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The Comrades Marathon

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I have a pretty bad cold, and I've been waking up coughing a lot. This morning, my coughing fit woke me just in time to catch the 5:30 am start of the 82nd annual Comrades Marathon on TV. Don't let the name fool you; the Comrades isn't a marathon at all. It's an 88.3 kilometer test of sheer will and human persistence (a marathon is "only" 42k). In odd-number years they run the "down" from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, and in even-number years they run the "up" from Durban back to Pietermaritzburg. I watched on and off through the early hours of the morning. Chris woke up in time to see the first men finish (in less than 5 1/2 hours) and we hung around to watch the first ladies cross the finish line at just over six hours. Then we headed out for the lion park. When we got home at 5pm, people were still pouring across the finish line. Well, pouring might be overstating it. Some were walking, many were limping, a few were jogging, and more than a few were literally being carried. We watched until 5:30, when the race was "over" and the official 12 hour time limit had expired. To watch the last official finisher cross the line was a truly moving experience. To watch the first non-finisher be turned away at the line had me in tears. We watched for another 15 minutes or so, seeing people who had tried so hard, pushed their bodies to the limit for 12+ hours, and just came up short. I hurt for them. I cried for them. I gushed with pride at the ones who kept running, even though they knew there was no medal waiting for them. I hope they feel just as proud of themselves. In a movie I watched a few weeks ago, a great line caught my attention. "Winners forget they're in a race. They just love to run." These folks are winners. Maybe next year I'll be among them. Pietermaritzburg, here I come!

http://www.comrades.com/

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It doesn't *LOOK* like Africa

I was talking to my dad the other day. He's been sharing our blog with his class, and the overwhelming response from his students was that it didn't look all that African. So, by popular demand, we headed out to a place that actually looks like Africa: the Johannesburg Lion Park http://www.lion-park.co.za/ . It's about a 1/2 hour drive from our house, just on the edge of the countryside.

View additional photos at:

Lion Park

We went on a guided tour through the grassland where we saw zebras, wildebeests, bresboks, springboks (the South African national animal) and a few other species of antelopes. After stopping to observe them and get a quick lesson from our guide, our big old safari truck bounced down the potted, pitted, rutted dirt tracks to see the spotted (aka laughing) hyenas. They were one of the few animals behind fences, probably due to their reputation for both cleverness and agressiveness. They seemed just as interested in us as we are in them, trotting back and forth in front of the fence. Of course, someone felt compelled to break the rules. A woman had hopped out of her car and walked right up to the fence of the enclosure. We stopped for a minute so our guide could yell at her, and then we were off to the real business of the day, seeing the lions. The lions were NOT behind fences, they wandered at their leisure among the cars and trucks of the visitors (I gotta say, I was shocked).. The first lion camp we visited had 5 large adult males and a few females. By dumb luck, we had arrived on feeding day, which was ideal for lion viewing. Most of them were fairly still as they sat devouring horse carcasses. I was overwhelmed at the size. I don't think the TV or even the zoo effectively demonstrates the sheer size of these animals. Their paws were nearly the size of my head! The second group we visited was more like a traditional pride of lions: one adult male and a large group of females. Some of them were eating as well, but most appeared to have finished their meal and were napping in the shade of the trees. One of the ladies who had just finished her meal was cleaning her face and paws. It was kind of funny to watch this huge powerful animal behaving just like a house cat. The third group was a new lion family: a mama, a papa, and three tiny cubs (about 3 weeks). Well, even the three-week-olds weren't that tiny, they were just about Sophie-sized. We took plenty of time to ooh and aah, and then our tour was finished. We bounced and bumped our way back to the lodge where we started and sat for a few minutes to marvel at the experience we had just had. It was just incredible.

