Summer Time in New York

Well I've discovered it's true what they say - people really DO hibernate during winter.  And I am one of them!  It's taken until the end of May for things to start warming up, and for yours truly to get her blogging mojo back.

I'm happy to say that Summer has arrived with a bang here in the Big Apple and there's a whole new energy abounding.  We're already complaining about the heat & humidity, there's free concerts a-plenty in Central Park  and weekends in the Hamptons to be had.  Bring it on I say!

Of course, I have to be honest and say that my visit from Mel (stalwart Sydney friend who has been the first to pay me a visit here in Yankville) has gone a long way to restoring my spirits and making me truly appreciate where I'm lucky enough to now live.  The cheque's in the mail Melly ;)

So thanks to Mel, between Broadway shows, dinners in SoHo, trips to Washington and languid walks through Central Park it's just been hard to find the time to blog!

 And best of all summer now gives me the opportunity to enjoy my little Stable in the woods.  Windows have been thrown open for the first time since January, patio furniture has been purchased and my lovely sunny deck is now in use for the first time in 5 months.

So this Aussie hermit has emerged from her winter caccoon and is now ready to take on a summer in NYC.  The Hamptons have been booked for the 4th July weekend, a lunch has already been hosted on the deck at the Stable and a BBQ is about to be purchased to facilitate further culinary forays.

Of course, I still regularly check my Qantas booking to ensure the flights are still all organised for my trip home for Xmas, but that's happening less often than it was.

Things are looking up in the Big Apple!

One Month Down........

As I near the end of my first month in New York and try to assimilate into my new homeland, I thought I'd share a couple of observations on the Aussie vs American cultural divide that challenges said assimilation on a daily basis.

1. Weather:  Let's start with the weather - something I had assumed was a universal cultural equaliser, but how wrong I was!  I used to wonder why my American colleagues were always so obsessed with the arrival of Spring & Summer - until I experienced my first winter in Connecticut.  My wide brown land is surprisingly simplistic when it comes to weather (ignoring the recent flooding & cyclones for a minute) - it's either bloody hot or not so bloody hot.  And I'll admit that I arrived here grossly ill-equipped to handle winter in even it's mildest form - let alone one that's reportedly the worst in over 100 years.  My long-held romantic notions of snow being pretty & soft & serene flew out the window the first time I had to scrape it off my car.  And having just spent last Sunday shovelling over 2 foot of accumulated snow and ice off my rather large deck, the love affair is well and truly over.  5 hours and a very sore set of should muscles later, I can truthfully say I've assimilated completely.  I was complaining long & loud at work Monday to anybody who would listen, avidly watch the weather report every morning in the hopes that the temperature will reach over 20F and now count down the calendar days remaining until the first day of Spring .....  How the mighty fall ..........
2. Attitude:  Americans are amazingly polite & positive.  Almost TOO polite - it makes me suspicious.....  But honestly there is absolutely NO sarcasm in them whatsover, which makes it hard for this Aussie to find common ground - because I am of course all about the sarcasm.  It's the Aussie default position after all.  Of course I haven't met an American that's gone postal yet, but am looking forward to the experience if & when it happens.  It'll be a nice change........
3. Vocabulary:  Ok, I'm going to say it - Americans just don't know how to swear (outside of bad rap music & open mike night at the local comedy club of course).  Now this may have something to do with point 2 above or it may be that I just don't know anybody well enough yet to encourage that sort of informality.  But it's a HUGE hurdle for me to overcome - those that know me will appreciate how careful I have to be!  Not that I'm endorsing a blanket use of the potty mouth, but there are situations where one simply has to go there - even if it's just in a mild way.  And frankly it makes me uncomfortable that nobody here does......  I've taken to listening to rap music just to reassure myself .......
4. Food:  Americans have truly perfected the art of instant gratification - something us Aussies are just not used to coming from the land of hard yakka & a hard-earned thirst.  Nowhere is this more obvious here in America than the supermarket.  My absolute favourite thing to do is to take a leisurely stroll along the aisles of my local Stop & Shop and marvel at the multitude of ways America makes it possible to indulge every bad (but exceedingly enjoyable) impulse on the food front - with remarkable speed & ease.  It is perhaps no coincidence that cheese in a can sits strategically next to instant weight loss pills in a can ........
5. Cars:  And I'll finish on a vehicular note.  Let's for a minute ignore the fact that America drives on the wrong side of the road - I've adjusted surprisingly well and it's now a very rare thing for me to drive headlong into a set of oncoming headlights...... I'd like to draw attention instead to the difference in vehicular size this side of the pond.  During my many previous visits to the US Northeast I've always laughed at the fact that almost everyone drives a very large 4WD - sorry SUV.  I had assumed it was some sort of inherent insecurity about anatomy size & a fundamental lack of eco-friendliness that prompted this.  However, having now spent 4 weeks in the eye teeth of a very severe Connecticut winter I now understand the need for a sturdy vehicle with big tyres.  And I do feel somewhat ashamed of my previously  misdirected scoffing......  Of course that still doesn't explain why the same thing happens in California...........

