I Made It!!

But I am extremely tired. Our plane got into Port Elizabeth at 7:30 this morning but it felt like it should be late afternoon and considering I only got a few hours of sleep on the plane rides, it is safe to say I am a little out of it right now. The plane rides themselves were uneventful but they passed quickly enough thanks to a good book and movies. But I have one bad thing to say about planes, the food sucks. No matter how hard they try to make it good, it's a lost cause. I can honestly say I really don't know much about what happened in the airports except that there was a lot of waiting and the Amsterdam airport makes you feel stupid if you are late for a plane but they are nice about it, Johannasburg...not so much.

Once we got picked up from the airport we went directly to our flats and the view is better than I even anticipated (I'll try to get a picture(s) up soon once I get better internet). Even though Melissa (one of my roommates) and I are not in the flat with a direct ocean view, the balcony off of our room has a great view of the ocean (its the Indian Ocean for all of those wondering). I plan on spending as much time out there as possible. The weather is a welcome change. Port Elizabeth is a very windy city but it is still warm out. Wearing shorts outside and not freezing is a wonderful feeling that can only be fully appreciated after going through below zero temps for weeks. Anyway, I got off course, we were taken to the grocery store to get food after dumping our bags into our rooms. We had not time to prepare so you can only imagine the confusion of trying to figure out everything you need to eat in a short amount of time. We hit the town after this, which basically consited of walking up and down the walk by our flats, nothing too exciting.

Not a whole lot else going on that would be of any interest to read. I'll update again probably when orientation or school starts so don't expect anything in the next week. And I'll make sure the next post doesn't sound so scatter brained :)

Peace.

Couple more updates...

Here is the schedule of fun stuff we will be doing while in SA:

March 5-9: Excursion to Durban
March 31- April 5: Excursion to Cape Town
April 6-13: Spring Break
April 17-19: Frontier Excursion

Also, I just set up a flickr account so everyone can see my pictures not just those who have Facebook.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gearman22/

That's it for now. I will update again once I'm actually in South Africa

Peace.

Heading off to SA!

As all of you who are reading this probably know I am studying abroad in Port Elizabeth, South Africa with other CSB/SJU students this semester! I will be leaving on January 27th and return May 22. We will be studying at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and volunteering at Pendla Primary School and The House of Resurrection, an AIDS haven. Along with the studying, we will travel to Cape Town, Durban, and we will be taking a trip out to rural South Africa to spend some time with white South African farmers.

I have been asked countless times "Why South Africa?" Well, I will tell you why. I have already been to Europe, I don't speak Spanish, and Japan is too crowded for my liking. That left China and South Africa. My decision was made when I heard about the volunteering that is a huge part of the South African program. When talking to people that have gone on the South Africa trip in the past they say the volunteering was the best part. The children love you and the adults and teachers are so thankful. I couldn't say no to that.

So, next time I update this I will be in sunny, warm (sorry I had to put that there) South Africa. I will update as often as I can about my experiences and what I have been learning. If you want to contact me just leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail at mbgearman@csbsju.edu.

Peace.