Kalina at the Olympics

Saturday, July 17

My last day in Africa. I never thought hat this day would come. We have always talked about me leaving and I knew I would return home at some point, but it always seemed so far off. It is weird to me. I don’t feel like I have spent a month already in this country. Yet when I think back on all that I have seen, done and learned, it seems like a lifetime that I have spent here. And in this time, I have learned to love this country. Their slight African culture mixed with the European ways; the people, who have endured so much and yet have come so far; and most of all, the stunningly beautiful landscape that the country embraces. I have learned to appreciate the animals and the native people of Africa; the ones who have struggled and still need help to survive, and yet, are so friendly and believing. Although it may be quite Europeanized compared to the rest of the Continent, South Africa has changed my impression of Africa and inspired me to learn, help and travel through Africa more.

South Africa is a strong nation. To see what they have endured and gone through and to see where they are now, is inspiring. I am a bit disappointed that I am leaving today. Tomorrow, July 18 is Mandela day, for it is Madima’s birthday. After serving the country for 67 years, he has united a country that had lost all belief in unity. Although the remains of the apartheid is ever apparent and all parts of their society bare the abuse, this country has come a long ways in the past decades. Around the world, there is a fear of Africa, a fear of crime in South Africa and a belief of a corrupt society in this southern tip of Africa. After being here for a month, I wish to shatter all beliefs. Yes, there is crime, there is extreme poverty and there are drastic social problems that need to be addressed. But in no way should this stop people from traveling to South Africa. Just as any foreign city in the world, people need to be careful and travel only in the safe areas. But honestly, South Africa is not a place to be avoided by the outside world. It is a place that needs to be embraced. It needs to be seen, traveled to and helped. Many of the locals have asked me to come home and spread the charm of South Africa. To encourage others to venture to the beautiful country and experience their culture. They plead to be visited; to share their ways and show off their country. And honestly, from my experience, I wish that others can see this gem at the tip of Africa. It is a place where the future will develop, where their influence and progress will continue to grow. Most of all, it is a place that I have come to love!

As always, it is hard for me to leave my travels to return to America. The more I am gone, the more I wish to be gone. Being here, I have met so many worldly people. And these people, as always, make me want to travel and learn and see. Home will always be there. Whenever I return, I feel as if nothing has changed and nothing has happened. Although, when I return, it always feels so different, because the world has changed me. And once again, the world has made its impact on my life. While South Africa has been said to be a scary place, I have discovered a country far from that. Even though I was there during the World Cup and the security was outrageous, I feel that this country has a lot more to offer than their dangerous reputation. No matter what people say, everyone must experience the world for themselves. Each country and experience has something unique and special to offer. It only matters is the people are willing to take the effort to enter each new experience for themselves and with an open mind. For when I traveled here, I knew nothing of what to expect. I had only heard the warnings of safety and danger as I embarked on this trip. And now, my view on this country is far from that; I discovered the beauty of this land and the belief for a brighter future that stems from this culture. I truly hope to return to this country again. To experience their culture and see the amazing sights. Although, next time I want to venture further. Further into the heart of Africa and see what the rest of the continent has to offer. For im sure, just as South Africa’s hidden beauties, Africa has so much more to offer than the world believes. Just as Mandela has taught South Africa to believe, South Africa has taught me to believe. And now, I only hope that the rest of the world can learn to believe.

Saturday, July 16, 2010

Today was my last day in Africa=[ it hasn’t hit me yet that I am leaving, or returning to the US. Or better yet, that its summer at home and im going back to school soon. But today, none of that mattered, yet. We made the most out of our last African day.