I could go on.  I haven't even touched on the Retail heaven that is American Consumerism and to which I may have already assimilated entirely too easily.  And I'm not going to even get into American Football and Baseball........  But every day brings with it a new lesson and, when I'm not complaining about the snow, a smile to my face.

Now it's about time to choose one of the 400 cable channels and settle down with my cheese in a can.....

Nonny xxxxxx

...And now they're just being ridiculous!

Gentle reader, it seems I spoke way too soon......

Lulled into a false sense of security by actually boarding my flight back to Sydney, you can imagine my surprise when, within minutes of take off, there's an odd vibration and the plane doesn't seem to be climbing to cruising altitude........

And then the lovely Australian Captain announces that there was a run-in with a flock of large birds shortly after take off.  They were going through some computer engine checks and would get back to us......

Hmmmmm.  And here I had already put on the fluffy pj's ready for the sleep I was going to have on the flight back........

30 minutes and 2 beers later, they've decided that they will return to Johannesburg but needed to dump some fuel.  Another 30 minutes later and we're back in J'burg folks.

But there is a silver lining.  Because my ticket was upgraded to business, I've been shuttled off to the Intercontinental where dinner & b'fast are courtesy of Qantas.

I was going to sign off by saying that the next blog you'll see from me will hopefully be from the safe confines of my house in Brisbane.  But that would be premature the way my luck's been running.  So I'll just say that I'm about to order Room Service, a bloody HUGE bottle of fine South African Pinotage and wait for the universe to unfold.

Personally I think this is Africa's way of telling me I really should find a way to stay.  It certainly doesn't seem to be in any great rush to see me leave her shores........

Ah, Mother Africa.  A fickle but wise lady I'm sure ;)

The (travel) Gods Must be Crazy

Gentle reader, if I never set foot in an airport again it will be way too soon.......  It would appear that the universe has decided that my bad travel luck is not finished on this trip.

Yesterday I got an email from Kulula airlines stating that my flight back to J'burg had been cancelled, and I'd been rebooked on a flight leaving C'town at 3pm (with a connecting international flight out of J'burg at 5pm).  So an hour was spent on the phone getting them to rebook me on an earlier flight out of Capetown.

But it all worked out and I made it Johannesburg by noon today - plenty of time for my 5.30pm flight back to Oz.

Lulled into a false sense of well being, I check in for my flight with South African Airways (SAA).  And guess what gentle reader?  No booking was to be found on the system!

Yes, it turns out that when I had to rebook my flight home because of the original SAA muck up, they accidentally cancelled my booking out of the system.

Well by this stage my sense of patience with SAA was long gone and I had been mucked around enough.  I calmly suggested they fix it.  Quickly.  And they wholeheartedly agreed - I could catch the same flight back to Australia on Thursday night and all I had to do was pay for 2 night's accommodation in Johannesburg.

And if you're guessing that that particular comment was the straw that broke the camel's back, then you'd be spot on gentle reader.

Having reached the absolute limit of my patience with SAA, I promptly burst into tears at the check-in counter and simultaneously managed to have a hypo because I hadn't eaten for approximately 6 hours whilst I was working through the difficulties with SAA.

The good news is that tears from a very upset and unwell blonde lady is bad for business at a very public ticketing sales counter.  For the first time in 3 hours of standing and getting blank stairs from unhelfpul staff, I got scurried in to the back room to lie down and have some tea & biscuits whilst a representative rushed off to find a manager.

Said manager appears moments later, I explain the situation - pointing out that the responsibility for the muck around lay squarely with SAA - and that I'd like to be home as planned and as booked.  I suggested he go off and fix it and I would sit and have a cup of tea and wait for my BGL's to stabilise.  He promptly agreed.

