It is winter in J-Burg and tonight the temperature is in the 30s.Needless to say, it is not the kind of weather to be wearing short sleeved shirts and sandals.Because of delays at Atlanta (scanning equipment malfunction and some inappropriate luggage on the plane), our flight was delayed for 2 hours.We were pulling into the J-Burg Airport when our next plane connection to Maputo was pulling out.So?We decided to spend the night in the lobby of the airport.We did meet a colleague, Cate McKinney, from the CDC whom we met on our last exchange so we all had some good company despite the minor inconvenience of staying the night.
Our Delta flight was a bit turbulent – much of the flight we were required to keep seat belts on.Over some time, we got used to the rhythmical oscillations of the plane – up, down, back, forth.Surprisingly, the ticket holders had strong stomachs as we saw no one suffering from motion sickness.The path that this plane took was entirely over water (perhaps that explains the turbulence) as opposed to our last flight which flew over Africa in a North – South orientation and avoided much of the water (that flight by the way was much less turbulent).
I had one fright when on the plane and that was because I lost my glasses.I made the mistake of sliding them partially into the pouch on the seat in front of me for easy access and they got knocked off – most likely by me.But that ended my reading ability for the remainder of the flight.An announcement was made to be on the lookout for a pair of glasses and fortunately one of the passengers found them (thank God) as Lori and I were already developing contingency plans for what to do if they were not located.
At this point in time, we are really looking forward to getting to the hotel in Maputo for a nice shower and change of clothes.Thinking of you all!
In 2008, St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing at Moravian College partnered with nurses in Mozambique, Africa, to strengthen their membership organization, ANEMO. Strengthening the nursing force in this impoverished country is vital to improving health care for its people. During SON/Moravian’s second visit to Mozambique in July 2009, faculty members Dr. Lori Hoffman, Dr. Michele August -Brady, and Dr. Maria Schantz begin their work in Maputo (the capital), then travel to the province Inhambane to attend a regional meeting.