Death of The White Rhino

To insure a smooth in-country arrival, we purchased an AWD XC Volvo wagon from a departing US Diplomat. It was an easy buy, she dropped the price every day we waited (she was in a hurry to leave) and the US Embassy handled all the paperwork because they like to facilitate car purchases between coming and going "dips." Just to make sure, we had the car "cleared" by a local mechanic who had worked on it over the years and confirmed "It was in good condition, Sir."
The car was clean, white, solid-appearing and strong. We dubbed it the "White Rhino."
Since arrival the Rhino has had some glitches like most of the other products bought in country--we're on our second dishwasher which mysteriously stopped working after a month, many of the electronics have ill-fitted cords or pieces of plastic that pop off and phones operate for a while then magically die in the middle of the night. After multiple rental cars and trips back and forth to the mechanic, the Rhino was "cleared for service" and we hit the road. Not to be too ambitious we headed out to a to a rhino/lion reserve (a 45 minute drive) for Saturday in the Park. While slowing gazing at a herd of impalas and zebra with the scattered ostrich meandering through, the car's transmission slipped. Slipped again. And slipped a third time to ultimately remain out of gear. With some coaxing, we were able to revive it for its final 1000 yards which got us to a safer and shady spot next to a braii (bbq) where it breathed it's final breath. We were safe , we were relieved, we were pissed! After waiting 3 hours for AAA (they have one in SA) we were greeted by a huge tow truck with enough seating for a the driver and one medium-sized passenger.
The AAA guy could not understand why "they" sent this truck and proposed that he call the "family" tow truck which has additional seating- "probably take another hour" (translation - they will show up tomorrow). So we decided to grab the escape while it was available and go local. All 5 of us plus the driver in the front driving out of the reserve onto the great South African highways no seatbelts, no AC, all 3 kids on our laps. I found my zen place until I noticed driving next to us was a truck with about 4 guys in the outside part sitting on very comfortable looking chairs, with the breeze blowing on them, now that is going local!
If I don't answer your calls or emails this week I am busy car shopping.

"Snow day" in Pretoria

Closure of Facilities

Closure of US Government Facilities

Based on information recently received by the Regional Security Office, all US Government facilities in South Africa will be closed on Tuesday, September 22, 2009.

Our current assumption is that all US Government facilities will be open on Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

We aren't in San Francisco anymore!

The other evening when we were talking about our days, Anna mentioned a "duck and cover" drill that they had at school. I rather naively thought that it was similar to the earth quake drills in SF. But as the discussion progressed, this was not duck, duck, goose.

Henry shouted out," Oh yeah, we all had to do it, I always go for the 2nd shelf in the closet behind the paint cans so I won't get shot first." Hmmm I thought what kind of drill is this? Anna and Teddy both agreed with Henry they all had to hide in a closet in the classroom and be very quiet while the teacher locks the door and some other administrator walks around the hallways checking the rooms to make sure the doors are locked and that the children are out of sight.

On a more fun note, this week-end we drove to a public park about 10 minutes from our house. We were going to all rent bikes but they didn't have the proper size for Anna so we opted for an hour long horse back ride. As we were riding we saw zebras, w(v)ildebeest, and giraffes. Pretty amazing!

Today, as the kids were moaning about the late arrival to school this morning, Anna piped up," I saw 2 baby giraffes on the side of the road!" We aren't in SF anymore!

Keys Keys and more Keys

We have over 100 keys floating around our house. Each glass door has 2 (1 for the door, 1 for the gate), each closet door has 1, each door has one. So it was only a matter of time before we got locked out or in.......
Each night before we go to bed we lock ourselves in our safe haven. This used to be a bit creepy, now it is normal - how bizarre! Jeff's job each morning is to disarm the alarm, unlock the safe haven and basically make enough noise to wake us all up. Sunday morning he did just that but when he reached for the safe haven key (all our our keys are stuck on the wall next the the locks so we won't lose them and don't have to carry them around) no key to be found. Turns out the safe haven key was downstairs. So now, the entire family is locked in upstairs - no food, no key. I did have one *Cadbury flake bar hidden in my bed side table but I was thinking how was I going to sneak it without anyone else noticing. We called the housekeeper who lives downstairs but she was already at church. We then went out onto the balcony and called Timothy, our gardener and woke him up. He was able to come in find the key and save the day. How funny would that phone call to Post1 (the Marines) to come unlock us.

I've included photos of the house. I tried to get Teddy to do a walking video tour but he wasn't into it. I will keep trying.

*Cadbury flake bars are incredibly yummy and so messy it almost takes all the pleasure out. A couple of days ago I made the mistake of eating one while in bed. Our bed is white - HUGE mess and no denying what I had been snacking on! If you haven't had one they are available at the candy store on Chestnut Street. But, my new favorite candy is the breakfast bar - such a funny name considering it is chocolate, peanut, caramel, wafer bar that is just delightful. The radio commercials are hilarious, very suggestive about nuts in the mouth!

