Sunday, January 31, 2010
Uhh TIA (This is Africa)
So our internet is really sketchy down here in Cape Town, so here are the pics from the last post
Shark Attacks
So registration was kind of a nightmare. I had to get one more class approved, so I literally sat in a hallway for two hours waiting for someone to come sign my little paper, someone who never came back. So then I got someone else to do it, but he grumbled the entire time about how he shouldnt be signing my paper blah blah blah.
After that, I had to trek to Jameson hall to actually register. Which was another 2 hour wait...but it ended up that I am actually a commerce student, not humanities like everyone else and it took me about 5 minutes to register, so that turned out to be lovely. Then I was about to head back home alone, when I was intercepted by like 3 roommates, so that is another perk of living with 17 people, they are always showing up :)
So three roommates and I got sushi at this little place in Obs called 1890, which was super delish, recommended by our crazy awesome landlord. When we got home we all took like 3 hour naps, which was so necessary after so many nights of going out. After we napped we then relaxed because we were preparing for a mardi gras party at this bar/restaurant called Roots, that is like 100 yards away from our house.
We had a couple people over before we went out, and then headed to Roots. I got in freeeeeeee, which was lovely, and this bar is kind of cool cuz there was sand there, and lots of people we knew, and it was a good time. Roots was so close to our house, my friend Christina and I came home to go to the bathroom, haha.
Another cool part about this whole experience is the kids who were the orientation leaders are actually hanging out with us. So after we came back from Roots, we went with two of the OL's to the bar that is even closer than roots, and got some samosas, and then headed home for the night. Awesome.
Yesterday, we went to the beach again, except that it was really windy and kind of cold. The most exciting part was the shark warning. Two of our roommates were surfing out in the water when an alarm that sounded like a police siren went off, and two guys holding white flags with a shark image on them went sprinting down the beach, then we all looked at each other and then started yelling and waving our roommates in, one didnt hear and we were all like jumping up and down trying to get his attention, haha. So that was the excitement for the day.
Today was a full day of shopping, at a mall that was so reminiscent of home it was crazy. Here are pics of recent adventures :)
After that, I had to trek to Jameson hall to actually register. Which was another 2 hour wait...but it ended up that I am actually a commerce student, not humanities like everyone else and it took me about 5 minutes to register, so that turned out to be lovely. Then I was about to head back home alone, when I was intercepted by like 3 roommates, so that is another perk of living with 17 people, they are always showing up :)
So three roommates and I got sushi at this little place in Obs called 1890, which was super delish, recommended by our crazy awesome landlord. When we got home we all took like 3 hour naps, which was so necessary after so many nights of going out. After we napped we then relaxed because we were preparing for a mardi gras party at this bar/restaurant called Roots, that is like 100 yards away from our house.
We had a couple people over before we went out, and then headed to Roots. I got in freeeeeeee, which was lovely, and this bar is kind of cool cuz there was sand there, and lots of people we knew, and it was a good time. Roots was so close to our house, my friend Christina and I came home to go to the bathroom, haha.
Another cool part about this whole experience is the kids who were the orientation leaders are actually hanging out with us. So after we came back from Roots, we went with two of the OL's to the bar that is even closer than roots, and got some samosas, and then headed home for the night. Awesome.
Yesterday, we went to the beach again, except that it was really windy and kind of cold. The most exciting part was the shark warning. Two of our roommates were surfing out in the water when an alarm that sounded like a police siren went off, and two guys holding white flags with a shark image on them went sprinting down the beach, then we all looked at each other and then started yelling and waving our roommates in, one didnt hear and we were all like jumping up and down trying to get his attention, haha. So that was the excitement for the day.
Today was a full day of shopping, at a mall that was so reminiscent of home it was crazy. Here are pics of recent adventures :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Week One
So it has officially been a week here in Cape Town. My first full week, and I got to explore more of this on paper registration that we have to do. This is probably the number one culture shock I've experienced so far.
