Lindsey has arrived!

Hello, again! Howzit? It has been forever since I last posted. A lot has happened in just a little over a week. So much has happened that I am actually going to split it up into 2 posts. I’ll write a little bit tonight and then finish the second one tomorrow.

Lindsey arrived a little over a week ago. She was quite exhausted from the 2 days of travel and 7 hour time difference from South Africa to the U.S. so she slept for the first couple of days. After resting up, she was ready to go for the weekend. Justin and Claire took Lindsey, Jason, and myself to one of the largest surfing competitions in the world, The Mr. Price Pro. I think there were approximately 35 of the top 50 surfers in the world there.  The competition took place all week long, but we decided to show up for the semi-finals and finals. The weather wasn’t the best; however, the waves were humungous! I would have been scared to be out there surfing.  Below, is a picture of all of us watching the competition, the 2 finalists, and the winner of the competition (which I have to say was from the U.S.! haha)

On Sunday, Lindsey and I headed to the Sharks Board. This organization is responsible for keeping the swimmers safe from the sharks and researches the various sharks in the region. To protect the swimmers from sharks, the Board places nets along the coast. Unfortunately, these same nets often capture and kill the sharks that get too close to the beach. Every morning the Board goes out and untangles the sharks from the nets. If they find a shark that is dead they bring it back to the Board to study the shark. Throughout the week they have times when the public can come in and observe the dissection of the shark. Lindsey and I went last Sunday and watched them cut open a 6 foot tiger shark. It smelled terrible, but was pretty interesting to watch.

On Monday of last week, Mr. Price flew Jason and I to Johannesburg, South Africa to get a look at different stores through the country. We were taken from store to store by local Area Managers that oversee the operations of the same stores. It was really neat to be able to be in their life and to watch them as they observe the status of the store. Each Area Manager had their own details that they thought were important and you could really tell this by the small differences in each of the stores. Because I am doing my project over Sheet Street I paid close attention to the differences between SS and Mr. Price Home.  Even though they are owned by the same company, Mr. Price Home and Sheet Street are one of each other’s biggest competitions.  Below, is a picture of one of the many stores that we toured in the couple of days we were in Joburg.

Besides touring stores, we also toured a lot of the local tourists’ sites. Below, is a picture of the Johannesburg soccer stadium that was built for the 2010 Men’s World Cup. Speaking about the World Cup, I just finished watching the Women’s Final. USA had tons of opportunities to win the game, but in the end just didn’t have enough energy to finish strong. Congrats Japan!

One of the biggest stops of the trip was a tour of SOWETO, or Southwestern Township. I believe SOWETO was started when the gold mines brought black workers into Johannesburg. These workers were often housed outside of the cities in small townships. SOWETO is the largest township with approximately 2 to 3 million people living in the area. The contrast between the different neighborhoods in SOWETO really shocked me. At first, we went into a community with million dollar homes. Then we went into some of the poorest areas I have ever seen. Below, are some pictures of the worst part of SOWETO.

Another great stop in Joburg was at the home where Nelson Mandela lived before he was arrested. The house has been turned into a museum where visitors can see how he lived his life before going to prison for nearly 30 years.  

I think this it probably enough for tonight, I am getting quite tired and I have to get up early for work tomorrow. I will be sure to post the rest of the week’s events tomorrow night.  It is sure to be another exciting post. It will include pictures of a local pub, a braai, an air show, and a rugby game. Have a good night!