Back home and photos posted

Hello there... I haven't signed in since I left Bizana, but I've been home for about a month now and just posted two albums of photos... one of my 3 months in South Africa, and one of my vacation travels for the 2 weeks after.

Here's the link if you're interested to check them out:

http://picasaweb.google.com/brianwahlgren

Enjoy,
BW

Oh... and where am I traveling...

My friend from Northwestern, Brennan, arrives in Johannesburg this evening. We're off for 2 weeks. Oddly enough, my roommate from Northwestern, Tony, also happens to be in Africa right now on a Management project for his MBA program at U Chicago, and as luck would have it, has been working with a bank in Johannesburg for these last few days. The 3 of us are all going out tonight in Joburg... from Evanston to South Africa, the world is a small place.

Week 1 of my travels includes Joburg, down to Cape Town, drive the Garden Route (stops in the Winelands of Stellenbosch, then to Knysna, Tsitsikamma National Park, Jeffrey's Bay) to Port Elizabeth, then fly back up to Durban and drive out to the Drakensberg Mountains before returning to Joburg...

... where we will meet Brennan's girlfriend for Week 2 - 4 day safari through Botswana's Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, and Chobe National Park. And finishing off in Zimbabwe and Zambia at Victoria Falls.

I realize how fortunate I am to take in all of these places, especially to top off an experience like this! Come to southern Africa, you will not regret it! So much to see and do.

My work is through

So here I am in my full Pondo outfit - scarf on my head, the vest, the pants, and the decorated stick as an accessory. You should have seen the reactions the folks of the Municipality were giving me when I unveiled it yesterday before our sendoff party. And if you're wondering about all that smoke, that's from the huge braii they threw us at lunch time.

In true Mbizana fashion, they threw Heather and I quite the sendoff, with a celebration in the Council Chamber - highighted with speeches by Managers and by Heather and I, of course everybody joining together in song, and a champagne toast. And then it was out for the braai!

It is really hard to believe that I've already come and gone from Bizana - what a fast 3 months. I really have learned so much and met so many unforgettable people. We have been welcomed into their community and their family, and I hope that I will see some of them again at some point in my life. I hope that I can return to see a flourishing Bizana.

I spent a lot of the week transitioning with the people of my department, having last training sessions. And I spent most of Thursday morning transitioning with my Manager. Words can't express their gratitude to us - it has meant so much to them that we have come so far from our homes and our families to a place we didn't really know before - but now a place we appreciately immeasurably. The Municipal Manager told me I must return home to tell my family that I have a new family now in Bizana, and their homes were open to my family... so when I brought my family and friends back, we always had a place to stay. I really believe that we did accomplish a great deal in short time on the work front. But even more so, we built personal relationships and friendships that I hope can uphold, over email to start (assuming they keep it up after our training!)

By the way, this is where I've been sitting for the last 3 months writing most of these posts - this is the trailer which is my Manager's office... I usually sit right there at the table.

With Hlangabezo, Ncumisa, and Nwabisa - 3 department officers - before I left yesterday

Last few things... we went out during lunch the other day to the village of Nkantolo close to Bizana, which is where OR Tambo is from and where his Heritage monument is located. I drove out with Heather, Tanya (UN Volunteer) and Tanya's husband Scott. About halfway there, we thought we were lost, so I told Heather to pull over and I would ask the woman on the side of the road. They thought I was crazy because she probably didn't speak any English... and I rolled down the window and completely in Xhosa greeted her, asked her where Nkantolo was, and Thanked her and finished the conversation as she pointed us on our way. When I rolled up the window, Scott turned to me and said, "That was amazing. You didn't speak any English!" By far, one of my crowning moments here in Bizana - and the department LOVED it when I told them. Their lessons paid off.

Had dinner and a few drinks at The Estuary last night and said goodbye to all our local Port Edward/Estuary friends. This morning it was up at 530 and driving the hour and a half to Durban Airport. Seeing the sun rise about the Indian made in a memorable drive - I am sad to not be returning to the Estuary. I landed in Johannesburg this morning.

Spent today in Accenture's Johannesburg office - major shock! A proper office. Good lighting. High speed internet - who knew! Talk about a contrast from one day to the next.

So with that, I am done. I am off to travel for a few weeks before my return home on April 15.

I've really enjoyed keeping up the blog and thank you all out there for reading and continually corresponding with me. I hope you've enjoyed as well. I hope it has painted a picture of my few short months here - and it will certainly serve as a timepiece for me years from now when I read what I wrote.

Hope to check in from my travels - and please do check this still in a few weeks. When I have more time, I will probably post one or two more times, and have more time to share a load of pictures.



Cheers! - Brian

Pondo pants for my last day

The Municipality is sending me off in style. Like with Colleen, Mike, and Cathy, I am getting a traditional Pondo outfit to take back for to the US.

Vuyo (my Manager) had me go to the local crafter to be fitted so that everything fit well. Here I am standing with Radi (pronouced Hadi) who crafts and hand makes all of Vuyo's traditional clothing. Radi had me try on my new beaded vest and also the Pondo pants that I will take with me. Basically like khakis, but all sorts of patches and strings hanging from them. Radi has hanging over her shoulder a couple of the skirts that they are going to present to Heather too.

Look close enough too and Radi's skirt is made of cloth with Mandela's face on it.

My family would get a huge kick out of seeing this fitting and Radi's shop that I went into to be fit. My grandmother was a seamstress and a crafter of her own for about 60 years - tailoring clothes, making clothes, pillow cases, dust ruffles, curtains, etc etc - such an intricate skill and art that is dying out. Anyway, I walked into Radi's shop and I felt like I walked into Grandma's sewing room - it was surreal. Sewing machine, large rolls and random pieces of fabric all over the place, clothes hanging everywhere, yarn and string on the table next to sewing machine. I told Radi about my grandmother and we talked a bit more about their similar skill - she enjoyed that.

This morning, I presented everyone with 1 CD of photos and 1 CD of all the files and templates we've created. Success was marked by seeing them opening their CD-ROM drives after handing it to them.

Sendoff to start around lunch today... my last day in Bizana.

Seeing progress

I had a really great moment here last Friday. I think I wrote about how a few weeks back, I worked with the department Admin Clerk, Phamela, and taught her how to create folders and a file structure on her computer. Her computer is the main repository for department docs, and it really was about 600 unorganized files all in My Documents. So I taught her to create a folder, how to drag a document into it, etc. And then I asked her if she felt comfortable enough to do it on her own, she said yes, and I let her be to finish it on her own. Over the next week, I'd ask her how the the filing was going, and she'd say "Good, good, I'm learning Brian." But as I've experienced all too often here, they say they've learned or they say they've done something, but then when you go back to get a finished product, there is no progress.

So last Friday I walked into her office... and she and I have a great relationship, always laughing and joking... and I say to her "Hey P! How's the project going? You file all of your documents?" and she said yes and asked me if I wanted to see. And so easily, she navigated through her folders and wouldn't you know it, 20 neatly organized and appropriately named folders - for all the different types of docs she has. It put a huge smile on my face, and I just told her how great of a job she'd done, and now could better manage all the department files. I know this all sounds so easy and basic, but you should have seen the smile it put on her face and the confidence it built in her.