Video of a male lion having lunch:

We stopped at the lion park restaurant (the sign said "paws here for a meal") for a quick lunch, and then it was on to the second part of our adventure, "Cub World". In Cub World, the lions are in cages, including a cage with about 12 little babies (3-5 weeks) and 3 other cages with lions ranging from 2 months to almost-full-size lions. The Lion Park admission ticket is also good for one visit to the enclosure that houses 4 cubs around 3 months old. We got to pet them and take some pictures and try to plot how to steal one to take home with us. Sadly, we couldn't come up with anything :-) Cub World is also home to some cheetas, wild dogs, ostritches and giraffes. We watched a pretty vicious ostritch fight, but then we got to feed them. Then we bought a bag of giraffe feed and sat atop a tall platform waiting for Purdy and Gambit to stop by for a snack. Gambit wasn't feeling particularly sociable today, but Purdy came right up to eat right out of our hands. Her big beautiful eyes made an impression on everyone, but most of the kids were a bit frightened of her ENORMOUS purple tongue (check out the picture of it wrapped around Chris's hand). We took a few priceless pictures with her and headed back home. If (when?) you come visit, I promise, we'll definitely make a stop at the lion park. And hurry up, cuz I can't wait to go back.

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Lost in Randburg ...

So, I set out today to register for Telkom service so we can get DSL and then back to the car dealer for my temporary tags. This involved driving first to Rosedale (and no, my rider wasn't by my side ) and then to Randburg. I found both places fairly easily, but I missed my turn on the way back home since there are very few road signs here. I drove almost all the way to Pretoria before I realized that I messed up. Anyone wanna buy us a Garmin as a "welcome to Africa" gift?

We will post many more pics of Sandton and its environs as soon as we get an internet connection that works reliably. What we have now is "spotty" at best.

My New (Old) Car

I finally got myself a car, which is great because it is very difficult to get around without a vehicle. It's a 1995 but it runs great and was not very expensive.

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Home Sweet Home

Here are some pictures of our new home. It is about 500 square feet but with a 400 square foot garden yard out back. All windows and doors have locking bars and the whole complex is surrounded by a tall electrified fence with security spikes. There is a guard house out front with security personnel 24 x 7 and powered gates. We have a pog on a chain with a red panic button and if you press it, a response team will come armed with automatic weapons. Although I have no plans to take up Cricket, I found it prudent to keep a nice stout Cricket bat next to the bed just for safety's sake. Sandton is a pretty safe suburb, but there are people in this city living in desperate poverty and burglaries have been known to happen. There is covered parking right outside our door. Laundry facilities are about 20 feet from our door, but it is super lame because you need a very specific combination of coins to make it work (2 2 Rand coins and a 1 Rand coin for the washer, 3 2 Rand coins for the dryer)

Poor Sophie had an unfortunate encounter with the electric fence when she stuck her nose through the fence bars and touched one of the wires. She yelped and scurried away with her tail between her legs and wouldn't go out back for the rest of the day. I felt SO bad for her! Fortunately, the current is not nearly enough to be dangerous, just enough to be way too painful to maintain contact with. ( If you have ever been shocked by a car spark plug that is about how powerful it is)

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Welcome to Africa ... Here's a Taco!

Ironically, our first meal together at our new home in Africa was Tacos! Susan made hers with Textured Vegetable Protein and picked up some mince (SA for ground beef) for mine. After eating 3 meals of airline food, they were indescribably delicious. Fortunately, there is a gourmet grocery store within walking distance of our new place in Sandton. (Think Whole Foods quality at Food Lion prices). With the exchange rate here (currently ZA 7,14 = $1) food, wine and beer are very cheap. Some foods that we are used to eating in America are hard to find, though. We bought some "Parmesan" cheese for our pasta and it tasted disgustingly like grated blue cheese. Gross!

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Last Beer in the States and Out Like a Scout

My friends Aaron, Sean and Dan took me out for some beers the night before I left at Gordon Biersch in Rockville, MD. It is a pretty good brewpub.

