I know…I am the worst blogger in the world..I am sorry! Anyways…hello everyone! I’m still alive and well in south Africa. Lots has happened in the last month of me not writing. I’ve gone on trips, had interesting experiences, made friends, seen beautiful places, seen monkeys on campus!!!, I have eaten new food, I’ve had good days, I’ve had bad days, but overall I’ve been well and I am loving it here…
I guess I should start at the beginning of the month: So I went on my first trip here! I went to Jeffrey’s Bay with 4 girls I live with in the Bantry. It was really fun, a cute little town, it was pretty calm when we were there. We rented a car, we were all a little nervous considering the fact you drive on the other side of the road AND the other side of the car, but my roomie stepped up to the plate and she volunteered to drive. We left mid morning on a Saturday and our land lord drove us to the rental car place. We signed papers and of course took a few pictures and then we were on our way..I sat in the front seat and it was weird not to be driving but Aisha (my roommate) did well and we made it to J-Bay alive! The drive was only like 45-50 minutes and then we arrived! We booked a hostel at this nice place called Jeffery’s Bay Backpackers. The backpacker was really cool and we stayed in a 12 person dorm. After checking in and getting a tour of the place we went out to move our car into a different parking lot and Aisha is moving it and then all of a sudden…it just stops, the engine and the car just stop moving. So she tries again to start it, and it is making a noise that cars should not make! So a few different people try to start it and no luck..of course! Just our luck that something like this would happen! So we roll the car into a parking spot (after this weekend I have become pro at pushing cars) and we call the guy from the rental car place and he tells us to try and againg and says sometimes the cars are temperamental..but nothing is working. So he tells us to call back in a few hours and to try again then..so we let the car situation rest for a while.
Then we heaed to get something to eat, we ate in a nice cute restaurant that was also a bakery and a deli kinda. I ended up getting an enchilada! Mexican food in SA?! That is unheard of!! It was really good actually, I wouldn’t call it a enchilada more of a burrito but very tasty. After we ate we walked around the town and it was pretty dead, I guess we went when it was the down season because school had just started and what not. But we walked around and then we walked down to the factory stores, they had billabong and some other ones. They ended up closing though soon after we got there, every closed down around 2. So early! That’s one thing about Africa, most things close really early, except bars. We headed to the beach after that and laid out for awhile. It was nice and there were families around, I was so curious to see the surf, because J-Bay is one of the most well known and best surf spots in the world. But the surf wasn’t anything special, but no surprise the beach was beautiful. We got some meat after the beach to braii BBQ) that night at the backpacker. There was a bar at the hostel right outside our room, all the drinks were 10 rand! That’s like $1.40! Cheap right? SO we talked it up with people staying there and one of the workers and took advantage of our cheap drinks. There were two girls there from Denmark who had just graduated high school and were taking a year off to travel, first SA, then the Philippines, then New Zealand, then AU! Crazy right? They were sweet hearts though. There were also 3 guys from Argentina there, they travel the world to different surf spots, and just surf. They had been in J-Bay for 3 weeks already and just surfed everyday. It was nice to hear people speak Spanish! In a way it was comforting and reminded me of home since Spanish is so common in the states We decided to try and figure out our car, we tried to start it again and it didn’t work, so we called back the guy and talked for awhile and came to the conclusion that he would have to pick us up the next day..so we were bummed and baffled that this happened, but we got over it. After awhile of eating and drinking we headed out to ‘Wacky Woods’ one of the reasons we went to J-Bay in the first place. It was a huge rave in the middle of nowhere in the woods. I have never experienced anything like it, and I don’t know if I ever will again. Haha…I had a lot of fun though, regardless of lots of intoxicated people who were on drugs. Don’t worry mom I was safe! No drugs for me! : ) There were lights everywhere and smoke machines and the loudest music that was just rave music. For a lot of the time I just stood there and watched people dance, it was entertaining! After being there for a long time and being overwhelmed by the smoke machine we decided to head home and go to bed. The next day we got up and checked out and went around the town a little more. The guy got there with his wife to pick us up he had a trailer with him. He tried to start the car…and no luck he looked under the hood and saw that the belt broke, don’t ask me what belt…but a belt, we were lucky that it didn’t break while we were driving there and fortunately we made it all the way there. He was just as baffled as us and said this has never happened in all the years he has been doing this, go figures it happens to us. Our next mission is to get the car on the trailer..a little difficult for 6 girls and 1 guy. After many many many tries of us trying to roll the car up onto the trailer..we try once more and sure enough we use so much strength that we not only get it on the trailer, but we push it over the trailer. Hahaah Loretta has a video of it, and it is hands down the best thing I have ever seen. It goes from us being excited to gasping in 2 seconds. So now the wheels are over the place where they are supposed to be and it is a mess. It is hard to explain without seeing it..but now we have to try and literally pick up the car to put it back over on to the trailer. After trying this for 10 minutes some locals walk up and start helping us, next thing I know there are 10 locals surrounding the car all trying to help and get the car back on, only in Africa…so finally we pick up the car and put it back on the trailer.. hah ohhh Africa. After figuring out the car for over an hour we are finally back on our way home to PE great weekend, great first trip for being here.