So this morning was my final training session - we reviewed all the templates we've created so that they have a refresher in how to use them - project concept template, detailed project plan template, meeting minutes template. As a way to end it, I put together a slide show of photos I've taken here in the Municipality with them, at each of the events, and even a few of the videos I've taken. As many of them don't have cameras, they LOVE seeing photos. And I'm going to burn a CD of the photos for each of them before I leave tomorrow.

Then after the photos of them and us, I showed some photos of me and my life back home - family, friends, Boston, what 3 feet of snow in a blizzard looks like, Fenway Park, and all my other favorite things. They also loved that and got a kick out of it! Some of you out there reading this definitely made the slide show too!

Last week, if you can believe it

I'm not quite sure if anyone out there is still reading this... but I'll keep posting.

Hard to believe, but this is my last week on the project - our contract with UNDP ends this Friday, March 30. So the transition process has begun, and Thursday is the last day at the Municipality. Friday morning I fly to Johannesburg and work from our Accenture office there. I've started to complete all my final documents to hand over to the Municipality and to UNDP. And when I started to reconcile all the documents we've created, and summarize all of our activites, I realized that in short time, we've actually accomplished a lot. Sometimes it doesn't seem so in the daily chaos around this place. But I am organizing files, templates, documents, reports, a transition plan, and everything else to handover to my Manager, Rodger (UNDP Project Lead) and the Municipal Manager.

I spent my last weekend locally in Port Edward and had a great one. Friday night, Heather and I joined Tanya and her husband Scott, and Christina, for the Friday curry buffet at The Estuary. So good. I think it might be the third Friday I've done it. Scott laughed when we walked in because everyone knew me and Heather, we were greeted by everyone. We have become regulars. So a huge Thanks to Gavin (the owner), Sara (manager) and her boyfriend Doug, Sacha, the chefs (including my sports watching pals Des and Boyd), Gugu (receptionist) - just a great bunch of people there who have all made our stay easy, comfortable, and worthwhile. If anyone ever comes through Port Edward on a trip through South Africa, a stop at The Estuary is a must.

Saturday added to the weekend, I certainly had an active day. I was up at 6:00 and on the golf course for 18 holes with Scott by 7:15. Then came home, regrouped a bit, then went on a strenuous yet scenic mountain bike ride through the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve with Heather and Tanya (about 14km, a good balance of up and down hill... I ached on Sunday). I had gone on the trails once about a month ago and loved it, so am glad I was able to make it there a second time before I left. Also a big thanks to Natalie and Jan at Clearwater Trails. And ended the day out for dinner, a few Castle (my favorite South African beer) and a chance to watch the biggest match of the Cricket World Cup thus far - South Africa v. Australia. Unfortunately, SA lost pretty badly.

Stay tuned for updates on the work front through the week...

Finally posting photos

Finally got my photos organized and was able to post a few... hope to get some more out there next week... few of Bizana, a couple with some teammates, a couple from last weekend in the Drakensberg Mountains. Oh, and sorry for the finicky formatting, I'm having trouble with the tool today for some reason. Enjoy.


Here's a view looking down Main Street Bizana...

... and the perpendicular cross street how we enter the town

View of the estuary forming from Port Edward beach into the resort complex (my little villa is in the top right corner of the photo, upon the hill)









A photo caught of me doing computer skills training in one of our offices last week

Moude Cafe, a shabeen (local tavern) we drive past on R61. These shabeens are pretty common all along the way. We like this one because the wall outside reads "GREAT BEER - Just a day to brew"








Bryce, Heather, Lindsay, and I in the Drakensberg Mtns at Sani Pass. If you look all the way top center of the photo, right underneath the cloudless part of sky, we drove on a guided 4X4 tour to the top of that mountain, 9000 ft, apparently the 3rd steepest pass in the world, and the only entrance in the Drakensberg into the Kingdom of Lesotho...



Pulling up into Lesotho. This is border patrol - "Immigration Welcome to Lesotho" painted there on the building.

With Heather and Pete at Mama Africa in Cape Town

Mountain biking through the banana trees in the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve

Tidal waves and Oprah's new school

After I wrote my little piece on sports apparel I've seen here, I saw a Charlotte Hornets jacket on the drive home last night!

Fall has definitely come into effect here, the temperatures have really dropped within the last few days. About what it would start to be late September in Boston. But in comparison to some of the extreme heat I've felt here, it felt pretty cold.

In addition to the weather change, the ocean has been really rough and unbelievable to watch the last few days. There have been some incredible waves along the entire South Coast, some 20 ft or so high. We've been watching from The Estuary, as the tide covered the entire Port Edward beach yesterday, and the estuary into the hotel area was overflowing. The waves spanned the entire South Coast, beyond Durban and further north, and have been the news story of recent days, as tidal waves and flooding have done some serious damage to roads and houses in the coastal towns. The waves and ocean shift is due to some gravitational changes - apparently, last weekend the sun, moon, and earth were all aligned in such a fashion that only happens every 18 years causing the rough seas and waves.

In other news... American news in South Africa, Oprah opened her second school in South Africa last week in nearby Kokstad, which is really close to Bizana. I happened to be driving through Kokstad on Friday afternoon on my way to the Drakensberg Mtns, but didn't see an entourage flowing through town... Found a few articles about it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17645539/

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=105&art_id=vn20070317093202446C236722

Sports talk

One of the funniest things that always catches my eye here is when I see somebody wearing something of an American sports team. It has most likely been left in the community by past travelers or volunteers like me, and most time it's somebody walking on Main Street Bizana or along R61. Over my time here I've seen somebody wearing... a Chicago Bears jersey, an Atlanta Hawks jacket, a New York Islanders t-shirt, a New York Yankees hat, an Atlanta Braves hat, a Cincinnati Bengals t-shirt, a Anaheim Mighty Ducks hooded sweatshirt, and this morning I saw a Chicago Cubs hat. A random assortment...

And while I am out of it in terms of my sports at home, I've really taken to the sports on TV here. Rugby is decent and I can watch, but I have really gotten into cricket and English Premier League Soccer.

Cricket is so hard to figure out and understand, but I have made some giant strides here over the last few weeks. Right now the ICC Cricket World Cup is being played, and South Africa is the #1 rated team, so there is always cricket on. And if it's not the World Cup, there's the Pro 20 (South Africa's major league). It's taken me awhile to understand balling, wickets, overs, how runs are tracked, etc. but it is definitely a game I'm starting to like. I understand the basics, and now I want to learn the strategies. My teammate Pete (from UK) understands cricket well and has spent some time trying to explain it to me. As does my pal Des (the chef at the Estuary hotel). Some nights I choose to just walk down to the Estuary hotel part of where I live, there is a restaurant and a bar where I will go for dinner. Many nights it's slow, so Des will come and sit at the bar with me and we watch whatever is on - mostly cricket, sometimes rugby. Des is a sports fanatic like me, so we have some good times watching.

But with all this SA sports talk, I am excited that the Sox will be in full gear by the time I return. Just need to solidify that bullpen...

A successful week

I'm about to head into another computer training session with the department. This morning, we're doing Introduction to Power Point. These lessons are pretty basic, and luckily I already have training docs to base off of, as well as give to the team to have for their reference.