My flight left at 5:00 PM on Saturday, June 2. It was an uneventful 15 hour flight with the exception of some turbulence over Angola very early in the morning that had me a little green in the gills. As the morning sun rose, I gazed out the window as we crossed the border into Botswana. I saw a fairly substantial river below me ( have to consult an atlas to find out which one) and I noticed that all the man-made features I could see on the ground below were along this river. The entire rest of the landscape was devoid of any signs of human habitation with the exception of the occasional dirt road winding off into the middle of nowhere. Almost as soon as we crossed the northwestern border of South Africa I could see freeways, buildings, houses and farms. It looked much like flying over the midwestern United States. I must admit that I was a little uneasy when we were in African airspace due to its reputation as the most dangerous airspace in the world. This is usually attributed to the lack of training and competence of African Air Traffic Controllers. I will suspend judgement.

After getting off my plane I had to wait about 40 minutes in line for Passport Control. There was only one window open due to a general government employees strike that is currently going on in South Africa. Evidently they want a 12% raise because of inflation and the government has only offered them 6%. Hopefully it will all be resolved soon. I had a joyful reunion with Susan on the other side of Customs, and we found out where to go to pick up the dog. When we got to the SAA cargo facility the dog was there but they were unwilling to release her to our custody until the State Vet signed off on the paperwork. Unfortunately, he was not answering his phone. After waiting around for about an hour and calling him about 20 times on his cell phone we were finally able to get in touch with him and get Sophie released to our custody.

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Packin' up my Game and I'ma head down South ...

Not sure I wanna be a cowboy, but I certainly am packing up my game something fierce. For anyone who has never used compression bags when travelling I can tell you they are a lifesaver!

Only a ridiculous amount of packing left to do, then I will be ready to head out. The question is not "Can I handle Africa?" but rather "Can Africa handle me?"

I love you Susan!

More to come,

Chris

I got it!

I went up to the South African Consulate today at Van Ness to pick up my 2 year extended visitor's visa! One more hurdle jumped over. Only pet permit issues left to take care of. The closing for my condo is on May 30 and I will be flying out on June 2! This has been the longest 2 months of my life.

Getting on to the good stuff

More good news...I finally found an apartment. The landlord is getting permission for Sophie to live there, and once he does, I should sign the lease later this week. I won't be able to move in until June 2nd, so it'll be right down to the wire for Chris and Sophie's arrival, but I think it'll be OK. I'm finally starting to feel a little more settled. I don't get lost every day anymore. I'm starting to have an idea of what I'm supposed to be doing at work. I feel like the very "administrative" side of all of the things I needed to do is finally wrapping up, and I'm ready to move on to the exploring and experiencing phase of this journey. Once Chris (and his camera) get here, we should have plenty of things to share with all of you (hopefully, things a little more exciting than whining about my job or my broken car ☺) There is a lion park near by where you can actually play with little lion cubs. There are world-class casinos and a mile away, tin shacks with satellite dishes. There are ladies walking down the sidewalk carrying their parcels on their heads. There are stars to be gazed at and sites to camp at and a million other things to do (and write about, and take pictures of). And I can't wait to share all of it with you.

13 days and counting...

Big huge happy exciting fantastic news

I can't believe it's already been two weeks since I last posted! Not much has changed since then. My apartment hunting has been ongoing, but very difficult due to the lack of pet-friendly accomodations, I'm not particularly thrilled with my job, I'm still having trouble meeting people and making new friends, and the owner of the cottage where I'm staying is still a huge bitch. But, FINALLY, I have some good things on the horizon. Chris has sold his condo, and he and Sophie will be arriving in South Africa on June 3rd, his birthday! I'm more excited about his impending arrival than I can ever remember being. With less than three weeks to go now, I'm under a lot of pressure to find an apartment soon, so cross your fingers for me!

All my love,

Susan

On the Road Again!

