The Return of Joburgers

A very strange phenomenon occurs in South Africa around December 15.  Everyone in Johannesburg and Pretoria disappear.  You can cross the street without fear of being run over by a ridiculously overloaded bus, or drive and not be run off the road by a ridiculously expensive Ferrari.  Actually, except for the extreme thunderstorms that hit every afternoon and sound as if Odin himself is bowling, it's quite pleasant.  There are seats in the mall, the air is a bit cleaner, and Jozi, as the people here call Johannesburg, is a lovely place. A trip to Soweto, which usually takes at least an hour in traffice, only took me 30 minutes a few days after Christmas.

There are some trade-offs on this of course.  We called into an Indian restaurant that was getting rave reviews and found they were closed for two weeks.  This isn't something new for us, though.  Recall that we lived in Luxembourg for three years, and in August there isn't ANYTHING you can do there.  When we arrived in Luxembourg in 2006, we couldn't even go to the little restaurant down the street because it was closed for the month.  (We never did eat there.)  Another trade off is that the tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, builders) also take off a month.  So any work needed to be done should be finished by the beginning of December, or else you're SOL until Mid-January.

This is something that is a problem that I have to deal with as the Management Officer.  If there is something that breaks during the month of December or the first part of January, I either have to do without or I pay an exhorbitant amount of money to get it done.  And since I'm still trying to manage the expectations of my fellow officers here at post, usually it means paying the money.

Well, yesterday was the return of the Joburgers.  My two children started school again, and the roads were full of crazy.  Trying to cross the street to get to the bank and pay a bill I had a Masserati aim at and barely miss me.  Oh, and to make life even better, the national energy group, ESKOM, announced they didn't have enough energy for everyone, and load shedding would be in effect for pretty much the rest of the year.  (It's January.)  Add in the crazy thunderstorms and I'd say everything is headed back to normal. 

While it was nice to have some time to ourselves, it wouldn't be Joburg without all of the commotion.  Crazy Little Man starts soccer again on Saturday, and I have a huge workshop we're hosting next week so I'll be very busy.  Lovely Little Girl is swimming like a fish, and Lovely English Lass is getting ready for her parents to visit.  I don't think we'd be able to function if it wasn't so crazy.  However, I know I'd like to give it a try once in a while.