It's been a successful week though... I was able to meet with our admin clerk earlier in the week and teach her how to create her own folder structure on her computer (picture hundreds of documents without naming structure or rhyme or reason saved in My Documents... a bit difficult to find things). It took a moment for her to get the concept, but when we drew it out on paper like a set of stairs, her mind clicked. Next thing I know, she's got File --> New --> Folder down pat and she's organizing all of her documents. Hopefully this builds to be the central document repository for reports and templates for the entire department. Small steps. Also, I had a chance to sit with our Development & Planning Standing Committee (the councilors that oversee our department) and talk through a preliminary Monitoring & Evaluation strategy and process, as well as conceptualize some basic reports that will help them on their Massive Vegetable Production project. M&E is more a long term initiative, but I am going to leave them with template reports and a process mapped out; the intent improve tracking of their community and Local Economic Development projects and be able to show progress in the Municipality as well as to the beneficiaries of the projects.

Am off for the weekend to the Drakensberg Mountains, to a spot called Sani Pass in southern Drakensberg. Sani Pass is the only way into Lesotho through the Drakensberg; Lesotho is a country that is completely landlocked within South Africa. It's supposed to just be an amazing spot. Heather and I are meeting Team Tata and the 6 of us are staying in a rondeval for the weekend... taking a 4X4 guided drive through the pass on Saturday and doing some hiking, going pony trekking (aka horseback riding) on Sunday. Always stuff to do in the outdoors... Otherwise, we plan to hang out, braai, have a few drinks, and just relax as this is the last time the 6 of us will be together. Bryce and Siobhain leave Team Tata next week.

Enjoy your weekends!

Food options

We went to one of our favorite spots last night for dinner - Del Monte in Ramsgate. Just a little Italian spot, pizzeria. Last night was our 5th time going there because I've gotten something different on the menu each time - tried 3 of the specialty pizzas and one time had the lasagna. Everything has been delicious each time, and last night I went already knowing what to order. One particular pizza had caught my eye before called "Banana Beach," which is a bacon and banana pizza. I never tried it... but I like bacon, I like banana... why not give it a shot? So last time I asked the waitress what she thought of it and I think her exact quote was "I know, it sounds really strange, but actually it's quite delightful." I mean, it was "delightful," it had to be good, right?. And it actually was pretty good - call me crazy. I might not rush to order it again, but definitely not the worst pizza I've ever had.

I've had some amazing curries here too - lamb, beef, chicken. There is a pretty large Indian influence in Durban, so a lot of the restaurants down the South Coast (in KZN, south of Durban) seem to each have curries on the menu. Definitely hearty portions as well - some of my favorites include the ones at The Estuary (where I live) as well as at the Peg in Port Edward, and even the "bunny chow" in a bread bowl at Reflections in Port Edward was pretty decent. Just 2 of the local spots we go to (there aren't too many!). When you get curry here, you usually get a dish of sauces, raisins, bananas (yet again), sometimes coconut... all a bunch of stuff to mix into the curry.

Calamari here is excellent too - and fresh! I have no idea a percentage, but from what I understand, a lot of the world's calamari comes from this region.

My eating options in Bizana, on the flip side, are a bit limited. Most days I bring a lunch (PBJ, few chips, piece of fruit). There is one restaurant called All Seasons that we go to occasionally that makes just a few things - cheese and tomato sandwich, chicken or mutton with rice/beans, veggies. We feel comfortable enough to eat there, the regard of health/cleanliness is pretty much up to par, and we always get a big smile and welcome from the wait staff. The food is quite delicious too. The sign that reads "Chicken is Freshly Slaughtered - Hope You Enjoy" might be a bit discerning, but you get past this stuff very quickly. Oh, and there's the woman who comes around each day selling maize for a few Rand. And in seemingly every city or town here in South Africa, there is also a KFC - but I don't even like it at home, and haven't gone to the one in Bizana either.

I had no idea what my food situation or options were going to be like when I came here. And for the most part, in and around where I live, I've eaten really well (and meals are so cheap!!). Different cuisines, a lot of great seafood, some great seasoned meats on the braii, traditional African meals - a whole mix. Even groceries are a fraction of what they are at home - and I'd say about half the time we cook or braai ourselves, and the rest of the time we eat out. On the whole, I've had no complaints, then again, it takes a lot to get me to complain about food...

Toil for firewood

So we were driving home yesterday and from a good distance I could see something that I thought looked rather funny and strange to me. Amongst the rolling hills along R61, in comparison to the amount of open fields, there are barely any trees - never mind any trees that are really that close to the road.

But from afar in one of those trees that happened to be closer to the road, I could see something in the tree a good 20-25 feet off of the ground, and the tree shaking and some of the branches bouncing up and down. As I peered closer, I noticed that it was two young boys that had climbed up the tree. And as we approached, I could see one of the boys, the younger one, balancing within two pretty thick branches and breaking smaller branches by hand. The older of the two was stomping on a larger extension off of the trunk and trying to break it off by foot. And then as we drove by, I noticed that under the tree was a woman looking up, watching the two boys.

In a quick moment, I had a feeling of wonderment, and out loud, said to myself... "What the..." - and before I could even speak any more, Heather, without even skipping a beat just cut me off and said "Firewood." Amazing. The woman was collecting the branches that came down.

Which reminded me, a few weeks back we got this photo - this is an image we see everyday. Often it is so incredible to see first hand, but in a quickly moving car, tough to capture on photo. There are moments that we all have when we're taking photos of crazy sights or occurrences here, where we second guess if we should take them, as if it's exploiting culture or a way of life... where our mental pictures and memories should do the trick. And I've seen many things, had no camera in hand or just decided it was best for my own memories. Though, this particular image and part of life here is so unbelievable that it has to be shared. It speaks on so many levels - and demonstrates an unbelievable mark of strength and labor in the people, as well as a lifestyle and a culture well built on an adaptation to the nature and means around them.

Just checking in...

I was on my way to work this morning thinking about signing onto the blog and wondering what I had to write about. And then I realized that there isn't too much... things have gotten pretty routine and I'm really used to my life here. I can honestly say that there is not a whole lot I long for or miss about home (especially winter, after sitting on the beach in Port Edward for two days this weekend striking up a pretty solid tan). Which is a good sign, after a little over two months, nothing is that out of the ordinary. Of course, just as I start to feel that way, it will soon be time to have to wrap up, pack up, and be on my way. But I'm not thinking about that yet.

Of course, the one thing I do feel out of touch with though is my sports. I read the headlines online, see some quick Sox and Pats news, and thanks to all who have sent emails and forwarded articles and news. I had a 45 minute conversation with my Dad on Sunday, and I'd say 30 minutes was dedicated to sports talk. I can say I am excited to return home and have the Sox in full swing.

But missing the NCAA hoops tourney (and the CBS music!) - now that is a big one. I caught a glimpse of the bracket yesterday morning, and minus knowing the top teams this year, the matchups didn't mean much to me.

Still haven't gone through my photos as promised... I will, I will...

Week 9 comes to a close

It's a really quiet Friday here today. Some of the department members are at a workshop, and the department manager is in the Executive Council meeting. I've been able to organize a little bit and get things straight on how to approach these final 3 weeks - areas to focus on to achieve some of our opportunities and initatives while I'm still here, as well as plans to equip the department to keep moving forward after I depart.

Got up pretty early this morning and had the chance to make my coffee, just sit out on my back porch and watch the sun rise, as the waves crashed and the tide came in. I will certainly miss those views and some of those peaceful moments, the relaxing times to take it all in and think about anything and everything.

