Sunday 29 January 2012

January 29th

Okay so today is January 29th, and I have a lot of catching up to do… So first I want to say I have never experienced such beautiful weather in my life, because it has been 85 degrees and sunny for like 6 days straight. There is also another weird thing about the weather, from 4-8pm these Southwestern winds pick up really strong and it’s only during these times which are quite unusual. So since the last time I’ve met many new friends from America but not in our program… Chris Yarnell is a freemover from PA and he’s here completely on his own, I could never do that because I need help planning and I like having a group of people with me, and then I’ve met Garrett and Victoria who are in the CIEE group and hang out with us on occasion.  So, a few days ago we had a campus tour, and the campus is enormous, it is so much bigger than Assumption and we walk EVERYWHERE! Today I’m going for a run with my friend Halie and I’m pumped to get a workout going! Ohh, so during orientation they originally scheduled a screening of the movie District 9, (which if you don’t know me, its my all time FAVORITE movie) but it got switched to some AIDS documentary. So, yesterday we took a trip to Cape Town on a bus tour, and we drove through some black townships and they live in absolute poverty, and if you’ve seen District 9, the shacks in that are identical to the shacks in these townships, so I definitely consider myself fortunate for what opportunities I’m provided. Cape Town is a gorgeous city, sitting on the water, we had lunch on Victoria Wharf and went to the beach for a couple of hours, and on Wednesday we get to go to the beach for the whole day! A couple days ago, we went to a restaurant called Moyo, and its located in one of the wineries outside of Stellenbosch, and it was absolutely amazing. They had all kinds of wine and food, and tribeswomen came around and painted white flowers on our faces, and the music was spectacular, the venue really reminded me of Animal Kingdom in Disney World, because it was absolutely tropical and beautiful. So I have officially planned out my schedule for this semester and I am taking classes only on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, which means a 4 day weekend for me which is extraordinary. I am taking Negotiating Transition, Peacemaking, History of South Africa, Jewelry Design, and  Theology of Post-Apartheid South Africa, and they all sound like great, unique classes, and even one of them is taught by a UN negotiator. Ohh and my view from my window is absolutely amazing, I can see the mountains that wrap around Stellenbosch, and they look like a backdrop because they are too stunning. Finally, last night we went to a restaurant in Stellenbosch called the Trumpet Tree, and its located outside under a tree, and mist is constantly released from the tree, its amazing! Ohh and I will be Deep Water Shark Cage Diving February 12th, so I will post pictures of that and everything else soon enough, but its difficult because you have to pay for the internet here, which is definitely an interesting feature.
Totsiens, (Until we meet again: Afrikaans)
Em

No comments:

Post a Comment