So we have to "pre-register" for classes, and we had to be pre-approved for classes. First things first, USF signed up all of us up in this program as individuals, so we're not associated with a university...at all. This became a problem because as individuals we had to provide proof of payment, and we had all payed our university. Problem. So today we went and apparently it had been resolved, so all we had left to do was pre register. Which we waited an hour and forty five minutes to do. On paper. It was quite the experience.
Then for registration (which is tomorrow) classes that we didnt already have approved, we had to get the head of the department sign it to approve the class. And people leave for lunch for an hour, and then leave for the day at about 4pm, so it was almost impossible to get things signed.
I feel as if I would be way more stressed out about classes and such if I were at home, but we're in Africa, on Africa time and nothing is really bothering me. The good thing about today is that I spent so much time walking around campus that I feel as if I know it a bit better now.
All of the freshman have moved into their housing now and so our campus is looking not so deserted and more like an actual campus.
The other thing we did today which was very South African was go to our first braai. A braai is like a giant barbeque and UCT hosted one for us, which was awesome. The only thing was that it was SO windy that it was impossible to hold our paper plates with food on them. And they had veggie sausages!! They are so accommodating to veggies here, which is so nice. Because we were basically being blown away by the wind, we went home, and are now getting ready to go out. Last night we stayed in, so were back out on our grind.
I also signed up for some awesome adventures on our free week next week, before classes start. I signed up for sea kayaking with penguins, a wine and bike tour, and a homestay in a township, and hopefully a rugby game. Exciteddddddd
So we have to "pre-register" for classes, and we had to be pre-approved for classes. First things first, USF signed up all of us up in this program as individuals, so we're not associated with a university...at all. This became a problem because as individuals we had to provide proof of payment, and we had all payed our university. Problem. So today we went and apparently it had been resolved, so all we had left to do was pre register. Which we waited an hour and forty five minutes to do. On paper. It was quite the experience.
Then for registration (which is tomorrow) classes that we didnt already have approved, we had to get the head of the department sign it to approve the class. And people leave for lunch for an hour, and then leave for the day at about 4pm, so it was almost impossible to get things signed.
I feel as if I would be way more stressed out about classes and such if I were at home, but we're in Africa, on Africa time and nothing is really bothering me. The good thing about today is that I spent so much time walking around campus that I feel as if I know it a bit better now.
All of the freshman have moved into their housing now and so our campus is looking not so deserted and more like an actual campus.
The other thing we did today which was very South African was go to our first braai. A braai is like a giant barbeque and UCT hosted one for us, which was awesome. The only thing was that it was SO windy that it was impossible to hold our paper plates with food on them. And they had veggie sausages!! They are so accommodating to veggies here, which is so nice. Because we were basically being blown away by the wind, we went home, and are now getting ready to go out. Last night we stayed in, so were back out on our grind.
I also signed up for some awesome adventures on our free week next week, before classes start. I signed up for sea kayaking with penguins, a wine and bike tour, and a homestay in a township, and hopefully a rugby game. Exciteddddddd
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
This is Africa.
We have come up with a saying here, it is "This is Africa." Like, you waited in line for an hour to do something? Well duh, this is Africa. You waited an hour to get your drinks at a restaurant, an hour to get your food, an half an hour for the check? This is Africa. Haha, it is really all encompassing because the culture is just so different here, and its wonderful.
The restaurant thing is the funniest one, you really have to premeditate your hunger, because if you go to a restaurant hungry, you will be STARVING by the time you actually get your food, they are on Africa time and no one is in a hurry to do anything.
Interesting things about South Africa:
-so there are cabs and buses but there are these things called mini buses, and it is someone's job to stick their body half way out of the window, whistle at people and ask where they are going so its kind of like a cab. But you'll be walking down the street hearing whistles out of everywhere. And they only cost like 5 or 6 rand which is less than a dollar.
-The accents are awesome, I dont even know what to compare it to, but we still get lost in translation even though we're all speaking English. They say "howsit bru" as a greeting, which is awesome.
- we will be registering for our classes ON PAPER. This will be interesting to say the least and I'm sure I'll have horror stories to tell when that happens.
