So I am sitting outside the Morocco Embassy in Pretoria waiting for the office to officially open. I am leaving for my holiday of independence to exotic places in less than a month. Because I am a little bored sitting out here, my head is spinning over travel worries (I am a woman - we worry over everything)
So here is what I am stressing for at the moment...
7. The creepy security guard will harass me.
6. I don't have all the required paperwork for my application
5. My visa application is rejected based on something a South African politician has done to offend the Moroccan government
4. I loose my passport in the next 3 weeks
3. No one else in the entire world books the same trip as me (sub-worry is that there are only a few people on the trip and the people on the trip are lame/too old/too young/unfriendly)
2. I miss one of my 6 flights getting there and back.
1. I won't enjoy the holiday for what ever reasons. Or else something BAD will happen there. Resulting in feeling that I have wasted my money and will regret the impulsive urge that got me to this point of sitting outside the Moroccan embassy...
Sigh... And I drank too much coffee so my digestive system is u-n-h-a-p-p-y...
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Back again to Botswana
... I am back in Botswana.
Honestly I REALLY do not want to be here.
Firstly, I have been involved in other proposal work for these past two weeks and so I am not quite on top of my game as far as the Botswana project goes.
Secondly, the new (assistant) PM is kinda really efficient and so there is another reason why I am not fully in the mode for the meetings to come.
(In my defence, This project has been the main part of my work for 18 months I am not far off my game yet. Ill be back in the swing of things in no time at all)
Thirdly, the client has been sending letters to us that indicate that they think our performance on this project is unsatisfactory. And while the core reasoning behind their complaint is valid and I know we have put the best of our resources into the project, they are going about the complaint in the rudest most uncivil mean-spirited way. Being told that you are no longer welcome on a project that you have put your entire effort into for 18 months kills all motivation to work hard... Especially after letter number 3.
Finally I am tired and am full of the end-of-year exhaustion feelings. I don't feeeeeel like being away from home for 3 days mid week on a non-holiday.
Anyway I dutifully packed my bags and printed my paperwork and went to the airport and boarded the plane to Gaborone.
Now it is always a mission to get accommodation in Gaborone and so a few months ago we found this B&B called Kidron Suites. Which is a little unknown but nice and pretty good value for money.
Problem is that it is near impossible to find this place. Especially at night where street lighting is minimal and you're looking for the second dirt road on the left.
So we landed and I bravely took my car voucher to the car rental and got the keys. Lesson in Frank: 99% of my driving experience is in my little old trusty manual Toyota Tazz. The brand spanking new modern Polo Vivo is Not At All Like the Tazz.
First I couldn't figure out how to start it... Then to figure out how to get the lights turned on ... Finally to turn off the accidently-initiated windscreen wipers... And oofff we goooo!
So I thought I was doing pretty well following my map that I made earlier today. Left at the substation, second right, third left and.... I was lost. And it was getting dark. I decided to press on and tried the next dirt road - Wrong Place! I turned around and tried the next dirt road... Which was in fact not a dirt road but a bus stop sign and a steep grass embankment...
Fortunately the Vivo's brakes are in tip top condition...
And so the semi-retired lines specialist offered to drive and let me direct. So we swapped seats and he promptly drove to the nearest hotel and asked me to go get directions.
Lesson 2 from Frank: The reason why so few roads have road names in Gaborone is that none of the locals use road names. The man at reception looked at my map with awe saying "Wow we have a road named after the president! Oh is that the name of that road..."
Finally he let me phone Kidron who immediately offered to drive across and lets us follow them back.
So while I was dying of mortified shame, the specialist followed our hosts and in 10 minutes we were signing our book in forms.
They helped carry our bags, bought iced water and said the greatest thing all afternoon "Chicken stew and rice is for dinner and it will be ready in 10 minutes"
And it was.... And it was delicious.
See as irksome that it is that I was reluctant to be here and that I got lost and I was ashamed... These people are really really helluva nice.
So here goes the shout out for the nice nice people;
If you are ever in Gaborone, and looking for a great place to stay, look up Kidron Suites. You'll get fair value for money and you'll feel really well looked after. Kidron Suites! Kidron Suites! Kidron Suites!
... Just don't ask me how to get there.
But if you have to ask... Ill give you the number and they'll tell you instead :)
Honestly I REALLY do not want to be here.
Firstly, I have been involved in other proposal work for these past two weeks and so I am not quite on top of my game as far as the Botswana project goes.
Secondly, the new (assistant) PM is kinda really efficient and so there is another reason why I am not fully in the mode for the meetings to come.
