if there was a theme to this first week of work, it would have to be the effect of load-shedding (a term i'll probably be referring to for some time). Load-shedding is s. africa's term for power cuts and its affected all aspects of life here. the worst has been its effect on traffic lights and, therefore, traffic. one day it took me 2.5 hours to get home from work because of the traffic due to traffic lights that weren't working. according to eskom (the sole power company), load shedding is to be a way of life for the next 5-7 years....lets hope they come up with a temporary fix before then.
the sole bright spot in being stuck in traffic all week was hearing some of the morning radio shows here. coming from the US, i had an extreme hatred toward radio, especially morning radio; however, some of the ones here are ridiculously hilarious. one of the major stations (Kaya FM) had me laughing out loud while stuck in traffic this week. they spent the entire week talking about women's roles in the home (if you're easily offended you may not like this). The hosts were two guys and one girl and even tho for the most part they were only joking, it was pretty much the 2 guys using a 1955 magazine article as evidence that the role of women in the household should be to make the man happy and not nag him. plus anyone that called in in support of the lone girl (who obviously disagreed with the men) was immediately cut off and called a variety of names. one of the best quotes was from one of the guys who related the problems with load shedding to the fact that wives have strayed from their "true, traditional" roles. so, somehow the gods were punishing the women by taking away electricity! just trust me, it was really funny.
radio commercials were also pretty funny. one suggested that we return to communal showers to mitigate the load shedding problems. the ad told listeners to take showers with neighbors in order to save energy, i guess. very interesting.
finally, skype is AMAZING. I am not sure why i resisted for so long to get it. but i just got done talking to (and seeing) my brother and mom on skype for free. i strongly recommend you all to get it if you don't have it. and if you do have it (or get it) pass along your details and we can chat. live. my screenname is "folu.." (note the 2 periods after the name).
oh also, i finally am now fully and officially employed by accenture, south africa, which was not the case when i started orientation on wed. technically i can start doing work now; assuming there's work out there. well, thats all for now. looking forward to the start of the africa nations cup. go super eagles!
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