Johannesburg- Week One "The Welcome"

Cascade Mountains as I was leaving Seattle, Washington

January 3^rd, 2013…I finally left the United States, one day late because my passport and visa didn’t get to me until an hour after my original flight had left.

January 4^th- After twenty-four hours, a stuffy 3-hour stop without ventilation in Dakar delayed longer because of electrical issues, and a spray with the insecticide, I arrived at the Johannesburg airport. Jacky, from the Embassy, greeted me at the airport and provided transportation to the Davinci Hotel in Sandton (a suburb north of Jo’Burg). I checked in to the five star hotel room, drew a bath, and then moved from the bath to the bed for the next 12 hours. My body wasn’t sure if it was day or night, so I watched TV in a fairly comatose state until it was time to go down for breakfast.

January 5^th- The hotel is connected to the upscale mall called Sandton City. Although I didn’t have the time or energy to really explore, I was able to get some errands taken care of before I checked out (adapter, locks, curling iron, hair dryer, cash, and cell phone set up- the basics). I checked out (the Embassy only paid for one night) and had the concierge organize transportation to my new home. He was able to talk the taxi driver down to 350 (from 450) Rand (equivalent of $40) to drive me to Roodepoort (another suburb further south). 

In this mall was also Nelson Mandela Square, an outside area with restaurants, a fountain, and the statue. People were coming to take a picture in front of Mandela.

Dr. Nadine Petersen, the owner of the cottage and also teaches at the UJ, welcomed me as I arrived at the Orange Blossom Cottage. I agreed to stay one week while I got myself settled because it was the recommendation given to me by the university.

The cottage is actually more like a mother-in-law apartment connected to the house. It has white gates on all the windows and doors, a main room when you walk in with a couch, a small table with two chairs, and some basic kitchen appliances (small refrigerator, microwave, electric pot for boiling water, an electric skillet, and dishes). Nadine stocked the cupboards and fridge with fruit, cereal, bread, meat, cheese, yogurt, milk, tea, and coffee. Just beyond the main room is the bedroom with a queen size bed, vanity dresser and two side tables, and off to the side is a full bathroom with a bathtub (hot commodity in my life). I unpacked, organized, and settled into the cottage and by 4:30pm I was struggling to stay awake. By 4:31pm I was passed out.

January 6^th- Sunday. Nadine’s father came to my door in the afternoon to see if I wanted to get some lunch and see part of the area. I appreciated him reaching out. He took me to a place called “Food Lover’s Market” to walk around and get some food. It was a regular grocery store in the front and a catering-style prepared food in the back. He told me I had to choose something I liked (how could I argue). I ended up with pineapple (it is a natural anti-inflammatory), roasted chicken, a Greek-style salad, and a bottle of South African white wine. When we got up to the front, he insisted on paying as a welcome to South Africa. Later, I asked him if it safe for me to go for a walk around the neighborhood (Wemmer Drive is a circle)…he said not without an escort. I think I was able to stay up until 5:15pm this day.

January 7^th- One of the effects of going to bed early is I wake up early as well. The birds are the first to make noise...there are one or two who squawk loudly outside my window beginning around 4am and then about 6am they settle down. Even after I dramatically opened the window, they were not phased. They remind me of the kamikaze rats in Pioneer Square Seattle who wouldn't budge if you met them on the sidewalk. The picture above shows my bedroom window, there is a tree on the other side of the brick wall and that is where they hang out in the a.m.. At least I go to bed early. The picture below may be one of the culprits, however, there are at least 3 different types of birds I have seen so far. Not to mention, when the birds quiet down, the dogs start in...

Nadine offered to take me to the mall today. I am noticing that malls are big deals here, after doing some reading I found out it is because they are safe (security and cameras). The malls (the two I have been to so far) are very similar to the USA or Europe, although there are grocery stores in there as well. Nadine showed me where the grocery store and a few other places to shop. We also got a chance to learn about each other. She teaches in the education department (and has been for quite some time). She recently moved from the Auckland Park campus to the Soweto campus and is currently on sabbatical. She has done a lot with service learning at the university level and will be attending AERA in San Francisco in April.

After I finished shopping, Nadine drove me back to the compound. I asked her about walking and she said it would be fine and told me about a few routes to take. She mentioned the Dunmar Security is the company she works with and to call them if I was at all suspicious or concerned. She also showed me the bars on the windows and doors and the extra locks on the doors. In addition to bars, locks, and security armed response teams, everyone has a large locked gate around their house.

That day I worked on my writing. I did venture off the property for a 30-minute walk to situate myself with the neighborhood, get some air, and to take a break from my computer. Once again, I did my best to stay up as late as possible, but when you wake up around 3am, it is hard to stay up past 7pm.

January 8^th (Tuesday)- Gadija (pronounced Hadija), my new best colleague, picked me up and took me to the campus for a tour and to meet with Dr. Kakoma Luneta (my sponsoring professor). Gadija is a doctoral student, in her 40s, she has a teenage daughter, and she supports and teaches about service learning and social justice. She and I got along right from the start. As we were driving into Soweto she was describing the area and the education system. There is a large hospital to the left when you first drive in, followed by two painted nuclear power cooling towers. Gadija tells me they have been cleaned up and now they have bungee jumping in between the towers. The UJ Soweto campus is across the street from the towers.

She showed me around the campus, introduced me to people, and then took me to the teaching school next to the campus. It is a bilingual elementary school, R-4 (R is Kindergarten). The School of Education has adopted this program as a teaching school. Credentialing students are able to observe and practice teaching at this site in preparation for their teaching careers.