After helping load up the final truck of boxes, we went with the IT guys to the Elephant Encounter. This place is located inside one of the game reserves. The elephants are free to roam about anywhere is the game reserve, so they still can survive like wild elephants. However, they have trained them to be tamer and respond to human commands. The elephants choose to return to the area every night because they get fed and have an area to sleep in. There are five big elephants in the clan and one baby, which is 16 months old. When we arrived with a few other people, the elephants knew that it was feeding time. Before we even got over to the grass area, one elephant came over and was nudging a ladies purse. It could smell apples in her bag, and the trainer told her just to feed it to the elephant! They were so cute though, especially the baby! They would stand behind a wall and stick out their trunks to be fed. We could either drop the food in their trunk or tell them “trunk up” and place it in their mouth. They were very calm and cooperative, but at times, they would swing their tusk or move their heads around and nearly hit you! We were playing with the baby a lot. It was so funny, we would pet it or just be sitting next to it and it would slap us with its trunk! I really enjoyed being with the elephants; they are such gentle creatures despite their giant size.

After the elephants, we went to a lion sanctuary. They had a bunch of different areas fenced off and separated from each other. They had several areas for the larger lions, one male with several female, one for the teenagers, 8 months to a year old, and one for the baby lions, up to 7 months old. When we first got there, they were just about to feed the big lions. Every cage had two fences around it with electrical fencing and barbed wire lining the fences. In order to feed the lions, they had to take extreme precautionary measures. They pulled up with a large pick-up truck with a dead cow in the back! They had to move the lions into the next cage in order to put the food in. when they opened the gates to let the lions back in, the dominate female sprinted to the food while the others sat and waited for the male to arrive. They tore apart the entire half of the cow and cleaned it of all the meat that was left! These lions only get fed meat once a week, as a treat. The rest of the days, they just drink water and milk. I found it extremely interesting that they could survive off of such little meat.

We got to go in the cages of the other lions before they ate. The baby lions, which are 7 and 4 months old, are the size of Labrador dogs! When they told us that they were the babies and we could go inside the cage, I hardly believed them! when we went in, though, they just went about their own things and hardly paid any attention to us. We were allowed to hold the lions to take a picture, but mine kept wiggling and trying to escape from my arms. One of them nearly attacked one of our friends and was climbing up his leg and biting his jacket! We even got to go in the other cage with the teenage lions. Once they started to feed the younger ones, we went in the cage and stood right next to them while they ate. They were so concentrated on their food that they hardly noticed us. After seeing this, though, I would never want to meet one of these animals in the wild or get in between them and their food. Even though the people here fed the lions, the lions still knew how to survive on their own. After about a year in the cage, they release the lions to different game parks. The older ones they keep to breed and keep on producing more lions. It is actually a very successful program to protect and increase the lion population! And of course, it is fun and terrifying to be able to handle these animals when they aren’t tamed or in a zoo!

Thursday, July 15

Today was departure day for the rest of the staff. All of the managers were leaving except for me, my mom, and the two IT staff that we love to hang out with! We packed up the whole office and worked all day long to label, tape, stack and move boxes! I found it actually quite entertaining and fun.

It is always sad saying good-bye to everyone after a program. You work with them for so long, even months before the program, planning, talking about and creating the program. And when the time comes to leave, everything is over and nothing will every be the same again. Each program, the people and environment is always different and unique. This is what keeps it exciting, but it is also what makes it hard to leave and say good-bye. Even though I was only up here  only for a few days, we all bonded and became so close, as always. The managers are like my second parents, aunts and uncles and best friends all in one. Usually on these programs, when I’m not on duty, I just hang out with the managers. With the stress of the day, at night everyone needs to relax, so we always have fun together passing the time in the office and of course at the end of each day. In this environment, every gets to know each other so fast, or at least they better if they want the program to succeed. Under pressure and stress, people learn the true personalities of everyone around them. And because of this, I have gotten to know them very well and have grown extremely close to many of them. I end up being with all of them the most, more than even with my own mother. This makes it even harder to leave because its like leaving my own family. In Vancouver, we knew we were going to be together again in some way or form at the FIFA World Cup. But now, we have no plans in the near future. Its hard to say good-bye when you don’t know the next time you are going to see everyone. But as always, the good memories of the program will remain with me and override the tough times. I will never be able to forget these people or times that we have shared together; but for now, it is good-bye.

