Upon Arrival...

Upon Arrival…

Alright people I know it’s been longer than expected for me to update my blog and I’m sorry for that. Let me explain. For about the first week here my only option for getting a hold of some Internet was to go to an Internet café. Since Friday the campus internet has been available to me but I have to pay per megabyte. Sooo the little bit of communication I was able to make was through paying per minute at a café or per megabyte on campus, both of which are a good walk from the dorms. So there you have it! Internet access here is hard to come by and that is why I have been so incommunicado! I do miss talking to all of you regularly or just being able to text you whenever I feel like it. Now that it has been a week I have no idea where to start to tell you about the overwhelming excitement of coming to live in another country. So after about a minute or two of inner debate I decided to just start at the beginning. I hope you reserved at least an hour of your time and popped some popcorn because this might take you awhile. Alright, from the beginning….

After about 20 hours of flight time and 5 of layovers I FINALLY made it to Cape Town. I arrived late at around 11pm. While I was waiting in line for customs I couldn’t help the feeling of nostalgia creeping over me. I thought back to when I first arrived in Hawaii. Hawaii was kind of a “dawning of a new era” for me which is what I expect this experience to be as well. I also arrived late in Hawaii and was picked up by a jolly Polynesian (who would later become my boss and friend) and his Russian friend. It was a pleasant ride “home” as we “talked story” while driving along the ocean. I could smell the salty ocean air, which is one of my favorite smells in all the world. I woke up the next morning completely taken aback by the beauty of my surroundings. I instantly loved Hawaii and I also fell in love with South Africa instantly. So there I was in the line for customs taking a trip down memory lane when suddenly it was my turn to get my passport stamped. FINALLY! As the lady was checking the validity of my documents I noticed a poster behind her but all I could read was “…man trafficking…” I maneuvered my head so I could read the whole poster. It read “Human trafficking is a form of slavery!” and had about a six-picture diagram explaining the process of human trafficking and all the people in the poster were women! I thought to myself “Damn, my parents were sort of right!” and then continued to “baggage reclaim.”

So I am really struggling with the amount of detail I should include in my blog entries and I’d really hate to miscalculate the level of interest of those interested in reading this (my awesome friends and family). So I’m thinking that I will keep it simple and generalize overall unless I have a really great story! That being said, I HAVE to tell you that the luggage carts at the airport are FREE and everyone uses them. It makes for a super crowded and super awkward baggage claim area but they are FREE and that’s the main point.

So to continue, I arrive at nearly midnight and being picked up with three other SU students; a German named Felix who clearly did not receive the memo in 1995 on how tying sweaters around your neck was sooo last year. I ‘d like to let it slide but there really is just no excuse for such behavior. Anyways, the other two were Americans from Colorado and Iowa. The girl from Colorado is returning for her second semester here at Stellenbosch and is completely aware of her “badass” status that comes with not being the newcomer anymore. I have not really seen her or the other guy much since the airport. So we finally made it to the shuttle bus and as we start heading out who do you think comes on the radio to welcome me to South Africa and provide the soundtrack for my first car ride. I’ll give you a hint! It rhymes with Piley Myrus! Yep, you got it! Miley AND Kesha and a slew of other American popstars introduced me to this great country! I was slightly disappointed but got over it quickly.

I eventually made it to my flat that I share with three other girls who are all American and am greeted by one of flat-mates who is also named Sarah. She is awesome and we are now Stellies Besties! I will talk more about my friends here later. I have to tell you about how after all the traveling and finally making it here I finally lay down to spend my first night in Africa I end up not sleeping a wink. Only minutes after laying down I hear a group of young, “spirited,” and very LOUD American students outside my window. Yeah, I know I am old. So at this time it’s about 2am. So I am in and out of consciousness when I am yanked out of sleep by a SLAM of the door followed by STOMP STOMP STOMP! One of my roommates came home completely plastered and decided it would be a good idea to make eggs. If her goal was to make as much noise as possible with every movement she made she definitely achieved that goal and I give her 5 stars on her impressive level of noise and continued obnoxiousness. After she finished her drunken food binge she decided it would be a good idea to go on Skype and tell her friend all about how “the shots are only like 50 cents!!” Around 5am the noise turned into tones of Kings of Leon and the storm was over. Whew! It was an interesting first night.

By the end of my first day in Stellenbosch I had explored the town and campus with my two new besties Sarah and Rebecca and got a feel for my new city. The next day was our first day of orientation and there we adopted Elizabeth. We have been inseparable ever since. We have been walking a beat around town everyday leaving around 8am and not getting back until around 8 or 9pm. We spent full days out walking everywhere and it was an amazing first week. Orientation was incredibly informative and well prepared. They really spoil the international students. There are about 200 (I think) international students from all over the world that come to study here. On Friday we had our very first braai, which is the South African version of a BBQ. It’s better than our BBQs by A LOT! It was such an amazing night. We arrive and see drums set-up, (pictures in fb album) tables lit by candlelight , and the weather felt like a warm spring evening. It was perfect. We began drumming being led by the pro’s and drummed for about an hour. Anyone who knows me knows that I have zero rhythm but it was still fun to pretend!

Saturday was our Cape Town tour day, also sponsored by the school. They took us to Cape Town and quickly ran through some of the tourist hotspots and showed where to go for when we return. We drove past the famous and beautiful Camp’s Bay but unfortunately that was all the time they gave us there. Cape Town was not at all what I was expecting. It is HUGE!

I could keep writing for pages but I think I will end here for now.

BAIE DANKIE!!

(Thank you very much in Afrikaans)

Check out the fb album for more details!

LOVE YOU ALL!