Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday February 5th 2009
We woke up at 6am to begin the hectic day of registration. It consisted of waiting in painfully long lines, arguing with Deans, and getting different stamps of approval. It made me really realize how easy we have it at MSU. Everything there is done electronically – and if we can’t take a class, the computer simply tells us so. Here, we first had to wait in a line for about two hours just to receive a piece of paper with our name on it. Then we had to talk with each of our professors about why we wanted to take the class, and get their stamps of approval. THEN we had to wait in another ridiculously long line to get our “financial approval stamp”, THEN another line to talk to a counselor about classes overlapping, THEN another line to get a stamp from the Dean, THEN wait in another line for our photo IDs, THEN another line to register for our emails and passwords, THEN another line for “computer orientation” to be taught how to use a computer (ummmm…). The whole process took up the entire day, and really tested my patience. I know I’ll have much more respect for MSU’s online registration process when I return though.
Monday February 2nd 2009
Today was part 1 of UKZN’s registration process. It was only for international students, so it was interesting to meet everyone and hear their reasons for travel. I met one kid from Plattsburgh, New York – which was a very strange. Most of the international students were from Zimbabwe. They’re here because their country is in such turmoil, and everything has gone out of business. They cannot find food, shelter or water. All grocery stores are closed and the Universities are shut down. I knew about situation in Zimbabwe, but I had no idea it was that bad. To come to South Africa, they had to leave behind their families, friends, home, etc. I don’t know if it was the same for others – but I felt very bad telling everyone my reasons for traveling to South Africa. After their stories of being refugees and leaving their families behind, it was very hard for me to say my reason for travel was because, “I’ve always wanted to come here”. It made me really reexamine my lifestyle and choices.
We also had a meeting today with our independent studies professor. He explained to us that we’d have 3 internships. One is working with a Christian Organization, another is working with AIDS orphans, and another with the government on distributing info on the AIDS crisis. This should be a good experience, and I’m really looking foreword to it.
We also had a meeting today with our independent studies professor. He explained to us that we’d have 3 internships. One is working with a Christian Organization, another is working with AIDS orphans, and another with the government on distributing info on the AIDS crisis. This should be a good experience, and I’m really looking foreword to it.
Saturday January 31st 2009
Once again, Cindy picked us up bright and early to take us to “1000 Hills” It’s a beautiful outlook about an hour away with rolling hills, valleys and streams. Afterwards, we went to a “Crocodile Farm and Zulu Village” which was pretty much just a huge tourist attraction. We ate crocodile meat for lunch and returned to Pburg.
We met up with our friend, Sipho, from the dorm who invited us to his township to meet his sister. To get there we took a “Khombi” - they’re large vans that local South Africans ride, and they play VERY loud “house music” (a lot like techno). The routes aren’t planned out, so you pretty much have to jump on one and pray that the driver will be nice enough to drop you off where you want to go. After transferring through many different Khombi’s, and having no idea where I was, we finally arrived at Township 18 and walked to Siphos sister’s house. Their home was very beautifully decorated with wooden carvings of Animals, and his sister was extremely welcoming. On our way back we stopped at Township 18’s local “clubhouse” to have a braii. A lot of people were giving us weird looks, and Sipho later told us that we were the first white people in the history of Township 18 to visit, and that’s why people acted taken aback and a little weirded out that we were there. It was definitely a great cultural expierence, and also nice to get away from the city for awhile.
We met up with our friend, Sipho, from the dorm who invited us to his township to meet his sister. To get there we took a “Khombi” - they’re large vans that local South Africans ride, and they play VERY loud “house music” (a lot like techno). The routes aren’t planned out, so you pretty much have to jump on one and pray that the driver will be nice enough to drop you off where you want to go. After transferring through many different Khombi’s, and having no idea where I was, we finally arrived at Township 18 and walked to Siphos sister’s house. Their home was very beautifully decorated with wooden carvings of Animals, and his sister was extremely welcoming. On our way back we stopped at Township 18’s local “clubhouse” to have a braii. A lot of people were giving us weird looks, and Sipho later told us that we were the first white people in the history of Township 18 to visit, and that’s why people acted taken aback and a little weirded out that we were there. It was definitely a great cultural expierence, and also nice to get away from the city for awhile.
Thursday January 29th 2008
It’s only my third full day in Pietermaritzburg, but it feels like I’ve been here for weeks. I think it’s probably because we have so much jam packed into our days. This morning, Cindy picked us up for an adventure to Durban. The drive was absolutely breathtaking. Although it was rainy and hard to see out my window, I could still make out the gorgeous mountains, cliffs, and waterfalls. South Africa is a truly beautiful country and I definitely want to do some hiking in the next few weeks.
