Hello Joburg!

 

After a 15+ hour trans-Atlantic flight from JFK, I finally arrived in O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg early Monday morning. Otherwise known as Joburg by the locals, this metropolitan city is the provincial capital of the province of Guateng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. This area also has the largest economy of any region in Sub-Saharan Africa, and its wealth is reflected in my first impression upon leaving the airport: I don't feel like my new surroundings are much different from the surroundings I supposedly left behind in the U.S. Of course the airport was very snazzy (each parking spot in the garage has a light indicator above it hanging from the ceiling, brightening up in either red or green, to denote its availability to prospective parkers- wow... there have been more than a few pre-Christmas shopping trips during which I wish there was such a saving grace), but the world outside the airport was quite similar to the world outside Houston's airport: well developed road infrastructure, the highways were lined with many corporate company buildings, and there were a lot of cars zooming past us. The most awkward thing was when I got into the left side of the car to ride as a passenger and when we turned at intersections, because I kept getting hit by an instinctive reaction that we were about to have a head-on collision with oncoming traffic. All this aside, I remind myself that first impressions rarely tell the whole story and not to be fooled. There is much for me to yet uncover about this country.

Half an hour later, I arrived in the Woodmead office and attended my first pharmacovigilance training session on adverse events. By that time, it was about 18 hours since I boarded my plane in NY, and all I thought about was how glad I was that I opted for an outfit which was both comfortable for a long flight and office appropriate. Talk about first impressions... I had a few introductions to other members of the office before heading off to visit the flat in Melrose that I had arranged for my stay in Joburg. I'm renting one bedroom in a two bedroom flat, and it's the perfect place for my needs- a decent-sized room with a separate bathroom located in a very secure complex with private security. The best part of the flat though, is my expat roommmate. She's a naturalized Canadianne originally from Burkina Faso, who relocated to Joburg two years ago after having lived in Montreal for many years. What are the odds to have such a North American connection in the southern tip of the African continent?! It's so wonderful to be living with a Francophone, to have the radio and TV station tuned into French programming, and dust the cobwebs off my French, which has been stored far back in the recesses of my language cabinet. Even though I'm far from the comforts of familiarity, our common connection brings that familiarity here for me. It's curious where, how, and why we meet the people we do in our lives. I'm excited to have finally arrived in Joburg, and I'm excited about the other curiosities that life may bring in the coming months.