This is my second attempt to write something today. I just finished describing all that I have been doing since I arrived when it suddenly disappeared. So there we go again. Yesterday after I got through customs and picked up my bag I was dawned by the sight of at least 50 people holding up signs with people they were about to collect. I could not see my name anywhere. Ai at the airport and already lost…I talked to a few people and found out that South Africans are most chatty and friendly. So waiting around wasn't bad at all. Then I saw a gentle faced man with my name on a paperboard looking around, I waved at him and was very relieved. We had to wait for 2 more people and once they were found we set of to the hotel. We drove through the nice green suburbs of Johannesburg and I was surprised to see how beautiful and modern everything was all looking. Wow South Africa is just very beautiful. The thing that struck me were all the high walls with barb wire or electric fences on top of those walls that surrounded almost every house like it were fortresses. It must be so strange to life like that. Is it to lock the people who live there in or to keep the world out? There were signs everywhere of security companies and signs saying there is an armed response. I saw quite some security guards walking around who were heavily and visibly armed. I think they shoot before they ask.

 

Johannesburg has a very bad reputation but because I expected the worse it wasn't half as bad as I thought. I had already spoken to some locals on the airport who had assured me it really isn't that bad at all. There are just certain areas to be avoided. The hotel is a very modern looking from the outside and enthusiastically decorated in a style I can only describe as eclectic . it is wild, creative and slightly mad but somehow it is very refreshing compared to the smooth and boring decors we fancy in Europe. I just had to take some pictures and post them for you. The rooms are decorated in a more mainstream calm fashion. Modern and hip with one of those waterfall massive showers that are just fantastic. There even is a stand for your ipod, so you can play your own music. The day was filled with running from a to b and in the evening it was hard to not fall asleep. We had dinner (Sushi yummie) in a restaurant in a nearby mall. We all sat by open doors and you could see the bats chasing each other in the moonlight. Crickets were singing in the background and it made me so curious for the rest of the country. The sushi took forever to be prepared but tasted amazing. I felt asleep as if I hadn't slept for a week and today it was al much more relaxed. But now it is time to exercise a bit ! more 2morrow!