ZA2009

We began today with the annual Stellenbosch Parade. Men's and women's residence halls at the University of Stellenbosch pair up to create floats that roll through the streets. Mark and Catherine really enjoyed all the noise and colors.

--Matt 

Mark had his first day of swimming trials today, swimming freestyle and backstroke. He did well, winning his freestyle heat. So, he was thrilled. But, there are lots of good swimmers here. And, it is unlikely that he'll be on the Rhenish travel team. Rhenish prides itself on its swimming heritage, leaving success at rugby and cricket to the nearby Afrikaans schools. We learned that many of Mark's classmates have been swimming under international coaching for at least two years. (The coach who led practice yesterday morning went to college in Texas where she swam in the NCAA championships.) In contrast, Mark has been swimming on a team for four months. Tracy and I told him that Rhenish will be a great place for him to improve. The competition is strong and the coaches are excellent.

Catherine was at Rescurer's Daycare and had a good day.

I was a Stellenbosch University today, and I brainstormed topics for the hydro course I'll be teaching in August.

Here's something interesting about our banking situation. Standard Bank told me today that our account can be switched from non-resident status to resident status tomorrow (Friday). CPUT's first paycheck for me was approved yesterday and will probably hit the bank (via direct deposit) tomorrow. So, it's a race! If the bank wins, I get paid tomorrow. If CPUT wins, the check will bounce and I'll have to wait a couple weeks before they try again. We'll see what happens.

It was quite hot today (28 °C), so Catherine, Mark, and I took a short dip in our pool this evening after work and before dinner. It was just enough to take the edge off the heat.

--Matt

Tracy went to a parents meeting at Rhenish this evening. This school has a long tradition, and it shows. There are lots of things that families who live in Stellenbosch just "know" about Rhenish that we don't. So, there are new surprises every day.

Mark (and I) will get up EARLY tomorrow for a 7 AM swim practice. After school, he has the first meeting of his chess club.

It's late. Going to bed.

--Matt

This afternoon, Mark and I went for our first hike into the mountains around Stellenbosch. Before we departed, Mark thought it would be an easy "climb," because we wouldn't be using any harnesses, carabiners, ropes, etc. By the end of the two-hour walk on quite flat (probably only 100 m of elevation total), well-groomed dirt roads, he was tired and his feet hurt. We took some great photos along the way.

At the end of our hike, we saw some people playing funny games.

Catherine and Tracy went to Monkey Town in Strand. They told lots of stories about monkeys, the petting zoo, and giant turtles upon their return.

--Matt

This morning, Rhenish school had an "athletics meeting." Translation: a field day with timed sprints for the Grade 1 through Grade 3 students. Best times go to a regional meeting next week. The "houses" at Rhenish compete against each other. Mark is in Yellow house. Not quite sure what that means yet.

Mark raced in the 100 m. Not fast enough for the next level, but he had fun. I took some pictures.

Next week, they'll do something similar for swimming.

We talked to Grandma and Grandpa over the internet today using the Apple version of Skype (iChat). We wished my mom a Happy Birthday. Mark and Catherine enjoyed seeing their grandparents on the videophone.

I tried to obtain my staff number at CPUT again today. No luck. Or, as they say here, I'm "not winning." I was able to get on the internet using my laptop for web browsing. And, I set up a CPUT email account. But, I can't check the account using Mail.app yet. And, it doesn't look like I'll be able to check my other email accounts from CPUT's campus either. Their firewall blocks IMAP ports. Definitely "not winning."

A funny story from Wednesday that I forgot to write about. I joined a couple colleagues at CPUT for afternoon tea. The policy in the Mechanical Engineering department is that staff members bring their own cups and spoons. We're also responsible for washing them (if we wish). Of course, I didn't have the required equipment, because I didn't know the customs. What a dither THAT created! All cupboards and cabinets were searched for a cup. When that failed, I said, somewhat sheepishly, "hey guys, I don't mean for this to be an emergency or anything. I can sort myself out tomorrow." To which they responded, "this IS very close to an emergency" and proceeded to phone the secretary to find a cup. 2 minutes later, I had a cup full of Rooibos. Whew! Apparently, the cup that was provided is quite special, obtained from a hidden supply known only to the secretaries.

Today, I brought my own teacup to campus.

--Matt

Mark attended Rhenish Primary School for the first time today.

I walked with him down the hill to the school (about 20 minutes). He had butterflies, but his teacher, Mrs. Birt, assigned Julian to be his friend for the day. Mrs. Burt said Mark was quiet today in class but that he made friends easily.

At Rhenish, students go barefoot most of the day. Kids must wear their shoes to and from school. But, in between, they can take their shoes off as they please. Mark thinks this is pretty cool.

Catherine continues to have some difficulty adjusting to her new daycare situation. The creche has significantly more structure than her daycare back in the U.S. We're hoping she gets used to it soon. Today was an improvement, we were told.

