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