first movie at the "cinema"

**Happy Birthday to Momma Mag!!!!! We wish we were there to celebrate with you. Make sure you have some Rumchata and a margarita for us!**

Last night, we decided to check out the local movie theater (called the "cinema") to see Iron Man 3. We loved the movie! Have any of you seen it? We were a little scared because the cinema is located in a facility that is also a casino, mini-golf course, bowling alley and hotel. It was actually pretty nice, but we were laughing our asses off because there were so many entertainment options under the same roof. 

The cinema itself is similar to those in the states but has smaller screens, different movie snacks and weird chairs. It has stadium-style seating.  I will take photos next time we go (it was too dark to get good ones last night). The cinema had 7 movies to choose from - 6 of which were American films. Way to represent, America! haha.

ZA'ers don't use butter on their popcorn - they use flavored seasoning salts in very unique flavors like onion-cheese and roasted chicken. Yep, you read that correctly: roasted chicken. The tabletop and floor around the salt shakers looked like a scene from the beach because of all the salt that was dusted on it. 

The best part was that it cost R50 (less than $5) total for our two tickets. Then we spent another R25 on a coke and a sugar-coated gummy candy that was oddly addicting. So, we spent less than $10 on a movie night. We are used to spending at least triple that at home. Score!

{individual tickets are not issued; only a receipt. They tear the upper corner upon admission}

A funny tidbit...there were about 10 people seeing Iron Man 3, but the theater showing Fast and the Furious 6 was COMPLETELY packed. There was not an empty seat in the entire theater...on a Wednesday evening. Weird!

Mat had a training class today at a power plant that is under construction. When it is completed, it will be the largest coal-fire power plant in the world. How cool is that? There are currently about 15,000 people working on it but many of them are on strike right now. We learned there is a "strike season" here which can cripple the country. Tomorrow we have a tax-preparation class and another safety and security briefing with the B&V security guy.

Sorry for the lack of photos today, but I will make up for it this weekend - promise! I will leave you with a photo of some funny signs posted on the outside of many neighborhoods around here.

{hooting means honking}

Love,

Jess & Mat

controlled burning & emails

Good morning! Last night was an interesting one because our town is doing some semi-controlled burning. You might remember that we are staying in a lapa, which basically a modernized hut with a thatched roof, so the smoke smell was seeping in alllllll night. We were sleeping with our heads under the sheets! 

Here a photo of the ceiling of our lapa...

We are both tired today. Sarah told me that this is burning season, so we can expect many more nights with a similar experience. oh no!!!!

Also, I have heard from several of you that my emails are going to your spam filters. Maybe because the email Big Brother knows they are coming from South Africa! If you have written me an email and haven't heard back, check your spam filter and then mark me as "not spam." 

I will be back later with another post.

Love,

Jess & Mat

memorial day & loskop dam

In the U.S., the unofficial start of summer is Memorial Day weekend. In Africa, however, it is the start of winter (we are in the southern hemisphere). Obviously, Africans don't celebrate Memorial Day, but our American friends invited us over for burgers and hot dogs!!! We are excited! A big thanks to Sarah & Seth for being awesome. :-)

How did you celebrate this holiday weekend? No matter what you did, I hope you took a moment to remember why we have this treasured break. The memory of those who have fought and died while serving in the United States Armed Forces is not something to forget. Thank you to our troops, both past and present!!!

On to the fun part of this post....
On Saturday, we braved the crazy ZA drivers and took a day trip to Loskop Dam Nature Preserve to see some African wildlife in their natural habitat. It was my life goal to see a giraffe that was not in a zoo, so I begged Mat to drive me because I am still mildly scared to drive on the freeways. Lucky for him he obliged, and we drove 68km's NE to the preserve. The trip was *relatively* uneventful, except for the fact that we almost ran over about 10 S. Africans who tend to cross the street whenever they feel like it - even if there is a car coming. And the fact that we had to drive on unpaved roads that the Garmin did not recognize. Now that is scary. BUT, we made it alive without being hijacked or robbed. WAHOOO!!!!!!

Fast forward to entering the preserve...
We drove for about 10 minutes down a dirt road before reaching the main gate. We thought we were lost in the middle of nowhere and I was panicking about getting a flat tire. I was also panicking because I had to pee and the road was bumpy. When we reached the main gate, we parked and went in to pay and get a map. The cost was R100. That is about $9.50 USD. For both of us!!!! When can you safari for $9.50? Never. Never ever. We were thrilled...until we learned that there was no public restroom in the building. Ugh. Not winning.