So I signed up for a volunteer class, CSL 100, and I’ve been going since the beginning of the term, There were 4 different options of where we could volunteer. Cherisre Homes which is close to school and it is a place for people who are physically disabled. The age ranges from 18 to 70 and your main point of being there is to hang out with the tenants and just talk to them. There is also baby homes, where you go to a home and it has babies that are either orphans, or they got taken away from their parents, or they got abandoned. I’ve heard the kids are so cute, some of them actually have HIV and most of them have serious stories that some of us won’t experience in our life time. There is also Masifundi which is in Walmer Township. It is a program set up for kids to do after school, there you are assigned like 2 kids a day and you help them with their homework and tutor them. The last place is Sinethemba. It is quite far from school but it is amazing. It is a home for street children. After much long thought, I chose to volunteer there. Sinethemba is really hard to describe, and I am still trying to figure out exactly how it works myself. It is a home for street children, some of them have families and they chose to leave and go to sinethemba because of their horrible home life. others go just during the day as like a dare care kind of thing, most of the kids there only for day car are around 3 or 4..younger. some of the kids have been there for years nad have gone home for a bit then come back. It is quite hard to describe. But it is a really interesting experience there are around 50 kids there and it is hectic. It is a house so there is a kitchen and rooms with bunk beds and there is a a few separate some structures where the younger kids stay during the day and another one where the boys sleep. It isn’t structured and there are kids of all ages running around. Our main reason for going there is to help the high schoolers with their homework. That rarely happens tho, they usually say they don’t have homework…but I know they do! So we usually end up playing with the elementary school kids, or ill go out and play with the toddlers. They are all well behaved…this comment is open for interpretation… for their lives and their situations they are well behaved, they are only human and they are little kids. But it is different from kids at home, a lot of them don’t have parents and obviously no sources of socialization from their parents. It is so normal for them to push each other and bite each other, yes that happens at home with kids but the thing that is odd is how the kids who are being pushed or bite act back..they just think its normal, they stop doing whatever they are doing and they rarely get upset. I don’t know if im explaining this sufficient enough…but the kids are so used to these actions that it isn’t unusually for them so they act like its normal. Irregardless they are kids so it does get hectic and I usually end up being a jungle gym for them to climb on and play with. Last week I left with some pretty intense bites from one of the little boys haha. The thing with the schools here..they aren’t as advanced as America..Its difficult and frustrating because as much as we think California education is shit, here its ridiculous. The children don’t have text books and usually the whole classroom has one book it seems like when we help all the kids they really just have no idea how to do homework. They have a hard time reading English and understanding the directions. They can’t do their homework because they don’t understand the basics of English or anything. In South Africa they don’t hold students back..even if you don’t understand the class or aren’t doing well they don’t hold you back in school, they push you forward to the next grade. So there are kids in high school who have a hard time reading simple directions in English. Also when they do things like math worksheets..the teachers don’t go over the answers. They have the worksheets and then they just put the answers on the board so the students don’t know how to get the answers in between.. the kids do the best they can and we try and help them the best we can. All of the staff are volunteers and don’t get paid anything they are all dedicated, usually when we are there they don’t really interact with us and we have to say hello first. I love it though, I love being with the kids and they all fight for attention because they don’t get it else where. I try and give attention to everyone equally, but I have a favorite her name is Anthea and she is adorable, mature, and smart. She is 11 and she has so much responsibility, she takes care of a lot of the kids. I love it there and I wish I could go longer and more often the kids need us to play with so they get the attention they deserve.
