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Monday, January 31, 2011

Table Mountain!!!






1/29/11 4:22 PM
            I CLIMBED TABLE MOUNTAIN THIS MORNING. For all you who received my support letter before I left, you know that I was excited. It’s a beautiful mountain, and draws a lot of tourists to Cape Town. It was so surreal to actually be climbing it. It was one of the many excursions that had just been talk for so long, but had become reality. It still hits me at random times that I’m in South Africa. I guess I just forget sometimes (I know, it’s silly), so outings like this one reminds me of where I am and how blessed I am to have this opportunity.  But anyways, it was awesome. It took a little over 4 hours, with lots of breaks. It was basically all rocks, kinda like walking up rock stairs for 4 hours. There wasn’t much downhill, either. There were several times where I thought “I will NEVER do this again.” And in all honesty, I probably won’t. It’s something that I am proud of myself for doing, and to be able to say that I climbed Table Mountain is pretty sweet, but I don’t want to do it again. It was HARD. And now I’m TIRED. I enjoy hiking, but 4 hours nearly all uphill was a bit much… but I’ve climbed it!!!!
            To back up and fill you all in on the week’s happenings, I’ll begin with last weekend. Krystle (my roommate) and I had our first outing without a South African. This may sound funny, but it was very exciting. One of the hardest things we’ve faced since being here is a loss of independence. No longer can we just get in the car and drive where we want, when we want. And even if we could do that, we don’t know the area well enough to get many places. But one place we have discovered is a mall right near our school. So Saturday we spent the afternoon going into nearly every store in the mall. It was awesome. Then we got some dinner and joined up with our host mom and brother Josh to go to a Moi Thai (spelling?) promotional even thing. Lavona (host mom) knew the guy that owned the gym and so we went to support him. But she had gotten a little confused on the logistics of the event, so we ended up leaving early. But then Krystle and I joined up with a host sister of a couple of the other American girls and went to birthday party for one of her church friends. We met some pretty cool people, and we’re planning on trying out their church soon. Sunday we went to church with our host family. We’re a little unsure if we like the church much, so we’re going to do some exploring of other churches in the coming weeks.
            Monday through Wednesday we were at orientation camp with the new students at Cornerstone. It was at a campsite called Rocklands, and it was pretty awesome. To be honest, both Krystle and I were pretty unexcited about the camp, because neither of us have ever been big camp fans. But because it ended up not being packed full of get-to-know-you-games and forced introductions, it was pretty good. We met some cool future classmates and had some pretty insightful info sessions. My favorite was with a guest speaker who wrote the book Unlearning. His name was Sean…Tucker I think. I’m excited to get a hold of his book. He really spoke to my heart and helped me realize how much I need to take time to think, or ruminate, on experiences in life. So often I just go through the motions (even since being here) and not really allowing myself to fully engage and think about what I’ve seen and heard. He used the analogy of a goat. A goat takes a bite of grass, chews on it for a very long, swallows it, and then throws it up later to chew on it more. I know, this is gross. But if you think about it, it’s a really good analogy. So I walked out with a new insight that I think will really help me grow. Wednesday was Lelia, one of “us”, birthday, so we had a surprise bday party for her at her house.
            Thursday and Friday were just spent doing some more orientation stuff and working on a research paper. Friday night Krystle and I got dressed up just for kicks and giggles and went to this cool restaurant called Primi Piati (do we have these in the states?). We had a delicious pizza and good conversation.
            Tonight we have another braai…we have so many of these things. They’re fun though, and tonight’s is with fellow Cornerstone students, so it should be fun.
            We’ve tried several times to get to a beach; locals can’t believe we haven’t made it there yet. It’s just that the times that we actually have time to relax, we want to do nothing. If you haven’t noticed, our schedule has been pretty jam packed. Breaks are good. We might make it out tomorrow though (if we get our papers done). It’s been super perfect beach weather the last couple days.
            Classes start Monday. I’m excited to start to have a routine and maybe some time to breathe. We’ll be done by 12:30 most days, so then we can choose what we want to do with the rest of our day. I can’t believe we’ve already been here for nearly a month. Time flies by so fast!
            I so appreciate ya’lls support. This last week I was able to e-mail some family and friends, and I really realized how much love and support I have from you all. Thank you!!!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Friday, January 21, 2011

