Day 19 – Day 23: Thursday to Monday

So my Aunt Zanne had arranged for me to come to the farm with some other people who live in Pretoria. They had a son and daughter just a year of two younger than me and they’d all met on their European tour last year. Domonique and Kénan came to pick me up around 1 o’clock and we drove to their house near Irene Mall. Once there I met their mother Lidia and waited for their father Mark to come home so we could start our journey towards the farm. Though Mark’s BMW was very luxurious-looking and could speed up like nobody’s business, I can attest to the absolute horrible seats in the back. Not only do I probably have bruises on my backside, by the time we got to the farm I wasn’t sure whether my legs still worked or not (they were that numb from sitting). When we got there, Gogga was acting very shy and cute and actually let me carry him around a bit so he could hide his face in my neck. We ate a dinner of random things and chilled around the house. Mark joked that they just couldn’t get me to shut up the whole drive over. What can I say, I don’t talk that much if I don’t know you… I’d be sharing a room with Zandri and Saskia, Mark and Lidia were taking the guestroom, Domonique was is Saskia’s room and Kénan was in AJ’s room. At one point all the girls were chatting about marriage in Zandri’s room. Domonique said she was still too young to get married at 21 years old. Then she looked over at me and said I was getting that age… I’m not even two year older and apparently I’m going on ancient and it’s tragic that I’m still single… I just lifted my eyebrows at this and kept my mouth shut…

The next morning we all dragged ourselves out of bed and went to church, there was some kind of Easter convention going on… Oh joy. The grown-ups had said they wanted to go to church three times that weekend… Anyways, the singing went on so long that I really wanted to sit down towards the end. I can say that the church’s rock band has an amazing singer amongst them, though I couldn’t quite tell who it was from the back of the room. People came up during the service to tell everyone about the heavenly visions they’d just had about the church’s future and basically all went a bit cuckoo’s in my opinion. I don’t mean this in a bad way, but so many goings-on isn’t what I’m used to… The sermon ran late and then we had communion which also took forever. Later we got some coffee and a snack from the church catering before we went home. Burgert and Mark started with the braai almost immediately, everyone being starving and all. The kids played cricket while we were waiting and then the girls all helped in the kitchen. After we ate, we all chilled around the house and later in the evening the older kids all went to Spur for a snack, just to do something. We took Mark’s BMW and it was apparently the first time Mark had entrusted Domonique with his car. We went to Spur and ordered a few random things and generally had a good time. We took some pictures and left. When we got to the car though, there was glass everywhere. Luckily it seemed to be from a different vehicle. I think Domonique might have had a mini heart attack. We stopped at KFC for ice-cream before driving home. When we got back to the farm, Domonique and Kénan told their parent’s the story of the glass and let the sweat for a minute before telling them that the car was fine.

From left to right: Zandri, Domonique, Saskia, Me and Kénan.

Saturday morning we all slept late. We had a little shooting match in the backyard. I didn’t win, but at least I didn’t lose either. The loser having to jump into the pool, which was not particularly warm at this time of year. Against all expectations Burgert lost horribly, not even shooting inside the circle. Domonique won with a perfect Bull’s-eye. Burgert, AJ and Gogga jumped iWe went to the ‘Melkkan’ for lunch. A beautiful little place just outside of Welkom, where everything is made of tin. You just went into the little building and took whatever you wanted. Afterwards you wrote down what you took in the ‘gewetenboek’ (means translate to ‘book of conscience’). We ordered food, but it was taking quite a while so all the girls went exploring with a camera close at hand. When the food finally arrived, we were all famished and the food was delicious. Then we went on to the go-carts. I lost horribly. I blame my car. It took ages to speed up again after going past a bend. AJ begged me for a picture with my instant camera, and if AJ got one Gogga needed one too. Both the pictures looked adorable. After the grown-ups raced and Gogga raced on the kiddies track, we went back home for dinner in the form of bran muffins. Mark and Burgert went to church again but the rest stayed home to chill and chat. The bran muffins disappeared at a spectacular rate, something that Saskia was vocally surprised about. But we were ten people, five of which were male and typically have bottomless pits for stomachs. After dinner we dragged some mattresses to the television room and all watched a movie or two.

Target Practice

We went to church again. This time with Kénan going up to the stage to tell everyone he had a vision for the church’s future. Afterwards we went home, where Zanne had lamb rousting in the oven. Kénan liked the lamb so much that he had four helpings and actually finished it. Malva pudding for desert and we were all so full we had to be rolled away from the table. Watched another movie or two and had a lazy afternoon in general.

