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 :)
No comments:
Post a Comment