WE ARE HERE!!!

After traveling for over 30 hours across the Atlantic and to the very tip of the African continent, 5 meals, 3 security lines, and 1 celebrity later, we are here! The journey here was not without its excitement. We started the day at 5am to encounter our first celebrity sighting of the trip...we saw Rev Run! After that we boarded our plane to begin our flight. For the most part, everyone was so excited for our trip that we didn't sleep very much the night before. Needless to say, we all slept A LOT on the airplane. Laurie, TJ, Erin, and Maryam slept for like 18 hours only waking up for meals and bathroom breaks.

We were greeted by Aaron (our instructor) and Kate (who came from Kenya), and our first lucky break...all of our baggage was there with us!! At this point it was around 9:30pm so we drove back to our houses. We have 10 people in my house and 7 people in the house across the street. We were greeted by the second lucky break of the day...showers!!! Everyone took turns in the showers, and we all felt fresh and re-energized. After unpacking, talking, and playing a couple of games of Phase 10, we headed to bed for the night.

Katie is my roomie on the trip. I am so thankful for her. I love her curious nature, and how she is never afraid to ask questions. This morning we woke up to Maryam and Erin (two of my other travel buddies) snuggling up in our beds with us. We heard Katie's alarm, jumped out of bed, and went outside to take in our surroundings in the daylight. We ran into the street, looked to our right, and were taken aback by our front row seats to one of my most beautiful sights that I have ever seen. Table Mountain is practically in our backyard. It was AMAZING!!! Of course, us being girls, we immediately started screaming and dancing around in the street. Shortly after, the rest of our group mates came out into the street and numerous pictures were taken!

Today was a pretty tame day which I am so thankful for. The idea is that we get last night and today to get acclimated to the time change and the culture shock of it all. I'm really really thankful for that...thanks Aaron!

We spent the morning touring campus. I thought that I loved the U of M campus for all of its beauty, but it is nothing compared to the scenery at the UCT (University of Cape Town) campus. Their campus is sandwiched between Table Mountain on one side and the rest of the city on the other side. UCT campus is divided into three parts much like the U of M's campus. Here they have Lower, Middle, and Upper campus. Our housing in located on Lower campus. Our class room is on Upper campus. As you walk up the hills (there was quite the incline to get to Upper Campus), you get closer and closer to Table Mountain and the view of the city becomes more spectacular. I will post pictures later!

The afternoon was spent at the waterfront. This is one of the more touristy areas of Cape Town. We stopped at a mall and did a little window shopping after we ate lunch. There were more beautiful views of the mountains, hills, and ocean. The pictures that we took won't even do it justice. We also got to see the site for the 2010 World Cup game which the entire city seems really excited for! There might be another trip in my future :)

It was interesting to start our learning abroad trip out at the V&A waterfront. It was definitely the area where the people with money go. It was high-class traveling. I think that it was important for us all to see that so we can begin to understand the differences between different cultures in South Africa. Sometimes, people are all too quick to dismiss the rich and deny them their affect on molding the culture around them.

Today some of the students and Aaron were sitting together talking about the purpose and goal of our trip. Aaron brought up a point about how there are 3 different types of trips to take. They can be trips aimed at fixing, helping, or serving. Aaron pointed out that we are not here to fix or really even help. We are here to serve. We are here to observe and be a part of the culture and to serve them and learn from them. That really got me thinking. I know that we are here to observe and serve, but I think that actually doing that will really challenge me. Kate was sharing a story from her time in Kenya. She said that she was volunteering in a clinic and there was such a stigma associated with HIV/AIDS that a 9 year-old boy wouldn't get tested even though it was free. She talked about how frustrating that was because she just wanted that little boy to get the help he needed. The doctors were almost positive that he has HIV/AIDS because he exhibits a lot of the symptoms, but the doctors and his dad won't do anything about it. She felt powerless, but she wasn't there to fix the problem. It isn't her problem to fix.

So I'm thinking about all of this and starting to wonder. How do I balance making a difference in the world and when it is my place to make a difference and when it is not? Where do I fit in all of this? When does it become my responsibility to help and when am I just here as an "other" to observe? Hopefully, those questions will get answered for me...at least a little bit.

I'm sorry that this entry seems a little scattered. Welcome to the inner workings of my brain. There is SOOOO much going on in my head right now. We have already seen and done so much. It seems like the Minneapolis Airport boarding the plane was a million years ago. Yet, I'm sitting here and it happened just a few short days ago. Just bear with me. I will be blogging a lot just because it helps me process the day. If anyone has any questions or wants to know more about something, please ask! I would love to answer any questions that you have to the best of my ability. While this blog is mine and does serve as a good way for me to process my time here, it is also a window into South Africa for all of you. Keep in mind that it is a biased window because it is my perspective only, but all the same...it is here to help you all learn as well. Hopefully it will empower all of you to follow your curiosities where ever that may take you.

I have decided to end my blogging entries with shout-outs. These will give you a little glimpse into the funny stories that have happened on our trip. Sorry if you don't get all of the inside jokes! So...for today's shout-outs:

• Laurie, Aaron, Kate, Elisa, and I for our 2nd and 3rd celebrity sightings of the trip. Today we saw America's Next Top Model contestants Lisa and Bianca.
• Nate and Cole for talking to Lisa and Bianca and getting their numbers!!
• Elise who wrote on my blog wall so I know that my dad isn't the only one reading my entries. (I still love you dad, and I appreciate you reading :D)
• Thank you to everyone who did everything to help me get to this point especially my ma and pa! Thanks all...I love you and miss you <3
• We coordinated our studying abroad with interstudy and they are absolutely amazing! Diane, Sephimo, Ajith, and Ouma have been so kind to us and taken such good care of us all.
  

PS...You should all see our quote book. That's HILARIOUS!!!
PPS...I can't promise that my writing in the future will be any less of a word-vomit. We all have a lot going on right now and its hard to put it all into a format that conveys what I want to say but still makes sense to everyone back home. For now, as the South African's say...ciao!