A Day in the Life (of Me)

I finally feel like I’ve settled into somewhat of a routine here, so I figured I’d post about it, for those who have asked me what day-to-day life is like here in Pretoria. Here’s how it usually breaks down:

7:20 – wake up 10 minutes before my alarm goes off. This has never, ever happened in the US.

My bed. With, of course, another random twin bed across from it.

7:30 – alarm goes off. Force myself out of cozy warm bed into freezing, unheated room. Turn on weak, pathetic heater immediately. Brush teeth, etc.

Look at them, just chilling on the couch!

7:45 – Turn on TV to Expresso, South Africa’s version of Good Morning America (as far as I can tell), and their jingle/tagline is “the feel-good breakfast show!” which I quite like. And is now stuck in my head. They also have 2 French bulldogs, one tan and one black, who join them on set, which I also quite like.

8:00 – make tea in nifty little instant water boiler kettle thing (must buy one when I get home), drink with biscuits (called “rusks”) and generic Nutella. Very healthy. So much for African diet plan.

Other side of my room - closet, bathroom, lame heater, little "kitchen" area.

8:15 – meet other volunteers in hallway and drive to the Department of Health building in center city, unless I’m going to the CHAI offices (which I do maybe once a week), in which case I’ll walk. It’s about 15 minutes, and quite safe.

8:40 – arrive at NDOH, park on the street. We park in the same area every day, and our spot is always saved for us by a “car guard” or informal parking attendant who seems to “own” this section of the road. His name is Lucky. These guys seem to exist everywhere in this country. They (allegedly) watch your car for you while you’re away, or save you a space in the 
morning, and then you tip them a few Rand when you leave.

8:45 – head inside, go through security (including fingerprint scan), and check laptop in (security guards write down the serial number of your laptop to ensure that you’re taking the same one home at night).

9:00 – arrive at my office on the 7^th floor. Apparently it actually belongs to a man named Peter, but he hasn’t been in the office since I’ve been here. Mostly people just pop their heads in, stare at me curiously, and ask where Peter is.

The grand entrance to my office, good ol' NO722

My desk in the NDOH Civitas building, in center city Pretoria

9:00 – 18:00 – work, send emails, get distracted by BuzzFeed, eat lunch that I’ve brought with me (there unfortunately aren’t many safe places to walk for food near the NDOH, except for the National Department of Education building across the street, which has a cafeteria that I have yet to explore), work some more. The “work” typically consists of me trying to organize my thoughts and put them into some clear document that I’ll be able to talk through with whomever I need to meet with next. It’s actually getting those meetings scheduled that is the tricky part, thusfar.

My desk in the CHAI office in Hatfield

17:00 – pack up, head down to meet the other volunteers in the main lobby. Sign laptop back out.

17:05 – get in the car, thank Lucky for keeping our car in one piece, drive off.

Home sweet Rosetoli Guest House

17:30 – arrive back at the guest house (or, on Mondays, head to the Pick ‘n Pay or Spar grocery stores for shopping for the week. They look pretty similar to any grocery store I’ve seen in Europe. Offering mostly everything you’d need, but not in the gross quantities you’d find in suburban America), relax for the next hour or so.

Site of my cooking attempts

18:30 – cook dinner in communal kitchen. As those who know me might expect, this is nothing spectacular. Bake a frozen pizza in the oven, make pasta, etc. The other guys are much more creative than I am when it comes to food, so perhaps I’ll step up my game before I leave. Or not.

19:00 – clean up, make tea, drink with biscuits while reading a book. Sometimes in the common room of the guest house with others (often we’ll all hang out on our computers, with me slowly burning through my pre-paid data since my 3G USB hotspot doesn’t work, planning our travel for the upcoming weekend), or in my room while watching Celebrity Apprentice, 2 Broke Girls or MasterChef South Africa. They have some interesting programming here. Girls comes on every few nights around 10PM. I can only imagine what this makes South Africans think of American women in their mid-20s.

21:00 – get in bed. Again, this never happens in the US. Ever. I’m getting more sleep these days than I did when I was a teenager who always wanted to sleep until 2PM.

Occasionally I’ll have the chance to come along on a visit to a hospital or clinic during the week, which is always a welcome break and an educational experience, as I’ve described in earlier posts. I’m grateful that I’ve had the chance to see some parts of this country beyond the popular city centers, even if it’s not always an “easy” thing to experience.

The weekends are another story, as you’ve seen thusfar. There is not much to do in Pretoria (especially without a car), so everyone leaves on the weekends, and especially since I’m only here for 4 of them, I feel the need to make the most of it.

I leave for Cape Town tonight, and we’ve got paragliding, a wine tour and some quality time with penguins on tap. More on that next week!