Wednesday, July 14

Today was an awesome day! All of the local staff left, which was kind of sad because I was just getting to know everyone. A lot of the managers were still here, so we were all able to get out and do some touristy things. In the morning, we went ziplining. This was so so awesome! If I could, I would do it 5 more times! This is the highest, fastest, and longest zip line. We started on the top of a mountain side. It was 2 kilometers long and got up to 100 miles and hour! The beginning drop was about 45 seconds long, and then you glided for another 2 minutes or so. When we got to the top, they dressed us up in harnesses and these things that looked like giant bibs. We chose to go in doubles, since you go faster with more weight. I went with my mom! Watching the first people go was probably the scariest part. You would stand on this platform overlooking the side of the mountain with nothing but a huge drop-off in front of you. The worst part was when they were strapping you in. They would make you squat down and then just lean forward like you were just jumping off the side of the mountain. They were holding your harness from the back, but you couldn’t feel it, so you felt like you were just jumping off the side of the mountain. You were laying down in this bib, looking forward with a card-board fin in between your feet to make you go faster! Once you were all hooked in, they were supposed to count down to your send-off, but for us, they just sent us. Sitting there waiting was another scary part. I didn’t know what to expect. I though that my stomach would drop, but once we got started, it actually didn’t at all! We went soaring down the mountainside, and you could see all around you with an awesome view of the flats and little towns nearby. I felt like I was flying! I was thinking of an airplane as it comes in for landing. The wind was blowing so hard at my face that it was hard to breathe! Afterwards, everyone had the same reaction and said that it was so awesome! Even my mom, who doesn’t like rollercoaster’s and was debating going loved it. It was a feeling that no roller coaster can imitate, it literally felt like you were flying!

After this, in the afternoon, we went on a game drive with all of the managers that hadn’t been. We were out for three hours in the afternoon and sun set. If the hotel already wasn’t enough to make me feel like I was in a Indiana Jones movie, this experience definitely was! We rode in this tracker vehicle which has open sides and front so that you can see all around. I don’t know how we ended up with this guide, but I’m pretty sure that we got the weirdest guide there was! Half the time, we couldn’t even tell if he was speaking English! We saw a lot of animals, though. More than any of the other people who had gone out in the days past. We would drive only about 5 minutes before stopping to see a new group of animals. The first thing we saw was an elephant with its baby. It was so adorable! They are such weird animals, though, as they just strolled along and ate leaves with their trunks. I found it interesting that elephants never die of old age. Ever single one dies of starvation. They have 6 rows of teeth, and as they age, the new rows pop up as the old ones ware down. But when they get to their last row of teeth, they cannot chew anyone once those are gone. Next, we saw a giraffe. I would have to say that this was my favorite out of all of the animals. They are just such beautiful beasts. Their faces are very pretty. Along the way, there were a lot of herds of animals just hanging out on the side of the dirt roads that we drove on. There were a lot of Impalas and Wallabies. We also saw these animals that looked like impalas, but they were bigger and their horns swirled around. They were very pretty actually, but we could understand our guide to figure out that they were. He kept saying they are “red blah-blah-blah”. We say a group of Zebras from farther away and few rhinos roaming the fields. The hippos were extremely lazy, laying by the side of a water hole. Only in the winter time do they lay around outside the water. We stopped an got out of the vehicle to walk up to this viewing place over a water hole and there was a Rhino there! He was just standing there drinking water for like 15 minutes. He was very interesting looking, with a random ridge of bone on his back. I felt like we were going back in time, looking at these beasts that all look a bit funky. They were all so massive! I was surprised to see them all just hanging around nonchalantly, eating plants and not paying any attention to really anything else around them. I was surprised with how many animals were in this area, and how we could see so many driving around for only a few hours! We wanted to see the lions, but our guide told us that they were asleep, so even though he knew where we could find them, we wouldn’t be able to see them. It was still so awesome to be able to see all of these animals in person. Although the game reserve is not technically the wild, the animals still act like they are in the wild, and truthfully, they are safer in a game reserve than in the wild. Since the area of land is so big, they can roam around and live a life just like in the wild. The benefit is that they are protected from people. No one can hunt them and poach them for their body parts, and their land will remain the same and not suffer from developments or human impacts. To me, though, it was still sad. Although the animals are happy and thriving in this environment, it made me realize what humans have done to this natural earth. Seeing these beautiful beasts, I realized that there used to be so many more of them, roaming the lands and controlling the wilderness. But now, there are only so many left in this world. And without the protection that they are getting, they could easily be wiped off this earth just because of how humans affect our world.