Hey Everyone,

Did you miss me? Sorry I've been out of touch recently, but I've been feeling kind of down and didn't want to spread my whining around the world. Honestly, I was in pretty dire straits, coming home from work to sit on the couch and sob myself to sleep by 7pm most nights. I'm still hurting pretty bad, being bored, lonely, and desperately in need of a hug, but I'm starting to feel a little better, starting to settle in and create some routines. And I've (mostly) stopped crying myself to sleep at night ☺ I'm still hunting for housing, but thankfully, that's a little easier now that I've got my car back on the road. For those of you who missed my sob story (one of many), I bought a car (1988 Mercedes, Dad is SOOO jealous) that stopped working within 3 days. Just my luck! But with a little help from a new battery and a very kind neighbor, I'm back to cruising in style! It still feels weird for me to be driving, but I'm getting better, and I haven't killed or maimed any pedestrians yet, so that's a plus.

I'm also on the road again on my own two feet. I had gotten really lazy about my running the month before I left, and I've been struggling to get back into a routine, but I made it out for a couple good runs this weekend, and I'm feeling good about it. We're just at the start of winter here, and it's already dark by 6pm, so it's hard for me to get out on weekdays, but I'm trying to fit in short runs wherever I can. I've even started to think about getting up early to run in the morning. Hey, stranger things have happened.

I'm leaving the office in a bit to go look at what looks on paper like the perfect apartment, so hopefully I'll be permanently settled soon. Ciao for now,

Susan

Missing Home, Moving On

Hi Everyone,

I gotta admit, I've been missing home a lot recently, to the end that I'm struggling to send emails or make phone calls, because talking to the people I love makes their absence seem more real. So, if you haven't heard from me, it's not because I don't care, it's because I suspect that talking to you would make me cry. Again.

Yesterday was the end of the NCAA Tournament (I won my pool!) and the first day of the baseball season. Normally, either one of these events would have been enough for my ESPN-addict self to spend the entire day and night glued to the television. Last night, I fell asleep on the sofa, alone, at about 7:30 pm, 1/2 an hour into the Bangladesh/New Zealand cricket match (NZ won, in case you were curious). So yes, I'm struggling a little bit, but I'm also starting to feel a little better. I'm trying to stay connected to some parts of my old routine so I don't completely lose my mind. Despite the fact that my current home is on top of a gigantic hill, I've been going out jogging/running fairly regularly. The fact that no matter which way I go, it's downhill on the way out and uphill on the way home presents a new challenge for me, but I'm making progress. With no public transportation to speak of, and my rather isolated location, I've been feeling out of touch with the world at large, but I got my first stick-shift driving lesson yesterday, and I think that with a few more lessons I might actually be ready to buy a car and brave the roads of Johannesburg by the end of next week. There are a few people here that I know from their time in PSI Washington, and I'll try to get together with them this weekend. I also had a friend from the office offer to take me out dancing in Soweto this weekend. I'm not sure if I'll accept, but it's nice to know that there are options on the table. One thing is for sure, I can't spend another weekend at home alone or I'll go completely off the deep end.

For any of my running buddies that are stopping by, Congrats on some fantastic Cherry Blossom times! I saw times for Noel, Marvin, Mark, Dr. Joe, and Katie, and I was most impressed! I tried my best to replicate and run with you, but see my earlier note about hills for why I wussed out around 6 miles. Even at 60% of my running goal, my legs are so sore that I can barely walk and going from sitting to standing or vice versa is pure torture. Maybe it's the hills, or maybe it's the fact that I spent the last month before my departure binge drinking, chain smoking, eating crap, and not exercising. Either way, I suppose by the time I get back in shape and back to running on fairly flat surfaces, I'll be able to FLY!

