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.