Don’t Let The Bed Bugs Bite (Literally)

This post is titled as such because one of the other girls on the trip got attacked by bed bugs. And no that is not an understatement... So, here, the phrase "don't let the bed bugs bite" is actually very applicable to our lives and something that, growing up in the US, we are not used to having to take literally.

Anyways, now that I’m settled in my homestay I don’t think I need to recount to you all the little details of my day, so instead, I think today I will go into a little more detail about what life is like here and about the people I have met so far. Sorry if it’s a little disorganized ---

This trip is definitely going to be one with a lot of personal growth. So far I’d have to say most of my personal growth has been in regards to food. Sadly enough I eat a more balanced diet here in South Africa than I do at home. Each day for dinner I some form of rice or starch, potatoes (regular or sweet), salad (their definition of salad dressing is essentially watered down mayonnaise), some form of meat, beets, and some sort of bean concoction with other veggies mixed in. That being said, I have had to overcome man of my food preferences here. First, I now can palate beets – I hate to say it but by the end of my stay I may even like them! Second, I have had to overcome my hatred for eating meat off of a bone, for that is the only way meat is served here. Thanks to demonstration and instruction from my sister I have now gotten much better at picking almost every piece of edible meat-like substance from the bones. And third, I have gotten over my aversion to strangely textured things. I guess a fourth point is that my stomach has also overcome the large portions by expanding to accommodate the large amount of food that is put in front of me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All I have to say is it’s a good thing I spend so much time running around with the kids…

Speaking of the children, most of them are adorable and lots of fun. There are a handful of them that have an evil side, even they look cute at first glance. My sister, Smu, runs the town. She’s always got my back and always says “if you mess with her, you have to go through me first.” In the picture above, My sister is in the middle. To her left is Nandi, one of her friends who lives down the street (and is Elise’s sister). On her right is Katie’s sister Rato, who also lives nearby, and in the front is one of Ratos sister (I’m not sure of her name). All of the girls have such attitude. They love to sing (especially beyonce and high school musical) and dance. They try to teach me, but unlike the Zulu dances, these dance moves require a little bit more coordination, and they end up laughing at my failed attempts. They have performed Zulu dances and church songs for us, all of which have been very impressive. They also love to play with our hair. They attempt to braid it, but its so silky that the braids don’t stay in. Nonetheless, they could do our hair for HOURS (and do). 

 

The boys are a little rougher. They like to race us, play tag, soccer, beat us up – you know, the usual. There is one boy, Spe (pronounced spay), and he can be the cutest and sweetest boy, but will all the sudden turn on you and punch you, and he doesn’t take it easy, either. They taught us how to play a game called gate keeper, which is somewhat like fishy fishy cross my ocean, but with more running involve. Regardless of gender, they all love to give and receive hugs, get shoulder rides and piggy backs, and just generally be picked up or sit in our laps. When we walk to or from our houses or the playing field we each have at least three children around us (one on our backs and one on each hand); however, most of the time the number is much greater. Coming home from school to this welcoming committee has definitely helped to make me feel more welcome in the community. All the little kids wave at us and want to play, and since I loveeeee kids, it has been one of the highlights of my trip

This brings me to another area of personal growth -- cleanliness. Now, most of you know that I don't shower every day. Surprisingly I bathe every day here! haha I just don't wash my hair everyday because it is extremely difficult without an actual shower, with the amount of water I am given, and with how dirty the water gets after watching my face and body. Essentially you have to choose one or the other -- or deal with using dirty water.  Anyways, I guess that wasn't too much of an adjustment, but dealing with the filth of the kids, the maybe not so clean dishes, and lack of soap has been an interesting adjustment. Some of the kids are very clean, especially the older ones -- however these aren't the kids that are climbing all over you. The little ones tend to smell slightly like poop, have dirt everywhere, and food remnants on their faces. Don't get me wrong, they are adorable, but they are dirty. I still play with them though, telling myself "it won't kill you." I think my immune system is probably getting better from the exposure! I try not to think about how much dirt and snot I have received from the kids or what is living under my nails or how the dishes are essentially just rinsed when they say "washed." If you worry about germs here, you will definitely go crazy.

