Effervescent In Pink

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?

posted by Aleksandra @ 10:38 PM