Grand Tour

Ok, here is the tour of the space we currently occupy. The pictures start at our entrance gate and go right into our house. I do this because I’m weird.

This is our gate. Kyo is the name of the??????plot of land?

This is the path back to the houses. It’s been mud because of all the winter rain.

You’ll see a glimpse of the landlady’s house on the right

Here is where we park and you’ll see our house on the left.

Our flat is the window on the far left (and Wumpy in the window)

Once you’re through the horse gate, you can see the stables right next to our door.

The view looking away from our house is much prettier.

Here is our fireplace, which now successfully heats the livingroom. (There are some before and after pictures in this batch)

This is the living room. Remember that this lens makes it look quite a bit larger than it actually is (just in case any of you come to visit and are shocked by the tinyness)

If you’re sitting on the couch, you can reach over and punch the fridge when it starts buzzing.

Here’s our version of a kitchen, and I think you’re all acquainted with our stove.

Here is a peek into the "toilet room"


Walking up the stairs you see the tub, then turn slightly to the left and you'll see the study.On the opposite wall is the bed.

ok, that was a pain. No more pictures today.
:)

Thursday

How is it possible to be unemployed (for the first time in years, yay) and be busy from morning until night? We get up at 6, but when bed-time rolls around, I still have this list of things I want to do. Of course, that list includes painting the fireplace and photographing chickens…..

Today I went to the mall all by myself, which, given the fact that most of my teenage years were spent in the mall may seem like no great feat. But every time I go out, I have to get over the feeling that I don’t belong here and everyone knows it. However, many of the white women here are giant which lessens any feelings of Sasquatchdom that I may have. I went to the mall and looked all over the place for candles. I brought 2 candles here from the US but now they’re all used up and last night our house was full of farm smells that didn’t make me happy. Can you believe that they don’t have candles here? I finally found a few in a home store with the label “Fragranced” slapped on them. But quite frankly there are way too many fragrances in the world to be vague. But I was desperate and they were only a dollar so I got a couple. Now our house smells like “fragrance” instead of “horse manure” or “septic tank”.

Enkidu got jumped today by a couple of cats. Sophocles and Figaro. They were hanging out in the stables (attached to our flat) and Enkidu walked right out between them.

Tonight we went walking at Chapman’s peak to try and get photos of a sunset like the one we saw last night, but it was too cloudy. Still, it’s incredible to sit on the very tip of the continent of Africa to watch any sunset. We parked at the base of the mountain this time, instead of just walking there, and when we got back to the car there was a caravan of Indians trying to figure out where they were. They asked us and I thought I understood where they wanted to go so I gave them directions. They said thanks and jumped in their cars. As we headed down the hill in our car, the entire caravan turned and followed us (all the way home). So we offered to continue to lead them to the camp they were looking for, which we did and they followed. But even after we arrived it turned out to be the wrong place. When they asked where we were staying and we said, “Um, at home….”, they were shocked to discover that we were not a part of their group (even though the entire group looked very middle-eastern to me). It was an extremely confusing 20 minutes. I’m still not exactly sure what happened.

Pictures

Now that Randy has officially begun to dissertate, we are attempting to keep to a schedule. We get up at 6 every morning and walk. Randy wants to jog, but I have to work up to that one. Right now he’s lucky that I can get out of bed and find my way to the front door. The past couple of days we have walked up Chapman’s Peak drive, which is closed for the winter because of falling rocks. Its great to walk up a steep, winding road and not have to worry abut being plowed over at any minute. Apparently, it’s a famous road that you have to pay to drive on. So we walked up there this morning and took these pictures of the Noordhoek beach and our valley at sunrise. The big grass-roof houses are the Monkey Valley Resort, for those of you who want to visit and stay somewhere spectacular (and reasonable, I might add).

And here is yet another picture of me with scary morning hair and no make-up for all the world to see. But look how cute the dog is.

And here is a picture from last night at twilight.

Misc. South African Wierdnesses (spell check is informing me that this isn’t a word)

1. We’ve been using skeleton keys since we got here. All of our hotel keys were skeleton keys and so is our house-key. How weird is that? Especially since security is such an issue.

2. Our hot-water-heater is suspended on the wall directly above the toilet. If anything will encourage haste, that will.

3. There are no chickens on the farm, only bright, flashy, matching roosters. 10 of them. They hang out together like a football team. They’ll all sit in a line on the fence, or strut from paddock to paddock. That just doesn’t seem normal to me.

4. On some days the landlady lets the horses into her front yard area where the pool is. Yesterday she turned her back for a minute and one of the horses came into the dining room and ate all her apples.

5. Our neighbor, Peter the fisherman, told Randy that he used to get arrested all the time for associated with blacks. And that wasn’t so long ago.

6. When I worked at Florae, in Glen Ellyn, we used to sell Calla Lilies for $7-$10 each. They grow wild here. Especially along the road that runs between the Cape Town township (shanty-town) and the coast. How crazy is that?

Issues

Hey y'all. I'm sitting in the parking lot with my groceries, trying to upload pictures, but my domain is giving me problems. Keep checking back!
Heather

Americans in the Paddock

I’m sitting out here in the horse paddock (/ˈpædək/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pad-uhk] noun - a small, usually enclosed field near a stable or barn for pasturing or exercising animals) typing a blog. It’s cold in the house so I schlepped one of our ugly (soon-to-be-fabulous) chairs into the mud and opened a Pepsi. I’ve had a great birthday so far. We slept in late and then made breakfast. It was raining this morning so Randy built a big fire. Somebody wonderful gave me birthday money so we went to a mall in Sun Valley. I haven’t looked in the general direction of a clothing store since we’ve been here. The clothes here are crazy! I *love* them. There are these long, wild, inexpensive dresses everywhere. Maybe this summer after we’ve been exercising for a few months and have some sun on us (and I don’t feel like a lumpy, albino cave-slug), then I might get one. I’ll fit in perfectly with our landlady, who is currently walking her parrot around the property in a blue flowy gown.