1/19/11



1/19/11 8:50 PM
            I have so much to say, I don’t know what to include before I bore you all! So bear with me, this may get a little tedious.
            Last Friday was a crazy busy day. It started with a morning in Ratunga Junction..THE WILDEST PLACE IN AFRICA…or the theme park down the street. But it claims it’s the wildest place in Africa. I will say it was more impressive than Silverwood, but still nothing too special. Amusement parks are difficult to get the full experience at when you don’t enjoy roller coasters. I did go on the “junior” roller coaster... but I would hardly call it a roller coaster. But I guess that’s why I liked it. After we rode all the rides, we went across the street to this HUGE mall. My friend Amy and I had enough time to go into about 4 stores, none of which gave me much luck. But I learned that these people here take their malls very seriously. The stores are much smaller, but there are SO many of them. It’s more like a bunch of boutiques, with a few department stores. Hard to explain, I guess. After shopping we headed to the Cape Town Stadium (where some of the World Cup games were held) for a double header soccer game. Upon going through security, we had a little dilemma with our water bottles. In the case of a riot in the stadium, people may hit each other with water bottles. So we weren’t allowed to bring ours in. Amy’s water bottle was worth like 60 dollars, and the game was worth 5. She wasn’t going to give up her water bottle. After a good 30 minute hassle, we ended up paying a lady at McDonalds to store them in her locker so that we could go into the game. It was crazy. The games were fun…I’ve never experienced such a big enthusiasm for a sport like there was there. The stadium was packed. This made traffic afterwards INSANE. We waited for our pre-arranged taxi for 2 hours (bringing us to 1 AM). Then we spent another hour and half on the taxi before arriving at home. It was a looooong day, but still fun.
            The weekend was spent writing papers and celebrating Amy’s 22nd birthday.
            This week has been filled with all kinds of excursions. Monday we went to the District 6 museum and St. George’s Cathedral. That night was our host dad’s birthday, so we went out and watched the sunset from a high point above a beach and then went out to dinner. Another long, but fun, day. Tuesday we went to Langa, the oldest township in South Africa. This was my favorite excursion so far. It was so incredibly eye-opening. People there are so welcoming towards each other. We were even welcomed off the bus by a group of little boys who ended up following us around for the rest of the time. I have some great pictures of them holding our hands and giving them piggy-back rides. Pretty cute! And Tuesday was Craig’s birthday! Happy Birthday, big brother!
            Today we went to Robben Island. If you’ve never heard anything about this place, and especially Nelson Mandela, you should definitely do some research. It has some pretty incredible history, and our guide was even an ex-prisoner who spent 16 years behind bars there. Then we did a little shopping, and now I’ve been reading for homework, writing to you all, and I even just got to talk to my mom on the phone! Yay!
            I think I’m completely adjusted now. I still have my little moments that I wish I were home, but I don’t think those are going to go away. It’s good to feel comfortable and be more familiar with the area. It will probably be a while before another update, I won’t have internet for the next week or so. Much love.

Monday, January 17, 2011

I hope you all can tolerate these long posts...


