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Journal
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 So you're probably wondering why the blog has been so silent for the past few days. I haven't been silent - the story is a doozie. On Sunday, our team of twelve plus two program managers from Citizens Development Corps (CDC) and our Corporate Citizenship Executive for the Europe/Africa (and all of our luggage) boarded two vans and headed East to Mpumalanga province. The drive took a little over four hours (including a brief stop) and along the way we saw farmland, mines, and some spectacular scenery during the last hour or so. We arrived at our lodge around four to a bit of an unwelcome surprise; the rooms that were reserved for us had been given away due to a still not yet understood mix-up. No room at the inn. CDC did the best they could trying to find us alternate accommodations, but as it was a holiday weekend, no lodges were available with enough rooms for the entire team. Therefore, we had to split the group with one team going to one guesthouse and two teams going to another lodge. None of us were happy that the team was being split up, and we were less pleased that the new accommodations did not have internet access or phones. I am very good at expectation management, but my expectations were set based on the lodge presented during the pre-work, so a new lodge and not being able to call home (via Skype) was a bit of a curve ball. But part of the Corporate Service Corps experience is about adapting to our new surroundings so we tried to make the best of it.  The new lodge is actually remarkably nice - a sprawling compound with an almost farm-like feel with chickens, geese, several cats and dogs (including a ginormous floppy-eared grey great dane named Jinx who likes to lean against you).  The hosts are a wonderful extended family who have gone out of their way to welcome us weary travelers since we arrived in total darkness on Sunday night. They even allowed us access to the manager's office, where my teammates comandeered the single internet connection and created a wireless internet "cafe" in the adjacent conference room. Unfortunately even the closest room is *just* shy of the access point, and I've caught my teammates wandering in the middle of a field trying to pick up a wireless signal. To make up for the chaos of Sunday, and because Monday was a holiday so we were unable to meet with any of our clients, we decided to tour the Panorama Route. We visited Bridalveil Falls and Lone Pine Falls and then went to God's Window.    Monday night they had a braai (South African bbq) for us that included all sort of salads, lamb, rump, ostritch, and boerwars. I also finally broke down and tried the biltong, which really isn't that bad, expecially when you skip lunch and are hungry!  Tuesday was our kickoff meeting with all three teams and all three clients. The meetings were held at the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Association complex, which is an impressive, seemingly new, series of one story brick buildings. I won't bore you with the photos of 12 IBMers in our dressy outfits in a conference room :) That night, we attended a cocktail reception in our honor where I was amazed at the number of people in attendance. Just when I thought things were looking up, we returned to the lodge Tuesday evening to find there was no power. Our wonderful hosts offered to fire up a generator but instead we decided to drag our chairs and enjoy some cocoa under the stars (and WOW there are a lot of stars where we are!). It's too bad we can't stay at this lodge because it really is lovely, but we need to be together as a team. We move to a new location (Yes, it has confirmed internet!) on Sunday. More on my exciting day with the South African Police Service soon - all work realated :)
Saturday, April 25, 2009 If you have been following my Twitter tweets, you know that I arrived in Johannesburg and hit the ground running. By the time a room was available yesterday, it was close to 1pm, so I didn't want to risk sleeping and then being awake all night so I hunkered down and stayed awake until evening to try to get my internal clock on local time as quick as possible. My first impression of Johannesburg is that the department of state warnings were exaggerated, and like any big city you need to remain vigilent and use common sense. It looks less like where I've traveled in East Africa and more like parts of California with well paved highways lined with eucalyptus trees and tile-roofed stucco houses. I walked a few blocks to Sandton City Mall with a few of my teammates to get a quick bite to eat at an outfoor cafe. This mall, and the adjacent one, were extremely upscale with shops like Cartier, Tiffany, and I even saw a B & H photo on the directory. We were there to find comfortable shoes for one of my teammates, and prices were about the same to what you pay at home unfortunately. I think we're in the Gold Coast or Beverly Hills of Johannesburg (but we leave tomorrow). We received our South Africa cell phones and spent a while programming each others phone numbers into the contact list. We must have looked a little strange all sitting there intently programming our new mobile phones, but the nice thing is that it has a farenheit to celcius converter so I will be able to understand what the heck people are talking about. By about 7pm last night, all but 3 of my team had arrived so we went to dinner at the steak house adjoining the hotel. When we arrived and asked for a table for 10 the host asked what airline we were with, assuming we were a flight crew. We said we weren't unless it got us a discount :), and then our waiter asked us if we were with Quantas or Emirates. Then one of my