Monday, July 12 & Tuesday, July 13

Since I was not trained for the Transpo staff here, after game day, my job was to just help around the office and assist wherever was needed. On Monday, I really didn’t do much. I did a few room drops for guest services. This was actually fun because I got to see all of the rooms in the Palace, which are stunning to see. They tried to make everything look ancient and aged, but it is still very nice and elegant. In the afternoon, I went to the Crocodile Sanctuary. Some people say that they use these Crocodiles for their skin, but they don’t kill them, so I’m not quite sure if this is true. It was kind of weird seeing them. You could walk along these walkways and underneath you there were tons and tons of Crocs. They keep the different ages separated, for if they are together, the older Crocs with eat the younger ones. Since they are cold-blooded and it is winter here, they really didn’t move all that much. They are such strong animals though. We got to watch them feed the Crocs. They would throw a bid hunk of meat at the them and the croc would snatch it from the air and pretty much just swallow it! I would definitely not want to meet one of these in the wild!

Tuesday was departure day and our staff party. I didn’t have much to do with the departures, but I was fine with that. Most of the Transpo staff was out at the airport, which means that they had to drive three hours out and three hours back on top of working long hours at the airport! Our staff party was extremely casual. It was at this pub that had a very local feel and was only a few minutes drive away. We had a DJ and a delicious barbeque, or Braai. I felt like I had just had the other staff party, but that was fine with me to have another one! Everyone was dancing and having a great time! I always have fun with staff parties and see all the adults that love to party! It was fun here because a lot of the staff was in their younger twenties, so they were closer to my age than in Cape Town. Although, at our Coke parties, it never seems to matter how old anyone is, everyone just has so much fun dancing with each other and being with everyone!

Friday July 9 & Saturday July 10

To me, these days were pretty much just one very long day! The morning of Friday, I just helped pack up the office, ship some boxes and clean up our work area. It was amazing how fast everything was broken down and cleaned up. In a matter of hours, what took days to plan, set up and perfect, everything was taken down and turned back into what resembled a hotel rather than a Cokified party!

We had our staff party Friday night. It was in Club VitaminWater, which was in the hotel. This is where the guests had partied every night with DJs and live bands. It was white with all of the VitaminWater colors accenting the room. It was just the perfect size for all of our staff and hotel staff to have a fun party in. VitaminWater also created a bunch of mixed drinks using their product as a mixer, so everyone loved those! It was weird, though, having a goodbye party right when everyone had just gotten to know each other. Compared to Vancouver, it was incredible how fast everything passed, I barely had time to take it all in. It was so much fun though, to dance with everyone and just hang out, after being together during stressful situations in the past week. Everyone danced well into the night, just having so much fun!

The next morning, my mom and I were leaving for Joburg, so hop into the Finals program that had started a few days earlier! Unfortunately, or conveniently, the party ended around 2:30 am, and we were leaving the hotel at 4 am, so there was no time for sleep there! We packed up and said goodbye to the hotel that had lived with us for the past few weeks.

Joburg definitely has a different feel than Cape Town. Everyone in Cape Town was like “oh, I’m sorry you have to go up to Joburg”. But to me, its just different. Were actually staying in Sun City, which is about 3 hours away from Joburg. It’s a resort area with several hotels,  a game reserve, and everything else that you ever need. The drive out definitely made me feel like I was in Africa. There was not much in site most of the drive, just vast land with savannah bushes and shrubs. Every now and there, there would be a little town. By town, I mean a few shacks and houses in a group. There were about the same quality as the townships in cape town, only not a cluttered together. But it was unbelievable. Even though they had all the land and area to build bigger houses, there was nothing bigger than a one room house. Most were made out of metal sheets just laid up against each other. To me, this was more impacting to see the poverty level in this situation than in the townships.

