Live From South Africa it's Merilyn Sanchez!

Today we went to the Veritas Transcription Center.  They have the contract to provide transcripts for the court proceedings in Cape Town.  She explained the process of providing transcripts to the courts and some of the difficulties she encounters.  The fact there are 11 recognized languages would make it impossible for a steno reporter to provide a transcript.  There are interpreters for most of the languages, but a witness could speak in English, Africaans, or Xhosa without an interpreter, and sometimes they use word from both languages in the same sentence.  That makes transcribing very difficult.

Iris explained to us that they do not e-mail the .wav files of the transcripts to the typists because the internet is very expensive here.  They pay by the megabyte for Internet usage.  They also pay per e-mail. We thought it was just the hotels making money with their hourly Internet rates.  We can only surmise that the infrastructure isn’t in place here for the Internet service we are used to in the United States.

We had a nice lunch at the Waterfront, enjoyed some of the warmer weather, and then headed to the High Court of Cape Town.  This was very similar to the court in Johannesburg we saw.  There was a “stenographer” who gave us a tour.  Her job was to monitor the tapes in the main control room. 

Tonight was our farewell dinner.  It was at a beautiful restaurant called the Opal Lounge.  The atmosphere was great -- we had a private room with candle lighting.  It was very African eclectic.  .   The food was fabulous, the company even better.  Since this was our last night and those of us continuing on to Kruger had to be downstairs at 4:30 a.m.,  there were lots of hugs and good byes.  What wonderful memories and friendships we will all have.

We survived the horrific winds last night.  There is still some wind this morning, but not nearly what it was yesterday.  This hotel, the Cape Sun, has a nice buffet each morning, but we sure miss our beautiful setting by the pool. 

Today we went to the Zenzele Training and Development Center.  This is a non profit school for basic job training.  They teach sewing, carpentry, and welding.  They teach a limited number of students each session.  There were approximately eight students in each class.  The sessions last eight weeks -- seven weeks of skills and one week of business management.  The school then gives the students follow-up counseling in setting up their own businesses.

This seems like a drop in the bucket when there are so many people living in poverty, without education, and no skills for a job.   But if they can train 145 people a year to support their families, that’s a start.

We had a free afternoon and went in lots of different directions.  Some of us headed for the Waterfront, a couple went to a Nia dance class, and others just took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. 

Late afternoon five of us took the tram to the top of Table Mountain for a hike.  The panoramic view was breathtaking.  Table Mountain is the escarpment that we have enjoyed out our window in the hotel.  There were signs that indicated we should listen for the hooter.   We were hiking and heard an air raid siren.  We figured out that was a hooter.  The winds had gotten so strong, they were evacuating the mountain top.  It was a little scary going up in the gondola without the wind.  Thinking about the ride down in gale force winds was a little frightening.  Obviously, we made it back just fine.

This was another free night to enjoy the local restaurants.  Several were at the Waterfront enjoying the Greek restaurant.  Others went to a fun restaurant called the Codfather.  There was no menu.  You simply went up to the meat counter, picked out your fish, and they prepared it for you.  Talk about blind faith -- ordering in a foreign country, no menu, and no prices.  We aren’t still there washing dishes, so all is good.

It is hard to believe we’ve been here a week already.  Some of the delegates have already been away from home for two weeks.  It seems like each day I feel like this was the best day ever. 

Today was a totally free day.  Many of us went on a walking tour of one of the black provinces.  We stopped in to watch a rousing church service in a Baptist church.  Those people can sure sing and are very passionate and expressive.

We then walked around Langa (the name of the province).  We stopped at a school that is helping educate children in a craft.  We saw boys learning to play the drums.  We also had a tour of their pottery shop.  I think they only teach 24 students at a time.  It is a sponsored school trying to help impoverished kids learn a craft to help support themselves.  We all had a chance to shop and buy items made by the students.

We toured as hostel area and went inside one of the units.  The were block construction, cement floor, and either one, two, or three bedrooms.  The three bedrooms houses three families.  They were originally built to accommodate migrant workers and they would house 16 men in one unit. 
There was one small sink in the kitchen and one bathroom for all families to share. 

We also drove by several areas where there were wooden shacks put together with scraps of wood and corrugated metal roofs.  They had no running water and no electricity.  The shacks may be 8 x 8 feet.  Our guide explained that some people would rather live in those conditions and have some privacy than to share a very small area with three families.  It was really sad to see the living conditions.  We were asked not to give the children anything because if we gave to one, we’d have to give to them all and that was impossible.