We had dinner with Americans on Friday night. The Geisers from Wheaton.

We’d never really had a conversation with them before, but it was so cool to finally speak to and have dinner with someone understandable. We cruised around a little in our favorite car in the whole world. We went to the beach and then came home and introduced them to the 47 million bugs that came in the front door while we were cooking. They were good enough to put up with our dogs and the fact that we practically live in with the horses. They brought us a genuine Melk Tert bar, which sounds disgusting but is actually the best chocolate bar I’ve ever had. Jim pulled out some canned peaches and some type of chocolate biscuits. We tossed them in a pan (that he also brought) and baked them in our non-oven. Holy cow, that was good! It was a good night. Here is a picture I stole off their blog.

Right this minute there is a huge rooster behind me that won’t shut it. I’m about to bean him with my Pepsi. He’s the same rooster that stands outside our window every morning and erk-a-erk’s. That’s his official noise. There are also loud bag-pipes coming from somewhere and a woman announcing things over some PA system. Weird noises for the country. There must be something going on at the coast.

Other than that, nothing much going on. Tomorrow Randy officially starts his 10-hour-a-day study/writing routine up in the office/bathroom. Thanks, y’all, for reading our blog and adding comments. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there is a map at the bottom of this blog. If you click on it, it shows you everywhere in the world where people are reading our blog. How fun is that?

Ok. I’m done for now.

Misc thoughts...again...

Hey y’all.

This is going to be one of those entries that has nothing to do with any of the pictures. I just like adding pictures….

The other day Randy and I were in Fish Hoek (a small coastal village). We were either looking for a cheap desk or I was getting a passport photo taken (so I could apply for a certificate that says I’m allowed to own a car). Anyway, this black woman came up and asked me for money. I gave her my knee-jerk response. The same response I gave to the scary crack-head guys in Chicago. “I don’t have any money.”

As soon as I said it, she was gone and I suddenly spun into this intense guilt-trip. She was obviously not a drug-user. She probably lived in one of the townships in the area and had no work and a card-board shack stuffed with hungry children who don’t own shoes. The next day we drove through Fish Hoek again and my eyes were glued to the streets looking for her, but the opportunity was gone.

That is a perfect example of why I deserve exactly none of the blessings that God has dropped in my lap. I’m a sinner. Even if I would have emptied my bank account into that lady’s pocket, I still wouldn’t deserve the love and affection that I receive from my creator. His kindness is because of Him, not me.

Thank God, right?

If I gave you the list I’ve been keeping of all the gifts God has given us over the past 6 months, you’d want to come on over to Africa and personally slap me for ever having doubted or stressed.

First of all, we needed money to get here. Problem number one was, we didn’t have any. In fact, even our future money was owed to medical bills or credit cards or whatever. One of the greatest friends of my life, Cathy Chesser, told me to come back to San Antonio and work for her. Several weeks after that, my brother Andrew got a job in San Antonio and he and his wife Cristin (Randy’s sister) bought a house and moved there. And they invited us to live with them. Not just Randy and I, but the dogs too. So we all moved in on the same weekend. Not only did they tolerate us for 6 months, but they let us live there rent-free while we paid stuff off. We could have been at each other’s throats during that time, but instead, it turned out to be one of the best 6 months I’ve ever lived through.

Cristin started working for Cathy as well, and every day we’d get our matching coffee mugs and drive to work. It was so much fun. Then Andrew & Cristin bought our truck for more than we offered to sell it to them for. (Did that sentence make sense?) And then the Chessers came along side us and helped pay Randy’s tuition and helped fund the fabulous car we now own. Those two families have made all this possible and they’ve done it not just because they love us, but because they love the Lord.

Even after a really hard month, I feel like a spoiled child. I’m so thankful that we have a Heavenly Father who fills the holes in our lives and gives us things we don’t deserve. My life would be nothing without Him and the people He’s persuaded to love me.

On a different note, we had dinner with some Americans last night. I’ll post pictures and a story tomorrow.

Heather

PS-this is Ginger, who's owner never comes to see her. I've been trying to warm up to her but she could care less about me. She loves Enkidu, however, and trues to get in the kitchen door if she sees him there.

Our New Car

Unfortunately, because we are on an extremely tight budget for the next 3 years, the only car we could afford is this 4-door, 1978 classic, mint-condition Mercedes-Benz with leather seats, automatic transmission, and a spotless paint-job (in my favorite shade of celery green). It runs beautifully and there isn’t a rip in the leather or a dent in the body.

How did we get it? I have no idea. For whatever reason, an older Mercedes here is like a 1983 Ford Escort in the US. Here the rich folks get the snazzy, futuristic matchbox cars. The Mercedes is huge by S. African standards, even though it’s mid-sized. Apparently it’s not prone to being stolen and so the insurance is cheaper. The burned out, black-smoke emitting VW Golfs and Uno’s with high mileage are highly sought after and out of our financial reach. If anything, we are safer in this car, or more importantly, Randy is safer as he drives 45 minutes along the craziest highway in the country on his way to school.

On a different note, here’s a picture of both dogs sitting on my lap at breakfast this morning. The groom was taking the horses to a different paddock and the dogs just had to see.