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – this trip has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. I’ve had to get much better at interacting with strangers and putting myself into uncomfortable situations. That being said, I also feel at home here, even after just a week and a half. Its probably partically because I’m surrounded by children, but there is also a sense of minimalism, community, and freedom here that you don’t find much in the US. Everybody knows everybody and everybody says hi to everybody and most of all everybody is so open. There are just enough boundaries to maintain one’s own personal space, but people are free to come and go. Yet its not a free for all or chaos. For the most part people respect each others property and boundaries. It is this balance of respect and freedom that makes their community and culture so unique, and I really feel like the life style fits my personality, interests, and beliefs.

As for the people I’m here with, the other 27 people on the program are great. There are 4 boys (which is apparently a lot for this program) and 24 girls.  Breanna and Becky are my best friends here so far. Breanna is from Philly and is hilarious. I can’t exactly put it into words, but the things she says just crack me up. I’ll have to start including Breanna quotes. Anyways, she lives in the house right behind me, which is nice because we can hang out a lot and not have to worry about walking far by ourselves. Our brothers are also good friends! Becky lives far away, which stinks, but she is from Chicago, goes to school in Colorado, plays soccer, yada yada. She also has the CUTEST little baby sister who is 6 months old (by that I mean host sister). I got to meet her and play with her yesterday for the first time and I couldn’t get enough! She drools all over the place, naturally, but has the cutest ‘fro ever. Sorry that that wasn’t that informative about my friends haha but I’ll try to do a better job in the future. To make up for it I’ve put a picture of me, Breanna, and Becky on the balcony of our apartment in down town Durban from last week. Breanna is in the middle, and Becky is on the right!

Oh! And I finallyyyyy met my older brother! He is in law school and living in Chesterville right now, which is essentially the next town over. He comes over most nights to say hi to my Mama, who I believe is his Gogo (granny). He is very nice, and speaks very good English, which helps when trying to ask him questions about South Africa.

I'll leave it at that for now since this turned into a much longer post than I had planned on. We are starting to get into our actual lectures and discussions on the problems that South Africa faces as a nation and a relatively new democracy. I'll try to share some thoughts about what I've learned in my next post!

Miss you all!
-Andrea

Meeting Mama Ruby!

The past two days have been unbelievable! After school on Wednesday we went to one of the schools in Cato Manor to have a meet and greet with all of our homestay Mamas. Our academic director, Zed, described it as a “day at the orphanage.” One by one the Mamas would call out the name of their new child and there would be lots of hugging!

I was the first one to meet my sister outside of the school! It was one of the most exciting things I have ever experienced. Thula, one of the people who helps run the program, introduced us and, with the biggest smile on her face, she immediately came running over to me and gave me the biggest hug. Her name is Simunye, but everyone calls her simu (pronounced smoo). She is going to be 13 this year, her favorite colors are yellow, blue, and pink, and she wants to be a social worker or an architect when she grows up. She also loves Beyoncé, high school musical (particularly part 2), and Hairspray. She is the most adorable girl I have ever met. She loves to play tricks on me and tell me jokes and pretend that we are lost when we walk around.  To say that she’s got attitude would be an understatement. She knows everyone in town, knows how to get everywhere, and all of the kids adore and respect her.

After meeting my sister, I met my Mama Ruby. She is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. She is 66 years old and is actually Simu’s Gogo, or granny. Simu’s mom works in Jo’burg as a sister or nurse in a hospital. She made me an AMAZING dinner. I even ate a beet. The meat they make here is all so tender and juicy and full of flavor, and the sweet potatoes are to die for. After dinner she basically told me that I could do anything I wanted! “you want to drink, you can drink. You want to go out, you can go out. You want to smoke, you can smoke. Just make sure I know.” Her motto is that if she respects me, I will respect her, and that she wants me to feel like this is my house, and that in my own house I can be free. What a woman.

I also have a brother, Buwa. He is twenty, same as me, and goes to the University of KZN (KwaZulu-Natal, the province that Durban is located in). He is in his final year of studying to be an architecture and says he will then go for his masters if his grades are good enough and if he can scrape up the money to go. I haven’t spent as much time with him, and he isn’t around as much, but he is also very nice.

Everyone lives so close in Cato Manor that it is so easy to hang out and spend time with each others families and siblings. Elise lives a few houses down on my street and Breanna lives in the house right behind me. All I have to do is take a small path up a hill to get to her house! And Elise’s host sister Nandi is friends with my sister Simu, so we have spent a lot of time together.  (Details to come shortly).  