When I arrived at Sun City, I instantly went to work. Tonight, there was a performance for the guests at an outdoor amphitheatre. The hotel where the guests are staying, The Palace, is very elaborate. Is meant to seem like an old palace from years ago. It is very intricate and beautiful, as it is surrounded by forest and wilderness. Overall, it is very cool and pretty, but parts of it seems a bit on the cheesy side. The amphitheatre looks like it was built a long time ago. It is very pretty, though. We had to set up the stands with pillows and blankets on every seat. It ended up taking a while, but it looked awesome when it was done! K’Naan, the guy who wrote the Wavin’ Flag song for the games was performing tonight for the guests. It was very cool to see him in person! The song was everywhere throughout the hotels, and everyone was always singing it and humming it. So it was even better to hear him live. He took us through his progression as an artist and writer. He was actually very good live. After the concert, the guests went to Club Jabulani. We created a club out of a big storage building for the guests to party in and watch the third place game in. Their party went well into the middle of the night and it was another late night.

From when I first got here, I noticed that Joburg was very different from Cape Town. I definitely feel the strengths of the effects of an apartheid here. Although we are out at Sun City, all of the local staff is from Joburg. Even when I was being introduced to everyone, I noticed the racial segregation. I met all of the white people, but I was hardly even introduced to the black people. To me, it was very awkward and I just felt wrong not blending with everyone. The local staff here is much younger than in Cape Town, and although they are all very nice, it is very clicky, even just on this program. When I got here, everyone was already in their clicks, and they did not talk to anyone else except for the people in their specific group. When we sat down to eat, it was stunning how black and white every thing was. There was one table with all black, and across the room, one table with all white. I felt very uncomfortable. It’s just weird to me that people can still segregate by color, and what’s even worse is I doubt they even think twice about it, that’s just the way that their society developed and has remained.

Wednesday, July 7 & Thursday, July 8

On Wednesday, it was an extremely quiet day! I was supposed to be going on optional tours with the guests, and I was assigned to take them to a cooking class in the ethnic part of the city, which I actually thought was going to be really interesting. It ended up, though that everyone cancelled, so we all got reassigned to different positions. I went back to the Waterfront to do the shopping shuttles again. This time, though, we only had 15 people all day long! I still had to sit at the Waterfront though all day, waiting for the guests to return. We had about 5 of us there throughout the day, and so it really wasn’t that bad. This whole program, the staff have been so much fun to hang out with a get to know. Most of them are older, the younger ones just have graduated college. They mostly worked in offices as their main job, so to get out and see how the program is run and everything has been very eye-opening to them! Many of them have told me that they want my mom’s job, and want to quit theirs to work in hospitality! South African ways are very interesting. My favorite thing has been comparing our cultures and the ways words are said. Their accents are similar to British ones, but whenever I try and practice my South African accent, they laugh at me and try to talk back in funky American. I have had so much fun hanging out with the staff and learning their ways of life.

The next day, today, we went to the Spier Wine Estate and Moyo. The wine country is about an hour north of Cape Town. Cape Town is extremely famous for their wines, especially their Pinotage. The wine lands are absolutely stunning! On the drive up, the views of the city and farm lands along the side of the road are unbelievable. The estate that we went to is a big destination for tourists, but they still keep it very authentic. They have huts and tree platforms that you can eat in. It was all African food as well, which was amazing! They have this type of stew stuff, that they cook in really large pots with all different types of meats and sauces. It was so good! While you ate nearly in the middle of the forest in the wilderness, they had African dancers and music. It was a lot of fun and beautiful all at the same time=]