Pagans

We’ve been in a car-buying, cargo-hunting frenzy. I feel like we’ve driven up and down the coast of Africa running errands. We finally finally finally got our two bins today. I’m so excited I could just….sit and type. Unfortunately a good portion of my bin was taken up by a box-set of appliances that we bought at Wal-Mart. A matching toaster, coffee maker and electric can-opener. They are all red and “apartment” sized, which means our electricity obliterated them even faster than expected. I was bummed. Now we have to go buy more appliances.

But my paints are here and so is my fabric, which means by the end of the week y’all will officially get to see the before and after pictures of the inside of our house. I bet you just can’t wait, can you.

Yesterday (Sunday) we were supposed to go get our cargo, but thankfully I called while we were on our way and they told us Customs wasn’t open so we had to wait until Monday. So instead we drove over to Simon’s Town which is about 20 minutes south. That’s where the penguin colonies live. But we got so distracted by the cute little town that we parked and walked around and forgot about the penguins.

When we got back home this is what Randy said (in past-tense, story-teller voice, as we pulled into the gate).

“We knew we were in a fairly paganistic part of the world. Our first clue was the gathering of robed Wiccans mingling over coffee and cigarettes on our front lawn.”

And there they were. The healer next door to us had a little get-together and all her robed buddies were standing outside (like normal people) after the circle of knowledge gathering they had in the field across the way. There were black robes and white robes (and even a white robe/pink shawl combo). I would have given my left pinky-toe to go stand outside and stare, but I refrained. After we went in I walked back out to the car to try and snap a couple of photos, but I didn’t get any good ones.

We did, however, take Wumpy to the beach where be went ballistic over a horse (as usual).

Still no pictures on my web-site, I know. Sorry. We’re living in the dark ages in this house (although right now Olaf (the German mechanic/plumber) is installing a tap in our….toilet room…..so we can put a tiny washing machine in there. He also just pulled out the biggest beer I’ve ever seen. “Eets end of day, no?!”)

But check back. We might have something cool to show you in the next day or so.

Heather

PS-We’ve lately found our dogs sitting on the dining room table when we return every day. Here’s a pic.

Saturday

This morning was cold! I went downstairs and successfully lit a fire (in the fireplace) and sat right in front of it with my Coca~Cola Light (I can’t wait for our coffee maker to get here- supposedly our shipment will be in Cape Town tonight). Later I drove down to the market and dropped our clothes off at a “Launderette”. You drop it off and they do it. Randy asked them where we could go to do it ourselves and they looked at him like he had an extra nostril. So we paid $12 (R83) for 2 bags. Not good. We’re looking to buy an old washer (which will go in with the toilet…in the kitchen). That way I can wash our clothes and then hang them to dry. Maybe I’ll just string a clothes line between the two horses that live in our paddock. “Stay!”

Our landlady Audrey invited us to lunch. A friend of hers from the city was joining us. He is an older plastic surgeon named Dez and he owns his own company that makes a line of anti-aging lotions which he sells all over the world. But he wasn’t really interested in talking about his work. What he really wanted to talk about was the fact that Francoise (Audrey’s daughter) was going to read his “cards” when we were done eating. He was so excited he could hardly sit still. He would bring it up and then say, “But don’t get me wrong. I am an atheist.” (He doesn’t believe in the god of manufactured paper)

Audrey looked great. I wished I could have taken a picture of her. She was wearing a maroon velvet blazer over a puffy red house-coat over a pleated black skirt with sport sandals. She’s also just had cataract surgery so she was wearing these big dark Terminator glasses throughout the whole meal. It was weird drinking three glasses of wine in the middle of the day because 1. I don’t usually drink wine in the middle of the day, and 2. I don’t usually drink wine.

But we ate so much food that I figured I’d be all right. And I was. Francoise made this huge exotic salad and hot bread and several Indian dishes and then we had carrot cake with crème-cheese icing for desert. And Audrey made filtered coffee with real crème and sugar. Absolute heaven.

Percy, the parrot, was everywhere we were. He has this huge tree-like structure that he sits on in the living room. When we sat down to eat I looked up and there he was in the dining room on his huge tree-like structure. I guess they drag him around from room to room. He ate everything we ate. Bread, chicken, cake. And he squawked so loud the whole time, we were constantly shouting to be heard over him. Then Francoise would get fed up and chunk him in the other room (and then bring him back 3 minutes later out of guilt). It was a good time.

Olaf the thirsty mechanic was supposed to go into Cape Town with us to look at that car but he never showed up. So we went without him. The car was a hunk of junk. And the neighborhood this girl lived in was cramped with narrow hilly roads which we got lost on taking it for a test drive. It was only because of the grace of God that we found her house again. It looks like we’re going to end up paying a lot more for a car if we want one that will get Randy to Stellenbosch in one piece. Pray that we’ll find a good one. Since I still don’t have pictures in the Africa section of my web-site, I’m posting more here. J One if Peter, the fisherman’s house. One is our first successful fire. One is a horsey-butt out the front window etc, etc.

Life on the farm.....

We’ve had an interesting couple of days, but I guess it’s hard to not have an interesting couple of days when you suddenly transplant yourself in Africa. We got cheap pre-paid cell phones yesterday. It’s almost impossible to try and buy a car with no internet and no phone. So we go to our usual spot at the market and get online and look for cars and make phone calls. We’re going to look at a car on Saturday, and we’re taking Olaf, the mechanic. We told our landlady we were going early in the morning and she clapped her hands together in all seriousness and said, “Oh good. Olaf won’t be drunk then.”

