This morning, we all got up around 8am. I did not sleep the whole night. I think it was a mixture of nerves and jet lag. I was still a lot happier than I was last night - I still can’t believe I’m in Africa! YAY!
The plane flight to Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg was BEAUTIFUL. We never passed above cloud level, so we were able to see the mountains very clearly. The landscape was spotted with houses, located very far away from the city. Even though the apartheid ended over 10 years ago, there’s still a lot of evidence from it. Thousands of people were forced by the government to leave their houses in the city, and got dumped off in the middle of nowhere. The communities formed are fully sustainable now, but it’s hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for these people go be dropped off without electricity, good farming land, etc.
The landing was extremely bumpy, so I was very happy once we were on the ground. We then took a Khombi to the campus. It is SO beautiful here. The green-ness and tropical feeling reminds me of Florida. I also have a great view of the Drakensburg Mountains out my dorm room window.
Two of the mentors from Malherbe (my dorm) invited us to that nights “Welcome Week” event. It was at the football field where people were playing sports and having braiis (barbeques… they’re very popular here). Everyone was really friendly and outgoing, and asked lots of questions about where we were from. My favorite is people saying, “you have the president who looks like me!” Everyone I’ve met so far has a different handshake… I’m not quite picking up on it either and I feel a little out of the loop.
The plane flight to Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg was BEAUTIFUL. We never passed above cloud level, so we were able to see the mountains very clearly. The landscape was spotted with houses, located very far away from the city. Even though the apartheid ended over 10 years ago, there’s still a lot of evidence from it. Thousands of people were forced by the government to leave their houses in the city, and got dumped off in the middle of nowhere. The communities formed are fully sustainable now, but it’s hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for these people go be dropped off without electricity, good farming land, etc.
The landing was extremely bumpy, so I was very happy once we were on the ground. We then took a Khombi to the campus. It is SO beautiful here. The green-ness and tropical feeling reminds me of Florida. I also have a great view of the Drakensburg Mountains out my dorm room window.
Two of the mentors from Malherbe (my dorm) invited us to that nights “Welcome Week” event. It was at the football field where people were playing sports and having braiis (barbeques… they’re very popular here). Everyone was really friendly and outgoing, and asked lots of questions about where we were from. My favorite is people saying, “you have the president who looks like me!” Everyone I’ve met so far has a different handshake… I’m not quite picking up on it either and I feel a little out of the loop.
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