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!
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