(In my defence, This project has been the main part of my work for 18 months I am not far off my game yet. Ill be back in the swing of things in no time at all)
Thirdly, the client has been sending letters to us that indicate that they think our performance on this project is unsatisfactory. And while the core reasoning behind their complaint is valid and I know we have put the best of our resources into the project, they are going about the complaint in the rudest most uncivil mean-spirited way. Being told that you are no longer welcome on a project that you have put your entire effort into for 18 months kills all motivation to work hard... Especially after letter number 3.
Finally I am tired and am full of the end-of-year exhaustion feelings. I don't feeeeeel like being away from home for 3 days mid week on a non-holiday.
Anyway I dutifully packed my bags and printed my paperwork and went to the airport and boarded the plane to Gaborone.
Now it is always a mission to get accommodation in Gaborone and so a few months ago we found this B&B called Kidron Suites. Which is a little unknown but nice and pretty good value for money.
Problem is that it is near impossible to find this place. Especially at night where street lighting is minimal and you're looking for the second dirt road on the left.
So we landed and I bravely took my car voucher to the car rental and got the keys. Lesson in Frank: 99% of my driving experience is in my little old trusty manual Toyota Tazz. The brand spanking new modern Polo Vivo is Not At All Like the Tazz.
First I couldn't figure out how to start it... Then to figure out how to get the lights turned on ... Finally to turn off the accidently-initiated windscreen wipers... And oofff we goooo!
So I thought I was doing pretty well following my map that I made earlier today. Left at the substation, second right, third left and.... I was lost. And it was getting dark. I decided to press on and tried the next dirt road - Wrong Place! I turned around and tried the next dirt road... Which was in fact not a dirt road but a bus stop sign and a steep grass embankment...
Fortunately the Vivo's brakes are in tip top condition...
And so the semi-retired lines specialist offered to drive and let me direct. So we swapped seats and he promptly drove to the nearest hotel and asked me to go get directions.
Lesson 2 from Frank: The reason why so few roads have road names in Gaborone is that none of the locals use road names. The man at reception looked at my map with awe saying "Wow we have a road named after the president! Oh is that the name of that road..."
Finally he let me phone Kidron who immediately offered to drive across and lets us follow them back.
So while I was dying of mortified shame, the specialist followed our hosts and in 10 minutes we were signing our book in forms.
They helped carry our bags, bought iced water and said the greatest thing all afternoon "Chicken stew and rice is for dinner and it will be ready in 10 minutes"
And it was.... And it was delicious.
See as irksome that it is that I was reluctant to be here and that I got lost and I was ashamed... These people are really really helluva nice.
So here goes the shout out for the nice nice people;
If you are ever in Gaborone, and looking for a great place to stay, look up Kidron Suites. You'll get fair value for money and you'll feel really well looked after. Kidron Suites! Kidron Suites! Kidron Suites!
... Just don't ask me how to get there.
But if you have to ask... Ill give you the number and they'll tell you instead :)
Sunday, October 3, 2010
France's Travels - Op pad - Jozi bound
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I got my knee high travelling socks and short pants on for travelling-fashion-oddity amusements.
MrT chose a scenic route home through the sugarcane fields through Zululand around the small mountains/large hills. (about a B-cup #guyjoke)
While admiring the awesome mountain road views and the african huts and rolling green hills of sugar cane, we're keeping our eyes peeled for cops. (Aaargh for 80km/h zones because people build homes too close to the regional roads)
We picked up a Monkey Apple a few days ago and as awesome as the sweet spicey aroma is... It's beginning to make my stomach turn after 2 hours of travelling only.
Funny though after 3 weddings in 10 days and residing with and Afrikaans family and meeting lots of Afrikaans friends of MrT, my mind is firstly going wedding crazy and I keep translating everything I say into Afrikaans inside my head.
Hopefully it will wear off in a day or two...
Friday, October 1, 2010
Frankie's Travels - RB wedding 3 day 1
Today I will be attending the civil ceremony of MrT's brother's impending nuptials. They are having their wedding tomorrow at the yatch club but today we get the legal proceeding out the way.
So pretty clothes tomorrow and jeans and a little less pretty clothes today.
I still decided to put in an effort so today I pulled on my pretty jeans and managed MrT to take me shopping for a nice blouse. Then threw on some funky accessories and a plastic flower behind my ear and to be honest - I'm feeling pretty smart in today's threads :)
... I just hope I can top it for the wedding-wedding tomorrow.
Unfortunately we thought the ceremony was at 2pm and so we were dressed and ready to go before 1 to go collect the groom.