Most of the delegates had signed up to go see Robben Island.  This is where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned for many years.  Six of us had signed up to go on a wine tasting tour.  The wind has been so terrible that they cancelled the trip to Robin Island because the ocean was too dangerous.  Eight of us ended up on the winery tour.  It was great.  We saw beautiful countryside, tasted some very good wine, and had a nice sunny afternoon.  Of course when we got back down to Cape Town it was extremely windy.   My room is on the 26th floor and I saw a bird blow by my window.  I am sure he didn’t mean to be there.

Tonight we visited Dan and Linda Dixon’s home for dinner.  I think many of us were a little apprehensive as to the type of experience we would have.  When we asked about the attire for dinner, Conroy told us to wear “smart casual” because we were just going to a middle-class colored family’s home.

Dan is in his 70s and Linda is probably 10 years younger.  We pulled up to the curb in our bus and were surprised when even the neighbors came out of their door to greet us.  It was like going to any one of our grandparents’ home.  It was so comfortable.  The house wasn’t large, but large enough to seat 22 people for dinner.   Friends and family helped serve our large meal consisting of vegetable soup, salad, butternut squash, cabbage, roast beef, roasted potatoes, rice, a traditional African dish with minced meat and vegetables, wine, and a type of African donut and coffee for desert.  Once again, the food was delicious, and we ate too much.  Today is Mary Barry’s birthday.  Dan and Linda led a toast and the birthday song for Marry.

All of us marveled over how comfortable we felt with them.  There were hugs all around when we left.  One delegate was moved to tears when saying goodbye to these warm and generous people.

What a great day it was!
 

Day 6, Saturday November 14

Today was the best day yet.  This was our motor coach touring day.  We did a loop around Table Mountain, which is the escarpment that is in the middle of Cape Town.   We went to Cape Hope which is often said to be the southernmost tip of the country where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean are supposed to meet.  If you look at a map, this isn’t really the southernmost tip.  There are such strong and varying currents here that many people thought this is where the two oceans meet.  It is a very beautiful but dangerous crossing for boats.

Tony, the bus driver, joked with us and told us you could have all four seasons in one day.  I think we experienced that today.  It was cold and windy when we got on the bus.  I was sorry I didn’t bring a coat with me.

There is a lighthouse at Cape Hope.  Some of the delegates took the tram up, others hiked up a very steep trail.  It was worth the walk up.  You could see forever up there, and we watched the rain storm move across the ocean.  Of course, we then had to hike back down the mountain in the rain.

We saw lots of wildlife today.  We started out seeing bentibochs.  These are like a large antelope.  We also saw ostriches.  We stopped to take pictures of them and were warned they can bite.  They also have very strong feet with sharp talons that have been known to kill other animals that are trying to harm them. 

We all know court reports can be pretty anal when it comes to language.  We have all been looking at the signs and enjoying the differences in the language and sometimes the difference in spelling.  They have a series of warning signs.  Some have just an exclamation point; others have exclamation points and then just a word or two.   There are lots of signs that read “! Baboons.”  We were told early on the tour that we were in baboon country and how smart and mischievous these animals are.  We had been on the bus for several hours, had gotten out and hiked up the mountain or taken the tram up at Cape Hope, and still hadn’t seen any baboons.

One of the Lauries (there are three of them on the trip) decided the next best thing to sighting a baboon was to find the baboon sign.  So we were all on the lookout for the signs to photograph.  Tony, was quite amused when we asked him to stop so we could photograph the baboon sign.

Conroy, our guide and Tony also got quite a kick out of the question from Deanna, “Do you really have robots here?”  There was a sign that said, “Robot ahead.”  Apparently they refer to traffic lights as robots.  We all had a good laugh over that one as well as Mike and Mary pointing the sheep out to us.  It turned out there were no sheep, only white blooming bushes.   At one point our guide told us we were the strangest group he had ever had.

 We had a great lunch in a private room overlooking the ocean at the Boulders.  This was just a short distance from the African penguin colony.  These penguins are very small, perhaps a foot tall.  They molt for 21 days a year, during which time they fast.  We happened to be here during that 21 days.  So according to Conroy, the penguins were grumpy and not as active as usual.    

We were driving from the Boulders to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens when we saw people stopped on the side of the road looking at the ocean.  We pulled over to see what they were looking at, waited several minutes, and saw nothing.  Just as we were getting ready to leave, a huge whale and her calf surfaced maybe 50 yards away from us.  It was really incredible.  We were so close we could see that the mother had a couple of very large portions on her head where barnacles were attached.

