CallBack

14Jun07

Airtime is really expensive here in South Africa, so the cell phone carriers here have what is called CallBack. You can send a free SMS to another cell phone asking them to call you. It’s easier than sending a SMS because all you have to do is input the CallBack command code and the mobile number of person who you are trying to reach. For example, if someone wants to send me a CallBack they would input on their cell: *121*my cell number#. I would receive the following message: “Please call 0835415109.” Neither party is charged for the SMS. You can send up to five free CallBack messages a day to any South African cell phone network.

Airtime is also different here. For us, it doesn’t matter who makes the call because it counts as minutes for both parties. For the CallBack feature, only the person who makes the call is charged for airtime.

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Solidarity Strike

14Jun07

There has been a solidarity strike going on for thirteen days which has caused schools and hospitals to close down. The unions are requesting an 12% increase in pay and refuse to go below 10%. It’s difficult for private sector workers to get to their offices because many taxi, buses, and train services are in support of the strike. The strike affects mostly teachers and nurses who I think are among the least paid. With the schools being shut down, students are forced to stay at home and miss their exams.

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Leave Me Alone

14Jun07

Got a chance to go to the supermarket for lunch with Elizabeth. It’s called Spar and it’s a block down from Sally’s. Supermarkets here are basically a one-stop shop. You can get everything there. We were there to pick up lunch. For a supermarket, they have really decent hot foods that are purchased by weight. Liz needed groceries too so I decided to take advantage of the situation to do a little grocery shopping myself.

BTW, at any retail store they will either ask you if you want a bag or will not offer you one for your purchase. Bags cost R.31. I’m not sure if it’s because bags are expensive to produce here and/or it’s just a way to get people to conserve. They should do that in the states. That would totally make me start bringing my own reusable tote bag for groceries. Well, I guess I could do it anyway without the enforcement :p I should be more green. What’s that Al Gore movie? An Inconvenient Truth? I still want to see that. I’m not sure if it’s a California thing or all states but don’t stores charge you CRV when you buy any drinks in bottles or cans and if you recycle, you get it back? (Ok, I just looked it up and according to wikipedia, it is just a Cali thing)

Liz needed to buy another prepaid SIM card, so on our way out she stopped at the vending machine that sells SIM cards. The denomination she wanted wasn’t available so we left. We walked back to Sally’s and she realized she had no airtime to call or text Nicolle to open the garage door. I didn’t have my cell on me either. We banged on the door but no luck. So basically, we had to walk back to the Spars plaza to get her a SIM. Well, we passed by the dry cleaners and what do you know, they do have adapters!! I guess Eunice and I shouldn’t have laughed at the suggestion.

Liz got her SIM at the tobacco store and we were on our way back. There is this warehouse or something where these guys are always sitting outside. Well, this was our fourth time passing and each time they were trying to holla. Liz had said hi each time except this time. I never gave them the time of day. They would yell out at her, “Si Si!”, which means Sista and said some other things in another language. The thing is, she’s Kenyan, so she doesn’t even know what they’re saying. Then this last time when we passed by they busted out the English, “you can’t stop talking to say hello!?” We were talking to each other purposely ignoring them. Liz finally turned around to say hi and waved to shut them up but that wasn’t enough. They wanted the girl in the red shirt, me (I was really wearing a pink shirt) to say hi so I turned around forced a hello and kept walking.

What? Never seen an asian girl before? I swear. Men in any country are all the same! I can understand if I was dressed hoochie and asking for it but come on, I’m wearing glasses, hoodie, and jeans. In terms of safety, these guys this afternoon weren’t looking for trouble. They just wanted some attention.

So anyway, I’ve caught a little cold. The medicine I picked up at the chemist (pharmacy) really helped though. I felt a little woozy (Dayquil-like if anyone knows what I mean) at work. It’s 9PM now and I’m going to bed. Yay, me.

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RANDOMNESS:

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Words Learned:
“chemist” = pharmacy
“Si Si” = sista
“packet” = bag; for example, “Where are your packets?” (referring to my grocery bags)

Head Scratcher:
Why does my bathroom sink have a separate faucet for hot and cold water? What if I want warm water?? At least the shower only has one shower head…

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The Professor

13Jun07

Talked to the professor during breakfast and learned a little more about what he’s doing here in JoBurg. He’s working on a compost toilet for one of the worst slums in South Africa. He’s collaborating with an artist who is making the mold for the toilet and then these molds will be distributed to various slums so locals can cast their own toilets. Instead of needing plumbing to flush these toilets, the waste is collected and then goes through some kind of filtering system to turn it into compost, in other words fertilizer. The Professor mentions that he’s worked as a farmer for numerous years and by no means is he an engineer or anything. I wasn’t sure what he was a professor of but made sure to remember this time — Advanced Technology of Social Eradication. He said if I’m interested he’d show me the molding sometime (he’s working on it on his balcony). I am definitely interested in seeing the toilet but more so interested in visiting some these slums. I’m glad the Professor had a sense of humor about the toilet as he said although it is kind of funny to be creating a toilet, it is a very serious issue. We were also talking about this over breakfast so it also made it a little silly to talk about human waste.