I’d be driving back with Wynand, Rynette and Diets on Monday morning. There was no chance in hell that I was going to subject my behind to another three hours in that uncomfortable BMW.  Before we met up with them though, everyone had a long praying session… It took so long in fact that Zanne was almost too late with dropping me off. Once in Diets’ massive (and comfortable) Range Rover, we made for Pretoria in record time (during which Wynand took a nap). I stayed over at Rynette’s place and Diets took me to Tukkies early the next morning.

Wynand napping in the car

Day 18 – Wednesday

I didn’t have to go in today. I wanted to do something my Danny but she didn’t have the time. Cleaned my room, did whatever. Had a nap. Very uneventful day…

Day 17 – Tuesday

We wanted to do the DNA extraction but none of the kits we complete. So Thembi and I went to The Field, where her new apartment is, and then she treated me at Wimpy. We went back to the lab to get our stuff and found out Francois had borrowed a kit from Werner (who does not seem to like me, but Thembi says he doesn’t anyone…) so we did the DNA extraction anyways. Afterwards we measured the DNA concentration and Thembi told me that she wasn’t coming in the next day. Erika told me that I didn’t have to come in either and so my long weekend started two days early.

Day 16 – Monday

Thembi didn’t come in today. I was all alone in the laboratory and I did not die a slow and terrible death. It was a bit more boring without someone to talk to though. All I did was re-inoculate the glycerols into TSB (because we accidentally autoclaved our last batch).

I was running out of things to wear, so need to do some laundry. Afterwards I hung them around my room and over the little heater. Didn’t have anything else to do, so I had a nap and then went to buy some groceries.

Day 15 – Sunday

Woke up with Wynand gone and nobody really knowing where he was. He came back later, having gone cycling. Rynette stayed in bed, saying she hurt he back. Wynand made a ‘chacka-lacka’ breakfast, which basically means spicy. I just wanted eggs and toast and I was glad I did. As Wynand ate his spicy breakfast, his face turned red and he started sweating…

Elsabe came to pick me up at around 10.30 o’clock and first she wanted to take me to Rhapsody’s, but it was closed. So we went to Doppio Zero (Southdowns Shopping Centre). There I met up with her son Mark and his fiancée Jackals. We had a very nice brunch, both Elsabe and myself had fig and syrup French toast. 

Me and Tannie Elsabe

We said bye to Mark and Jackals and went to Irene Mall. She spoiled me by buying me a nice throw and a colourful pillow for my prison cell of a room. Then we went to the movies (The Second Best Marigold Hotel) and cuddled up in the slightly cold theatre. Later we chilled at her house for a bit and then she drove me home.

Day 14 – Saturday

I’ll never listen to the weather report here again. I only packed a long sleeve shirt and it was hot! Wynand went to wash the car and I went with him. We took Bayanda (Sarah’s son) and his friend with us so they could play there. Wynand and I had an ice-cream while the car was being washed. Then he started throwing  the kids with water from his bottle and having them fill it up again. I threw him once, but he didn’t throw me back.

Afterwards Wynand took a nap and I attempted to work for a bit. Nothing much came out of it but at least I tried. Then we watched some television and in the evening Wynand braai-ed for us. It was very nice.

Day 13 – Friday

I need a card to enter the building in the mornings. I’ve been having to wait for someone to come out or someone to go in, so I can slip in with them. Thembi went with me to get my student card made and we went to sort out my Wi-Fi. Apparently just having a student card isn’t enough to open the door, it needs to be registered to a particular building.

Around 11 o’clock I was introduced to Joel, a student working in the greenhouse, picked up the rental car and waited for a tardy Rudo. Joel drove us to the Mamelodi township and Thembi, Rudo and I went in search of street vendors selling coleslaw. I was the only white person around…

Thembi told me later that it was quite helpful having me around, even though I didn’t do much more than stand around while they were talking to the people. Apparently black people think other black people are stupid and thus couldn’t possibly manage to get into college, let alone do a Master’s. The street vendors were more inclined to believe that we were doing research when I was standing around…

After we got back to the University without being mugged, I chilled with Thembi for a while. Wynand came to pick me up and we drove to Rynette’s place. Rynette and Diets arrived from the airport moments after we arrived, Rynette having been to the Cape area for work. Rynette was pretty wired and told us hilarious stories about her colleagues.

Wynand took me to Ridgebacks(Jean avenue, Centurion), a local watering hole. It was jam-packed, with it being payday and the first day of the March break. Luckily we found a table and had a nice evening. When we got back, Diets told us that Rynette hadn’t even made it to dinner before conking out to dreamland. We all soon followed.