We’ve held off on buying kitchen stuff because we have some in our bins. They were supposed to have arrived last night in Cape Town, but after talking to the cargo people, they say our bins are in Johannesburg. (We’re working on it). Anyway, last night I bought a bag mix of chocolate muffins and some icing. Just because. When I got home, I realized that, 1. We don’t have muffin pans, 2. We don’t have any pans, 3. We don’t have an oven.

Actually, we do have a toaster oven-type-thing, but it looks scary. All the numbers and words are worn off so basically it’s a box with a bunch of random knobs on it. I mixed the muffin batter in a pot and then molded it into a square on one of the toaster oven trays. If turned out ugly, but edible

Our rental car was due back in Stellenbosch this morning. I called the rental place an asked if we could return it at the Cape Town airport instead. I figured we’d be there picking up our cargo anyway. So we went to the gas station and rented a Toyota Tazz from the manager and then we both drove to the Cape Town airport to return the car, which, by the way, was covered in mud and dog hair. They didn’t bat and eyelash.

On our way home we stopped and got water, writing utensils and lighter fluid for the fire. It’s been a very cold few days and we can’t get that fire to light to save our lives. Our best outdoorsman friend Robin told us to soak a roll of TP in alcohol and stick it in a coffee can and light it, but coffee here is like safe driving: unheard of. But I did get the alcohol, got home and proceeded to light half the living room on fire. I don’t know how it happened. Actually I do, but if I tell you you’ll all think I’m a complete moron.

Anyway, the bottle (in my hand) caught fire. I dropped it and the alcohol and the fire engulfed me and the entire living room floor. Randy grabbed the only fluffy, dry objects in our house (the pillows under the dogs and Enkidu’s blanket) and started beating the fire out. Unfortunately, the fringe on the pillows caught fire fast, and apparently Enkidu’s soft blanket is made out of plastic because it melted into a hard wad and attached itself to one of the pillows. I ran to the sink and filled a huge water bottle and when I turned back everything was in flames and Randy was beating them as hard as he could. So I doused the whole living room in water. After about 2 gallons, the flames finally went out. Then we found ourselves standing in a smoky, blackened, wreaking living room. The dogs were plastered to the opposite wall, shaking.

After I got everything cleaned up, there wasn’t a mark on the floor or walls. But the blanket and pillows were one hard, wet blob. Poor puppies. In less than 10 seconds I destroyed everything they love. Aren’t you proud of me, Robin Chesser? The sun is out now and the windows are open. So it’s all good.

Tomorrow I hope to have all of our pictures posted on my web-site. Make sure and take a look!

Monday, a trip to Stellenbosh

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We made our way to Stellenbosch on Monday. The town is beautiful but extremely busy. I believe the population is around 220,000 (including students from the university, some 25,000), which it is a lot considering that the town is relatively small in land area. We are definitely foreigners. Heather and I made it to the campus but could not get a sense of where we were. The streets just are not labeled, neither curbs nor signs. But we managed to ask our way to my advisors office, Johann Cook. I knocked on the door and Cook opened it with a bewildered look (I had never sent him a picture of me). I introduced myself, we shook hands, and then he whisked us into his office with fantastic energy and enthusiasm. He was extremely friendly and helpful. He looks like he is in his early to mid-60’s, slim, with grey hair and red face. Until that moment, I only had an old picture of him from the departmental website and a year’s worth of email correspondence. My sense of him from email was that he was very direct, but my first impression of him from our conversation is that he is a very upbeat, friendly, and a sweet man – he welcomed us with open arms and said that he wanted Heather and me to meet his wife.

Shortly after this he introduced me to some of his colleges, namely Cornelius the resident Egyptologist and a few others. They joked that we were quite brave to have taken South African Airways – ha! I wish I had known that South Africans don’t even trust it. They also had some inside joke for SSA akin to the DELTA joke-acronym – Doesn’t Even Leave The Airport. Anyway, Cook took me to the international office to officially enroll and even to the bank to set up an account. I noticed that I didn’t have my wallet with me along our walk and he scorned me for leaving anything valuable in a car in South Africa. He gave us a whirlwind tour of the campus and pointed me to the fantastic library as he set off for a faculty meeting. He teaches a number of classes and encouraged me to take Biblical Aramaic and post-Biblical Aramaic from him. We also discussed the possibilities of me taking Coptic and Textual Criticism from him. I may do that if time permits. He spoke Afrikaans to a number of people along our tour and one other language. He speaks German, English, Afrikaans, and a tribal language. In addition, he knows Latin (and with Latin he said he gets by with French, Spanish, and Italian), teaches Coptic, Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. He is a fantastic scholar and warm, friendly person. He invited me to a symposium on Friday where the subject is Septuagint Theology – I guess I made it just in time.

Heather's misc thoughts....

Hello.

I (Heather) am attempting to cut down on the anxiety. How is it that I can watch God drop all these miraculous opportunities in my lap, but as soon as we leave the country I allow myself moments of inner-panic? I’m sure the Prince of Peace does not have a limited range and yet it seems a lot easier for me to see Him in the familiar than it is for me to see Him in the unfamiliar. But I know He’s here. I’d have to be blind not to see all the amazing ways He’s protected us and made this hard transition easier.

I still don’t believe the view I see when I look out of my livingroom/kitchen/toilet window (yes, they’re all in the same room)……(but there is a door hiding the toilet).

I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything as spectacular in my life.

I’ve been looking at this spot on Google Earth for quite some time, but I might as well have been looking at a pile of dirty rocks sitting in a puddle. What Google Earth didn’t show me were the rivers and palm trees and pastel houses nestled into the mountains directly above us. We’re in a valley with Chapman’s Peak on one side and the sea on the other. It sounds quaint, I know. But quaint would be a gross understatement. How is it that this place isn’t the poster-child for every dream vacation you could possibly imagine? How can it be this green and lush at the end of winter?

