Stuck

I thought I should drag myself off the couch to write this. Drizzly, muggy weather following a large lunch have combined with my erratic sleep patterns to produce a groggy haze.

We have three main initial objectives here: find housing, a car and cell phones. Unfortunately, lacking any one of these makes acquiring the others very difficult. On Saturday, we had the hotel arrange transportation to the mall at Rosebank, a northern suburb of Joburg. We had to prearrange a time to be picked up, as we don’t yet have cell phones to contact them. While there, we attempted to buy phones, but were told that a new law requires proof of residency in order to buy one. This really stinks, as having a phone would make it much easier to find a house and a car. And having a car would make it easier to find a house. And so on.

Having been here a few days, its obvious Braamfontein isn’t going to work as a more permanent residence. It’s just not safe enough, and we feel like trapped rats in our hotel room all night. Locals we have spoken to indicate we should live in the northern (read: white) suburbs. A cabbie drove us around different areas on Saturday, and we’re starting to look for places in Parkhurst. Think of it as Grandview Heights if all the houses had eight-foot walls topped with razor wire. There is a main drag littered with shops and residential side streets. Most importantly, it is safe and easily walkable.

Our friendly hotel manager has offered to put us in touch with a real estate agent tomorrow, so hopefully good news will follow.