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…