K I want to tell everyone about my amazing trip up to the ‘wild coast’ I went the weekend of March 5-7 we went to Coffee Bay and Port St. John. I went with 7 girls and one boy, luck guy huh : ) kidding…we left Friday morning. And before I went on the trip I had no idea where we were going, what we were doing, where we were staying, or any details whatsoever! And it turned out to be the best trip imaginable so having no expectations pays off! The drive was SO long…we drove all day and got to coffee bay around 6 pm. The drive was nice..so pretty. Great to see a new perspective of Africa. It seemed like real Africa. People living in huts and animals everywhere..we would be driving then all of a sudden there would be a cow in the middle of the road. They would just stand there, they wouldn’t move for you, you would have to maneuver around them.
Goats, cow, pigs..we saw it all. So other than driving all day we didn’t do much during the day on fri. as we kept driving further and further the less city there was. And it was so damn hot! Probably one of the hottest days since ive been here. So after driving for awhile, almost to coffee bay we stopped at a grocery store to get something to drink and where we stopped it was like a village..there were chickens in cages to be sold haha a little extreme we were the only white ppl these ppl have seen in a while I figured for all the stares. It was hands down the most uncomfortable I have felt in south Africa since ive been here..i got over it tho and we left to finish our long drive over the potholes to coffee bay, hopefully you have all seen my video on facebook with the crazy messed up road with the potholes. when we got to coffee bay we just hung out, our hostel was very nice and there was music and local dance there. The next day we set out for this place called hole in the wall…the ppl at the desk told us we could walk and thankfully we didn’t because it took us like 30 minutes to drive there. After get lost a few times and stopping for directions we found it. it didn’t seem like anything tho because we were in local Africa, no town, ppl living in their huts, dirt roads, and us trying to find this place we heard about..we found it tho and it was absolutely beautiful we all just sat and chilled and saw the beautiful ocean with this massive land in the water with a huge hole in the middle. One of the most beautiful places I have seen. After spending a few hours here we left for port st. johh…a few hour drive later we made it to the backacker..port st john is beautiful driving into it, it reminded me of yosemite. The backpacker was so cool, we, got really lucky with backpackers this weekend they were both amazing and had entertainment, and a restaurant, and a bar. Sooo the whole reason we went on this trip was to meet some people that some of the girls I live with met a few weekends before. Soo mom this part of the story you wont be too happy about but im fine! So that’s all that matters! So we met Richard and his friend (I don’t remember his name!) there and the took us in the bed of their truck up a huge mnt to watch the sunset..haha after getting in the bed of the truck my thought went to..ahhh we don’t know these ppl and they are taking us to the middle of nowhere..is this a good idea? Only in Africa! We have to take a chance! And im so glad we did the view up the mnt was breath taking and we overlooked all of port st john. Beyond amazing. After getting home safely we watched Richard play the drums and the other two bands that were there and hung around the bar. The next day we had the bright idea to wake up at 5am to watch the sunrise and drive an hour to this waterfall. Once again Richard lead the way to this waterfall in the middle of nowhere. We had to walk over the top of the water fall across to the other side to walk through the woods to go see it. and it was amazing. Then some of the group left to head home and 5 of us girls stayed, Richard took us to this place…I have no idea what it was called but it was all local xhosa ppl. It was supposed to be like a place to take care of your self and such. There was this hole in the ground that you were supposed to breath in the gases and it is supposed to cure a headache or anything as such! It just smelt like gas to me! Then we went into this mud cave and one of the local boys painted our face with mud, which is supposed to help our skin. Then we literally mnt climbed up a mnt and went to this other water hole. Deep in the hole is water you take out to drink, it is supposed to cure you of anything, it tasted and smelt like rotten eggs! Then Richard pointed us over to a huge mud bath, and told us to get in. we walked through the forest a little to see around 20 african women naked cleaning themselves in this mud water. Us girls put our feet in and stood there. Im surprised by the reaction of some of the women, a lot of them were welcoming, some were taking pictures of us on their camera phones, others were just staring, we felt a little uncomfortable just looking at them so we took off our cloths into our costumes (swimsuits) and underwear and got into the water and did what they did. They were rubbing mud all over eachother then washing it off. We got out and said good bye to everyone around and went back to our car and tipped the little guy that painted our faces and helped us out (he carried my shoes up the mnt when I was climbing!) Im so lucky we did follow Richard he showed us the most amazing part of Africa we would have never found just as tourists. There was no signs for the waterfall, we wouldn’t have felt as welcomed at the locals mud place, and there would have been no way we would have found our self up that mnt. It is so nice to have a local show you around. Im sorry if all my explanations are brief it is just hard to describe everything the way it happened, everything was so amazing it is just hard to put in to words how great it was .
