ZA2009

Mark's school friend Kamva came over for a visit today. He is the last of the boys from Mark's class to come over to our house. Kamva's dad is an ANC leader in Kayamandi.

We prepared for Cynthia's upcoming visit. She arrives tomorrow at about 10 AM.

I had a very late night teleconference. It started at 18h00 and ended at 02h00 (our time), which corresponds to 09h00 through 17h00 in California. I blew through my 6 hour daily limit on Skype (woops)!

Catherine is getting excited about going to the movies tomorrow with her daycare. She tells us that they'll go into the "dark room" to watch the movie.

--Matt

We took a walk on a vineyard hiking trail today. Click the photo for more pictures.

Read about Tosca's surgery by clicking the photo.

Tonight, the USA beat Spain by 2-0 in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup. This is really an amazing result. Way to go USA! It was all the more surprising, because Spain is the #1 ranked team in the world. They hadn't lost in 35 games, and they hadn't conceded a goal in the tournament to date. The USA played a beautiful, underdog-type game: take advantage of any scoring opportunities, slow down the opponent in midfield, play rock-solid defense, and make sure your goalkeeper comes up BIG on a couple occasions. Perfect!

Now the USA will play the winner of tomorrow's Brazil/South Africa game. I can't wait for the final which will be played on Sunday evening.

This evening, we went for dinner to Amanda and Louis' house. As usual, it was a very nice time. We had Moroccan soup that Louis made. Lekker!

--Matt

I was soooo wrong about the USA's chances to advance in the Confederations Cup. The combination of the USA's defeating Egypt by a score of 3-0 and Brazil's thrashing of Italy (by the same score) means that USA advances to the semifinals, against all odds. USA, Italy, and Egypt each had 1 win and 2 losses, but USA had the superior goal differential (-2).

The games were played concurrently, so I watched the Brazil/Italy game on TV, and I kept track of the USA/Egypt game on the internet. It was a great night!

Now, USA could play against South Africa in the Confederations Cup finals if (a) the USA beats Spain (the #1 team in the world right now) and (b) South Africa beats Brazil. Both required outcomes are unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to dream. The expected Spain/Brazil final could be a real "cracker".

This evening, Tracy went to a keynote address by John De Gruchy at the Joint Conference of the Academic Societies in the Fields of Religion and Theology. Apparently, it was brilliant. I wouldn't know, I stayed home and did dinner for both kids and a bath for Catherine.

Mark went to the first day of his last week of school before the term break.

Catherine had Playball today. They played with bean bags.

I had two meetings at CPUT's Cape Town campus and one meeting at CPUT's Bellville campus.

--Matt

Click the photo for news of Mark's chess tournament.

This was a pretty normal day for us. Tracy did a lot of mop-up following her seminar, including research planning for the group writing project and her personal research agenda here in South Africa. I went to Stellenbosch and had a meeting with the Sustainability Think Tank. Mark was at school where they had play practice (Cinderella). Catherine was at daycare (she barely naped).

The US played Brazil in the Confederations Cup this afternoon (16h00 our time). It was a predictable disaster: Brazil 3, USA 0. I watched part of the game. That's two big losses in two games against two of the best sides in international soccer. As much as I would like it to be different, it is pretty clear that the USA is not in their league.

More banking excitement: we found out tonight that our US credit card no longer works. Oops. I called the customer service line to learn that our expiration date has changed. Oy!

We received a package from Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks!

--Matt

June 16 is Youth Day in South Africa. The national holiday commemorates the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The Hector Pieterson museum in Soweto is named after the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police during the uprising. The photo by Sam Nzima became the iconic image of the event.

In 2005, our interim class visited the museum, and I took this photo of the mural of the famous photo that changed the world. The girl on the left in the photo is now employed by the museum, and we had a chance to meet her when we were in Soweto.

Today, we basically stayed home. Mark finished the third Harry Potter book, and we picked up my repaired cell phone.

