Okay I am continuing this blog from the previous blog entitled Umfolozi. Do not start reading here or you will be coming in half way through the story! We arrived at our next camp, we were unable to reserve the fancy bush camp for the entire time, and unpacked our massive amount of food and clothes. We checked out the playground and took a bit of a rest before heading out on our own evening drive. After we left we ran into a huge group of 20 vultures all in one area. We tried as hard as we could but did [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am back from my great South African Game Reserve adventure, and adventure it was! Carolyn and I left for the game reserve mid day last Sunday and drove three hours up north in the pouring rain. We reached the reserve in the late afternoon and as soon as we entered the first set of gates we were stopped by two huge elephants. They were on either side of the rd, but soon one decided to join the other. This was fantastic because there was nothing between us and the elephants which are absolutely enormous. But this soon started to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello, This blog is a bit of a combination of photos. It starts with last Sunday when I officially became a member of Hope Church and then after the service was baptized! I am very thankful that my friend Andrea came to take photos. The baptism was wonderful, the water was a bit cold but it was not too bad. In the end after I was baptized I realized I had to jump out of the water without a ladder. I wasn’t concerned that I wouldn’t make it out but I was wearing baggy shorts and I was really praying that [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello! *Caution this blog contains some sensitive topics I think this is a record, a new blog two weeks in a row! I had a full weekend and I am looking forward to a full week. While I didn’t have much time to sleep this weekend it was probably one of the best I have had here so I wanted to get some photos up right away. I will be adding more photos to this blog as I get them from friends but here is a start. I started my weekend on Friday with a Rotary lunch and then hurrying home [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a happy Halloween I am enjoying seeing the photos. Things have been good here lately, calm and relaxing which is a wonderful change! My proposal has been approved by the second set of reviewers and is almost ready to go to the final board next week. I am still working on a possible change of location of my research but otherwise things are going well. My advisor just asked if I would like to go to a party she is having for organizations that received a grant from the Gates Foundation. Now if [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello everyone! Phew! All I am doing right now is taking a deep breath! As I have told many of you September was a very challenging month for me, to say the least. I am not exactly sure how I thought I could work part time, write a proposal, and finish my courses all at the same time! I also was dealing with some health issues which added stress. They say the only way to really know a country is to spend time in its hospitals and prisons, I guess I partially know South Africa and I am in no hurry [View Full Entry]

---

---

Moloweni! I just got back from a fantastic few days in the Eastern Cape. I am absolutely in love with it down there. It is beyond beautiful, and we stayed with the kindest people! I am going to describe the group that I went with and my involvement real quick and then I will get on with the trip! I went down with the group SaveAct which is the group that I will be doing my research through. SaveAct is a NGO (non-government organization) that has grants from donors like the Ford Foundation to run pilot models of savings and credit [View Full Entry]

---

---

Birthday/Berg /Independence Day! Hello! I am writing this from my study carrel where I should be focusing on my HIV/AIDS presentation I have coming up, but I am taking a bit of a study break! Down here in South Africa I am experiencing “winter” which means the highs may drop down to the low 70s once in a while. The great thing is that people seem to freak out when it gets that low, out come the fur-lined hooded jackets and scarves! What is even worse is I don’t think I have worn capris in a couple months now. Mid 70s [View Full Entry]

---

---

Johannesburg * Some Violent Content Time is sure flying by! I am officially finished with my first semester of grad school. Last Thursday I turned in my final paper for the course and then I set off for a weekend in Johannesburg. A friend of mine had a dental conference in Joburg and so Andrea and I thought we would tag along and see the big city. Johannesburg is very different from Durban and that was evident right away when we arrived. It was late at night and I don’t think freezing can even describe how cold I was! I know [View Full Entry]

---

---

May update Next week will be four months since I moved to South Africa. I cannot believe it, time has gone by so fast! I am enjoying every moment but at the same time I was in my study carell the other day thinking Gosh I wish this would never end! I am excited I am in the one year program, partly because I couldn’t afford two years, but at the same time I am so jealous of people who get to spend two years studying in this amazing program! I love my study carrel, the weekly seminars by experts from [View Full Entry]

---

---