Address!!

I found out my address and the postal service is apparently working, but it is slow due to the strike.

my address is 18 Alton Rd, Glenmore, Durban, 4001 South Africa.

Sala Kashe!

Durban!

The last couple of days have been quite exciting. Since My arrival in Durban things have been pretty jam packed. We go into our hostel on monday, the happy hippo, and went exploring (not very far tho, it was dark). Myself and a couple of others ended up at a chinese restaurant in a touristy mall by the waterfront. There was a sign for 50% off sushi, and who can pass that up? We ended up getting a 40 piece platter, which was loaded with none to fresh sushi, coated in wasabi. Afterwards we all felt pretty sick, and headed back to the hostel.

Yesterday we had our first day of “school” we had a two hour zulu lesson from 8-10, then a class about study methods. After that we were sent on missions around Durban, we were dropped off in various places and told to find our way to the destination by asking south Africans and practicing our Zulu. I was paired up with anne marie, and we were sent to find a mall. It was pretty easy, we were in the same neighborhood that the SIT house is in, and only had to ask for directions a couple of times. The mall was open air, and we had lunch at a place called comics run by an old dutch couple. I asked and the old man recommended the “bunny chow”. I thought that there might be rabbit involved, but it was a half loaf of white bread with the center cut out and filled instead with curry. It was delicious, and is called bunny chow because to eat it, you have to hold it in both hands and nibble around the edges like a bunny =).

We got back to the house and debriefed, and then headed to the hostel for the night.

Today we had a zulu lesson and our other class, and were supposed to have a doctor come and talk to us, but there has been a flu outbreak, so we went to the mall. I got some flops and some school supplies, and ended up getting left behind with my friend Ujin. We are now back at the SIT House, and about to head to our homestays!!!!

South Africa arrival

I am finally in SA!!! After a 15 hour plane ride, started off with a 2 hour delay because of mechanical troubles, Katie and I exited into Johannesburg (or Joburg as the locals say) airport. We were greeted at the gate by one of the program assistants, Sdu, who took us to a hostel close to the airport, the shoestring youth hostel. The first thing that I noticed about south Africa was the fences. They are around every house, stone with razor or electric wire around the top. Even when we went to Soweto it was the same, or worse. Everything is fenced and gated in Joburg. It gave a feeling of violence, although the hostel we are in is in a fairly safe neighborhood. We got in at about 11 local time, and just kind of hung around the hostel with about 5 other girls who had come in on our flight. Katie and I tossed a ball around and played soccer with the hostel manager’s kid. We met with our program manager, Zed, who is very south African. His speech patterns are hilarious, and the accent is out of control. At about 6 the rest of the students came in. We had a “bit of a bar-b-q” including some local sausage, which was delicious. There are 27 girls, me and two other guys. At this point it is just me and Billy representing the male sex. I miss my boys, there is so much estrogen around here. We also got our homestay assignments, I am with a mother and her two sons, Brian and Carl (I know, how weird is that). They are 20 and 22, so hopefully there will be a little bit more man time shortly. Today we got up and had breakfast, then had a talk about safety, and then we went to Soweto, which used to be an appartide black community of about 1 million people and is still predominantly African. We visited nelson mandela’s house that he had lived in with Winnie before he was arrested, and also a museum/ memorial of a riot in 1976 which sparked worldwide controversy about appartide. We had lunch at a local restaurant, which was very good, lamb, chicken, beef, tripe (not too bad), and lots of starches. Then we went to a shopping centre to buy things we had forgotten at home. Back for dinner and some wine, which was quality but super cheap at the grocery store. Still cant stand the taste.

Boston and beyond

Well, A lot has happened since my last post. Goodbyes were said all around, and Katie and I boarded an overnight flight to Boston and were off on the first leg of our trip. We were worried because we didn't know what we were going to do with our luggage while we explored the city. We got into Logan international at 5AM local time, and ended up hanging out in the airport until about 8, when someone finally came to the info desk. They told us about a place a short bus ride away where we could stash our luggage for the day. We hauled our luggage up to the fifth floor of the amtrack station, then we were free to explore! We went first to chinatown, where there was a street festival happening, and walked around. We were trying to find the North side for some fresh cream filled cannoles, and ended up in southside. We wandered through the Boston Commons, and saw people on the pond being petaled around on little boats. The park went to the top of Beacon Hill, where we saw John Hancock's house! We then went further north and saw Paul Revere's house, which was not as impressive. We then made our way to little italy, which was also having a street festival! We got cannoles at a little place called maria's bakery, which was like something from a movie. Maria and an italian father and son were loudly conversing in heavy italian accents, and eating their italian pastries with lots of gesturing and discussion. It was insanely hot out, and the humidity was intense, so we stayed in the shop for a while, listening and eating. We left little italy and went towards the water. It was sunday afternoon, so there were lots of people sailing in the bay, and we sat and watched the boats for a while. We wondered down, following the water, and found a park where children were running through fountains. We ran through to cool off, then went to find some new england clam chowdah. We ended up at legal seafood, the place that has served clam chowder at the inauguration since the 1980's. It was very tasty. at this point it was almost 4, so we picked, got our bags and went through a series of trains to our bus pickup point. At the meeting point we met two journalism professors, one of whom was thinking about a position at the UO. They were very interesting and told us about the history of the meeting point, the Church of Christian Science headquarters. The bus finally came, and we headed to Hartford CT. We got in and were picked up by our friend Ana, who took us to her house. We had dinner with her family, and headed to bed. Today I went with Ana and Katie on a tour of her school, and then went with her family to a swimming hole. We went to a Hoagie place for lunch (they call them 'grinders' here). and now here I am. Still have yet to do my pre-trip reading, and my required essay is yet undone. Katie, Ana and I are headed to NYC tomorrow morning, and then to SA on Thursday.

Waiting

With my departure date a week away, I have begun packing, and thinking about how soon I will be away from everyone that I know. It is both thrilling and intimidating. The former because I feel on the cusp of adventure on another continent. The latter because I so far do not feel very well taken care of by my program, and still do not really feel like I have been prepared for what I am getting into. I do not know where I will be living or who I will be living with. Nor do I have any of the syllabi for the courses I will be taking.

I am writing this blog both to let people know about my experiences with this program and section of the world, and because it is part of the service project that I am fulfilling for the Benjamin Gilman Memorial Scholarship, which I have received and am now and ambassador for.