All my love,

Susan

My First Trip to Soweto

Soweto stands for South Western Townships. People refer to it as a suburb of Johannesburg, but in reality, it is it's own thriving city of 4 million people. During Apartheid, it was the segregated area where blacks were forced to live. It was also where the earliest uprisinigs against the Apartheid regime took place. The home where Nelson Mandela was arrested and dragged off to jail simply for speaking the truth still stands, and now serves as a museum. The only white people I saw all day were in line at the Mandela museum.

Although still quite poor, it's a vibrant community, rich with the entreprenurial spirit. While driving down the street, there are many private homes with a sign outside. Hairdressers, car repairs, any type of cottage industry is represented. The streets are lined with produce stands and all kinds of tiny stalls selling all manner of goods. There are also tons of cooked food stands. This week is the equivalent of spring break (although it's almost winter here), so there were tons of children playing in the street (mostly soccer). It really is the quintessential democratic game, and I'm not surprised that it's the world's most popular. For the price of one ball, an entire neighborhood of children are kept entertained and active for as long as it takes to wear through the leather.

I mentioned earlier that the neighborhood where I am staying reminds me of Southern California. If that is true, then Soweto is like Mexico. There are parts that are beautiful, parts that are more affluent than others, but rows of tin shacks serving as homes are also quite common. For every late-model Honda, there are 20 cars so rusted it's difficult to tell who the manufacturer was, and a couple of donkey-drawn carts. For every bright and shiny gas station, there are 12 roadside stands where the owner is barely ekeing out a living. I, of course, fell in love instantly, and I can't wait to go back when I have time to explore all of what the area has to offer, and do a little shopping.

We stopped by a rather sorry looking building made of concrete blocks with a very wornout playground outside. Imagine my surprise that the inside contained a sophisticated computer lab where during the day, they have classes for adults (for 100R per month, about $15) and after school, they have programs for children so they can learn computer literacy from a young age. My "tour guide" tells me that all of the equipment was provided by the US Government. It's a nice thing to think about when you're overwhelmed by news of some of our government's ... um... less popular expenditures of late.

After this brief field trip, it was on to the real business of the day, selling condoms. My tour guide is actually an SFH sales rep. We stopped by his house to pick up the stock and then we were off to visit about a dozen retailers. Our target for the day were "non-traditional" outlets, meaning, the small locally owned businesses. We stopped by a couple of foodstands and small markets and chatted with the owner about stocking our products. We were selling two different brands of condoms, one a subsidized brand that we sell at a loss (the balance made up by donor funding). The other is a premium brand that we sell at a tiny profit to help pay overhead expenses. In either case, the shop owner sells them at a standard retail profit which encourages them to keep stock on the shelves and keep their customers well supplied. I had to be back in the office for some afternoon meetings, but even in my short time out there, our sales rep Sean convinced three new retailers to carry our condoms, not bad considering that we only had time to visit 5 shops.

I'm (tentatively) scheduled to go out with our mobile HIV Counseling and Testing team tomorrow. My primary work here will be with our Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) team, and I'm excited to see them in action. With Mobile VCT, we bring the testing to the people, with tents set up for private counseling sessions, and a vehicle outfitted to serve as our lab (think blood mobile). We use rapid test kits which means no needles, and no going back a week later to pick up your results. A finger prick provides all the blood needed, and it takes just 15 minutes for the results to be ready. Tomorrow's field trip is supposed to be to the downtown train station where hundreds of thousands of people arrive in Jo-berg for work each day. If all goes according to plan, I should have a full report for you next week.

Susan

My To-Do list is getting longer, not shorter!

When I headed out for ZA, it was with the intention of having an entire week off to get all of my affairs in order. However, it didn't work out that way. After arriving in Jo-berg late Sunday night, I arrived for my first day of work early Tuesday morning.

I still need to learn how to drive a stick-shift
-buy a car
-rent an apartment
-get a cell phone and a calling card so I can talk to all of you fine folks
-find a grocery store (or ANY store) open past 6pm (can you imagine!)
-get Sophie's pet permit
-figure out where the heck I am and where it is in relationship to everything else
-figure out exactly what my job is and start doing it (so far I've just been doing a lot of reading about all of the different aspects of the program)
-get my work permit/temporary residence permit

Those are just the major issues. The minor issues like finding a doctor, hair dresser, etc will just have to wait for a while.

