Day 5 (March 21, 2016): Movin' on

Today was a moving day. We had to repack our bags and head out to the Johannesburg airport in the morning to fly to Bloem, where we would be working on our respective projects. I managed to pack my bag successfully, no longer having the bulk of the gifts of t-shirts and tea towels in my load, as they had been distributed to the group earlier. We headed off to the airport, and managed to get checked in, when I was lucky enough that someone was looking over me (Mom?), as I had left my cell phone at the check-in desk (to show my flight number if needed). I was standing with a group of my colleagues about 5 minutes after that, having passed through security, when an airport staff member approached me and in her extended hand was my cell phone! I was so grateful, and so amazed, that a) it was returned to me, b) that she knew it was mine, and c) that she managed to find me in that busy airport! I gave her a big hug and my profound thanks. The funny thing was that when I had been talking with her earlier at her counter, she had been yawning, and I had jokingly laughed and offered to go get her a cup of coffee to wake up. She laughed, but then when she delivered my cell phone, I laughed and told her that apparently it was ME who needed the coffee to wake up and pay attention. She laughed with me about that, and rightfully agreed. Talk about a close call (no pun intended), when I think about how close I came to losing my phone... so much important information is now stored on our phones! Ah, the sense of relief I had at that moment! And, how lucky that I was spared the panic of knowing that my phone was missing... that would have been even worse.

On this bright sunny day, we boarded our flight, and I was lucky enough to have a window seat, so that I could enjoy watching the diverse terrain of this beautiful country as we flew over it. I took lots of pictures with my returned cell phone, and have many ideas that I hope to use in weaving, inspired from what I saw from the sky.
We landed in Bloem and caught transport to our initial hotel, Protea Hotel Bloemfontein, where we would be staying for one day before transferring to our main hotel. The reason for this layover and move was that there was no room at our destination hotel, until tomorrow, as today was a holiday Monday in this country. 
Protea Hotel is named from protea, a flowering plant that is mentioned and pictured in many places in this country, including the airports, advertisements, and this hotel chain. Before coming here, I had never heard of a protea plant, but I have since come to love its diverse presentations (different colours and shapes) and beauty.

My room was quite nice, with lots of pillows and a fluffy duvet, and the hotel gardens were nicely manicured. We dropped off our stuff in our rooms, then met for lunch and then were sequestered into a board room to learn more about our projects and start our research work. 

While we were at the hotel, we met some exceptional athletes. We met one woman who won 2 gold medals that day, at the South African national championships in track and field for disabled persons, being held this week in Bloemfontein. 

She won the medals for shot put; this is truly incredible to me, as I struggled with that event in school when I tried it! Some of the athletes will be using this event to qualify for the Paralympics in Rio this summer. Our group was very honoured to meet these proud, disciplined, and enthusiastic athletes, and we wished them well in their future endeavours.
Tonight, our lead host was wanting to make our first night in Bloem special, and so he arranged for us to be transported to the waterfront, where there were some restaurants. Our work day had gone on quite long, so we actually didn't head out to supper until 8 pm; this is rather late for me, as my stomach likes food earlier, but I just rolled along with the rest of the bunch, and looked forward to our meal whenever it was to come.
We were seated outside on the waterfront patio of a large and empty franchised restaurant that had a good reputation. By the time we were all seated and had menus, it was now going on 8:30 pm. When looking at the menu (which had a LOT to choose from), there were some things I did not recognize like Madeira Fillet and Peri-Peri Chicken Livers. 

Our waiter 'Raps' was enthusiastic and a real character, making us laugh as he took our drink orders.
The drink orders were filled, eventually, and Raps then instructed us that this was a Monday of a long weekend, and that they were out of a lot of the food on the menu. He instructed that we could only order from pages 3 and 4. Even though Madeira Fillet and Peri-Peri Chicken Livers were on those pages of permitted food, that didn't really resonate with me, so I asked for Mediterranean Chicken. Raps took our orders, after much fuss about what was available and what wasn't, and then he disappeared into the restaurant.
The evening air was very cool, so person by person, we started filtering inside to sit at a large table where it was warmer. Raps came back multiple times to tell us they were out of this and out of that, and orders had to be changed, some multiple times. After an hour, Raps came by yet again to take our orders! Our host was not impressed, and although we all had to laugh at the complete absurdity of this (taking our orders for at least a third time, and having nothing to eat after a full hour of waiting!), we would really have preferred to have some food. Any food. 
The orders finally started coming out of the kitchen after 9:38 pm, and some orders were right, some orders were not, and some orders were missing. However, the company was great and we had fun. The food was okay when it finally came, but we were totally stumped about how this place was still in business, and knew that we would likely not be back again. (They even brought out some items that they said there were none of... now how could that be?)

In the end, we were fed (my Mediterranean Chicken became a Hamburger and Fries somehow), but our host was so upset by this 'disastrous dinner' (as he called it), that he paid for it on our behalf. What a gentleman. He did not have to do that, none of this was in his control, but he hoped to end the evening on a positive note. Three cheers for Jurie!
We loaded into our van and were transported back to our hotel (for one night), and I was so tired that I just fell into bed and was out like a light, so to speak. And so ended our day of moving for now; tomorrow more moving was expected.
Oh, I should mention that our colleague from Mexico, Paola, gave us a spicy candy treat called Tamarindo; it sure was spicy to me! Not quite like the angry duck, but still on the hot side.
 
It is a truly incredible experience to share this adventure with so many newly introduced colleagues from around the world, as we all learn about this country and each other, together.