I received and accepted a formal offer of employment from CPUT today. (Quite a long time in coming.) But, the HR person responsible for assigning me a staff number is out today. So, I can only get my staff number tomorrow (Thur). After that, I'll get access to the computer network, get a CPUT email address, and gain access to the eLearning web portal at CPUT. I don't expect that I'll be fully ready by my first class Monday at 14h00. I'm re-learning how to work in African time :-).

Then, with this offer letter in hand, I went to Standard Bank in Stellenbosch to try, once again, to convert our non-resident bank account to a resident bank account. I have all the proper documentation now. (Photocopies caused the problem before.) Unfortunately, the decisions about resident vs. non-resident accounts are made in Cape Town. So, all our paperwork will be brought by courier to Cape Town. A decision is expected on Friday. Ironically, the person at the Stellenbosch branch is expected to be able to judge the authenticity of my documents and detect forgeries, thereby protecting against money laundering, I suppose. But, he can't make the decision about whether our account can be a resident account. When the decision is made (in Cape Town) to switch our account to "resident" status, they'll be looking at the photocopies. We need this account to be converted soon so that we can make interbank transfers for Mark's school and our 2nd car. Arrrrgh!

I suppose these are nothing more than startup difficulties that occur when moving anywhere. But, I'm impatient to get past this phase. Mark's starting school today was a big help in that regard. If we get the bank sorted out, we'll be in better shape.

--Matt

Mark and Tracy went to Mark's school today to get the list of necessary school supplies. Later, they got as much as they could. Some items were confusing. For example, the list included "1x Pack 12 kokis," which, Tracy found out later, is a 12-pack of markers. Who knew?

Catherine had a difficult time at daycare today. Lots of crying, we were told. We hope she gets comfortable soon.

In the evening, we went for dinner at the home of Wikus and Heidi. Wikus is my point of contact at Stellenbosch University. Their son Steffan and daughter Rickie (sp?) were very kind to Mark and Catherine. The conversation was great, food (pasta) was awesome, and a good time was had by all.

We're ready for real life to start. We've been in the country for 12 days, and we've been out for dinner for at least half of those days. 

School starts on Wednesday, and that will bring a bit of normalcy (and earlier nights for the kids) to our lives!

--Matt

After Catherine's nap today, we tried going into Stellenbosch. At Oom Samie se Winkel (Uncle Sam's Store), Mark and I looked around a bit. But, Mark isn't into antiques so much.

Then, we sat at a restaurant for a snack. But, Mark isn't into scones so much. He found carrot cake, but they were out. A bit of a bummer day for him.

As a family, we walked about in town and saw an excellent example of Cape Dutch architecture.

This evening, we went to our second braai, a neighborhood "block party" of sorts. It was a "bring your own" affair. We cooked boerewors and steak on the braai provided by our landlords. The braai was held on the park in front of our house. It was nice to get to know several of our new neighbors. Mark played with some of the neighborhood kids who had an unmotorized go-kart.

--Matt

Boy was it hot today. Up to 30 °C again. As Kerry noted, we left 30 °F weather (less, really, because its been sooo cold in Michigan) and went to 30 *C weather.

Today, I got my visiting faculty card from Stellenbosch. Next comes internet access, which I was told could take until the end of next week. Ugggh!

I got my card by riding one of our landlord's bikes into town. It takes 13 minutes by bike to get home from my office. Home is the uphill way. So, it probably takes little less to go from home to my office. The time to ride is just about as long as it takes to drive and park. I think I'll do it as often as possible.

Mark and I went to a store called Fidders on Andringa Street in Stellenbosch to get electric plug converters. Now, we're set for all our U.S. electronic stuff, like computers hard drives, and cell phone chargers.

--Matt

We've been in South Africa for one week as of today. But, time is moving slowly. It seems like it has been a month. I suppose when everything is different and nothing is on autopilot, you have to make soooo many more decisions than normal. Maybe about 4x as many decisions as usual. That might explain why one week feels like one month.

It's my birthday today. We celebrated with lots of fun. Mark and I swam in the pool with his new boogie-board. He's quite eager to try it in the ocean.

And, I had granadilla birthday cake. I suppose that few folks in the U.S. can say that!

Catherine has had a allergic reaction to the mosquito bites here. It's nothing terrible, but causes a bit of swelling, itchiness, and a raised red welt. We found an effective cream at the chemist (pharmacy) that reduces the swelling and itchiness after a couple days. But we're taking preventative action, too. Both kids are now sleeping with mosquito nets over their beds. Before anyone worries, Stellenbosch is not in a malaria area.

One of our landlords' children reacts similarly, so there were nets available in the house!

One more thing. We got two versions of Mark's summer school uniform today. In addition to shirt and shorts, we needed to get the right socks, shoes, and a PT (physical training) suit. As the guy at De Jager's said, "there are a lot of rules" about the uniforms.