-There is actually a language down here with clicking sounds in it. This is an interesting ignorant American phenomenon to think that the language is all clicks, but there are definitely clicks. It is called isiXhosa, or Xhosa, and the click is right where the X is. Listening to it is awesome, trying it is like the hardest thing ever.
Thats all I got for now, and I will for sure have more as I get to know this place better and better. New friends :)
The restaurant thing is the funniest one, you really have to premeditate your hunger, because if you go to a restaurant hungry, you will be STARVING by the time you actually get your food, they are on Africa time and no one is in a hurry to do anything.
Interesting things about South Africa:
-so there are cabs and buses but there are these things called mini buses, and it is someone's job to stick their body half way out of the window, whistle at people and ask where they are going so its kind of like a cab. But you'll be walking down the street hearing whistles out of everywhere. And they only cost like 5 or 6 rand which is less than a dollar.
-The accents are awesome, I dont even know what to compare it to, but we still get lost in translation even though we're all speaking English. They say "howsit bru" as a greeting, which is awesome.
- we will be registering for our classes ON PAPER. This will be interesting to say the least and I'm sure I'll have horror stories to tell when that happens.
-There is actually a language down here with clicking sounds in it. This is an interesting ignorant American phenomenon to think that the language is all clicks, but there are definitely clicks. It is called isiXhosa, or Xhosa, and the click is right where the X is. Listening to it is awesome, trying it is like the hardest thing ever.
Thats all I got for now, and I will for sure have more as I get to know this place better and better. New friends :)
Orientation
My internet was really sketchy a few minutes ago, so here's my second try! The last few days have been so crazy, this has been like the busiest week of my life, every minute is filled with stuff to do, and getting to and from places has been interesting figuring it out.
So orientation has been happening for us international students, and by international students I mean complete newbies, worse than freshman, haha. We are always in groups, and never know where we're going and its just kind of funny that we've been in college for 3 years, but now were completely new again. All of the freshman just moved into their dorms this week at UCT and thats when we realized that we're worse than freshman. Anyways...
Orientation has been pretty boring to say the least. The first day was cool, we had a lecture welcoming it, and the most dynamic talk about HIV and AIDS...it got really real, like discussing bodily fluids and such, but it was probably the most informative talk I've ever had regarding it. No messing around when it comes to the letters. After that we had a drumming workshop which was really really cool and awesomely fun. All 700 or so international students were in a room and we all had drums and were being led by these expert drummers and when you looked around the room everyone just had the biggest smile on their faces and were all completely captivated. Then we were given some awesome food, and planned to go out. It was our roommates 21st birthday so we all planned to go out. We went to this bar/club called the Tin Roof where no pictures of mine exist, but it was fun dancing with everyone to some very American hits like Kanye West and that wonderful Ke$ha (I feel completely ridiculous spelling her name like that).
The next day we had to take this awful 3 hour standardized test that was so ridiculously easy but after 3 hours of sleep we were all really haggard and thus the test was awful. We went out this night too, to a club called Tiger Tiger, it was much classier than the Tin Roof, but just as much fun, pictures to follow :)
ok I also had a super foodie moment, there's a restaurant in obz that is called Quensh and its this little organic restaurant and we all had the most DELISH food there. The pictures are of a veggie burger, a veggie omelet and my meal was a wrap with feta, lentils, butternut squash and pesto, it was so good. There is no shortage of good food here, its perfect for my foodie needs!
The other pics are of my gorgeous campus, so pretty and HUGE
So orientation has been happening for us international students, and by international students I mean complete newbies, worse than freshman, haha. We are always in groups, and never know where we're going and its just kind of funny that we've been in college for 3 years, but now were completely new again. All of the freshman just moved into their dorms this week at UCT and thats when we realized that we're worse than freshman. Anyways...