Then when it was off to work, when I quickly forget about that serene view, as we drive away from the coast into the hills of the Eastern Cape. We happened to see a pretty bad car accident this morning (fairly common on that road, in addition to some of the atrocious driving... we drive by many of them). But one thing struck me today, which I've noticed before, but never really wrote upon or thought about how crazy it is, because it just seems so regular now.

I've talked about all the school children walking in packs along R61, 3 and 4 deep as they flow into the road of speeding cars. But many of them are carrying chairs in one arm in addition to their backpacks. So on top of having to walk a mile or two to school, some also have to carry a chair so they have somewhere to sit in the classroom all day. Could you imagine? And it's not all of them, it's just some... so it made me wonder what is the deciding factor of whether or not you have to carry your own chair to school...

I'm hanging around Port Edward this weekend, which I am looking forward to. Thinking about seeing if my local friends that work at the Estuary are around or I might just take it easy myself. Tomorrow a friend from the Municipality has invited the UNDP team over to his home for a braai, so looking forward to that.

Oh, and I've taken MANY photos here over the last few weeks (surprise, surprise). I need to put them on my computer and organize, but I'm hoping to post a mix of some for next week.

Have a good weekend!

Time is just moving

I haven’t logged into the blog in about a week here, so a warning before you start reading... this will be a longer posting! Busy last week and time is just moving so quickly. I’ve been meaning to write the last couple of days, but I arrive at the Municipality in the morning and through the chaos of the day, it’s over before I know it. Taking me a minute or two to jog my memory to remember everything to capture as much as possible…

We’re down to two of us in Port Edward/Bizana with just me and Heather (and Team Tata is still at the full 4). Mike and Cathy said their farewells, and I’ve already corresponded with Mike back in the US, who is having is own culture shock adjusting to being back in NYC.

At the end of last week, Team Bizana traveled to Umtata to join the team there for work. Last week our Chief Executive of Global Consulting went on a week long tour of ADP projects in Africa, accompanied by the Director and Founder of the Accenture Development Partnerships program. Our UNDP project was one of them that made the list… so they came on Thursday to meet our team, see the work that we are doing, meet some of our government clients as well as UNDP counterparts. Such a privilege to meet one of the highest executive leaders of Accenture in such a relaxed fashion – and the whole trip was geared to give him an insight into ADP, a chance to gain executive support, bring the publicity of ADP into the business, and make it part of our larger global consulting model. We met with them in the morning for a few hours, and then also had the chance to have a few drinks and enjoy dinner that evening. It was really a great opportunity to explain each of our backgrounds within Accenture, why we chose to pursue ADP, what we were learning, challenges we were facing, our opinions about the program and how it could grow within Accenture.

From Umtata, we drove 2.5 hrs to East London on Friday and hopped on a plane to Cape Town for the weekend. It was Heather’s birthday weekend, and it turned out to be a classic – one of the best that I’ve had in South Africa so far.

Cape Town is clearly one of the gems of South Africa. The views leading into the city, and the views from the city are simply breathtaking. The city is literally on the tip of the continent of Africa, where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans meet, and the backdrop on the other end of the city is Table Mountain. Honestly, it doesn’t feel anything like the rest of Africa I’ve seen and experienced, but it was also nice to get some of the 1st world amenities for a weekend.

We made our way to V&A Waterfront (like Faneuil Hall or Navy Pier back home… touristy) and found a Mexican restaurant (hard to come by in Africa) as Heather was craving it. Actually turned out to be pretty good and they even had Corona… Heather and I checked out the Camps Bay area for lunch on Saturday, sat at a café overlooking the ocean and the beach, and we walked along the beach for a little bit after. It was a cloudy day, but I decided to dip my feet in… and I had heard the water in Cape Town was frigid (currents coming up from Antarctica). Now growing up in New England and heading to Maine every summer, the water is freezing up there but I still jump in, no problem. This water was colder than anything else I’d ever felt – with just my feet in, the first moment I felt nothing, then both my legs went entirely numb… Ended up walking around Cape Town and checking out some of the markets and sights of the city… and Saturday night, Pete, Heather, and I went to Long Street, which is the big “party” street, where there was a street music festival going on. Long Street has the feel of Bourbon Street, narrow, with bars and restaurants lining it, and balconies filled with onlookers drinking and socializing away.

Sunday was Heather’s official birthday – and the 6 of us went out and celebrated properly with a great dinner – had some seafood and sushi – and even found a spot with martinis. Heather was certainly happy. As most of you know, I am not a very big birthday/celebration person myself… but I can imagine for those who are that are used to spending birthdays with close family and friends (like Heather), it might be a little tough to be so far away from home. I think we celebrated well and she certainly felt the comforts of good friends and celebration. We spend so much time together that we’ve all gotten to know each other so well in such short time. The experience brings together a special bond, I think.

Side note - one of the funny things of the weekend was that the Semester at Sea abroad program was docked in Cape Town that weekend as well. There were tons of American college kids running around the bars at V&A and Long Street - and as I said to a few people at home, that's probably the most Americans I'd seen at once since I left Logan. I think for me it was just amusing to see them all together, out partying, exploring the city - and it made me think a bit about when I was a junior in college or the trips I went on. I did feel a bit old watching them all... and there were moments it felt more like MTV cameras were going to pop out and be filming a TV show.

And then it was back to the Eastern Cape for Week 9… which I am about to finish. Like I said, the days are chaotic and there is so much to do in such little time. There are still many frustrations that I feel everyday... some challenges my colleagues/the Municipality cannot control, but more frustrating are the ones that they can and choose not to change or improve upon. Work with what I have, I guess. But I have seen some progress! Little things - them using the Meeting Minutes template we created, creating folders on their computers to save their files, seeing their confidence to present or lead part of a meeting.

I only have 3 weeks left of work – which is crazy! I feel like I just got here. Just have to make the most of it, accomplish as much as possible in the initiatives and opportunities we’ve started.

And yes, Tony...

... per your comment... potato chip flavors include smoked beef, prawn curry, chicken tikka, Thai sweet chili, and chutney. I've actually taken to the chutney flavored chips though.

Mike and Cathy's Sendoff

So yesterday was Mike and Cathy's last day at the Municipality. They both don't officially leave until the end of the week, but we have a meeting in Umtata today (Thursday), and we had to drive here last night. And then they will both head off from here.

The Municipality threw a Send Off Party and get-together for them. They have both been here for 6 months, since September, and have really become a part of the community and the Municipality. The Send Off was heartfelt and genuine, but of course equally crazy and over the top, but in such the way that they do it here. Always fun, always happy, always a lot of smiles and laughs. Sometimes people will yell in Xhosa and everyone starts cracking up - and the UNDP gang just looks at each other and shrugs our shoulders.

Mike and Cathy were each given traditional Pondo clothing (as Colleen was given when she left), and then everyone congregated in the Council Chamber for speeches, singing, and a toast.

The Municipal Manager spoke, Madam Speaker spoke, the Finance Manager spoke (Mike and Cathy both worked as part of the overall Finance organization - Mike with Finance, Cathy with IT). All the speeches expressed such gratitude for their work, their dedication, and the time they have spent becoming a part of Bizana... and that time moves so quickly that nobody is ready to say Good Bye. You can honestly feel the appreciation that eminates in their words and actions. Mike and Cathy were then invited to respond and had some great words to say, but you could tell they were both overwhelmed by the moment, the people, all the photos and farewells. I'll only be here 3 months and I'll be way overwhelmed and not ready to leave - I can't imagine their thoughts yesterday after 6 months.