I can’t wait to fully enjoy it. Moving somewhere is not like vacationing there. You have to set up life first. We have to find a car, and apparently, everyone is a wheeler and dealer. And cars are unusually expensive. But as all the locals tell us, there is a guy at the local gas station who rents his cars out daily. So we’ll end up getting one of his cars if we can’t buy one before we have to return our rental.

That situation in itself is a perfect example of what makes this place so foreign. In the US, you would be hard pressed to find some random guy at a gas station who was not only willing, but allowed to rent his cars out to wanderers. There are very few set rules here. It’s hard to figure out who is the Paid Security in the parking lot, and who is the Random Guy offering to watch your car.

“Are we supposed to give him money?” is a common question Randy and I ask each other. Thankfully we have some basic Chicago-Style, Monday-Hiding techniques, but this is a whole new ball game.

Like Randy said, there are many American things here, but it’s when you look at the details that you realize where you aren’t. There is no Diet Coke. It’s Coca~Cola Light. And then there’s the mysterious “No Name” brand that puts out everything from cereal to butter. And then of course, you’re paying for everything in Rands, which really throws you off when you get to the counter with your small basket and the total comes to R350. Counting Rands while attempting to convert them into dollars is extremely taxing on the brain. Hopefully we’ll figure that one out soon.

There are things I knew coming into this situation. I know it would be hard. I knew I would be lonely and scared. I knew it would be a while before we had the basic things we need. In accepting those things, I feel a little better about my temporary angst. I have been expecting it and I’m expecting it to eventually go away.

I’ve been keeping a list of things that God has given us throughout this process that we haven’t deserved. I’ll share that with you in a blog entry that doesn’t involve so much complaining on my part.

Sunday, A Day of Rest

Today, Sunday 9/9/07, we woke up at 10 am after what was for me (Randy), my first full night’s sleep since we left. I think the jet lag is gone now and I can hardly imagine life in Central Standard Time. I am writing this at 6:25 pm realizing that it is only 11:25 am for most of you reading this. We also realized that the busy life shuts down on Sunday here. Most businesses are closed; even convenience store/gas stations (garages here) are closed for walk-in customers, though one can still fill up with petrol (gas).

The cost for food is roughly the same as in the US, though in some cases it seems even more expensive. Cars are outrageously priced. I am struck by the American influence in SA. If we were to snap some pictures of the Longbeach Mall here, you would never know it was a non-US city. The magazines on the shelves are American, the music is American, the movies and TV are American, and the fashion is American. Heather and I blend in very well, that is to say, nobody seems to know we are American until we open our mouths. I also believe that most of them don’t realize how “American” they are. The English language is more European (British) in its word choice and style, though the accent sounds closer to Australian than Brit.

Every person who has asked where I am from first guesses England, and then when I correct them, they say something like, “Why in the world are you HERE?” They are not surprised to encounter a Brit, but an American is quite rare it seems. Actually, we noticed that in our travel planning. I never worked with a bank, vet, financial aid office, or any other office in our preparation that has ever dealt with South Africa.

We’ve been trying to make our apartment a little cozier. Right now it feels like a garage. During our travels we’ve managed to zap several appliances into useless junk by jacking them into the standard 220-volt wall sockets here (Heather’s primping gear and accoutrements). Oops. Oh well, we might as well watch them smoke than not be able to use them, since we bothered to cart them half way around the world. Percolated coffee is a rarity here for some reason. There is a quarter of a shelf in the store devoted to it, but most of it is labeled “coffee and chicory” blend. What!? Some sweet swill I’m sure no sensible person wants to put in his or her mouth. But we did find coffee grounds, so now we must wait until our coffee pot arrives on the 12^th. We signed up for phone service today but they told us we would have to wait until Oct. 8^th – and only after that would we get DSL. Tomorrow and each day after I am going back to be an irritant. Perhaps that will speed up the process.

As I’ve already said, the scenery here is breathtaking. I cannot believe the bird life especially. There are peacocks, pelicans (of some sort), and I think pterodactyls outside in our yard. There is one beautiful black and white bird almost the size of a sea gull that has the most graceful flight pattern (almost like a hawk). I asked what it is and was answered, “Oh that? A crow.”

We’ve had trouble with sending email and posting blogs since we’ve arrived. We have been patrolling the neighborhoods looking for some free wifi from a local townie or coffee shop. The folks around here seem wise to this and so most connections are “secure.” So we have been driving to a local grocery story/lodge area down the road that offers wifi in the parking lot. We pay a small fee and then have a limited time to use it.

We made it to the beach and finally Wumpy’s true colors shined. He dashed, pranced, blitzed, and Rudolphed all over the beach. He went insane. I thought for sure he would be timid and hate the water and wind but instead it was a drug that we couldn’t get him to drop. Doony just freezes and cries, but Wumpy delivers a show.

We are still searching for a car. We’ve been given some helpful advice from our landlady, but we must find a vehicle for the right price. This is our biggest priority at the moment, as our rental car must be returned on Thursday.

Heather and I are driving in to Stellenbosch tomorrow to meet Prof. Cook (my advisor) and so I can officially enroll. Hopefully I will feel a little more confident after speaking with Cook and raiding the library. Tomorrow I must get busy with my work.

It seems that Heather may have an opportunity to sell some art here. There are the Noordhoek and Cape Town art tours. The land lady knows artists who are looking for help with their booths, so it sounds like she may have a connection already for making Rands. I think she would pay a small fee for art space and then be able to display and sell art in a gallery.

