Spring break (Durban, Swaziland & Soweto)

Just a warning before you start to read-you must understand I write just like I talk: random with a lack of transitions. Hehe…oh yes and if you want to get more details you must read Jen and Kelleighs blogs – they put much more time in their blogs…mine is just a rough outline. 

Our last long holiday, I guess you would call it ‘Spring break’ has just passed. As usual we went on an African adventure to see the country… We most definitely will have more adventures considering we get to stay for two more months, but probably no more long excursions.

Our first stop was East London-only three hours from PE; that way we could break up our driving and see as much of South Africa as possible. I really liked East London. It seemed crazy though. Tons of people all over and well all the people near the beach/our hostel don’t sleep. When we left at the crack of dawn people were still partying!

The next day was Kelleigh’s 21st birthday! So Aisha, Jen and I decorated the car for the 21 year old! That day we drove on the Wild Coast to Durban. By the time we got to Durban we had to quickly get into our hostel and get ready for Kelleigh’s surprise. We arranged to take Kelleigh sailing! That has been something on her SA bucket list for quite some time. Jen blind folded her to keep the surprise going until we got to the harbor. Kelleigh was soooo excited and taken back by her birthday gift from us. Jen and Aish bought drinks and snacks for us to enjoy on the ride.

Later that night we took Kelleigh out to a pretty nice club…Maybe it was a bit too nice…Durban is a very trendy city, well that is in certain areas. And with our wardrobes that have all been over worn for the last 8 months, we find it a bit challenging to blend in such environments. Nonetheless we managed to rock the dance floor as us Cali girls always manage to do. 

The next day we were off to the Victoria Street Market- a market where you can find all the local crafts and arts. It is located in a ‘Caution’ area on the map- but its ok. After a day full of busy street sellers and did I mention cheap Indian food???? We found ourselves playing in a BEAUTIFUL park!

This trip was so nice considering we had very rough plans which left much room for relaxing. One morning we found ourselves sipping tea and reading the local newspapers. And at that very moment I truly felt I was on a ‘holiday’…almost like a day chilling at Starbucks- A feeling none of us have had in quite some time! That day we found ourselves going to the warm (or so they say) beaches of Durban. Wow was it a shock to see how packed the beaches are in Durban…Quite overwhelming considering home to me are the PE beaches. There was sad art and rollerbladers, can’t say I have ever been to a beach so populated aside from Waikiki. That night we found ourselves trying our luck at a HUGE casino in the city. It was my first time gambling, and well yah I’m not a fan, but it was cool as an adventure!
The Valley of a 1,000 Hills a landmark I guess you would say just outside of Durban. So our guide, whom also works at our hostel showed us around a Zulu village in 1,000 hills. It was pretty cool to imagine he grew up there and also intends to grow old there. It was hard for me to grasp onto that with his modern Durban clothing that he now wears. My favorite part of the day was when we saw the natural healer of the village. He was only 22!!! Man that is cool! I was hoping to pick his brain, but he didn’t speak English so it was a bit tough. Very cool to be in his home and see what he does and to hear how he got to become a healer (with stories of his ancestors). One thing that was super crazy --- there was a skate park in this village! Now mind you this village has one road that leads to it, but aside from that there’s no side walks or nothing like that. Our guide told us Tony Hawk came to the park…Hard to believe? Well I never got proof, but I’m going to believe it! 

Our last day in Durban was spent seeing the museums: the Natural Sciences, art and their Apartheid museum. Would you believe this- we go to the Apartheid museum… and learn mostly about Brown vs. Board of education!!! They had more information about the US than in SA. Interesting. Pretty cool to see that they learn about our history too. I would say “unexpected” but I have learned to not be taken back by anything here anymore- because the unexpected/unusual always seems to happen. Aisha pointed out to me as all the school children came to this museum to learn about Brown vs. Board of education- all the children who came on field trips to this museum were black children who obviously attend all black schools- interesting to try to grasp onto that.

After we left the city of Durban we were off to Swaziland. Swaziland, just like Lesotho it is a country within a country. So we had to cross the border and get our passports stamped. In Swaziland we actually stayed on a game reserve. I think this part of the trip felt the most like home to me. We were basically in the middle of nowhere. You could hear the birds, smell the blossoms and had to watch out for spider webs. Impala roamed throughout the yard just like we would see deer at home, except impalas are not nearly as scared by humans as deer. Warthogs (Pumba) could be found randomly throughout the reserve. We went on a horseback safari which was REALLY cool! They actually had really nice horses that well fed and full sized unlike Lesotho! Aisha and Kelleigh had their first horseback experiences that day- and they did pretty well!  At night we were able to see local Swazi’s do their cultural dance for us.

