Arrival and Pomeroy

So after arriving in Durban, it was easy to find the van/bus that would take me to the hotel for R50.  I an not sure what is happening to the Euro, but the Rand is now at 8.05 to the USD.  This is very welcome.  So the 15 minute ride to the Holiday Inn Express cost $6.25 each way.  An incredible bargain compared to a taxi at R240 ($30).  It was raining and very rough on the plane ride into Durban.

The Holiday Inn, quoted to me at $90 per night turned out to be R611 ($77).  The room was pleasant but small like European hotels.  I got there at 9 PM and was hungery.  I was told the hotel restaurant was open until "half-past 10" so I presented my selft at 9:30.  Oh, they were so sad that they had just closed the kitchen.  But they volunteer they would make 1 more thing.  So I opted for the chicken kabob togo. After a 10 minute wait, I was thanked my business, given my food, and told that it was on the house because I was the last customer of the night.  Evidently, I won the sweepstakes to be the last customer and to pay nothing.  I thanked them and moved on.

Slept well until 3:30 am. Then ... wide a wake.  At 5:30 I decided to get ready and get back to the airport on the 7:30 am taxi (another $6.25)  But first breakfast.  The breakfast room had a balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean and it was clear, cool, and sunny.  Coffee and croissant were typical.  However the scrambled eggs and the cold baked beans were regrettable.

Waiting for the bus on the balcony, I was advised by a local to avoid the backroad to Pomeroy and to take the freeway for the maximum distance.  We looked at map, we discussed obstructions in the road such as chickens, goats, and cattle; the many many buses.  I opted for backroads.

Got my car at the airport, took the N2 north to Stanger up the coast about 20 minutes and headed inland to Pomeroy via Graytown and Tugela Ferry.  All of the animals and more were encountered along with a myriad of pothotles.  But I made excellent time on the road and enjoyed the dramatic country.  It is ridges and deep, broad valleys. Very spectacular.  After a bit I rolled into Pomeroy -- the clinic is the first anything you encounter when approaching from the south.  Beyond is the shopping district where chickens, cheap clothes, and lots of loitering abound.

I arrived at 11 am which was a pleasant surprise for Mom.  She looks very good and has established a daily routine of helping in the clinic.  The weight she lost early on is still gone and she reports to weigh about 140 pounds.  We immediately began the tour and meeting the hospital staff.  Evidently my arrival was well publicized and I was expected.

We toured Moms rooms in the apartment.  I is a fairly large building with about 5 room arranged on single hall way with a living room area and a porch on the north end.  The kitchen, bathroom, and supply room occupy the other side of the hallway.  She has a simple room with a table and 3 chairs, a night stand table with a small reading lamp, a box spring and mattress bed that sit directly on the floor.  It has a large window that faces to the west for the warm afternoon sun, and a wardrobe in which she keeps her clothes.

There is a sink in the room that she uses as a vanity.  (See picture)

In the kitchen, there is a big stove that doesn't work (loose wiring shocks anyone who tries) and a fridge or.  Cooking is done on a 2 burner hot plate and a microwave gets put to many uses.  I you are looking to send a small something -- start with basics like: a pancake turner, a few old bit of tableware (forks, spoons, knife), a colandar for fruit and vegetables, large serving spoon, hot pads, kitchen towels, etc.  In short, the kitchen lacks most everything.

So, Mom thought I should have the communal lunch with the staff.  Evidently most of them were afraid of me so they did not stay but I thought it was just a nice day out for a picnic.  We eat in the kitchen with a few of the people and had pap and stewed beef with carrots. I thought it was good.  The pap (corn meal much) is total bland and serves the same function as white rice in a Chinese meal.

Lunch over, we decided to take a ride into Dundee.  This is a big treat for Mom since she normally goes along and must take the packed taxi each way.  Since we had a car, we could easily got there in 30 minutes.  We went to the candy store, the laundry/book exchange to get new books to read, two grocery stores to see the optons, the liquor store, and to a tea house looking for a wi-fi connection.  We didn't find the wi-fi connection by she learned where it was for later reference.  Her computer connected beautifully with the 3G cell card she had at high speed and we got her email downloaded. It was obvious that the challenge in Pomeroy with connectivity is the cell phone coverage is of the old style and has very slow bandwidth.  We were able to make it work in Pomeroy also but it has a tendency to drop unexpectedly.  Need to work on this, it may be a simple as re-installing the driver to eliminated software issues.  The goal is to get it reliable so that she can use it.

Sister called and invited us for dinner - which we could not refuse and we picked up a couple bottles of wines and a carrot cake for dessert.

Dinner with the Sisters.  Got off to a slow start.  The don't talk much.  So I did my best to get them talking and to have some fun.  Dinner itself was not remarkable.  The focus in South Africa is on very basic cooking.  After a while, they wanted to know more about the US.  Were people happy that bin Laden had been killed? What is the progress for the blacks in South Africa ? How long will it take? What needs to change?  The Sisters do not stay up late so dinner was over by 7:30.  Mom and I went  back to her apartment to process the first day and to go over the itineray for the trip.  We would have drunk another bottle of win but we left the 3rd wine with the Sisters as a gift.  So off to bed.  The Sisters gave me a private apartment in the wing of the Convent -- day room, laundry, bathroom, and bedroom for my use.  Very generous.  Unfortunately, when I got back they had also set the alarm.  It made a big racket for about a minute until someone turned it off.

That night, it rained very hard and the temperature dropped significantly  In the morning, it was about 40 degrees and cloudy.  It had been a very pleasant day in the 70's on Tuesday.

Wednesday was a down day ... cloudy and cold ... we focused on the internet problem and got everything working in Pomerory afer a few tweeks.  The only problem: SLOW.  So one must be patient.  We discussed the merit of patience several times throughout the day.  We got the email to send and recieve reliably, we posted to Facebook, and created a blog.  The blog is easily to update becasue we are keeping the pictures to a minimum.  Facebook is very slow due to all the graphics.

Big deal occurred.  Package from Mary with licorice, cards, and a DVD movie arrived.  I showed Mom how to watch the DVD.  That was an inspired gift.  DVD's can be cheap and make up for the lack of outside communication (local TV doesn't exactly cut it here in zulu and Afrikaans.) I encourage everyone to send DVDs.

So we got some email. Here is what I learned about email etiquette: When you have little to do the emails you recieve are important.  Longer emails where people share events and thoughts is much better than "looking forward to your blog".  Email is much anticipated and it is much more fun and satisfying when it is longer and contains even mundane personal details.

So after all that, I needed a nap.  So I took a 3 hour mid afternoon nap where the sun came out and it warmed up.  We made dinner in the approximation to a kitchen - pork chop and fried potatoes - ate and talked until 9:30.  The off to bed. 

Thursday morning we are driving to the game park.  Today (Thursday) has dawned bright and sunny.  Here is some game on the streets of Pomeroy.  A picture of Mom's workspace in the kitchen (pretty basic) and having morning coffee in her room