I realized that the online transfer limit on our bank account has been reset to zero again! Arrrrrgh! I'll have to go to the bank tomorrow to reset it. Again!

--Matt

Click the photo for news from today.

Tracy has a free afternoon and a free day tomorrow. And, she was in Stellenbosch, so I picked her up and she's with us now. It is very nice to have her back, if only for about 26 hours. She'll return for real on Wednesday next week.

Today is the last day of the regular schedule before a long weekend. Next Tuesday is a public holiday, and all schools are also closed on Monday.

This afternoon, Georgina made her presentation to Stellenbosch management on the SU Sustainability Scorecard. It went extremely well. I got my first peek at the data today. Sadly, it looks like Stellenbosch University educates its students with roughly half of the environmental impact that Calvin College does.

--Matt

I had an early morning sustainability meeting with the Stellenbosch University administration. This time regarding the Tygerberg medical campus' sustainability plans, which include a sustainability summit.

After that, I met with some people involved with Stellenbosch's sustainability scorecard activity. 

I picked up the kids. Mark's friend Nick came to play after school. Catherine had a good day at daycare. After the kids were in bed, I had a teleconference and prepared my presentation for the conference tomorrow.

--Matt

Mark was at school and Catherine was at creche today. Tracy flew to Cape Town and toured several places. She's trying to get a copy of the song "Hope" by Vusi Mahlasela for her conference.

I went to Stellenbosch today for a meeting and then some work on the Hydro course I'll be teaching in August.

--Matt

Mark and I did homework this morning: preparing for an oral book report, 4th grade math (to prepare for our return to the U.S.), sign language, occupational therapy, recorder practice. Whew, it was a lot. Catherine mostly toddled about while we worked.

Late in the morning, we went to the library to get another Harry Potter book: Mark finished the first one already. We also picked up a couple loaves of banana bread at the bakery.

This afternoon, Catherine napped, Mark read his new book, and Catherine and I hit the tennis ball to Tosca in the park.

This evening, we had popcorn and a movie. After the kids went to bed, I worked on my presentation for the upcoming Industrial and Commercial Use of Energy (ICUE) conference. I have to speak on Thursday morning. I also worked on some economics modeling regarding sustainability and dematerialization.

The weather improved today, and we saw some sunshine. Tomorrow and beyond look significantly better, too. Which is lucky for Tracy and the others on her seminar/conference. The whole lot of them (20 or so) are arriving in Cape Town on Monday. 

Speaking of the conference, Tracy went to Pretoria to see Freedom Park and the Voortrekker Monument.

--Matt

Tracy called tonight to say hi. Catherine was very willing to talk as you can see from the photo. I learned all about her day by listening to half of this conversation.

Mark was otherwise occupied with the first Harry Potter book. After dinner, he didn't want to wait around for anything else. He said "I've got to go. I have a book to read!" He will be doing his upcoming book report on Harry Potter, so he is keen to finish it.

Tracy was in Soweto and met with some people catering to the needs of refugees of the xenophobic violence that hit South Africa last year.

I had two really good meetings today: one with the person who is heading up administrative sustainability activities at Stellenbosch and the other with the Sustainability Think Tank.

It is really cold and rainy here. It feels a bit like Seattle probably does in winter. Rain every day, cloudy every day, cool at night and slightly warmer during the day. Dark until 07h30 in the morning and dark at 18h00 in the evening.

However, and this is a very big however, there is no central heating in South Africa. So, we walk around wearing coats or triple layers all the time. And there is no place to get warm, except your car if you're driving a long distance.

--Matt

Tracy spent much of the day getting ready for her conference. She leaves tomorrow. At that time, I'll be a single parent for two weeks.

I got a lot done at Stellenbosch today, including securing copyright clearances for several of the sources for our Wind and Hydro class later this year.

I had two late-night telecons via Skype this evening.

--Matt