Mike and Cathy invited to the front of the Council Chamber (next to Madam Speaker and Finance Manager, standing)

And of course in true fashion, there was singing - and a lot of it. Between every speech the entire group of 60+ was on their feet, singing traditional songs and clapping (I wish I could load/share videos on my connection). And it all ended with a champagne toast... followed by a braii out in the back of the Municipality building. Two big grills with more meat than you have ever seen cooked in one sitting. It's hard to explain.

The back of the Municipality building is a bit difficult to describe... (and I've tried to show a small photo)... but picture a fenced in area with a view of hills and houses off in the distance, as well as much roaming cattle and horses. And then in the lot is a garage, some old trucks, an abandoned car, a large tractor, spools of left electrical wiring, so much scrap metal just laying around... you just can't make this stuff up. But we braaied up beef, sausage, chicken, and one of our coworkers even went out and bought a few Hansas for us to enjoy (Mike's favorite SA beer). Good times, good times.

Thoughts and comparisons to home

I completely forgot the Oscars were on Sunday night, and when I got to work on Monday morning, I saw the headlines online about the show and the big winners (good for The Departed). I tend to enjoy the Oscars, and in recent years, I’ve tried to make a point to see most of the Oscar nominated films, so that I have an opinion on most of the categories and the winners. While the show was on Sunday night in the States, I happened to catch a replay of the show on one of our South African stations on our TV last night. So I watched a little… and quite honestly, I rarely see TV here. I’ve maybe turned on our television 5 times since I’ve been here, and not for that long. How quickly I’ve forgotten about some of the celebrities that seem to be on TV all the time at home! From what I watched though, I enjoyed. Nice to get a little culture of home, I found Ellen Degeneres to be amusing… but what is Jack Nicholson doing with the completely shaved head… scary! Hope that’s for a new movie he’ll be in and not his new look.

Interesting conversation on the commute to work this morning. Mike was up early this morning, and turned on the TV to see that SkyNews SA broadcasts about 15 minutes of CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. So on the drive, he started talking about how just 15 minutes of watching that CBS news gave him some reminders of home – and some of the major contrasts of life here. Of course there were the reports of the war on Iraq, and also more discussion about Iran’s plans for nuclear warfare and the US plan against that. And a story about some new technology and further medical research to improve a particular disease (not sure which one it was)… but at the end of the report came a clip telling the viewer... “For more information, log on to www.cbs.com/...” And we started talking about how at home, we are so overwhelmed with information that we take it for granted. For example, we are privy to so much medical information in news segments and articles – about new treatments, new medicines, websites to research health conditions. And here we work in a community where people don’t have access to medical information or treatment – and many are suffering from diseases that they may not even know they have, or that they are too afraid to go get diagnosed.

And there’s a website for everything… and posted everywhere you look. Watching the Oscars, after every commercial break “Oscar.com” flashed across the bottom of the screen. Access to this at home is so normal that when we normally see it on TV, we just glance it over… on the SA news I’ve seen on TV, or even sports broadcasts or commercials, I don’t think I’ve noticed a website flashed for anything.

After 6 months here, this is Mike and Cathy’s last week; Mike returns to the U.S. on Saturday – and we were talking about how he anticipates having a bit of a culture shock returning home, maybe more so than that he experienced when he first arrived in South Africa, noticing all these things that we once glanced over, appreciating the constant access and information.

Speaking of Mike, we celebrated his birthday this past weekend in Durban, which is the city on the coast about 150 km north of Port Edward. Other than my original arrival at Durban Intl Airport, and flying out from there a few times since arriving, I had never actually been in the city itself. We stayed at a hotel right on the ocean front – and the piers and ocean boulevard reminded me of any other beach front boulevard at home. We went out for dinner on Saturday night in one of the “trendier” and safer areas of Durban – had a great dinner at a steak restaurant called Butcher Boys - completely packed with people, loud atmosphere, open kitchen that you could see into and watch the chefs cooking, big bar. Picture your typical steakhouse at home. Next we moved onto a bar with a completely mixed crowd of all ages, races, cultures that was pretty full, music blaring, felt like we could have been in the heart of Manhattan. We got around the city in taxis.

Now I realize that it’s only been a few months, but it was so strange to have a night of city life - to take a taxi, eat in a crowded and loud restaurant, go to a pretty trendy bar. I enjoyed myself and the whole group had a fun night… but honestly, I haven’t missed any of that city life at all. In short time, I’ve gotten pretty accustomed to driving everywhere ourselves, quiet Port Edward and Margate restaurants, low key evenings reading a book while hearing the waves crash. I think that’s a positive of this experience though; while I’ve escaped some of the regularities of my life at home, I’m still in a country and a region that if I need a taste or a comfort of home, I can still get it pretty easily.

Except for some of my favorite snacks… we stopped to get gas on the ride home from Durban and I went into the Food Mart at the station. I was completely longing for one of my simple favorites - those packages of 6 small peanut butter crackers… or even just traditional BBQ chips (all the flavored chips here are so different). And I couldn’t find either! So maybe not every comfort of home.

Sometimes, it's hard to describe this place

One of the best parts of this experience has been learning some pretty simple conversational Xhosa, enough to say "Hello, How are you... I'm well... Thank You" and I pick up a few other phrases here and there. Mike and I always try to speak it whenever we can. By now, arriving to work in the morning, it's pretty standard that I start the day greeting everyone in Xhosa.

But absolutely, the best looks that we get are the ones in the markets or the restaurants in Bizana Town, when we get to the cashier or talk to a waitress... and greet them in Xhosa. It's often a stunned smile, but an appreciation as well, that we are learning their language and culture, trying to fit in as best as we can. It seems like it's always the same scenario... people are always pleased (and maybe a bit impressed) that we try to converse a little bit with them in Xhosa, then they take it to the next level and keep speaking, and we'll have a blank stare on our faces... and tell them "I don't know THAT much Xhosa," followed by quick conversation in English, then an "Enkosi!" (Thank You!) as we walk away.

We obviously stand out in this community when we are out and about, so I think people have started to recognize us coming from the Municipality building as when we walk down the street. And often people stop us and want to chat or find out where we are from, what we are doing here. It's funny how quickly you become immune to your surroundings and just become a part of it. It's probably not always the safest walk, because a lot of people do stare us down. And with always a lot of commotion in the streets, people walking aimlessly or drunk, cars all over the place, the hawkers trying to sell things from their stands, cattle walking through the streets or stray dogs, music blaring from store fronts or the random person with a microphone and amp with a crowd surrounding speaking on whatever he or she feels like, etc. You just always have to look out for yourself. But it doesn't even phase me anymore. This is the community where I work and this is where I've adjusted to being. And yes, I have pictures and will probably take a video on my camera, walking down the street, before I leave. But sometimes I'll look at my teammates and we just shake our heads and laugh and say, "You really just can't describe this place. You just have to see it."

Impressionable students

I'm exhausted today. Not sure if it's just the middle of the week or the heat getting to me, but I'm ending this day pretty drained. I'm also starting to feel a bit sick, scratchy throat, my allergies are reacting to something in the summer air. I've had a productive day with the department, however, so I have no complaints. We got through a few meetings successfully and even finally completed, printed, distributed, and posted a contact list for everyone in the department.

