Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
20 02 2011
This past week has been amazing in a whole lot of ways
Getting over jet lag- i keep waking up at random hours , just because! And then i cant sleep again!
then there's work ...yep we hit the ground running and work , training , living all started as the plane doors spat us out in this foreign land.
In-between all the formalities , there were workshop tours , discussions about the differences and similarities between our employers and trainers and briefing on what to expect of our projects.
We've also had some (failed) attempts at team building. Paintball , bowling(i dont know if this was offficial) and lunch of which we haven't managed one as yet! We wil have to try harder. Last night we made it to a get-together which was not my scene but at least a beginning.
some other unusual things strange to the SA eye:
Snow melts very fast
When we arrived here last week , snow covered almost everything. Over the week , snow turned parking lots into quicksand mud grounds, gutters have been really full even though the rain hasn't come as yet.
so i looked out my window today and would you belive it, it turns out theres a basketball court down in that snow covered area! Not an icicle left in that clearing.
And the fountain to the left of that is even visible now.
Michelle Obama is on a mission to make Americans more health concious. So Feb= "heart month" and in a flash mob style fashion happy shoppers in malls start dancing in unison to get their daily exercise.
anyway , I was hoping to go to New York City this weekend but low and behold there isnt a bus that can get me there in good time to actually expereince the city. I still had a fab day yesterday because Aunty Rookiya and Uncle Goolam (My Grandads brother and sister-in-law) drove from Canada to spend the day with me :-D
how cool is that ??? They're super awesome. Uncle Goolam is just like my late Grandad and Aunty Rookiya has to be the youngest , most active grandma around. Im going to see them next week .
I off course have to concentrate on work and training and ReDineo aswell. But I almost feel like a tourist now...:-)
Getting over jet lag- i keep waking up at random hours , just because! And then i cant sleep again!
then there's work ...yep we hit the ground running and work , training , living all started as the plane doors spat us out in this foreign land.
- Monday morning we pitched up at the training facility and went through the motions of getting settled.
- Tuesday we got an induction
- Wednesday we had lectures
- Thursday we were assigned projects
- Friday we got access cards
In-between all the formalities , there were workshop tours , discussions about the differences and similarities between our employers and trainers and briefing on what to expect of our projects.
We've also had some (failed) attempts at team building. Paintball , bowling(i dont know if this was offficial) and lunch of which we haven't managed one as yet! We wil have to try harder. Last night we made it to a get-together which was not my scene but at least a beginning.
some other unusual things strange to the SA eye:
Snow melts very fast
When we arrived here last week , snow covered almost everything. Over the week , snow turned parking lots into quicksand mud grounds, gutters have been really full even though the rain hasn't come as yet.
so i looked out my window today and would you belive it, it turns out theres a basketball court down in that snow covered area! Not an icicle left in that clearing.
And the fountain to the left of that is even visible now.
This train locomotive in a workshop is what I call a Monster Loco. The SA loco's below can fit quite comfortably inside this Monster with space for a person to pass. I was completely wowed with the size of these. SA is definitely the petit kind.
finally (only because im running outr of pictures) Pennsylvania is essentially landlocked but I found the strangest vehicle out here...
uhuh, thats a ship. These guys build ships in the local ship yard!I dont think this pic does justice to the size of this ship...its ENORMOUS. how they get it to sea is beyond me!
anyway , I was hoping to go to New York City this weekend but low and behold there isnt a bus that can get me there in good time to actually expereince the city. I still had a fab day yesterday because Aunty Rookiya and Uncle Goolam (My Grandads brother and sister-in-law) drove from Canada to spend the day with me :-D
how cool is that ??? They're super awesome. Uncle Goolam is just like my late Grandad and Aunty Rookiya has to be the youngest , most active grandma around. Im going to see them next week .