Less than 30 minutes later, said manager is back by my side with a business class ticket to Sydney in his hand, departing on the flight I had originally booked.  Excess baggage charges had been waived and my baggage had already been checked through to Brisbane.  All I had to do was avail myself of the SAA Cycaad lounge and relax until my flight was called.

Now I've never been one of those women who enjoys making public scenes or crying in front of other people, but in this case I think it might have been the impetus required to move things along quicker than a patient and calm reiteration of facts - which had been getting me nowwhere for just under 3 hours.

So here I am, blogging from the business lounge at J'burg airport, with my hypo stablisied and having enjoyed a lovely hot shower and massage.

My spirits have also been restored with the help of a soothing tranquiliser, a strong gin and I'm hoping for an uneventful and restful flight back to Sydney.

Of course, I've yet to board the flight so I don't want to count my chickens.  The way my luck has been running anything could happen in the next hour before the flight boards...........

Stay tuned gentle reader, and please keep your collective fingers crossed that I actually make it back to Australia.

xxxxxx

Doors closing, windows opening.......

So gentle reader, you'll have noticed my Blogosphere has been somewhat silent the past week or so.  I regret to inform that there's a good reason for that - the universe decided my enjoyment of Africa was just getting way out of hand and had to intervene...........

So I'll start with my second last weekend, spent at Waterburg - just North of Polokwane and very beautiful.  We were invited by our clients to spend the weekend at a very flash Golf Course called Legends.  We arrived about 9.30am on Saturday morning in anticipation of a day spent lunching on the course, followed by an afternoon river cruise and an evening dining in the Tree Tops.  Sounded just fine & dandy to me.  So I'm full of excitement as we pull on to the dirt road leading to the course.  Oddly enough, I'd become very used to bumpy dirt roads since arriving in Africa, but our client Sam apparently hadn't.  He kept opening & closing the door of the van whilst hurtling down the dirt road at 120km/hr because the vibration was setting off an 'open door' light on his dashboard.  But I digress......

Anyway, we pull up at the very flash Legends Hotel and all pile out to check in.  But alas, gentle reader, when I went to grab my handag from the floor at my feet it was nowhere to be seen.  Odd, I think to myself.  Must have slid under the seats at back.  But no.  Not under the seats at the back.  And that's when it hits me gentle reader.  I was sitting right next to the van door when Sam was opening & closing it.  And so was my bag.  So with my heart beating just a little bit faster, I calmly inform Sam that he had to get back into the car quick smart and drive me back up that dirt road, as my bag was sitting somewhere in the middle of it as we spoke.  And probably being carried off by a cheerful Baboon troupe as we spoke.

So Sam and I set off back up the road to search for said bag.  But instead of staying on the road to look, Sam kept ducking into farm houses to ask the owners if they'd seen a black back.  I was trying very hard not to chew off the inside of my cheeks and remain patient, but given my bag had both my mobile phoness, my camera, my wallet and my insulin regime, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep a gentle smile on my face.  So we eventually did the length of the entire dirt road without any bag to be seen.  At that point I said to Sam that we should probably just return to the Golf Course ASAP so i could start making some calls to cancel my cards and find some way of buying a BGL testing kit in the wilds of Limpopo.......  So we head back to the hotel, with Sam informing me that there was a white ute that followed us into to the Golf Course.... 'maybe they saw it fall out'.  He'd ask them if they saw anything.  We picked up the rest of the IBM team, found the ute driver playing golf but he hadn't seen anything.  The team wanted to do a last pass at the dirt road, suggesting we spread out and walk it rather than drive it.  We do this, but again - no black bag to be found.  We all head back to the hotel and by this point I'd put on the darkest pair of sunglasses I owned so that nobody could see me crying......

Sam decided he wanted to make one last stop at a farm he missed the first time.  We pull in and the owner was a very lovely Afrikaans man who also happened to be the Game Reserve Manager at the hotel where we were staying.  He offered to follow us up the road in his Land Rover and contact the other farmers that lived on the road.  Sam accepted, so we once again turn around and begin heading back up the dirt road.  Not a moment later the Afrikaans man signals for us to pull over.  He'd been on his walkie talkie to his mates who live in the area.  Turns out the manager of security at the hotel was on his way out as we were on our way in.  He spotted the bag on the road and was on his way into the main town of Mokopane to hand it in to the Police when my Afrikaans farmer had called him on the radio.  My Afrikaans hero informs me that his mate would finish up his business in Mokopane and drop the bag back to me at the Golf Club where we were booked to have lunch.

