“Smile upon the chaos streams
Turning point…calm awaits you”
-Son Volt "Chaos Streams"
So I’ve survived a whole week and 3 days to date! I am desperately trying to add pictures...but it's taking forever. So bear w/me.
The week has been great! I have had a slow and steady progression of activity. All my hosts have been really chill. I started off at my Rotary host counselor’s house in a place called Silver Lakes, located on the edge of Pretoria. Silver Lakes is an “estate” that surrounds a golf course. It would be the equivalent of a gated community in the USA. My host counselor, Tony Godrich, is a grain miller by trade but his family also has their hand in many businesses in a place to the E of Pretoria called Bronkhorstspruit. A Toyota dealership, gas station, real estate, and probably a few other things. Their family consists of Tony and his wife Gail, their 3 daughters, and 1 really really cute granddaughter. They are also golf fanatics! The fam also includes 2 cats and 3 dogs. You’ll be able to see photos of all this eventually…so don’t fret!
I spent about 5 days at their house just maxin’ and relaxin’. In fact the majority of my time was spent sleeping…which I badly needed especially coming off the last 2 hectic weeks I had in the states and my really really long journey to SA. The place was serene as hell and I had my own flat at the back of the Godrich’s house…which was way cool. They also have a little pool I could cool off in. I got to check out Tony’s mill, had some drinks w/the Godrich’s golf partners, had my first braai (SA BBQ), and got some school stuff taken care of. In my first day there was a power outage, which really confused me because I had had so little sleep. I was taking a nap and the ceiling fan went out. I never suspected the power went out...I just thought I was useless. After some fiddling I gave up and had a warmer nap. When I finally talked to Gail later on that night she told me that the power had gone out and was in fact still out. There is some major piece of machinery that was malfunctioning which has been causing random power outages in all of SA. I haven’t really been affected except during my confusing nap and when I was trying to open a bank account the power kept going out for a few minutes at my bank. The power outages are expected to continue sporadically for another month or something.
It was great to chill…but hopefully many of you know me well enough to know that standing still is not how I operate. Even if I want to relax. I was SO grateful for the calmness of the Godrich’s but I began to itch…
After the Godrich’s, I moved on to stay for a few days w/an older lady named Bebe du Raan. Bebe is a really really cool retired lady (think Aunt Bernie style) that lives alone in Pretoria. She is also a Rotarian. She has 2 daughters and a stepson and stepdaughter. She also has a really cute bulldog puppy named Patchy. Patchy was sick and spent most of the time at the vet, but I did get to spend some time w/her before I left. Me and Patchy are the new feature photo on my blog…so check us out! Bebe has had quite a lot of misfortune as far as her married life is concerned…she lost 2 husbands and also her latest boyfriend. But I think that has made her one tough old bird! That’s just how life goes though…hard times make us harder.
I really had a great time w/Bebe and I look forward to spending more time w/her while I’m here. I feel like we really got along great! She’s just the sort of independent lady that I like to come across. A lady that reminds me how strong and great women really are…and that life doesn’t end after a certain age. At Bebe’s I sorted out more school stuff, went to Bible study (yeah that’s right Dad…I went to BIBLE study…), had lunch w/some cool older ladies that she worked w/years ago at an organization for the blind, went to my first Rotary meeting, had dinner at her stepson’s restaurant, and toured some of the projects that the Silverton Rotary club (my host Rotary club) is doing in the greater Pretoria area. The projects we toured are “feeding schemes” set up at some local rural schools. The Rotary club provides funding so that the kids at the school can have a meal (or more) while they are at school. The Rotarians and the administrators at the schools seemed very pleased w/how the program was working out…which is great! Rotary in action! The kids seem to be much healthier and able to engage better in their studies. And they have incentive to come to school cos they’ll get fed. I think most of us, as people who can have access to food whenever we please, forget how hard it can be to deal w/the basic activities in life w/an empty belly. I’ve always placed great importance on feeding folks that come to my house cos I think that feeding people is the most basic courtesy one can extend to visitors. My friend Peten, who stayed at my house in Urbana for a month, is always teasing me about how much weight he put on at my house cos I would make him eat ;) I suppose this simple philosophy is something that also extends to doing humanitarian work. Basic improvement starts w/a full belly.
The other highlight of my stay w/Bebe was going to a new restaurant designed, built, owned, and operated by her stepson, Johnny. The place is called the Karoo Café and it is a fine dining experience and a half! The building was designed by Johnny and is one of the most unique venues I’ve ever seen. It’s mostly open air and had all sorts of really great ways that the building could be manipulated to open windows and walls and stuff…sorry…it’s hard to explain!! Very minimalist I guess. There were frogs in pools of water outside the entrance that chirped away as we dined. Oh, and the food was great!
Now I’ve moved onto the Roets’ house, also in Pretoria. I’m being hosted by a Rotarian named Alan. Alan is a lively widower with 3 daughters and 1 son. The kids are mostly older and only one of the daughters lives in the house. Also there is Nana, the grandmother, who visits often. She’s a really great and hilarious older lady that said to me “I really like the way you express yourself.” Which I thought to be a great compliment…although I didn’t know how to respond to it…or quite what she meant. I’ve just arrived Friday, so there’s not much to report. Their pool rocks!! I will send photos once I get them (hey these photos are taking ages! to download). One of the daughters is a national swimming champion and the youngest daughter is a national dance champion. Last night we went out and had a great Italian dinner w/plenty of wine. The family’s out doing stuff right now so I’m just nerding it up online w/my blog.
