I'm starting to lag in my posts...

...because as ever, there's so many things to do in life. Secondaries, my actual day job, travel for that day job, etc. etc...

But I do try to have fun. A couple of shots to give a preview of upcoming posts:

Braai and beaches

Today, I had my first braai:

It is indeed basically the South African term for barbecue. No matter, for whatever the term, the result is delicious. (I have been eating so much meat of late.)

This is what I usually see when I run on the promenade along Green Point and Sea Point, viewing the other side of the bay:

Today, I ventured out to that other side, and found more perspective for why Table Mountain is so iconic:

And then I turned around, and found myself gazing into the sky:

(More details: I also played chess for the first time in nine years against a Filipino family friend, ventured out with MIT folks to the aquarium and found numerous Nemos, and was taken in by my ever extended Filipino family.)

I'm fatigued and have to get up in less than six hours, so I end here, having used this post as an excuse to just show more pictures, but I'll write something more intellectually significant soon!

The satisfaction of a busy life

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. (And yes, I have stepped through San Francisco before.)

The Bertha Centre, about a half hour walk away from my Airbnb in Green Point and right by the Waterfront, is like a start-up social enterprise. There are teams working on various things like sustainable finance and inclusive healthcare. I'm on the latter. The work is exciting, compelling: we're researching healthcare systems all across the Global South and many inspiring organizations that've developed their own innovations to enhance healthcare for their target populations. We've got a budget. We're working with people from Oxford and the WHO. 

And yet, we really are making it up as we go along.

My official start date was Wednesday, but I came to work on Monday anyway at the suggestion of my new co-worker, to get oriented to the Centre, acquire a new SIM card, meet new people, etc. On Tuesday, I came and was immediately driven downtown to a nearby healthcare organization, Kheth'Impilo, to interview leadership staff and film them. I learned how to film a documentary. Not trivial in the slightest, requires a design-based mindset, and incredibly invigorating. I felt engaged. We talked with staff, marched into a classroom to film pharmaceutical assistant students in session, and then went out to a pharmaceutical clinic to interview and film pharmacists and pharmaceutical assistants at work, providing medicines to long queues of patients from a nearby township. 

And then we drove through and filmed the township. And yes, it was depressingly impoverished. 

All of this work is to be submitted to the WHO to highlight all-star healthcare organizations and connect them with policymakers and stakeholders to scale up their work. There'll be future filming sessions, though not in Cape Town, and not necessarily including me. The Oxford team is doing some of the visits. And there isn't enough money to bring me to all of our team's visits to different parts of Africa (e.g. Liberia, Burundi), the Philippines (!), China. 

But I do get to see and work in other South African provinces and Lesotho (a rural, mountainous kingdom completely encircled within South Africa). And apparently they want to send me to Mozambique to film the organization there. Alone. Again, budget reasons. (Shoulda taken Portuguese...)

I am daunted and yet excited by the amount of responsibility and trust they're placing upon me. It's going to be quite a ride.

In other parts of my life, the South Africans I'm renting my Airbnb from are quite lovely. My landlord has actually been out of town, but his girlfriend has been staying here, along with her mother. Incredibly kind and friendly, with various conversational elements of South African politics, the potential dangers of going to Mozambique alone, all the exciting outdoorsy things to be done in Cape Town. And some pieces of egg fried rice and biltong to feed me. 

And Tita (Aunt) Marilyn -- my mom's cousin's wife's sister -- also lives here with her family. She and her son were kind enough to take me out for lunch on the Waterfront. The power of Filipino (distant) familial connections continues to amaze me. They've offered to take me to their house, feed me braai, and take me mountain biking (all three sons in the family are enthusiasts). 

And yet I couldn't this past weekend (promised for the next). I had already committed to hike up Table Mountain with some of the other MIT students and go on a wine tour down south to Groot Constantia. A few undergrads, either rising seniors or graduated, and a newly graduated MBA (someone my age!). If ever you reach Cape Town, you must climb Table Mountain, no matter how hard the hike may be. (And it wasn't too hard, though do take water, snacks, and friends.)

Climb the top. Because it is gorgeous:

And drink some wine in Groot Constantia. Because it actually is good (even for a lightweight, alcohol-averse person like me). Especially with chocolate:

And stare at the sunset (try Camps Bay). Because if you're like me, you can't look away from daylight fading over the Atlantic. Or help but take pictures that don't even attest to its beauty:

Too tired to share more details. Till later!

I've landed...

...and I'm tired. And already had my first day today.

Will write and post more probably at the end of the week once I've had time to recuperate, but for now, this (taken while getting off an Uber and trying to find my new workplace):

The mountain can be either shrouded in fog, or beautiful with clarity, or both, within eight hours or all at once. Cape Town is, indeed, quite breathtaking. And I've yet to even dive in.

Off to a new continent

I grew up in Baltimore, went to college outside DC, and went on to more school in Boston. I've taken trips out to the west and throughout the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. I studied abroad in London and Sydney. And I've traveled through Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Philippines.

But I've yet to set foot upon Africa.*

Today, I will depart from Washington Dulles International and hopefully land some ~22 hours later in Cape Town, Africa.

I'm excited (!), a little queasy, and a little guilty about not having completed all my pre-assignment work. But mostly excited (!).

I'll update once I'm settled into my apartment across the pond and have recovered from the inevitable jetlag. Stay tuned!




*Also South America, the rest of Asia, and Antarctica... one journey at a time.