jamieo

A quick hello, I'm about to leave for a two week trip, but wanted to check in on here first. For those that may email me or try to contact me, I'll be unavailable for awhile. Two of my housemates and I are taking a roadtrip to Durban and doing some fun stuff along the way. And then I'll come back to Cape Town for a couple of days and then head to Michigan! Wooo, it sounds like a lot going on. I'll be back in the States the first week of July, so I hope to see most of you soon! More news to come once I'm back about my experiences in Cape Town. -Jamie ... read more

Well I'm writing today to say hello and to let everyone know that I'm doing fine. I know there has been a lot of international coverage about the violence occuring in South Africa right now. There have been some violent acts against African immigrants, especially outside of Johannesberg, and has spread to township areas (suburbs) outside of the other metropolitan areas of Durban and Cape Town. But don't be worried since I'm not an African immigrant and I don't stay or work in townships, especially the more dangerous ones. It's really sad to about the violent outbreaks in the country, and it really isn't so much of a surprise. There has been a lot of xenophobic activity in the country for awhile even in 1997 when apartheid just ended. It's not because the people are more ... read more

Wow! What a trip. I’ve just got back into Cape Town last night from a nine day trip to Namibia and the west coast of South Africa (Check out the posted map for a visual of where this actually is). I went with three of my housemates and we rented a car and drove all the way up to the Soussevlei dunes and back. It was a lot of driving, but we were able to see so much. It’s amazing how the landscapes change so drastically from city to hilly, to really green vegetation (the west coast is known for its vineyards and citrus fruits, and much more, obviously), to semi-arid desert, to desert. And, I must say, it’s the healthiest roadtrip I’ve ever been on. We bought our own groceries and made our own healthy ... read more

There’s so much to say! I’ve been pretty busy in the last week, to say the least. My classes have begun and I have a finalized schedule to remember (I still don’t have it memorized…) and some serious business to finally figure out. Such as, how to print pages from a computer at school. It’s a big adjustment, not having a printer in every computer lab. And in one area, the print station, we must elect to have the document printed from the computer, THEN wait in line for about 8 minutes to get to a separate station to swipe your ID card, enter a PIN, and then wait for it to be printed. Everyone else is just going along with it. Most don’t know any different. And the computers are really old school- literally, I ... read more

Hello! So today I'm writing from the internet cafe down the street and trying to put up photos, but it seems that they are too big of files for the bandwith, bummer! I will have to bring my own computer next time...or...a flash drive. I prefer not to do the first, because it may be taken from me on the street (yes, this happens quite frequently to people, but I'll just try to minimize my risk). But anyways, I'm having a great time. I've been hanging out a lot with my roommates. We've had the rest of our orientation week with a free day on Thursday. We decided to all go to the beach. Well...little did we know that the Muizenberg beach (on the Indian ocean on the other side of the city) would be really ... read more

Saying my last good-byes It's been nice taking time this past month to see many important people and having the time to catch up on their lives before leaving. I've been pretty lucky to not have to work for the short time I've had off to be able to do this. Whenever I visit Ann Arbor, I love walking around seeing everything, enjoying just being there, especially without everyday stresses of school work and extracurriculars. I'm able to sit down somewhere, including my favorite place on campus, and read a book. Yes, I like going to Ann Arbor just to read a book. I went to my grandparent's house a couple of days ago and had the last get together with my family before I leave on Friday. Lol, some of my family still think ... read more