The ceremony is at 3pm... It's 34 degrees inside...
We're clustered inside the bridal couples small lounge under the spinning fan watching some silly tv show.
Some thoughts based on the silly tv...
- I wonder if comedians get paid per f-bomb dropped...
- I fear I am the only one here embarrassed for MrT's mom having to sit through this with us.
- Are racist jokes ever funny in mixed company?
- Is it weird to laugh at sex jokes in front of your parents?
- how many of us here will be thinking about the comedians below the belt jokes during the wedding ceremony.
- I wonder when we'll get around to lunchtime ... Sigh... :/
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Frankies Travels - RB day 5
It has been a quiet few days - but for the lack of blog posts - it has been an interwebs deprived few days.
On day 2 after sleeping for at least 12 hours we had a very slow day spent mostly in front of the TV. MrT's mum put together a smashing dinner of pork chops and wors for us - the guests.
On Monday morning we were woken up by the arrival of MrT's brother for a small wedding related family indaba (MrT's brother is getting married on Friday.. and on Saturday) This degenerated into a family indaba and I was left to first sit and listen to a lively not too friendly argument in Afrikaans and then, as each member stormed, out the room I was left with the African grey parrot to talk to.
Anyhow, we left shortly after that and drove to the Richards Bay harbour for some sight seeing and then towards Mtunzini - which is a tinny little village 50km southwards down the coast from Richards Bay - through the sugar fields..
We arrived before book in time for our B&B so we stopped off at The Fat Cat restaurant for pizza - mushroom, bacon and slices of chipolata - mmmmm good post-travelling food.
Our B&B was very very nice - not only chocolates and biscuits with the coffee tray but two cold beers and a bottle of wine in the fridge, ribbons on the towels and fancy soaps in the bathroom (which I scaled when we left hee hee hee). As well as a ridiculously friendly golden retriever to greet us at the door.
The day that we arrived in Mtunzini was not a very friendly weather day. So we pretty much chilled - read some beaded some and listened to the rain some. By the time we were peckish for some dinner it was close to 8pm and we ventured out to the four different restaurant locations only discover that (A) restaurants are usually closed on Mondays there and (B) the restaurants that were open, usually closed their kitchens at 8pm on a Monday. We stoped off finally at The Fat Cat again and the kind owner quickly whipped up some food for us (it helps tipping well the first time to get good service the second time)
On Tuesday we were given a splendid breakfast of fresh strawberries, coffee, bacon. eggs. sausage, tomato and garlic mushrooms. We then ventured down to the Mtunzini beach which was on the other side of a bird sanctuary and nature reserve.
We saw dassie, red duiker, zebra, kingfisher, weavers and robins. The beach was expansive and cold but we had some good exercise walking and playing in the waves. We also wandered up to the estuary but did not spy any hippo or crocodiles.
Again the weather turned inclement by afternoon and we made holiday-like for the remainder of the day.
This morning dawned sunny and warm but still windy. We decided to pop a further 100km down the coast to Ballito which is one of my favourite places on the KZN coast. (many happy family holiday memories there)
We shopped for some beach curios, walked the promenade, and then stopped off at the Spar for ice creams and juice. (Just like a Real Beach Holiday…)
We then turned towards (MrT’s) home and returned to Richards Bay.
We finished off the holiday vibe with slap chips on the beach and exploring the ‘burbs by sunset…. Which leads now finally to another bedtime well earned (well in fact MrT just remembered he needs to write a speech for Saturdays’s element of the wedding so he is stressing and typing a little like a fiend first)
What’s Afrikaans for a Grooms Best Man? A Strroijonker sounds a little… well.. uumm.. old school…
On day 2 after sleeping for at least 12 hours we had a very slow day spent mostly in front of the TV. MrT's mum put together a smashing dinner of pork chops and wors for us - the guests.
On Monday morning we were woken up by the arrival of MrT's brother for a small wedding related family indaba (MrT's brother is getting married on Friday.. and on Saturday) This degenerated into a family indaba and I was left to first sit and listen to a lively not too friendly argument in Afrikaans and then, as each member stormed, out the room I was left with the African grey parrot to talk to.
Anyhow, we left shortly after that and drove to the Richards Bay harbour for some sight seeing and then towards Mtunzini - which is a tinny little village 50km southwards down the coast from Richards Bay - through the sugar fields..
We arrived before book in time for our B&B so we stopped off at The Fat Cat restaurant for pizza - mushroom, bacon and slices of chipolata - mmmmm good post-travelling food.
