A Few Quick Pictures...

Hi all,

Here are a few pictures of where we're staying currently. The scholarship money cleared the bank today, which means we can really get on top of finding a place. Plus, tomorrow morning I'm going to go in and pay my fees, fill out paperwork, and register at Wits. It'll be nice to have that out of the way.

More later,
Chris

Greetings from Thunderous Jo-Burg

Today we ventured out on our own. We started things off by viewing a lovely loft in Houghton. This was an adventure in and of its self as we made our way all around town in the back of Peugeot driven by maniac real estate professionals. Although the trip was a bit dodgy at time, we got to see new parts of the city and found a promising apartment option. We took a look at another property this evening and will continue the saga tomorrow.

Beyond the housing hunt, we also went down the street to a salon where our new friend (and housemate for the moment) Susie is interning. She is perfecting her blow drying skills and managed to make my hair look great.

We are currently enjoying a lovely evening thunderstorm. Today was quite hot, but it is quickly cooling off.

We are looking forward to more adventures in the days to come,
Mary and Chris

We made it!

Hi everyone,

This is just a quick note to let you know that we made it safe and sound to Johannesburg, touching down at around 10:05 AM local time. After a brief trip through customs and baggage claim, we were picked up by my wonderful host counselor Anne. We are currently at her home. After a shower, lunch, and a rather long nap, we're feeling quite human. We'll post some pictures soon to let you see where we are and what it's like.

till then,

Chris and Mary

Skype Account Info

Just a quick note.

While away, Mary and I plan on using a service called Skype as a means of communication. It's a free program that lets you place phone calls/video conference over the internet for free (computer to computer, you can also make a call from a computer to a landline or cellphone but this actually costs money). You can download it at...

www.skype.com

Once you have the program installed, go ahead and add me to your "buddies list." My Skype account name is chan6445. I'll receive a notification that you want to be in contact with me and once I accept we can chat face to face (assuming you have a webcam and high speed internet connection). Don't worry if you don't have either of the these. Without a high speed connection and webcam, traditional voice only calls can be made.

Hope to talk to you soon!

Chris and Mary

Live...From Frankfurt

Well, we're currently sitting in the Frankfurt airport and I'm reveling in the fact that they have free wi-fi here. Also marvy is we managed to score one of only a score of open outlets to charge the laptop and iPods. (this one was hidden by a single bar-style counter in the McDonald's of all places).

Anyhoo, travel has been good so far. Neither Mary or I slept much at all on the plane ride from Seattle to Frankfurt. Luckily, the jet streams made it only a 9.5 hour ride. Plus, Lufthansa is an awesome airline to fly on. We took a northerly route over Hudson Bay, just south of Greenland and Iceland, and right over the top of the UK before landing in Germany. We had lots of open seats and the food was quite good. We decided to try and stay up the bulk of the day here in Frankfurt. In spite of a little 2.5 hour catnap, the plan has worked alright. Mary is currently resting her eyes for a bit.

We hope to be on somewhat of a normal schedule once we hit Joburg by making sure to conk-out on the next flight. It's another 10 or so hour trip. Jet lag is no good and we want to avoid it as best that we can. We'll arrive in Joburg around 10:00 AM CAT (Central Africa Time) which is 1:00 AM MST for those of you in Montana and Southern Idaho and 12:00 AM for our Pacific time zone friends.

When we get to Joburg I'll make a post ASAP to let everyone know we made it safe and sound. Until then.

Chris (and Mary via transmission code zzzzzzzzz....)

Welcome!

Hello to everyone!

I hope this post finds you well. Mary and I are about to depart on our grand adventure. We'll be leaving Boise, Idaho, on the 21st of January to fly to Johannesburg, South Africa. We will be in South Africa for approximately 10 months. During our period there we will be using this blog as a tool for communicating and keeping in touch with all of our friends and family as well as the Rotarians who have so generously given to make the Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship that is supporting me possible. We will be uploading photos and videos of our journey on a regular basis, so check back often. We are very excited to get started. It'll be quite the way to spend the first year of married life. (Oh, for those of you who didn't know, Mary and I were just married, December 28th, 2008. Whoohoo!)

Take care and feel free to leave comments to let us know how your doing.

Chris Chandler
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar 2008, District 5080