Tomorrow we are planning to get prepaid cell phone. I’ll post our numbers in case anyone needs to get a hold of us. Until next time…

Please pray that we:

• find a reliable car
• are able to locate and pick-up our shipped items from Cape Town on the 12^th
• are able to get phone/internet so we can communicate with the cosmos
• find a good church

Noordhoek

I am excited to say that we made it. The long drive today moved from desert (Karoo) slowly to a more mountainous region, and then to the sea.

Once we passed the desert plateau, we began the descent toward sea level and the scenery was breathtaking. I did not expect the barren scrub of the prior drive to turn into such an idyllic paradise.

Once we passed through the Huguenot Tunnel, we made our way through Stellenbosch and out along the marina drive, where the sand was spilling onto the main road.

Along the way we encountered a baboon spat. There was a large posse of baboons along the side of the road and two in particular were fighting and coming right out into the road. Heather snapped a quick shot as we sped by.

Stellenbosch is a bustling city, but I cannot stress how reckless the driving is here. The culprits are mostly the Afrikaners themselves, who absolutely insist upon tailgating at high rates of speed and passing, no squeezing, between two cars in a two lane situation at 80 to 100 mph. I find the driving stress level three times what it was driving in Chicago traffic. I feel that the roads are likely the most dangerous aspect to this country and it is hard to imagine why it is tolerated since accidents are pandemic.

Along the coastline of False Bay were several towns, Fishhoek (Fish corner) being one.

I was not expecting the population here to be as large as it is. Even still, our flat is quite small and basic, but the surrounding view is unrivaled. We were greeted by the landlady who is quite an eccentric character. The 2 acre plot we are living on was a mud pit – literally. Aside from the beautiful scenery, we were told that Noordhoek has been flooded like it never has in the past. The drive into the property was solid water and mud. It was so bad we were unable to drive close to our flat. Audrey, the landlady, had us come over for tea as soon as we arrived. She had an African parakeet on her finger as she waved us in the proper direction. Wumpy and Enkidu went a little scooters when they saw 2 horses (Serius and Jinger), and 4 other dogs (Bezel is all I know right now). Anyway, we got out of the car and immediately sunk our feet in mud. The dogs hated it, but scampered about with carefully placed steps. Both dogs for some reason would rather take a beating than to even walk on wet grass, let alone get their precious tootsies dirty. I guess they are spoiled. The “farm life” will break them of their high and mighty attitudes.

So we walked into her house and Wumpy had mud up to his elbows and belly, and jumped tight up on her sofa. Heather and I both shrieked at the same moment, but Audrey just chuckled and said, “Oh, it’s fine, really.” Then we realized that most likely all of the animals from outside had already tramped through her house with dirty thighs and bellies. She just walked right into her house with muddy feet as though the floor were dirt. So we felt a little at ease. Here was a woman at ease with the earth coming into her home. The place is an absolute petting zoo. There are roosters, ducks, peahens and peacocks right outside and all kinds of tropical birds fluttering around. The plant life is incredible. We are surrounded by mountains on two sides, and a seaside community on a third. I feel like we are in a little eco-bowl.

As you enter the property, there are three buildings set back about 100 yards. The main house is to the right along with a guest quarters. I still don’t know how many live there (maybe three in separate flats?). Our flat is part of a building consisting of three flats. Ours is on the side and actually part of the horse paddocks. The horse stable is against one of our walls. In fact, we must open the horse gate and walk in with the horses in order to get to our front door.

Audrey has been very kind. She took us to the store last night. The grocery store is in a mall. Heather and I walked around shopping for the first time. The store rivals the HEB marketplace in size, cleanliness and choice. This is akin to Dominic’s in Chicago, only larger and cheaper. Everybody was very friendly and we bought a good stack of groceries for about $55. We then drove around a little. Audrey showed us the beach, a few restaurants, coffee shops, and a place to potentially buy a car. “The mechanic, Olaff, will try to borrow money from you,” she warned. Our neighbors are interesting too. Peter the fisherman (go figure) let us borrow some utensils and a frying pan. He was very friendly and told us that he will be working in an organic vegetable garden with François, the daughter of the landlady. Maybe they are a couple? Next door to us is a “healer” of some sort. Im still waiting to find out if this means she is a doctor, or an African Shaman, or a kooky herbalist of some sort. We haven’t met her yet as she is away. Bernard is the “groom,” that is, the guy who attends to the horses. Audrey suggested that I look for a job as a teacher (teaching kids). She said the pay is dirt, but they would snatch me up in a second. There is a shortage of teachers and they will be interested in an accent. I will if I have to. Nearly everything here is conducted in English.

The Karoo

Prelude-Internet is spotty until we get it installed in our own house. Posts will be infrequent.

It’s me (Randy) again. We made the journey to Richmond by sundown in the Karoo (desert).

Highway driving in SA is a learning experience.

I would know, since after taking the wheel from Heather for the first time outside of Joburg, I got pulled over. Apparently I “broke the law” when I passed two vehicles on a curve in the road. I told the cop that I was just a dumb American there on my second day, and after examining my international driving permit and noticing Enkidu going ballistic on the rear dash smashed under the rear window (his choice), he chuckled and told me in a thick African-English accent that he was going to go ahead and “believe” me. He let me off with a warning and told me that he was “pointing his finger” at me, no doubt an African idiom akin to a parent scolding a child for ignorant disdainful behavior. “I’m watching you, Billy!” I shook his hand with the traditional western business version (full hand clasp), but he quickly turned into the more colloquial shake: a palm-to-palm-grasp, which then awkwardly morphed into a fingers-clasped-in-a-backward-“S” position. This two-step shake I think was his way of letting me know he was one hip cop extending the outmoded American a hearty break. He told me that he was giving me a break since to receive a ticket in SA means one must go to the police station right then and pay the fine.

