Settling In

Enjoyable weekend spent house sitting and getting organized - I'm starting to feel more settled. I wanted to get some things taken care of this weekend to have peace of mind when I'm in Pretoria this upcoming week. The schedule is as follows:

Monday (30 January): Pick up car (leave at Gerhard's), go to airport, and join other scholars to travel to Pretoria

Tuesday (31 January): Training and Security Debrief at Embassy in Pretoria

Wednesday (1 February): Training and Security Debrief at Embassy in Pretoria

Thursday (2 February): Training and Security Debrief at Embassy in Pretoria/Travel back to Johannesburg and stay with Gerhard

Friday (3 February): Take car to be registered, road worthy test, and insurance check/move into house?

On Friday I set off to pick up packages that I mailed to the US Consulate in Johannesburg, shop for miscellaneous things for my room, and drop everything off at my house. Fulbright allows us to send four boxes one-way for academic purposes only, so I mailed my office supplies and university "freebies" that I got from Ohio State and Dominican (tee shirts, pens, pencils, notepads, et cetera). No problem! Gerhard let me borrow his "bakkie" (truck) to transport the only problem was that the driver seat was on the wrong side. I set off early, wanting to drive around a bit before taking the highway to get used to driving. I didn't find it as difficult as I expected, in fact, I found it to be quite novel and interesting. I had no problem finding the Consulate, picking up the boxes, and then moving some of my things to the house. The major difficulties I found: 1) Turn signal - you use with your right hand (at least in the bakkie), I often would accidently switch on the windshield wipers rather than the turn signal; 2) My right arm got tired a lot. I'm used to driving with my left hand and switching gears with my right, often resting my left elbow on the door. I guess my right arm doesn't have the stamina that my left arm has because of driving? 3) Entering streets - I found myself, out of habit, of looking to the left, where oncoming traffic is in the US. It will still take some getting used to, but it's a start!

As I spent time running errands and getting things organized for my house this weekend, I enjoyed learning about the cultural differences, which are very apparent when shopping. Everything seems comparably more expensive (or equal) in SA in the US, even with the strong dollar to rand (about R8 = $1). Obviously I'm settling and starting a "new" life here, so I expect expenses. I just imagined that my dollar would stretch more than it is!

Laughable Story: I was in the MTN (cell phone) store the other day getting a SIM card and a plan for my phone. While I was waiting a customer being helped by a different associate leaned over and asked me where my accent was from. After explaining that I was American she replied saying that it was "lovely" (the first ever compliment of my accent, ever). I replied that I loved the South African accent and found mine to be particularly bland. Smiling, I then said, "I don't think I have an accent, you do!" … everyone had a good laugh.

Outdoor Shower :)