1/13/11 9:10 PM
            It’s after 9, and I still have energy! I sound like such an old fart. I got a good 10 hours of sleep last night, and I think that helped a lot. Yahoo!
            Yesterday was a history-filled day. We had our daily History of South Africa lecture in the morning. These lectures have actually been pretty interesting. I’m not a huge history buff, but one of the main reasons I wanted to come here was to gain a knowledge of their rich history. The lectures are a bit long, 3 hours every morning, but very useful. Or professor (or lecturer, as they call them here) makes it way more interesting because he has put a lot of time into his powerpoints. Instead of just words on a screen, he incorporates pictures, songs, quotes, and history facts all in one lecture. After our lecture, we had a break for lunch and then got on a bus to head off on our afternoon excursion. We went into downtown Cape Town (with an awesome view of Table Mountain) to visit the Slave Lodge. It was a little eerie, knowing that it was the exact place where so many slaves were held in such miserable circumstances. It’s one of those moments when you wonder, “how could a human being think that it’s ok, in any circumstance, to treat a fellow human being in such horrible ways?” It’s been on my mind all day today as well. There was so much information, and we were there for such a short time that it’s hard to not think about it more. After the slave lodge, we went to Bo-Kaap, a primarily Muslim community in downtown Cape Town. If you’ve ever Googled pictures of Cape Town, you most likely will have seen images of brightly colored homes. This is where we were. It was crazy hot, and I almost passed out in the oldest mosque in the southern hemisphere, but I still enjoyed it as much as I could…considering the circumstances. I learned a lot about the religion, which was cool cause I really knew nothing beforehand. At the end of the day, I was exhausted and not feeling so good. I was ready to be home and rest my brain after a day full of history.
            Today I got to Skype with my parents for a short while before class. Unfortunately, I got there late and we had a little misfortune on getting the sound to work. But once it was up and running, we got to talk for a few minutes. I’ll be honest, I started crying the moment we started talking. It was a weird feeling. It’s like… you don’t realize how much you miss someone until you see them or hear their voices. I was on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for the rest of the day, but I am still grateful to have the opportunity to talk to them. I’ve also gotten to Skype with Taran a couple times, which has been great, of course! J After class, we had group reflection time. We’re going to have these every once in a while with the study abroad group to be there for one another and reflect on the experiences we’ve been having. Afterwards, we came home and headed to a field down the street to play soccer with our host brothers. It was really fun, and I think it allowed us to break the ice with them. We were joined by a random neighbor kid for the game, who managed to ask me on a date and tell me I was beautiful. He’s 12, don’t worry Taran. ;) We came back and made a batch of sugar cookies, but managed to smoke out the kitchen when trying to preheat the oven. OOPS! We waited for Lavona to get home to put them in the oven, and now we have a delicious batch of cookies to enjoy. I did a little homework (I have 5 papers to write in the next 2 weeks, and that’s just for one class), and now I’m writing to you all!
            Each day gets a little easier and flies by a little faster. Hallelujah!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

1/11/11


1/11/11 9:10 PM
Adjustments are still being made. I still haven’t managed to get through a night without waking up, but hopefully tonight will be different. We haven’t quite figured out the bus system, today we waited for the bus for 2 hours before just having our host dad come pick us up. Luckily, we have connections and will be getting a ride to and from school most days. When I found this out, I was relieved more than you can imagine. Cape Town is a bit rough, to be honest, and if something were to happen… I think it would most likely happen on the public transportation system. So, it’s a good thing we won’t be using it as much!
I’m tired, but not homesick. I got to skype with Taran this morning J so that was great. It was a bit difficult focusing in class at first afterwards, haha. I was frazzled and excited. But don’t worry, Mom, I focused for most of it!
I talked to the registrar today about figuring out my classes. I have to now e-mail the people at Fox to find out what exactly I can and can’t do, but it’s nice to have the ball rolling with that. It has been made clear that Cornerstone’s work load is crazy busy, so I’m hoping to only have to take 3 classes and then my classroom observation time. Time will tell, I guess.
My eyes are getting heavier by the second, so I’m going to call it a night. Much love to all.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Greetings from South Africa