One of the pleasures of this opportunity for me is that in addition to the department manager and officers, there are 3 students who are currently here doing their equivalent to a field study or a practicuum. They are all students in university in East London, and two of them are born and raised here in Bizana, so they know the community well. One is a student majoring in marketing, another in tourism, and the third in small business/enterprise development... each no older than 20.

I'm really enjoying working with them and helping them find ways to contribute to the department, putting their knowledge from university into practice. Plus they've all grown comfortable with me and now approach me to ask me questions, ask for my help. We're always kidding around, and for each of the stories I tell them about my life in the States, they usually teach me a new Xhosa word or two - and laugh at me hysterically when I try to pronounce back what they teach me.

I bet they think I am older than I really am, but they show me a level of respect which I appreciate. I find that in some ways, they are the 3 I can make the most personal impact on. They want to improve their computer skills, they want to improve their speaking and presentation skills. One of them has an interview upcoming for a job that he'll take on when he is done here, do part time while back at school. He excitedly came to me Tuesday morning to tell me, and then he asked me if I could help him prepare... telling he'd never done an interview before, asking what they were going to ask him. So we walked through some questions, talked about his answers, and over the last two days I've seen him preparing and doing some internet research on the organization he is interviewing with. I like to see that initiative - let's hope he gets the position!

My weekend in Kruger

Monday… another scorching hot day here in Bizana. Trying to stay cool to start the week off. Time is winding down for the Bizana 4, Mike and Cathy are done on Feb 28, and this is actually their last full week at the Municipality. Soon it will soon be down to the Bizana 2 (Heather and me).

Amazing and unforgettable weekend for me. Mini vacation of sorts as we took an extra day. First we flew into Johannesburg and then drove out to Kruger through Blyde River Canyon, the 3rd largest canyon in the world behind the Grand Canyon and Fish River Canyon in Namibia. It was good to see since it was on the way of our journey, and at points spectacular, but nothing so amazing that it would have warranted its own trip there.

The landscape on the drive out to Blyde and Kruger has so many parts that reminded me of driving at home in the States. Unlike the Eastern Cape (where I work) that is just so hilly and green for miles… the first few hours out of Jo-burg was pretty flat, much like driving from Chicago to St. Louis. There were also some parts that reminded me of driving through the middle portion of California by San Luis Obispo or in the Santa Barbara region… and there was also the portion of the drive the looked much like my driving through southern Oregon on route to Crater Lake and then out to the Oregon Coast.

Through Blyde River, we headed up to Kruger National Park, which is in the northeast section of the country. A colleague once told me that all of Kruger is about the size of the entire state of Massachusetts, and after going there, I’d believe it. This was my first safari/game viewing experience since coming to Africa, and it was incredible. For me, it was jaw dropping – within the first 20 minutes of driving into the park, we had packs of impala running along side the car, saw a herd elephants crossing the road, were less than 50 yards from giraffes snacking on the trees and popping out onto the road.

A few zebra out for a morning walk

One of the thousands of packs of impala you see in the Park

We saw so many wild animals roaming the plains and in the brush, hanging from trees. The safari “Big Five” are listed as the elephant, rhino, lion, water buffalo, and leopard. Successfully, we saw all but the leopard. And so much more… some animals I didn’t even know of. Best of all, going on some of the game drives with the guides, when you see an animal, you get an earful about its mating habits, life span, patterns and traits, how to pick out the animal by its looks, etc. So it’s definitely a learning experience.

There are so many exquisite birds in Kruger too – large and small, just vivid colors. What I thought was most interesting was that when you sit and watch some of the bigger animals, like the water buffalo or the giraffe, you see birds sitting on the animals backs, apparently to eat off bugs and parasites.

By quick recount, these are some of the animals that we saw that I can remember off the top of my head: giraffe, elephant, black rhino, white rhino, hippo, impala (there are so many impala in the park… apparently 150,000), kudu (pictured right), water buffalo, zebra, lion, eagle, condor, chacma baboon, crocodile, leather-backed turtle, spotted hyena, klipslinger, water buck, springbok, owl, vervet monkey, bats, all sorts of birds that I don’t even know.

After the enjoyable and relaxing weekend , it was back to the grind today… and a lot to get done this week. Having been at the Growth and Development Summit last week, Department Manager and I were out of the office for most of it. I am catching up and planning out what opportunities we can accomplish with the department for the week. I called a meeting of everyone this morning – basically an open forum to hear what everyone had been working on, status of their projects, how I could help them – and nobody spoke up! It can get frustrating that the people in my department are just not used to speaking aloud in a meeting forum and confidently expressing themselves. So there’s just silence and they just sit there and look away hoping not to get address – so it’s sometimes easier to meet with each one on one, I guess. They were excited about more MS Excel training on Wednesday though…

Last day of the Summit... and off to Kruger!

I'm sitting in the Summit right now, it's the last day of what seems to be a productive 3 days for the OR Tambo District... And I love this place! One of the speakers just took the podium and started his speech by breaking into song. The whole auditorium got up and started clapping and singing. I don't understand the words as the song is in Xhosa, but I always feel passion, see the smiles, and join in by clapping along. When the song ended, everyone started chanting and praising 'Thandizolo' (sp?) who is the king of the Amapondo tribe that has attended the summit for the last 3 days. Each day when he has walked into the summit, regardless of what is going on or who is speaking, all stops and people greet him until he takes his seat.

Sports Day yesterday was fantastic. It was really great to interact with my coworkers and the people of the municipality outside of the office. It was a beautiful day - sun shining, nice breeze - and everyone just seemed so happy. We braaied, we talked, we sang, we all watched the soccer match of the Officers v. Councilors. All in all, quite enjoyable. It's nice to see everyone on a social level. Everyone was so excited that I had my camera and I got some good photos and video footage everyone singing.

Am signing off for the week tonight as I am traveling this weekend up to Kruger National Park, which is supposed to be one of the best game reserves in the world. Doing safari drives and walks on Saturday and Sunday.

Sometimes reality sets in

Today was the first day of the Growth and Development Summit. Overall, it was informative to attend, and there were probably over 500 people there from the 7 different Local Municipalities that make up the OR Tambo District Municipality. The Mayor from each municipality gave a presentation on what his/her respective municipality was doing toward Local Economic Development. I need to always remember that there is such a long way to go… but most of the talk today revolved around “We need to do…” rather than “We are doing…” or “We have done…”

Tomorrow at the Municipality itself, it is Health and HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. From what I understand, there are going to be a series of meetings in the morning, then in the afternoon it will be Sports Day (all going out for some sports and activities), followed by a braai.

HIV/AIDS is such a prevalent issue here, and you hear it discussed in meetings and in the open more often. For example, I understand there is a list that is kept confidential of those working in the Municipality who suffer from the disease – so it is understood why/when they stop showing up to work – or to anticipate when they will be off the payroll. Some of the statistics about average life expectancy and rising percentages of HIV/AIDS in South Africa (and Africa overall) are a staggering reality, but really about all the people with major health issues in general. It’s sad to see all the funerals that these people go to – there are days when people don’t show up to work because a family member or friend has died, and that is just understood. Sometimes when you ask someone how their weekend was, you get responses that they went to a funeral or two.

