For some, the thought of celebrating a birthday (my 21st on August 31st) while studying in a foreign country may seem like putting the cherry on top of the ice cream. For me, the thought of being away from my family and close friends for the first birthday ever gave me a bit of an ice cream headache instead. But, as in any situation, you make the best of it, and do what you can to make it great. So, I decided to follow three simple steps. 1. Do something you’ve never done. = Skydiving. Freefalling for 6,000 feet and then [View Full Entry]

---

---

Finally, another blog. Turns out motivation for these things is not as high as I thought it’d be. Here are a few updates from life in the Bosch. Fun stuff: The carnivore inside me roared the other weekend when we returned to one of my favorite places: Mzoli’s Meat. It’s an outdoor restaurant where literally all they sell is meat. You go inside to the butcher attached, select your meat, they season it for you, you pay, take it to the braai masters (who are very, very good at their job), and pick it up grilled and perfect and amazing. It’s [View Full Entry]

---

---

More than another week has passed, and I’m still loving Stellenbosch. I’m learning about the difference between traveling and studying abroad. Traveling is about moving around, seeing and experiencing everything I can before the sad day comes too quickly when I have to leave to go back. I guess that still somewhat applies to studying abroad, except that in the midst of the trips to Cape Point, rugby games, hiking, and seeing the “big five” game of South Africa, I am in the process of establishing a life here. I found myself telling friends, “Don’t let [View Full Entry]

---

---

I think it’s most appropriate to begin a travel blog before or right as the trip actually starts. However, seeing as I’ve already been here over a week, and this is my first blog, I obviously am not following the correct standard. So begins my blog: a summary of my first week in Stellenbosch, South Africa. A question I’ve received about as many times as the number of chocolate bars I’ve eaten in my life (so you know it’s a lot) is, “Why South Africa?” I don’t have a logical answer. Call it cliché, but I felt an attraction to this [View Full Entry]

---

---