Yesterday was a great day even though I had to wear the same clothes for from 8 am on Thursday all the way through 4:30 pm on Friday; which included an 8 hour flight during the night.

A consultant of ours, who lives here in Johannesburg (J-burg) was here to pick me up from my flight at 6:30 A.M. and by the time we got out of the airport we headed to an appointment that started at 8.

We began the day at a tile and stone show room called Tile Space that was MUCH better than anything we have seen so far on the trip and as good as anything we have in the US. We walked away with a lot of samples and a tile product that I hope will be our wall and floor tile for the project.

Next we met with an amazing furniture manufacturing company called Modelers. They specialize in making traditional furniture, but they have a portfolio in modern furniture and are capable in producing anything we can throw at them. It is a company owned and operated by two brothers that were VERY hospitable, professional and talented. I had a great time with them, and feel they will be a great source to bid on some of our furniture.

We then met with a mill-worker/woodworker (or as they call them here – shop fitter) at their work shop and showroom, where they actually do a lot of office furniture and the like for banks. They had a mock-up of a piece they were developing to be bulletproof…full of bullet holes and everything. That was something that was fun to see, since I have never worked with that kind of a client.

With the time it takes to drive back and forth across J-burg and meet with each of these companies that was basically our day. It was time for some food! They have a drink here that is cola in the bottom of the glass and then they mix it with lemonade. It was pretty good – if you like soda.

The Next day:

Because of the fear of polluted water, I have been drinking more soda this trip than I have in the last two years! But apparently it wasn’t enough. I awoke this morning at 4 AM with a horrible pain in my stomach and have been fighting it since. To come on this trip I had to receive some shots, start on some prevention medications and receive some training on what to – and what not – to eat; I was sufficiently scared. I have tried to keep to that, but after being told J-Burg was safer than Cote’ d’Ivoire, I had some tap water and ate some salad – no no’s on my food training list. I suspect one of those created my pain woes, and gave me the opportunity to check out the cleanliness-uncleanliness of a toilet bowl!

We are headed to the lion park today. My sickness delayed us a bit, but there are supposedly tiger and cheetah cubs as well as the lions. I am SUPER excited.