I off course have to concentrate on work and training and ReDineo aswell. But I almost feel like a tourist now...:-)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Valentines Day in a white washed city
The Learning Centre is all kitted out for the occasion
This is the Residence Inn(below)...my home for the next 3 months ...pretty looking hey :-)
There is beautiful , soft snow all over the place...its cold outside and people dress like eskimo's
A school, I think, on the way to the Training facility ...its like a picture out of Dead Poets Society
Charlottes Webb connecting the wooden homes
Snow outside the window incidentally of the swimming pool area
Typical house in Erie
Monday, February 14, 2011
11 02 2011
I woke up yesterday morning with a start enough to scare the accents off the air hostesses who were walking up and down the isle as American air hostesses usually do, using words like trash and lavatory instead of dirt and toilet. I finally realised that I was on my way to America!!! The day before, much like the 3 months preceding the flight in question, had been a gas(erm I'm converting too...i meant petrol) guzzling, traffic enduring, last minute packing, visa collecting, double checking race to get everything done. And then almost shell-shocked , i boarded the plane ...
and at 8am South Africa time, 1am America time ( i have no idea what time it was in the area that I was in at that specific moment), there I was discovering what actually happened!
Shock and horror aside, at 6 am (US time) I arrived in Atlanta where true to their hospitality non-Americans were ushered into long queues with documents and forms in hand. "special" people , like myself found themselves in the "ssss" office for the second time in one trip having to validate the need to travel to the USA. *SSSS- some sort of special security check which singles out individuals and subjects them to frisking , verbal information confirmation, scans and gunpowder detection (yes i was subjected to these)
When flying into Johannesburg (or out of JHB for that matter) the world seems to be painted green with random spots of blue and brown adding depth and detail to the picture. Flying over the Miswest here in the USA , the shapes landscapes look very similar. The landscapes are covered in white with paths carved to depict roads.Its a different kind of beauty with little perception but rather flawless tranquility.
on a closer look , or perhaps a close encounter when driving on a different side of the road with a differently operated car one quickly realises that Its not flawless. driving on snow and ice is tricky and wheels quickly skid. Driving on the wrong side of the road , or right side as it may be, is mind boggling. we often follow force of habit and change to the left side which is verry dangerous. My first "driving lesson" in the vehicle went very well though. Yay. Thanks Walter for letting me drive to WalMart
Walmart is my newest fav mall/store/supermarket thing-a-ma-jig. It sells everything and its in the next street so im already planning my next trip.Its also open 24/7 so its very convenient. I think Im gonna get shopper of the month award, Ive been ther twice(nearly thrice) in the matter of 20 hours.
The accommodation Im in is the biggest surprise of all. I though that I was a bit crazy when i entered the lobby and a few nasty looking kids came bouncing by in "bathing suits". The swimming pool next to reception was actually full of people enjoying themselves. So what hey, we swim in winter in SA. Besides, i figured it was a warmed pool. It turns out that the hotel is linked to a water theme park adjacent to it. The kids that i saw were only a handful of hundreds of little people and their parents enjoying the slides and splashes of the park. Also linked to the hotel-theme park arrangement are a host of restaurants and more accommodation.
It looks like the valley of the waved with a roof. might just be losing my mind.
Perhaps its all just a weird dream. When I wake up, It will all be very normal and I'll go build a snowman.
cheerios ;-)
and at 8am South Africa time, 1am America time ( i have no idea what time it was in the area that I was in at that specific moment), there I was discovering what actually happened!
Shock and horror aside, at 6 am (US time) I arrived in Atlanta where true to their hospitality non-Americans were ushered into long queues with documents and forms in hand. "special" people , like myself found themselves in the "ssss" office for the second time in one trip having to validate the need to travel to the USA. *SSSS- some sort of special security check which singles out individuals and subjects them to frisking , verbal information confirmation, scans and gunpowder detection (yes i was subjected to these)
When flying into Johannesburg (or out of JHB for that matter) the world seems to be painted green with random spots of blue and brown adding depth and detail to the picture. Flying over the Miswest here in the USA , the shapes landscapes look very similar. The landscapes are covered in white with paths carved to depict roads.Its a different kind of beauty with little perception but rather flawless tranquility.
on a closer look , or perhaps a close encounter when driving on a different side of the road with a differently operated car one quickly realises that Its not flawless. driving on snow and ice is tricky and wheels quickly skid. Driving on the wrong side of the road , or right side as it may be, is mind boggling. we often follow force of habit and change to the left side which is verry dangerous. My first "driving lesson" in the vehicle went very well though. Yay. Thanks Walter for letting me drive to WalMart
Walmart is my newest fav mall/store/supermarket thing-a-ma-jig. It sells everything and its in the next street so im already planning my next trip.Its also open 24/7 so its very convenient. I think Im gonna get shopper of the month award, Ive been ther twice(nearly thrice) in the matter of 20 hours.
