2009-05-31
Click the photo for news of the day.
ZA2009 Archive May 2009
Cold Day
The cold weather has arrived. By this evening, we had 9.0 °C, which is as cold as it's been to date for us.
Mark's Madagascar presentation went well. He had a CD with the Madagascar national anthem on it, which he played. He also had a poster with the examples of the Malagasy currency on it.
After school, daycare, and work, we went for dinner at Spur in Stellenbosch.
--Matt
India Venster
A hiker died yesterday on Table Mountain, near the India Venster route that we hiked earlier this year.
The weather is forecasted to turn quite cold in the next few days. There will be a high of 13 °C tomorrow, and there will be snow at high elevations. Brrrr.
Mark has his Madagascar report tomorrow.
I brought the electric mower to Stellenbosch Tuincentrum for repair. The "pigtail" cord was broken, and the blade was a total mess. They fixed the same day for a little more than R300.
Otherwise, not much news today.
--Matt
Economic Free Fall
The Cape Times headline today was about South Africa's economic free fall. GDP is down at an annual rate of 6.4% in the last quarter. Manufacturing and mining are down by 22% and 33% (annual rate over the last quarter), respectively. This is South Africa's first recession in 17 years. The last recession was in 1992, and Tracy and I were here for that one, too. (Are we bad luck?) Pretty challenging stuff for this country.
Mark is doing a classroom group project on Madagascar. His responsibility is the national anthem and currency. Nick is doing the flag and geographical location. Josh is doing clothing, and Philip is doing animals, fish, and the national flower.
I've been dealing with the final exam for my refrigeration class at CPUT. It is a real big hassle. All final exams in every class at all tertiary institutions in South Africa must be "moderated". There are internal and external "moderators", neither of whom should be connected with the subject. After an exam has been "set" (i.e. created by the lecturer), it must be "moderated" (i.e., reviewed) by both an internal "moderator" (i.e., a reviewer from the same institution) and an external "moderator" (i.e., a reviewer from a different institution). The rules say that this must all happen before the exam can be duplicated for the students. Then, the students "write" (i.e., take) the exam in a three-hour time period. Thereafter, the lecturer must "mark" (i.e., grade) the exams.
Next, the lecturer must send the marked exams to the internal moderator who checks to see if the marks are fair. Finally, the exams go to the external moderator who again checks the marks.
It is all a very big hassle, and moderators get paid too little for the work they are asked to do.
But, I had my last class meeting today. It was a simple review session, but several students thanked me for a good semester after class, which was nice.
Tracy has been doing a lot of reading for her upcoming conference. She has over 600 pages to cover before next week.
--Matt
Comrades Marathon
The headline story in the Cape Times yesterday was the Comrades ultra-marathon, an 89-km running race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. The race organizers stop providing official times to runners after 12 hours, and the last person to receive a time is usually a reluctant celebrity. The final finisher this year was an ex-drug addict from nearby Guguletu. True to form, he was a bit surprised by the attention he received.
Catherine appears to be learning more Afrikaans every day. She tries some words each day on us. Yesterday it was "These biscuits are baie lekker, huh?"
--Matt
Memorial Day?
Kids Fort
It was Memorial Day in the States. Normally a day off for everyone. Didn't feel like a holiday here in South Africa, of course. We already had all our holidays in April.
I received a call from our friend Louis this morning. He needed a lift from Bellville to Stellenbosch at the end of the day, because his car needed service there. So, I took the N1 home (through Bellville) instead of the N2 today.
I gave my last proper lecture in the refrigeration course in Cape Town. Wednesday is a review day, and the final exam is on 9 June 2009.
We're also beginning to think about Tracy's upcoming seminar. She'll be gone for more than two weeks in Johannesburg and Cape Town. So, I get to be "Mr. Mom"!
The kids made a fort in the living room today. The picture above shows them playing in it.
--Matt
Dinner Party
Click the photo for information about our dinner party and frustrations with the garage door opener.