Day 12 – Thursday

Not an eventful day: Inoculated the E. coli into 65% glycerol, read some more articles, had another loadshedding experience. During which a group of guys started singing and dancing just outside of our backdoor. It didn’t sound so bad and it looked as if they were having fun. They left quite a mess of beer bottles and cigarette butts though…

Day 11 – Wednesday

Did some work in the lab, transferring the E. coli colonies to a nutritional broth. Then I read more of my (dozens of) papers. Around noon Thembi gave me a tour of the campus and we ate a burger at “Oom Gert’s”. Once I got home for the day, I had a nap (on account of my sore throat) and woke up in the dark. My first loadshedding experience! Nothing worked. Not the lights, the fridge, the oven or even the hot-water-boiler. They usually don’t last more than two hours and luckily my laptop has a battery life.

In the middle of total and complete darkness, someone came into the house. I could hear the rattling of the front gate. I can tell you, there is nothing as creepy as being alone and then hearing someone you don’t know come in during a blackout. I was very glad I’d brought my hefty flashlight, even if the batteries failed me (which they didn’t) I could still clobber someone over the head with it.

The person had starting talking on the phone. Female. Very American. I opened the door and she said: “I think there’s someone here!” Which basically means we were both creeping each other out… Introduction ensued after acknowledgment that we both went axe-murderers. I would be sharing my little house with Megan, from California, from now on.

Day 10 – Tuesday

The first day of my internship at Tukkies. Erika immediately gave me about 7 or 8 articles on the phylogenetics of Escherichia coli, the bacteria I’ll be working on. She then introduced me to Thembi – a master’s student – and threw us into the lab together. While streaking the E. coli from one agar to another, we became fast friends. She had to leave early though, leaving me to my own devices.

My throat had been bothering me so I went down to the store and bought some anti-bacterial spray for it. It taste absolutely horrible, but it works. I wasn’t in the mood to make anything for dinner so I went and ordered a mildly spicy chicken wrap from Nando’s. I made myself eat it even though my mouth was on fire. No more “mild” for me…

Day 9 – Monday

I was pretty surprised to find Wynand at home in the morning. He has to leave for work at 6 o’clock in the morning. He’d called in sick for the day. Wynand and Diets were planting grass in the garden when I had to leave at 9 o’clock. I made it without too much difficulty, got a little lost in the streets around Tukkies – but that’s what the GPS is for! Drove through the gate and had to give them my phone number and driver’s license number.

I met Erika in her office and she took me to get registrated at the university. Afterwards she went with me to find the place I would be staying. “Tuksdorp” was about three streets down from the laboratory where I’d be working, no more than a 10-minute walk in the mornings.

The little house I would stay in for the next six months was pretty old. There were two other rooms beside mine, with a shared bathroom and a shared kitchen. The bathroom had two showers and a separate bathroom. The kitchen had an oven, a fridge (with freezer) and pots and pans and the like.

She left me to get settled, which mostly just meant being bored out of my mind. I went down to the store for some food, came back, had a nap. Woke up to find my airtime was all used up. I hurried back to the shops (apparently they close at 5.30) and bought some more. Dinner was cereal, I’m sad to say… 

Day 8 – Sunday

We had to get up early because I was meeting my cousin Wynand. He’d taken the bus out to Odendaalsrus to drive back with me. Apparently he overslept after a night on the town and was an hour late to the meeting point.

When he finally got there, we all said our goodbyes and were off to Pretoria. I drove the first two hours and then we stopped at Wimpy’s. Wynand had had to skip breakfast and was practically singing about Wimpy’s delicious breakfast menu’s. And yes – it was very yummy.

Afterwards Wynand drove the rest. It started raining just before we arrived in Pretoria. Hills and heavy rain make for a unsettling combination (I’m quite glad that I didn’t have to drive this part). When we got to Rynette’s, we watched a movie and waited for the weather to clear up a bit.

My weirdo Cousin <3

Wynand drove with me to the University of Pretoria (“Tukkies”), just so I could see where I was going. Luckily I also had a little GPS so I wouldn’t get lost. Pretty anxious about having to drive alone tomorrow…

Day 2 – Day 7: Monday to Saturday

My first week was spent at my uncle’s Farm Spes Bona in Odendaalsrus (Free State). Here I learned that the little car that they were going to let me borrow, wasn’t all that small at all… I was expected something the size of a mini or maybe slightly bigger. What I got was a Volkswagen Tauran… 

I had to learn to drive on the left side of the road, so my aunt made me drive on the first day. The second day she made me drive with only my cousin Zandri and the third alone. The adjustment was much easier than I thought it would me. There’s just more space for everything there. The people standing in the middle of the roads at traffic stops still freak me out a bit. They must be slightly suicidal to do that, in my opinion...

