weeks 4-6!!

Hi everyonee!

I am sorry that it has taken me this long to update my blog, but I was waiting until I had some more interesting experiences to share with all of you!

If I remember correctly, I had just started classes during my last blog, and was learning how to sookie.
Since then, classes have started to pick up and the work is coming in quicker then I would like, but I need to remember that I am actually going to school while I am here in Stellenbosch. I wrote my first paper this past week on the underdevelopment in Africa and South Africa. We had to argue what we thought was the root cause of the under-developmental problem that the African continent is facing today is. I traced my paper back to the slave trade era. It was quite interesting.

As for sooking, I think that I have successfully learned the dance, or at least I have learned how to be a good follower. Our house dance (huisdans in afrikaans) that I was learning for was this past Saturday. Phil was my date, as you can see from the picture that I will attach. We had a great time! The dance was at a wine farm about 30-40 minutes north of Stellebosch called Kelenevalley. It was another great cultural experience with our new friends.

As for the rest of my past few weeks, I will give you some highlights, and provide you with some pictures!

I cannot remember if this was in my last blog, but we went to the V&A waterfront in Cape Town which is the huge tourist mall, and I will include a few pictures of the area surrounding it which was absolutely breathtaking.

We have been doing some hiking through the hillsides and mountains. The first hike we took was just around the winelands. We have met some very avid hikers along our trip and these two guys in-particular have shown us some beautiful places we never would have found on our own. We also hiked Stellenbosch mountain, it was a hard hike. Almost directly straight up at some points. There is also no longer a trail to follow because 2 years ago the entire mountain caught on fire and not much is left in the way of trails and wildlife except plenty of charred trees that we got to know very well.

We also got to go to the South Africa vs Australia National rugby match at Newlands Stadium here in Cape Town. This was hugee! South Africans were so jealous that we got to go because it is very expensive to get tickets, which are almost impossible to acquire because they sell out within the first day. Our program got us the tickets and we were in the 3rd row! This was one of the coolest things we have done by far since we have been here, rugby is the football of America, and insanely popular.

This upcoming Saturday our program director Bradley has gotten us front row tickets to Cape Town Fashion Week. It is the biggest fashion event in the southern hemisphere and he happens to know the coordinator that has done him a huge favor giving us these tickets! All of the girls are so excited to go, it will be such a cool thing to do that so few people get to see..so that is one of the things we are looking forward too.

Aside from that, our next trip is coming up next weekend (28th-30th of August). We are going to Overburg which is in the Southern Cape. We are staying in De Hoop Reserve, which is the southern most point of Africa. We have a cabin, with no electricity, literally on the beach with nothing for miles in any direction. The point of our trip is to watch the whales migrate. This is the time of year when thousand of whales pass east to west along the African coast, for what reason I am not sure, but it happens every year at the end of August. Hopefully we will get some good weather so we can enjoy our beach front property and see some whales!

It is hard to believe but I am 1/3 of the way through this trip, and quickly approaching 1/2 way. The week following our De Hoop trip is our mid-semester break - - time is flying by too quickly.

Mom and Dad-I bought you your first 2 bottles of SA wine today! If you want to look them up, one is the native pinatage from Kanonkop Estate (this is the most "elite" vineyard in stellenbosch, and the best pinatage I have tasted thus far.) I also grabbed the best white wine I have ever hadd..it is from Tokara vineyard. The type is just called "Tokara White," and it is 85% sauvignon blanc and 15% smellion. I am sure you will enjoy these! Miss youu


I will update after De Hoop to share my whale sightings with all of you!

I hope you enjoy my, yet again, way too long blog entry and pictures!

Love you all and miss you!

Cheers!

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