Our B&B was very very nice - not only chocolates and biscuits with the coffee tray but two cold beers and a bottle of wine in the fridge, ribbons on the towels and fancy soaps in the bathroom (which I scaled when we left hee hee hee). As well as a ridiculously friendly golden retriever to greet us at the door.
The day that we arrived in Mtunzini was not a very friendly weather day. So we pretty much chilled - read some beaded some and listened to the rain some. By the time we were peckish for some dinner it was close to 8pm and we ventured out to the four different restaurant locations only discover that (A) restaurants are usually closed on Mondays there and (B) the restaurants that were open, usually closed their kitchens at 8pm on a Monday. We stoped off finally at The Fat Cat again and the kind owner quickly whipped up some food for us (it helps tipping well the first time to get good service the second time)
On Tuesday we were given a splendid breakfast of fresh strawberries, coffee, bacon. eggs. sausage, tomato and garlic mushrooms. We then ventured down to the Mtunzini beach which was on the other side of a bird sanctuary and nature reserve.
We saw dassie, red duiker, zebra, kingfisher, weavers and robins. The beach was expansive and cold but we had some good exercise walking and playing in the waves. We also wandered up to the estuary but did not spy any hippo or crocodiles.
Again the weather turned inclement by afternoon and we made holiday-like for the remainder of the day.
This morning dawned sunny and warm but still windy. We decided to pop a further 100km down the coast to Ballito which is one of my favourite places on the KZN coast. (many happy family holiday memories there)
We shopped for some beach curios, walked the promenade, and then stopped off at the Spar for ice creams and juice. (Just like a Real Beach Holiday…)
We then turned towards (MrT’s) home and returned to Richards Bay.
We finished off the holiday vibe with slap chips on the beach and exploring the ‘burbs by sunset…. Which leads now finally to another bedtime well earned (well in fact MrT just remembered he needs to write a speech for Saturdays’s element of the wedding so he is stressing and typing a little like a fiend first)
What’s Afrikaans for a Grooms Best Man? A Strroijonker sounds a little… well.. uumm.. old school…
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Frankie's Travels - RB day 2
We arrived in MrT's home town an hour later than scheduled because we had to wait for some road works ... In 11 different places!
Surprisingly Richards Bay was cold and cloudy and windy. (Everyone said it would be hot here)
I was introduced to MrT's mum then we freshened up then suited up for the Wedding.
We were ready a little early so we stopped off at McDonalds in our pretty wedding attire for a spot of lunch. Hey, who doesn't like being stared at?
Now before I talk about the wedding ceremony and reception, let's remember that I was the my own brothers wedding only 24 hours before.
The wedding ceremony was simple and short. As in less then 40 minutes in total short. (My brother's ceremony was easily over an hour long)
Then we drove up the road and round the corner to the Protea Hotel for the reception.
As we were guests and thus free of any responsibilities other than having a good time... We had plenty of liberty to stand around while photos were taken and gossip about the other guests. The skirts too short and the large persons and the funny hair colours.
The reception itself was remarkably similar to my brothers with the exception to all the speeches being in Afrikaans and the wedding specific traditions.
We left early for being exhausted and went on a drive around the city.
Nothing quite as thrilling as the night lights off an aluminium smelter and the smoke stacks of a chemical factory :)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Frankies Travels - Richards Bay
On a non-travelling note first....
I have had the most insane busy week.
1. I am at present travelling and thus will be on leave for a whole week so I was tying up loose ends at work. In addition the pace of some of the projects at work at the moment is between insane and I-Need-It-Yesterday-Already.
2. My brother got married yesterday.
3. I had a visitor from "The Motherland" at work. I recruited a chap from our UK office and he came to visit this week to decide if Jozi life would suit him. As I was the primary recruiter (And good chums) I was appointed as the head tour guide. (This should be a separate post of it's own)
4. Other normal week busy-ness stuff.
Anyhow it all adds up to a lotta tiredness and I really need this week off! I'm going the beach - Coolness!!
What added to this pot of crazy is that my brothers wedding ended around 11pm last night and MrT's best friend is kicking off at 3pm today in Richards Bay - A 7 hour drive away...
So we're on the road at 3:30am driving having a slightly insane road trip on 3 hours sleep. (Hmmmm seems to be a lot of 3's there)
Then we're spending a week chillaxing enjoying the beachness and then attending MrT's brothers wedding next weekend also in Richards Bay.
So Good Times ahead! Right after this long 7 hour zoom cross-country!
(meeting MrT's family for the first time too :/ Little nervous on that note.)
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