I met with Luneta (what everyone calls him). He asked about my accommodations, I let him know it is expensive and remote and that it could be a problem without a car. He recommended I look for a place in Melville or near Auckland Park. We talked about my “program” while I am here. I was given the keys to my office. I am reminded of the little training general education teachers receive in their credentialing programs in the U.S., here it sounds much the same.  I will be doing a monthly lecture series on working with students with diverse needs (I hope the textbooks get here soon!). Because they speak so many languages (and learn in their home language as well), I think some of my material should be very much appreciated. 

After we left the campus, Gadija took me for lunch at a take-away fish place. We ordered and sat down. They actually brought our fish out on real dishes (ceramic not plastic). I ordered the Hake, which is the local fish.

January 9th. At 3am I woke up, at 4am the birds began their daily squawking outside my window. Eventually, I just got up and started writing. I spent the day with my computer writing, writing, writing.  I went for a short walk to the store and bought milk. There was “strip mall” with a butcher, mom and pop grocer, pharmacy (that sells Epsom salt), liquor store, and laundry service/hair salon. The woman who works in the pharmacy recognized I wasn’t from around there (I guess I stood out) and offered to do my hair. She gave me a flyer for the hair salon and laundry services. I thanked her and headed back to the compound.

I am definitely feeling a bit trapped without a car and living so far from everything. I have made a few contacts but just to meet up with them is over $50 taxi service. I believe I am safe here, but will I go crazy?

January 10^th- I went to my safety debriefing at the Embassy. A driver picked me up at 8am to drive me to the Embassy in Sandton. His name was David, he has 2 children, took one computer course, used to be a taxi driver (and mentioned he would over charge people like me), and he plans on taking another computer course and moving into the IT department at the State department. It was over an hour drive to get there because the traffic was so bad.

The debriefing took about 20 minutes. The security officer asked if I had been to any other African countries and I told him Ghana, Ethiopia, and Cameroon. He looked at me knowingly and said, “Oh, well this is a lot like Ethiopia, just more violent crimes, but you know what I am talking about. You just have to be on alert all the time and be prepared as possible.” Then he went through what to do in a mugging or smash and grab so as not to get killed. Of course, the regular recommendations like: don’t wear jewelry, keep doors locked, constantly scan surroundings, and have back ups of all of my documents. He went over transportation (no buses, trains, or taxis…but I could use one of the accepted drivers from the university or respected hotels).

With all the theft and accidents, I am not sure I want to be responsible for a car, but I also don’t want to be so isolated. I am currently training my brain to be more aware of driving on the left side, not to mention what it will be like using my left hand to shift gears. None of these things are impossible, just an adjustment.

Once I returned from the Embassy, Nadine offered to take me to the mall so I could get out of the house, I couldn’t think of a reason not to go, so I went. I walked around, browsed the stores, bought some groceries, and had lunch in the food court restaurant area. And then I came home…I tried to play a DVD, but I couldn’t get the sound to work. Interestingly, the DVD would not play in my laptop because it was registered to another country. I didn’t know they registered electronics.

January 11^th- Gadija picked me up and brought me to campus this morning. Nadine has decided to give me her office while she is on sabbatical (her office has a window that opens and a view of the water and painting- ie, the revamped nuclear power plant). The office is really nice and new (the school of education has only been at this site for 3 years so the building and furniture are still new). I worked on my travel grant proposal, organized my finances, and put together the proposal of how Luneta and I can collaborate this year. He mentioned publishing in a journal when we first began planning. I obtained IRB approval before I left but I hadn’t been able to go over the logistics of what we would write.

In our collaboration meeting, I presented the information and protocol I designed and we talked about how we could write together. Tentatively, we have decided to write an article about inclusive practices  (obviously). He will research Curriculum 2005 (South Africa’s take on the New Zealand curriculum that was supposed to be implemented here fully by 2006, but did not work) and what type of teaching occurs in credentialing programs. I will research White Paper #6 (Inclusive practices in South Africa) and best practices for meeting the diverse needs of students. Our current plan is to give a survey and short interviews to find out teachers’ experiences with students with special needs and what they are teaching in the classroom. We plan to collect data in Johannesburg (university and schools), Pretoria (schools), Durban (university and schools), Siyabuswa (rural university and school), and Cape Town (university and school). Interestingly, Siyabuswa is translated as, “They have conquered us.” As it was told to me, the Afrikaans told them they needed to come up with a name and they found one. Clever. 

The poster on the building says,
"Celebrating 100 years of  Selfless Struggle"
(view from my office)

Luneta has written me into some grants as well to help pay for the transportation and lodging while I visit the universities. I made sure to email him with a detailed description of what we planned to do so that we are both clear on our responsibilities over the next few weeks.

After Gadija and I left campus, she told me she would drive me to Sandton because she wanted to know I am safe (not at all close to Roodepoort and although it was a smooth drive there…traffic back home was unbelievable). My trip to Sandton was to meet with Franck’s aunt and uncle’s at their home for dinner. They live in a beautiful and very large home with their daughter. Maserame and Edwige also invited over a group of their friends so that I could be welcomed by interesting, intelligent, and kind people. We talked and laughed all night. Edwige cooked for us and the men made sure we were well taken care of. Each of the ladies came up with one activities for us to do together- book club, ladies weekend, brunch, dancing night…What a gift to meet such beautiful, generous, and successful people! All in all a wonderful week in Johannesburg.