Every morning I wake up at 6:25 and my Mama already has my bath ready for me (no, they do not have showers). After I get done with my bath, I go out to the kitchen where she already has my breakfast ready. I have a bowl of cereal, a cup of either coffee or tea, sometimes another sandwich, and a piece of fruit – some sort of cross between an apple and a peach! Then I say goodbye to my sister who goes off to school at 7. I sit and watch the news and talk to my host mama before I get picked up to go to school around 7:30.

After a full day of classes (from 8 to 4… ugh) we get brought back to Cato Manor where we are greeted by swarms of kids. And I mean SWARMS. Its like a stampede of kids of all ages who will run to you and hug you and want to sit in your lap and be picked up and swung around. At one point I think I was carrying three kids on my back and in my arms while there were another three all trying to hold my hand. A bunch of us took the kids to the soccer field where we played duck duck goose, hand games, soccer, and generally just ran around and played with all of them. They were all so cute, and spoke varying degrees of English.

We then went down the street to where Elise is staying with Nandi and we danced to Beyonce and sung along to Adele while they took crazy pictures on our computer and made funny videos speaking Zulu and singing songs.  By the time dinner comes around at 7:00 I am STARVING.  I ate all of the food on my plate (except most of the beets).  8:00 is when Generations comes on, one of the most popular soap operas, also known as soapies, in South Africa. We watch generations, I help my host sister with her English homework, and then by 9:00 I’m ready for bed!

Cator Manor is a very hilly township. I am right on the crest of a hill and the view is amazing. The air is so clean and the houses are such a variety of colors. Most are set up very similar to mine with a small kitchen and small living room. A bathroom with a tub and sink, a room with the toilet, and two or three bedrooms. My bedroom has a very large queen bed, a bedside table, and an armoire, which leaves about a foot of walking space around the perimeter of the room. They take a lot of pride in their furnature and it is all very beautiful.

Everything is so different, but in a way also reminds me a little bit about Hawaii. It is so much fun and so exhausting. Everyone here is so welcoming and nice and all of the attention that we get from the kids makes us feel so popular and loved! My time here has also made me much more appreciative of everything and much more open to new experiences. The living conditions here are so different from what I am used to as typical middle class living, yet my Mama is still proud and appreciative and even mentioned this morning that she feels bad for the other poorer people out there -- those whose houses are destroyed by floods and earth quakes and the children who don't have enough to eat.

I think that should cover everything for now. I wont have internet this weekend while I’m in Cator Manor, so this will be my last post until Monday, but I will be sure to inform you all about the crazy adventures that my sister Simu takes me on!

Durban Excursion

First of all the picture below is the view from our apartment we stayed in last night. But anyways. Lets see, where did I leave off.

Yesterday afternoon we had our first real encounter with Durban and South Africans. Our academic director, Zed, sent us loose to use the bus line called the People Mover to explore Durban, find various locations throughout the city, and get the chance to get to talk to the people that live here. After school in the morning, Seth and I walked across the street from the apartments we had moved into for the night (again right across from the beach!) to the People Mover bus stop. We got on the bus and pretty much immediately I realized that I had no idea where we were going. The bus driver was very helpful and pointed out that our map of the bus routes was not correct….

The first place we got off was the Workshop, which is essentially a shopping mall. The first South Africans we talked to were two students! They were very friendly which was a nice boost of confidence for us. They told us that they were just visiting the city for the day but they were graduating soon and then they were going to have to try to find work. They weren’t the only ones to tell us that the economy in Durban made it much harder to find work than in Jo’burg or Cape Town. The next people we talked to there were two middle aged women, and we could tell as soon as we started talking to them that they had a negative attitude towards us. They told us, as they were walking away, to go to an information booth downstairs to get our questions answered.

After that we hopped back on the bus. We met a Pakistani man who had also lived in Japan. He came to Durban for work – he makes boat cushions for yachts, and since Durban is right on the water there is a very high demand for his craft here. He was very modest in saying that he didn’t speak very good English, but I was very impressed. He also answered some of our questions about healthcare here. There is a private and a public sector, private obviously costing more and public being supplied by the government but having long lines, which by the way are called queues here.

We got off the bus and headed towards “the mosque.” Judging by the name and the description that we got, I thought it was going to be a massive actual mosque, as in a place of worship; however, it turned out to be mostly a shopping center (as it seems most of Durban is), and we failed to find any religious aspect about it other than the architecture. We also wandered to the Victoria Marketplace, where I saw more goat/lamb heads than I have ever cared to see in my life, and we then had to promptly leave the fish/meat section since I started feeling nauseous.