On a lighter note, we transversed a great deal of desert, with no ill effect. The rule of the rode is actually quite dangerous: Pass your opponent, I mean fellow traveler, at a very high rate of speed over a blind hill on the inside. Imagine a 2 lane highway, each lane going opposite directions. Now the bloke behind you wants to pass you (overtake you), but he doesn’t bother to wait for a clear and safe way to do this. He just does it. Now imagine that you are on an upgrade and the horizon is about 100 yards ahead of you. Would you drive into the oncoming lane to go around a person who is already speeding? Of course not, but in SA, you must! If you happen to be the poor sap driving over the hill from the other direction, you may or may not be creamed by the oblivious passer coming over the other side. And this situation may be developing on the other side of the hill at the same time. Good times. But this is what makes driving in SA some of the most horrific in terms of traffic related deaths, besides the alcohol consumption that often accompanies.

The white car in the picture is passing us using the oncoming traffic lane. What you can’t see is that there is only about 100 yards of visible road left before cresting the hill. We witnessed many “near hits” on the road.

We saw unimaginable poverty on a scale little known in America. The shanty towns stretched across the landscape, most of which were the original “townships” designated for blacks during Apartheid.

Disenchanted youth wandered about in marauding gangs looking for who knows what. It is generally known that 1 out of 4 South Africans is HIV positive (!), which is apparently on the upswing from prior statistics. A massive percentage of yesterday’s generation (parents) are dead or dieing since President Mbecki finally instituted a plan for retro-virals and sex education at international pressure, thus leaving children to roam without protection or guidance. I think we saw many of the dads wandering the streets of Joburg inculcating more aimless behavior in the minds of their boys, thus perpetuating and more deeply establishing the way in which the social strata, the rich and the poor, interact. But many Africans we met along the way (toll operators, petrol attendants, etc.) had such a sense of humor. One toll operator pretended to be giving us a great deal since we questioned how much to pay.

We arrived in Richmond at about 6:30 pm (it was already dark since we are just past the winter solstice for this part of the world). Richmond, as I’ve mentioned, is a near halfway point between Joburg and Cape Town. We pulled into the village, which looked like a typical poor SA village (yes, I know what “typical” is. We’ve been here for a day and a half!), dilapidated shacks and modest houses with high barbed wire fences. We drove down a random road and just happened upon our “lodge,” the “Richmond Lodge” – hardly the African Moon of the prior night. (see pic)

Anyway, we were let into their security gate an immediately escorted to our room. Actually the whole lodge was nicer than I had imagined. But we were stuck with two whiny dogs (Enkidu and The Wump) in the room and with no food. The hotel manager told me about an Irish pub down the road. She said, “Go ahead and just walk, the roads are very safe.” She just didn’t want to have to manually open the gate for me again to drive out. I wanted to ask why then they had $250,000 worth of security fence surrounding their campus. I didn’t bother since I figured it might come out as a little “sarcastic.”

So I let my self out of the security gate in the back (big enough for a person to fit through, not a car) and began walking in the pitch black of this town. I encountered a local African man peeping into someone’s window. When I said “excuse me!” he jumped down from their porch hand rail he was leaning over and faced me with a scared look. I asked him where the “Supper Klub” was located and he pointed down the road at a dim light toward the left. So I turned and walked. I encountered 5 or 6 large stray dogs on the way. They each eyed me; I eyed them back. I did find the Supper Klub and walked right in.

The place was completely empty, but I must say it was the neatest pub I’ve ever seen. To the left was a library filled with old bookcases and stuffed with books on SA history, and a large Jewish encyclopedia set in their midst. The ceilings were 15 feet high or so I guess. The adjacent room was the main dining area. There were some 8 or 9 tables, and at the end of the room sat a large fireplace with a massive oak mantle piece. There were old pictures of Richmond in its glory days, game trophies (gamebok, warthog, and two other beasts that smelled of Impala, or some such thing. I initially thought Chupacabra, but of course that’s only in Texas and Mexico…right?), wood carvings, flags from all over the world, and many other pieces of interest. All in all, there were some 6 rooms that I could enter from the main entrance and hallway. I ordered whatever the man offered and spoke with him for about 30 minutes, explaining what I was doing in SA.

Well anyway, it was a neat experience I didn’t get to share with Heather (she was in the room whiny puppy-sitting). The walk back to the room was equally dog infested, but otherwise safe. The 4 of us enjoyed some fantastic “meat” cooked SA style. Did I mention there is a milky way out there you can actually see?

Tomorrow we head to Stellenbosch and Noordhoek, where we can finally unload all of our crap we’ve had in tow these 10,000 plus miles. I look forward to settlement.

Joburg 2

Well I (Randy) thought I should say something. Why should Heather have all the fun? The hard part is over. Here we are in Johannesburg. I thought I would be able to sleep after not sleeping on such a long flight (Heather was conked for 10 hours), but here I am awake after all of this. The dogs are with us in the hotel room and I couldn’t help but notice both of them standing listlessly in the middle of the bed in pitch black (just doggy silhouettes in the African moonlight), wondering why we were trying to sleep at what was for them about 6pm. I wonder if the jetlag will be more burdensome for the beasts of burden or us. Enkidu keeps flapping his ears (like a wet dog jettisoning unwanted water) and causing static electricity to light up the sheets like a mini lightening storm. Right now I can hear either dogs or hyenas barking in the distance.

