avelog

A few days on a new continent and I’m already feeling restless. Living in a walled compound, large as it is, feels like a prison. The only glimpse that I’ve had of the world outside was the brief ride from the airport into Pretoria.

Rob and I flew into the Johannesburg airport, halfway between Johannesburg and the nearby executive capital Pretoria, two days ago. Our marathon thirty-eight hour flight was made slightly more bearable by the fact that we were sent on Singapore Airlines, definitely the most pampered I’ve ever felt in Economy Class. A short hop down to San Francisco from Vancouver on Air Canada was followed by a twelve hour flight across the Pacific to Seoul on Singapore Airlines. Rob and I were booked into adjacent seats, but quickly realized the folly of staying within talking distance since we are to live in the same room for the next six months. Being that there were only about ten people in the back third of the Boeing 777 (leaving almost a hundred seats empty, Rob moved over to an empty trio of seats and we both settled in for the long haul). Only a few seconds off the ground the gracefully attired stewardesses came around with the first offering of refreshments, of which I chose the white wine (definitely the best Economy Class white wine I’ve had, although that’s not saying too much). Five minutes later they were back with more; and again in another five; and another five (starting to get the picture?). By the time I was allowed to turn on my personal entertainment system I was already feeling the buzz (I swear I was just trying to get some sleep on the plane!!). Something in the order of fifty full-length films, seventy television episodes, nearly a hundred full-length albums, and numerous games and puzzles were on-demand at my fingertips for no extra cost (alright, so Singapore Airlines is a bit more expensive than your budget carrier). They soon handed out a hospitality baggy with toothbrush, toothpaste (handy because of the ban on gels), a airplane socks with little rubber grips on the bottom, for which I was thankful as all I had worn were flip flops. Lunch consisted of two options crafted by top chefs, one the normal American fare and one a culturally-relevant fare for the route (this being a spicy Korean dish; best Economy Class airplane food ever).

Several movies, episodes of The Office, games of the original Super Mario, numerous snacks, a wonderful supper, and a few hours of blissful wine-aided sleep in my three seats of window-side luxury and we landed in Seoul-Incheon Airport for a quick hour’s turnaround and back on the same plane. The six-and-a-half hours to Singapore were quite similar to the previous flight, with the same ten people in our back third of the plane, the same great service, and as many movies as I could want to fall asleep watching.

After another hour’s turnaround, the ten hour flight to Johannesburg was slightly more trying. The plane was full this time, and we shared our section with a very large man, but sleep was possible if fitful (I didn’t really feel like more wine at this point) and the stewards and stewardesses performed admirably in the face of such overpopulation.

Landing in Johannesburg, we were met coming out of customs by a lab assistant from CSIR, diverted from regular duties to pick us up in a rental car. His English was fairly poor, but we could all understand eachother if we tried hard, and he drove us the half hour to the CSIR compound efficiently if slightly erratically. I couldn’t understand what he said when I asked about his first language, but he did say that they all speak Afrikaans in the lab.

My first impressions of South Africa were of the incredibly parched grass, cut very short, and of the heavy haze hanging over Johannesburg and surrounds. Along the highway, new developments of huge mansions in razor-wire neighbourhoods were sprinkled over the hills, interspersed with swaths of industrial lots containing vast fields of shiny luxury cars under tin roofs, ready to be sold to the rich and protected by armed guards, razor wire and electrified fencing. South Africans drive on the left, and we passed many a car stopped on the side of the highway, and many a ragged-looking man or woman trudging along the shoulder looking for a ride. I saw a police car pull up lights flashing to one such man, but had no time to see the result. I’m not sure whether hitch-hiking is illegal in South Africa, but all I know is that it’s probably not a good idea for tourists. The radio informed us of the morning’s road fatalities and car-jackings as the early sun baked us inside the car.

We pulled into CSIR’s huge compound in Pretoria (more than fifty buildings and lots of green space), through a gate in the razor-wire, laser-gate, and electrified fence, past the armed guards, and stopped at Building 21, my workplace for the next six months. We met some of our new co-workers and my supervisors, visited our sparse new office and were introduced to our new officemate/housemate, American Rebecca. She immediately proved useful by lending us her laptop to check email and send home messages of our safe passage. The woman who had arranged our acomodation and transport from the airport went the extra step and showed up with a few days’ worth of groceries so that we could settle in before having to find our way to the shops (public transport is apparently a nightmare). They then took pity on our jet-lagged selves and gave us a lift to our new home, a fairly spacious two-bedroom brick house at the Entabeni (meaning ‘on top of the hill’ in Zulu) residences within the compound. They’re situated on top of a hill about a twenty-five minute walk from Building 21, in the middle of gardens and adjacent to parks, tennis courts, volleyball courts, a tiny swimming pool, a soccer field, and a very small pub. Who knew that interns could live in such luxury? The house is very cold in the morning since South Africans don’t have much need for central heating. Rob and I are sharing a room containing two single beds. We seem to have done fairly well getting along thus far considering that we’ve been together for a week and a half now (hotel in Vancouver plus long long flight and two days here). We’ll have to see how long that holds out now that we’re also sharing an office and have a third to contend with, although she sleeps in another room.

There’s a gym on campus as well, meaning that I could easily only ever leave the compound to make the half-hour walk to the grocery store, so it’ll be a big challenge for me to get out and about, meeting different people and experiencing different things. We’re trying to organize bikes and a guide for the minibus taxis (mixed opinions from the CSIR employees on whether we should take them, as many don’t appear roadworthy and they’re often involved in crashes). We visited the local pub our first night with some of the guys from the residence, including two Dutch guys, one from Botswana, and one from Johhanesburg. Yesterday I started taking my painkillers again and put on my new extra-wide running shoes for a game of pickup soccer on the floodlit pitch with the same guys from the pub.

Things will only get warmer here in the coming months and work should pick up now that I’ve a computer set up and once I get involved in some projects. I’m really looking forward to getting out and about and seeing some of this reportedly incredible country. Rebecca is already trying to organize a trip out to Kruger National Park when her friend comes to visit in a week and a half, but I haven’t decided what to do about the whole malaria thing. The Mefloquine I have with me would likely make me a bit psychotic for six weeks and therefore may not be worth it for a weekend. I’ll have to look into getting some Malarone from the local clinic, as psychoticness isn’t a reported side-effect, and it’s more cost-effective for short trips.

I hope that everything is well in Canada, and that those that are starting school for the fall are doing so in high spirits! I hope to post some photos in the next day or two.