1 September 2005
First official day here! Got woken up at 6:30 am by dads alarm clock blaring! Nothing like here a radio dj first thing in the morning as if they are right in you head when infact they are coming from another room at full volume! It is Rowan's birthday today and I forgot to wish him in my half a asleep state of mind as I heard him stomping up and down the passageway getting ready for work. He then yelled "Okay see you later" from the kitchen and was gone. Oh well I will have to give him his card later. I decided to get up and begin my day, it was probably a good idea to force myslef into the routine and not sleep in otherwise jet lag would hit me harder.
My back got badly sunburnt while at the beach with the Cassals last Thursday and has decided to turn into extremely itchy peeling/flaking skin....signs that sun damage is BAD FOR YOU! Once up and about Dad and I headed to town to go run some errands. Oh did I mention that I was still sans luggage! Dad had been kind enough to put my clothes into the wash so I could wear them again the next day. Okay back to the story...We went straight to the mall as that is where the foreign exchange banks and my travel agent are located. There is a new foreign exchange governing body here in SA called FICA (don't ask me what it stands for as I have no clue) but they have a new rule that one cannot change more than R2500 worth of foreign exchange per year, without proof of residence. Proof of residence is any mailed account with the residencial address on it....err big stumbling block here! We live on a farm, they do not deliver mail to rural areas here in SA so that means no mail with the residential address on it. #$!#$^#!#^%!!!! I would have to get my dad to write a certified letter stating that I live with him, he would have to go to his bank and get a copy of the home loan (it has the residential address on it) and he would have to come with me to show his Identity document (as proof of who he is). What a pain in the butt!!!! Needless to say I was not amused. The good news is that we had heard from the SAA driver who was going to deliver my luggage. He was going to meet us at the mall. I then went to my travel agent to arrange my flight back...it is going to come to R9600...ouch! And it does not fly back on the date that I want it to, nor does it take me all the way to Raleigh! Dad and I decided to go have a cup of coffee and wait for the SAA deliverer to arrive, we first went and got a new SIM card for my cellphone so I can start getting in touch with everyone. The coffee was really good (R25 for 2 cups of coffee, seemed like a lot to me). I then decided I wanted to get a second price quote from another travel agent, dad decided he needed a cigarette! I was almost done at Pentravel when dad came in to tell me the driver had arrived and that he was going to meet him, I was to meet him back at the car.
I got done with the travel agent (it was R700 more to fly back on the day I wanted), and ran/jogged through the mall to get back to the entrance where the car was parked, I had a bad feeling something was not right. I got to the entrance to see my dad about to wheel 2 suitcases away to the car...2 black suitcases, 'wait a minute, that's not right, I only have one black suitcase the other was blue' so I told my dad and he yelled out to the delivery guy to come back. He had given me someone elses suitcase. In fact I think he had already delivered my suitcase to someone else as he had none left in his vehicle he said. He said he would go back to Durban to fetch it and would bring it back in the afternoon, no problem. The only problem I had was that my suitcase had been opened and there was not customs/security form inside it, which lead me to believe someone else had opened it. Anyway we then got in the car and headed to Hayfields mall to try and see if there was a way around the FICA issue. We had to wait a long time but were rewarded, I could deposit the money into my savings account and I would not have to do all the extra running around to prove residence. Yay. It took all of 15 minutes and it was done. I also got a new banking card as my old one was cracked and would not have lasted another year. Dad and I went to Pick 'n Pay to get lunch and a few other sundry items...yumm....pies (they do not have these in the USA) Flaky pastry with various different fillings, we both got Pepper Steak. We then headed back home as we needed to fetch Tyler and I was going with Rowan to visit Gran Campbell. We stopped off at Federated Timbers to look at paint swatches as I want to paint dad's house while I am here. Gosh but is paint expensive here! On the way up the hill on the way home we got a call from the driver saying he was at the mall with the other suitcase, so we had to turn around and go back into town. So much running around for my dad! He had the right suitcase this time, yay. We then headed back home to meet Rowan who had gotten off work early and was waiting for me to go to visit our Gran. We spent some time catching up with her at her apartment in town before we had to leave. She gave both Rowan and I R100 each as our birthday presents. Dad had collected Tyler from school on the way to fetch me. We dropped him off at home and then went and bought dinner (KFC) and headed out to Granny Blakeman's house for a visit.
We made a fertiliser delivery at Hope farms on the way.
KFC tastes different here.
Gran loved the KEDS shoes we had bought for her.
Dad and I watched the news at 8 then headed home, I had a lot of unpacking to do. Funny how all my clothes could have fitted into a carry on item! At least we are covered as far as most Xmas gifts are concerned. Rowan went out to dinner at Franky Banana's (bar) for dinner with his girlfriend Hayley, to celebrate his birthday. We did not see him again until Friday night.