School has been good. It is a different structure here which I’m getting used to. The term is over on Friday and I start a new class next week and end two this week. Grading is different here…they go by percents and not grades..a 75 and above is an A they call is a distinction and that’s really good. I think a 50 or a 60 is a C.. I dunno I feel like everyone I ask always has a different answer. It may seem easy to get an A but its not..i feel like here they don’t believe in giving perfect grades like there is always something wrong with it even if what you did was spot on. In my sociology advance social research methods class we had a test and it was so hard, so hard! And 9 ppl out of 70 passed… we asked our professor about it and he said that’s normal! No that’s not normal what so ever! But he insisted it was…but it defiantly isn’t, they don’t usually give your tests back, so you don’t know what u got wrong or see the teachers grading or comments. They have a DP which is your mark to be able to let you take the final so in a usual class you will have an assignment and a test. And some classes have a DP of 60 or 50 meaning that your class work is the percent of your final grade. So in my research class the DP is 60 and the final is 40% of your grade..in order to take the final you have to have a DP of 40% (but this isn’t on the American 50-100% is passing scale) I don’t know why im trying to explain it, it is difficult to understand! My xhosa class is going okay, the language is pretty hard though, and sometimes I feel like I’m wasting my time because im not getting credit for it at home, but it is useful. It is nice to be able to say hello to ppl and ask their name and say goodbye. They are so surprised if you say something to them in Xhosa they are flattered you know their language. The kids at Sinethemba laugh at me all the time though because of how I attempt to speak xhosa..hah classes are fine though im excited to start my human rights class next week. But that’s all im adding so I will only have volunteer, human rights, and xhosa, class two days a week..so I will have a lot of free time. With how they do credits here, it seems like I cant take as many classes as I would at home, but because of terms it just splits up the classes so by the end of the semester I will have taken 3 soci classes two terms of xhosa and my volunteer class. Anyways enough about school..