Our hotel is interesting, the African Moon Corporate House. I wish we could stay. The bed and breakfast (B&B) is a split level (1 ½ story) house in the midst of a busy neighborhood. The perimeter is lined with a high fence, barbed wire, and electric fence over that (no sharks with dangerous laser beams though), but we ignore any sense of a jail yard. The front is fortified with a security gate and intercom. This seems to be the “rule” rather than the exception, since crime is an ever-present problem here. The B&B has a modern look. It is a mix of smooth concrete, corrugated steel, and glass, while at the same time decorated with simple and beautiful African art. There is a miniature pool table on the veranda and a swimming pool on the side of the house. In the back is a swing set and aviary – I think with only pigeons, actually. Somebody ought to let them know that pigeons aren’t special. I believe there are only 3 or 4 rooms at the B&B. When we came down stairs for dinner, there were two Afrikaner men discussing South African finance at the bar, sipping white wine and occasionally mixing English with Afrikaans. Ja! Ja! Did you see that stocks are at an all time high mate. Ja! Lekker!

Heather has done an amazing job during our travels. I was supposed to be the “navigator” but she has managed to read all of the street signs so far…and drive…and negotiate with the airport officials. I feel like a little boy ;-) I am loosing my far-sighted vision…and, oh yes, but the streets are only haphazardly marked. Sometimes there is a street sign where you would expect one, but they are also either not listed at all, or on the curb! What a stupid place to label a street. When one is so concerned about not plowing over the locals, one hardly has the ability to also read a curb as its zipping by. Heather insisted on driving from the airport; I obliged. Our directions were trash! I guess 8 robots (street lights) means 31, give or take. This is Africa; why worry about details? Only God knows how we found our way. O Kurie!

My first impression of Joburg is somewhat mixed, but I am neither surprised by the beauty of its wealthy sector nor the economic/social depression of its poorer side. On analogy, it is a cross between Chicago’s busyness (imagine the traffic of downtown) with the feel and look of Cicero (you don’t really want to go there), unless you are a local..and even then. People line the streets and cut across all lanes of traffic at every turn. I don’t think I saw a single woman in the mix, only wandering black men – again very similar to parts of Chicago. I can think of no fitting analogy for Texas. Sorry guys.

Tomorrow we are off to the Great Karoo desert, the southern most portion of the Kalahari. We will stay in a small town called Richmond, which is just about the midpoint of SA straddling the country between Joburg and Cape Town. They boast their very own police station!

Overall, though we are still traveling, I think SA is going to be a relatively easy adjustment. People really aren’t that different. Mamma, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Please pray for us that:

• Travel from here is safe
• We are able to find a decent vehicle to buy quickly
• I can put my head on straight and get down to dissertating
• We find a good church and get plugged in

Johannesburg

We're here. This might be the most stressful/interesting day(s) of my life.
Yesterday we arrived at the DC airport and dropped the dogs off at Cargo (at 11:30). That was hard! I cried a little bit then.
After that we went and returned our rental car and schlepped tons of baggage to the airport. So our flight didn't actually take off until almost 6. As soon as we were in the air, we switched our watches to African time, which was midnight. We ate a little and I tried to sleep, but the seats were tiny and smashed. All in all, it was a pretty miserable 16 hours of flying. It was strange looking up at the cabin monitor and seeing that, at 7 in the morning we were flying over Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast.
We landed in Johannesburg at 3 African time (8 your time). We got off the plane, bleary-eyed, exhausted and a little queasy and rounded up our baggage. Then we went and got a rental car (which turned out to be a stick). I think it was weirder for Randy sitting in the passenger seat without a steering wheel. Somehow we found our way to cargo.
Let me tell you what! Driving on the wrong side of the car (in a stick shift) on the wrong side of the road with severe jet-lag is not a good thing. I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for Randy yelling, "Other Side!!!!!!!!" as I go careening into an intersection. We got the dogs who looked like they'd just been though a war.
Then we followed some extremely vague directions through one of the scariest cities I've ever personally been in. We couldn't find any of the street signs and there were people swerving and walking all over the roads. God not only had our hands on us, but a forcefield around us. Somehow we made it to the African Moon Corporate House which is absolutely spectacular. Its this bed and breakfast type thing (surrounded by high walls, right in the middle of Johannesburg chaos). There are palm trees and avairies.
We love it. But now we're about to force some food down and walk around in the pool courtyard. There will be pictures tomorrow.
Thank you for praying.

Dogs in the Car

Enkidu and Wumpus have been sleeping in the same kennel in the back seat. Any time they hear us opening something that might be food, they wedge their faces between the seats. How cute is that?

DC

We just arrived in a small town outside of DC. (Front Royal is the name). Its a cute, weird, tiny, hilly, old Virginia town. Labor Day must be a pretty big event here.
We walked the dogs down to main street and there was a whole fleet of people taking down the flags. At a little park downtown we sat and watched a serious dork-fest. There were approximately 8 guys (all with the same ponytail) fighting with Kendo sticks. I sat on the bench and tried not to laugh too hard. You should have seen the fancy footwork.
"Whats up losers?" (is what I was thinking........)
Oh well, at least they were having a good time with other nerds of their own kind.

Right now I'm basking in the reality of free wireless internet. No more standing on a bucket next to the window.
I'm excited about tomorrow but we're both nervous about dropping the dogs off at cargo. If you're pleading to The Creator of the Universe on our behalf, pray that our patience would be great and that whoever ends up in charge of our animals will be a tenderhearted dog-lover. Pray for our long long flight and the craziness that will ensue when we get off the plane in Johannesburg.
You won't hear from us again until Wednesday......morning....afternoon....night.....whatever it is here when we get to our hotel there.
Lo