2 hours from Monterey to San Fran. 6 hours from San Fran to New York. 3 hours trying to store our 8 50-lb bags at the airport and then get the shuttle bus JFK to the hotel. A few hours of semi-decent sleep. A breakfast with Nana and Papa. And then 18 hours from New York to Cape Town. And then finally, the months of planning, e-mailing, on-line house-hunting, and expectations were over, and we landed in "The Mother City." Can't believe it.
Some initial thoughts...
Keys, Gates, Fences, Razor-Wire, and Security Systems
When we arrived at 15 Sylvia Road, our landlords greeted us with a keychain of 20 keys; a symbol of life in the big city in South Africa. The house has a number of doors, and each has a sliding metal gate. The walls around the house are topped with razor wire and sharp pointy metal. The house has an alarm system, and the landlords encouraged us to sign up with ADT, the security system that patrols the neighborhood. That way, if the alarm goes off, they will be here within 2 minutes --there are ADT guys on bikes all around, working out of wooden "guard shacks" that are located at various corners in the neighborhood. We were told that when we are home and want to keep the doors open, to close and lock the sliding metal doors! Yikes. It is hard to make sense of all this, and not to feel like we are in our own Robben Island prison --not to show any disrespect to Nelson Mandela's 27 years in prison. Inequality: everyone feels like they are in prison.
"Madiba's 90th B-day"
We arrived in South Africa the day after Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. The sunday newspapers were filled-with articles about his life and his influence. It was amazing to read. Some "activists" were talking about their disappointment that he was so conciliatory to the whites. You could definitely feel their pain. Many wrote that Mandela was the only person who could have helped the country move out of the hateful, repressive past, and that his conciliatory and ultra-respectful nature were essential at the time. They also wrote that the country's future could not ride on Mandela's laurels from the past, and that real change had to occur. People have been talking about the big election to come --and they don't mean Obama vs. McCain. But, in 2009 there will be a national election, which should be very interesting.
Location, Location, Location, but...
We love the location of our current home (15 Sylvia Road, Upper Claremont, 7708 Cape Town, South Africa), but the house itself isn't as wonderful as we had hoped. As you can see from the map, we live in Claremont, which is a pretty central "southern suburb." Alex's school is in Newlands, the next suburb north, and the University of Cape Town is in Rondebosch, the suburb after that. The house is 3 blocks from Maya's school, and a 5-minute drive to Alex's school, and also a 5 minute walk to a shopping center and the busy life on "Main Road.
However, the place is 70 years-old and needs some TLC. The landlords are very nice, but not ready to put the money into the place that it really needs. So, we've been looking around at other options. We'll tell you more about that later, but don't be surprised if we soon have another address.
First Days at School
Maya was the guinea pig, and started at "Grove Primary" yesterday. Alex had her first day at "Westerford High School" today. And Naomi and I had lunch with my new colleague Janice at UCT today. Alex was the only one to have to wear her uniform (maroon blazer, tie, button-down shirt, maroon v-neck sweater, grey skirt, brown stockings, and brown "school shoes." Yikes! Maya gets to wear a white polo-shirt and a "track suit" --perfect for her-- which is their winter uniform. She has to wear a blue dress in Spring and Summer. I was the luckiest, and got to wear my fleece.
Well, that's all for now. Lots more to share, but just wanted to get a hang for this blogging stuff. If you want to write me back, please send an e-mail to: seth_pollack@csumb.edu
Blog ya later.
Seth./.
