Back to my home away from home

Habari,

Finally!!  Finally I’m back in Nairobi where I belong after spending 11 days in Johannesburg.  I always enjoy my stays in Joburg.  The IBM team always ensures I have a good time.  This trip was no different.  I actually left before the fun was over.  Because I left early on Saturday morning, I missed the opportunity to go to the Phantom of the Opera.  Now the Phatom of the Opera sounds bourgeoisie, but this trip went from the high highs to the low lows. 

My IBM Host wanted to show me the ‘real’ side of Joburg this time.  Being a hood rat from North Philly, I’m more than capable of being ‘real.’  BUT, being real in another country can be a little stressful. LOL.  My Host decided to take me to her version of Chinatown.  Every city in every country has a Chinatown.  When we pulled up, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.  This was definitely ‘real.’  As we got out of the car, the smell almost knocked me off my feet. 

Those of you who have been to your version of Chinatown know the smell I’m talking about.  It’s the smell in the back of the restaurant that you try desperately not to recognize because you enjoy the food so much.  I tried very hard not to think of the fact that I was smelling that smell in a different country.  This is South Africa anyway, right?  Certainly I could trust the food here.  Besides, I reminded myself that that smell exists in several different Chinatowns in various cities in the good old USA.

Once I got past my initial reservations, we had a good time and good food.  I was out with my Host, her son and a friend of the family.  We had a great time talking about Joburg’s history and American politics.  I’m always amazed by how preoccupied people in different countries are with the political landscape of the US.  I guess it’s a big deal now because it’s a presidential election year.

Our next outing was much more upscale, but just as interesting.  It was a lovely restaurant called Moyo, which was situated in a outdoor square.  This was a very charming location with one small exception.  There was a thunderstorm brewing in the background.  Now, for anyone who has been to Johannesburg, you know that their thunderstorms are vicious.  This was no exception, but everything progressed as planned, much to my surprise.  You see, the tables were completely covered and I discovered that South Africans have no problem dining outside in the rain as long as they don’t get wet. 

Once I realized we wouldn’t get wet I was a little more relaxed, but there was still the pesky issue of the thunder an lightening.  No one seemed as on edge as I was so I tried to go with the flow.  Then the waiter came out with the menus.  Now, I couldn’t make this up people, the menus were made of metal! SMH.  No one else seemed to mind so I just ordered quickly and gave the menu back to the waiter.  The good news is, the storm never materialized.  Once we got the conversation going, I completely put it out of my mind. 

Female Bathroom Door

Male Bathroom Door

As usual, I enjoyed the meal, conversation and atmosphere.  There was a jazz band playing while we enjoyed our meals.  When nature called, I went to the bathroom to discover once again that South Africa has a fascination with clearly identifying male and female bathrooms.  See if you can tell the difference between the two. LOL.  And this was in a nice restaurant! 

Well, I had two more restaurant outings during my stay, but it was just more fun.  I finally started my journey back to Nairobi on Saturday.  The four hour flight was nothing compared to the jaunt from the States.  My entry back into the country was surprisingly uneventful.  Maybe it was because I landed in the middle of the afternoon, but I breezed right through customs.  

When I walked outside, the airport, the wall of heat smacked me in my face.  Welcome to summer in Nairobi.  Ugh, I wasn’t liking it at all.  But, when I entered my apartment which hadn’t been occupied in two and a half months, it was surprisingly cool.  I put all of my stuff down, collapsed on the coach and exhaled.  It was good to be back in my home away from home.

See you back here next week folks.

Asante sana,

Della Rochelle

Copyright © 2012 by Della Rochelle Williams

Stranded in Johannesburg

Habari,

Well, looks like I will be camping out in Johannesburg until my papers are approved in Nairobi.  I arrived last Wednesday morning after travelling for a day and a half.  I left the US on Monday night and I didn’t reach Joburg until Wednesday morning.  Needless to say I was exhausted.  Unfortunately when I got the hotel, they didn’t have my room ready.  Not only did they not have my room ready, but they didn’t have any record of my reservation. 

Now you know I am usually the level-headed person who never loses her cool…not.  LOL. The man behind the desk saw the eminent meltdown written all over my face.  Before I could say a word, he instructed the bell hop to take me to the business lounge on the 6^th floor.  He assured me that they would straighten everything out.  Now you know I didn’t believe a word he had to say, but I was tired, hungry and I hadn’t had a drop of coffee…the Starbucks withdrawal was in full swing. 

