Week One

I’m writing this blog from the top bunk of my bed in my new South African home. I live in a chalet called Mojalefa just outside of Pietermaritzburg, and I think I’m in paradise.

The group arrived to Johannesburg on Friday after 29 long hours of traveling from Azusa. We wasted no time and spent all of Saturday diving into South African culture. We piled in a bus and met Alina, our Zulu tour guide for the day.

The first part of the day was spent in Soweto, the former black township (during Apartheid) in the middle of Joburg. It was such a strange feeling to see these shacks with corrugated iron roofs, men carrying live chickens down the street or women with boxes and bags balanced on their heads when I live in a place where we live in big houses with double paned windows, where our chickens are plucked for us 99% of the time and we can put our groceries in our shiny cars to get them home.

We went to a Zulu restaurant for lunch…and when I say restaurant, you probably aren’t imagining quite right. It was an outdoorish place with a roof and a very small building (for lack of a better description) for the kitchen and buffet. Our group filled every seat. The people there were so joyful! Some children came in and performed dances for us, and even grabbed me and a few others to dance out of the eating area!

We spent part of the afternoon in the Apartheid museum—it was surreal. I’ve always paid attention to the segregation history in the US, but that’s always been history to me…as in several years before I was even born. Apartheid didn’t end until I was 6 years old. It was the strangest feeling to realize that the “White Only” signs displayed in the museum were only taken down 16 years ago. Most of the people that I’ve met and will be meeting lived during Apartheid.

On Sunday, we flew to Durban and drove to African Enterprise just outside of Pietermaritzburg, where we’ll be living for a while. The campus is so lush and green and incredibly beautiful in a way that’s so different than home.

There are tall trees, big bushes, a watering hole and a waterfall right behind my chalet! I listen to the waterfall as I go to sleep and I can hear it in my classes, too. We’re right by a game reserve, so my roommate (Kristen Capodanno), my Joburg hotel roommate (Katie Hahn) and I got up at 6 this morning and took a path through part of the reserve. A couple girls took the same path and saw zebra later this morning. We didn’t get that lucky, but we saw an impala and her baby! I plan on running there lots, so hopefully we’ll spot some excitement.

We started classes yesterday, and since I’m taking History and Culture of South Africa, Intro to Zulu, Intercultural Communication, Humans and the Environment (Bio) and Life and Teachings of Jesus in an intensive 6 weeks, I’ve got a ton of reading and homework to do—I’ve even already turned in a paper this afternoon!

Miss you all! I’m sending hugs to California, Virginia, Washington, Great Britain, Hungary or wherever else you may be reading this from!

To see all of my pictures, check out: