This is Africa

Hello Everyone,

I know you are all probably wondering what the heck I have been doing since I left. We have been traveling like crazy. I can honestly say I never want to be on a plane again for a while. So what we ended up doing was traveling from LAX to Washington D.C. which was about 5 hours, then from D.C to Dakar which was 7 hours, and then we traveled from Dakar to Johannesburg which was about 10 hours. 

We stayed in Johannesburg for two nights in a hotel and for an entire day we toured around the city. We got to see a township called Soweto and learn all about the culture and history of their town. It was amazing to see how the people responded to us being there. Everywhere we went either on the bus or on the streets they would wave to us or shake our hands and welcome us to the township. Students had told me that the people are very inviting but I was not prepared for this. One thing I learned about their township is that the living conditions are unique. You can look on one side of the road and see shacks that people are living in and then on the other side are apartment complex with satellite dishes on the outside. One thing our tour guide told us is that the people are happy no matter where they live. Because they know that one day they will be able to move up. After that we had our first South African Lunch which was awesome. I had cream soda that was bright green color which was fun. Our lunch had mash potatoes, rice, lamb, and beef. The best part was the dessert mango and ice cream! Our last thing for that day was going to the apartheid museum where we got to learn the history of South Africa. It talked about the political life of South Africa and how the government demanded an apartheid. We got to see a tribute to Nelson Mandella which was truly amazing to see. I cannot wait to keep learning more about the history and culture. For those people out there you don’t  think I am going to be actually doing school out here we already had a homework assignment for our cultural class! 

The next day we flew out to pietermaritzburg where are school campus is located. It was a very short flight! THANK GOD! We then took a hour bus trip to get to our campus. I have to say that being in pietermaritzburg makes me actually feel like I am in South Africa. Johannesburg is very city like and doesn’t really feel like what you picture South Africa. It is very americanized there. So driving to our campus there is hills, trees and green grass, exactly what you picture SA to be like. We even got to see the family of monkeys. I found out at orientation that we get pepper spray to scare them away if they get in our houses. When we arrive on campus we were immediately greeted with 12 men dressed up in african tribal wear dancing and singing. It was then I could not believe I was actually here. Seeing them dancing and then the beautiful green scenery almost seemed unreal. After that we had orientation where we learned we will all being extremely spoiled. We pretty much are in a hotel. We get our laundry cleaned, our beds made everyday, sheets changed two times a week, and our bathrooms cleaned daily. Not to mention we have 5 meals a day. Breakfast at 7:30 am, Tea Time at 10:30am, Lunch at 1pm, Tea Time again at 4pm, and finally dinner at 6pm. I have to say that I am afraid of gaining at least 20 pounds here but I do at least have the nice hikes I have to take to get anywhere. Our dinner tonight was yummy, we got to meet a lot of the staff and the other South African students that will be joining our classes as well. The best part of today was that we got to move into our chalets which is what they call our houses. We have 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen per chalet. I loved finally being able to move and get settled. The one thing that no one bothered to mention before I embarked on this trip is the amount of bugs and spiders I will encounter. I was greeted with my first lovely spider when I came into my room and it was right next to my bed. Soon I later seen a few more HUGE ones in the bathroom. Right now I have no clue how I will sleep tonight...I am praying to God that I will somehow be spared from having one crawl on me. So far this trip has been great its been a little hard getting to know so many new people I can only hope in time that we will be one big family. I am excited to get to know the other girls in my chalet more! Sorry this post is extremely long I will not allow for me to wait this long to update. Something we learn is called TIA which means this is Africa. Whenever something is going wrong or behind, the people will say This is Africa.