Hello from Africa!!

Get ready for a book!!!

I am so happy to have internet access again! I am doing really well. I am so happy with being here and so happy to have made the decision to come to South Africa. It is a beautiful country with people who are just like we are in the United States. Of course there are cultural differences, but the stereotype of savage Africans is heartbreaking to me- because these people are great. Their lifestyle is different than ours sometimes but I have been encouraged to examine why I think different things are “right” and “wrong”.

My journey started off with a goodbye at APU. It was so hard to say goodbye to Jeremy as if felt like it would be forever since we were to be together next. Not saying it will be easy, but time here already has flown by so I am encouraged as to how quickly 15 weeks can pass! The group went left at about 6pm on Wednesday the 21st to LAX on a bus and took off to JFK on a red eye. I got about 4 hours of sleep out of the 5 I was on the plane thankfully!! Some people didn’t get to sleep at all.

New York was fun… and FREEZING! Mind you, we had 80 degree weather in LA and so going to 20 degrees in my sweatshirt and pants was not a great idea!! Luckily we got to put our carry on bags in a storage place in JFK so we didn’t have to lug those around all day! And the layover was only 11 hours, so by the time we took the subway (and I was quoting about 100 Seinfeld lines in my head!) to walking around Time Square, eating breakfast, and meeting up to get back on the subway to JFK we had spent 11 hours! It was great because it didn’t make the layover seem like a layover!

The 17 hour plane ride was broken up by one stop in North Africa’s country Senegal, in the town Dakar on the west coast about 8 hours into our journey. I was surprisingly occupied during the flight and the only part that made it feel like 17 hours was how bad my back, neck and body hurt from being stiff/uncomfortable, especially during sleep. But I slept a lot to Dakar and then the last leg I slept a little but have NO idea what I did! I didn’t take out my iPod, computer, listen to much music on the TV… all I really did was read some History of South Africa and journal! So how that time passed I have no idea.. but I really never had any concept of time so I guess that helped! I was so curious how things would be after landing in Johannesburg, South Africa…

Once I landed I was really bummed to realize my phone didn’t pick up service by other cell towers. So I wasn’t able to tell Dad or Jeremy I landed- which I had previously told them I would- and I was worried they’d be stressed about me being OK. It wasn’t until later Friday the 23nd that I was able to contact them via email on Facebook. Everyone’s bodies were swollen which was really weird. Finally yesterday my feet looked normal again. We got picked up from the airport and headed over to the hotel (mind you this is 33 students and 2 leaders and all our baggage, on a bus, traveling so EVERYTHING takes a while!).

The hotel was HILARIOUS! It was basically like being on a cruise ship. Everything was so small! And it’s not like the African people are tini… they’re average! So my roommate Laura Jane and I were laughing at that! We slept about 5 hours on and off that night because of jet lag. The next day we got ready (without blowdriers or anything electronic because it would blow up our stuff without electronic converters!) and went on a tour of Johannesburg to the cities Suatu and Pretoria. We first went to an informal settlement- which is basically a group of unemployed people living in makeshift homes (which are actually not that bad!) in about a city block size. They live in community- each providing for what they can- and have one water access roughly each 100 homes. I didn’t get the since of 3rd world society since the people looked nourished and it was very clean. The informal settlements even have a police system and our guide said crime was low because of people watching out for each other. South Africa is in an economic struggle like the US and it was great to see how these people ban together during these times. Here we took some pictures that looked like typical “I’m in a third world country with black thin children on my back smiling next to barbed wire fences” but I may not post many on Facebook or here just because that seems to affirm the stereotypes that actually weren’t there.

When driving to the Hector Pieterson Museum we passed many people on their way to funerals. Saturday in Suatu is a funeral day where they bury on average 200 people each week. Each funeral has +- 500 people at it. Most people are dying from AIDS. The life expectancy is 45-60 of the people now, although since AIDS education has risen they are hoping that life expectancy increases with knowledge and prevention in addition to knowing about exercise and eating well.

We got tons of information in the museum on the apartheid… which as some of you may not know is similar to the segregation the US had from African Americans but this segregation is called apartheid because the white government not only split people up by “Blacks” “Coloreds” and “Whites” but by tribes, which there are 9 of in South Africa. The museum showed a ton of the negative effects apartheid had on the people but mostly focused on the college students.

