Just a pic or two...

Walking out of the Boardwalk to the Pier && Ocean

The group (and then some) at the Annie's Cove Toga Party a few weeks ago...good times :))

Jeffreys Bay, South Africa---Beach was BEAUTIFUL

Takes too long to upload more right now but thats a taste!!

One Month In...

So it's almost been a month now that I've been here and I can't even believe that its flying by so fast! I mean sure I still have four left about, but to say a month is already gone is crazy. I feel so settled in here and it feels just like home and I know that leaving is going to be really difficult...but atleast it will be warm in MN when I get back!

This past weekend we all went to Jeffrey's Bay, a cool little surfer's town about an hour down the coast. Apparently its one of the #1 surfing destinations in the entire world. It was a really sweet little place with cool shops and restaurants, great bars, and the beach was BEAUTIFUL. I thought the beaches here in P.E. were nice, but damn. The water was Caribbean blue and the waves were perfect. Its funny how South Africa reminds me of the U.P. of Michigan where my family cabin is---theres people walking around town all the time barefoot and in swim suits, theres cool little shops and stuff everywhere and theres sand everywhere on the sides of the road and just beneath the soil. But back to J-Bay...we stayed in a cool little hostel called Jeffrey's Bay Backpackers and basically the entire place was rented out to St. Cloud students and other friends of ours. We all were 4 or 5 to a bedroom and the workers there were really nice. One of them had a new puppy that me and Kara got to take for a walk on the beach Sunday morning before we left!

School is still going good. The homework isn't hard at all, but the professors expect us to do alot of out-of-class research just for our own knowledge. The way students percieve college here is really interesting. Only around 10% of South Africans actually attend University, so its a big deal that they're in school, but for it being such an oppertunity some of them have zero respect for the Professors. All day in class today people were constantly ignoring her and talking while she was, while others were very in to her lecture, and on top of that when we had our first homework assignment I was the ONLY person who did it! Out of about 50 students! Its just confusing. Also, its still very segregated here in terms of socialization between races. Whites and Blacks tend to stick with eachother and never seem to interact much. Also, at restaurants and shops most of the front of the house employees are white while blacks and "coloured" people (which is the term they use for anyone besides whites or blacks, i.e. Indian, middle eastern, etc) work back of the house jobs or more labor intensive jobs. I suppose its expected when apartheid only ended about 15 years ago but its still shocking to see.

Well my fingers are tired so i'm outtie. Pry gonna hit the pool or beach today considering its like 100 freakin degrees out here! I soooo don't miss snow :)) Cheers!

Just a few random stories...

Running out of time at the Internet Cafe so this will have to be quick---Just a few things I forgot to mention in recent posts!

Was about to leave for class last Thursday and as I was running back to my house from the girl's house I heard pouring water coming from my kitchen---The celing was POURING water and there was a good inch or two of water flooding into my house! I sent Khrystyna to get the landlord, meanwhile Matt was completely sleeping through the WHOLE THING! Turns out our hot water heater burst and we had to get a new one the next day (for free) and nothing got ruined thank god.

Had a Toga party the first weekend here at Annie's Cove and it was craaazy! There was a ton of people there and we had to get shut down by the landlord, but it was still amazing. We threw it just to initiate our new British friend as an American since we're the main people she chills with :))

Went out last night to Barney's then Captains. Yup, thats right, went out and got crazzzy on a Tuesday night. I didn't have class today so its all good!

Started voulenteering at Cheshire Homes for the disabled today and met a few really cool guys! They're really open when talking about their disabilities and just all around good guys. One used to be the main Chef at a restaurant in Cape Town, so we're gonna try to visit his place when we go there for Easter Break---his family took over for him when he moved to Cheshire I guess.

I'm on my last minute here so talk to ya'll again soon!

Settling into South Africa

So the second week of classes has started and its really interesting how different...and difficult...their school system is here. The majority of your grade is basically based upon two tests, a project, and your final exam. YIKES! I hate studying and reading and now I have to do both more than I ever have before. But everyone from St. Cloud said that classes are easy so I'm assuming that the tests are really not all that difficult, but I'll be sure to prepare like crazy. I did end up having to ditch one of my tourism classes for a Child Development class (which has nothing to do with my major) because this school is really confusing to make a long story short, but it will transfer back to SCSU and still help me to graduate credit-wise I suppose.

Aside from school everything is still amazing here. Yesterday we all laid out by the pool for HOURS and did chicken wars and got nice and tan---NOT sunburned! And today its freaking hot as hell out. Atleast 90 or 95 degrees with only a light breeze so needless to day I'm sweating my ass off. Normally i'd complain endlessly about sweating but now i'm just used to it :)

Next weekend or else the following we're all probably going to go out to Addo Elephant Park, which is apparently amazing accoring to some of the SCSU guys that went out there this past weekend, or else do an Apple Express day trip, which is an old fashioned steam train which brings you out into the countryside and over the largest single track something-or-other bridge in the world (just google it), both of which are super cheap in American $$$. Hopefully Cape Town will still be an option money wise once the Easter holiday comes around. Well off to chill at Barney's for a little bit and then maybe the beach if i'm lucky. And seriously people...keep in touch! Get an international calling card at Walgreens and CALL ME! Bye!

Getting Settled && starting school

So this week was the first week of classes here in PE at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and its going pretty good. I have three tourism classes, Afrikaans (which is gonna be suuuuper easy cause its alot like english and german), and I'll be voulenteering at home for disable people down the road from Annie's Cove every Wednesday, and I'm actually really excited for it. I've seen alot of the residents out on the sidewalk getting some fresh air before on my walks to school and they seem like good people. Alot of them were injured in car accidents or in sports and they really just need people to lift their spirits.

Speaking of walks to school, I have a LONG one. Lucky me gets to have two classes twice a week at NMMU's 2nd Avenue Campus, which is quite far from both Annie's Cove and the main campus'. Its right by the beach and the Boardwalk though which is sortof a plus. Well my first day I decided to leave for my class there an hour early so I could find a Kombis(a mini bus taxi..and i might be spelling it wrong), but of course none were stopping for me no matter how much I waved them down. So about 20 minutes after leaving Annie's I get to the Beach and Marine Drive where there are plenty of Kombis willing to stop, but stupid me figured "It can't be that much further to 2nd Ave! I'll just walk!" WRONG DECISION. It was another 15 blocks down, and the I had to turn left and go up another 3 or 4 blocks...I was walking for 45 minutes carrying my laptop under the hot African sun IN FLIP FLOPS. It still feels like I broke my foot and its been like three days. Ugh.... Well watevs I shouldn't complain cuz I'm in South Africa!

Not a ton else new is going on here. Everyone has been hanging out together and having a good time and for the most part we all get along well. Abner's Birthday was on sunday so we all came together and made a HUGE dinner with corn on the cob, pasta, curry rice, salad, garlic bread, desert, and more and it was pretty sweet. Me and Matt got her some nice little presents that she really loved and she was over the moon that we all celebrated her 20th so big. We'll pry all go out to the bars tomorrow night though to celebrate more.

On the sunburn front were doing better. My forehead and everything has finsished peeling, but I still have a killer farmers tan that most def has to go away, and my sandals have given me quite the interesing tan line....Don't worry though kids, I've got 30, 20, and 10 SPF sunscreens to use so I can slowly work my way to a more intense tan that you can all be rediculously jealous of when I get back to MN.

Well off to make some lunch and take a nap. Wish me luck with school and I'll be back to update again ASAP! Keep Reading!!!!