You're not in Mozambique any more...
On Tuesday, I flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, where I will wait for Joel's arrival on June first and then we will continue to wait for the birth of our child. I am staying with MCC's regional directors. The past three days have been full of seeing the distinctions between Mozambique and it's wealthy neighbor to the southwest.

Ways I know that I am not in Mozambique...
- When we got off the plane in Johannesburg, we walked to a bus that drove us to a cavernous entryway of the airport where we followed signed to our next flight or baggage claim and customs. When one arrives in Beira (where I left), we walked from the only gate out on the tarmac to the waiting plane.
- There is vehicle traffic everywhere and very few pedestrians
- The hospital where I will give birth is self contained and not a series of buildings around a courtyard.
- I pre-registered to be admitted to the hospital. So when the time comes, we just show up in the maternity ward and they'll be expecting me. I highly doubt that such a thing as pre-admission exists in Mozambican hospitals.
- There are numerous public restrooms and I don't have to do the 6 point restroom checklist (clean, locking door, toilet seat, toilet paper, water to flush, water to wash my hands)
- I don't think I've seen a pothole yet
- There is an ethic of customer service
- We buy our produce at the grocery store (neatly packaged in celophane) instead by the kilo at the open air market.
- I am having difficulty finding cloth diapers but every size of disposable diapers are available; whereas in Mozambique, I can easily find cloth diapers (albiet thin) and depending on the day random sizes of disposables.
- Very few women seem to have hair extensions.
- We go everywhere in a car.
- Everyone is wearing shoes
- People are accustomed to forming lines instead of all bunching up at the counter
- I receive a receipt for every purchase I make. In Mozambique very few stores give receipts without me asking for one.

Ways I know that I am still in Africa...
- The electricty blinked off several times while I was at the hospital today
- Similar flora
- Napkins at restaurants (in Mozambique, they might be available on your table, but chances are, someone has cut them in half. Here, I haven't seen them unless one orders a full meal)
- Walls, locks, barbed wire and security guards (even more so than in Mozambique)

It shall be interesting to see what else I observe while I stay here in South Africa.