I had my own encounter this week. One of the workers in my department has been sick, and she was out a few days last week. She has had an ongoing cough, claims to be sweating a lot more than normal, and has some other sick symptoms. She went to see a doctor last week, so when I asked her yesterday morning how she was feeling, she told me she thought that she was better, but that her doctor told her she “should go get tested.” Tough to react when someone tells you that, and I wasn’t quite sure what to say. But I just told her that we are there to help her in any way and would support her, to let us know what we could do. And so I asked her if she would get tested and she just kept repeating “It’s too hard, Brian. It’s too hard…” I’m finding that facing some of the realities here really can be difficult at times, and it took me a little time to get back into gear and be able to focus on starting my Monday morning.

State of the Union

Last Friday, South African President Thabo Mbeki gave his State of the Union Address from Cape Town. Unlike at home in the U.S., Mbeki's address was held at 11:00 AM. What was interesting to us was how at 11:00, basically everyone in the Municipality stopped working and proceeded to the Mayor's Boardroom to watch the address. Now, granted, I'm working in the Municipal government, so everyone here takes a bit more interest and holds Mbeki in such high regard. But I wondered if everyone working at that time - government or non-government - stopped their work to watch the President's speech. I started talking to some of the my teammates and the other Americans about it - and we all agreed we wondered that if the U.S. President's State of the Union address were during the day rather than at night, would the viewership increase? I feel like sometimes at home, people are more upset that their prime-time TV shows are delayed or cancelled.

Mbeki spoke a lot about the development in South Africa, gave statistics about health and wellness, economic advancement and improvements, his visions for ongoing growth. He also happened to mention UNDP a few times - not specifically about our Municipal Capacity Development Support Initiative project - but about UNDP's greater work in South Africa or UNDP derived statistics. One interesting one that provoked applause in the President's audience was SA's status in spending more money on water and sanitation development than on military.

Another topic he mentioned which struck on a personal level - that each District Municipality would be holding a Growth and Development Summit this month. I'll be attending OR Tambo D.M.'s Summit starting this week with the Development and Planning Manager and a few of the councilors. I look forward to it and hope to learn a great deal about how the growth of the local and district municipalities matches the growth and vision of South Africa overall.

Car batteries

Had to tell this story that happened to us the other day...

Our car battery died in the Municipality parking lot. One of the Councilors pulled his car around and tried to jumpstart our battery. No luck. So here are the 4 Americans fairly clueless about cars (we have our AAA and roadside assistance...). And we’ve got some of the Municipality workers, the Mayor (in his suit), etc all out looking under the hood.

Both cars are shut off, and they begin to unscrew the battery from our car and from the Councilor’s car. They put Councilor’s battery in our car and get the car started... then as the car is running, they unscrew that battery and remove it, put our dead battery back in while the car is running, and of course there was a pretty big spark, to which they all just laughed… then the car ran fine and we drove it home.

You couldn’t have paid me money to touch anything under the hood of a running car! And we all expressed we'd never seen that done before. They all wrote it off as normal practice, and they were all cracking up. And the Mayor just says with a big grin “Welcome to Africa!” We laughed... Everyday, something new.

One month in

Pretty quick week here so far, work plugging along. I was away at an all day event yesterday with DEAT (Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) and SANBI (South African Biodiversity National Institute). I had a low key weekend this past one – stayed in Port Edward and went fishing, fired up a braii with some of my team and a few other UNDP volunteers on Saturday night, then Sunday went mountain biking… there are some unbelievable trails and views right here in my own backyard.

Actually we recently found out that the movie Blood Diamond, which is out right now, filmed a lot of its parts right here in the Umtamvuna/Mzamba region. We went and saw it one night last week, more to see the scenery and how much we recognized – good story, much better movie than I expected – but it was funny to see it over here. If you haven’t seen it, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is supposed to be from South Africa – so when he first spoke in the movie, everyone in the theater started laughing at his attempt of a South African accent.

Hard to believe that I’ve been here a month already… but so much, so quickly has become normal and routine for me that I feel well settled in. I’ve even wondered if 3.5 months will really be enough time… Here, in no particular order are some things I’ve just gotten used to:

The sun rising so early every morning… a clear night sky with more stars than I’ve ever seen… incredibly welcoming and passionate people at work at the Municipality … continual progress and confidence with my municipal colleagues as they’ve become more comfortable with me… KFC in seemingly every town here… Port Edward locals… malva pudding… watching cricket and rugby on TV… plug adaptor plugged into plug adaptor plugged into plug adaptor to match my US plug… traffic signals called robots… meetings that never start on time at work… group song in meetings and large events… prayer to open and close meetings… people walking on the sides of major roads… using a pre-paid cell phone/buying airtime/international calling cards… not talking on my phone as much as normal (without free nights and weekends!)… cows, goats, sheep, horses along the way of R61… various roadkill along R61 (mostly stray dogs)… large potholes… peri-peri sauce… driving on the opposite side of the road… meetings and speeches at work varying between English and Xhosa… successfully pronouncing co-workers names that have click sounds in them… greeting people, replying, saying thank you in Xhosa, as well as various other words… Hansa, Castle, and Carling Black Label beers… monkey and baboon sightings… incredible natural beauty in so many shapes and forms… dealing with and adjusting to municipal budget constraints daily…rolling brownouts and losses of electricity… EVERYONE has a cell phone or two (even the most rural of farmers!)… accounting for the time difference with calls or emails back home… having roommates again… doing basically everything with my team… coffee by French press… rondeval huts… a lot of various bugs… the poverty and labor I see on the ride to work each day… late 80s/early 90s music being big on the radio… eating samp (maize meal and beans)…pickup trucks and minibus taxi vans driving R61 overfilled with people… the sight and smell of burning wood and/or trash… long, challenging, and fulfilling days at work, and good nights of sleep…

"Ctrl Z! Ctrl P!"

Week 4 coming to a close...

I held a training session yesterday for the department... we covered some basics of Microsoft Word that will hopefully help them in the long run. It was a great session - I felt comfortable getting up there and training the crew, while we joked around and made it fun and interactive... I don't think they are too accustomed to being asked to participate or called upon, so when I started asking them to take part and demonstrate to the others how to do certain things in Word, you could see the surprise in their faces. It's a good surprise though, I want them to build that confidence.

You should have seen the excitement on their faces when I taught them the icons for Increase/Decrease Indent with Bullets and Numbering... (One quote I got was..."I always just hit the space bar and I can never line things up.") Or shortcuts for Copy, Paste, Undo, and Print (Ctrl C, V, Z, or P). Find/Replace was also a big one. They literally spent the rest of the day with smiles and would say to me "Ctrl Z! Ctrl P!" It was pretty funny. Next week is a review of MS Excel, and they asked that we do some sort of computer training once a week, which is perfect.

This is a good test for me too - to see how well I can teach. The key is patience, and I am normally so used to knowing these applications, being quick on the keyboard, using shortcuts, etc. Even at home when I show my parents things on the computer I tend to fly through and explain too quickly - that's just natural to me. But yesterday I think I did well - patient, slow, allowed time for questions and could gauge when they understood and re-review. Simple things can go a long way.

Here are a few other photos I took walking down Main Street, Bizana the other day around lunchtime...




Walking towards the main intersection in Bizana... traffic always gets a bit heavier at lunchtime



Hawker stands are all over the streets... a look at how they set up their tents everyday... Ingonyama (straight ahead) is the market I normally walk to for a drink or a snack.



Next door to the Municipality building is a school that I can see from where I sit. Here's one of the classes doing their lesson outside.

