Welcome To South Africa

2/7/2011

Finally I am here. After all that unnecessary stress that was all a part of my departure, I made it. I am writing right now from my room, which as of now doesn’t have any internet, on the first Monday after my arrival. First I’ll reflect on this past weekend, starting with the Visa situation! My visa/study permit was apparently delayed getting to Cleveland so it was not delivered on the day that I was told by the consulate. The reason it was delayed was the massive snowstorm that hit the midwest dropping 2 feet in some places. So after my visa made it to Cleveland on the morning I was suppose to catch my flight, FedEx decided not to be opened because of the storm. Therefore my package was sitting in the Cleveland distribution center. I was hoping that I could just drive up there and pick it up, but I was told that it wasn’t a building that allowed public access, so more waiting and more phone calls. My dad finally called and calmly told them the situation, even though my mom and I had done the same exact thing, and got everything straightened out. The only problem was that my visa was now in transport to me and my plane was still on schedule to take off at 225pm that day (this was happening around 1030ish) FINALLY, my visa arrived, I sprinted down the drive way grabbed it from the guy and we all jumped into the car and headed for the airport. Once we were at the airport we went to check in, and my one bag was over the weight limit. So my parents and I had to do some rearranging to get both suitcases to weight 50 lbs. Once we got that all straightened out it was time to say good bye, or so-long! I cried, of course, but I am going to miss them so much! After I got through security I headed for my departing gate. I met Becca there for the first time and she is so unbelievably nice! I was so glad I had someone on the plane with me and to travel with. Taking off in Cleveland seemed very dangerous, it was basically a blizzard. They sprayed the plane down with some anti-freezing liquid and then we were off. It wasn’t the smoothest take off I’ve ever experienced. After we reached an altitude above the clouds it was so beautiful! You could see the snow storm right below and it was sunny skies all the way to Washington. Once we got to Washington I grabbed something to eat and then we got onto the international flight from Washington to Dakar and then onto Joberg. I sat next to a lovely lady who was on her way to South Africa for some fun and business with her friends. It was definitely cramped, but we each had our own individual tv screen where we could choose our own movies to watch. I think I went through 4 movies on the way between Washington and Dakar. The meals weren’t too bad, it was nice to be fed so frequently too. When we touched down in Dakar to drop people off and pick some people up, though not many, it was about 630 am in Senegal. The sun was just rising and Dakar sits right on a peninsula so it was obviously a sight to see. As we took off I found myself a seat that had a vacant seat next to me so I could spread out a little, and I even had quite a few extra blankets and pillows that somehow ended up in my lap. Once in the air I could see Dakar from above and I noticed a few things. Lots of people were fishing in their small boats, similar to the Amazon, and there was a a few hundred houses in a small vicinity that had a high piles of trash that was surrounding the houses. I don’t know much about Dakar, but you could blatantly see the difference between the wealthy and the poor from the air. I slept most of the rest of the way and only woke up when they served another meal. I met my whole group from CEA on the plane and we talked a little while mainly about our experiences before arriving to that point. We landed in Joberg at about 7ish and had to go through customs and passport control which didn’t take as long as I thought. All of the CEA people navigated our way through the airport pretty well. Everyone was very friendly and there was even a pizza vending machine. At that point I called my mom to let her know I made it to SA and I forgot it was still the middle of the workday for her. It is a six hour time difference between SA and home, it is still hard to picture what people at home are doing when I’m going to bed or having lunch! The plane ride from Joberg to PE (Port Elizabeth) was very short and we even got served a sandwich. Hannah and I sat next to a lady who gave us all kinds of info on PE because she lives here. She told us all the good beaches and which ones have good surfing. Also, the elephant parks and safaris. Once we got off the plane Monalisa, our international coordinator, was there to show us to the hotel that we had to stay at until the next morning. It was great sharing all the excitement with the other study abroads. We were picked up the next morning so that we could drop our stuff off at our rooms