First official day here! Got woken up at 6:30 am by dads alarm clock blaring! Nothing like here a radio dj first thing in the morning as if they are right in you head when infact they are coming from another room at full volume! It is Rowan's birthday today and I forgot to wish him in my half a asleep state of mind as I heard him stomping up and down the passageway getting ready for work. He then yelled "Okay see you later" from the kitchen and was gone. Oh well I will have to give him his card later. I decided to get up and begin my day, it was probably a good idea to force myslef into the routine and not sleep in otherwise jet lag would hit me harder.
My back got badly sunburnt while at the beach with the Cassals last Thursday and has decided to turn into extremely itchy peeling/flaking skin....signs that sun damage is BAD FOR YOU! Once up and about Dad and I headed to town to go run some errands. Oh did I mention that I was still sans luggage! Dad had been kind enough to put my clothes into the wash so I could wear them again the next day. Okay back to the story...We went straight to the mall as that is where the foreign exchange banks and my travel agent are located. There is a new foreign exchange governing body here in SA called FICA (don't ask me what it stands for as I have no clue) but they have a new rule that one cannot change more than R2500 worth of foreign exchange per year, without proof of residence. Proof of residence is any mailed account with the residencial address on it....err big stumbling block here! We live on a farm, they do not deliver mail to rural areas here in SA so that means no mail with the residential address on it. #$!#$^#!#^%!!!! I would have to get my dad to write a certified letter stating that I live with him, he would have to go to his bank and get a copy of the home loan (it has the residential address on it) and he would have to come with me to show his Identity document (as proof of who he is). What a pain in the butt!!!! Needless to say I was not amused. The good news is that we had heard from the SAA driver who was going to deliver my luggage. He was going to meet us at the mall. I then went to my travel agent to arrange my flight back...it is going to come to R9600...ouch! And it does not fly back on the date that I want it to, nor does it take me all the way to Raleigh! Dad and I decided to go have a cup of coffee and wait for the SAA deliverer to arrive, we first went and got a new SIM card for my cellphone so I can start getting in touch with everyone. The coffee was really good (R25 for 2 cups of coffee, seemed like a lot to me). I then decided I wanted to get a second price quote from another travel agent, dad decided he needed a cigarette! I was almost done at Pentravel when dad came in to tell me the driver had arrived and that he was going to meet him, I was to meet him back at the car.
I got done with the travel agent (it was R700 more to fly back on the day I wanted), and ran/jogged through the mall to get back to the entrance where the car was parked, I had a bad feeling something was not right. I got to the entrance to see my dad about to wheel 2 suitcases away to the car...2 black suitcases, 'wait a minute, that's not right, I only have one black suitcase the other was blue' so I told my dad and he yelled out to the delivery guy to come back. He had given me someone elses suitcase. In fact I think he had already delivered my suitcase to someone else as he had none left in his vehicle he said. He said he would go back to Durban to fetch it and would bring it back in the afternoon, no problem. The only problem I had was that my suitcase had been opened and there was not customs/security form inside it, which lead me to believe someone else had opened it. Anyway we then got in the car and headed to Hayfields mall to try and see if there was a way around the FICA issue. We had to wait a long time but were rewarded, I could deposit the money into my savings account and I would not have to do all the extra running around to prove residence. Yay. It took all of 15 minutes and it was done. I also got a new banking card as my old one was cracked and would not have lasted another year. Dad and I went to Pick 'n Pay to get lunch and a few other sundry items...yumm....pies (they do not have these in the USA) Flaky pastry with various different fillings, we both got Pepper Steak. We then headed back home as we needed to fetch Tyler and I was going with Rowan to visit Gran Campbell. We stopped off at Federated Timbers to look at paint swatches as I want to paint dad's house while I am here. Gosh but is paint expensive here! On the way up the hill on the way home we got a call from the driver saying he was at the mall with the other suitcase, so we had to turn around and go back into town. So much running around for my dad! He had the right suitcase this time, yay. We then headed back home to meet Rowan who had gotten off work early and was waiting for me to go to visit our Gran. We spent some time catching up with her at her apartment in town before we had to leave. She gave both Rowan and I R100 each as our birthday presents. Dad had collected Tyler from school on the way to fetch me. We dropped him off at home and then went and bought dinner (KFC) and headed out to Granny Blakeman's house for a visit.
We made a fertiliser delivery at Hope farms on the way.
KFC tastes different here.
Gran loved the KEDS shoes we had bought for her.
Dad and I watched the news at 8 then headed home, I had a lot of unpacking to do. Funny how all my clothes could have fitted into a carry on item! At least we are covered as far as most Xmas gifts are concerned. Rowan went out to dinner at Franky Banana's (bar) for dinner with his girlfriend Hayley, to celebrate his birthday. We did not see him again until Friday night.
posted by tab angel at 1:30 PM
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