South African Adventures: "Simple beginnings" -Patty O'Keefe

Sorry for my insufficient blogging since my arrival. My internet access is still pretty dicey at this point. The dorms are completely internet-less, and though all of campus has wi-fi internet, my account has not yet been set up. All of this should be squared away in the next few days though, or at least by this time next week.

I’ve been having a great time so far. I went out on Thursday night to a rasta bar called Cool Runnings. On Thursday nights they have a drum circle in the back of the bar which was a fun first way to take in the African culture. It was also a good way for me to determine that I have no future in professional drumming.

On Friday we had orientation in the morning and then went down to the beach for the first time. To get there we used these van taxis called mini buses. There is really no way to explain these mini buses except as a vehicle to an almost certain swift and quick death. They dodged in and out of lanes, sometimes simply driving down the middle of multiple lanes at once. They nearly collided with every other vehicle and I saw one hit a lady. Once there however, the beach was absolutely beautiful and we ate at a restaurant called Joe Cools on the beach.

Saturday we woke up early and went to the South African Sea World called uShaka. It is the largest sea world in the Southern Hemisphere and was ½ aquarium and ½ water park. We saw a dolphin show and played with penguins through the glass. Saw lots of different fishies and sharks and then floated on a tube through a lazy river for a long time. Not too shabby a way to spend an afternoon in the sun, that’s for sure. We went to uShaka with the other campus of Interstudy students but we broke away from them after because Anita wanted to take us to Moyo, a bar out on a pier above the ocean for some “coffee” as she told the director. So the 6 of us Durban students, Anita, Ebby and another Interstudy worker went to Moyo and got really fancy drinks with the best view I have ever had. We also got our faces painted in a traditional African style while there.

Yesterday I went with Patty and Arita (another girl in our group, who was also here last semester) to a local township where Arita has friends. We then went to another local’s house and had a braai (an African barbeque.) Which was really neat to experience. The guy whose house we were at and his whole family prepared the meal for us and it was a good opportunity to experience an African custom first-hand.

I’m really feeling like a terrible blogger, I hope that this isn’t extremely boring for you all to read. Hopefully the pictures help.