The last part of our trip and my favorite was Soweto! Soweto is the largest township in the world! Soweto is where the children stood up for their beliefs in 1976 on June 16th. There is a lot of history which was amazing to learn about. We saw Madiba’s home where he stayed before he was put in prison. We rode bike though the township – we got exercise, learned about the history and modern times, played with children and tried local eats. The hostel we stayed at was located within the township and let me tell you I felt VERY safe there. I love Soweto!!!
And that was my holiday in a nutshell! Lots of driving! But we saw and experienced A LOT!!!! Oh yah and I traveled with Kelleigh, Jen, Aisha and Caleb – all Californians…

Holiday away from Varsity and FIFA

This is in dedication to my favorite Sweed…Boo! I am actually writing this because I told you I would, not because I like writing it…;) jk…

School starts tomorrow and I have had an amazing holiday! Honestly there have been way too many great experiences to mention them all, so if you want to know more I suggest we grab lunch when I get back to the US. There are only a few lucky loved ones who get all the juicy details regularly. Boo this means you will have to make a trip to visit all your favorite Americans!!!

The fab five, which includes Jen, Bim, Aisha, Kelleigh (K-Dowg) and myself went on an incredible adventure to Botswana and Zimbabwe. We were lucky enough to know people and know people who know other people throughout Botswana. Our first stop was in Gaborone, just past the Botswana border, where we stayed with a classmate from the varsity- Mike. He showed us his city and introduced us to his family. I tried liver for my first time, and yah…ah….I don’t think I will ever eat that again.

Our next stop was our most memorable experience - staying in Francistown with our friend KG’s family. We were greeted by his mother as she was excited to see her “children” had arrived. KG’s family became our Botswana family. We experienced more than I could have ever imagined! We lived without electricity which calls for dinner over a fire every night and bath water that needs to be heated over the fire. We were able to go to the families cattle post where I was able to help with tagging the goats (I got to use some of my cowgirl skills!), watch the men and mama brand the cattle, eat FRESH chicken (honestly we saw them get slaughtered 30 minutes before we ate them), collect herbs in the bush with mama, and learn to braai the meat with KG’s assistance using all natural utensils such as a stick instead of tongs. We were also able to go to a political rally. Let me tell you it was much different than I had pictured. I mean there were a ton of people there, but it was very relaxed and felt safe. After the rally we went with the family to a traditional wedding. Of course we stood out a lot and people starred at us when we showed up, but hey, what is new?  It was very cool to see how they celebrate a marriage!

One of our last nights with Mama was quite unforgettable! We some how started to sing and stand up and dance around the fire. It must have started with me singing the Lion King and then it turned into a dance party under the stars with Mama and her two daughters.

Two of the mornings I was able to convince KG to go jogging with me which was sooo cool! The paths the locals walk on regularly made for great jogging paths. While we were on the jog we ran into a group of fellow ‘worker-outers’ and I joined them for a stretch, because I cannot resist opportunities to work out. Not a minute after I joined the group, they made me enter the center of the circle and lead the next stretch/activity. It pretty much made my day! That is the thing about African Culture—I have come across sooo many welcoming people. People greet you with open arms here in regards to their homes, their families and even in clubs as they try to teach us how to dance.

Unfortunately we did have to leave Francistown and our new Botswana family, but just to explore more of Botswana. Our next destination was Kasane, where we went on a game drive at Chobe national park. That was my first game drive and it was soooo cool! Let me just tell you elephants and giraffes are pretty dang cool! Africa is pretty dang lucky! We actually had five giraffes walk in front of our car while we were driving on the main freeway to Kasane. After our adventures to Chobe we were ready for our adventure to Victoria Falls. We were determined to make our trek as inexpensive as possible so we decided to hire a taxi and walk across the Botswana/Zimbabwe border. To most local South Africans that was quite a crazy move on our part, but it was just fine and it added to the adventure!  Victoria Falls are breathtaking. We entered Zimbabwe by foot because we were not allowed to take our rental car into Zimbabwe…Dang Budget! It all worked out though. K-dowg arranged a taxi for us to get to the Falls at a good price. You could see the mist from the falls in the sky as we got closer. Lucky for Aisha and Bim there was a kind lady who gave the girls some ponchos, K-dowg was smart and brought her own and I had a nice waterproof jacket. Poor Jen… she got soaked without a jacket or poncho. The Falls were so huge you could never see it all from one look; you could see the falls in front of you and the rest was mist, pretty crazy! One of the seven wonders of the world- I must agree!

