September 1, 2015

I am sorry I have been absent from the blog! Things have been very busy here in South Africa. I can't wait to share everything I have done in the past few weeks. There will be lots of pictures to come!

First and foremost, Michael came to visit me. For those of you who followed the New Zealand blog, you know who Michael is. We met three years ago while traveling in New Zealand. We had the most amazing time together, and have stayed in touch over the past few years even though he went home to Germany, and me to the United States. We have not seen each other since New Zealand 2012. Michael arrived in South Africa ready to have a great time, and I could not have been more excited! Although it was weird and nerve racking to see each other after so long, our initial anxiety completely faded away. By the second day it felt like no time had gone by at all, and we had a wonderful time that I will never forget!

Michael also met my friends including Laura, Sophie, Laurin, Aylin, Kathrin, George, Amina, Stacey, and more. We had a braai to really welcome Michael into South African culture!

Meanwhile, while Michael was here I had to focus on a paper that was due for my transitional justice class. I wrote about the Rwandan Genocide, Victor's Justice, and the Rwandan court systems put in place after the 1994 genocide (specifically the Gacaca Courts). It was extremely interesting. If anyone is interested in checking out a documentary on Rwanda, I would watch the BBC documentary, "Rwanda's Untold Story." This can be found online. I turned my paper in this morning.

Michael also joined me for three of my classes. The first class was my sociology class. He asked me if he would have to answer any questions. I told him they just lecture and never ask questions. I said that there was 100% no chance of him being called on. Of course, for the first time in two months they decided to call on someone, and it was Michael.

Then Michael came to my digital photography class. It was a practical, meaning we were not in the classroom. We went out by bus to take pictures for the whole 3 hours. Our teacher was there the whole time if we wanted help or needed to ask questions.

The last class Michael came to with me was my HIV/AIDS class. Normally we have lectures in that class as well, but as time gets closer to the end of the semester we are starting a big project. My project is working with the Kayamandi Township. I am in a group with about 11 other people. The day Michael was here we traveled to the Kayamandi Township. We met with the director of the program with whom we are going to work with. We asked what they needed, how we could help them, and with their answers tried to figure out how we would turn it into something that would work for our school project. I thought it was extremely interesting, and there will be more to come on that. Hopefully Michael found it interesting too! :-D

Michael left yesterday. Today is back to school, real life, work, and much needed organization. I miss him already. We truly had a lovely time. Please check out our pictures from his time here and our awesome trips! :-D