This way to Coffee Bay

The second part of last weekend was in Coffee Bay, which is a tiny little beach community on the Eastern Cape, close to East London... We had a couple good days here… stayed at the Coffee Shack Backpackers… and went on an amazing hike on Sunday morning to the natural landmark ‘Hole In the Wall.’


It rained pretty hard when we arrived but we still went for a walk on the beach to do some exploring. Here I am with my teammate Heather... as the tide creeps up on us unexpectedly.

We headed off on our hike early Sunday morning to beat the mid-day sun... the walk was about 3hrs from our hostel to 'Hole in the Wall.' Along the entire hike we had some incredible views and it was a lot of up and down hill, along the coast, over rocks and cliffs. Here we start it off - I think Pete (third in from left, normally a late sleeper) scratches his head wondering if this a good idea...

I think we could have made the hike under our own direction, but we were all of a sudden approached by some local boys who spoke little English that just decided to escort us and point the way. More or less they just stand on the path and look for hikers and hope that they can make a few Rand out of making the hike, which we ended up giving them because they did point out a few shortcuts.





A look back over some of what we had just hiked...

Needless to say, the sun was beating down and luckily we brought enough water for the walk. Here we are crossing the final major crest with the 'Hole in the Wall' rock in the distance... (right about there in the middle of the picture, kind of jets out)

'Hole in the Wall' from a distance. Amazing that over time the waves could erode a rock of such width, but I actually didn't find it as impressive as I had read it to be. I actually enjoyed some of the views from the hike much more. We did cool off, though, by jumping in the ocean here on this little cove beach! Well worth it. An unbeatable weather day.

After stopping for a short lunch at the ‘Hole In the Wall’ hotel, we decided hiking 3 hrs back in the early afternoon sun was not the best idea (poor planning, I know), especially when Team Bizana had a 5 hr drive back home that afternoon/evening. We needed to try to get back to Coffee Shack (which was 9 km away). Luckily, we flagged down a few locals who head to Coffee Bay to fish and we all hopped in the back of their pickup, as they offered to give us a ride. Here we are, all 8 of us with some of the locals in the pick up, you can’t see the dog that was lying in the middle here. If you could imagine me, holding on to whatever I could grab, balancing myself amongst 10 others, a dog, fishing rods and tackle boxes, on a winding, hilly, dirt road. A bit of a bumpy ride, but with the open breeze coming at us and the sea in the distance, it just added to the overall experience! I do things here everyday that I would never do at home!

Umtata and Mandela

Pretty busy Monday getting back to work – start of week 4. A lot going on this week - a few meetings with some of the Municipal Standing and Executive Committees, trying to get my team to prioritize a lot of their own personal tasks, running a training session on Microsoft Word for my department on Thursday. Good balance of stuff for the week.

I know most of you reading this are in some extremely cold weather right now and don’t want to hear about how hot it is here. But yesterday was honestly one of the hottest days I’ve ever experienced in my life. Summer is officially here in Bizana, and when the sun beats down here it can get oppressive. There’s no humidity really, it’s just strict heat.

We spent the weekend visiting our Accenture/UNDP teammates in Umtata, then we all drove to Coffee Bay on Sat/Sun. My Accenture team is working in Bizana in the Oliver Tambo District Municipality, the other Accenture 4 are working in Umtata in the King Sabato Dalindyebo Municipality; both municipalities are in the Eastern Cape Province. The areas that my team are focused on are the same as the Umtata team (IT, HR, Finance, and Local Economic Development), so essentially the projects mirror each other… just in different locations, different problems and issues, different challenges and roadblocks. In any case, it was great to see Umtata after hearing so much about it – both from our team there as well as my colleagues in the municipal realm. Umtata is a bit more of a political “hub” for the Eastern Cape, so many travel there often for meetings – about a 3 hr drive from Bizana.

Umtata is a city and a bit more developed, whereas Bizana is more like a little town with a “downtown” that's basically 2 perpendicular streets . Umtata’s streets are on a grid, there are traffic lights... no traffic lights in Bizana (traffic lights are known here as “robots” btw – I love the roadsigns that read “Robot – 500m ahead”). But you can tell there is some definite danger in Umtata and our teammates certainly have to be much more cautious at times. And sadly, the streets are just so dirty – trash and litter scattered everywhere, as well as bags of trash gone uncollected, empty boxes left by the hawkers and street markets everywhere. But our stay in Umtata was enjoyable nonetheless – had a terrific dinner on Friday night, saw the guest house where our teammates stay, and went to the Nelson Mandela Museum on Saturday morning.

As I mentioned the other day, Nelson Mandela is from that region and grew up in Qunu, which is a village outside of Umtata. He actually has made his home back in the area today.

During my sophomore year at Northwestern, I took “South Africa in the 20th Century” as a class towards my History major. I was fascinated by the history of this country while in that class, making it even more exciting to come and work here. Much of it has come back to me quickly just in some of the reading I have done since being here, as well as hearing stories and accounts of life under apartheid. Before I left the States, I picked up a copy of Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom and have been reading it in bits a pieces so far. Probably sounds a bit cliché I realize, but the book has come to life for me much more than it would have just reading it at home. When he mentions regions or towns, I have a better sense of where they are in relation to the cities. I recognize people’s names, like those who mentored Mandela, or his counterparts in the circle of “freedom fighters.” Mandela and Oliver Tambo were the best of friends and opened a law firm together in the 50s in Jo-burg… and now here I am working in the District named for Tambo.

(An excerpt from Mandela)

Walking through the museum was enlightening. Mandela is such a charismatic and respected leader, a worshipped figure – in South Africa and throughout the world. To learn and see photos about his history, his struggle, his years of imprisonment, and his fight for freedom of his people and of South Africa is amazing. Through him alone you get a sense of what so many in this country have overcome. But it also put a lot into perspective for me about my work.

Mbizana is developing and has its own struggles – 75% unemployment rate, lacking infrastructure, budgetary constraints, health issues and a rising HIV/AIDS population – but sometimes I have to remember that this government alone is still developing. I am working in and seeing first hand the growth of a young democracy. Mandela wasn’t freed from prison until 1990 and not elected as President until 1994 - when his party, the ANC (African National Congress), took over. The organizational, managerial, and decision-making issues I witness daily come with the territory… many colleagues and this Municipality are in a relatively new position and learning as they go. And though so much has been overcome, there is still such a long way to go.

Another fast week

Another check in before heading to Day 2 of Strat Plan. It's sweltering outside today, probably one of the hottest and most humid days we've had so far.

Had my first stick-shift driving lesson last night in a parking lot last night. It was a disaster, I'm awful.

Went to dinner up in Margate last night (just north of Port Edward) at a pub called The Keg. Clearly not The Keg of Evanston, but nice to know that there are "Kegs" around the world...

It's pretty tropical some nights in general, especially where we live by the estuary and ocean. Some nights we come home to a gecko scampering around the kitchen or living room, though last night I came home to find one on my bedroom ceiling. It seemingly disappeared soon after, though as Mike said this morning, "I like sleeping with a gecko in the room. It eats all the mosquitos." Not a bad idea actually.

We are driving to Umtata (which is the region that is home to Nelson Mandela) tonight to see where the other Accenture 4 work and live. Then Sat/Sun the eight of us are off to Coffee Bay, also on the Eastern Cape, about an hour away from Umtata. Legend says it was named for a cargo ship carrying coffee that wrecked there. We'll be hiking to Hole in the Wall, which is apparently a must see landmark on the Wild Coast.

Enjoy your weekend!