Our next stop was the botanical gardens.  This place is huge.  There are several hundred acres of lush plants and lots of birds in the most spectacular setting.  The vegetation was so green, many of the plants were in bloom, and the backdrop was a tall, grass-covered  mountain.  We spent about an hour exploring the gardens, taking pictures, and enjoying the warm sunshine and gorgeous surroundings.

On the way home from the gardens we saw more ostriches, bentibochs, and wildebeests.  Wildebeests are a little like buffalo but without the hairy heads.  We still didn’t get to see any baboons.  Maybe we’ll see them in Kruger National Park.

We had the evening on our own, so many of us headed back down to the waterfront for dinner, more shopping and the end of a fantastic day.

This was our last day to enjoy the beautiful weather, the fantastic view, and a scrumptious breakfast by the pool in Joburg (what the locals call Johannesburg).  We had a leisurely breakfast and were off to the Origins Museum. 

The Origins Museum was a history of the earliest discovery of homosapiens on earth.  Most of us started our family lines in this area.  History shows human life existed in South Africa by hundreds of years before Asia or England.  So through DNA testing, the majority of us would show origins from Africa.

The museum also had many films and demonstrations on the spiritual world of one of the African tribes.   One interesting exhibit demonstrated some of the early languages and how important “clicks” were in communicating.  Clicks were made by placing your tongue behind your front teeth and clicking.  Our guide sang us a song and incorporated these unique clicks in her singing.

We learned about how these tribes were hunters and gatherers.  The elan       was very important in providing food and clothing to the tribes.  They would use poisoned arrows to kill these animals.  Perhaps these people were some of the first court reporters by memorializing their hunts in the cave paintings.

We had an opportunity to use our bargaining skills at the craft market.  There were many booths with hand-made articles for us to barter for.  We came back to the bus with beaded, wire animals, baskets, tablecloths, and beaded jewelry. 

We arrived at the airport just in time to check in and get to our gates.  As we arrived at the gate, they were already boarding the plane.  That was cutting it a little closer than some of us were comfortable with.  It was about a two-hour flight, complete with free beer, wine, and a choice or chicken or beef dinner. 

Our guide in Cape Town is Conroy.  He told us the pace in Cape Town is much more laid back than Joburg because it is just a small city of 4.2 million people.   My room looks directly at Table Mountain,  It is a spectacular view. 
A few of us went down to the Waterfront for dinner.  It is a shopping and entertainment area with any type of restaurant you would want.  I can tell there will not be enough time to see and try everything here.

Day 4 Thursday Nov. 12

Today is a fantastic day.  It is a little warmer, but not a cloud in the sky.  We started the day with a little walk and another beautiful breakfast out on the patio.

We met with Norman Kagan today at a beautiful country club.   There were attorneys and retired judges/arbitrators present.  We gave them a presentation on the different environments a realtime reporter can be used.  They had lots of questions and were impressed with our realtime technology.  They seemed very anxious to try to get court reporters trained in South Africa.

After lunch at the country club, we went to the High Court of Johannesburg.  When we walked in the door, it reminded me of a small-scale Union Station without the murals on the ceiling.  The court system  is modeled is after the British courts.  There are advocates that practice in the high court.  The lawyers deal with the clients, and the advocates present the case. 

The advocates all wear black robes and cravats as do the judges.  The court staff wear robes as well.  In criminal court the judge wears a red robe.  There are no juries in South Africa.   We went into a couple of proceedings.  The first was closing arguments.  The courtroom was small, but what impressed me is it consisted of several raised levels like in a stadium or movie theater. The well of the court was very recessed.  It made viewing much easier than in most courtrooms I’ve been in.

The courtrooms on the lowest floors are much larger and are used for the calendar calls.  There are six rows with probably eight seats for attorneys.  There is a larger gallery.  The wood is a darker wood and  the lighting is dim. 

We think we have budget problems in the U.S. courts, Norman warned us to use the restroom before we get to the courts.  There is no toilet paper, and you are lucky if you find a toilet with a seat.  We saw lots of construction going on, so they are working at modernizing the building.

There was a much needed thunder storm late this afternoon.  As a desert dweller, I thoroughly enjoyed the claps of thunder, the lightning rods, and the huge rain drops.  This was our last night in  Joburg.  We had another great meal with face painting, singing, and drums at a traditional African restaurant. 

We will pack our bags tonight, visit a museum in the morning, and the fly to Cape Town tomorrow afternoon.

