Charles Apple

As I mentioned the other day, my clients rented me a car to use during my several weeks here in Johannesburg.

I was uncomfortable enough with the thought of driving for the first time ever on the left side of the road. But to be forced to learn it, on the fly, a) just after 16+ hours on a plane, b) at dusk, and c) during rush hour, seemed foolhardy. So I was delighted when Tarina and her husband picked me up at the airport Wednesday and told me my car would be delivered later.

Well, it was delivered Friday morning:

Immediately, I was intimidated by the fact that it’s a Mercedes. I’ve rarely ridden in a Mercedes, much less driven one.

There are so many buttons and gizmos in there that I feel like I’m flying the space shuttle or something:

One gizmo I expected to find but didn’t: A GPS device. Especially since my receipt shows my clients are paying for one. That means I’ll have to find me a nice road atlas of the greater Jo’burg area. I wouldn’t want to get lost here.

I drove the car to the paper and back Friday. It’s a very odd feeling to sit on the right side of the car, yet drive on the left side of the road.

I managed to maneuver the mile or so to work, though, just fine. My only mishap: When I pulled into the newspaper’s parking lot, I forgot the left-side thing and pulled into the exit, rather than the entrance. I had to execute a three-point turn, pull back onto the road and then pull into the correct driveway. I think the security guard is still laughing at me.

Lucky for me it was just a parking lot and not, say, a freeway off-ramp, though. Keeping myself out of trouble is going to be nerve-wracking work.

I also find I don’t fit comfortably into a Mercedes. The foot-space, in particular, is very, very tight. Twice, I’ve found myself accidentally pulling up the floor mat as I climb in the car, as the mat catches on my shoe.

I’ve accidentally hit the parking break pedal once. There’s really nowhere for my left foot to rest. Perhaps I should store it in the glove compartment or something.

This strikes me as unusual, as well: There is no conventional key. The starting device looks much like a thumb drive for your USB port:

Yes, the car has South African tags, of course:

Last night, I left it in the parking deck across the street from the hotel lobby. I felt it would be in good company with the other Mercedes there:

My to-do list for the weekend, in no particular order…

1. Sleep in late.
2. Find a bookstore and buy a map atlas.
3. Buy the necessities I can’t seem to get enough of here in the hotel: coathangers, soap and toilet paper.
4. Visit the Apartheid museum.
5. Visit the World of Beer museum. (If I feel up to it. How can I not visit the World of Beer?)
6. Try to get caught up on my blogging.
7. Sleep in late. Again.
8. Try to find a newspaper. The hotel seems to carry all but the ones published by my clients. Sigh…

And here’s a look at the area within four or five miles of my hotel here, just on the northern edge of downtown:

View My little section of Jo’burg in a larger map

My hotel is the red pin in the middle. The magenta one just to the left is the newspaper, about a mile away. The green pegs, from upper left, are a big shopping mall, the Apartheid museum and the World of Beer. Click on any peg for details, of course.

My efforts to take care of item No. 1 on my list — Sleep in late –  failed this morning when I was jolted awake around 7 a.m. by an ungodly gurgling noise coming from my bathroom. Did I have an intruder? What the hell?

It turned out to be soap suds. Lots and lots of soap suds, pouring out of my toilet, spilling over onto the floor and creating a big — but very clean-smelling — mess. I wish, now, that I had taken a picture of it.

I used up nearly every towel in the place trying to sop up the suds. Of course, you really can’t sop up suds. Bubbles pop only when they want to. I eventually gave up and tried to go back to sleep.

I’ve felt awfully tired and groggy since I arrived here. I wondered if I wasn’t suffering from jet lag — you may recall I had no problem with jet lag last time, so I did the same thing this time. Yet I feel run-down.

So today, I think I discovered the reason: I woke up with a cough and a terribly sore throat. Plus, I feel dizzy. As I type this — at about 10:35 a.m. Saturday — I hear my chest rumbling with each breath.

Oh, man. The last time I had a respiratory infection, I was sick for two solid months. I can’t do that again, 8,000 miles from home. I gotta find me a pharmacy.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 3:41 am and is filed under Charles Apple, Travelogue, Trip to South Africa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.