My plan for tomorrow is to get my first manual trans driving lesson and also get Sophie's pet permit headed my way. I'm hoping that if I can get two or three driving lessons in before this weekend I'll be able to go get a car (my first ever!) so, wish me luck! Once I have a car, the rest of the list should be much easier to attend to.

The reliance on a car to get places is coming as quite a shock to me, who was for years the queen of public and pedestrian transportation. Now I'm being forced to join the ranks of the road ragers everywhere.

More to come...

Susan

Drywall Adventures

I am still working on getting my condo ready for sale so that I can join Susan in South Africa. I decided to replace my medicine cabinet which was old and crappy with a new shiny one from Home Depot. When I removed the old one I realized to my horror that the wall behind was in terrible shape. I was able to cut and screw in 3/4" by 16" strips of drywall, slather on a thick layer of joint compound, frame the opening with strips of joint tape, slather on more drywall mud, and wait for it to dry. Having never attempted such a repair before, I must admit that I am very pleased with the result.

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Heading Out

So, since this is my first effort at posting a blog entry, I thought I'd start with a disclaimer. I am completely technologically inept. I know remarkably little about the internet, computers, and, well, many things. If you have any insight to offer that would make this blog better in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me (sjk37169@gmail.com)

In less than 22 hours, I'll be on an airplane, carrying me away from everything I've ever known. It should be scary. It should be sad. But, for some reason, my impending departure doesn't seem REAL. I'm not sure why that is. I have an idea though. I've moved many times before. Usually, when I'm getting ready to leave, everything is gone. What was once a home becomes a house, a shell. I don't really have that now. Chris and Sophie are still here. My comfy warm bed is still in place, but I won't be sleeping in it again. There are still books on the shelves, still food in the fridge. It's hard to believe that I'm really leaving here forever. I'm certainly not leaving the good ol' USA forever, and probably not even DC, which has been my home for the last 8 years, but this little apartment has been my home for the last year+ or so, and in that short time I have made many happy memories here.

It's amazing how fast I attach to people, to places, to things. I suspect that I will be just as flustered, just as unsettled when I leave Jo-berg in two years as I feel heading there now. But this is just a suspicion. I'll keep you all posted in my future attempts at blogging (but please bear in mind my earlier disclaimers).

All my love,

Susan

Sophie learns to use Skype

We decided to teach our beagle, Sophie, how to use Skype to contact Susan in South Africa.

It's so easy even a little hound can do it. All you have to do is go to www.skype.com, download the application and follow the easy instructions. You will need a microphone and speakers to use it but you will be able to speak to us in real time. Please keep in mind that we are 8 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Our Skype username is chris.feltman

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Our Engagement and Going Away Party

Susan's parents threw a huge going away / engagement party for us up in Philadelphia on March 10th. Susan's family was much better represented than mine because most of them live in the Philadelphia area, and also because her family is much larger than mine. This is Susan and I with her parents, her brother Micheal, and his girlfriend Karrie.

This is my father meeting Susan's father for the first time. My father is on the right and Susan's is on the left.

This is the beautiful sandwich platter that Susan and I made. Keeping Sophie out of the room during the operation was a serious challenge.














This is Susan and Stephanie, who is her best friend from high school.

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This is our friend Noel who is Susan's buddy from college, and my cousin Abbey having a beer or two in the back room













This is my brother and my father being amazed by all the food that was served.

Susan, Sophie and I getting ready for our trip.

Good News!

Susan passed her driver's test!

Susan Takes her Driver's Test

Susan is taking her driver's license road test today! She has been practicing so wish her luck!

Lots to be done ...

There are lots of things we still need to do before we go.