Adjusting to Happiness

It is day four in Cape Town. What a whirlwind! I feel as if I have lived here for weeks. I shall try to keep this brief for sake of readability. We registered for classes at the University of the Western Cape on Wednesday which, now that it is over, was not as stressful a process as I had imagined. We also had orientation yesterday, which, besides being long, was really great. It was so strange to be a foreign student at the university. The campus is beautiful and I cannot wait to interact with the students in my classes. There was a very good presentation given by (I think it was) the Chancellor of the university. He was very optimistic and had a lot of hope for our generation to change the world in a positive way.

I have gone twice now into the townships to visit service sites. That is by far going to be the most life-giving part about this semester. The townships are these vast neighborhoods of one room tin houses. I was struck by the permanency of the situation when we drove on the paved roads through the neighborhood. I have not been permanently placed at a site, but I think I may end up at an primary school with one thousand "learners" they call them. The teacher who showed us around was very realistic in terms of the situation the neighborhoods were in and seemed to encourage the community to come together to better their own situation.

There is much more to say, but for now I am very happy to have the whole group here and it's starting to feel like home. 

I Am Here!

I arrived last night in Cape Town! No trouble at all with the flights. We arrived late at the house and went to sleep after unpacking. It is humid and sunny today and smells of the ocean. I am eating breakfast at Coco Chachi. Scrambled eggs on brown toast with humus and freshly squeezed orange juice. ( I know you of the family variety are concerned about what I will have to eat, so I will regularly tell you of my meals :)

Ah, what can I say. I am happy to be here, it already feels like home. There is good energy in the air and our neighborhood, what I've see of it so far, is beautiful. I am excited to get out and about today, though I am not sure where we are going to explore. Table Mountain is beautiful. Well more to come of my adventures and orientation and such. I mostly wanted to say that I arrived safely. Peace

And so it begins...

Greetings friends and family. Welcome to my blog about my experiences abroad, first stop, Cape Town, South Africa! I am finally done packing and ready for a good nights sleep before a 30 hour travel day tomorrow. I am full of excitement and anxious to begin my adventure. I am trying hard to not create expectations and to have and open mind and an open heart.

My intention with this blog is to keep you updated weekly on the happenings in my new world with reflections and pictures. I apprectiate all your thoughts and prayers. Peace