One night, shortly after I arrived in South Africa, I grabbed my iPod and sat out on the lawn in Annie's Cove and looked up at the stars while listening to Paul Simon's Graceland. I know it sounds silly, but that album is part of the soundtrack of my childhood, and I had the urge to listen to it while trying to experience the stars in the southern hemisphere. Unfortunately, Port Elizabeth is just like any other large city around the world, with millions of lights (except during the daily power outages) and lots of smog. Needless to say, I couldn't [View Full Entry]

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I woke up this morning to high winds and driving rain. The walkway through Annie’s Cove is flooded and the sliding glass door in my room is rattling from the wind. When huge gusts of wind rip between the houses, I can see the whole door flex, it’s amazing that it doesn’t shatter. The storms here are intense, with booming thunder and lightning bolts that reach all the way across the horizon. It may just be me but it seems that even the average raindrop is bigger. The last few weeks have brought yet more adventure with my international friends as [View Full Entry]

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Just a few pictures that I haven't added to the other blogs.... [View Full Entry]

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Classes are now well underway, I ended up getting everything that I needed, although two of them are independent study so I still don't really feel like I'm in school. Last night I started a Xhosa class, which I feel is going to be really challenging. Luckily most of the students from California are also in it, so I have plenty of people in Annie's Cove to study with. I'm also taking an intro mediation class which I think will be really interesting as well as useful in the future. Class discussions are difficult for me, due to all the strong [View Full Entry]

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I've been here for a week now, exploring the city, and getting settled and ready to start classes on the 11th. Today I was supposed to register, but found out that the few classes I had preselected back home are not being offered this year. I'm now waiting to hear back from someone in the sociology department whether there will be any similar classes offered. Yesterday a group of international students took a hike on campus. NMMU is located on a 280 acre nature reserve where all sorts of wildlife live including zebras, monkeys, and a few kinds poisonous snakes. Unfortunately [View Full Entry]

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Hey All, I've arrived in South Africa, after spending a few days with Gesche and the boys in London. It was a short stop, but we managed to get out and see quite a bit of the city. Gesche had been wanting to see a musical since moving to London, so on Tuesday night we went to see Mama Mia with Hanna, one of Gesche's friends. Many of the actors were television actors who do stage productions on the side, and were incredibly talented. It was the most hilarious show I've ever seen, all done to ABBA music. We had great [View Full Entry]

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Well, Happy Holidays to those of you who stumble across this. This blog is the first of what I hope will be many, as I am leaving in January to spend a year studying in South Africa. I've never had a blog before, so we'll see how it goes, I hope it isn't a disappointment... :) So the countdown has begun. I received a sleeping bag, backpack, and Eyewitness travel guide for Christmas. My flight is reserved, I'm flying to London on January 26th where I will spend a few days with my sister before heading down to South Africa. Visa's [View Full Entry]

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