Easter Sunday - Morning

There are many pictures from our weekend in Knysna, however, most of them are on Dan's camera and I need to download them to my laptop so I can post them. However, there are one set of pictures that never made it to Dan's camera, so I will share them with you now.

One of the "suggested" activities we were given for this weekend was a visit to the "Tsitikamma Canopy Tours." Tsitikamma is one of the national forests east of Knysna and is technically in the Eastern Cape Province. You need a reservation, and the only booking we could get was for Sunday morning at 10:00. Dan woke up feeling rather sick to his stomach, so we agreed this was not an appropriate excursion, given his condition. You will see why shortly. So, I headed out on my own as it was an hour's plus drive from our hotel. Dan went back to bed. :-)

So, what is a "Canopy Tour?" It is the opportunity to see one of South Africa's indigenous forests - from the top down. Suspended from a series of cables, you cross from one platform to another - 10 "slides" in all. I would like to say that you gain an appreciation for the trees and vegetation on the forest floor, but it truly goes by too fast. I was more concerned with braking in time so I did not crash into the next platform.

Here are some pictures....



Suiting up....

















Yes Mom, I wore a helmet!










Suited up and ready to go.














Yeah, well - we kept going.







You could call this "tree surfing"









A safe landing!







Stay tuned for more pics - including "Easter Sunday - Evening"

Holy Week

OK, I know the blog has been a little light this week. But, a) long hours of work have prevailed and b) the batteries in my camera died.

However, the good news is that South Africa celebrates Good Friday as a national holiday as well as Monday. It is undecided as to whether Monday is actually "Easter Monday" or "Family Day," but I am not going to argue with a 4-day weekend. Unfortunately, I was not able to schedule a trip to Victoria Falls as by the time I realized the 4-day weekend was fast approaching, there were NO accommodations left at The Falls. Plan B - a trip up the eastern coast of South Africa, also referred to as "The Garden Route." It is supposed to be a beautiful route and we have made reservations at a nice Inn that I have been told can be a "base of operations" for sightseeing around the area. Among the activities I've been told not to miss is the "tree-top tours" where you actually fly between really large trees suspended to a cable. I saw pictures and it doesn't look nearly as dangerous as I just made it sound. Never the less, I will be sure to take pictures. Right - camera batteries are dead. I will suck it up this time and buy a set of batteries. Mom and Dad are mailing me a CARE package, and it contains the battery charger. However, it probably won't be here before tomorrow. Oh, well.

I will miss the celebration of Easter at home this year, but I will be thinking of friends and family, to be sure. I am lucky that I will not be alone, but have my new friend Dan with me to enjoy the sights in Knyzna(he doesn't know it, but I gave the Easter Bunny a heads up as to his location this weekend. LOL). My niece asked me on the way to the airport when I was leaving Cape Town what I had given up for Lent this year. I told her that I had given up my home for the next 6 months and I thought that was sacrifice enough this year. She agreed.

Happy Easter, everyone!

68% Peaceful

My good friend Jane finds these really cool surveys online and posts them on her blog: buildingtheark.blogspot.com This survey was to determine how peaceful you are. Since it's Friday night (or Saturday morning, depending on your time zone) I figured my "peaceful" outlook was pretty good since I have 2 days of rest ahead of me. Now if I had taken the survey earlier today, I am not so sure I would have scored even this high. LOL

You Are 68% Peaceful

You are a very peaceful person. All is good in your world, no matter what's going on. Occasionally you let your problems get to you, but you generally remain upbeat. Your inner strength is inspirational - much more so than you may realize.

How Peaceful Are You?

Spa Services

Another great thing about South Africa - even the prices of spa services are cheaper than at home! A 1.5 hour basic facial is R250 - depending on what exchange rate you use, that is about $35. A full 1 hour manicure is $15 (a pedicure would be about $17). Guess what I am doing this weekend???? I am also thinking that I will treat myself to a manicure every week while I am here. :-) Its not a safari, but it makes me happy.