and then pack quickly for our weekend orientation. Weekend orientation aka bush camp was in the middle of nowhere (about an hour or so outside of PE). Before we got there we stopped at a raptor and reptile rescue/rehab center and learned a lot about snakes. I got to hold a huge python, similar to the one Britney Spears held at the VMAS that one time, and also two other snakes/reptiles. I’m not going to go into detail about bush camp because they tell everyone not to reveal too much about the experience, but I will say I got to zipline into a river called Umlamboo (I think?) which was pretty cool! It rained most of the time we were there so it wasn’t very uplifting, but on the other hand I did get my first glimpse of wild monkeys! They were white with black faces, probably as tall as a medium sized dog. On the way there and home we passed by these communities on the outskirts of PE and basically they were made up of small shacks, probably only 1 or 2 rooms, with sheet metal for a roof and a bunch of trash surrounding their houses. Someone on the bus mentioned that in South Africa you are either rich or poor and I saw that first hand driving from those communities straight into the city. After bush camp everyone was so excited to finally move in and take a shower! I showered first and then we all walked about 40 minutes to an internet cafe where I got a chance to talk to my mom, dad and Alyssa on Skype! We don’t have internet at my room and we won’t for at least another 2 weeks apparently. I ordered a cheeseburger and a milkshake at the cafe and just caught up with stuff on the internet. The view of the Indian Ocean is beautiful! There are palm trees everywhere and so much wind it could knock you over on a rough day. PE is known as the windy city and I can understand why. Another thing I noticed was that every house or for that matter any building is gated and most have barbed wire and other high end security systems to protect their houses and property. The crime rate in SA is very high so people take the necessary precautions. After the internet cafe we all decided we had to shop for food (I didn’t realize that we weren’t getting a meal plan), so now I have to buy all my own food, which isn’t much different than at home, but I really would rather spend that money elsewhere. I picked up things like bread, milk, cereal, peanut butter and some frozen dinners. I decided I am going to eat a big lunch on campus during the day in between my classes and then make something small for dinner and I will always have snacks if I get hungry. We took a taxi home, which is not like a normal taxi at all. It is a mini van with a bunch of dents and a crazy driver that drives around and picks up people. A man yells out the window to people on the sidewalk to get in and it is only 7 Rand, which is about 1 dollar. A lot of people use these to get around, but we were told they are fine to use during the day, but never at night. I can understand why! Once we got back I got a chance to meet my room mate. Here name is Tabbi and she is from Botswana. She lived here last year so she knows basically everything and she is very very nice! Then we got ready for the night and drank a little, I went to bed early because we had orientation this morning at 830. Orientation went very well. They talked to us about how classes will work and safety in the city and some other things. CEA registers for classes on Tuesday morning and get a campus tour. Now that everything is slowing down a little I promise I won’t write as much all at one time. It is so hard because I don’t have internet at my finger tips anymore. It is weird being so far from home. I haven’t gotten home sick yet, but it is just weird because I can’t call or text anyone whenever I want. Also, I don’t have a car here so I have to walk everywhere and some things aren’t that close that I can just run a quick errand. Plus it is also a pain to have to make someone go with you everywhere you go. It isn’t safe to walk alone here so you have to travel in packs which is always frustrating because some people want to do one thing while others want to go a different way. I haven’t gotten a chance to experience much culture except at bush camp, but we are going to a rugby game tonight where NMMU is playing against some other school from SA I think? It should be fun! And then we are going out afterwards, which will likely be a normal thing. I think I decided I am not going to drink too much while I am here. I want to spend my money on other things like trips and souvenirs. It is crazy the people I have met here so far. Some people are from the States while some are from Germany, Finland, Sweden, France and a bunch of other countries. It almost hurts my head to listen to so many accents in one conversation. I am already burnt and it hasn’t even been a week, but in some spots I am tan. I can’t wait to start classes and meet some other South Africans!