Hatrack River Forum: Questions about South Africa

This is topic Questions about South Africa in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=048563

Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :

Do we have any posters here from South Africa? It is looking more and more like the consulting firm that my husband and I have done some work for in the past may need us to spend six to eighteen months in Durban.

It's still fairly nebulous as to when the contracts will start, and we may not have to relocate for the entire term. It probably won't be necessary for me to travel to do my bit, but I'm not sure I could stand to be separated from my Beloved that long. On the other hand, it might mean getting tutors for the boys if we have to take them during school months.

Is anyone here familiar with life in KwaZulu-Natal?

We've read a lot of online resources on the region, and are trying to gather as much information as possible before making our decision.

I've put out some feelers on American ex-pat forums and things, but I thought I might run it past you guys, too. [Smile]

Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :

Interesting! (And difficult) decision. Sounds like a toughy. I personally am not a poster from South Africa obviously [Wink]

, but I used to know one guy who used to live in South Africa, and a guy I work with used to live in Namibia, which if I'm not mistaken borders South Africa.

I'll see if I can get in touch with the first guy, and see if my coworker ever lived in or visited South Africa in general or Durban in particular. Won't be as direct-information as you're looking for, but *shrug*

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

We have an occasional poster who spent a few years living in Nigeria. She won't be able to tell you about South Africa specifically, but she can tell you about being an ex-pat in Africa.

I'm meeting up with her tomorrow, and I'll give her a heads-up about this thread.

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

I've heard it can be a scary place to live, but then, so can a lot of places. (Specifically, I heard from a friend who spent time there with her family as a 19-year-old that she was NEVER allowed to leave the house alone during the day, and never without an adult male family member at night, for safety reasons. She lived in Johannesburg, I think.)

I've been reading the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, which is set in Botswana, and does give a lovely picture of the climate and the people there (of course they don't trust the people in South Africa, being from Botswana, but take that as you will.) In any case, it sounds like a lovely place from a beauty point of view, and a place that would break my heart from a humanitarian point of view. (In the same way my mom's heart was broken spending two weeks in the Dominican Republic and she has been giving things away since she got back.)

Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :

Wow, Olivet, that's wild -- we really do have to get together! When I was in Mozambique, I took a brief foray over into South Africa, to Kruger National Park, but that was not in KwaZulu-Natal. The contrast between the two countries at the border was stark.

I know a woman who is about to go (or just left) with her husband as an LDS missionary to Durban. I can probably put you into email contact with her, if you'd like. I've been meaning to get in touch with her myself.