It was here that we had the most exciting conversation of the day. We met a man from Jo’burg who was here looking for work. Again he said that Durban was notorious for being hard to find a job – especially a steady one. He also opened up to us about health care, repeating what we had heard on the bus, and also mentioning that he thought it was the government’s responsibility to open up more clinics in rural areas and make the public healthcare more accessible to the people living out in the more rural areas. Durban health care was pretty good, but he said a lot of people out in the villages have a hard time getting to the hospitals. They wait until they are really sick because it is such a hassle to get to the city, and by that time, many of them die before they can make it to get treated.

Looking back on the experience I realize how much growing up in the US effected my expectations and fed my nervousness of the situation. Personally, I know that I have a tendency to distrust strangers and to be suspicious of people that come up to you on the streets. South Africans are extremely friendly. Seth and I would be standing on the street corner for 10 seconds and we would have someone come up to us and ask us if we were lost and needed help. That’s most likely because we stuck out like sore thumbs, but a majority of the people we encountered were very welcoming and helpful and as soon as we made an effort to talk to them and listen to what they were saying they got so excited and were willing to take time out to help us and give us advice.

The concept of race is here also strangely familiar to that at home, while also its own dynamic. One of our lecturers put it well when they said that South Africa is two worlds, first and third. And its true. There is such an extreme juxtaposition of the well off and the majority lower class living side by side, and extreme gap that isn’t seen in the US. Walking around and living here for not even a week has already helped to give me a greater appreciation for what I have how much of a privileged life I have lived thus far. We have found ourselves saying “First world problems” many times over the past few days.

So far I think I am adjusting decently well. I am still overwhelmed by all we are going to learn and all of the many different experiences they are going to throw at us in the next few months (they call it “experiential learning”). But I am also very excited to get to experience it all. The accents also still give me trouble.. It is a lot different than we are used to, and when ordering food and talking to people from here I can tell they also have trouble understanding my American accent. I also can’t remember the last time I have consistently woken up before 7 every morning…

We just finished our morning of classes, learning about the state of the nation as well as Indian and colored identities in South Africa. This afternoon we get to meet our homestay families and tonight I will be staying with Mama Ruby! Eeeeek! I will tell you all about my host family in my next post!


Hope all is well back in the US!

I think I'm gonna like it here...

Well, once again I don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll begin by saying that I absolutely LOVE it here. It has officially exceeded my expectations of what this semester was going to be like. I am still borderlined overwhelmed. Everything is very different than it is at home, while still being strangely familiar.

So, lets see… First, the thunderstorms here are INSANE! When the storm is right over you, you can practically feel the earth shake the thunder is so loud and the lightning sounds like it is literally cracking the sky in half. And on top of that there are two or three different storms around you. It was amazing.

After the night of thunderstorms, we woke up at 4:30 to pack all of our luggage in the minibuses (that’s what the vans are called), had breakfast, and set off for Durban. On the way we stopped at Royal Natal (see picture below), which is a national park somewhere between Jo’burg and Durban. It was BEAUTIFUL! I was expecting Africa to be more savannah like, but it is so green here! There are so many trees and flowers and changes in elevation-- I was not expecting it to say the least. Anyways, at the park we were supposed to go for hike and explore and go swiming, but it got pretty cloudy so you couldn’t see the top of the mountains – thus we were denied our swim and had to remain sweaty and sticky for the rest of the trip. We took a short “hike” to see these cave painting, which were pretty neat but also very old and worn. I think I enjoyed the scenery and the little village near by more than the cave paintings. Near where we were is also the Amphitheater, I believe that’s what its called anyways, and its home to the second largest waterfall in the world! Too bad we couldn’t have hiked there.. maybe some day.

After our “hike” we drove the rest of the way to Durban. Driving from jo’burg to Durban the scenery changed dramatically! As you moved away from the city you get a much better idea of what the rest of the country is really like. There is lots of agriculture, mainly corn, and lots of cows. We passed goats, sheep, cows, horses, dogs, ostriches, chickens, and, my favorite, ZEBRAS! Although it was in totally a 6 hour drive, the little kid part of me kept me entertained by looking out the window to spy as many animals as possible.

