Durban

After an exhausting 13 hour flight to Durban, we arrived. I flew out of London, where I met up with the other student, Taylor, from Calgary who was flying to Durban. Unfortunately, I was not upgraded this time, and there is a huge difference between the service that you get when you pay a student price. No longer referring to me as madam, or apologizing for running over my foot, or pushing my chair. It wasn't a very relaxing flight - my pillow and blanket stolen from under my seat.... I could go on.... but the flight ended well - I arrived safely in South Africa!

We were picked up from the airport from our University of KwaZulu Natal representatives, and whisked away to our campus at Howard college, a lush, green area at the top of a hill that overlooks the port and the ocean. This college was an English college, so the architecture is representative of that influence. We arrived at our dorm, only to throw our things in the room, and then join the other international students across campus for our orientation to begin. It's so hard to remember everyone's name and where they are from when you are meeting so many people all at once. Our first activity was shopping at The Pavilion, which is a mall on the opposing hill that just happens to be the biggest in the southern hemisphere. We had soo much to buy, but since we hadn't visited our rooms too much yet, we had no idea just how much we needed. No dishes, no hangars, no nothing. The most essential purchases of the trip were a new cell phone, and a fan, which has been in constant use since I bought it. We are encouraged not to buy an expensive phone, because they are stolen so often. This has proven to be very true, since 3 international students have already had theirs stolen.

After dealing with both my debit card and credit card not working during these crucial purchases, were were allowed to go back to rez for awhile to deal with the aftermath of travelling for so long. It was fun to unpack and make my barren room more my own. We are provided with a desk, wardrobe, bed, and sink, so it takes some creativity to make it look homey. I'm still working on it - I've been to the mall two times since then, though, and I feel like no matter how much more I buy to stock up, I will still need to spend more. The prices are verrrrry reasonable here (as in designer shirts for $40!). The translation is hard to do, though - the translation is 6 Rand to $1, so I have gotten pretty good at dividing by 6 lately. That evening, we went out to a club, which was pretty similar to clubs at home - super fun!

The next day was full of actual in-class orientation. One of the more difficult topics was the HIV clinic's lecture, who mentioned that their mission is to get more people to graduate, and not die first. This is the reality here.

After being overwhelmed by hours of orientation, we went to a Braai (traditional barbeque) by the campus pool. My first experience with South African food was salad in a bun (no plates available). It's lovely getting to know the other international students here. Many of them are younger than me, but some are older - still, we get along well already.

The next day was the registration saga. So, they have hardly any internet access here. No wireless, and only one small computer lab with really slow lans. As such, class registration isn't online, it's in person. And in order to get course approval, you must go to each faculty head and get their signature before submitting it. And after you are all sweaty from going up and down hundreds of stairs, it's time for your ID card picture! Yay! This card goes with you everywhere, it is the access card to the campus, the rez, the school, the lan, everywhere! So, having a decent picture would be nice, but I guess it doesn't happen for anyone here, after the huge process that we had to go through. The international students are lucky because we got to do registration on Friday, instead of all of next week, when the rest of the school registers. Life on campus is going to change very soon, with lots more people arriving at the residences this weekend. The girl's side of my dorm resembles a prison, with a large open area in the middle. I can imagine that it gets pretty loud in there. I'm glad to have my ipod in case I need to block out the noise. I haven't used it yet - with the windows open, it is loud with jungly noises, but that's still charming at this point. We saw a snake on the way back to rez yesterday, and the way here, we saw a monkey! Another girl has trouble sleeping at night because they are so loud outside her window.

On Friday night we went out to another club, but this time it had a more African focus, with the music and the clientele. The creepy guy saga continues here.

Saturday was beach day! We took a koombi (aka taxi) that is public transit here. You go out to the stop at the bottom of the hill, and make sure the minivan is going to the right place, and then pile in. Then you give your money to the person in front of you, letting them know how many people it includes. It is all handed up to the driver, who counts the money and makes sure it is all there before he lets anyone off. Quite the experience!

It was super fast to take this taxi to the beach - about 15 minutes, and less than a dollar later, I was viewing the Indian Ocean. We all spread out and dove right in - huge waves that make you crave surfing (which I am totally trying, eventually). The water was a lot warmer than anywhere else I have been, and the sand was so fine. Mmmhmm. 15 minutes away from me!! Amazing. Just as long as I put more sunscreen on next time. Compared to the other international students, I did pretty well (as in not quite lobster red) despite putting cream on all the time.

Belongings are to be watched at all times on the beach, I was told, but I didn't know just how tricky the thieves can be. The couple sitting next to our group was distracted by one man in front of them, while the other crawled sneakily behind them and grabbed their stuff. They weren't smart enough for me though - once I noticed, I walked over, yelling "excuse me!!", which helped the couple to realize what was going on, and stop the theft. It is sooo common here, I haven't brought my camera with me much. I need a safer purse before I do that - another trip to the mall, I guess!

Last night we went to Joe Cools, which is the beachfront place to eat in the day, and the place to drink/dance at night. Alcohol is so cheap here. We paid a 40 Rand covercharge for an open bar! That's like $6 for all you can drink! International students know how to party.

Today we took it easy for once. After we went shopping at a different mall (I'm going to be soo poor!), we came back to have some time to chill. Our week starts with more orientation tomorrow bright and early. It is great living on campus so that my commute time is only as fast or slow as I want to go up and down the many stairs (watching out for monkeys on the way!).

Love to all!