Orientation has been pretty boring to say the least. The first day was cool, we had a lecture welcoming it, and the most dynamic talk about HIV and AIDS...it got really real, like discussing bodily fluids and such, but it was probably the most informative talk I've ever had regarding it. No messing around when it comes to the letters. After that we had a drumming workshop which was really really cool and awesomely fun. All 700 or so international students were in a room and we all had drums and were being led by these expert drummers and when you looked around the room everyone just had the biggest smile on their faces and were all completely captivated. Then we were given some awesome food, and planned to go out. It was our roommates 21st birthday so we all planned to go out. We went to this bar/club called the Tin Roof where no pictures of mine exist, but it was fun dancing with everyone to some very American hits like Kanye West and that wonderful Ke$ha (I feel completely ridiculous spelling her name like that).
The next day we had to take this awful 3 hour standardized test that was so ridiculously easy but after 3 hours of sleep we were all really haggard and thus the test was awful. We went out this night too, to a club called Tiger Tiger, it was much classier than the Tin Roof, but just as much fun, pictures to follow :)
ok I also had a super foodie moment, there's a restaurant in obz that is called Quensh and its this little organic restaurant and we all had the most DELISH food there. The pictures are of a veggie burger, a veggie omelet and my meal was a wrap with feta, lentils, butternut squash and pesto, it was so good. There is no shortage of good food here, its perfect for my foodie needs!
The other pics are of my gorgeous campus, so pretty and HUGE
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Cape of Good Hope
Ok last post of the day. So today was an orientation day, and we met all of the international students at school and took giant tourist buses down to the beach of which I forget its name, to see the penguins!! It was nice to see a lot of the kids we hadnt seen and find out where we they were living and what their living situation was.
Then we took a driving tour around Cape Town and of course I fell asleep, but when I was conscious I saw beautiful things, haha. After that we headed to a Township called Ocean View, which was the biggest surprise. None of us knew what to expect, but all of the people who were walking down the streets smiled and waved at us and we ended at this community center where the people of Ocean View had made this HUGE spread for all of us international students, including a separate vegetarian room with desert and fruit and it was wonderful. Then they put on a show for all of us. They had singers, and modern dance performances and then the highlight was a group of young kids who hip hop danced. It was incredible, they were so lively and happy and true performers. They had everyone standing to get a better look.
After we did that, we went to the Cape of Good Hope, the southern most tip of Africa, and it was absolutely breathtaking. There really are no words or pictures to even do the place justice, but hopefully some of mine will. It is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, and it protrudes so far out in the water that you are surrounded by the big blue sea. We first hiked up to the lighthouse and took pictures there, and then did the real hike up to some other peak...I really dont know how to explain it, here's the pics and hopefully they do a better job.
The funny part was that as I was walking up I realized something. As a sophomore when I was just dreaming about coming to Cape Town, I had googled Cape Town and found a picture and made it my profile picture on facebook and the caption said "this time next year, a beautiful place to get lost" and as I was walking up to the lighthouse, I looked down, and there was that exact picture just in front of me with my own eyes. That was really awesome, seeing it with my own two eyes, something that was just a dream about a year ago. Pretty cool.
Then we took a driving tour around Cape Town and of course I fell asleep, but when I was conscious I saw beautiful things, haha. After that we headed to a Township called Ocean View, which was the biggest surprise. None of us knew what to expect, but all of the people who were walking down the streets smiled and waved at us and we ended at this community center where the people of Ocean View had made this HUGE spread for all of us international students, including a separate vegetarian room with desert and fruit and it was wonderful. Then they put on a show for all of us. They had singers, and modern dance performances and then the highlight was a group of young kids who hip hop danced. It was incredible, they were so lively and happy and true performers. They had everyone standing to get a better look.
After we did that, we went to the Cape of Good Hope, the southern most tip of Africa, and it was absolutely breathtaking. There really are no words or pictures to even do the place justice, but hopefully some of mine will. It is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, and it protrudes so far out in the water that you are surrounded by the big blue sea. We first hiked up to the lighthouse and took pictures there, and then did the real hike up to some other peak...I really dont know how to explain it, here's the pics and hopefully they do a better job.