Now to the best part. We arrived in Durban at the Happy Hippo hostel (yes that is an awesome name, but no that is not the best part). The hostel is only a 2 minute walk from the beach!!!!!! Could life get any better? Seriously? You mean they expect me to learn in this kind of environment! We got there at 4:30 and immediately changed into our bathing suits and ran into the water. The waves were MASSIVE. We probably spent an hour in the water before having to go back to the hostel to shower and get changed and go to dinner where I got a … wait for it… cheese quesadilla :) yes, go ahead and laugh, but I wasn’t quite brave enough to try to cheesy garlic snails. The hostel also has a bar right upstairs with beer for 13 rand, the equivalent of $1.50. Below is a picture of the beach. I'm not sure if you can see it, but somewhere along that shoreline is the new stadium they built for the world cup!

After dinner we were all pretty tired. I went to bed around 9 and then we had to be up at 7 to be shuttled to the SIT house (SIT stands for school for international training, who is running our program and is essentially our school for the time we are in Durban). I guess you could say today was our first day of school. We got our first lecture – health and safety and an overview of the semester. It was both terrifying and exciting to hear about all the crazy things that are going to happen in the next three months. I guess you’ll just have to wait and see what they are.

After “class” in the morning, we were shuttled to the “Megamall” (it really is ENORMOUS), where we picked up a few things. We then headed to PheZulu Safari Park to have a Zulu cultural experience! We got to visit a village and watch a performance where dancers acted out a marriage proposal (in order to marry a woman, a man must give her family 11 cows). We watched them do a lovely dance performance. I have decided that Zulu dance is my type of dance. It involves lots of sporadic movements, which I pretty much do on a daily basis anyways.. the only slight problem… minor issue… is that it involves lots of kicking of the leg over one’s head… which, to say the least, isn’t exactly my forte…

Since then I’ve just been hanging out at the beach.. you know, swimming and body surfing before dinner. I just showered and am waiting for the rest of the group so we can head out to find food.

Like I said before, I absolutely love it here. I’m learning to take things in stride so that I don’t get overwhelmed. I have had such a great time so far and cannot wait for all of the experiences to come. It’s a lot safer than people make it out to be (and no, mom and dad I’m not just saying that to make you feel better). People are very friendly and the program has done a good job of telling us which areas to avoid and what times and days are more dangerous. Spoiler alert: tomorrow afternoon they are forcing us to set out on our own to explore Durban…. I may cry. Ok that’s an exaggeration, but I am extremely anxious to say the least.

Sorry that this has become a thousand word essay, but I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I have enjoyed recounting it to you.

Much love,

Andi :)

Sawubona, South Africa!

I made it!

I want to apologize ahead of time if this post is slightly incoherent or jumps around a lot or rambles. Its been a long day on very little sleep, but I wanted to give you guys an update! Also, I am sorry there are no pictures -- the internet here can't handle uploading them. Hopefully I will be able to post some soon.

Soooo, where to start. Well, I flew in on Friday. The flight over in itself wasn't too bad -- I think the anticipation just made it seem extra long and excruciating. After we landed and made it through customs (which was surprisingly easy), we exchanged some money and were shuttled to Shoestrings Airport Lodge where we met up with the rest of the people on the program. We got our cell phones, orientation packet, and a few other details, and then it was dinner time! We had a spaghetti and meat sauce. How very African? It was good nonetheless. I though I would be tired enough to sleep through the night, but the jet lag got the best of me, and it was a restless night to say the least.

After breakfast and more introductions we headed out to Soweto! As a quick history lesson, Soweto is known for the Soweto uprising in 1976. School children were marching towards the Orlando Stadium protesting the government’s decision to make school lessons in Afrikaans instead of English when police opened fire, killing 23 (I’m pretty sure that’s about the right number) of defenseless children and wounding many others. One of the boys who was killed is named Hector Pieterson, so while we were in Soweto one of the stops we made was to the Hector Pieterson Museum.
This experience was a very moving one. At the museum we were able to read first hand accounts from people who were there and see video footage and photographs of the uprising and the chaos that ensued. Nothing I could type would truly do the event justice, so I will limit my reflection to just a couple of points. First is the integral role that the arts played in the black movement under the apartheid government. Poetry and music and art were everywhere during this time. They gave the people strength, spread the truth about their current situation, and expressed their hopes and desires. Even today, walking through the streets of Soweto there were countless murals and paintings on walls, fences, and buildings. And second is that I tend to forget that this happened during my life time. I have a tendency of distancing my own generation from these events, viewing them as in the more distant past than they really are. And although I was too young to remember or understand the events that were happening, it was only in 1990 that Mandela was released from prison and1994 that South Africa held its election. Although a lot has changed since then, my visit to the museum today reminded me that these events are fairly recent, and tension still exists.