With the help of the Qualica tech support, I finally got access to the Women’sNet virtual private network. I guess not only did I have to set-up the PPTP connection but I also have to connect to the actual server through an IP address.

I also spoke to Fatima, who does tech support. She will give me FTP and public access. Due to security precautions, the previous intern was instructed to copy Drupal files to the Womne’sNet VPN and then Fatima would copy these files to the host server. I find this really inconvenient as it involves an extra step that is really unnecessary, not to mention time consuming to have to wait for her to copy over the files before I can proceed with my work. In modifying the theme and CSS, I would need to see the changes immediately. She is going to speak to Qualica and request that I have access to FTP.

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First Day of Work

12Jun07

Today was my first day of work. Eunice, who is the office manager and made all of my flight and housing arrangements, picked me up from the guesthouse.

A few weeks ago the Women’sNet building had burned down from electrical wires that were in the part of the building that nobody uses. The Women’sNet part of the building didn’t burn down but was affected by the smoke and water damage. Luckily, none of their computers were affected either and all machines were able to be recovered. It will take three months before they find a new building. Their insurance covers all the damage as well as their relocation.

As a result of the fire, Women’sNet is currently working out of Sally’s home in Melville, a northwest suburb of Johannesburg. Melville is the neighboring suburb of Emmarentia, the area in which I’m currently staying.

It was about a ten-minute drive to Sally’s. I’m still not used to getting into the left side of the car. Everyone has jokingly asked if I would like to drive and continues to laughs until I realize what I’ve done. Driving on the other side of the road still weirds me out. Also, does anyone drive automatic here? I’ve only been in four cars with different people and they all drive stick. I later learned that automatic cars are more expensive. Is this true for the states too or is it the opposite?

Today I met Jan who is the information and media manager. She is the one who will oversee my tasks and will also be populating the Drupal site with content. She gave me a briefing background of the status of the site as well as who is involved with the project.

Okay, power just went out while I typed this. I did notice an orange alert on TV earlier warning residents to preserve electricity when not in use. Power just came back on a minute later. I wonder if this happens often.

I decided I better wash up for bed before it goes out again for a longer period of time. And it went out again for a split second. I think the unexpectedness catches me so off guard that it scares me a tiny bit. Should have brought that flashlight!

Anyhow, basically my task is to design the front end of the Drupal site. A previous intern from Canada named Typhanie built it. She researched and produced thorough documentation on the process of choosing a content management system (specifically a question of Joomla or Drupal). Her documentation also included a review of different Drupal theme options, how to administer the site, how to edit content, and the modules installed thus far. The included site architecture diagram was also really helpful. Lastly, I came across a user profile document which stated the target audience which is made up three different age groups in order of importance: 30-60, 18-80, and 18-50. The age groups overlap because each group consists of users of different backgrounds and needs. This document also includes characteristics and features that Women’sNet would like their new site to have and not what they’re looking for. A few examples of sites that they like are also listed.

During our brief talk, Jan told me that they are not very tech savvy and have had trouble with Drupal and that I may be able to help them troubleshoot the bugs. I’m not an expert in Drupal myself as I have only recently encountered it in the Fall through working on the CD+T site. I hope that their problems aren’t anything that involves crazy coding.

Jan had returned to work yesterday from being away for a few weeks. She was trying to accommodate me as best as she could as she was also adjusting. She had also been gone when the fire occurred. Being a MAC user gave me problems today. Everyone there is on a PC and not really familiar with the Mac platform, so I was on my own. I was trying to connect to their virtual private network (VPN) but was unsuccessful. Through Google, I found documentation on how to set it up but I had no luck. I’m still waiting to hear from the tech support guy.

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RANDOMNESS:

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Words Learned:
“shame” = sympathy; for example: “We will have to walk b/c nobody is offering to drive us. Shame!”
“garage” = gas station
“petrol” = gas

Street Smarts:
Don’t walk around with cell phone out, i.e. texting and walking.
Be careful when a sketchy car pulls alongside the curb and slowly progresses. They can easily grab you from the sidewalk.

Culture:
South Africans don’t like to walk much, so they drive everywhere. Crime also influences this. I think they would fit right into California but wouldn’t survive New York.

Comedy:
Eunice drove me to find an adapter for my laptop. Amazingly, none of the computer stores seem to carry these! In visiting the first hardware store, they didn’t have the one I needed (stupid American plugs!) but the guy recommended going to the dry cleaners which we thought was hilarious. Why on earth would a dry cleaners have anything but steam cleaners and wire hangers?