Kaapstad

Another thing we have noticed in South Africa is that the highway signs do not include directional indicators (that is, north/south/east/west). Rather, they use the names of cities as an indication as to what direction you are headed in; e.g., this way towards Cape Town, this way towards Paarl. That's all well and good if you know the area. For temporary residents like ourselves, it means we go nowhere without a map and even then we sometimes get confused. So it should come as no surprise to me when I was informed the other day by the project manager at our client when I told her that those directional indicators would *really* help me out, that in SA, they make it even harder by randomly switching the language of the signs between English and Afrikaans. "Really?" I said? Uh huh. As it turns out, Kaapstad is Afrikaans for Cape Town. Now see, Dan and I just thought that was another town that was not on our map. No wonder we were confused.

Kalk Bay Improvement Association

There is an effort, it seems, to generate jobs across South Africa to combat the astronomical unemployment rate. Not long after we arrived in Cape Town, we noticed that there are "security" guards in most of the parking lots of area shopping centers. These folks actually direct you to open parking spaces (wouldn't that be just *great* at home during the Christmas season? No more stalking people in the parking lots????). As it turns out, many of them expect a tip. As we were leaving the parking lot behind the resturant we ate at Saturday night, the "guard" stopped us and "asked" for a donation to the Kalk Bay Improvement Fund. We gave him some Rand coin (about R5 --> less than $1) and he was happy. I can live with that.

Driving on the wrong side of the road.....

I need to download some pictures, but I figured I would update you on the happenings of the past few days.....

Work is, of course, busy. But, it turns out, the client celebrates the end of each work week with a braai in the courtyard of the offices, complete with beverages and their award-winning sausages. We missed our first braai last week, but we managed to drag ourselves out of the office Friday afternoon to join our new friends for the festivities and made a few new friends to boot. We might make this a weekly event. In fact, I think the IT department has responsibility for serving in a few weeks, so Dan and I have already volunteered to help. As long as no one tries to order in Afrikaans, we should be OK. Or, they will just get what we serve them. LOL.

Saturday, I decided to try driving in Africa for the first time. Since we got here, Dan has pretty much been the designated driver, but I figured that was not really fair. That, and the fact that he is taking off next weekend with some friends that are coming into town and if I do not want to be stranded, I better figure out how to drive on the wrong, I mean *left* side of the road. It went pretty well, actually, especially when you consider that a) I have not driven a standard transmission in several years, b) they drive on the wrong, I mean LEFT, and c) you also sit on the *right* side of the car and shift with your *left* hand. It took me about an hour to figure out the friction point in our little VW, but I think I have that down straight. The bigger issue is that my hand seems to want to pull to the right and I keep shifting from 1st to 4th instead of into 2nd! I am working on it and I am happy to say I have recovered quickly and there have been no stalls or near death experiences.

So on our driving tour on Saturday we went back to Chapman's Peak and, since Dan was the passenger this time, he could really enjoy the beautiful views. We also drove down to Cape Point, which is one of the most southern points in Africa. On the drive into the National Park, we came across a group of baboons right next to the road. Since I was driving, the pics are all on Dan's camera, so I will get them and post them later this week. We took a tram up to the top of the mountain and then climbed the rest of the way up where there is a pretty cool lighthouse. The wind could just about knock you over. But the views were great - again, more pictures later in the week.

We are hoping to finally secure long-term accommodations this week, so we will let you know how that goes. So far, we have been pleasantly surprised by the inexpensive cost of food here. It is only marred by some strange shortages of key food items. At the top of the list is Diet Coke (referred to in SA as Coke Light). There seems to be some issue with CO2 supplies and as a result, the local stores are literally OUT of Coke Light. I am seriously hoping this is resolved soon, or I may be asking for care packages. Perhaps the local bottling company could benefit from the services of a fabulous supply chain management software? The other odd shortage seems to be whenever we order a dish with tuna - two separate places over the past week have been out of tuna. Not sure what the story is there.