So what have I been doing these past two months?! Going to school, and going out occasionally. I haven’t been out in awhile because Ive either been busy with school work on the weekend or I have been traveling. But new things Ive done this month…I have eaten Bunny Chow, my first Indian food, it was good, spicy. Ive seen more movies here than my whole college career..haha kidding but Ive seen Valentine’s Day and Dear John. Ive been to a Rugby game. It was fun it was at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium which id where some of the world cup games will be held. Rugby is interesting..thankfully we were sitting with a guy from Cali who plays at home so he was explaining it to us. The stadium is nice…looks new and is clean. It isn’t like American stadiums though that has ads and marketing everywhere. Like at pac bell park there is an ad on everything and everywhere, the stadium here is much more plain. From the rugby game we took plastic cups to play beer pong because they don’t sell anything like that here. Ive also been to a cricket game…we went to the finals so there were so many ppl there. I just don’t know how I feel about that game..it is kind of like baseball…but not. So funny to ask people whats going on at both rugby and cricket games..i just imagine being at a giants game and hearing the people behind me asking questions about whats going on and what is happening and thinking what the hell?! They don’t know how to play baseball? I know what your thinking Ashlynn about sports and me and asking questions…but this is different thankyouverymuch! The games were fun though and people got really into cricket, I think because it was the finals. Other than that I have been going to school, hanging out with people in my flat, volunteering and that’s about it. nice not to be SO busy all the time. At first it was really hard for me..I was going crazy because I wasn’t doing something all the time all day. Usually me being busy all the time with work, school, ADPi, spending time with friends and Luis, I rarely got a second to myself. Don’t get me wrong I love being busy and I loved my life at home, I loved that I always had something to do and I got used to the busyness and stressful life. So coming here and having nothing to do, and only have school a few days a week I kinda freaked out a bit. But over time I have gotten used to and I like having free time now. I take my time in whatever I do, and I have time to relax and stuff. I rarely have any concept of what time it is. I never look at my phone to see the time unless I have class..things are just more relaxed for me here. I could take a day and walk to the grocery store and take my time and walk home and that will take like an hour an half with the walk..things are just a lot calmer and more relaxed, obviously I don’t have as many responsibilities and I am taking advantage of it. I know when I get back home..it will take me awhile to adjust to the busy life again, but I am human so I will adapt. I am so much calmer with things, I have only had anxiety like 2 times since being here. I am more carefree and go with the flow, on all the trips ive been on I haven’t known any details about where were going or what were doing, I have just gone with the flow and it makes things so much better, if I were at home Id be stressing about figuring stuff out and more concerned, but here I care obviously but there is just a part of me that is like okay I don’t know what’s going, that’s fine ill roll with it. I feel like I enjoy things so much more here because I get a chance to recognize and enjoy things. What else….hmm since being here I have become a clean freak! Haha I know everyone who knows me well enough is saying Jen!? A clean freak…I don’t think so with that room?! Haha but seriously I clean all the time, my room is rarely ever dirty, I clean it everyday and I always clean the kitchen, I guess it is because I have the time to do it. but yes mom my room is always clean! Maybe it will carrying with me when I go back home : )
Sometimes I just think and I am so amazed that I am in Africa, it doesn’t occur to me all the time though because since ive been here for awhile I have gotten used to everything and I just consider the place I live. Its not like everyday oh my god I still cant get over the fact that im in Africa! It is more of like, yea I can see the beach from my window and the people around me are speaking Xhosa, and im in such a beautiful place. I’ve gotten used to it, so it is just normal to me. I think back to when I first got here, and when I was in the airport in Joburg and I was walking around with my jaw to the floor. I was so overwhelmed wit everything, the idea of buying your electricity at the supermarket, driving on the other side of the road, the language, and sayings here, the overwhelming ness of ppl screaming at you from cars, just everything and now all that just seems so normal. It is amazing to think of human beings how they adjust to things and things become normal with time. It amazes me how I can come here and adapt fully to being somewhere else..okay enough of my deep thought hah.
It is interesting to see the difference in cultures tho and how things that are normal for Africans are not for us and vice-versa. Especially with guys here, hmm how can I describe this..african guys are really forward compared to most guys in America. They will tell you, you looks pretty, and ask you for your phone number 2 minutes within meeting you, call you all the time, talk about being relationships with you, and how much they like you after meeting you twice…be forward when they dance with you and things like this..(don’t worry not ALL of this stuff has happened to me, but some of it) and the things about it is they don’t think it’s forward, they just think that’s how it is, simply the way they are. Normal for them..example: one morning I was on the taxi (the buses that drive along the road and take you to school for 6 rand) and I was sitting next to my roommate and a guy got on and sat behind us..no big deal, all of sudden he tapped me and gestured to his phone, it was a text and I read it. it said “My god you like beautiful today” I was so caught off guard I just looked at him and laughed and said thanks..and turned around. I really don’t think something like this would ever happen in America, if you were on a bus and someone tapped you to show you a text to give you a message… another time I was walking to the library by myself and I walked passed a guy who was walking the other way, he stopped like 10 feet from me and turned around and called out, I turned but kinda kept walking, he said hello, I said it back and he started to have a conversation with me while still standing 10 feet away, then he turned around and starting walking my direction, as I kept walking he continued to talk to me and walk me to the library, when I got there he just turned around and walked away..i don’t think if I was walking at Sonoma someone would turn around to walk me to the library. There are numerous things that I don’t need to go into detail about that have happened to my friends I live with but we all learned early to not give your phone number out. So I’m not telling these stories to boast the new attention I am receiving I am talking about this to show how important it is to be culturally relative. As much as I get uncomfortable sometimes with someone being forward to me, I need to understand this is the way their culture is, they aren’t trying to make me uncomfortable. It is important to yes stand by your own norms but try and understand the other cultures norms too. I can only imagine my mother reading this right now : ) mom don’t worry if I’m ever in a situation I am uncomfortable I always have my friends with me and I’m not too nice like you say! I am fine! All people are forward here, they say things I would never hear people say in the states. And I know that’s how they are here so there is no reason to get upset..one day I was at school and I was getting coffee, I put my water bottle down on the counter and the girl taking my order saw it and saw I had a lemon in it, without hesitation she said So your trying to lose weight huh?” hahaha I looked at her and said what? She motioned to my water bottle and said “your drinking lemon water” I said “yea, I like the way it tastes” she said “no you must be trying to lose weight by drinking that” I said don’t people drink lemon water? She said “no it tastes bad you only drink it is your trying to lose weight” hahah I was like alright whatever you say! She didn’t say any of it in a rude way at all, it was just a normal conversation and I didn’t get upset or anything I just thought it was funny. I couldn’t imagine going into Charlie Browns to get coffee though and having the barista ask me if I was trying to lose weight because I was drinking lemon water. The main idea im getting at is the importance to go with the flow and understand that we aren’t in America, we are in Africa! I really don’t like it when internationals here get upset because of things or compare Africa to home.. “this would never happen at home…” “Back home its like this…” I really dislike that, were not at home were in Africa! Be culturally relative and understand their culture! don’t get me wrong some days it is hard..manners in Africa isn’t very normal. It is rare to have people say thank you or excuse me or have people open the door for you..people push when they walk by and things like that. At first it was so hard to get used to, but I see myself now being more like them, I still use my customary manners but sometimes I’m like they aren’t going to say excuse me I’m not going to!
Want to know some fun facts about South Africa!?
It seems like everyone has pencil cases! Reminds me of you AC! Seriously I have never seen so many people with full pencil cases. They always put them on the desk next to them.
They say now-now and just now. This was seriously the hardest concept for me to understand. It means soon..but the time frame is like 5 minutes to never..so ill be talking to my SA friend and she will say “k ill be back now” and walk away, at first I was like wait what? Everyone says it and it just means soonish..kinda..
Everyone says “nice” as the adjective of choice. I will ask someone how their weekend was and they would say nice, I rarely ever hear someone said good, like it was good, I catch myself saying nice all the time too..
“how is it” is their greeting of choice, they don’t say how are you or how is it going, just how is it.
there is a difference between cabs and taxis. A cab is what we think a cab is at home you call them and they pick you up. A taxi is on the street and you catch them, it is 6 rand, they are mini buses, and they usually stuff anywhere from 14-20 ppl in them, it is kinda sketch but I think they are fine. If I talk to locals (white or coloured) and they ask me how I get to school when I tell them taxis they think I am kidding..haha they said they would never dare go on one. But they are fine! I am usually with someone I know when on it, I’ve only taken it by myself a few times.
Ive have been told numerous times that girls here don’t usually drink beer and it amazing that we drink it all the time. I asked why girls don’t and they said because its unusual and maybe the calories? Girls usually drink mixed drinks, wine coolers, or cider (most amazing thing ever, mix between apple cider, wine, and beer) I dunno, but I guess if guys see you drinking beer they either think it is unusual or really attractive for you to be drinking it..
There aren’t lions everywhere. I’ve been asked by so many locals about why I chose to come here and what I thought about SA before I came and most of them always ask did you think there were lions everywhere walking in the street!? Hah I tell them no… haha. When they find out im from cali they automatically think im a movie star or I know move stars, and I surf everyday…well looks like everyone is a little ignorant huh? South Africa is advanced, there is electricity and cars and it is a normal place, yes there are places where people live in huts and there really are animals walking around in the road.. but I dunno just a funny stereotype I am always asked.