The week went by far too quickly. I’d gone to Saskia’s cheerleading session at the Netball/Rugby event at her school, watched Zandri play and win a Netball competition and played around with both AJ and Boetie (Who I’ve started calling Gogga – which means “bug”). At least I'd be seeing them again in only two weeks - with Easter.

Arrival in South Africa

I had to wait for quite a while, uncertain whether I was even was even in the right queue. Apparently I was though and after being scanned for Ebola with a thermal camera, security let me through and I collected my suitcase. 

My cousin Tommy and his girlfriend Nicole picked me up and drove me to his mother’s – my aunt – Rynette’s place in Pretoria. My aunt’s boyfriend Diets and his son Werner and daughter-in-law Altea were waiting there with my aunt and my other cousin Wynand. We all chatted in the bright sun – quite different from Dutch weather – while my aunt Rynette made a fantastic Sunday dinner: chicken, beef, pumpkin, potatoes and salad.

Tommy, Nicole, Werner and Altea left soon after. Wynand needed smokes so I went with him to the store – he went without shoes (!). Everyone was a bit tired so we all caught a short nap before my other aunt and uncle came to pick me up.

My aunt Zanne, my uncle Burgert and cousin AJ (10) picked me up and we drove to Odendaalsrus, where I’d be staying for a week. It’s about a 3.5 hour drive on a good evening. It wasn’t a good evening… The thunderstorm was visible for ages before we drove into the rain. It was like a disco – flashes through the  sky every few seconds all over the horizon. When the rain finally started I swore Burgert couldn’t even see through the rain, it was coming down that hard.

When we finally arrived at their farm, their eldest daughter Zandri (16) was waiting for us. Saskia (13) and their youngest Burgert Jr. A.K.A. “Boetie” (4) woke up just for a hug and went back to bed. Everyone followed shortly.

D-Day

I woke up feeling a bit sad, a bit stressed and a bit excited. My suitcase is packed (oops, 2 kg overweight) and my friend Izzie brought me cinnamon-cupcakes for on the road to the airport. My elder sister Melissa met us at the airport and managed to pull us all from out melancholic moods. My parents, me, my sister and my little brother all squished ourselves into one of those passport booths to make a photograph. I don’t think any one of us has more than quarter of our faces on that picture, but I love it just the same.

My sister gave me an adorable ring with the face of a little fox before I had to go through security. My dad pulled us all into a hug and prayed for my safe journey. His voice wobbled a bit, which was pretty hard to hear without tearing up myself.

The security check went without a hitch and with one last big wave at my family, I was on my own. We’d cut it pretty close with the boarding time so I hurried to my terminal. My first flight was to Frankfurt with only an hour to wait before getting on my second flight, directly to Johannesburg. During the 10-hour flight I managed to watch two movies (“The Imitation Game” and “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”) and tried to sleep uncomfortably the rest of the time. The plane touched down in South Africa just before ten in the morning.

Took a picture with my phone :)

Got my Visa!

That snake at the Embassy was probably just having a bad day or a bad year… I could pick up my passport with approved visa within one week. In your face, Mr Mean!

Everything is set, all I need to do now is pack my suitcase!

Email from the Embassy

I received an email from the embassy this morning: “Your visas and passports are ready for collection.  You can collect your visa/passport during Consular Hours from 09h00-12h00 from Monday-Friday.” 

It’s been less than a week since gave them my application. So is this a good sign? Or a bad one? If there was something wrong with my application they’d tell me, right? Give me some indication at least… Now I don’t know whether I should redo the documentation just in case or whether that snake at the embassy was unbearably mean to me with no real reason…

Another Visit to the Embassy

I fixed all the things they told me to last week. I took out South African Medical Aid with Momentum for the six months I’ll be in Pretoria. And I went by the bank and they very kindly stamped and signed every single page of my bank statements.

After yet another 1.5 hour drive to the embassy in the Hague, I tried to give them all my documents. Someone else “helped” me this time… Apparently he’s been working at the embassy since my parents’ moved here. Which means he’s probably worked at the embassy for 20+ years. That’s probably why he’s as mean as a snake and looks like it too…

He immediately started nit-picking about my acceptance letters. Apparently he couldn’t tell whether I wanted a study vis, a research visa or an exchange visa. He said that the word ‘research’ was confusing in the acceptance letters and that the explicit word ‘intern’ wasn’t in it. He told me all this in an extremely agitated and mean-spirited manner that really didn’t help me with understanding what the real problem was.