Lastly (and then I am going to bed), there seems to be some concern that my buddy Dan is doing nothing but drinking down here. Here is the reply I sent in response to one such pointed question earlier this week:

"Rest assured that I am trying to keep up with Dan as best I can, but since I am (strategically) behind the camera (and it’s *my* blog), the incriminating pictures will pretty much only reflect my drinking buddies. However, we are taking the “work hard, play hard” ethic very seriously. We only drink after we have billed 40 hours for the week (whether that occurs on Wednesday night or Friday night will be up for review)."

Since we have to start over on our 40-hour cycle bright and early tomorrow morning, I will say good night. Check in later in the week from some more pics.

I need a replacement.....

Many of my blog readers know that I am a regular platelet donor at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Because of my extended assignment in Africa and the potential that my extra-curricular travels may take me into a malaria zone while I am here, I will most likely be not be able to donate for the next year and half (you are automatically deferred for one year after you have left a malaria zone). This is difficult for me, as donating at the Farber has become part of my routine over the years and the staff at the Farber have become my friends (I promised I would at least stop by when I get back!). I am hoping that I can convince some readers to consider donating platelets - if the Dana Farber is not convenient for you, there are many blood donation centers around the world that collect this live-saving blood product.

I suppose I should tell you why this is so important. I am going to plagiarize the brochure from the Dana Farber here, but I am pretty sure they won't mind:

Platelets are the clotting agents of the blood, which help to control bleeding. Cancer patients, trauma victims, and transplant recipients are only a few of the many patients who may require platelet transfusions. At the Dana Farber alone, they transfuse more than 8,000 units of platelets a year. And that number is not decreasing....

The only source of platelets is a healthy donor - there is NO substitute. Because platelets only have a shelf life of 5 days from the time they are collected to when there are transfused, there is a constant need for donors.

Platelets are collected via procedure called apheresis. Basically that means they draw the blood from your arm, spin it through a centrifuge to spin off and collect the platelets and then they return the red blood cells back to you. It's actually a pretty cool process and takes about 90 minutes. You get set up in a comfy bed with lots of blankets and you can pick out a movie to watch on your own screen. Then they give you a snack and a drink and you're on your way. Because your reb blood cells are returned to you, you can actually donate platelets as often as every 2 weeks, whereas there is 56-day waiting period to donate whole blood.

I started donating platelets when I was in my early 20s and wanted to make a donation to many of the worthwhile organizations in the Boston area. I could not afford, financially, to contribute as much as I wanted to, so I figured I could always donate my blood. Over they years, I have come to realize that there is no greater donation than giving of yourself (literally!)and there are so many people who will benefit. What requires only a couple hours of my time will directly impact the health of several people within the next 5 days. Medical research and technology has delivered tremendous achievements over the years, but they cannot reproduce blood products. They rely on the human donors to meet this need.

I hope some of you will consider this worthwhile experience. If you have questions about the process, I would be happy to give you my perspective. Better yet - call the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center at the Dana Farber and they will answer any questions you have. Their number is: (617) 732-6620 or you can email them at: blooddonor@partners.org - and tell them I said Hi.

Penguins

I know Mary has been waiting to hear about the penguins. Well, we found 'em! There is an area near Simon's Town called Boulders where 2300 South African jackass penguins live in a protected colony. I wish I had taken a picture of the sign that is posted as you are leaving the reads, "Please check under your cars for penguins." Yikes! We saw that sign a little too late, but I don't think there were any casualties. They are just the cutest things and they look at you and tilt their heads as though you are having a conversation. Adorable.

Chapman's Peak

There is a stretch of road just south of Cape Town that basically "hugs" the coastline. It's actually a toll road (about $3), but the fare is most definitely worth the views. As the designated driver, Dan did a great job navigating the curves, but once I start driving down here (nope, haven't tried that yet), we should go back so Dan can get the full effect. There are several places you can turn off and take pictures or have a picnic. Here are a few of the pictures of this amazing view.