I agreed to go to the business lounge to rest a little and regain my strength.  After I reached the lounge, I was a little more hopeful.  It was very nice and there was fresh fruit juice, coffee, cappuccino and espressos just waiting for my request.  The women at the desk spoke in soft reassuring tones.  I wondered if the guy downstairs called ahead to say, “There is a crazy b*!@% headed your way and she’s on the brink of a meltdown.

After the first cup of coffee and some really good mango juice, I started to feel a little more human, although I still had day and a half old clothing on.  I wanted to just go to my room and take a shower.  I decided I was going to try to resolve the issue myself.  I reached out to the people, who handle my travel, but they were in London and it would be another 2 hours before they reached the office.  My second instinct was to reach out to Master Pu by text and warn him of the meltdown at hand.  He responded to my text with mild concern.  I had this sneaky suspicion that his concern was for the people in the hotel and not me. LOL. 

Before I could lose my mind, the soft spoken young lady came over to me to let me know she had straightened everything out.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I took back every bad thing I said about them up to that point.  LOL.  She gave me a room on the 17^th floor and apologized for the delay.  All I could think about was the shower and the bed and I wasn’t disappointed by either.  Check out the pictures of my room.  If I’m going to be stranded somewhere, I don’t mind it happening here.  When I called Master Pu to tell him everything was okay, the first thing he said was, “Are you in jail?  Do you need a lawyer?” LOL.

My actual room

I tell myself every day, Johannesburg is no Nairobi.  As you can see, I’m not suffering at all.  I’m being further disillusioned by staying in South Africa.  You see, South Africa is like a mini US.  The roads are nice, leveled and clean.  The mall shopping is wonderful; I’m talking Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Salvador Ferragamo.  See, staying in South Africa can not only make me disillusioned, but broke as well.  SMH. 

So, I’m taking it day by day.  I may write from here next week or it could be from good old Nairobi.  Come check it out next week to see where I end up.  Until then…

The Mall attached to hotel

Asante Sana,

Della Rochelle

Copyright © 2012 by Della Rochelle Williams

Temporary Insanity

Habari,

Finally I am heading back to the continent of Africa.  I'm writing this entry from the London Heathrow airport.  I have a five hour layover before I head to Johannesburg, South Africa.   I have been in the US since December 17th and I've adapted far too much to the comforts of home.  With the exception of sleeping during normal sleep hours and working during normal work hours that is.  You see, somebody had the crazy idea that I could work on Nairobi time during my extended stay.  Crazy!!

First of all, Nairobi is eight hours ahead of the east coast.  That means, in order to do a normal 9 to 5 work day, I would have to work from 1am until 9am.  Well, I thought that was just crazy so I settled on 11pm to 7am.  Still crazy...I know.  The first couple of days were horrible!  I felt like I was losing my mind. Although I had every intention of logging off at 7am sharp, somebody or some crisis always caused me to work until 8 or 9 in the morning. SMH.

After a while things got better, but I was going to sleep right after work and sleeping most of the day.  Sometimes when I would get up, it would be dark again.  WTH.  My days started to run together and I started to lose track of them.  The thing is, I would have already worked the day in Nairobi, but when I was done the day was just starting at home.  This wasn't a problem until I had to do something on eastern standard time, like go to the doctor or meet a friend for lunch.  For those of you that I didn't get to see during this trip, I'm pleading temporary insanity.  Forgive me.

My body would completely rebel on me by falling asleep for hours when I was suppose to just catch a short nap before going out.  Or,  I would jump out of the car and go on about my business while the car is still running. LOL.  I will apologize to my girl Tammie in public for doing that twice while she was visiting.  I'm sure she didn't feel comfortable getting in the car with me driving after witnessing that mishap.  

My short term memory was shot during this experiment and my work days took an interesting turn between the hours of 4 and 5am.  I became either a total crab or I would break into hysterical laughter at the corniest joke.  My patience changed from: 

1, "oh that's okay everybody messes up every now and then,
2, "no worries, at least you are learning,"
3 "okay maybe we have a problem, let's work on that."

to:

1, "why are you coming to me with this nonsense, you should know this already!"

Needless to say I'm sure I took some years off of my life during this five week experiment or at least shortened a few telomeres. LOL.  The good news is I'm heading back to the continent.  I'm still not going back to Nairobi yet, but at least I'm only an hour behind in Johannesburg.  Hopefully I will get back to some sort of normal routine in a short period of time.  I'm sure my colleagues, employees and manager will be happy when I do.  

So, tune in next week when I hope to be writing from Nairobi once again.  It should be interesting because I feel like I have to make the adjustment all over again.  The Starbucks withdrawal has already started!! Pray for me!

Asante sana,

Della Rochelle
Copyright (c) 2012 by Della Rochelle Williams