The accommodation Im in is the biggest surprise of all. I though that I was a bit crazy when i entered the lobby and a few nasty looking kids came bouncing by in "bathing suits". The swimming pool next to reception was actually full of people enjoying themselves. So what hey, we swim in winter in SA. Besides, i figured it was a warmed pool. It turns out that the hotel is linked to a water theme park adjacent to it. The kids that i saw were only a handful of hundreds of little people and their parents enjoying the slides and splashes of the park. Also linked to the hotel-theme park arrangement are a host of restaurants and more accommodation.
It looks like the valley of the waved with a roof. might just be losing my mind.
Perhaps its all just a weird dream. When I wake up, It will all be very normal and I'll go build a snowman.
cheerios ;-)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
D-day has dawned
Yesterday I had my US visa interview. After all the stress and planning and checklist ticking , i almost forgot my passport in the car. Yes, rather blond I am.
Anyways, the interview wasn't bad but it was really nothing like the interview that I had imagined. It took a few check points and scans and so on just to enter the embassy. The actual interview was through a glass window , sort of like the bank tellers in JHB town crossed with a high security prison visit. Despite the effect of the place to make even the most honest child feel like a wanted criminal, the efficiency of the place could teach our home affairs departments a thing or two.
The interview ended on a happy note, with the consol officer agreeing to process my Visa. Yayness to that.
So D-Day (Departure Day) is tomorrow. My bags are packed , my papers in order and now , finally, I'm beginning to look forward to the trip.
My next post will be from the USA.
Adieu
Anyways, the interview wasn't bad but it was really nothing like the interview that I had imagined. It took a few check points and scans and so on just to enter the embassy. The actual interview was through a glass window , sort of like the bank tellers in JHB town crossed with a high security prison visit. Despite the effect of the place to make even the most honest child feel like a wanted criminal, the efficiency of the place could teach our home affairs departments a thing or two.
The interview ended on a happy note, with the consol officer agreeing to process my Visa. Yayness to that.
So D-Day (Departure Day) is tomorrow. My bags are packed , my papers in order and now , finally, I'm beginning to look forward to the trip.
My next post will be from the USA.
Adieu
Sunday, February 06, 2011
To my birthday buddies
Usually around this time of the year, while everyone else is getting ready for Valentines Day and finding the most awful uses of the colour red, myself and a couple of friends are celebrating our birthdays.
I wont be around (in Jozi) for the celebrations this year, the gift exchanges or the innovative birthdays songs but I will be remembering each of my friends with a little prayer.
So to Dipsy, Mike, Zahra, Thuli, Soul Sista, Vidhya, Katlego and all the other Feb birthday pals, may you have a birthday to remember. Wishing you all many happy returns of the day.
Love
Naeema
I wont be around (in Jozi) for the celebrations this year, the gift exchanges or the innovative birthdays songs but I will be remembering each of my friends with a little prayer.
So to Dipsy, Mike, Zahra, Thuli, Soul Sista, Vidhya, Katlego and all the other Feb birthday pals, may you have a birthday to remember. Wishing you all many happy returns of the day.
Love
Naeema
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Shiver me Whiskers
I must have done something seriously bad for karma to be sending me to such dangerous territory. The effects of the blizzard include no electricity in many of the 20 american states affected, closed roads and airports. In other words there will be sub zero temperatures to deal with - without heaters - and limited access to food. Oh dear , what chill we will feel being so close to the banks of Lake Erie!!!The pictures that I have seen so far from Missouri and Chicago are making me shiver here in the humid office in Germiston. (perhaps the Aircon is assisting a bit)
But I also wonder about the programme i'm meant to be attending. If schools and businesses are closed and people are "hermitising" will it really be worth their while for the comapny to send us?
I'm so over being excited to play in snow. This snowfall looks scary and all weather service warnings seem to be telling me is to stay in sunny SA and shy away from the cold.
Well I guess i'll go and soak up as much vitamin D in the mean time. I need all the happiness food i can manage.
But I also wonder about the programme i'm meant to be attending. If schools and businesses are closed and people are "hermitising" will it really be worth their while for the comapny to send us?
I'm so over being excited to play in snow. This snowfall looks scary and all weather service warnings seem to be telling me is to stay in sunny SA and shy away from the cold.
Well I guess i'll go and soak up as much vitamin D in the mean time. I need all the happiness food i can manage.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
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