Everyone drinks out of straws! Bottles of soda and cans of soda..i feel like im being rude if I don’t..i asked a girl in my class about it once and she was said a lot of the time girls do it to look more proper..i don’t kno if that’s true because everyone drinks out of straws.
In PE the weather changes literally every 5 mintues…in the morning it will be fuming hot then it will get windy then all of a sudden there is a thunder and lightening storm by the afternoon. It is hard to judge what to wear because you never know what the weather will be…
If you are in school, then you are in school, it is rare for people don’t go to school and work here. I told some people that I started working when I was 15 and they were baffled. It is also very common for kids to live with their parents til their late 20s. they don’t move out young. Once again when I told them I moved out when I was 17, they were astounded.
Hmmm cars here…I have never been somewhere where people drive as fast as they do here. Passing people is so common, even in residential or streets like E. Cotati. No one wears seat belts. Hah if I ever get the opportunity I take advantage of it! I miss wearing them. You even bring it up with someone from SA and they think it’s a joke, they are like….yea… not one wears them, they are annoying. You don’t pump your own gas here, the tenants at the gas station do it for you. They will also check your oil and fill your tires with air.
There is an extreme water drought. There is talk that PE is going to literally run out of water. And with the world cup coming who knows whats going to happen.
You can’t do your own laundry here. There aren’t laundry mats, you take them to the laundry places and you give them your laundry and they wash and dry and fold it for you. It cost 40 rand for a load they weight your cloths and a load is around 5kgs and yea.. weird thought of someone washing my cloths besides my mom but oh well!
They speak English here but there are so many phrases that are different. No one calls it candy, it is called sweets, the only thing with candy in the name is candy floss, which is cotton candy. They call erasers rubbers. They call the bathroom toilet…I hate that one I feel so gross saying it. they don’t say excuse me they say sorry, they look at you funny if you say excuse me.
There are no plugs in the bathroom. I guess its like unheard of to have an outlet in there..
Everyone smokes here! Its to a point where I don’t even smell it anymore. People can smoke in bars..i for sure have to wash my cloths after a night out. It is legal here to start smoking when you 16..so imagine the fact that the ‘legal’ drinkng age is 21 at home..and people start drinking in their early teens. People start smoking young here!
There are payphones everywhere! And ther are always people using them.
With a lot of things you don’t have bills..like with electricity you have ot go to the store and buy it, buy the credit and same with phone you have to buy credit, ‘airtime’ you don’t get billed for the month.
Hmmmm these are all the random SA facts I can think of at the moment! Definitely more to come.
I got World Cup tickets! Woo! The game is June 15th at the stadium in PE. Portugal vs. Ivory coast. And since I put my address and the fact that im a resident I got them for only 20 US dollars, the nose bleed section but that’s okay, its not like Ill watch the game anyways, huh Ash : ) kidding!
I just got back from Sunday’s River, I went with the Bannisters, long funny story but my grandma in utah goes to a doctor and the doctors friends are the Bannisters in PE! Small world right? So Kelleigh and I went to their river house for the weekend. It was nice to get away and relax. It was great to be around the comfort of a family, and talk to them about politics and south Africa, you know me and asking millions of questions : ) the river was great it comes off of the ocean and if you go far enough you can be out on the ocean, there are huge dunes on the river. We climbed up them and over them and up them and over them. After awhile all you see is huge massive sand hills, I felt like I was in Egypt or something. We went to Addo too which is a game park. We saw sooo many elephants, and tortoises, and kudo, and warthogs. The elephants are huge and so cute and the warthogs are strangely cute too! It was a great relaxing weekend!
Alright I think that is enough for now : ) I am still here alive and well in SA. Loving life and enjoying myself trying to take in as much as I possibly can. I miss home with all my heart and I wish I could be home but this is where Im supposed to be right now..LOVE YOU ALL! Your all in my thought.
Until next time, take care of you selves and Ill try and be a better blogger!
Loyally,
JD