1/9/11 9:30 PM
Greetings from Cape Town! Currently, I am sitting in my bed (yes, this will be a common thing) at my host family’s home.  It is so good to finally be settled in to the place where I will be for the next couple months. The family is so sweet, and I really feel that it will be a great place to live. They have 3 boys: Josh (16), Aaron (12), and Jason (10). The mother’s name is Lavona and the father Pete. Their grandma also lives with them, but she has her own little place in the back, so we haven’t seen her yet. Krystle Halvorsen is my roommate, and I think we are going to get along really well! She is very outgoing and personable, so I think it will be fun to be around her as much as I will be.
When I arrived Thursday night, Wayne (the dean of the school) picked me up from the airport and took me to the Bible Institute of South Africa. This place was beautiful, and had a great view overlooking the ocean. I will post pictures! By the time I got there, everyone else was asleep except for Tammy, the study abroad coordinator. She let me use her phone to call my parents and let them know I had arrived safely.
The next day, Friday, everyone else arrived. There are 9 of us total from the states that are here on this journey together. There are 3 of us from George Fox, 5 from Bethel University, and 1 from Wheaton. We are quite a diverse group, but our backgrounds make for a lot of beauty and intrigue within us. I can’t wait to get to know all of them more. So Friday was spent getting to know each other at the institute, and we took a walk down to a town nearby called Fish Hoek. There were a few shops there and a beach that we walked around for a bit at. That night we had a “briee” which is basically the South African version of a barbeque. I have quickly learned that South Africa is very fond of their meat, and this was an occasion that this was very apparent. There was lamb, chicken, and sausage. We met some of the Cornerstone faculty and some of the other students.
Saturday we set out for a day excursion around the area. We stopped at Boulders to see the penguins. I know…who woulda thunk that there would be penguins in South Africa? But there were lots! And yes, I have pictures of them as well. From there, we went to Cape Point, which was unfortunately very foggy so we didn’t have quite the view we would’ve hoped for. So I don’t really have pictures, but it’s normally a beautiful place, so you should look it up. J Then we went to a place nearby to eat our lunch near a beach. One interesting thing about there area is that there are a lot of baboons. These baboons are quite intriguing creatures. They have become so adapted to human civilization that they have learned to open car doors, screen doors, and take your food at parks. Some people’s job is actually to follow the baboons and make sure they don’t get into trouble. So, sitting at the park eating lunch, we had to keep our eye open for baboons to make sure they didn’t take our food, and the monitors kept watch as well. We made a couple other stops at some viewpoints after lunch, and then headed back to the institute for the night.
This morning, we packed up our stuff and headed to church. This church was unique because it was racially integrated. Most churches around here are still separated black and white. So, this church was a bit confusing because as the pastor was speaking in English, there would be a translator speaking at the same time in Xhosa (a local language). It was confusing. And I hadn’t been feeling good already, so I can’t say I fully enjoyed it. But it made for a new experience. After church, we went to Cornerstone (the school I will be attending) for lunch and to meet our host families.
And now we are “home” and getting ready for bed. It’s only 9:30, but we are really exhausted. Jet lag is a weird thing, and I really am not fond of it. Hopefully we will find our energy soon enough. Tomorrow morning we get up for our first “History of South Africa” lecture.

So I would like to explain something. I do not have internet at my host family’s home. Internet down here is very expensive so even when host families do have it, it is advised to not use it much. Therefore, the time that I write my blog posts will, for the most part, not be at the same time they are posted online since I will have to wait until I am on campus. I will write the date at the beginning of each post of when they are actually written, so don’t be confused!

I am so blessed for this opportunity. I will admit homesickness has already hit me harder than I expected. But being able to unpack my stuff and a have place to call home has already made me feel better. Thank you all so much for your interest in keeping up with my adventure. I love you and miss you all!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

And the journey begins!

Hello all! Right now, I am sitting in Tjitske's bed about to call it a night. But first... I thought I'd fill you all in on my adventures thus far! I left Spokane yesterday (Tuesday) at 1:25 and arrived in Minneapolis a few hours later. Upon arrival, I realized that my next flight (to Amsterdam) was to board 5 minutes later. And it was on the other side of the airport. Minneapolis airport is a tad bit larger than the Spokane port. So, I got there just in time to hear them say "now boarding all rows all zones." BUT there was a very long line still, so I hustled over to get a little bite to eat. When I got back...the line was gone and I heard "last call for flight to Amsterdam." I was like... the last one on. But I made it! So that's all that matters. After flying all night, I got here at 11 this morning. Tjitske (the exchange student we hosted my junior year of high school) was to meet me at the airport. We had discussed that if we couldn't find each other at the arrivals area, we would meet at the Schipol plaza. I spent over an hour going back and forth between these two destinations, with no Tjitske. As I began to enter panic/on the verge of crying mode, I went to the Information desk to ask them to page her. To my surprise, she came up behind me at the desk...no page needed! Turns out...there's 4 arrival areas and I had taken a long journey through the airport (because I had no idea where I was going) and ended up at the wrong one. OOPS! From there, we spent a few hours being tourists around Amsterdam. She treated me to a Cappuccino and a canal boat tour. We went to this awesome cafe to get a sandwich, and she told me I got the most Dutch sandwich and I didn't even mean to! And it was delicious. So that's a plus. From there, we ventured back through the very cold, brisk air to the train back to her house. Relaxed for a bit, and went to this awesome pasta venue near her house. Came back, showered, and am now in bed. I'd say it's starting off well! I'm a little nervous about getting back to the airport in the morning...but it should be alright. Thank you all for your interest and support for my trip. I hope to keep you updated regularly!

Monday, January 3, 2011

OH MY GOSH!

36 hours from now... I will be about to board the first plane of my adventure. Can you believe it!?