I went to a nearby internet shop (The Printer, 975 Frederikstraat) and corrected the letter (which I thankfully had in word format) and immediately informed my contact at Pretoria. Usually I would have had them change the letter but time was of the essence. After I changed it, I went back to the Embassy and he found more to be mean about. I went back to the internet shop and changed the letter yet again.

By that time it was 11:30 o’clock and they would be closing in half an hour. I gave them the newest letter and he still thought that there were a multitude of things wrong with it. After he’d told me, he gave my letter to his colleague and started ranting about how awful it was. While I stood watching…

The guy made it excessively clear that he thought my application would be denied. Overall the whole experience had me close to tears. Last week they tell me there are a few things aren’t quite right and that I’m very early with my application. This week they berate everything I’ve done and make me feel small and stupid. Oh, the joys of visiting the embassy…

Tsunacon 2015

Erasmus Expo- en Congrescentrum (M-gebouw), Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam

After the nice time I had at MGC Experience I’ve decided I really like these “cons”. I bought a ticket for Tsunacon for €20,- (You can buy more expensive tickets and have some privileges). I think Tsuna is about three or four times the size of MGC. They had three floors and different rooms, sizing from huge to classroom sizes. They had two restaurant, a maid café, an activities room and a gaming room. The “dealer” room is where different shops could sell they’re stuff.

I really do think that these kinds of cons are the most fun if you’re dressed up. And not half-assed with just a Link hat or wearing jeans when you should be in full-body. I spent most of my day with a Deadpool and a Psycho (Borderlands) and people kept asking them whether they could take picture of/with them. People go all out! There was someone dressed as Radagast (The Hobbit), complete with bulbous nose and three layers of clothes (even though it was boiling hot in the building).

Had a wonderful day but I’m also a bit sad about not seeing my friends again for six months. At least I’ll have warm weather, good food and lots of family to cheer me up :)

Tips for Visa

I went to the embassy today and a few things weren’t quite right with my application. Luckily they said that I was early and it was their slow season so I have enough time to dot my i’s and cross my t’s.

Firstly, I’d scanned my bank statements going three months back and blacked out the individual purchases. They don’t have to know I bought a sandwich at the train station and some such. This was all fine but the copies also have to be stamped and signed by the bank. It’s also very important that the last bank statement is very recent: absolutely no more than three days prior to applying for the visa. If it’s too old they don’t even consider your visa! Also, if you aren’t sure whether you have enough money in your bank account to qualify for ‘sufficient funds’, you can also add a parent’s bank statement. Parents are usually willing to help you out of a tight spot, I’ve found.

Secondly, you have to have South African medical cover for the period that you’re there. Even if you have excellent Dutch medical aid that covers you while in South Africa, you still need the South African medical aid. ‘Momentum Health’ has a cheap option for students, approximately €27,- per month.

If you’re not sure how much leeway you have with buying your flight tickets, it’s two or three days. It’s very important that the flight dates and the dates on your acceptance letter from whatever university or company you’re going to work for correspond with each other.

On a completely other note, I found a cute little lunchroom just two streets from the embassy. It’s called Paluco. They had adorable little cakes and a tasty-looking hamburger (maybe I’ll try it next time!). The ones topped with raspberries are filled with cream and are nice and sweet. The ones to the directly to the right of those are tart and a little lemon meringue-y. Both very nice and more to try next time.

Police Clearance & More

So a few months ago I went to the South African Embassy for a police clearance form. Besides this form I also needed to fill in the usual form that can be found on their site. I took both forms to the local town hall. It cost me €30,05 and takes two to three weeks for them to send the Police Clearance to your house.

I also had to have my health certified by an independent doctor. I’d hoped to walk into the doctor’s office, get a signature on my document and then walk out. No deal. I had to give a detailed history, have my weight, eye-sight, ears and blood pressure checked. Had to pee in a cup and give them a blood sample. I had my lungs listened to, palpated and scanned by a radiologist. After paying €76,50 I was told that (even though I could have told you this long beforehand for free) I did not have pulmonary tuberculosis, kidney problems of any kind or even an STD. It was pretty nice though, I heard the doctor’s  assistant saying that I should pay €100-something but the doctor told her to bill me the cheaper option.

Now I finally have all my signatures, next step – buying the tickets!