We then went to a mall (which is the same quality as the malls in the US) for lunch. It was the first time I’ve experienced being the minority. PLUS we are foreigners so we stick out SO MUCH!! So people definitely were observing us! After lunch we went to see where Nelson Mandela used to live on a street nicknamed Beverly Hills. No one from the US would ever guess it was considered nice since it was about 10 minutes from informal settlements and in an average American poor looking neighborhood. It was great to see that Mandela lived in a community like you and I, had neighbors and streets just like us!

Then we went to Pretoria to the Voortrekker Monument which was built by the Dutch Calvanist Christians who thought they were God’s chosen people and used scripture to separate people in the Apartheid. This monument was erected to commerate the 16 of Dec when they overcame the Zulu people. As you can imagine, this monument is extremely controversial in the culture because it’s in honor of oppressing the people that live there today. At this monument I saw not ONE black, colored (which we are supposed to call them- they are PROUD colored Africans and to not call them that is disrespectful) or any other race besides white. Until then I hadn’t seen any white people. Weird!

We got back on the bus and I fell asleep on the shoulder of a new friend Micah (oops!) and didn’t even know it since I was EXHAUSTED!!! But I could’t go back to sleep because it was onl 5pm here so 10 of us girls went to the gym in a hotel down the road, did a fun circuit workout since the gym was in a hotel and very small, and ate dinner which got us back at 9pm! My roommate Laura Jane and I stayed up and talked and talked and I went to bed about 12:30.

Sadly, I woke up at 6:30am today, Sunday even with taking Tylenol PM! We ate breakfast, met, headed out for Durban to drive 40 BEAUTIFUL minutes to Pietermaritzburg to the African Enterprise (AE) campus where I am now at! This is where we will be until mid April. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! I’m seriously on the set of Jurassic Park!! It is AMAZINLY lush and green! The buildings are white so there’s a great contrast. And there is a big waterfall right next to the buildings. Can’t wait to get some great shots of it to share with you guys!! It was rainy when we got here so I didn’t get too many!

We had dinner and then set up in our rooms. My new roommate’s name is Amanada and we are gunna have a fun time ☺ We live in a chalet with 4 rooms and 6 girls. We have our own bathroom with 2 showers and 2 stalls and 3 sinks. It’s a great facility! Paper thin walls so that’s been interesting since right now everyone by my roommate Amanda and I are awake and we can hear the others breath basically! Haha.. but it’s all part of the experiences!

Tomorrow we are having breakfast at 8 am, and orientation at 8:30 and probably going to the store to stalk up on some toiletries we all need.

Ok: now to the fun part! Here’s a list of some quirks I’ve seen since living in South Africa... all 3 days!

1) Some door handles rotate left
2) They drive on the left
3) Our bodies were swollen for a few days
4) CHEEP!!! The ratio is 10 to 1 so a typical burger meal is 45 Rand, which is $4.50.
5) Gas is in Rand/Liter
6) Switches are opposite (up is off)
7) Door handles are higher than usual. About to chest height
8) We are on broadband internet. So when our chunk of internet runs out we don’t have anymore until we get our next chunk. Nothing seems unlimited here!
9) No one really cares we are Americas. Possibly because we’ve been to tourist things so far. We aren’t treated differently than other people.
10) People walk along side the highways
11) We assumed people were hitchhikers but they have different hands singns that symbolize where they want to go and if you are going that way you pick someone up. Taxis work like that.
12) Lots of advertisements like the U.S. So far I’ve seen beer, AIDS awareness, cell phones, and political messages.
13) Their elections are “sometime in April”. Not like the US with a date, time and minute!
14) The people LOVE talking race and politics. Everyone. They are not offended easily by conversations like Americans and openly talk about stereotypes, etc. That has been SUCH a breath of fresh air!!!
15) Diet Coke = Coca Cola Light
16) EVERYTHING is sweeter here (including mustard, any soda, chips, cookies, et.c etc.)
17) French Fries = Chips
18) Restroom= Toilet
19) Toilet flushes counter clockwise since we’re below the equator and there is SO MUCH WATER!!! It’s like a water ride when flushing. Definitely will get wet if still sitting. (don’t ask me how I know!)
20) Hand dryers are also POWERFUL!!

Ok, so I’m alive and doing well. Pictures are to come soon. For now I need SLEEP since it’s midnight and I’m still jetlagged. If you don’t have a Facebook you won’t see as many pictures of mine, although I will try to update ASAP. It’s just so much easier there and people “tag” me so you can see other people’s pictures of me!

With love from Africa,
Thanks for reading my book ☺
Paige