Update from an Internet Cafe

Hello,

I have 10 minutes left at my station inside a DVD rental store that has a small Internet cafe in the back. I am staying at my landlords house while he and his family are on holiday, and there is no wifi. I have already had so many experiences where I want to share some pictures on the blog, but I have to wait until I am registered as a student to get wifi where I am staying. The system is very different than home.

At my landlords house I am taking care of two dogs, and two cats. The dogs stay out even when it is chilly, and I have learned there is no central heating in South Africa so the cats jump in and out of doors and windows. To my shock they do not have a litter box...the cats do their business outside.

No central heating is very different for me. When the sun is out and it is a nice day there is no problem, however, it is winter here and nights get chilly. By 7:00 PM it feels like it's the middle of the night and time for bed!

When I have wifi I will share more pictures and recount a couple of experiences. I have mailed postcards, found the nearest grocery stores, and am starting to learn my way around because after my mom leaves I will be left with walking and a bicycle.

My room is coming together. I put pictures up from home. There are not many clothes dryers here, and there is not one where I live. So drying clothes in this weather is very hard! They go out on the line when the sun is out, but it is chilly in the morning and at night, and sometimes rains.

I am running out of time, that is all for now. Many new things around me...but I am enjoying it all! 

Check back again for photos and stories (like seeing 15 cheetahs, touching 1, and baboons running through a parking lot when I was headed home from lunch! :) 

Marshmallows

Today I met up with my landlord, and now friend, Japie. He showed my mom and me around the campus, and then invited us for coffee/tea. I noticed the rice crispy treats being sold at the coffee shop were pink. Why??? Well, it turns out marshmallows in South Africa are always white AND pink. It is not just a seasonal thing...it is just normal. Interesting :)

Pictures from Amsterdam!

24 Hours in Amsterdam.

Wow! What a crazy 48 hours! My mom and I waited out a huge thunderstorm with all the other passengers in Atlanta who were heading to Amsterdam. The delay in Atlanta caused us to miss our flight to Cape Town. Apparently there is only one flight a day from Amsterdam to Cape Town, so they set us up in a hotel with meals at the hotel. After the long flight I was pretty excited to not have to get straight on another plane, and even more excited that I would be able to step outside the airport and have my feet on the ground in Europe for the first time. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and tired as we were...we bought train tickets, went on a canal tour, and walked around the city! After a nice dinner at the hotel we passed out. Then woke up at 6 AM to catch our re-booked flight to Cape Town. After an 11 hour flight we have arrived safely in Cape Town and are at the airport hotel. We struggled driving a short distance on the left side of the road, and then had to figure out how to turn on lights in our hotel room. Otherwise everyone has been extremely nice, our trip has gone smoothly for the most part, and I have an extra stamp in my passport for my 24 hours in Amsterdam. It was great!!! 

Pictures are coming! I have to get better internet connection first :)

Leaving Tomorrow!

I can finally say that I am leaving for South Africa tomorrow. I met some new people today when I had lunch downtown with my boyfriend, and when they asked where I was studying abroad and when did I leave, it was so strange to tell them, "South Africa, and...TOMORROW!"

My mom will be joining me for the first few weeks, helping me to move in...and have some fun! We are almost ready, but packing for a year is no easy task. I put most things back in my closet, and will be going with much less than I originally thought.

I am excited to arrive in South Africa...but I am not excited about the flight to Amsterdam, the layover, and then another flight to South Africa--about 30 hours in the plane and airport. But arriving makes me forget about all that. This last week has been hard. I had to part with my cousins, grandparents, friends and family...knowing I would not see them for a year. Tomorrow I will have to say goodbye to my dad and boyfriend. Luckily with today's technology we can all keep in touch. It is just a strange feeling to know you won't see certain people almost every day like you usually do. I suppose that is part of the adventure.

Thanks to professors, friends, family, my boyfriend, and everyone else for being supportive of this study abroad exchange program. My next post to you will be from Africa! Keep checking in!!!

Less than two weeks left.

Last week I got two shots, one for typhoid and one for yellow fever. Although yellow fever is not a problem in the area where I will be studying and living, it is in places I might visit while I am there. So, I got both shots. I was also given medication for malaria and diarrhea. Both of those I will not take unless necessary. Again, malaria is not a problem where I am going, but if I were to travel to other parts of South Africa or neighboring countries it could be.

Somehow I managed to finish all my appointments. For a while it seemed like I was in a doctor's office, at the bank, the police station, the DMV, and much more every single day. Not to mention all the work my mom has done. This process has been team work at its finest. She has been dealing with the insurance, problems getting year long prescriptions filled, money transfers, and a million other things!

Now it is less than two weeks before we leave. The last thing for me to do is pack. I have most of my clothes laid out, but I have not thought about any of the smaller things. Still more to do. My mom and I leave for Birmingham, Alabama today. My grandmother's 82nd birthday is this Friday! A million things are packed into the next 10 days...I am scared of how fast it will go by. I am excited to go to South Africa, but it also just hit me how little time there is before I leave. Yikes!

Visa!

I got my visa today--6.10.15 YAY! I have been checking the tracking number and it said for a while nothing had been sent. Then my mom texted me at work today and said my visa arrived. I had to wait ALL DAY to see it because work was not over until after 10:00 tonight. Now I have seen the visa with my own eyes, and it is official. Less than three weeks before I head to South Africa!

My mom and I had a safe and fun trip to Washington D.C. I will post a picture or two when I can. Although there is still more to do, the visa was the big one, and something I have been working on for months. Lots of smaller things to do now. We are moving forward!