Online, finally

Sorry for the delayed post. I arrived safely in my hotel at about 10pm local time Friday (4pm EST, we're actually 6 hours ahead and not 7 like I told folks). Unfortunately couldn't get online until now. The CDC IT folks put a bunch of restrictions on my laptop, so until I get that resolved I:

1) can't access the wireless in my hotel, and

2) have to wiggle the mouse every 5 friggin minutes while watching a DVD so it doesn't go into standby

The business center charges about $5/15 minutes, so I've been avoiding that too. I'm in the CDC-Zambia offices now, which are actually 2 floors below my room at my hotel. First day of work is tomorrow, so I should have more regular access and be able to respond more quickly to emails (read: send me some).

My flight was mostly uneventful; I got somehow screwed out of my aisle seats when Delta switched the type of plane for the flight, and 16D went from an aisle to the middle seat in the middle row of 3 (read: worst seat on plane). Plus, we didn't deplane in Dakar, so I was in that seat for 18 hours straight. It honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, but I'm feeling it now and have been exhausted all weekend.

Sitting directly behind me from Atlanta --> Dakar --> Johannesburg were my new boss, her husband, and their 13-month old son. I knew my boss was awesome, but found that her husband is also and her son is VERY well-behaved. Near-crisis in Johannesburg, as my reservation was cancelled for some reason on the Johannesburg --> Lusaka leg and I thought I'd be spending at least 1 night there, but was able to get on standby and made it ok. All my bags made the trip, with nothing damaged or missing. I had my first experience with a driver in an airport holding a sign with my name on it; I considered asking the guy for the sign, but it also had the name of another woman from the embassy which took a bit of the sheen off the idea.

My hotel is great, not uber-fancy but certainly nicer than it has to be. Nice covered outdoor restaurant, big gym, generally crappy and super-expensive food. As promised, the staff and every Zambian I've met so far are extremely friendly and warm. The weather is AWESOME (at least by my definition), and both days have been clear/partly cloudy, 65-75 degrees F, and dry. It is winter here, so it gets dark from 6 to 6:30, but aside from that I have no complaints.

I was lazy and didn't leave the hotel on Saturday. Today, my boss and family took me to lunch and shopping, showed me around a bit and introduced me to a few other CDCers. My first day of work is tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to meeting more colleagues and seeing more of the city. What I've seen thus far is great, but I haven't really been anywhere and my ride from the airport was dark (very limited street-lighting), so I couldn't see much.

More later, hopefully w/ some photos as soon as I learn how to use my camera.