The funny part was that as I was walking up I realized something. As a sophomore when I was just dreaming about coming to Cape Town, I had googled Cape Town and found a picture and made it my profile picture on facebook and the caption said "this time next year, a beautiful place to get lost" and as I was walking up to the lighthouse, I looked down, and there was that exact picture just in front of me with my own eyes. That was really awesome, seeing it with my own two eyes, something that was just a dream about a year ago. Pretty cool.
Kalk Bay
Right after we moved into our house, our landlord decided he wanted to take us out to the beach, so as exhausted as we were we all made it out. We took a train from Obz (Observatory) to Kalk Bay which was just another absolutely gorgeous little town and beach. I was with all of my roommates so that was really nice too, I'm really lucky to have awesome people living in my house!
Then our landlord took us to dinner, and was hilarious taking yeager bombs with everyone and all of his friends were there so we got to meet a bunch of locals with great insight, and well he got hammered, haha, so I guess we have a cool landlord. When we got back, the party had started at 197 so we just joined right in. A lovely lovely day with lovely new friends to make it even more wonderful.
Then our landlord took us to dinner, and was hilarious taking yeager bombs with everyone and all of his friends were there so we got to meet a bunch of locals with great insight, and well he got hammered, haha, so I guess we have a cool landlord. When we got back, the party had started at 197 so we just joined right in. A lovely lovely day with lovely new friends to make it even more wonderful.
197 Lower Main Road, Observatory
So yesterday we moved into our house, and I am living with 17 people, yes 17. And we all have our own rooms...it is a LARGE house, and its awesome. I was really kind of skeptical of living with so many people, but its actually gonna be wonderful. Someone will always be around to do something, and hang out with, and its been awesome so far. We had a party the second night we were here with all the international students and it was quite the hit.
Some of the houses here have pools, or balconies, courtyards, and other ridiculous things that are really cool, we dont have any outside area but its all okay, we can hang out at all the other kids houses and check them all out, we are definitely in one of the biggest.
The neighborhood observatory is probably a mile or two from campus, and is one of the more dangerous neighborhoods (another reason that living with 17 people is good, someone to walk home with). I realized this when right after we moved in and three roommates and I decided to walk around the neighb, and to get into the stores on the streets they are all barred, and the person working there has to see you and press a button that opens the gate, and then you can get in. No just popping in the store for a quick minute really, because there are gates involved.
Here are a few pictures of the house, one to come of my room later! This is the second day I've lived here and I just unpacked actually, haha, and it feels good to be settled!!
Some of the houses here have pools, or balconies, courtyards, and other ridiculous things that are really cool, we dont have any outside area but its all okay, we can hang out at all the other kids houses and check them all out, we are definitely in one of the biggest.
The neighborhood observatory is probably a mile or two from campus, and is one of the more dangerous neighborhoods (another reason that living with 17 people is good, someone to walk home with). I realized this when right after we moved in and three roommates and I decided to walk around the neighb, and to get into the stores on the streets they are all barred, and the person working there has to see you and press a button that opens the gate, and then you can get in. No just popping in the store for a quick minute really, because there are gates involved.
Here are a few pictures of the house, one to come of my room later! This is the second day I've lived here and I just unpacked actually, haha, and it feels good to be settled!!
First Day in Cape Town!!
So my first impression of Cape Town was that it was hottttttt, especially because I was wearing cold weather clothes. We made it through security, and then some Orientation Leaders from University of Cape Town met us at the airport and took us to our "vacation acommodation" which was dorms that must have been built in the 1970's - so awesome.
The funny thing about South Africa is the time schedule here. No one is in a hurry to do anything, if you eat at a restaurant, you wait a half hour to get the menu, half hour to get food, half hour to get the check, so you really can't go to a restaurant if you are starving, or else you will be ravenous by the time you get your food. So all the checking in and getting to and from places takes a loooooooong time, haha, but its relaxed, and no one worries about anything...its lovely.