Head Scratcher:
So, the powerbook power plug has two square pins and a round one. I have had no luck finding the proper adapter for South Africa back at home and here. This morning during breakfast I ran into the professor and he let me borrow one of his plugs. I was thinking he had the adapter made by Apple. He gave me an adapter to convert to the European two round pin plug which is then plugged into the S.Africa adapter. What I don’t get is that how is it safe to leave the round pin hanging? He said it’s ground and if it’s anything I learned in Wireless Toys is that any power that comes in has to level itself by being connected to ground or it can burn. Okay, that may not be completely accurately because I suck at anything p-comp related. but if that round pin really is ground shouldn’t it be plugged into SOMETHING?? I want to go to the Apple store but don’t know how far it is. I should have just bought the freaking world adapter kit but when I looked it didn’t include S.Africa. After some research today, I learned that the kit does come with a European plug which I can use to plug into the S.Africa adapter. The kit is $20USD more expensive here. DAMNIT.

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First Time Out

11Jun07

After returning to the guesthouse, I unpacked a little bit and took a nap. I was a little paranoid about making to the local stores before dark. Fred had said not to walk around in the evening. Lunch and dinner are not served at the guesthouse so I ventured out on my own. I was also paranoid about carrying my digi cam and too much money. Fred had also suggested not to take large bags and carry too much cash.

My fifteen-minute walk over wasn’t too bad. I would have liked to use my iPod but I didn’t want to stand out anymore than I already do (being the only asian around so far).

Nobody around on the street I walked down on a Monday afternoon.

The people here seem friendly. I’m actually a little more hesitant to look male passersby in the eye, as I don’t want to draw attention to myself. Although, I may be doing the opposite and coming across timid and fearful. It was warm here today. I’d say mid-60’s or so. It is interesting to see what kind of clothing the locals wear. Men wear denim or khakis. Women wear brightly colored flowing skirts or are dressed pretty normally and by that I mean jeans and sweaters. Because it is winter, people are wearing beanies. They are quite interesting because of the majority of the beanies I’ve seen have this ball at the top that sticks up; it doesn’t fit snugly at the top of the head like normal beanies. Not sure the reason for it or if it’s just a cultural style.

I had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Fruits and Roots. I ordered a pesto pizza that had spinach, tomatoes and tofu. The pizza and a bottle of water were R56 (~ 8USD). I figured I should check out the supermarket and pick up a few snacks. Pringles, package of peanuts and raisins, 3 granola bars for 6 bucks. Plastic bags are an additional $.21 charge (.03USD).

I got back from day one of exploring and was happy to catch Oprah on TV. Tomorrow is my first day of work and I am looking forward to meeting everyone and hopefully hanging out.

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Judith Lodge

11Jun07

Passport check took a little while. I noticed that a lot of passengers on my flight got into the other line for South African passport holders which was quite surprising because I thought they were all European tourists. I got my luggage fairly quickly and found Mdu (pronounced M-doo) right away. It was nice to have someone there to pick me up. I’ve always wanted a driver present with my name on a sign, so that was cool.

I needed to exchange money before leaving the airport. The exchange rate is 1USD = 7.0615Rand – totally favorable! I think I exchanged way too much money though. Ended up with close to 1,412 rand minus the $45 fee. Whoops!

The drive from Johannesburg airport to the Judith Lodge was a little over 30 minutes because of the morning traffic. Drivers here drive on the other side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, similar to Europe. While on the highway, I noticed sporadic billboards for cell phones and investment banking. I also spotted a few pickup trucks with men sitting in the back of the truck. Not sure if that’s legal here but it seems so dangerous, especially while on the highway.

The guesthouse definitely looked a lot nicer and newer in the pictures online but nevertheless it is very well kept. I was greeted by LuLu, one of the guesthouse employees. She showed me my room on the third floor, which I was quite surprised by its size. I pretty much have a “room” that is equivalent to my New York apartment! The bathroom is really spacious. I don’t know why it is so big. It has too much extra room I think. It is pretty much equal to the size of the bedroom. I also have a living room with dining table, TV, fridge, microwave, and kitchen sink. No stove though.

Complimentary breakfast is included with the stay. LuLu made me fried eggs and bacon. While I waited I ate what was labeled “fiber corn flakes” on the jar with milk that was served in a saucer. The milk was room temperature and it made eating cereal very weird. I don’t know how long the milk had been sitting out and if it was okay to consume it. Then I started getting paranoid if it was pasteurized because I read something online about what to be careful of eating when you’re overseas. I’m not sure if I can eat eggs everyday for a month in terms of cholesterol consumption. I don’t have have high cholesterol or anything but you’re only supposed to consume 3-4 eggs a week I think. So, if I eat 2 eggs everyday, that’s 14 eggs a week!!