Team Dinner

Thursday night, Tr@deStone hosted a dinner for the core members of our new project team. At their recommendation, we went to a venue called Moyo at the Spier wine estate in Stellenbosch. According to my guide book, "Moyo is about much more tha a meal; it's a Cafe African culture experience. Food is served as a delicious buffet, while indigenous dancers and musicians entertain with traditional drumming." That pretty much sums it up, except that the experience is much more FUN! At one point, I turned to Dan and said, "I feel like I am in the middle of 'The Lion King'" and sure enough, the singer started singing, "The lion sleeps tonight." I can't make this stuff up. There are so many great pictures from that night, but here are a few:




One of the traditional African dances they performed.




This lady had a great voice and sang songs in English and other African languages (don't even bother asking me which ones!).




Everyone has their face painted when they arrive - this is one of our team members at the client, Willem. The resturant even drapes a blanket across the back of each chair in case you get cold (we were eating under a huge tent).




This is a group picture of *most* of the core project team. Note the face paintings on everyone! It looks like I am wearing the drum, but I am really just standing behind it. :-) From the left, Photy (our project sponsor), Chirag, Lourena (the project manager), Dan, me, Chris (from the logistics team at the client), Jaco (a Tr@deStone partner in SA) and Willem.





These are some ducks that were wandering around the estate and came right up to our table. Dan was trying to decide whether to pet one (he didn't). Willem did, however, and he said it bit him!

Braai

Braai is the South African term for a barbeque. And our hosts at the guest house invited Dan, Chirag and I to join them for a braai Wednesday night this week. Robert and Corrina have been wonderful and I think it is safe to say that all three of us would recommend their guest house to future visitors to the Brackenfell area.... Robert also introduced us to a traditional South African liquor called Amarula. Its a cream liquor made from the marula fruit. It is traditionally served over crused ice with a sprig of fresh mint. It's very, very yummy. We will be bringing some of this home! We had grilled chicken and lamb chops - the lamb was actually raised on Corrina's parents' farm! You all know how much I love a home-cooked meal and this was a wonderful treat.



Robert and Corrina, our hosts





The bottle of Amarula (now empty).



Dan enjoying his Amarula.

Daily Thought

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
— Anais Nin

SPAM

Anyone with an email account these days undoubtably receives alot of what is termed, SPAM mail - that unsolicited mail that gets circulated around the globe. You know what I mean - forward this email to seven of your closest friends and Microsoft will send you a check for $10k or you will have tremendously great luck for the next 5 years, etc, etc, etc. However, once in a while you get an email that makes you stop and think. These are the ones I like. Since this is my blog and I can post whatever I want to :-) I have decided to post the following content of an email I received from my Dad last night. I did not go check the authenticity of these stories at snopes.com because its irrelevant. Whether or not Colin Powell actually said what is claimed below is not the point. The point is that, as Americans, we have a lot to be proud of - regardless of political affiliation. Would Bill Clinton have sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia during the same crisis - absoultely he would. So read on and remember to thank a Veteran today.

Every American should read these Four Great Stories

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was
asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just
an example of empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has
sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight
for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever
asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then there was a conference in France where a number of
international engineers were tak ing part, including French and American.
During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying
'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an
aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he
intended to do, bomb them?' A Boeing engineer stood up and
replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can
treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply
emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three
cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a
day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from
sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use
in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck..
We have eleven such sh ips; how many does France have?'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that
included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French
Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with
a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of
those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped
their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas
Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.'
He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these
conferences rather than speaking French?' Without hesitating,
the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits,
Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak
German.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France
on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in
Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his
passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before,
monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted
that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to
have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was
here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to
show your passports on arrival in France!" The American senior gave
the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. "Well,
when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help liberate this
country, I couldn't find any damn Frenchmen to show it to."

You could have heard a pin drop