We're Here!

And so it begins… “The adventure of a lifetime,” as Josh sings. Since our arrival in Stellenbosch we have lived without the technology we are accustomed to: no television, no cell phones, no laptops. The sleepy town of Stellenbosch begs for relaxation. Everyone is on South African time, unrushed and more lenient about time than we are used to. Breaks for coffee and tea are taken two to three times a day! The town will pick up this weekend as South African students arrive, but we’ve used the last week to familiarize ourselves with the area.

When we left Kansas City last Thursday, we headed to NYC, where we sampled snails, walked through Central Park, bought a present for Drew Rozell, and explored Mood Fabrics- where we missed filming for Project Runway by one day. After a day of sightseeing, it was off to a 17 hour flight. Josh and Drew spent 6 hours solving a 4X4 Sudoku, while I managed to sleep. (Thanks for the earplugs, Mom.) The plane landed in Dakar, Senegal, for a security search mid-way through the flight; after some passengers disembarked some guards came onto the plane and removed cushions to inspect every seat. Every piece of baggage had to be claimed by its owner and if a bag was not claimed, the officials would remove it. During this time, we enjoyed talking to an older couple a few rows behind us who were familiar with Springfield (and Branson—ha!) and had frequented Stellenbosch. Josh saw them on Wednesday within a Stellenbosch square! By the way, for those of you who didn’t know, Stellenbosch is 7 hours ahead of Missouri.

When we got to Stellenbosch on Saturday night, our exploring natures broke free. The student centre is 4 stories tall and contains shops, restaurants, bookstores, and more. We gained Matie pride (pronounced “mottie”) upon seeing stuffed squirrels wearing Matie gear. What a ferocious mascot we have, much more deadly than the hippo! We also discovered the local mall, Eikstad Mall, where we ordered two large, barbecue chicken specialty pizzas for R84. The restaurant is apparently known for its buy-one-get-one-free menu. This was our first experience with how cheap things are in Stellenbosch. The conversion is R7.5 to $1 and is most noticeably seen when eating or buying groceries. You can buy a loaf of bread for R8 (just over one dollar) and that is the expensive kind. Cheaper, fresh bakery bread is only R5! Josh and Drew bought decent wine for R10. Avocados are everywhere, appearing on almost any sandwich on any menu. Also note that a bacon and banana sandwich is quite common.

Everyone speaks Afrikaans here. People understand English, but primarily speak Afrikaans. Thus, our experience has been a true “immersion” one.

But don't worry, Mrs. Keaster, because Stellenbosch has a McDonalds and a KFC.

ASIDE – This post is much longer than the majority you’ll receive. We’ve not had Internet for a week!!

On Sunday we discovered that church is held in the evenings, so the city shuts down mid-afternoon. We went looking for tea bags with our new friend Shelby from Sydney, Australia, but couldn’t find an open store! We also met Annie from Virginia, Renee from Pennsylvania, and Jan (John) from Germany.

Josh and Drew are rooming together, while I have three roommates. The guys are really happy because maid service cleans the bathrooms, living rooms, and kitchens free of charge DAILY. My roommates are Karina, a Washington State-attendee who was born and raised in Mexico, Carrie (also Washington State), and Lauren, the Nebraskan. Each person has their own room and bathroom and some rooms have a view of the mountains. My window faces east so I can watch the sun rise over the mountain.

A group of eight international students conquered Stellenbosch Mountain on Monday. There was a path for the first part, but then we had to travel up a water path of steep rocks. Coming down was even more interesting than going up, but the view made it all worth it! Capetown, Table Mountain, the coast, Stellenbosch, the vineyards…awww! We love Africa!

On Tuesday we began orientation, where we learned survival isiXhosa (yes, the clicking language) and Afrikaans. The international office also covered HIV/AIDS safety and the university’s efforts to have no new infections by 2012. There are about 250 international students at Universiteit Stellenbosch, ranging from Germany to Bolivia to Argentina to Hong Kong. Members of the International Students Organization: Stellenbosch (ISOS) take trips and also volunteer at the local township of Kayamundi. We’ll post more about these townships, soon, because the need in Kayamundi is great, and you better believe we’ll do our part to help.

The two-day orientation ended on Wednesday with discussions on academics, culture shock, finances, and accommodation. Courses are taught in both English and Afrikaans—yes, we will soon be fluent. Following a lunch of meat pie (a South African staple), Josh, along with a few other international students, joined some locals in a game of football. We are, of course, talking about the real football. American football is unheard of in South Africa. Here, rugby and cricket are the most popular sports. When we get our Maties gear, we’re going to go cheer on the Mighty Squirrels!

Wednesday night also featured our first social events. We attended a braai, the first of many. A braai is an outdoor barbecue where everyone brings their own meat (BYOM), socializes, and drinks…a lot. I sampled my first beer, and the Germans laughed. We brought lamb steak, but since we forgot to defrost it, we reckoned it would taste horrible. To the contrary, we marinated it with the cheap red wine and drenched it with pepper. It was delicious. Braais are held once or twice a week; we’ve already been invited to two more. When the braai ended at 23:00, Josh and I went clubbing—my first time dancing! Dancing here (so Josh says) is 100% different from what happens in typical US clubs. They play very alternative rock from the 90s instead of hip-hop.

Our long narrative brings us to today. We toured our uni’s (Aussie lingo) underground library, but only saw the top level because a Bollywood film is being filmed on the lower levels. Yeah, Maties are that cool…

We miss you. We love you all. Enjoy the pictures! Also check out my page on Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.com/MelissaMFagan). We’d write more if there were not gorgeous mountains outside of our windows. They look a little nicer than this computer screen, and Shelby’s calling us for tea time.

“The adventure of a lifetime…lies beyond this plane ride.” (Can you tell Josh helped me write this?)