So today was the big day... This Eaglet spread her wings and started a solo flight.
I'd been packing for days, it's been very emotionally draining... and saying goodbye was heart wrenching. Pappa cried, Mamma cried, my sister and brother cried... and Chris was there too to see me off, and he cried too. We all cried. He kissed me in front of my family, which wa the first time ever. It was a nice kiss though, not an all-over-the-floor-PDA-kiss.
I cried. I cried a lot during the 90-minute flight, eating the chocolate Chris bought me. The ladies next to me didn't say anything, maybe it's good. Maybe they didn't notice.
I think a lot now. Did I make the right choice? Will I enjoy the Western Cape? Is Stellenbosch where I belong?
It was a pretty good day though, apart from the accute sadness. The people i'm spending the night with are good friends of Pappa's and the food is great too.
And they took me to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens! You don't understand how beautiful it is... I'll have to post pictures soon! It's not something you can describe... realizing that this country has so many wow plant species! And it's a lovely place to have a romantic picnic, or to just relax and clean your mind.
I think... I think i will enjoy it here.
But I do miss my family and love so very much.
15 January 2009
06 January 2009
Rant on State Inefficiency
Today I went to the very centre of the city.
I spent four hours on foot, dodging bad taxi drivers and trying to maintain a 360° view so as to prevent becoming a snatch and run victim. I also spent those 4 hours being one of only two white South Africans in, say, a 1km radius.
Now, I know I've been living in South Africa my whole life, but... I was scared. Scared because I could see the shapes of revolvers in some men's pockets. Scared because I didn't like the way the young boys tried rubbing up on me. Scared because, I guess, I wasn't quite used to the kind of streets I was now traipsing through.
I think I started getting used to it though.
What I couldn't get used to, though, was the complete inefficiency.
It took the lady at the court half an hour to make a photocopy of someone's ID in the room next door. Home affairs, Social Service Agencies and the courthouse: they all have ridiculously long queues, buildings that are in such a state that they should be deemed inhabitable and employees who have close to no clue what they are doing.
And they seem to take tea breaks every half-hour.
I understand fully that with our economy, things are not always available as they should be, and people don't always have the education they should have. Fine.
But is it that difficult to send a clerk or any other employee to a course to teach them to look at people when they talk to you? BECAUSE I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHEN YOU ARE TALKING TO THE FLOOR!
At home affairs, the lady taking my details almost declared me MALE! Which must mean she was obviously paying no attention to my decisively female voice or the fact that I was wearing pretty earrings and a shiny hairband and makeup for pete's sake. It's not that difficult.
And at social services nobody had any idea what we were talking to and when we asked someone if his name was so-and-so, he gave us an ugly look, said, "yes, so?" and walked on.
Yes, verrrry professional.
Now, dear government, if I am expected to go on a course with my domestic helper so that we can understand each other's language better, why can you not send your employees on courses to make them more efficient.
It's not rocket science!
After today I am fed up and just about hopeless. I am actually surprised that anything gets done in this country.
Because even if I one day figured out a way of solving some of our country's problems, there would probably be too much beaurocracy and inefficiency to put it in place.
I spent four hours on foot, dodging bad taxi drivers and trying to maintain a 360° view so as to prevent becoming a snatch and run victim. I also spent those 4 hours being one of only two white South Africans in, say, a 1km radius.
Now, I know I've been living in South Africa my whole life, but... I was scared. Scared because I could see the shapes of revolvers in some men's pockets. Scared because I didn't like the way the young boys tried rubbing up on me. Scared because, I guess, I wasn't quite used to the kind of streets I was now traipsing through.
I think I started getting used to it though.
What I couldn't get used to, though, was the complete inefficiency.
It took the lady at the court half an hour to make a photocopy of someone's ID in the room next door. Home affairs, Social Service Agencies and the courthouse: they all have ridiculously long queues, buildings that are in such a state that they should be deemed inhabitable and employees who have close to no clue what they are doing.
And they seem to take tea breaks every half-hour.
I understand fully that with our economy, things are not always available as they should be, and people don't always have the education they should have. Fine.
But is it that difficult to send a clerk or any other employee to a course to teach them to look at people when they talk to you? BECAUSE I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHEN YOU ARE TALKING TO THE FLOOR!
At home affairs, the lady taking my details almost declared me MALE! Which must mean she was obviously paying no attention to my decisively female voice or the fact that I was wearing pretty earrings and a shiny hairband and makeup for pete's sake. It's not that difficult.
And at social services nobody had any idea what we were talking to and when we asked someone if his name was so-and-so, he gave us an ugly look, said, "yes, so?" and walked on.
Yes, verrrry professional.
Now, dear government, if I am expected to go on a course with my domestic helper so that we can understand each other's language better, why can you not send your employees on courses to make them more efficient.
It's not rocket science!
After today I am fed up and just about hopeless. I am actually surprised that anything gets done in this country.
Because even if I one day figured out a way of solving some of our country's problems, there would probably be too much beaurocracy and inefficiency to put it in place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)