Gentle reader, I think I embarassed this poor bloke as I threw myself at him and gave him the biggest hug he's likely to have received.  Nearly knocked him off his feet.

Sure enough, come lunch time my heroes turn up with my bag which they'd even taken the time to wash as "it was a bit dusty and marked up - and we know what girls are like about their handbags ....".  And here I was thinking that chivalry was just a word in the dictionary these days.  These lovely gentleman seemed almost uncomfortable - especially when I handed them 500 rand.   Even though I respectfully handed it to them in private, they still wouldn't take it from me.  I had to point out that in Australia it would be rude not to accept an offer of thanks and put it on the bar next time they were out........  That was something they thought they could accommodate.

So my faith in mankind restored, I counted my blessings and enjoyed the rest of my time at Legends, returning to Polokwane for my last week on assignment. 

I finished my Corporate Services Corps assignment in Polokwane on Thursday with very mixed emotions.  On the one hand I was sad my time in Limpopo was over.  The work I did there taught me a great many things and I felt like I was making a valuable contribution - which is something many of us don't get to feel all that often. I'd also made some wonderful new friends of the people I'd spent one month with and would be very sad to be saying goodbye to them.  On the other hand, I was full of excitement at the prospect of leaving for my tour of Tanzania/Kenya and the Serengeti - for which I've felt a mystical connection since I was old enough to spell it.

So it was with a feeling of excitement tinged with sadness that I left for the Polokwane airport at 5.30am on Friday, to catch my flight to Johannesburg and then on to Nairobi.

Arriving at the airport I discovered that they do, indeed, do things differently in Africa.  Despite the fact that the flight left at 7.15am, there was nobody at the check-in counter until 6.45am.  That should have been the first alarm bell, but I'd become accustomed to things being a little more 'relaxed' in this neck of the woods and decided to just roll with it.

So I'm checked in and skimming through the photos of my last night with the CSC crew when they announce that the flight to J'burg is delayed by one hour.  Hmmmmmm.  I only had a 2 hour window betwen my flight landing in J'burg and connecting to my flight to Nairobi, but it was all still doable so I kept on skimming the photos.  About 30 mins later one of the check in staff come to me with a meal voucher - and it was now that I started to panic.  They're handing out meal vouchers - this can't be good news........  And indeed I was right.  The flight has been delayed by another hour............. I was unfortunately going to miss my connection to Nairobi with Kenya Airways but they could look at rebooking me.

And so began the downhill slide my friends.  I had a tour that left at 5am the next morning.  I need to be in Nairobi before then.  The only flight to Nairobi available to me would see me getting there until 10am the next day. And they couldn't hold the tour.

And with that, gentle reader, I had to wave goodbye to Tanzania & Kenya.   I had them pull my bags off the flight that still hadn't arrived, went back to our Lodge in Polokwane and caught the bus back to J'burg with the rest of the IBM crew.  I won't lie - I was pissed off, 20 different kinds of stressed and VERY tearful.  I had spent decades dreaming of finding my destiny on the Serengeti, only to find out that the universe had other plans .......  I popped a pill and slept the entire 4 hours on the bus back to J'burg so I didn't have to face talking to anybody or thinking about what I was missing out on.

But to quote Maria Von Trapp - when God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.  Because of a delayed flight, I was now able to go to Capetown for a few days prior to returning to Australia early. 

I'm here now with 2 others from the CSC team and we've had the most amazing day in this beautiful city  I'm here for another day before heading back to J'burg to catch a flight back home. 

It's not Tanzania, it's not the animals migrating across the Serengeti, but it's a whole other kind of wonderful and I'll fill you in on that when I'm done.

In the meantime gentle reader, I can only assume that this was the universe trying to tell me that my time in Africa is not yet done........

xxxxxx

Interlude with the King of the Jungle......

Ah, it's been a busy time since the last post gentle reader.  Finalising our client work & presentations, trying to get my BGLs to play nice, losing handbags on dirt roads (but more on that another time), the odd round of golf and - some close encounters of the lion kind!

Yes gentle reader, another dream come true.  I'm ticking them off at a rapid rate of knots this trip and of course I just had to share..........

We were lucky enough to get taken by our clients to the Protea Ranch here in Polokwane, where we were able to spend time playing with lion cubs and gazing at their mummies & daddies with just a thin wire fence standing between you and potentially becoming the main course.  And can I tell you?  These beautiful beasts are absolutely awe-inspiring up close.  Strong, beautiful and lethal - all the time looking like the laziest moggy sitting in the back yard.

