Hangin' with the Gandhis
There are so many cool projects I am going to get involved with through work here in Durban - turns out Durbs is kind of a big deal of a city. For example, Gandhi came up with Passive Resistance in Durban and his family still lives here. So during my first week at work, I was asked to help out with a dinner that was being put on by an organization to honour Ela Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter and a community activit in her own right.
But WOW. I thought nothing could be more excruciatingly slow than this group debating the tiniest of logistics for this dinner....
Old Indian Chairwoman: "I think it may take more than 2 minutes for the ushers to walk to the front of the room...it may take 3. What do you think? 2 or 3 minutes for each?"...until they started debating the logistics for the 9-year-old slam poet and his entourage
...Translator for 9-year-old Slam Poet: "He likes to have his followers come onstage and support him." Old Indian Chairwoman: "I think that will be fine. How many followers does he have?" TF9-Y-OSP: "Um, 18? About 18." Old Indian Chairperson: "Hmmm. Do we think that can work?" TF9-Y-OSP: "....most of them will have drums...."After two hours of this, we finally managed to duck out of the meeting (just in time, my resistance to enduring another hour was about become decidedly non-passive...) and I asked D who the heck these crazy micro-managers were organizing this dinner for Ela Gandhi.
DURBAN FAIL #4 - Turns out it's not a dinner put on by this lady for Ela Gandhi - Old Indian Chairwoman
IS Ela Gandhi, and it's her dinner for 80 dignitaries.
WHOOPS.Anyway, last week the night came and I got to be an escort for the Satyagraha Awards Dinner (I made for a nice "visible minority" component). Ela, as expected, was everywhere, micromanaging every minute of the proceedings. And everything went off without a hitch.
My designated dignitary was Thandeka Gcabashe, the daughter of none other than Africa's first Nobel Peace Prize Winner Chief Albert Luthuli.
AND I DON'T HAVE A PICTURE OF IT.
Hey, I tried - I asked the other girls helping out to snap a shot but they were obviously too busy Facebooking on their blackberries to bother. And I assumed it wouldn't be kosher to go up and ask for a photo afterwards. So sadly, I must rely on my memory. (But I did manage to grab a few shots of the night - me with some co-workers, and new gal pal stylista/PR intern Liyanda.
)
Yep. Hanging with the Gandhis and the Luthulis. Just another day at the office.
T.I.A. #1
Just your typical weekend bbq (braai) up by the dam.
With zebras hanging around.
ZEBRAS!!!
Bizarro Durban Fail #3
WHOOPS! This is a big one!
Okay, so I am not sure how often I will be able to update this blog. Because it turns out I have no idea how to use the internet responsibly here.
In so many ways, Durban doesn't feel much like an "African" city, but just a big dirty city like any other. A throughly modern city, the internet is everywhere, even though the connection speeds sometimes aren't great. But what's weird is that they still operate on the circa 1998 fair use model - ie you pay by KB.
Do you know how much Skype, Facebook, gmail, and Flickr use in data? I do now. A lot. I managed to chew up T's monthly usage allowance....in one afternoon.
Like I said, WHOOPS.
Anyway, I will return once I get my own place, internet connection, etc. but until then, we might have to make do in low-tech ways. Keep an eye out for my carrier pigeon.
Bizarro Durban Fail #2
So our office is on the harbourfront in the heart of the CBD. Sounds picturesque, but in reality it's in The Ghetto. So trying to find simple groceries and other sundries on my lunch break yesterday was not a success. Lamenting this to D, she reassured me that there were some good places nearby....the next day at lunch, she would take me to the spa that was only a couple of doors away.
I thought, "Nice! These South Africans know how to live! Though it still doesn't help me with my tea and biscuits situation..."
The next day (aka SPA DAY), I tell P about our lunchtime plans; I'm excited, even though I am not sure what can really be done on a 45-minute lunch break.
SPAR (miniscule "r") is Afrikaans for 'save'. D took me to a major grocery store chain today.
EPIC ACCENT FAIL.
Cast of Characters
Today was my first day at work. A great day - we spent it on a field trip!!
It was the first of what will be a series of trips out to far flung parts of the region. Today's excursion: KwaMashu, Durban's large township in the North.
I was excited. BossMan was excited. The others, not so excited. The idea of spending most of the day taking the apparently very sketchy metro rail out to a township tour was not many's idea of fun times.
Sounds exotic!!!
After a true T.I.A. start (complete with insistent carguards
and lagging schedules), we board the very dangerous train to KwaMashu E.
The train was empty.
Finally two more people boarded the train - the dude in the photo on the right and the girl selling snacks. Dangerous indeed.
Anyway, it was a great day. Following our meeting, we got a private tour of Inanda. I had no idea that it was the birthplace of the ANC, or that Nelson Mandela cast his 1994
vote there. I quickly see why KZN is such an ANC stronghold.
I also did not know that Nando's is massive in South Africa because, in fact, Nando's is a South African export! Who knew? (So many lessons learned on this first day!)
Now as we move forward with this blog, I'm not sure how to tell my work stories, a certain amount of anonymity seems prudent. Then again, it might be helpful if I identified some key players.
WORK FOLK IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
D: Loud, brash, and bossy. Usually found at the front of the pack. An immediate favourite.
H: Short and sweet. Reminiscent of the Northa American Nadia.
T: Also known as the SAD (South African Dad), T is my host for the next couple of weeks. Signature word: irritate.
(eg. He was "irritated" he had to spend most of his day traipsing around Inanda when he had so much work to do.)N: The newest addition to the team, though not to the office. Keeps mainly to himself. Easily identified outside - he's the one smoking the pipe.
G: On loan from another department, the snowbird of our team. Friendly face and great giggle.
P: A delightful chatty bird who sits across the aisle from me.
V: An unwelcome visitor who drops by our office numerous times a day. The team crow?
Layover in London aka Aleks FAIL #1
So my mum, in all her sweetness, put me up in the swank Sofitel on Friday night because she didn't want me flying 28 hours straight. Under one stipulation, however: I could not leave the Heathrow airport area. So despite the fact it was a Bank Holiday and there were *nine* closures on the Underground, Mandy came all the way out to LHR to see me. (That's love.)
Understandably, though, she was late so I had to kill time in the tea salon. While waiting for my soup, I overheard some business traveller guys chatting about what Liverpool player was needed to help Torres. I couldn't help myself from listening in on their conversation so I thought it only fair to tell them I was listening....
"Oh, you a Liverpool fan?"
"I'd say so."
"Hmmm. What do you think?"
"I don't know... I think Joe Cole was a clever signing, he has something to prove..."
"............."
"but we still need someone to replace Xabi Alonso's style in the midfield...."
".......yeah............."
Not the casual time-killing sports banter I'd been expecting. So back I went to my paper. One of the men took a phone call while the other two started talking about whether or not some transfer story was a rumour. Guy One gets off the phone, starts talking about a contract.
These men weren't just playing Let's Pretend We Could Buy and Sell Football Players. THESE MEN WERE ACTUALLY BUYING AND SELLING FOOTBALL PLAYERS.
On the plus side, I now know exactly how Liverpool are going to be the richest club in England if they can manage to build the new stadium the clever way....
Anyway, it was FANTASTIC to see Miss Murdoch during my layover. FACT. Here's hoping both of us rock our respective cities that seem to quietly have it in for us.... At the very least, our trials will make for good stories over tea.
Mandy: srsly, Durbs isn't that far from LDN - it's the same time zone, for crying out loud. Come visit!
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