Ok, so I hope everyone has enjoyed the blog posts with places we are going to see while in South Africa, but I would like to take this opportunity to tell you all about the day to day things that we have experienced while being here in Johannesburg. We have really enjoyed ourselves while here, but their are a few amenities of home that we look forward to get back to! I do understand that we are in a different country and of course it will not be exactly like home. But where do I begin to explain the differences!
Some of the amenities of that we look forward to having again are:
central a/c - the small oscillating fan we have doesn't really cut in on 90 degrees F day; a larger refrigerator - we currently have a dorm size fridge; a washer/dryer- for the most part we hand wash everything, but Michael's work shirts we go to the laundromat; and our automatic cars - it isn't too horrible driving a standard, but the traffic here is ridiculous.
I guess I will begin trying to explain some of the differences with our home and neighborhood. We live in a nice quiet neighborhood, called Westdene. Now let me go ahead and tell you here that in every neighborhood each house is closed off usually with a tall concrete wall of a fence that either has spikes or razor wire on top. So when you travel down a street you only see a person's fence and not their home. I understand the reasons for the these fences, but as someone from the U.S. it just boggles my mind how closed off each home is. On one of the main roads of our neighborhood, you see street vendors, but the one we find most interesting is the guy giving hair cuts. Sounds normal, but he is actually using clippers that he has hooked to a car battery for power.
Now this next thing is going to take me a bit to explain so please bear with me. On trash days, there are these guys who go up and down in neighborhoods pulling carts and rummaging through others trash looking for things they can take to cash in before the trash truck comes. For example, scrap metals but also plastics. The carts that they pull start out as just a thick piece of plastic and then they have this mesh like bag that the guys expand as they pick up more and more. The bag gets to be about 3 feet taller than the guys. Then once they have filled their bags they head out and you see them travelling down the main roads. They walk pulling them behind them most of the time, but when they find a downhill they ride them like skate boards!
Not only do you have to watch out for these guys travelling on the streets, but you also have to be really alert when driving due to the mini buses. They are these buses that hold 15 people and are usually packed full. They stop anywhere and everywhere, don't obey the traffic laws and signs, and will cut you off no matter what. The traffic rules that they don't follow the most are stop lights. First of all, they anticipate the changing of the light so much that they are almost through the intersection before light turns green. Then there are some that come up to the light and just run through it like it is a yield sign. Another problem I have with them is that if there is a turn lane available, they will travel up the turn lane to pass up all the rest of the people waiting at the light and then cut everyone off going straight and block the people who are actually trying to turn. I could go on and on about things these guys do that bother me, but I'm sure you get the picture. They also have several regular size and double decker buses on the roads. They also act like they own the road; they put their blinker on and then cut across 3 lanes of traffic no matter who or what are in their way.
We have found that at the grocery store, meats (like steaks, chicken breasts, and such) are much cheaper than the states. Fresh produce is also cheaper. But most of the stuff that is prepackaged or processed is either comparable or more expensive. At first glance you might think that the items is the same price as the states, but they package items smaller here. I know we should all eat smaller portion sizes, but if that is the case I would still like to pay less. Sandwich meat is unbelievable; most of the time you get roughly 8 thin slices of meat for about $4. Now we did recently start going to this store called Makro. The best way to explain this store is like a Wal-Mart and Sam's put together. You can buy in bulk or you can buy a single item. Here they had a large package of sandwich meat (only ham) for $5, but it was 1 kilo of meat. Here you can also buy a whole lamb or half of a cow.
Another thing to take note of while being out and about are the parking guards and pay lots. Most of the grocery stores are in like a mall setting, and there are usually more than one type of grocery store and several other types of stores in the mall. There are numerous malls throught the city. Now when you get to most of these malls you can either park in the parking lot in front of the building, the underground parking or the parking garage. No matter where you have parked, you need to remember to take the ticket you recieved when entering the parking lot with you. Once you have finished all your shopping at that mall you take the ticket to the paystation near the exit of the building to pay it. There are different amounts you pay based on how long you have been at that mall. On average for 1-2 hours you pay between R3 and R6, which is roughly $.36 to $.72, it doesn't seem like much, but you pretty much have to pay a paystation no matter where you go. Oh and once you pay the paystation you have about 15 minutes to load your car and get to the exit of the lot to insert your ticket and get out. If you fail to do so in 15 minutes you then have to repay the paystation. Now some stores will validate your parking, but usually for only one and a half hours.
If you are going somewhere that does not have its own parking lot and you park on the public street you then have to deal with car guards. In a perfect situation, the car guard points out an available parking spot, watches your car while you are away, and then helps guide you/stop traffic while you exit the parking spot. And when this is completed you then tip the car guard. Simple enough! But what we have found is that we park our car with no help, go where we are going, come back and then back our car up with no assitance, but the car guard is still standing there waiting for his tip. We have both said that if there were a situation where our car was broken into we figure the car guard would be long gone! Also when you are at a more touristy spot some of the car guards demand a higher set price versus the tip that they should be receiving. One night we were parking somewhere that was very populated and we did get to experience 2 car guards fighting over where we were going to park and who was on who's territory...we just backed our car up and left them there to fight!
We have been able to enjoy several local restaurants. The food quality we would probably compare to a Chili's with an Outback price. We have gone out for sushi that was reasonably priced. But as a whole unless you are eating fast food it is a little more pricey to eat out here. For those of you wondering they have McDonalds and KFC here.