After about an hour of driving, very slippery roads, and crazy drivers, we finally arrived in Durban. One thing that made me very happy is that they don’t chop down trees where the roads are. We’ll be driving along, and there will be a random tree in the center of the road that we’ll quickly have to maneuver around. So while trying to drive up and down incredibly steep hills, we also had to swerve to avoid random trees in the road. The roots have also started growing under the pavement, which pushes the road up and makes the drive very bumpy.
Our first stop was Westville campus in Durban. The campus consists of two large hills. Atop each hill is a campus: Westville and Edgewood. During the apartheid, all the white students were housed and taught on one hill, and all the Indian students were on the other hill. (The black students were at the Pietermaritzburg campus). They were housed on different hillsides so that the races couldn’t interact with each other. However, since the apartheid ended, any student, no matter their nationality, can attend any campus. It still appears to be very segregated – but hopefully it will change with more time.
Cindy then took us to an “authentic” African market, and I bought a tapestry for my mom. I was even able to barter down the price, which I was very excited about. I was only able to talk him down R20 (which is like $2), but I still felt very accomplished.
We then visited the Indian Ocean. It wasn’t the scenery that amazed me, but rather the diversity in the people. There was an equal mix of black people, white people and Indians all together. During the apartheid, it was a “whites only” beach – but now it’s definitely very mixed, which is wonderful to see.
After playing in the water, we drove back to PMB, and our group decided to go to the club for the night. Everyone I talked to was really friendly and outgoing, minus one kinda creepy guy. He first asked me why I was at a black bar. He told me that there were certain bars for black people, and certain bars for white people. The bar we were at was black, and he said I’d be much better going to an all white bar – because I’d for sure have a better time there. I told him I was happy where I was at, and that skin color should make no difference. It’s just weird getting use to being the minority here. This guy was the only bad apple I’ve met on my whole trip here though, and hopefully it will stay that way.
After about an hour of driving, very slippery roads, and crazy drivers, we finally arrived in Durban. One thing that made me very happy is that they don’t chop down trees where the roads are. We’ll be driving along, and there will be a random tree in the center of the road that we’ll quickly have to maneuver around. So while trying to drive up and down incredibly steep hills, we also had to swerve to avoid random trees in the road. The roots have also started growing under the pavement, which pushes the road up and makes the drive very bumpy.
Our first stop was Westville campus in Durban. The campus consists of two large hills. Atop each hill is a campus: Westville and Edgewood. During the apartheid, all the white students were housed and taught on one hill, and all the Indian students were on the other hill. (The black students were at the Pietermaritzburg campus). They were housed on different hillsides so that the races couldn’t interact with each other. However, since the apartheid ended, any student, no matter their nationality, can attend any campus. It still appears to be very segregated – but hopefully it will change with more time.
Cindy then took us to an “authentic” African market, and I bought a tapestry for my mom. I was even able to barter down the price, which I was very excited about. I was only able to talk him down R20 (which is like $2), but I still felt very accomplished.
We then visited the Indian Ocean. It wasn’t the scenery that amazed me, but rather the diversity in the people. There was an equal mix of black people, white people and Indians all together. During the apartheid, it was a “whites only” beach – but now it’s definitely very mixed, which is wonderful to see.
After playing in the water, we drove back to PMB, and our group decided to go to the club for the night. Everyone I talked to was really friendly and outgoing, minus one kinda creepy guy. He first asked me why I was at a black bar. He told me that there were certain bars for black people, and certain bars for white people. The bar we were at was black, and he said I’d be much better going to an all white bar – because I’d for sure have a better time there. I told him I was happy where I was at, and that skin color should make no difference. It’s just weird getting use to being the minority here. This guy was the only bad apple I’ve met on my whole trip here though, and hopefully it will stay that way.
Tuesday January 27th 2009
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.
Monday, January 26th 2009
Day 1 in South Africa! The plane flight was pretty uneventful – over 20 hours of sitting stationary and watching movie after movie. I do not recommend “Matchstick Men” to anybody; it’s possibly the worst movie I’ve seen in my life.
We arrived in Johannesburg at 11:00pm. A shuttle took us to our hotel, which was about 15 minutes away. I must say, the drive there was not the best first impression of Africa. The air smelled like rotten eggs, we passed lots of shady looking characters, and I just felt sorta unsafe. I guess it’s all what I expected though. I’m hoping tomorrow will be better.
We arrived in Johannesburg at 11:00pm. A shuttle took us to our hotel, which was about 15 minutes away. I must say, the drive there was not the best first impression of Africa. The air smelled like rotten eggs, we passed lots of shady looking characters, and I just felt sorta unsafe. I guess it’s all what I expected though. I’m hoping tomorrow will be better.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
2 more days!
I'm leaving for South Africa in just a couple more days! I'm going to East Lansing to say goodbye to friends, and then I'm departing from Detroit on Sunday for a 27 hour plane flight to Pietermaritzburg. Packing should have been my top priority today, but I instead decided to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with my sister, and play spider solitaire. I like to procrastinate.
Here begins my first semester away from home.
Here begins my first semester away from home.
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