Our First Family Safari

Last weekend we drove 4 hours to the Botswana border to the Tau Game Reserve. The reserve is the size of San Francisco and we were lucky enough to see 4 out of the big 5 - (for all of you safari virgins the big 5 are..... rhino,lion,elephant,water buffalo, and leopard) We didn't see a leopard and I still don't see the big deal with the water buffalo but who am I to question animal seniority! The hotel was fabulous, the kids had one cottage and we had another. Each room had the mosquito netting over the beds, heated sheets ( a brilliant concept that I will use once we return to SF, heated blankets underneath your fitted sheet), and each of the rooms has a deck that is about 5 feet from a watering hole. We had daily visits from herds of elephants, lions, impalas....
We were woken up each day by Ranger Gerard at 6:00 am and would slam a cup of coffee and pile into an open truck and start tracking animals. It was freezing in the mornings but luckily the trucks have blankets. By the last day I got smart and actually wore my PJ bottoms - I am not sure why it took me that long to figure that one out. Why not be comfortable? The kids and Jeff weren't so impressed with what I though was pure genius! Once, the morning drive was over we would have a nice breakfast and had the remainder of the afternoon off. At 4:00 it was cocktails and back into the truck for the evening drive. We were lucky enough to see a den of lions post kill - which was thrilling to Jeff and nauseating to me. You could actually hear the lions chewing off pieces of the animal (dead of course). Jeff at one point dropped his socks (don't ask) and the Ranger had to jump out of the truck and have another Ranger cover for him. It's kind of wild because you can't really appreciate the danger of it all but we were only a couple feet from this den. We were also confronted by a young male elephant that wouldn't let us drive by. We had a stand off for about 10 intense minutes where we had to be very quite. Fortunately we were in very good hands with the armed Ranger and all was fine. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

I heard your complaints.......

Ok ok, I hear you loud and clear, I am not updating enough! Well, to be perfectly honest with all of you I didn't think you would be interested in the day to day struggles of lock down at the embassy, renting a car, getting your pool running, fixing the alarm system so it doesn't randomly go off, and of course getting the car that we purchased prior to arriving out of the shop! So here it is and please hold your yawns!
Lock Down at the Embassy, WTF? I went to the Embassy for an hour meeting as I was going to leave I noticed that the friendly Marines that usually manage the door are dressed in full combat uniform with large guns. I was a bit startled but kept on moving... As I went to open the door Marine says, "sorry mam we are in lock down". I should have noticed something was up, the area by the door was pretty crowded with annoyed looking civilians and the Head Honcho of US Security was in the bullet proof glass enclosed room in the front but again who knows - this could just be another day in SA. But no, this was not a normal day - the South African Military went on strike and the SA Police demanded that they go back to work - Military said no and set garbage cans on fired so Police shot rubber bullets at them. We are all in the Embassy which is a Huge concrete fort so one is oblivious to anything going on in the outside world. So, we couldn't hear see smell that anything was up. It was about 1 1/2 miles away but they wouldn't let any of us out. So, 3 hours in lockdown - no bar, no internet, bad cafeteria coffee.... When we were finally released there wasn't one bit of gratitude we were all disgruntled Americans jacked up on bad coffee!
Renting a car in South Africa. No one here ever says no it can't happen until you have been on the phone for at least 3 different conversations.... I need a car that is automatic not because I can't drive a stick. (yes, Cathy if you are reading I know the clutch will never be the same but I can do it) But, I cannot drive a stick lefty. My brain is just not that sharp. So, after MANY conversations with Avis and many hours of waiting around the car arrives at the gilded cage only to be stick shift. I of course send the man and the car back to their mother ship. I go back to square one and try Hertz they originally have nothing but after 4 more phone calls a BMW becomes available - so we take it. I jump immediately into the car (I have been home for 4 days figuring this out) and go for a spin and to the local grocery store. The car is fast and sporty and I am driving slow and grandmotherly like. The cars behind me don't realize that I don't really know how to drive this car properly, ie fast and I don't have my Diplomat license plates to hide behind so the drivers are honking at me - a bit unnerving to say the least! I did make it to Woolworths (our WholeFoods) and get the family some milk!
As far as the other above items, I won't bore you with the dirty details but things are slowly slowly getting fixed.
The UAB shipment (unaccompanied air baggage) showed up yesterday. Huge deal for the kids because I forgot to pack any of the boys toys in our 18 suitcases so they haven't had much to play with. I am happy to report that MOH, Dave took me to the Home Depot store here and we (he) built shelves and the play room is up and running. 3 very happy children!