Along with the museum we visited the Mandela house – a house that has been attacked many times over the years. The most interesting part of this visit was learning a little bit more about the Mandela family and how much influence both he AND his wife had. They have now hung up all of the awards that the Mandela family has been presented with over the years so that they cover the walls and tables, and I’d have to say that most of them on display had Winnie’s name on them! I knew she had been influential and became more involved in politics once Mandela was exiled, but visiting the house gave me a much better idea of just how much she did for the people of South Africa in her husband’s absence and how powerful a woman she was.

We then stopped for lunch at Wandie’s place where I had some chicken, potato salad, mashed potatoes, rice, and bread (for those of you who are familiar with my diet and eating habits, this should come as no surprise). And for dessert we had ice cream! And cake! And pudding! We then headed to the mall to pick up some converters and adapters so that we can charge our computers and phones as well as some bottled water and snacks for tomorrow.

Now, I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting Johannesburg to be like, but it simultaneously met and defied my expectations. Getting used to the whole driving on the other side of the road thing has also been interesting. I keep wondering why small children are in the drivers seat, only to remember that its backwards here! What I have seen of the area around the airport and our little lodge is very nice and developed. Soweto was, I suppose, more of what I was expecting. The houses were a little more run down, there were street vendors on many of the corners selling fruit and artwork and other goods, and the area around the museums had been made into quite the tourist trap. There were also many walls and fences up around houses which were very small, only a few rooms, with tin roofs that seemed like they were barely nailed down. There were kids running around and playing on all the streets (I guess it is summer here after all) – oh! That reminds me – the weather! It is HOT, especially considering it was 17 degrees in Boston when I left. Today was humid and even though it was cloudy, I was still all sticky and sweaty. We travel in these large 13 passenger vans, with poor air conditioning and it gets a bit stuffy to say the least!

Anyways, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing! In about an hour or so we will have dinner and then tomorrow we are waking up at 5 to leave Jo’burg and head to Durban, stopping for a hike in the mountains on the way! Thus, it looks like my next post will be from Durban!

That being said, I have had a great time so far in Jo’burg and, consequently, South Africa, although I wish I could have spent a little more time exploring and seeing the city.

Thanks again for reading!
Miss and love you all,
Andrea

Am I there yet?

Hello all!

I am currently sitting in the airport in DC. Might as well visit the nations capital before I leave the country, right? Anyways, I thought I would use this lovely three and a half hour lay over to tell you more about my trip!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I am going to South Africa to study abroad for a semester! I am participating in a community health and social policy program based out of Durban, which is located on the south east coast of the country, although, I guess all of the country is pretty southern.

Now, you might be wondering, why Africa!? To that I answer, why not Africa!? I thought about going to Europe or Australia, either of which would have been amazing as well, but I guess the three main selling points were:
1) the fact that its easy to take a vacation to Europe, especially from Boston, but when else am I going to get to spend 4 months living among South Africans!!?
2) the community health aspect of the program. I've always been interested in medicine and going to med school, but lately I've found that I am also attracted to the public health field, and what better way to explore this interest than to learn about it first hand in Africa! The program I am participating in also involves an independent research project. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do my research on, but something along the lines of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS and the impact that the disease has on children. I'll be sure to keep you posted on what I decide.
Oh, and selling point number 3) SAFARI!! I think that is pretty self explanatory, but who hasn't wanted to go on an African safari at some point in their life?

Well I guess that's enough rambling about that! I am nervous and excited and anxious all at the same time. After waking up at 7 to head to Logan, I still have a flight to Atlanta followed by my flight to Johannesburg (which will last a whopping 16+ hours.... ) ahead of me. Thus, my journey is just beginning!

I thank you all for your love and support and for taking time out of your day to read along. :) With any luck my next post will be from South Africa!

Much love,
Andrea

Pre-Departure

Hello Everyone!

I decided to start a blog to keep you all updated on my travels to and through South Africa this coming semester! Tomorrow I embark on my 24 hour (yes, you read that correctly) journey down the East Coast and across the Atlantic. I'm sure the next four months will be filled with much excitement and adventure, and this way you can follow along! As for now, I face the challenge of fitting all of my things into a 50 lb. suitcase.

Thanks for reading,
Andrea