Drew: With two weeks away, here are my thoughts!

As most of you know, I will be spending almost six months in Stellenbosch, South Africa, studying at a university there. While my major is Cell and Molecular Biology, my plans are to take a semester-long break from the natural sciences, instead focusing on a realm of social science that has long fascinated me: Political Science! And where better to do it than the politically charged arena of post-apartheid South Africa! Depending upon an essay that I write upon my arrival, I might also get the chance to enter a program that will allow me to work in an HIV/AIDS treatment and preventative education clinic, which would be awesome!

Don't worry, I'm not going alone! Lucky for me, I get to travel with my best friend, Joshua Snowden, and one of my other closest friends, Melissa Fagan. Together, we've spent hours upon hours making lists, impressing the right people, securing scholarships from Missouri State, making more lists, filling out forms, applying for visas and health insurance and housing and university-related documents, planning excursions, making even more lists, gathering giveaway items for our soon-to-be new friends, and deciding what we take with us vs. what we will have to buy over there. And did I mention making lists (because I don't think I've seen Melissa without one for quite some time!)? Believe me, I couldn't have done it without them!

Some of you might be thinking, "Africa! Lions and grass huts and AIDS, Oh my!" Well, rest assured. Does anyone that knows me really think that I would spend any considerable amount of time without the precious luxuries of air-conditioning, the Internet, and running water? South Africa is very much a divided nation. On one side, you have a highly developed country, technology comparable even to the United States including nuclear power, an infrastructure in places that is equitable to what we know here, and much broader support for tourism than we find here. On the other hand, though, 50% of citizens don't have running water, they live in very poor conditions in smaller villages or shanty towns (slums on the outsides of the larger cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, and Pretoria), HIV/AIDS afflicts some 20% of adults age 15-49 (10% of their entire 55 million people are infected), and the incidence of rape and murder are among the highest not just in the civilized world but also among poorer nations, too. The place at which I'll be staying happens to have all of the good things mentioned above and very little, if any, of the bad! So again, relax.

Stellenbosch is a city of nearly 100,000 people, and is located approximately 20 miles east of Cape Town, a city of 4 million at the very southernmost tip of Africa. Contrary to popular opinion, it isn’t very cold there and it isn’t very far south. Google a map of the world and you’ll see that Cape Town is in the same latitude as Sydney, Australia, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lies about as far south as the Arkansas-Missouri border is north. The Cape area is renowned for several things. The natural beauty, including natural wonders such as Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope, makes Cape Town the second-most visited site in Africa (after the pyramids…pssssh)! The Cape Winelands, where Stellenbosch is located, is a vastly splendid area with vinyards as far as the eye can see (wine-sampling tours!). The coast is less than a half hour away to the south and west, and a half day drive northeast can place you in either Johannesburg or a Game Reserve (where we’ll be taking a safari!). Cape Town is home to the National Legislature (the equivalent of our Congress), hosts several sports teams, serves as the economic hub via land, air, and sea for much of the region, and has more money than other areas of South Africa.

Stellenbosch University is the perfect place for international students to study and a great platform from which to view the rest of the country. Of the 20,000 students (same as Missouri State), just over 10% are international students, thus showing the importance they place on culture, diversity, and the sharing of ideas and customs among different groups of people.

I could go on and on and on, but I’ll save other additional information for another post, another time.!

Godspeed,
Drew