Right as soon as we got settled we got a tour of the nearest neighborhood, Rondebosch, which was so cute, and then headed back to the dorm for dinner, and then out for drinks with the orientation leaders and the international students who had already arrived. We went to a place that was really cute called Cafe Sofia, and had drinks and listened to live jazz music and I got to meet two of the boys I would be living with in my 17 bedroom house! After that we moved onto a really local place called the Pig & Swizzle which was awesome, American hip hop music is really popular here, and there was foosball and pool, and a bunch of new students just really excited to meet each other...just like freshman year all over again.
The next day we had a leisurely morning, and then decided to all take a trip to the beach, because we had no orientation activities. The trip turned into such an adventure and an awesome one at that. Of course we waited an hour and a half for a bus that never came to take us to Camps Bay. So we all decided to take a train. We headed like a herd of sheep down to the train station in Rondebosch that only costs about 5 rand which is less than a dollar, and we ended up in the city center of Cape Town and all had to walk through this really awesome flea market to get to the minibus taxis to get to the beach. whew. When we got to the taxis, we all got in them (about 50 students) and then they were the wrong ones, so we all had to get out and get in new ones, and taxi drivers are so scary...they will hit pedestrians so that was exciting. But Camps Bay was so wonderful and worth it. Its the atlantic ocean so it was like ice water, but it was so clear and there was white sand and the gorgeous table mountain range in the background.
My friend Christina from school and I ate at a rather expensive but totally worth it chic and hip restaurant called The Kove, and I had tempura king crab that just blew my mind. Then we layed out and then we headed back, and hit up the Bourbon street of Cape Town, called Long Street. It was intense to say the least, everyone is out and about and the bars were packed and crowded and we met more and more people that were in our program. It was awesome, and then passed out in our lil 1970s dorm, only to wake up super early the next day in order to move into our house!!
The funny thing about South Africa is the time schedule here. No one is in a hurry to do anything, if you eat at a restaurant, you wait a half hour to get the menu, half hour to get food, half hour to get the check, so you really can't go to a restaurant if you are starving, or else you will be ravenous by the time you get your food. So all the checking in and getting to and from places takes a loooooooong time, haha, but its relaxed, and no one worries about anything...its lovely.
Right as soon as we got settled we got a tour of the nearest neighborhood, Rondebosch, which was so cute, and then headed back to the dorm for dinner, and then out for drinks with the orientation leaders and the international students who had already arrived. We went to a place that was really cute called Cafe Sofia, and had drinks and listened to live jazz music and I got to meet two of the boys I would be living with in my 17 bedroom house! After that we moved onto a really local place called the Pig & Swizzle which was awesome, American hip hop music is really popular here, and there was foosball and pool, and a bunch of new students just really excited to meet each other...just like freshman year all over again.
The next day we had a leisurely morning, and then decided to all take a trip to the beach, because we had no orientation activities. The trip turned into such an adventure and an awesome one at that. Of course we waited an hour and a half for a bus that never came to take us to Camps Bay. So we all decided to take a train. We headed like a herd of sheep down to the train station in Rondebosch that only costs about 5 rand which is less than a dollar, and we ended up in the city center of Cape Town and all had to walk through this really awesome flea market to get to the minibus taxis to get to the beach. whew. When we got to the taxis, we all got in them (about 50 students) and then they were the wrong ones, so we all had to get out and get in new ones, and taxi drivers are so scary...they will hit pedestrians so that was exciting. But Camps Bay was so wonderful and worth it. Its the atlantic ocean so it was like ice water, but it was so clear and there was white sand and the gorgeous table mountain range in the background.
My friend Christina from school and I ate at a rather expensive but totally worth it chic and hip restaurant called The Kove, and I had tempura king crab that just blew my mind. Then we layed out and then we headed back, and hit up the Bourbon street of Cape Town, called Long Street. It was intense to say the least, everyone is out and about and the bars were packed and crowded and we met more and more people that were in our program. It was awesome, and then passed out in our lil 1970s dorm, only to wake up super early the next day in order to move into our house!!