After paying, we entered the driving trail with no map because they didn't have one printed (is ZA going green?). We immediately saw a warthog aka Pumba. "Hakuna Matata" is STILL stuck in my head two days later. And now it is stuck in yours. You're welcome. And shortly after, we saw a giraffe!!!!! This is NOT a zoo, people, so we were not guaranteed to see any animals. But, we were lucky because we got to see a lot of animals - giraffes, baboons, mongoose, kudu, impala, nayla, warthogs and lots of birds. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! I cannot even describe how excited I was when we saw SIX giraffes. Winning!
Here are some of our favorite photos of the 2.5 hour drive through the preserve:

{baboon - there was a baby, too, but the mama baboon moved it away from us FAST!!}

{bird with a toucan-type beak. this bird spent a lot of time on the ground}

{giraffe and warthog. the giraffe is in the back left}

{another giraffe - we think it is a male because it was alone}

{funny looking bird - no clue what it is}

{young impalas}

{male impala}

{male nyala - this thing is weird looking!!}

{young kudu}

{adult male kudu}

{monkeys in the road}

{view of the Loskop Dam reservoir}

{look at the thorns on this tree!!!! YIKES!}

{warthog aka PUMBA "hakuna matata"}

{driving trail through the preserve}

I hope you enjoyed these photos of our first safari! I am studying these animals in preparation for our visit to Kruger National Park aka THE safari experience in ZA.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Love,
Jess & Mat

still looking for a rental house

Hi! I cannot believe we have been here for more than a week already. We have learned so much in the past ten days and I truly believe there is no amount of research that could have prepared us for what we've seen, heard and experienced. For example: you can read that zebras, springboks and impalas roam freely in the fields, but actually seeing it is incredible. You can read that Johannesburg has crazy and dangerous drivers, but you will need to change your under-roos after driving in it. You can read that there are 11 national languages, but you cannot grasp it until you see signs, publications, and TV shows in multiple languages. I am definitely in culture shock!

As for us, we are still in temporary housing because we cannot find a furnished house to rent that has the amenities and security we need. The easiest way to tell you guys about what we're looking for in a house is to create a list. Here it goes:

1. The number one thing we are looking for in a house is security - both the physical location and how it is safeguarded inside and out. Houses and neighborhoods are surrounded by high fences topped with electric or barbed wire. Metal safety doors are installed in most homes to create a "safe haven" to protect people against burglaries. Additionally, working alarm systems and panic buttons are a staple in homes. This is what I mean:

Before we can move into a house, the B&V security guy has to inspect it. If a security measure needs to be added, he tells the landlord and they have to install it or the lease will not be signed

2. JoJo water tank - water is frequently shutoff here for days at a time (without notice), so a reserve water tank is 100% necessary

3. Generator - Power is also shut off here frequently for days at a time (without notice), so a backup power supply is 100% necessary

4. Internet (preferably wireless with an unlimited option) - Many homes are not wired for internet at all and getting it installed can take anywhere from 2 to 4 months

5. Television with cable or satellite - Thankfully, most homes have this

6. Furnished with at least 2 bedrooms - Quality and tasteful furniture and decor

7. Proximity to Mat's job site - less than 20 kilos

8. Dishwasher - these are surprisingly hard to find in a house

9. Washer & dryer. Tumble dryers are rare. It is more common to dry clothing on clothing lines outside

Optional: "domestic" worker and a gardener. More on this in another post

Well, I hope this gives you an idea of what we're up against :-)  Take care and I'll post again soon. We are headed to the Loskop Dam nature preserve tomorrow to hopefully see giraffe, baboons, mongoose, and more!

Love,
Jess & Mat

money, money, money

Hello, everyone! We met another Black & Veatch couple our age today. They have been here for 1.5 years, so they have been giving us advice and tips on how to adjust to our new area. I think they will be here for 6 more months until they go back to the U.S. We are very happy they are here and willing to help us. It makes things so much easier (and more fun).

Many of you might be wondering what type of currency is used in ZA. It is the South African Rand. It has the symbol "R" or "ZAR." It has been the national currency since 1961.

This is how the Rand is broken down into coins and notes:

Coins:	5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, R 1, R 2, R 5
Banknotes:	R 10, R 20, R 50, R 100, R 200

The exchange rate is approximately $1USD = 9.50ZAR. I basically divide everything by 10 because it is easier math for my still-jet-lagged brain!

Here is a photo of the notes. I think they are quite pretty! Each note has a picture of one of Africa's "Big 5" animals: rhinoceros, elephant, lion, cape buffalo and leopard. They recently began printing new notes (top row) that include differences in design and added imbedded security features. The older notes are on the bottom for comparison.

I don't have photos of the coins because we are constantly using them to tip the locals. It is normal here to tip just about everyone - from parking lot attendants who "guard" your car while you are shopping or eating to full-service petrol (gasoline) attendants. There are ONLY full-service petrol stations. Self-service stations do not exist in ZA, presumably to create more jobs.

Side note: we have wi-fi that usually works, so we can FaceTime or Skype. Call us! FaceTime is setup under my gmail email address. If you don't have it, let me know on FB and I will send it to you.

