Molweni, Well, I have arrived safely in the United States. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers; I wait eagerly to give everyone big hugs! I think someone turned on the heat here! This, I believe, will be my final blog entry from this trip, but by no means does this mean my trip is over! It has changed the course of my life, my way of viewing the world, and my ways of thinking in so many ways. I am grateful for the experience ... and I have so many pictures to show any who are interested in [View Full Entry]

---

---

Molweni, I can't believe I am flying out of Cape Town International airport in a little over six hours. I don't want to think about it. What a great week this has been for me, relaxing and learning more about Cape Town and myself. I have explored Observatory (the small town where I have been staying within Cape Town), finding my way to a really nice used book store like the one I hope to own and operate one day myself. Lots of cool people from across the world have come to the hostel this week while I have been here, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Molweni! Ninjani? Today is chilly and foggy, but I went for a run this morning anyway. It's very funny that, to me, a short run used to be fifteen minutes, but now a short run is thirty minutes. Ah well, I'm a true runner now. Two days ago one of my comrades from my group, Jessica, and I took my IT partner, Xolile (who I taught how to use a computer), to a nice restaurant at the Waterfront mall in downtown Cape Town. It was his first time in a restaurant and he immensely enjoyed himself. I was so happy to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Molweni! The academic part of my experience here is over - and I do miss it sometimes, although I am really enjoying not having any papers to write, papers to read, or maps to draw. Our written exam this past Tuesday (after our oral presentations Monday) was such a wonderful experience for me. I wrote for three hours about my experiences here both about our field work/service-learning and application of theories covered in our course. I really learned a lot about the processes that make my head work. Three hours was not long enough; I think that is the first time [View Full Entry]

---

---

I simply want to let you all know that I have added more pictures to the gallery. Enjoy! -Charis [View Full Entry]

---

---

Molweni! How is everyone? I'm doing super! Two days ago a group of us hiked Table Mountain. One of the members from my study abroad group had to leave the programme early for a family function, and his last wish before leaving was to hike the mountain. We spent two hours hiking up a nice trail to the top. It was an absolutely gorgeous day; at one point I actually got warm enough to be in my shorts and a t-shirt, but as we approached the windy top I put my wind pants and jacket back on! When you see pictures [View Full Entry]

---

---

Molweni! How is everyone? One of the most important things I have realised while here is the importance of greeting everyone and making sure to ask about people's lives before moving on to "business." I thank Nancy and Harvey for preparing me for this wonderful aspect of South African life, which involves being interested in how people truly are as well as slowing down and taking time to actually speak to someone rather than being in a hurry all the time as I find myself accustomed to in the United States. I challenge you to find out something new about every [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just a short entry to tell everyone I have created a gallery and added some pictures if you haven't already found it. I know you'll want to see! I have just finished writing a paper and do not have time for a long entry at the moment, but I hope to write one very soon! Love to all, Charis [View Full Entry]

---

---

Molweni! The title of this blog entry is a direct quote from....DRUMROLL PLEASE......dadadadada..... Archbishop Desmond Tutu himself, who I listened to tonight during a panel discussion on the Xenophobia going on in relation to Zimbabwe. Do not despair, I will come back to Desmond Tutu in time. Let me first tell you about my day, or at least some of the highlights. 1) My alarm went off this morning at seven, as usual. I pushed the snooze button. The snooze button actually turned out to be the "alarm off" button. Oh well, I missed my run this morning. "No big deal, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Molweni! I am doing better keeping up with my blog entries than catching up in my journal! I have all these notes that I have written in various places (notepads, notebooks, scraps of paper, napkins, my hands) to remind me to write about them in detail in my journal so that I have an historical account of all my adventures, experiences, thoughts, and feelings whilst here. I want to begin this entry by again thanking everyone who has sent me messages and replied to my entries. They are so inspirational, and I am encouraged by them to keep an open mind [View Full Entry]

---

---