue, about 30 mins walk from our work in an interesting area: safe enough, but still in the heart of the city.
Between us it will work out pretty cheap, too. It has quite a palatial living room and outside porch, plus two garages - pretty swank eh?
So hopefully we are going to move in next week, and get out of the rather anodine Hotel Ibis. Once we´re there I will post up some digital photos.
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Between us it will work out pretty cheap, too. It has quite a palatial living room and outside porch, plus two garages - pretty swank eh?
So hopefully we are going to move in next week, and get out of the rather anodine Hotel Ibis. Once we´re there I will post up some digital photos.
Thursday, June 26, 2003
As for the baggage it did eventually turn up three days later. But I had to be the unshaven, pongy guy at the table for monday and tuesday. No massive change there then!
The weather is very like Edinburgh at the moment, cool and lots of rain, but not cold. A lot better the oppressive heat I was expecting - that comes later.
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The weather is very like Edinburgh at the moment, cool and lots of rain, but not cold. A lot better the oppressive heat I was expecting - that comes later.
I have managed to find an internet cafe and a spare hour so I can write something ´proper´ at last.
My hotel room at the moment is on the 9th floor of one of the city´s main drags, when you look out of it at sunset you can see the sun shining through the clouds across the curve of the bay - Maputo does have the potential to be really beautiful, but at the moment it is a mix of construction sites, half-ruined colonial buildings, and a few spanking new skyscrapers.
It will be easy to pile on the pounds here - a woman came around the corridors of the MPF (the Ministry building where I am working) selling roasted cashew nuts from the northern provinces. For about 40p I bought a big bag of them, they are delicious but extremely moreish. On the other hand some of our early ´immersion sessions´ into the state accounting system lasted for 6 hours with only tea breaks and no lunch, so maybe things will balance out.
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My hotel room at the moment is on the 9th floor of one of the city´s main drags, when you look out of it at sunset you can see the sun shining through the clouds across the curve of the bay - Maputo does have the potential to be really beautiful, but at the moment it is a mix of construction sites, half-ruined colonial buildings, and a few spanking new skyscrapers.
It will be easy to pile on the pounds here - a woman came around the corridors of the MPF (the Ministry building where I am working) selling roasted cashew nuts from the northern provinces. For about 40p I bought a big bag of them, they are delicious but extremely moreish. On the other hand some of our early ´immersion sessions´ into the state accounting system lasted for 6 hours with only tea breaks and no lunch, so maybe things will balance out.
Monday, June 23, 2003
Well I got here safe, we were greeted at the airport and whisked through customs - very swank. Although SAA did manage to lose my bags, still waiting for those.
Job looks great - can.t wait to get my teeth in.
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Job looks great - can.t wait to get my teeth in.
Sunday, June 22, 2003
The hotel did indeed send me a confirmation email, in the politest portuguese, so everything is set.
I fly in a few hours so am 'bricking it' a bit to put it mildly.
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I fly in a few hours so am 'bricking it' a bit to put it mildly.
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Well, I am flying out on Sunday afternoon, the flights are all sorted and I made a reservation by email at a small hotel in the centre of Maputo. When I phoned up to check if they had in fact got my message, a very chilled-out gentleman answered, words to the effect of: "sure, we've got your email... yeah, we'll send you a reply tomorrow, cool, yep". So hopefully that is that.
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