Jozie! My new home

Have been meaning to write for a long time, but there has been no mercy at work so have spent my time and energy so far to try to keep up...

So I arrived (already!) three weeks ago - greeted by (a very tired) Martine! We went straight to her place in Pretoria and chilled with her friends. The day after we headed for the big city to be my home for some time, Jo'burg, and my new residence for the next months..



Johannesburg skyline

 I was anxious to find out how it looked, how the area was and get settled in. We found the place relatively easy, located the door with 504 on it and everything - it seemed things were going smoothly. But as we tried to unlock the bars infront of my door the key just didn't seem to fit.. we struggled and tried to wriggle the key in, but to no avail. We were on the verge of giving up and decided to call my landlord, Olav Andre in Norway, he was puzzled by the fact that we couldn't get the door opened. He had never experienced any difficulty, and told us to keep trying.. We kept going for a while longer, my spirits falling by the second, when he called us back to inquire whether we had seen the second door!! Aha, a second door! The key slid in and turned as smoothly as a knife in butter, finally inside!

The flat is nice and spateous -


Bedroom - here with all my mess...

  

Living room

My very 70s kitchen

Additionally, I have no less than three 'bathrooms' - one for the toilet, one for the shower and one for the bathtub! The best of all, my bathtub is PINK!!Not to forget the nice balcony with a nice view of Jacaranda trees in bloom!

The view from my balcony - an ocean of purple!



Flowersflowersflowers - makes me so happy!



The Jacaranda trees as just blooming now as the spring is setting and the rainy season has begun. There are so many avenues lined with Jacaranda trees that now look completely purple, it's amazingly beautiful and it y makes me very happy!



Jacaranda lined street

 The rainy season means hot and dry during the day and thunderstorms and heavy rains in the afternoon and night. The thunderstorms here are amazing - the lightning bolts across the sky and divides itself into many smaller ones..it just lights up the sky!

Some interesting trivia about Jo'burg:
- it is actually the largest man made forest in the world, the indigenous trees are mostly shrubs since this is highveld (highlands but completely flat), so ALL other trees are planted, and there are many trees here!
- it is a HUGE city, covering more area than Greater London - about 1700 km2, divided by mine dumps, highways,railway tracks and MONEY!
- there are such opposities in this city - from the richest few kilometres in Sandton City to the poorest of the poor in the informal settlements scattered around the city and the townships who still have not enjoyed the upgrading from government.
- Jo'burg was established first as a mining camp with the discovery of gold in the 1880s, and eventually it grew out of proportions attracting many settlers!
- the city centre was reserved for whites up untill the end of apartheid, blacks had to stay in designated areas outside the city. These living patterns still persist with one quite considerable exception - the city centre is now completely 'black' and very few dare now venture into the old Joburg city centre (CBD). There is one are called Newtown that has now been 'cleared' and is considered safe, but otherwise you tend to avoid the CBD area.

My area, Killarney, is a nice and mixed area. My flat has a 70s feel to it, but many of the blocks nearby date as far back as the 50s with much of its architecture - both outside and inside still intact! A few blocks down is the Jo'burg Zoo, on my morning jogs I pass by the zebra and antilope area and can spot them through the fence! Good motivation for jogging! It's also relatively safe to walk to the grocery store while light, something I know to appreciate! I have a mixed group of neighbours - my immediate neighbours are Congolese and invite me over for dinner and chats! The Indian neighbour downstairs has also knocked on my door a few times, but he was more interested in certain favours.. bastard!

Christina Court, Killarney

Getting around requires a car, and I'm renting one while waiting for the processing of my work permit, without which I cannot register a car! I'm fearing it might take a while so trying not to stress with the car ourchase yet.. Everything in due time, that is the African mantra! I bought a GPS on my first day and me and the lady voice in it have become well aqcuainted already - impossible to find anything without her! Although we do sometimes behave like an old couple hanging out too much together as I tend to get rather frustrated at her sometimes! Is that a sign that I'm starting to get looney?? So far I haven't really gotten around to seeing a lot of the city - mostly back and forth home-work. And I still feel very disoriented as everywhere looks the same, and there are few landmarks.

Will write more on job related issues in a separate post! This is all for now...