1st day of work!

Today was my first day of work at TechnoServe.

Not sure if it was jetlag or just anxiety, I wasn't able to sleep until very late last night. Hence waking up in the morning was quite difficult.  The interesting thing to note is that I have a heated blanket because it does get cold at night in Joburg at this time of the year (the houses don't have insulation... at all)

What I've noticed when I went to the office is there are a lot of measures of security.  You have to use a passcard in order to get past the turnstile in the lobby.  Then once you arrive outside the office, there's a door that requires a key fob to get through to reception.  Then there's another door that separates the reception and the actual office that requires a key fob.  The TechnoServe office is actually shared with Broadband (?) Health and Dalberg consulting.  I actually found out about Dalberg at the same time that I found out about TechnoServe.  In addition to all these access controlled doors, there is also an alarm that gets set at the end of the day and that needs to be deactivated in the morning.  So I was told to try not to be the first one in (of course I won't be) and not to be the last one out (will have to try not to be).

View from the office!

It's beautiful!

It's shared with Dalberg and BroadReach.. that's the 1st set of doors, then another set inside + alarms

Another interesting today is I finally got a cell phone (yay!).  There were a couple of extra SIM cards and also leftover nokia phones (very very old version - will upload pic).  The only thing that was missing was the charger.  My coworker (the one who coordinates everything) took me to see the house that I'll be moving to on Saturday (I'll be living in a rental property that's in the same lot as the giant mansion that the landlord lives in.. and yes it's a mansion because he is finishing two waterfall walls to lead into the house...) It's quite nice, the only complaint is the bathroom, it's a bit small and the shower doesn't separate.  I'll take pictures when I move there on Saturday.  There's another property with 2 bdrms in it but the 2 guy volcons who are coming will be staying there.  Their bathroom is better, but they'll have to share it.

My old school nokia cell phone! Back to learning how to text very quickly without using a full keyboard

Anywho, I accomplished quite a lot today (including working with my boss and making progress on my task) as well as getting a cell phone, a charger, a universal plug (well european, because those work here too, most of the time) and a voucher to "top up"/ recharge my phone.

Given that people usually go to work from 8am to 4pm, I'm going to try very hard to adjust to the earlier start time, which means I have to sleep earlier.

More stories tomorrow!

Outside my room @ Thulani Lodge

Bungi (lodge keeper) takes good care of my room and makes my bed pretty ;)

There's a swimming pool (but because it's still winter so it's not opened yet)

The path leading up to  my room on the left. I think the one straight ahead is another guest room

The path leading out the front door and to the reception area to the left

The owner of the lodge's name is Beat and he was from Switzerland but now calls himself South African. A very nice guy.

Finally brought my camera over to Melon, restaurant on 7th Avenue in melville

The decor is quite chic

and romantic

This was where i waited for my takeouts

My smoked salmon asparagus penne! delicious