Speech at UCT
I gave a reprise of my green campuses speech at the University of Cape Town today. I was invited to give the speech following the successful talk I gave at Stellenbosch on the same topic two weeks ago. After the speech, there was a lively question and answer session with faculty and students from UCT. Then, after the Q&A session, there was a mini-workshop for Stellenbosch and UCT students interested in green campus stuff. UCT's Green Campus Initiative students were kind enough to provide some help and guidance for the Stellenbosch students.
After work, Tracy told me that Ronnie reported that the electric lawn mower is no longer working.
--Matt
2009-05-21
Mark and I watched The Dream is Alive, an IMAX movie about NASA's space shuttle program. The movie is quite dated: Sally Ride, long retired, is in it. But it was fun to watch with Mark.
I talked to my parents this evening. They had just returned from Kruger Park to the Emerald Guest House in Johannesburg. They had a great time in Kruger. They saw lots of animals: giraffes, hippos, lions, zebras, impala, etc. Tomorrow, they will see Johannesburg with Robin. They'll depart in a few days for their return trip to Michigan.
I received confirmation for Tracy, Mark, and Catherine's trip back to the U.S. They'll be returning on 29 December 2009. Earlier, on 5 May, I received confirmation for my trip home.
Otherwise, it was a very basic day.
--Matt
2009-05-20
We all had normal days today. Mark's friend Julian came over to play after school, because his (Julian's) rugby practice was cancelled. Tracy was preparing for her conference. Catherine went to daycare. I taught at CPUT.
I tried to call my parents a couple times today. I couldn't reach them. I suspect that either their cell phone is off or they're out of range of a tower in Kruger Park.
--Matt
Meeting with Admin
I have been meeting regularly with a group of Stellenbosch students who are interested in campus sustainability. They have now given themselves a name: "Sustainability Think Tank" or (STT) for short.
Today, we met with the Stellenbosch administrator who is responsible for developing a sustainability plan for the university. The students had developed two proposals: (1) that the administration develop a sustainability forum to which all stakeholders could bring suggestions and ideas and (2) that the university develop a sustainability scorecard similar to what I developed at Calvin College. Both ideas were accepted in principle, and the students were given the go-ahead to begin working on a scorecard. There will be a follow-up meeting with administration to hammer out scorecard details.
The students were thrilled at the outcome. Great stuff!
Catherine seems to be recovered from her recent cold. She went to daycare for the first time since last Thursday.
We learned that Mark's hockey game for tomorrow (Thursday) was cancelled. The opponents do not have a "C" team.
I called my parents tonight. They are staying in Kruger National Park at this time. They couldn't talk, because they were on a night drive with a ranger. I hope to hear from them tomorrow or the next day.
--Matt
Tosca's in Love
Tosca has been attracting the attention of several neighborhood dogs recently. On the first day, we didn't think much of it. But, it has gotten out of hand. An Irish Setter followed Catherine, Tosca, and me all the way to park yesterday. A little black-and-white Jack Russell terrier has been squeezing through the green fence on a daily basis.
Tracy followed the terrier home yesterday. She found out that its name is "Gigolo," and it lives at 69 Buitekring. I'm not making this up!
We also learned that Tosca is NOT spayed, and the terrier is not neutered. If we're unlucky, we'll have puppies later this year. Yet another unplanned adventure for us in South Africa.
--Matt
After the Storms
We took a trip to Strand to see the waves today. Click the photo for details and a few nice photos.
Sick Girl
Catherine woke up at 03h30 with a pretty bad fever. I gave her TylenolŪ, and that seemed to solve the problem. But, that meant she had to stay home from daycare today. And, we had to rearrange schedules a bit, too. I stayed home with Catherine in the morning while Tracy shopped. Tracy stayed with Catherine in the afternoon. They went to Fairy Land this afternoon. Catherine didn't nap today.
In the afternoon, I got a stack of tests from K.K., the other prof who is teaching a refrigeration class at CPUT this semester. Oh boy! Grading!