After we left Kasane, we happened to get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere on our way to Maun. And we changed the tire. Ha! Just Kidding, but really we could have. Aisha had experience and I had the manual with pictures. In Botswana there are random gates in the middle of nowhere, almost like a reason to give more people jobs. Jen likes to wave at these people and make friends. So anyways the flat happened just past the gate so we asked someone to help us and before we knew it, we were back on the road Maun bound.

As we rolled up to our hostel, we were stopped in their narrow driveway as they were adding dirt to it because the delta was on both sides of the driveway. A bit sketch, better known as TIA! And of course we wait ten minutes before someone tells us they will be done “now now.” Oh gosh I love the chillness of Africa!!! I am so bringing it back to the States!

Our first night in Maun K-dowg, Aisha and I all learned to basket weave! It was really cool! Very Very time consuming. We didn’t finish our baskets after two nights of working on them with the professionals, let’s just hope we finish before we return home! Now the sole purpose of going to Maun was to see the Okovango Delta. We decided to go on the day trip through the Delta on the Mokoro boats. It was really cool, but hmm….not as cool as we had imagined. I think the animals must have been hiding from us and sent the bugs and spiders to attack us. I still have bug guts on my jacket…ewww….I should wash that…lol…We met some pretty cool Canadians at our hostel. I was able to do some yoga with one of the girls. 
We decided to divide up our trip so we didn’t have to travel in the dark. After we entered SA we stayed a night in Kimberley. This town is well known for its Diamond mining once upon a time. We went to the local museum and saw the BIG HOLE! Kinda weird and random, but cool! It is the largest man made hole in the WORLD!!! Wowa-Weewa!

We got back to PE later that day and it was so nice to be back to the Bantry (the flats we stay in).

The last part of our holiday before we started back up at the Varsity was watching the Billabong surf pro in Jeffreys Bay. My friend from the Varsity showed us around and found us cheap accommodations. I really loved chillin on the beach (in the winter), hanging out with friends and watching the surfers! It was an amazing end to a wonderful and unforgettable holiday.

As my blog readers can probably tell, I leave out a lot of detail. Sorry.

We had to say goodbye to most of the other study abroad students and prepare for a new group. Quite a difficult transition, from having our boys (Boo and Henning) just a flight above us in 23. Boo was my jogging buddy and was pretty much down to explore the city anytime. And he would visit me and Kdowg all the time… and Henning was always teaching us healthy food concoctions. He would even call me out if I wasn’t eating “sport lady consciously!” My favorite food he introduced to us was banana ice cream made with 100% frozen bananas! Oh yes and Henning’s ways at the market…He’s got the best bargaining skills- it will be tough with out him!!! And then there is Bim. It sucked big time to lose part of our Cali Posse! It sucked to come home in tears after saying bye to her at the airport and see new people have arrived. Like I said…difficult transition. 

I finally accepted last semester for what it was and am ready for a whole different experience with a completely different group of internationals. Well time to study Xhosa. Hamba Kakhle (go well).

Feel it- It is here/ the simple life

It is the simple life. South Africa has really grown on me; I could even say it has come to have a part of my heart. Now that I have officially finished school for the semester and feel a great amount of accomplishment regarding the academic struggles, I have been able to live the “simple life” here in Port Elizabeth. Now that the World Cup has begun – You can truly feel it in the air! As you pass by the locals, they smile at you and say, “feel it, it is here!” It is truly an amazing feeling as they say it in a calm and inspirational kind of way.
While I am on the topic of the world cup, let me tell you- it is amazing to be here and now to experience the largest sporting event in the world. We spent the last two nights at the local cricket stadium watching Bafana Bafana vs. Mexico and last night USA vs. England. The opening South Africa game was huge! You could hear the sounds of vuvuzela’s all day long. I actually had my last exam on that morning. I was a bit worried I wouldn’t be able to catch a taxi, but ended up catching a bus which was a great way to keep the nerves at bay. The bus was packed full of mostly Xhosa women singing, stomping and dancing on the bus. Of course they were singing a song in Xhosa, but I was such a fun and exciting vibe- I could feel it!
When the entire Bantry (the international flats I live in) headed to the opening fan fest we filled an entire bus! It was so loud and crazy! The stadium was packed with all of Port Elizabeth and international travelers. The next night when USA played England the stadium was a bit less packed, but didn’t take long to fill up. Luckily Kelleigh (my roommate) and I arrived early with our group of our new CSU Fullerton friends. Before the game began we joined in the pregame dancing and festivities at the fan fest. South Africans have a very fun and welcoming way of dancing and celebrating.
The world cup has become a way of life for us living in South Africa. Even as I write this blog I am watching the Algeria and Slovenia game which just ended with Slovenia winning by one. Port Elizabeth has evolved into a different city now than it was when I arrived. This city is so alive and it even has recycling bins on the streets! Lets just say that is a huge improvement from the day I arrived in the end of January. When people look at me crazy if I ask about recycling and the beautiful beaches are empty.
I couldn’t resist sharing my world cup experiences but I must also tell you about my simple life here in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. My first official day off of school and I slept in…wow it was sooo nice! I headed to the beach for some beach yoga while listening to Jack Johnson, with the sounds of ocean waves and vuvuzelas in the background. Following my nice yoga sesh, I ran on the beach for a short jog and then over to the “Fresh Stop” where I bought a fresh pinapple simply because it sounded nice. As I walk back towards the market and where I stay, I pass by a mother and her child. The little boy was learning to ride a bicycle and smiled as he passed and smiled even bigger when he honked his little bicycle horn; warmed my heart to say the least. To explain a bit more about how friendly this city is, I talked to at least ten different people as I walked to Fresh Stop and to the market. People wave and say hello; it is like I cannot stop smiling. Then as I get to the market I run into friends who are jogging so I start to jog with them for a short chat. As I pass by the market, I say hello to my local sellers who have become friends as well. When I got home I decided I would cut up a fruit salad and share it with my friends downstairs while we watch another soccer match. Well that is a wrap! Time for me to catch a gym workout before the next game starts!!! Cheers! PS life is good in South Africa…Thanks to mom and dad for supporting me while I experience this amazing country!

