25 days left!

One thing I have learned during my time here in Africa is to plan on things not going according to the plan. My week long trip to Lesotho was a confirmation of this. With Erik, a Swedish guy I have known since February, Mary, another CA girl who goes to school in Monterey, and her friend Josh, who flew out for the week, we rented a car and drove the first day to Lady Grey, South Africa, a few hours drive from the border of Lesotho where we entered at Telle Bridge. We might have been able to make it all the way to Lesotho on the first day had we not been stopped in Queenstown for "running a red light"- even though there were still people going through the light after us and around us. It took us three hours and going to SEVEN different locations back and forth across town, including once with a police escort, to finally pay the R700 fine.

After an interesting night at a backpacker that our guide book described as "charmingly crumbling," we left early in the morning and arrived at Semonkong, about in the middle of the country, in the late afternoon. There are very few roads and they are distinguished on maps according to what kind of car you need to drive them. We only had a Citi Golf so we were somewhat limited on what roads we could take and where we could go, but luckily Erik had driven to Lesotho before so he was able to navigate effectively, even without a 4X4.

At Semonkong Lodge, we went pony trekking- a popular activity in Lesotho. The landscape was very pretty, with a lot of valleys and steep hills. Despite having jumped off a waterfall and sky diving, I still have an almost paralyzing fear of heights. We rode for about 2 and a half hours before dismounting on the side of a very steep incline. Everyone else hiked the next 5 meters to the very top of the mountain to see the national flower, but I couldn't even stand up straight and spent the next 20 minutes literally gripping the rocks. I thought going up was bad until we started going back down. It didn't help that I had the most stubborn horse who seemed to be just as afraid of heights as I was. Being in the back of the group and watching all the horses hooves slipping as we descended didn't help either. We finished off the long day with some Maluti, Lesotho brewed beer, at the lodge's bar. That night there was a really intense thunder storm and Mary and I ended up sleeping on the same bunk in our sleeping bags. We had planned on going hiking at the highest single drop waterfall in southern Africa, but the storm continued into the day. The lodge owner also informed us that we were going to have to camp if we wanted to stay because our bunks had already been booked, so we decided to pack the car and drive to our next destination. The rest of our trip was mostly just driving around, sight seeing, and enjoying each other's company. It was nice to be so secluded and have a break from school stresses for a whole week.



Another fun experience I had last month was attending a traditional Zulu/Xhosa wedding. The husband was Xhosa and the wife was Zulu so the ceremony was a mix of both traditions. The beginning was my favorite. The wedding was held at the groom's brothers house and his entire family was there. The bride and her family arrived outside all together and when everyone in the house heard them singing, we all went out. The wedding parties were singing back and forth at each other, dancing and clapping- one family welcoming the other as they simultaneously announced their arrival. My friends Abu and Q, who invited us to the wedding, explained that the family that sings the loudest and best gets to enter and take their seats first. I tried to dance and sing as best I could, and one elder came up and grabbed my hand and said she liked my style. Needless to say, the other family got to answer the house first. Once seated, one family member from each side introduced everyone there from their extended family. My friend Mary and I got a special welcome from the man conducting the ceremony- he had even saved us seats in the middle and made us promise not to share some of the things we were witnessing (seriously). It was a really great event; it started at 12 and everyone was still partying when we left around 9 or 10. Mary and I were really thankful to have been invited and tried to show our appreciation by volunteering to help serve food and drinks. Everyone made us feel really welcome and seemed happy to share with us.


This past Halloween weekend was a lot of fun! I never thought I would spend Halloween day tanning and watching dolphins jumping in the Indian Ocean. I can't believe I only have THREE weeks left. I will be flying over the continent of Africa on Thanksgiving Day. I am not too happy about that, but I figured I could sacrifice a holiday of over eating at least once in my life. This experience has gone by way too fast. In the next few weeks I am planning on going on a proper safari- I just want to see a giraffe!- and going to one of the local art museums. I'll also be tanning as much as possible (with sunscreen of course) and studying for exams but I will try to update before I leave for the US.


My mom wants me to remember the little details that I might forget after a few months of being back so I thought it would be fun to share some differences in the vocabulary:

South Africa vs US
robot = traffic light
tomato sauce = ketchup
now now = soon
just now = right now (These can still get confusing and I am never exactly sure when the cab driver will arrive- usually sometime within a 30 minute time frame.)
pleasure = you're welcome
yebo (Zulu) = yes
bucky = pick-up truck
sharp = cool, okay, bye, or thanks
shame = sorry or that's too bad

These are all the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'll add more if they come to me! I hope everyone is doing well.

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