In general, we have found that services here are cheaper. For example, to go to the spa or have someone clean your home is much cheaper. Many of the people we have talked to have all said that they had someone in their home (helping with cleaning or being a nanny) as long as they could remember.
We have also noticed that many of the people here are really accepting of Americans. Plus the people we have met as a whole are very nice and friendly. The friendliness goes much futher than just people saying hello. For instance, we were at a restaurant and the owners came up and spoke to us and even offered to show us some of the local areas. Or there was the family we met on the plane, who went out of their way to help us get a local cell phone, told us where to shop for items Jayce might need, and their son even helped us push our cart of luggage.
I hope I haven't completely bored you all with these accounts. These are just some of the major differences that stand out in my mind. And like I said before we are really enjoying ourselves even with all the differences!
Now this next thing is going to take me a bit to explain so please bear with me. On trash days, there are these guys who go up and down in neighborhoods pulling carts and rummaging through others trash looking for things they can take to cash in before the trash truck comes. For example, scrap metals but also plastics. The carts that they pull start out as just a thick piece of plastic and then they have this mesh like bag that the guys expand as they pick up more and more. The bag gets to be about 3 feet taller than the guys. Then once they have filled their bags they head out and you see them travelling down the main roads. They walk pulling them behind them most of the time, but when they find a downhill they ride them like skate boards!
Not only do you have to watch out for these guys travelling on the streets, but you also have to be really alert when driving due to the mini buses. They are these buses that hold 15 people and are usually packed full. They stop anywhere and everywhere, don't obey the traffic laws and signs, and will cut you off no matter what. The traffic rules that they don't follow the most are stop lights. First of all, they anticipate the changing of the light so much that they are almost through the intersection before light turns green. Then there are some that come up to the light and just run through it like it is a yield sign. Another problem I have with them is that if there is a turn lane available, they will travel up the turn lane to pass up all the rest of the people waiting at the light and then cut everyone off going straight and block the people who are actually trying to turn. I could go on and on about things these guys do that bother me, but I'm sure you get the picture. They also have several regular size and double decker buses on the roads. They also act like they own the road; they put their blinker on and then cut across 3 lanes of traffic no matter who or what are in their way.
We have found that at the grocery store, meats (like steaks, chicken breasts, and such) are much cheaper than the states. Fresh produce is also cheaper. But most of the stuff that is prepackaged or processed is either comparable or more expensive. At first glance you might think that the items is the same price as the states, but they package items smaller here. I know we should all eat smaller portion sizes, but if that is the case I would still like to pay less. Sandwich meat is unbelievable; most of the time you get roughly 8 thin slices of meat for about $4. Now we did recently start going to this store called Makro. The best way to explain this store is like a Wal-Mart and Sam's put together. You can buy in bulk or you can buy a single item. Here they had a large package of sandwich meat (only ham) for $5, but it was 1 kilo of meat. Here you can also buy a whole lamb or half of a cow.
Another thing to take note of while being out and about are the parking guards and pay lots. Most of the grocery stores are in like a mall setting, and there are usually more than one type of grocery store and several other types of stores in the mall. There are numerous malls throught the city. Now when you get to most of these malls you can either park in the parking lot in front of the building, the underground parking or the parking garage. No matter where you have parked, you need to remember to take the ticket you recieved when entering the parking lot with you. Once you have finished all your shopping at that mall you take the ticket to the paystation near the exit of the building to pay it. There are different amounts you pay based on how long you have been at that mall. On average for 1-2 hours you pay between R3 and R6, which is roughly $.36 to $.72, it doesn't seem like much, but you pretty much have to pay a paystation no matter where you go. Oh and once you pay the paystation you have about 15 minutes to load your car and get to the exit of the lot to insert your ticket and get out. If you fail to do so in 15 minutes you then have to repay the paystation. Now some stores will validate your parking, but usually for only one and a half hours.
If you are going somewhere that does not have its own parking lot and you park on the public street you then have to deal with car guards. In a perfect situation, the car guard points out an available parking spot, watches your car while you are away, and then helps guide you/stop traffic while you exit the parking spot. And when this is completed you then tip the car guard. Simple enough! But what we have found is that we park our car with no help, go where we are going, come back and then back our car up with no assitance, but the car guard is still standing there waiting for his tip. We have both said that if there were a situation where our car was broken into we figure the car guard would be long gone! Also when you are at a more touristy spot some of the car guards demand a higher set price versus the tip that they should be receiving. One night we were parking somewhere that was very populated and we did get to experience 2 car guards fighting over where we were going to park and who was on who's territory...we just backed our car up and left them there to fight!
We have been able to enjoy several local restaurants. The food quality we would probably compare to a Chili's with an Outback price. We have gone out for sushi that was reasonably priced. But as a whole unless you are eating fast food it is a little more pricey to eat out here. For those of you wondering they have McDonalds and KFC here.
In general, we have found that services here are cheaper. For example, to go to the spa or have someone clean your home is much cheaper. Many of the people we have talked to have all said that they had someone in their home (helping with cleaning or being a nanny) as long as they could remember.
We have also noticed that many of the people here are really accepting of Americans. Plus the people we have met as a whole are very nice and friendly. The friendliness goes much futher than just people saying hello. For instance, we were at a restaurant and the owners came up and spoke to us and even offered to show us some of the local areas. Or there was the family we met on the plane, who went out of their way to help us get a local cell phone, told us where to shop for items Jayce might need, and their son even helped us push our cart of luggage.
I hope I haven't completely bored you all with these accounts. These are just some of the major differences that stand out in my mind. And like I said before we are really enjoying ourselves even with all the differences!
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