That's it for now. Hope all of you are doing well.
Love,
Jess & Mat

balalaika & lavender lane

Happy Sunday! I hope you guys enjoyed the first post. Please leave us comments from time to time because we are lonely :-)

The first night, we stayed in the Balalaika Hotel in an area of Joburg called Sandton. Sandton is also the financial district of South Africa. Here is a rather blurry photo of the hotel:

The hotel was similar to those in the states, but we noticed these differences:
- Bellmen (called Porters) were overly eager to help us with our baggage for a tip. Note: we overtipped them on accident when converting to Rand, so they loved us
- It was very confusing to find our room due to the hotel layout
- Central heat and air are very rare in ZA, but we were thankful to have an "air con" unit in our room which is set in degrees Celsius because they use the Metric System
- In addition to local ZA shows and sports in a variety of languages, TV airs a lot of old American sitcoms and movies
- We haven't seen a washcloth. From what I can tell, they use something a bit larger than hand towels in the shower
- Continental breakfast was full of meats, fruits and bread products I have never seen before.  I will have many more posts on the food here, because there are so many interesting items
- Nescafe instant coffee is the coffee of choice
- There were guests from all over the world at our hotel. We heard more than 10 different languages and saw very interesting attire!

On Wednesday morning, we went to the Black & Veatch offices in Sunninghill for orientation and to pick up our rental car. We also took driving lessons because they drive on the opposite side of the road, like in England, and have unique driving laws. Driving here is absolutely INSANE and pretty darn scary. I will do an entire post on this soon. At B&V we learned all about taxes, health insurance abroad, safety and security. More on this later, too.

After orientation, we figured out how to navigate the highways and drove 1.5 hours NE to Witbank, which is where we will be living. We saw a variety of interesting things on our drive, including random people walking on the highways, animals and several shantytowns. It is truly eye-opening to see the level of poverty that exists here. Here is a photo of a shantytown (taken from the car at 120 km):

We are currently staying in temporary housing at Lavender Lane Guest House, which is similar to a bed and breakfast. It has been a great transition house while we are house hunting. A wonderful couple owns Lavender Lane and they cook us breakfast and dinner every weekday.

They also have two "sausage" dogs (dachshund and doxie-jack russell) here that love to play fetch.

We have gone house hunting twice and haven't found the right one yet. We will keep you posted on our hunt.

Goodnight!

the flight

Hi everyone! We arrived safely in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening. My plan was to begin posting on day 1, but jet lag has been really bad. We haven't been able to sleep through the night yet and find ourselves wide awake from 1am to 4am. I have so much to share with you guys, but I am going to start from the beginning - the flight.

We packed everything we could into these six bags and two small carry-ons. The Delta curbside employee gave us kudos for only bringing six bags for a one-year stay. He said many people bring more than this for a three-week vacation overseas!

We flew on a Delta 777 jet and were very fortunate to fly first class! Here are a few photos of the first class pods. We felt really bad for the poor folks headed back to economy plus and economy. After flying first class, I cannot imagine flying overseas any other way. I am officially spoiled.

There was also a film crew and several actors on our flight who were en route to ZA to film a new Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore movie, called Blended. We recognized a few of the kid actors: Kyle Silverstein (the super cute kid on Grey's Anatomy that Hunt loves), Bella Thorne (Disney Channel star), and one of the little blonde girls from Mama. btw, the Disney Channel star thought she was SO cool. She wore sunglasses in the airport!!!!

From the moment we boarded the plane, we were served unlimited champagne, wine, coffee and water. After about an hour, we were served our first course: coconut shrimp and mango salad. Next, we received our second course: asian-inspired roasted chicken with bok choy and wild rice. The last course was dessert - mini eclairs and chocolate-covered strawberries. Each course was surprisingly tasty and unlike any plane food I've ever had. Here is a photo of the roasted chicken dish we both ordered.

There were hundreds of movies, TV shows, games, and radio stations to keep us occupied. I watched This is 40, an episode of Game of Thrones and Mama. Mat watched Jack Reacher, This is 40 and Mama. We both slept about 8 hours in our cozy pods.

After 15 hours and 25 minutes, we landed in Joburg, breezed through customs and got our baggage. Here is Mat wheeling our stuff through the airport.

 Welcome to South Africa!!!!!!!!

I will try to post again tomorrow if the internet stays up. South Africa is about 20 years behind the U.S. in terms of technology and internet. Seriously.
Goodnight! We miss each of you.

common questions

I don't know about you, but my knowledge of South Africa (also referred to as "ZA") is limited. We all know the best way to learn about a culture is to immerse yourself in it. Fortunately, that is exactly what we get to do!

We have been doing a lot of research over the past few months, but have barely made a dent in the rich history of the country. I will be posting relevant facts and info on this blog, but until then, here are answers to a couple common questions we have gotten:

"How long is the flight?"

Answer: the flight is 15 hours 25 minutes nonstop from Atlanta. We will be flying on a Boeing 777 jet (in business class - hooray!!!!)

"What is the time difference?"

Answer: GMT+2.
May 6th @ 9am EST = May 6th @ 3pm in Johannesburg (*there is no Daylight Savings adjustment in Africa so the difference will change from 6 hours when the U.S. changes in the Fall*)

moving day is tomorrow!!!

Hello, family and friends! Mat and I are excited to use this blog to share our photos and adventures in South Africa during the upcoming year. Wish us luck!