First two and half months spent in South Africa

Today I read my friends blog. She is serving with the Peace Corps in Albania. Now here I am, fully inspired to write my own blog about my life in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

I live in an apartment complex full of many Americans, a few Sweeds, Irish, and Germans. The Apartment is only a block from the ocean and only a twenty minute walk from the pier and the Boardwalk. I am attending Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University commonly known as the varsity or UPE (University of Port Elizabeth). At NMMU I am studying HMS (Human Movement Science) where I am finishing up my last bit of courses so I can return home and get my BS in Kinesiology.
Life in PE is pretty simple. I mean it took a bit of adjusting, but now I feel like a local! At first we (Me, Jen, Aisha, Bim and Kelleigh) were taken back by how many people honk at us, but with time we realized that is what the taxi's do to get your attention- they just want you to jump in their taxi and pay them money. I've enjoyed meeting a variety of locals out for a jog, on my walk home from school, in the taxi's, at the gym, while traveling or at the varsity. I've been told by a variety of people that I have a familiar face. Hmm...Guess I'm naturally a local!
Aside from studying a lot, I have been able to travel a bit. When I first arrived I went to a Bush camp with all the other internationals where we ate traditional African food, went swimming in the lake, did the foofoo slide, went out in the canoe and did a variety of group activities. At one point I had to swing from a rope across a huge mud pit. My teammates greeted me on the other side with open hand so I wouldn't fall back into the muddy pit. I was able to lead my team in creating some chants and dances for the nights campfire presentations (thanks to the skills I gained from Camp. Our first road trip was to Jeffery's Bay; beaches well known by the surfers. This was our first rental car experience and lets just say when we thought we were getting a (modern) Jetta we were wrong. Imagine 4 girls pushing a broken down car in JBay. Haha. Yah that was us. It is actually quite a long story, I'll save it for home. Another weekend I was able to go camping with the NMMU mountain club with Alina. It was amazing! Two nights and a full day of hiking. I must add it wasn't a typical kind of hike by any means. We had to water proof all of our gear because we would hike then come to a natural pool, throw our bags in the water, take a deep breath and try to take in the beauty around us and swim to the end, put our bags on and hike some more. There were nine pools! Amazing does not even give the beauty justice! My next big trip was traveling to Lesotho. I got my first stamp for my passport!!! Lesotho is a country with in South Africa. Lets just say it is how I imagined Africa to be aside from the big 5. It was nothing but country. People everywhere even though the land is so spread out. The children will come greet you from their homes if you pull off the road for a kodak moment. The language (basotho) is much different than isiXhosa (the language I am learning) so we had no way to communicate with the locals, but at the stores and in the more urban areas most people spoke English. In Lesotho we saw two waterfalls, played in one waterfall, went hiking, trail running and rode besotho ponies. I will try to put some pictures on this page so you guys can so how gorgeous it was. On the weekends that I stay home I do yoga at the beach either before or after the free Roxy surf lessons. One time I did yoga on the beach I saw a pod of dolphins!!!
The food here is pretty good here to the average person I would say. I personally had some withdraws from the lack of good smoothie shops, but thanks to my parents I was supported in purchasing a blender. :) I feel Port Elizabeth is far behind the States in regards to nutritional health. Fitness does seem to be big here; there are many joggers along the beach all times of the day.
My Easter vacation starts in less than two days. I will be traveling along the garden route to Cape Town.