--Matt

Today, my Mom emailed to confirm that our house in Michigan was cleaned up. Thanks soooo much, Mom!

I had meetings with my colleagues-to-be at Stellenbosch University. We started the administrative process for network access, etc. I had hoped for the administrative stuff to be cleared today, but no such luck. Probably only by the end of the week.

--Matt

Today was a low-key day. We went to the Stellenbosch United Church.

Later we went to Strand Beach again. It was packed, because it was a hot day (30 °C) with little wind. Perfect place to cool off.

On the plus side, Tracy is feeling much better.

Also, Jonathan emailed to say that he moved our car into storage in Jenison, despite a snowstorm that limited driving to 15 mph on the highways in Grand Rapids. Thanks sooooo much, bro!

--Matt

Today in brief:

Tracy's final piece of luggage arrived today. Yeah!

South African banks are a real pain in the neck. Much of this country's business is conducted via online account transfers. We need a resident account to do transfers. We currently have a non-resident account. To convert from a non-res account to a res account, I need some documentation. Today, I showed up with (horror) COPIES of the needed documents. Not good enough. So, I have to get the originals during meetings on Monday. Then, back to the bank. Arrrrgh!

Our visitors Cal and Karen arrived safely from the U.S. today. They're in transit to Malawi and will stay with us for a couple days. We did lots of planning for their touring today.

And, I had a 4-way conference call on Skype today with Stellenbosch, Los Angeles, Nevada, and Utah participating. It worked really great! I was really surprised. Sound quality was good and no more latency than when I'm in Michigan. Whether its Skype or iChat, it looks like we have a good way to communicate at our house.

--Matt

Roll call was at 4:30 AM on Tuesday. We packed and stored our final things. Jonathan picked us up at 5:30 AM on Tuesday (yesterday). All 16 bags (plus stroller) fit in the back of his van.

Travel from Grand Rapids to Chicago was fine. Here's a picture of Tracy and the kids on the first flight.

Later, it started to get exciting. Mark and I saw that our Chicago to Washington, D.C. flight was cancelled. When Mark told Tracy, she thought he was kidding. "Don't say that, Mark!" But, it was true.

I waited in line a few minutes at the United Airlines counter where a very nice guy took pity on us, rushed down to the gate of an earlier-departing flight, and booked us. He warned that our bags might not make it with us... I know there were some standby passengers for that flight that didn't get on board because of us. I hope they made it to their destination at their appointed times.

Because we got the earlier flight, our Washington, D.C. layover was quite long. But, we took the time to eat lunch and look around. We went to the South African Airways desk only to find that they thought we wouldn't show up due to our cancelled flight. They were ready to give our seats to standby passengers. We were there early enough to avoid that potential fiasco!

During the wait, we found whatever possible to occupy the kids. Mark is pretty self-sufficient. But, I had forgotten just how exciting escalators are for a 2-year-old. Up and down many, many times. Let's hold hands, daddy. This time up the stairs, daddy. I'm going to do it by myself, daddy. Once, Catherine rode on my shoulders from one end of the terminal to the other, singing "God is bigger than the boogey-man" at the top of her lungs.

Our trip from Washington, D.C. to Johannesburg was less eventful than you might expect. Here's our plane.

We were pleased to find that it was a direct flight without a stop in Cape Verde. But, it is LONG. How long, you ask? Check this display just before takeoff.

Mark slept great for about 7 hours. Catherine woke up several times, but slept enough on my lap or Tracy's lap to make the next day liveable. Despite the talkers to our left, to our right, and the kid spastically laughing at The Simpsons, we all slept some, if not enough. When we arrived in Johannesburg, we had 1 stroller, 8 carry-ons, and 7 (not 8) stowed pieces. Arrrgh!

The South African Airways representative said that the bag could (a) still be in Washington, D.C., (b) be in the domestic terminal in Johannesburg (as opposed to the international terminal where it needs to clear customs), or (c) have been taken mistakenly by another passenger. We have a case number and will hopefully get it back soon. The bag contains most of Tracy's casual clothing, some books, and power adaptors for computers.

In Johannesburg, some very nice porters took our luggage through the airport to domestic departures. I wasn't thinking and probably got ripped off when they asked for a large tip. Nuts! I guess that's what lack of sleep and 1st day in the country will do to you.

Our flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town was, in definite contrast to the three flights, uncrowded. That was good, because, as Tracy said, "Catherine has had it!" So, the last two hours were a bit tough with the two-year-old, but we really can't complain.

Our landlords met us at the Cape Town airport and brought us to their lovely house. After a short orientation to the house, Catherine and Mark were in bed. By 11:30, everyone was asleep.

Lots of details, but I don't want to forget. 

Love to everyone reading.

--Matt