Hello Hello!

Greetings from South Africa. I've been here offically for a week and a half. Let me tell you, I'm completely in love. There's something about this place that struck me as soon as I stepped off the plane in Durban. It took forever to actually get to Durban. I left New York (JFK) on Friday evening. I had a 7 hour layover in London on Saturday. Luckily I had made arrangements with my cousin Noli to meet for tea that afternoon at Terminal 5. That was exactly what I needed and I was so happy to see her. I then flew 10 hours to Johannesburg and had a 6 hour layover before flying to Durban. In Jo'burg I met with my aunt Thandi and my cousin Mandla. It was crazy to see him cause he's 18 and taller than I am now. Seeing family during these layovers was a great opportunity and hopefully I'll make it back to eGoli before I go back to the states. We finally arrived in Durban on Sunday morning. Everyone -- all 16 of us-- were completely exhausted, but glad to have a chance to rest.

This brings me to the 16 other students in the program. They are all incredibly intelligent studying everything from film production to pulic health and anthropology. Our ages range from 45 to 19. Living in a dorm on the Pietermaritzburg Campus of UKZN is an intersting experience. Everyone has been great so far, but it's only been one week in. I hope that we'll all continue to be nice to each other and want to hang out, but right now we spend so much time together that we all crave the chance to get back to to dorm and be able to shut the door to our room for 15minutes. Our classes go from 8:30-10:45 then a tea break, followed by more class. We break for lunch at 1 and then on some days return for lectures from 2-4. Tutoring for isiZulu is everyday from 5-7pm. Wake up and do it all over again the next. Saturdays are for field trips. This Saturday we'll start our home stays in Imbali for the week. There is one student per family! I'm excited, but wondering if I brought appropriate gifts. Actually now that I think about it, my gifts are pretty lame (pens and pencils and stuff). In my defense, I have no idea how many children will be in the family or their ages. Hopefully they don't think I'm lame, but  I have a feeling they will.

gotta run, pictures coming soon!