They even had Maggi soy sauce among the condiments on the table. As asian as I am, I sprinkled a few droplets on my fried eggs, reminiscent of how I eat eggs when my mom makes them for me at home. It just takes a little better with some sodium (:

I met the Professor in the dining room who is also a guest here. He is a professor of technology of something like social eradication. He had come in from Detroit. Later I met Fred, the owner of the guesthouse. He was very kind and helpful. After chatting briefly, he offered to show me around and take me to purchase a SIM card.

The guesthouse is located in Emmarentia, a northwest suburb of Johannesburg. The local stores were about a mile away. There were a few restaurants, a bookstore, and Checkers supermarket. One of the restaurants in this particular plaza is Wimpy, which is like a burger franchise here.

Next, Fred showed me how to get to the botanical garden. I wouldn’t really say that it was a garden, more like a spacious park with dead grass and a dam that just looked like a lake. Well, that’s all I could see anyway when we drove along the perimeter. He suggested that I wait until the weekend to go here for a walk because during the day it was “too quiet.” In other words, he was concerned for my safety. We passed by some tennis courts where he said tennis lessons were available. I might consider taking some lessons if I get really bored. I’ve only really played once in Vietnam, which was about ten years ago.

Fred was courteous enough to drive back to the guesthouse from the garden so I would know how to return. From there we headed to 7th avenue in the neighboring suburb of Melville. This place had more shops and restaurants. This is where all the bars are as well. Good to know but I was really hoping to do very little drinking here! This is also where I can find the internet café. The guesthouse has dial-up which Fred says he doesn’t mind if it’s used but not for too long. For longer sessions, he recommended a prepaid card. I dunno about dial-up. I think I’d rather do without. Haha, I sound like a broadband snob.

So anyway, next we were on to Campus Square, which Fred kept referring to as Campus. I really thought we were going to a university or something. Campus Square is actually a plaza with lots of shops and restaurants. It is also a mall. The mall looked typical architecturally. However, I’m not sure they have stores I’d actually shop at. I’ll have to take a closer look next time. I did see Adidas and Woolworth’s. Didn’t we use to have Woolworth’s in the states back in the day? I don’t know.

According to Fred, Vodacom is a popular cell carrier here. He recommended that I use MTN because of the reception in this area. The prepaid SIM included R30 airtime and 35 SMS’s. The SIM cost R30, which is about $4.25USD.

I also needed an adapter for my laptop, digi cam charger, and cell, so we went to Pick’n Pay. It is like a Wal-Mart but not as white trashy I guess you can say. This store was also located in the mall. No luck on adapters for my American plug but we found one for my cell b/c it’s a euro plug (it’s the school phone that Nokia gave the department).

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Mdu?

11Jun07

Slept a lot on this flight. Took awhile to get off the ground but I had slept right through that. I caught National Treasure from the middle and started watching. Not bad of a movie. I like mystery/riddle type movies. I guess I was so passed out that I missed bfast… doh! About to land in 20 mins. The 10-hour flight wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I think the 5-6 hours to London was worse. Was trying to take a pic of the orange and blue sky but my window is muy dirty.

A driver named Mdu is supposed to pick me up. How do you pronounced that? M-doo? Mad-doo? Is the M silent and it’s just Doo? (:

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Questionable Beef

10Jun07

I didn’t know they were going to serve dinner or else I woulda saved my stomach and not have had McD’s. Dinner was served awfully late anyhow – 12:45AM EST. I fell asleep watching Letters From Iwo Jima; it was too much work to read the subtitles. Finally, I found something light to watch – Miss Potter. It’s a movie about author Beatrix Potter, the woman who created Peter Rabbit. I’ve never read any of her books as a child, at least I don’t think. Movie is cute so far. I like Renée Zellwegger and Ewan McGregor.

I am stuffed. I had beef stew. The beef was a little questionable but the veggies were good. The salad was funky. I think it was like shrimp with mayo or something. The swirl cheesecake was yummy. Oy, I’m wide awake now. Will prolly finish the movie and back to sleep I go.

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Au Revoir

09Jun07

People have been asking if I’m excited. I’m not actually. Not yet at least. Packing was such a pain. I still think I brought too much. I think will need to send some back.

I’m flying on British Airways. It has a great selection of new releases! I’m about to watch Letters From Iwo Jima. Don’t know anything about it other than it won an Oscar.

I ate too early today so I grabbed food at the airport while waiting to board – two cheeseburgers from McD’s. Had turkey burger earlier too. Super American meal before I leave, eh?

I’m trying to watch the movie while I write but I realized everything is in Japanese and I need to read the subtitles. It’s 3:47PM in the U.K. right now, so it’s a five-hour difference from New York. Great, we’re going to be 45 minutes late. Well, I do have an 8-hour layover…

Okay, back to the movie.

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