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...