http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/sarmon/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from sarmon en-us Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:20:57 UTC Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:20:57 UTC Hey GuysSo nobody is more sad to report this than I am. Travelblog.org the website that hosted my blog underwent a massive server failure and lost all the blog entries that anybody has recorded for essentially the last three months. That is basically my entire blog. It still has some of the pictures and thank god all my pictures are on my computer. I also probably have some of my blog entries http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-188172.html Today I joined my Uncle Robert in the ranks of participating in extreme sports that may or may not send my mother to an early grave. I went skydiving. And...I LOVED it. Now I have to start this out by saying that skydiving has never really been on my list of 101 things to do before I die. My general theory has always been Why would I ever voluntarily jump out of a perfectly good airplane http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Israel/Haifa-District/Haifa/blog-186420.html Yesterday my class took a field trip to Goodwood Prison a Centre of Excellence in the Correctional System here. Goodwood is what would be classified a mediumsecurity prison in the States and in my Criminal Justice class we've been reading all about how poor the conditions are in prison in S.A. so I was certainly expecting rats wireframed cots and general dreadfulness. I was certainly s http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-183563.html In all my travels because theyrsquove been so vast Irsquove found that one of the best ways to get your finger on the pulse of the indigenous culture is to really experience the food of the place. And often the snack foods really clue you in to what people like wherever you are.First and foremost I find it really important to mention that South Africans have a scary obsession with meat. A http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/blog-182343.html Day 2 Nicole and I decided we were going to do a selfdrive through the park while half the group went on their morning guided drive. We went and parked the car in line at 5am bribed the gate guard to watch our car then ran back to have breakfast and get our stuff together for the day. We were the second car through the gate when it opened at 6am and third in line to pay. Britt another girl http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-182327.html Well I returned from my weekend on safari with all limbs intact and no lion bitesized chunks taken out of me. It was really an amazing weekend and Irsquom not sure that I can describe it all but wersquoll see how far I get. This is a story of the wilderness of driving on the lefthand side of the road and of the sunset drive from hell. There were twelve of us UF students that decided t http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-182311.html Today Maura Nicole Josh and I decided to go on a sightseeing tour at the Castle of Good Hope which is the oldest building in Cape Town. Sadly it does not look much like Cinderella's Castle or any castle that you would think of when you hear the word castle but instead looks much more like the pentagon built in the 1700s. It's a fort and it's a pretty cool fort at that Unfortunately w http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/blog-179731.html On Monday after our Constitutional Law exam Maura Yasmin Eric Katie and I decided to go to Kirstenbosch Gardens one of the largest botanical gardens in the world. It was a beautiful day outside so Irsquom really glad we decided to spend it outdoors. I think the best part of the whole afternoon was when I successfully argued to get us the student discount for admission. They said we neede http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-179724.html Bright and early this morning at 530 am to be precise the group got together to take the buses to Gansbaai to go shark diving. So exciting The trip down was about a two hour bus ride during which I attempted to sleep but Courtney and Kenny entertained us all with mask shenanigans and early 90s sing alongs. Our trusty boat was known as the Barracuda and after waiting around for a while http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Hermanus/blog-178424.html Yesterday was without a doubt one of the most memorable days I have had in Cape Town thus far and probably will ever have in my life. I wanted to come home in the afternoon and write about it immediately but decided to hold off until I could get the pictures from one of my friends who brought their camera with them. So all the wonderful photography you see here is courtesy of Britt who gracio http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-178413.html I know it's been a few days since I posted but really nothing that exciting has happened this week that would warrant an individual entry. So instead you guys get a whole week's worth of happenings. On Monday after class Eric Michael Britt Kristin and I decided to go to the beach town of Muizenberg where Britt and Michael wanted to surf. Initially I thought I might try it since appar http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-178015.html Sunday morning we all woke up bright and early much to our chagrin to head down to Cape Point which is the southwestern most point on the whole continent of Africa. It was really an amazing day. The weather was beautiful not a cloud in the sky and the sky was this intense blue. In Cape Town the weather wasnrsquot too cold breezy but I was comfortable just in a light sweater. However by http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-of-Good-Hope/blog-176435.html Looking at the Fishies in the Deep Blue Seahellip After my exam on Saturday morning Katie and I decided that since it was POURING rain it was an excellent day to go to the Two Oceans Aquarium. I was very excited about going to the aquarium since they had a live kelp forest ok so I didnrsquot know much about kelp beforehand but the website sure sounded excited about it penguins and a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-176433.html So I know up until now my blog has largely talked about the culture and landscape of the places Irsquove traveled. However it is important for us all to remember that I am in Cape Town on a study abroad program to learn all about South African law. Today I had the opportunity to shadow an attorney with the second largest law firm in Cape Town and find out what itrsquos like to work in the http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-175153.html Since I havenrsquot done anything too adventurous or touristy this week on account of the whole school and class thing getting in the way I decided that I should update my devoted readers on the culinary and nightlife scenes in Cape Town. I still have plenty of things that I want to try but just to recap some of the highlights of the last two weeks I canrsquot believe Irsquove been here http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-174660.html Saturday Professor Uphoff the coordinator of our trip had organized a group wine tasting tour of the Stellenbosch region just outside of Cape Town. A lot of South African wine is produced here and my professor is really in love with the wine here so we knew it was going to be a good time. I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive about taking off for a wine tasting tour at 9am but seeing a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-172834.html On Friday our class took a field trip to the District Six Museum in downtown Cape Town. District Six was a neighborhood in Cape Town during the 1940s60s that was comprised mostly of immigrants blacks and coloreds. In 1966 the Nationalist government who was responsible for apartheid policies passed the Group Areas Act which allowed them to relocate blacks and coloreds so that whites could h http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-172832.html On Tuesday Lauren and I decided to take our free afternoon to see the South African Jewish museum which is both a museum of Jewish history in South Africa and a Holocaust museum. I've seen a lot of Jewish museums in my life and I hae to say this is one of the top museums I've been to. Although it's much smaller I'd say it's probably as comprehensive on scale as the American one in DC and ver http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-171949.html On Sunday a group of us went down to the weekly market at Green Point about a mile away from where we are staying. The weather was pretty gorgeous in the morning if a little cold and the walk was pleasant. The market is a conglomeration of artisans and vendors who sell a lot of little african trinkets like salad tossers odd I'm aware elongated ebony figurines radios made out of coke can http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-171089.html Friday wasn't too busy sightseeing wise. We spent a lot of time on the campus at University of Cape Town getting oriented to our program and meeting our professors. We took a tour of the campus and I have to say the South Africans sure seem to love their stairs. A lot of things around here are named after Cecil John Rhodes aka the Rhodes scholarship and there is a lot of controversy surro http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-170263.html