First Week in South Africa

I've been here for almost a week and I’m slowly beginning to find my footing, figuring out how to navigate this crazy country and actually settle down and get some work done!

At first I didn't really experience much culture shock, when we arrived in Africa, there was a driver there to pick us up from the airport and take us to the CSIR. After that we (Kieran and I) got settled into our new house, which is really nice, except that it gets rather cool during the day because it's made of brick, but this should prove very useful in the summer (November-march) as the temperatures here can rise well into the 40's. Enjoy your winter in Edmonton Suckers!

I've been out to buy groceries a couple of times, once one of the girls from the department here took us three out (I’m now including Rebecca, the American Intern here) to get food. Prices here in terms of food are, in most cases, a lot better than in Canada. Like cereal, my staple food when living away from home, is something like 7 rand per box, which is just slightly over a dollar Canadian. The exchange rate is roughly, 6 SA Rand to the Canadian dollar.

Work was rather uneventful this past week as I really had nothing to do until I got a computer (I miss my iBook dearly, I really, really miss it). After that, I managed to do some preliminary research on water harvesting techniques. But I really couldn't do too much until my meeting with my supervisor, Jaqui. That was last Friday. She seems really awesome, she is so full of energy, and is truly passionate about her research, it's almost infectious. I would liken her very much to Hilary Watson, that’s who she reminded me of the most.

I'm looking forward to working on this project. She also wants this internship to benefit me as well, so I get total free reign on what I want to do, in terms of research. She suggested that by the end of the 6 months I should have a working paper, which is loosely based on the transboundry research we’re doing, but I get to put my own spin on it and investigate an aspect that I’m particularly interested in. So I might get published by the end of this 6 months, that’s very exciting and something I’m excited about.

It’s kind of funny, that at our house there is no TV. well there is but it is a very small black and white one which barely has a clear picture, so as a result there isn't really much to do in the evenings. Although as a benefit of this, I’ve been meeting a lot of expats (other foreigners) and locals. The bar at Entabeni (the housing complex I am staying in, which is a Zulu term for "On top of the hill") is really nice, and very close, and you can get beer there for only 7 rand each, which is roughly a dollar!!!!

Last Friday, Kieran, Remko (a Dutch exchange student who is studying aeronautical engineering) and I, along with some of Remko's colleagues (Erik, Benny and his wife Lela, all South Africans) went to see the local Pretoria Rugby Team the Blue Bulls take on the Pumas. I don't know where the Pumas are from. The game was great, although it was a shut-out, with the Bulls defeating the Pumas 63 to 7. Erik was giving Remko and I a commentary on the rules and what was going on the field. Very fun! One weird thing I noticed was that they didn't sell beer at the games, unlike in the UK and in Canada, but apparently they did have beer sections, but you had to leave the stadium to go and drink, so I stayed sober that night. Also, the audience in the stadium was predominately white South Africans. There were very few blacks in attendance. (I apologize for any un-PC remarks I may make in these blogs, but I assure you I do not mean them with malicious intent, only that I am unaware of the correct terms, there that is my disclaimer for any fauxpas I may make in this blog)
Up until Saturday I had only really seen black South Africans in mainly the service roles of society. They're the cashiers at the supermarket; they are the vendors at the rugby game, and the security detail at the gates to CSIR. I haven't really seen any in the higher up jobs. I knew this was the case, but I didn't really expect to be this segregated. So far I have been confined to white South African Society.

On Saturday however, we made it a point to change this. well its not like we went out in search of the blacks, but Kieran, Rebecca, Remko and I decided to go and explore Pretoria a bit more, seeing as there was nothing else to do at home, and we hopped into a Combie and made our way to the city centre. Combies are the way the majority of Africans get around. they're basically mini-buses or minivans that cost 7 rand a trip and you hold up your hand on the side of the road (in a designated route, but how these routes work I still don't know, all I know is that there are some streets where the combies will pick you up and others where they wont) and they stop and you get in. I would liken it to an organized form of hitch-hiking that everyone does. (The parents are going to be on my case about safety, I just know it! Sorry mom).

Anyways, in the city centre, we hardly saw any white Africans. There were street vendors everywhere and you can get almost anything from them, from fruit and veggies to toys and sweets. We walked to Church Square, and then a few blocks more and went to Paul Kruger’s house, which is now a museum. He was an Afrikaner and president of South Africa during the Boer war. He was a celebrated hero during the Boer war and was influential in getting the Boers to resist British rule.

After that, we headed out to City hall and had a look around there, and then we popped into a few shops and then hopped into another combie and made our way back to the CSIR. This second combie, actually kicked out the other passengers (all blacks) and offered us a deal that for one more rand (a total of 10 rand each, as the asking price was 9 rand) he would take us directly to the CSIR front gate. I felt very bad as we were totally given the rich white treatment at the expense of the other passengers, but took it anyways.

Finally, that brings me to today. The three of us went into town to get a few more groceries and then I went into the office, where I am now, to up-date my blog, upload some photos and maybe get some work done, but I’m not too sure about that last one. Just kidding, I have an article to read and I’m keen to do so as it basically outlines the project I’m going to be working on for the next 6 months.
Stay tuned for some photos!