Some general thoughts/info…
I’m getting so anxious to start school. My classes are going to be SUPER boring for this first year though. Luckily I’m a science nerd…so I’ll probably really like them in spite of their dry titles. For the first semester I am taking: Intro to Proteins and Enzymes (biochemistry), Carbohydrate Metabolism (biochemistry), Gene and Chromosome Organization, Growth Diversity and Control of Bacteria. 2nd semester is: Lipid and Nitrogen Metabolism (biochemistry), Biochemistry in perspective, Genetic Analysis and Manipulation, Growth, activity, and control of fungi. All I can say is that I’m glad I like biochemistry!!!! I have this 1 year of courses to take and then I can apply for admission to the veterinary school here. In the USA there are about 30 vet schools. The continent of Africa has about 30 vet schools…so the pressure is really going to be on. All I gotta say though is that by the time I’m done showing off…these folks are going to be begging me to come to their vet school. Or at least that’s the plan!!!
Thankfully everything is in place for me to start school. I got a dorm room, student card, am registered, paid, and all those other little things…Wed Jan 31 is my first day of school.
I’m just trying to keep my skin intact in all this sun. Remember, my body still thinks it’s winter in Chicago. The weather is hottish here, but not humid. It’s not as dry heat style as the desert, but everyday when folks have said “It’s soooo hot!” I haven’t really been bothered. It’s not that sticky suffocating heat w/800% humidity, so it’s tolerable. It’s in the 30s Celsius here which I think is like the high 80s Fahrenheit. 31C=88F. It’s been anywhere from 30-33C. I’ve been slathering on a healthy dose of sunscreen everyday so I’m crisping slowly. And my freckles have instantly reappeared. I welcome them! The daylight is taking some getting used to as well because it’s been getting dark at like 4:45pm in Chicago. It gets dark at like 7pm here or something…so I’m a little off. I don’t have a clock usually so I can never tell what time it is when I wake up til I leave my room. Some days it might be 7am, some days it might be 1pm. But time doesn’t really matter to me right now so in all honesty I don’t care what time it is…just so long as I’m not rude to my hosts by sleeping ALLLL day.
I wish had some deep revelations to tell you about SA…but I don’t feel that strange about life here. I feel at ease and at home in a strange foreigner way. And above all I feel super calm. My hosts have helped me in so many ways as far as helping getting me sorted out so all that stress has been nonexistent. Hopefully most of you have been w/me since my first 2 trips to SA so you also have some idea of life here. If you have any specific questions…even if you think they are stupid…please email me. I’m here to extend peace, goodwill, and understanding to S Africans…but also I’m here to bring back a little of those things to the USA. Jayne…I took some pictures of S African huts for you so you can see some of the houses I’ve been staying in. Please note a heavy heavy helping of sarcasm!! In all seriousness, I’ve been staying in some of the dopest spreads SA has to offer.
The major thing I need to readjust to is the security situation here. There is a lot of senseless violent crimes and petty crimes here (rape, murder, stabbing, shootings, etc) and folks are locked up literally in an attempt to save their lives. But interestingly enough, not armed to the teeth…like we would be in the USA. Everyone I’ve stayed w/so far has tons of security in place at their house as well as making sure to lock car doors and stuff while they drive to prevent carjacking. I’ve just gotten my laptop and camera insured in case of theft and also need to get my iPod and hard drive insured too. I just need to make sure I switch my brain over to being in Pretoria SA and not being in Urbana IL. Luckily I was just in Chicago so I’m a little more seasoned, but even being in the city doesn’t compare to this. Mostly I’m just annoyed w/having to look after expensive pieces of machinery. What a drag! But I guess I do reap the benefits of it too…like being able to have access to MAD music.
For all you Rotarians just itching to know more about my Rotary experiences here…
I’ve attended just 1 meeting of the Silverton Rotary Club in District 9250 (I think). They meet every Wed at 5:30pm, but don’t serve food. They just have fellowship over drinks…now that’s South African! The club is about 20-ish members and also includes the District Governor, Chris Pretorius. The Silverton Club is going to be hosting the upcoming district conference in May. I’ll be attending the conference as well as giving a speech at the conference. I’m looking forward to it so that I can get a chance to network a bit better w/in the district. The district includes all of Botswana, all of Swaziland, the NE corner of S Africa, and Mozambique (I think all of Mozambique, but maybe just the bottom half of the country). I’ve exchanged banners w/the Silverton club and will be their main speaker in mid February. At my first meeting I also brought them some pins from the city of Urbana cos I know how much Rotarians love their pins!! I have an upcoming Scholars orientation in Cape Town the last weekend in February. I’m really looking forward to that because any excuse to go to Cape Town is a good excuse to go to Cape Town!! Also it looks like there will be a lot of great events planned out for us. The guy planning it seems very proactive and that’s always a good thing to be when you plan an event. Please let me know if you have any specific questions about the club or anything to do w/Rotary here. I will seek out as much info as I can.
You can email me at: lynseemelchi@gmail.com
So that’s life this week…stay tuned for more. School starts on Wednesday so I’ll report on that soon enough.
And just a warning…I can already hear a S African lilt to my voice coming back. I can tell you that I will have a new accent completely when I come home in a few years. I hope you’ll be able to understand me ;) Maybe that’s just part of the exchange!
Take care and Much Love…I gotta go swim!!
Lynsee
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