Dubai
Ok, so I've had so many adventures in the last 4 days that I've been here I have to do multiple posts. I'll start with Dubai. So our plane flight went from La -Dubai...which is a really really really long flight, like 16 hours. INTENSE. Haha, but I ended up going with a girl from my school, Christina, so I had someone to sit by and explore Dubai with!! So 16 hours later we landed in Dubai and we ended up getting a hotel paid for and 3 free meals, so we went there briefly, ate a meal, had some drinks at a bar called Biggles, and then went on a tour of the city from 1130pm-130am.
So Dubai really isnt that interesting. The city is filthy rich, and its super new, has no culture of its own, and all the points of interest are really really obscenely overdone hotels. So I guess thats why its called the playground of the middle east. Anyway, getting to explore it for 12 hours was nice, and then we headed back to the airport for another really long flight to our final destination of Cape Town!! I'll leave you with some pics :)
a ridiculous HUGE wall fountain
me leaving the airport after 16 hours on a plane
Dubai at night
So Dubai really isnt that interesting. The city is filthy rich, and its super new, has no culture of its own, and all the points of interest are really really obscenely overdone hotels. So I guess thats why its called the playground of the middle east. Anyway, getting to explore it for 12 hours was nice, and then we headed back to the airport for another really long flight to our final destination of Cape Town!! I'll leave you with some pics :)
a ridiculous HUGE wall fountain
me leaving the airport after 16 hours on a plane
Dubai at night
Monday, January 18, 2010
TOMORROW
Tomorrow is the big day! I'm leaving LAX at 4pm, and will be arriving in Cape Town like 2 days later. This last week has been a blur of getting ready, seeing everyone and preparing myself. My dear best friend Audrey also planned a lil surprise party for me, which was lovely. All my friends who are still home came and surprised me and had dinner with me, and the best surprise ever was seeing Jared and Andrew!! There was lots of food, lots of wine/champagne, and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much, it was an EXCELLENT night. thanks Audrey :) Pics from the partay, and my next post will be in either Dubai or Cape Town!!
Au revoir!
Au revoir!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Countdown Has Begun
So I officially begin my adventure on January the 19th, which is Tuesday. Just FIVE short days from now. It is absolutely wild, and I don't know really what I am getting myself into, though I am kind of thinking it is better to go in with no expectations than with any other kind of misconceptions. So I'm going. Going to be living in a (somewhat?) dangerous neighborhood called Observatory, in Cape Town, a 10 minute walk to a shuttle that will then take me to school. I am living in a house with 17 people....which will be an experience in itself, but what better way to get to know people than to live with a whole heap of them?
I am currently packing and my life has been reduced to one large suitcase for 5 months. Who know I could be a minimalist??
I keep googling pictures of my school, the University of Cape Town, and Cape Town itself, and I cannot wait until I can upload pictures of what it really looks like. Until then, here's a lil image of my gorgeous gorgeous campus and the amazing Table Mountain that is the backdrop to my education until June. Drink it in :)
I am currently packing and my life has been reduced to one large suitcase for 5 months. Who know I could be a minimalist??
I keep googling pictures of my school, the University of Cape Town, and Cape Town itself, and I cannot wait until I can upload pictures of what it really looks like. Until then, here's a lil image of my gorgeous gorgeous campus and the amazing Table Mountain that is the backdrop to my education until June. Drink it in :)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
TSA Requirements
So, upon doing some research for my trip, I came across some TSA requirements that seemed rather ridiculous. But when I thought about it, I guess the American people and subsequently all people in the world need to have the requirements S-P-E-L-L-E-D out for them so they don't put something completely ridiculous in their luggage. That being said, guys dont forget to leave your cattle prods at home, gas torches, brass knuckles and nunchucks at home. I'm gonna have to try real hard to remember this all ;)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
bienvenidos a la blogosphere
chronicling (chronicaling? Chronicle-ing?) of adventures. Document 1: winter break has been one for the books, like we all knew it would be. whew. Cheers to a new camera and beautiful subjects.
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