Is the Missy Going to Get Up?

Late July, 1988 - Johannesburg, South Africa

Major jet lag these past few days since my arrival. Phill is still working during the week so it gives me an opportunity to sleep in and try and get over this drastic time difference. There is a 9 hour time difference between Los Angeles and Johannesburg. That means that when it is 9AM here it is 12AM (midnight!) in Los Angeles. I feel almost drugged at times when I try to get up in the morning. I sit up in bed and then flop back lifelessly and fall sound asleep again. This is the worst experience I have had yet with jet leg in all of my travels thus far. I have slept until about 3PM (6AM in LA) almost every day possible since arriving. At night I try to go to bed on time - but have wound up reading and journaling until about 3AM before I finally become drowsy enough for sleep.

Phill has a great apartment here in Johannesburg. It is situated near a school and on my first full day here I opened up the doors going out onto a small balcony and noticed a cricket match going on amongst a group of school boys. I heard a mourning dove cooing nearby. My first bird sound in Africa! It is winter here now - but not in a cold and snowy sense - it is quite mild. And yes - I checked it out first thing upon arrival and found it to be true - when the toilet flushes it swirls the opposite way around since I'm now in the southern hemisphere. One of the oddities of our planet. And the bathtub drain swirly goes the opposite direction too and so forth and so on.

Phill has maids that come in to clean, do any dishes that are left undone, and change the bedding. This was quite necessary for him during the months he has been here before my arrival and it turns out to be a nice perk for me to enjoy now. I could very easily become accustomed to being spoiled in such a fashion. Each morning they have knocked on my bedroom door. "Is the missy going to get up?" "No, the missy is not going to get up." They must think American women are the laziest critters that walk the earth.

Tomorrow: Life in Apartheid So. Africa