Jo-burg, Jozi, Johannesburg- it's all great

Very happy to not only be on the internet right now, but to be in Jo-burg as I write this! Unfortunately we don't have internet in our flat so we'll have to make do with using it at our internships once we start on Monday. We're also having a tough time getting mobile phones since there's been a recent crackdown in non-nationals buying phones or something, so our hostess Linda will help us get some over the weekend.

Currently we're in an internet cafe at this HUGE mall called Cresta that's about a 20 minute walk down the hill from where we're staying. I pretty much poured sweat the entire walk, going to take some getting used to this weather- not that I'm complaining! Our neighborhood is really nice- filled with security guards at some gated mansion-like homes, and once you get down the hill to the main stree there's access to grocery shops, cafes and things like that. Our hostess Linda is taking us out to an Indian restaurant tonight with her and her son. She honestly couldn't be more gracious. Her Scottish-isms, as I'm calling them, constantly amuse me. She refers to red stoplights as "red robots" and asked us if we were "chuffed" to be here. She's so great! She'll actually be returning to Scotland in February through Juneish as she spends most of her time there. Very interesting lady, I'm looking forward to learning more about her.

Our time is nearly up at this cafe. Will write more when we get internet again!

I'll post the blog post I wrote yesterday below:

Thursday Jan. 12^th

Greetings from Jo-burg! As I sit here in my home for the next 4 months, I can seriously hardly believe that I’m in South Africa. I feel like I was in London for at least a week, and that it’s been a month since I left Boston. What a whirlwind!

First impressions of Jo-burg:

à First off, I’d like to rave briefly about our overall traveling experience from Boston to Jo-burg. British Airways was delightful, on-time, and we even got free red Spanish wine with our lovely dinner! Win-win.

à Upon arrival to the OR-Tampa airport in Jo-burg, Lauren and I were both a bit nervous about passing through customs, especially since none of the categories applied to us as interns. Luckily, it was no big deal- we’ll have to apply for temporary residence permits whilst here in order to stay past the 90 days on our tourist visas, but it was really easy to get into the country, which was a huge relief. We may have slightly said we were on vacation but.. oh well.

à There is HUGE diversity in the people who live here- people who look as if they could almost pass as British or Australian, and such a wide range of skin colours and tones. Although apartheid has been over for years, there is still such a huge disparity among the different races here, which I’m interested in learning more about over my time here. I’m going to struggle to write eloquently and PC-ly about this issue, so bear with me.

à We took a speedy train from the airport to Sandton, where Lauren’s family friend Linda met us. Linda has an amazing Scottish brogue, and she has been a friend of Lauren and her family since they lived in Scotland, where Lauren was born. Linda is incredibly generous and is letting us stay with her at her flat in Northcliffe, which is a neighborhood of Jo-burg about 25 minutes from the airport. She’ll be in Jo-burg until February, when she’ll go to Scotland for a few months and Lauren and I will still get to stay here. Cannot believe how well this living situation worked out!

à Speaking of living situation, this flat is so Euro chic. It’s pretty tiny, but already Lauren and I feel so spoiled to have a washer AND dryer, a balcony that overlooks Jo-burg since we’re up on a huge hill, and we’re in a safe community where we’ll be able to run/walk around the hills. We’re also incredibly lucky since our water is DRINKABLE, which was a huge concern of ours! I sound like a brat, I’m well aware, but I’m just feeling so overall grateful for finally being here and for feeling comfortable.

à These are all pretty surface level impressions, but we’ve only been here for about 4 hours so I guess I’m doing okay. I think things are definitely in the honeymoon phase of culture shock, so it’ll be an interesting first few weeks!

So glad to finally be here!