teammates spotted the crew from their flight at another table - so I guess we were at the happening place :) This morning we were up early for a full day of activities. The three remaining team members arrived late last night, so we are now complete (and of course, that means three more numbers to add to the cell phone!). Our tour guide for the day joked that he was ok to drive becase "he wasn't practicing the family planning" and made a gesture like he was drinking. I'm not quite sure what he was talking about - I think maybe it was supposed to be an ice breaker, but if so it might have worked, oh, maybe later than 9:30 in the morning :) Or maybe he WAS practicing the family planning ... Our first stop of the day was IBM South Africa. We met with the Country General Manager and also had a high level briefing on South African history and politics. Next we took a tour of the African Innovation Centre and a short walk around the rest of the campus where we saw a Saturday school session (a volunteer initiative to augment math and science education). When we returned to the van we were greeted with dried fruit (the mango was my favorite) and biltong, a slim-jim like dried meat. Our next stop was the Apartheid Museum where I think we spent about 2.5 hours but still only had time to read the summaries on most of the exhibits. We were rushed because our next stop was Nelson Mandela's home and it closed at 4pm. On the way, we stopped at what appeared to be a mini mart to pick up our take out lunch, which was fabulous - several platters of chicken and sandwiches, and pizza. Nelson Mandela's home is in the Orlando township of Soweto, which stands for SOuth WEst TOwnship. I envisioned something like Kibera in Nairobi (and I'm sure there are parts like that) but the part we went to had homes with tile roofs, restaurants, an internet cafe, and even bed & breakfasts. Tonight we had a wonderful team dinner at Moyo. The meal began with a table-side rosewater handwashing ritual - a woman in a white robe and a pink feather headdress walked around the table with a pitcher, a bowl, and a towel, and softly sang as you washed your hands with rosewater that she poured from a pitcher into a bowl. The meal itself was a lavish buffet - I stuck to my normal buffet strategy and avoided the starters and went straight for the meat (there was a selection of chicken, lamb, ribs, calamari, and sardines). Dessert included pastries as well as individual creme brulee cups made with an industrial-sized torch. And I've now had my first South African wine :) During dinner, there was live music as well as women wandering amongst the tables singing traditional music (I think I recorded some, still need to download). After dinner, more pink-feather-headdress-clad women came around and painted all of our faces. The entire meal was a great bonding experience and it is safe to say that the team is getting along fabulously. Tomorrow - Mpumalanga !  Click to view a slide show of the pictures thus far (though it is oddly running in reverse and I don't have the patience to troubleshoot it right now). You can also you can also view the pictures on Flickr.
Friday, April 24, 2009 Friday Sunrise 
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 After three months of preparation, departure day has finally arrived. I achieved my goal of checking only one bag, although it weighed in four pounds over weight so I had to do some last minute shuffling. It is too bad they still have the silly liquid rule, because my bag of toiletries is definitely the heaviest. The next heaviest single item is a fluid ball head (the top of a tripod) but as soon as I unwrapped it from its protective turbie, the gate agent rolled her eyes and said no way (apparently it is essentially a carbon mallet). I then removed an empty duffel bag that I had for 1) the way home or 2) if the shifting around was hopeless and I had to check two bags and the weight dropped to 51.5 and she decided to let it slide. By the way, O'Hare is positively deserted on Wednesday evenings, so I was not "that person repacking their luggage and holding up the line" :) So now I'm just schlepping around a wheelie full of camera equipment, battery chargers, and various other technological gadgetry for the next 28 hours. I'll meet two of my team members (Vince from the UK, and Olli from Finland) in London, and then we'll meet Neil (from Canada) when we arrive in Johannesburg Friday morning. My team is comprised of eleven IBMers from nine countries; the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, India, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. We'll have a brief orientation in Johannesburg and then on Sunday we will travel about four hours to Nelspruit where we will spend the duration our our assignment. Nelspruit is the capital of Mpumalanga province, which is located in the north eastern part of South Africa bordering Mozambique and Swaziland. I (along with Neil from Canada, Shweta from India, and Roland from Germany) will be working with Business Against Crime, a non-profit organization whose goal is to reduce crime to enable a safe and secure South Africa. Specifically, we will be working with the South African Police Service, the South African Tourism Services Association, and businesses in the tourism sector to identify ways that technology can be used to create a crime free tourist environment. Which means... I think we get to visit a lot of fabulous tourist spots!
Saturday, April 18, 2009 Spring Saturday Sunrise 
Friday, April 17, 2009 Bailey, in all his HDR-goodness. 
Monday, April 13, 2009 Sunrises on Saturday and Sunday.   
Wednesday, April 08, 2009 Wednesday Sunrise.  
Tuesday, April 07, 2009 Sunrise on Saturday morning 
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