These lions are part of a breeding and training program run by the Ranch.  All of the lions are trained and are used in films etc.  Their trainers have been working with some of them for well over 15 years.  The oldest lion is now close to 30 and is spending his retirement just sitting in the sunshine at the Ranch, watching the world go by.  Not a bad life at all really.

He doesn't look a day over 29.......  Big Jack is King of the Ranch

But the highlight was being able to play with the cubs.  At just 6 weeks old, these guys were just sooooo adorable I wanted to eat them with a spoon!  I realised every 'Born Free' fantasy I've had since I first met Elsa the lion through the gift of film.  It was fabulous being allowed to just be in the pen with them, letting them play with me, chew my hair and fingers and generally behave like 6 week olds.  It was just magical.

This little guy and I became fast friends.

I'm hoping customs won't have a problem with him........

But how could they argue with a face like that?????

But of course, the grown up versions are equally magnificent and it was really wonderful getting to see first hand how they reacted to their trainers.

Oh, it's just you....... 

Could we hurry this up?  I'm very tired...... 

In fact, I think I'll just lie down.  Just go on without me........ 

I think I'm going to sneeze.......

The day was wrapped up by a wonderful Brai (standard BBQ to all us Aussies) at sunset.  The perfect end to a truly memorable experience.

Gotta run, I have to feed the cub...... 

But it ain't all beer & skittles folks

Now gentle reader (or bloody tough reader as the case may be KD), I know I've been waxing lyrical about the majesty of Africa and the wonderful time I'm having.  But I wanted to highlight that there's been some hard work behind the scenes and a lot of time spent trying to help out the more disadvantaged sections of this wonderful country.  There is a HUGE gap between the average middle class person and the disadvantaged, and unfortunately the latter forms the majority of the population here in Limpopo Province.

On Friday afternoon a small group of the South Africa 7 team spent some time at a local orphanage here in Polokwane.  The Samritan Home is partly govt funded and looks after abandoned children up to the age of 18.  These kids are the victims of AIDS, abuse and abandoment and some are very ill with full-blown AIDS, have HIV, are mentally disabled or both in some cases.  The govt takes care of basic schooling and some accommodation, but unfortunately it does not pay for the prescription drugs these kids need, nor the specialist care & education some require.  The home relies on volunteers & donations as the major source of income.

These children have been left to fend for themselves and do not know what it is to have a safe home and the love of a family.  We thought long & hard about what we wanted to achieve with The Samirtan and decided in the first instance that we should simply use this as an opportunity to give these children some attention and let them feel like a carefree kid for at least one afternoon. 

We took along with us some afternoon tea packed with good old fashioned junk food - the stuff kids love.  On a more practical note we also took some school supplies, coloured pencils, a globe, some soccer balls and some clothes.  I've also been helping them put together content for a website which they can use to source volunteers and raise funds.

When we first showed up the children were very shy and withdrawn, but it didn't take long for them to warm up - expect it was the sugar kicking in as they don't get treats very often.  It turned out to be an afternoon of beaming smiles, lots of giggles and VERY sticky fingers........ (Note:  there is a maximum of 4 lollipops that can be stuffed into a small child's mouth at any given moment......)

Funnily enough I believe it was us IBMers who got the most out of interacting with these kids.  It was a lesson in keeping a perspective on the lives we are lucky enough to lead back home and the importance of never taking anything for granted. It also really highlighted the importance of programs such as the IBM Corporate Services Corps and the opportunities it offers local communities in struggling economies.

The photos are worth a thousand of my words.........

These little girls are 6 & 5 respectively.  They were abandoned and have HIV 

With the live-in managers of the Samritan - who the kids call Ma & Pa

Playing with the new soccer ball 

 They were all fascinated by the blonde hair - particularly the little girls

Once they warmed to you they hung on like limpets!  I was surprised at how instantly warm & affectionate these kids were.

The bedrooms are small and sleep about 8 - so the facilities are very basic.

Finding Australia on the Globe we donated.....  They ALL knew where it was 

This little guy (Mtabe) was infected by his mother and abandoned when he was just 2.  He now has full-blown AIDS and is hearing-impaired.  He wanted one of the Koalas I'd brought along and wanted me to wear his crown.

Rudi (one of the IBMers) playing for the kids.  They had beautiful voices and all LOVE singing so.  The little boy in yellow was facinated by the blonde hair on Rudi's arm.