Weekend one of sight seeing!

We started our weekend with a very very early Saturday morning, waking up around 6:30am. We left the Kimberley House at 7:30 and drove to the waterfront to take a ferry to Robben Iland <-- even though I am known for my lack of spelling skills please remember english words here are sometimes different :)
Robben Iland held a maximum security prison for political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, during the Apartheid. Our tour guide was an actual ex-prisoner! We saw the cells and heard about the poor treatment and learned about how eventually prisoners were allowed to play football. Furthermore, we watched a video showing the day of their release. We also say a leper cemetery, because lepers were also exiled to Robben Iland, and we learned about endangered species, including this hideous black duck-like thing, on the Island. Afterwards, many stayed down to explore the waterfront but Corinne, Lauren, Gab, and I returned to the house to nap. The 5 of us later went to Mama Africas, recommended by Katherine Miller. We tried authentic African cuisine ranging from crocodile to the local fish, Dorado. There was also a live band! Afterwards we explored Long Street, which is Cape Town's young, hip strip of bars and clubs. We found a FABULOUS irish pub which had great people and great live music. We returned at a relatively reasonable time and then had a sleepover in Corinne and Lauren's room :)
This morning some of the group climbed Table Mountain which takes about 3hrs to go up and down- We plan on doing the evening hike this week when the sun is going down.
We slept in, made lunch (tuna on whole wheat toast,) and laid out for an hour. We also, just had a house meeting where we discussed the "family sunday dinner schedule" and tonight the boys are grilling for us.
Tonight we will bbq and then some people are attending 6pm mass, while others (including myself) will be heading to the local coffee shop to skype.
Tomorrow we start classes WHOOT. Classes meet once a week for 1hour. Tomorrow I have my Women and Gender: Gender and Development class at 2pm, but because of the amount of students I have to be driven to school at 12 and do not get picked up until 5pm. Students with classes in the morning get driven to school at 7am and picked up at 12:15pm. We've decided this is nice because we have a reason to go to the library and the gym during the day! On Wednesday I have my ethics and other women and gender studies course (however, I will be dropping one because we are supposed to take 4, but with the sign up process we all signed up for one extra as a back up, so after this week I will decided which 2 classes I like best.) Then on Fridays we all take the 2 Marquette required Philosophy and Theology classes together.
We will start service learning in 2 weeks - I loved my site and the woman in-charge is very inspiring.

That is all I have to report for now! Mom- I promise I am wearing sunscreen and not getting burnt! Dad- I am being very cautious and taking care of myself.
Miss everyone in the States!

*And I promise pictures will be posted soon! The internet connection is just horrible.

Finally here and settled!!

Its only been five days and I know I never want to leave. Seriously. Not only is the scenery to die for but the culture, for what I have experienced thus far, is fascinating (plus who would turn down 80 degrees and sunny everyday.) My trip began saturday morning at 7:30am driving from Suttons Bay, MI to the detroit airport, flew from Detroit to Amsterdam and then finally my 12 hour flight from Amsterdam to Cape Town. The trip ended at 1:30am Monday when we were finally let into the house after being locked out for over an hour. The Kimberley House is amazing, there are 6 bedrooms on each side and two cottages in the back yard. We also have an avocado tree in the yard which will be ripe next month! So far I have not had many animal experiences, except for a daily cockroach encounter in the house. I hear someone found a lizard on their chair but I was not in the house at the time! Food wise, at the store you can buy basic things but everything comes in different packages, for example pasta sauce is in a bad vs. a jar. The fruit appears super fresh and they only have coke products, pepsi is not available here (YAY.) At restaurants I have tried fish and the local beer, the fish is GREAT the beer on the other hand is just as exciting as a Miller Lite. I also tried ostrich last night at a brai (bbq) with our academic advisor and his family. 

This weeks started with a trip to the Slave Lodge and we met our drivers, academic advisor, and landlord. Then we explored Obs, the town where we live, attended a VERY LONG orientation at school, registered for classes, toured our school, learned how to say thank you in africanse, went to local shops, ate out at an Italian restaurant as a group, learned it takes a long time to get anything fixed in the house, learned the difference between laundry detergent and laundry softener, attended a bbq, heard African street music, went to Camps Bay Beach and ate on the beach, celebrated a birthday in the house, slept without air-conditioning, learned cockroaches are EVERYWHERE, learned toilets flush straight down, learned they use military time here and think you're weird when using am/pm, waiters are called waitrons, avocados are avos, and lettuce is called rocket. Furthermore, grocery bags cost money, so bring your own, sharing a kitchen with 20 other people is insanely difficult, and we found the best little cafe for coffee and lunch. Also 8 rand= 1 dollar and everything is half the price here than the US. 

Tomorrow we are off to Robin Island and get to explore the waterfront, which is similar to fisherman's wharf in San Fran. We are also going to Mamma Africas for dinner, which was recommended by Katherine Miller and a random dutch man on the airplane. 

Its 10:38pm here and we are getting up at 6:30 so I'm off to bed!

More to come :) 

Less than 12 hours!!!

I cannot believe it! In less than 12 hours I will start my journey to South Africa. My trip begins with a 4.5 hour drive from Suttons Bay to Detroit, I will then fly from Detroit to Amsterdam, and then take a final flight from Amsterdam to Cape Town, arriving in Cape Town around 10:30pm Sunday!
I am beyond excited and overwhelmed with anxiousness! Today we realized I will need to go through customs twice, which is just a hassle. I honestly just want to be there and be settled.
I did receive my service site, I will be working at Cape Town's House of Hope, which is a domestic violence shelter, twice a week throughout the semester.

Books have been purchased. Movies for the plane have been rented. And all my bags are packed! Let the trip of a lifetime begin :)