It’s amazing how good a bed can feel.  We woke up to a gorgeous morning.  We had breakfast out on the patio next to the negative edge pool.  What a great way to start the morning! 

We had our South African orientation this morning.  We learned about our roles as delegates, some of the history of South Africa, and foundational facts about the country.  There are 11 official languages in South Africa.  English is number six as far as the number of first-language speakers.  The infrastructure was built on mining.  They have a refinery that provides 15 % of the country’s gasoline by converting coal to gasoline.  HIV is very prevalent here, with an average of 35% of all South Africans being HIV positive.  It is as high as 85% in some of the rural areas.

We learned of the social struggles in South Africa,  particularly with the non whites.  We learned that there are differences between Black and Colored people.  The  Blacks are people whose relatives were  born here.  Coloreds are those who immigrated to South Africa or come from mixed marriages.  Colored people used to have ore rights than Blacks, but they never had as many rights at the white people.

One comment that stuck with me is if you are going to use the government hospital health services, you need to take your own sheets to the hospital.  

This morning we met with Norman Kagan, a businessman in South Africa.  He owns a transcription company and has  been trying to get realtime reporters to come work in Johannesburg for even the summer. He had some great stories to share regarding hiring realtime reporters to work in the South African system.

There are no reporting schools here and his attempts thus far to start his own school have met with many obstacles, not the least of which is the language difference.  It is extremely difficult for someone to do the mental processing necessary to write at high speeds when English is not your first language.   His goal is to start a school with students working for his transcription company at the same time they are going to school.  He will recruit English-as-a-first-language students who already have some type of degree. 

Mr. Kagan has an ER firm that does a lot of work in arbitrations.  They are able to provide an edited transcript within an hour of adjournment of the arbitration by transmitting the audio files over the Internet to three different typists in 20-minute segments.  It is for this environment that he would like to have a realtime reporter.  The value to the attorneys in that environment is the immediacy of the information.  It is very rare that a transcript is needed after the fact. 

We had a free evening tonight.  Many of us chose to go to a restaurant called Moyo.  It specialized in Africaans food.   We sat outside in the most wonderful ambiance -- pretty lighting, music playing, beautiful weather.  We had our faces painted in the Zulu tradition.  The food and wine were spectacular. 

After months of waiting, anticipating, and preparing, we are finally on our way!!  It seems like just yesterday we were looking at dates and destinations.  We have all spent the last few weeks getting ready for our trip -- some of us working night and day on transcripts, others shopping for items, and all of us trying to figure out how we were going to pack two weeks’ worth of professional, casual, and safari gear into 44 pounds of luggage. 
    There are 20 delegates -- both professionals and guests -- going to South Africa with People to People.  Just a quick word about People to People -- it was founded during President Eisenhower’s term to foster friendship and understanding among nations.  They make all of the arrangements for us, provide transportation, guides and, when needed, interpreters.  This is the third trip in which NCRA members have been able to participate.
    Several of the delegates took advantage of our departure city being Washington, D.C. and came in early and took several tours.  I think the highlight of time here was the personal tour of the capitol given by our own Ed Johnson, who is now reporting  “on the hill.”
    We are in the middle of our 17-hour flight from Dulles to Johannesburg.  The international airlines sure know how to make a long trip enjoyable.  As we boarded the plane we were given a little bag with socks and eye masks to wear so we can sleep,  We were fed a nice meal accompanied by free South African wine.  Between the eye masks and the wine, I get the feeling they really want us to sleep. 
    We are just getting ready to land in Dakar, where they will change crews for the rest of our flight.  We are five hours into our trip.  What I thought was going to be a short crew change stop ended up almost an hour.  We were not able to get off the plane, so everyone milled around and took the opportunity to stretch their legs. 
    I checked the flight computer as we left Dakar -- only eight more hours of flying.  They fed us a large breakfast, turned out the lights and let us try to sleep.  As I write, they are now coming around with the beverage cart and are going to feed us one more time.  I’ve never had breakfast, lunch and dinner on the same plane.  
    We’re here!  We’re here!  We made it through customs, baggage claim, and money exchange without a hitch.  FYI, there are 7.26 rand to the USA dollar.  We had a glass of wine after dinner and it cost around $5, including tip.  So our dollars may go a little further here than at home.
    Driving in it was dark, but we could see some beautiful domed buildings.   Mary commented it looked like Emerald City.  It was different trying to get used to driving on the left side of the road.  We settled into the hotel (four star), had a nice dinner, and are off to bed for a horizontal night’s sleep before our meetings tomorrow.