Driving ahead

This was written on the 12th of August (we think this gets us caught up!):

We have a car. Chris timed it perfectly. We got our car on the day we moved into our new place, so we could use it to transport our luggage. It’s a Mazda, 4-door, about 10 years old. It’s surprising how much cars cost here – they are quite expensive. Ours is nice though, and as a special treat to Lisa, it’s automatic. This makes the transition to driving on the left hand side a little easier to think about.

Having a car allowed us also to load up on groceries, which in turn lead to eating Chris’ home cooked meals again. It’s a treat for both of us, although our restaurant friends are sad to see us miss our nightly pasta buffet.

Lisa’s work is going well. The two fundraisers she was busy planning went off without a hitch, and they earned nearly R400,000 total for the Youth Centre (SA spelling) she is trying to get built.  They are still about a million or so short, (1 million rand is currently around $140,000) so they’re working to get it together. They should start breaking ground at the end of the year.

Chris has connected with the public radio station here, and is helping there a few times a month. He’s also looking into possibly finishing his PhD studies here, possibly at the University of Stellenbosch or UCT. He’s going to go a short seminar about the program next month at Stellenbosch.

All else is good – We miss you all and are thinking of you as we look across the beautiful and turbulent Atlantic just a few blocks from our place.

Here’s to the flash.

This was written on the 18th:

Things here in SA are really humming.

We got an apartment! It’s in Sea Point and we can move in at the first of the month. Hooray! It’s a lovely place, and we look forward to our friends visiting and sharing it with us.

Other than that, all here is well. Chris has been working hard on details of the housing, and got us a bank account (harder than you think). He also has been test-driving cars like a mad man. Hope to find something soon, but we’re enjoying the exercise of walking and public transportation while we get it. Lisa is working hard to help organize a big fundraiser on the 31st. It will be a concert and benefit, and the Archbishop Tutu will be there. It’s very exciting. Unfortunately, the Foundation here is definitely a non-profit, and there’s no one on staff to do the event planning. They sure could use Tiffany. So the legwork is all done by the programmatic and clinical people. The event will coincide with a MONUMENTAL event, the completion of the Bike Ride Around America. We are so happy for Dad/John and Mom/Jane and so excited they are almost done. WAY TO GO!

We have been having fun too. For all those rugby fans out there, we have been taking in some fun matches. We watch at some local pubs here. We recently watched Australia beat South Africa (urghhhhh). However, we also saw South Africa beat the All Blacks from New Zealand, on their home field. It was VERY exciting. The whole town seemed to stop.

The days have been sunny and cool. We take long walks along the ocean looking out at the Atlantic, hoping to see dolphins. It’s a stormy sea, and almost alive. The sun sinks into it, so we watch for the green flash.

Blue skies

This was written on July 12th:

It’s Saturday, and it is absolutely gorgeous outside. It’s sunny and clear, and Table Mountain is carved out against the blue, blue sky. We’re running around trying to finish up details on apartments and cars, but we can’t help but take a few moments to enjoy the scenery after so much rain. We had terrible rainstorms for our first week here, and it was quite devastating in sections of the city. Fortunately for us, we just got wet. We’re very lucky.

Lisa finished her first week of work. It seems to be really good. She shares an office with seven other people, and a phone with four others. It’s definitely different than the cushy life at the State of Alaska. It’s the non-profit lifestyle though. She rides the mini-bus taxi to and from work every day.

Chris has spent this week investigating apartments and vehicles. It has been a real learning experience, figuring the rentals market here, as well as the car market. It’s made even more challenging because we don’t have a vehicle now, so Chris has to connect with all of these people all over town. He’s definitely getting some mileage on the old legs. Good thing we still load up on a major breakfast every morning at the Ritz.

We’ve found some favorite restaurants close to our hotel, and they already know us as the Americans who order everything with a little extra spice. We are getting to know people too. We attended the 4th of July celebration at the US Consulate. It happened on the 9th, and we got to meet the Ambassador.