Breakfast at this hotel, is a generous and diverse offering; this morning I had oatmeal with banana chips and coconut flakes, a sausage, a slice of French toast, watermelon slices, and wonderful coffee.
The hotel staff are very friendly and keep things plentiful at the buffet. After an enjoyable breakfast, our team met in the hotel lobby, and I noticed that the man with the gun was gone. One of my colleagues mentioned that there may have been a dignitary staying at the hotel, and that was likely the reason for the dangerous looking guard.
Our group was safely loaded onto a van to drive us to our first hotel in this city, to work in that conference room again, as there was no availability at our current hotel. We were all within 5 minutes of our agreed meeting time, and off we went for our short ride, to the same conference room where we had been before. (For more details on our assignment, I encourage you to visit my other blog: https://debtempleton.wordpress.com).
Here, we researched all day, and had periodic discussions to share our findings.
At the hotel where we were for the day, there was a display in the lobby about raising money for buying shoes for students who cannot afford them. The shoes are made here in South Africa, and were to benefit the local students, and our team was very happy to be able to contribute enough funds to buy 10+ pairs!
We were pleased to be able to support the community children, and at the same time, support a manufacturer in this country. While not part of our assigned project, it felt good to be able to do this.
At the end of the day, 5 p.m., we were about to load onto the van, but the group really wanted to walk the 1 km back to the hotel. Marilyn generously rode in the van with our heavy laptop bags, while the rest of us enjoyed our short walk back to the hotel. We do not walk alone (one of the rules we must follow), and were quite safe as a group of 12 in the afternoon for the short walk. The greatest challenge for me was to ensure that I looked multiple times before crossing the road intersections, as traffic comes at me from the opposite direction than I am used to. A physics teacher I had in high school had retired, and traveled to Isle of Man, and was killed when crossing the road, due to not looking in the correct direction, as he was used to traffic coming from the left, not the right. That was sad to have died shortly after retiring, because of crossing the road. RIP Mr. Crozier, I will fondly remember you.
When we arrived at the lobby entrance, we stopped to briefly discuss who was doing what when for supper and the evening, and also discussed meeting at a time before breakfast to go for a run. For dinner, some wanted to meet at 7 p.m. but that is too late for me, especially having had so many late late dinners since arriving here. Three of us decided to meet in 20 minutes to go to the Mimosa Mall, and check out the grocery store. We made our way first to a telco shop, and while my colleagues were there, I meandered to the Games store next to it. It was like a department store, with everything from small appliances and bedding, to sports gear and toiletries. While there, I got a yoga mat that was on sale for 100 rand, which is less than 10$ CDN. I got some hairspray, and got something like Oxyclean, for my colleague who had given her laundry to be done, and had her nice white blouse returned with denim blue spots on it. It seemed like all her laundry was thrown in together (whites, colours), and her new denim jeans leached some blue onto other items. That made me glad that I had done my own laundry, but I felt bad for her having that happen. I rejoined them in the telco shop, then we proceeded down a level in the mall to the grocery store. I picked up a small greek salad, and a delicious spicy samosa that I will gladly order again. We took our food back to the hotel, and went to eat on the terrace outside, near the pool.
As it was sunset, and the evening was coming, birds were coming back to the trees which surrounded the pool, and their singing was loud and delightful. It was like the trees were chirping to us.
Soon after, the trees quieted as the birds slept, and we were left to enjoy ourselves in conversation about global aspects of our jobs and share personal stories, both sad and funny alike. I am thoroughly enjoying this team of people more and more as I come to know them; I have learned so much about different regions of the world, and cultural aspects, that are more meaningful as I hear about them from the very people who live in the various countries from around the world.
After my light supper, and a nice cup of tea with a ginger snap (from the hotel room coffee tray) and a Ghiradelli chocolate from my California colleague, I bid them good night and returned to my room, to catch up on my blogs, and get ready for my run the next day. Walking across the courtyard, I stopped to hear a cricket chirping; it has been a while since hearing that sound, as back home, there is still snow on the ground.
In my room, looking around, I realized that I did not pack my running shorts which I had set out in Canada. I will have to look for an inexpensive pair here, to join in running another day. It would be pretty cool to say that I ran in Africa.
And so this day ends, later than I wanted it to, but it's all good. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
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