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Match Day. Quite a procedure. We had around 400 guests, and they all had to get to the stadium, into the hospitality tent, and then to their seats. I actually started the day early with shuttles to the Waterfront, which is about 20 minutes away. This is where we stayed before the program started, and it is downtown with all of the tourist shops. Surprisingly, we had about a hundred people down at the Waterfront. It wasn’t all that difficult to manage that, though. When it came time to load the buses for the match, all of us escorts had to prepare the buses and ensure that everything went smooth. Our bus speeches were stressed so much that it put the pressure on us, the escorts, to deliver every point that we had compiled and written for the speeches. This made me nervous, to speak to the whole bus and remember every point, and it was even worse that I helped write them, because then I need to know them! Luckily, I was one of the first buses, so I didn’t have to speak to any staff. With the program being so global, most of the guests hardly spoke English, especially on my bus, so it was even better that they probably couldn’t understand me! Once we got to the stadium, it was a complete zoo! We had a special sponsor’s entrance, but with all of the other companies going in at the exact same time, there was no way to go about this easily. With time, though, we got everyone in! and the big boss even said that it was one of the best lollipoping jobs that he has ever seen!

The game was so incredible! Netherlands vs. Uruguay. We made friends with a policeman, and so we had a great view of the entire game! Almost the whole stadium was orange, and again, the fans and vuvuzelas were going crazy! I would have to say, I think that these FIFA World Cup games have more energy than any Olympic event. Everyone is just so passionate about the game, no matter who is playing! I was glad that the Netherlands won. Being here, I have definitely grown to like soccer more and actually appreciate the game!

Getting the guests home was a piece of cake. It is amazing what simple organization does to a large program like this! Although, when I say simple, I know that hours and months of planning went into every single detail. Every time the guests go somewhere and do something, it still amazes me how they have no idea how much time and energy is put into everything, just for them! I know that they definitely appreciate our help and what the get with the program, but I am sure that they have no clue how much energy is actually spent on these programs. One lady was telling me that she felt like the hotel an everything was much more low-key and not as energetic as Beijing. And the truth is, it wasn’t. But how could anyone expect this to be so elaborate when the whole thing lasts only 5 days! It just outrageous how elaborate the program already is, just to set up everything, plan it and create it, for it to happen in less than a week! With match day over, the main part of the program is already over! This was the reason why everyone came here! And it is already passed! It has gone by so fast already, and next thing we know, everyone will leave, there it will be, another program finished!

Sunday July 4 and Monday July 5

Well I will have to say, this is probably one of the most memorable July 4^th that I will experience. Not because of the big celebrations with fireworks and American barbeques, but because of the FIFA World Cup! The day was absolutely crazy! There were departures from the Unity Cup in the morning, and then arrivals for the main program all day. We got drafted around all day to help everyone. From moving boxes to typing documents and organizing bags, we worked a 15 hour day with continuous work! The entire hotel was instantly transformed. Well into the night, everyone was building structures and moving things to create the Africa Coke environment that surrounds the hotel. It is so cool, walking through the lobby now and seeing all of the authentic African décor. The artists who created lots of the decoration have also been around, working on new pieces for people to watch. Near the pool is now an area called Club Vitamin Water. It is so awesome with all of the Vitamin Water colors and saying surrounding the bar area. Its is unbelievable the amount of time and energy that goes into creating these areas for the guests. Everything that the guests gets is so outdone, but in programs like these, it is these intricate details that make such a huge difference. Luckily, when the guests actually arrive, you can tell that they appreciate what has been done. Even the guests who have been on other programs are always so thankful and gracious for all of the work that has been done to provide them with the services that they receive.

Today, I was at the airport most of the day welcoming the new arrivals and escorting them back to the hotel. It went surprisingly smooth, as we received around 200 guests. I did three runs to and from the airport. I always enjoy meeting the guests and chatting with them. everyone has their own story and experiences that they are willing to share. It is a big part of the job to get to know who you are serving, for it makes it so much more enjoyable to help them out and guide them around. Back at the hotel, everyone was busy going to work. The guest services desks and amenities were busy with a constant flow of people and the lobby and bar flooded with people as they explored their new hospitality areas. Arrival day is always exciting, for all the planning and work that went into setting everything up is finaly getting used! The plans are in action, and from this point on, there is no turning back! The program has started!!!