Settling In

I realized a little late that at my stage of life, its not so easy to just drop everything and move to Africa. If I had thought about it a little more, I might have balked at taking on so much work - but that is the joy of the impulsive life, just dive in and sort things out as they come... I have to admit, I had a slight case of panic my first night here. I woke up at about 3 AM, wide awake and not able to fall back asleep, and the only thing I could think was, "what in the world am I doing here?". I eventually fell back asleep, and the next morning, while I was sitting in the neighborhood cafe eating breakfast and listening to at least 5 languages being spoken while the Rugby World Cup was on the TV, I realized this was a pretty cool place to be, and I still think so.

The good news is that not only have I been in Africa for a week, my dog and cat have made it here also! Rosie and Mew arrived late Friday night after a three day trip that included a day in Amsterdam, and despite a big case of animal jet lag, they both seem to have weathered the trip fine.

             












Rosie                                                                                                    Mew                                                        

                                                                                                 
                                                                                                               
So now I have completely made the move, and all I have left to do is re-acquire all the things I left behind - house, car, furniture, sheets, towels, pots and pans....you get the picture.The first step, finding a house, has gone quickly - I found a nice place about 5 minutes from the office that I will be able to take possession of in three weeks, which will give me time to find stuff to put in it. Fortunately Habitat understands that I need time to take care of these things, so they have not put too many demands on me yet.

Speaking of Habitat, my new co-workers are great. The office has 33 people from 10 different countries, and I have been so warmly welcomed and accepted that it is hard to describe. I feel that I have transported myself to another, granted more international and eclectic, Allison Ramsey Architects, only I am no longer "The Boss". Which is funny because I just realized yesterday that this is really my first job ever working for a paycheck. As soon as I finished college I joined Habitat as a volunteer (where they sent me to Zambia alone to start their program there, and in those days, with no fax, phone or Internet the only supervision I had was two letters and a visit in three years, and the visit was three months before my contract ended) and every other job I ever had was either as a contract draftsman/architect or as my own firm. So I am glad my first impressions of my new workplace are so good, because I know sooner or later I am probably going to encounter some difficulties, and I feel confident that I am in a supporting environment.

Monday is International Habitat day, and for the whole week the office is taking turns building houses at a Habitat site in Soweto. My team works there on Thursday, so I will report on that, hopefully with pictures, next week.