I heard from mom and dad in the evening. They're doing well in Swaziland. Lots of shopping for stuff to distribute. And, lots of driving along winding roads.
--Matt
2009-05-14
Wind and Waves
I woke up early this morning to run. Boy was it wet. Tosca and I got soaked in a downpour. I suppose I should expect it, due to the season. But, it was still quite cool and damp.
As a result of the rain, Mark's 14h30 hockey game in Somerset West was cancelled. And, there is more heavy weather coming with two cold fronts scheduled to hit the Cape over the weekend. Looks like gale force winds (66 km/hr) and HUGE waves: 8.3 m at Cape Point! The "Cape of Storms" will live up to its name.
This evening, I met with the Sustainability Think Tank, a group of undergrad students, post-grad students, and administrators who are interested in the topic. They're preparing for a meeting with the Stellenbosch University administration.
And, we have yet more banking trouble. I was trying to add a beneficiary to make an online transfer, and I received the message: "Technical error. Please try again later." Arrrgh. Standard Bank really needs to get its act together.
--Matt
Clogged Sewer
As I was leaving for the bank with my mom and dad this morning, we smelled something nasty outside the back door. Yuck! The sewer was backed up and flowing into the back yard. We can't seem to catch a break! Whatever is wrong, the extra guests in the house have pushed the sewer beyond its limit.
OK. So, we lift the suitcases up over the stinky river to get to the kombi. Can NOT deal with this now. Have to get to the bank and then the airport. It will be Tracy's job to call Johann and figure out what to do about the stink.
Off to the bank with mom and dad. Got there at 08h55 and was second in line to see the teller. Thankfully, everything went fine. After the teller secured "authorization" to withdraw the cash, I got a stack of bills for mom and dad to use for the rest of their trip (including Swaziland). Whew!
Next, off to the airport to drop them at domestic departures for their trip to Johannesburg. They'll stay overnight in Joburg before heading to Swaziland by plane tomorrow. Their flight went well, and they arrived safely in Gauteng.
Now, I head to CPUT for a review session before the test that the students will write tonight.
Johann suggested that we call the municipal sewer folks, which Tracy did. By 15h30, they had cleared the roots that were clogging the discharge pipes. So, everything was back to normal by the time I got back home at 16h45.
Catherine was asleep by 19h30 and Mark was asleep by 20h30. At least 30 minutes earlier for both. Everyone is tired. Grandma and Grandpa's visit was awesome for everyone. But, they wore us out, too.
--Matt
Cape of Good Hope
We spent the day on the southern end of the Cape Peninsula today. Click the photo for more details.
Parents Arrived Safely
My parents arrived safely this evening. We're happy they made it from Michigan through Amsterdam to Cape Town!
--Matt
Errands
I did several errands this morning, all successful. Because it has been so unusual to have everything go right and efficiently here, I want do document this moment! The errands were:
(1) go to De Jager's to buy a new tie for Mark's school uniform
(2) go to Washington Cleaners to pick up some laundry
(3) go to Standard Bank to temporarily change our withdrawl limits so that we can cover expenses for my mom and dad this week
(4) go to van der Stel Liquors to recharge my parking card
All this happened as planned! Whoo Hoo!
I also received confirmation of my flight back to the U.S. I'll be leaving South Africa on 9 January 2009 and back in Michigan on 10 January 2009. I'll be traveling through Doha, Qatar of all places.
--Matt
Lovely Weather
The weather was beautiful today. Cloudless skies, high temperature of about 20 °C. Clear air: I could see from Cape Town well beyond Stellenbosch on my ride home today.
We all did our regular things today. Catherine was at daycare, which included "Playball," which she still LOVES. Mark was at school. Tracy was at home, and I taught refrigeration at CPUT (topic: multi-pressure refrigeration systems).
--Matt
Helderberg Nature Reserve
See some photos and narrative about our short trip to the Helderberg Nature Reserve.
