A few days in

Hi everyone!

My laptop is finally registered and connected to the internet, so hopefully I will be able to update this at least every other day. I was hoping to post every day, but we have so much going on, it may be difficult to do some days. And I'm anticipating this to be a long post since I haven't had the chance to update you on 4 days and nights worth of excitement! So here it goes.

My flights were SO LONG. Thank god I don't have to do it again for another few weeks. I didn't sleep at all on my flight to Amsterdam, which was a little disappointing, but it was so cool because I got to watch movies the whole way there! I am definitely a fan of international flights, except for the length, because you get to watch as many movies or tv shows as you want, you can play "video" games, listen to music, etc. all through this little screen on the back of the seat in front of you. And they gave us two meals, both of which were actually really good, which I wasn't expecting. We ended up being an hour delayed in Minneapolis because of "minor maintenance problems", so I ended up getting to Amsterdam late, but it was fine because I still had another 2 hours before my next departure. I could not believe the stores I saw in that airport... Rolex, diamond stores, jewelry stores, Victoria's Secret, all these high fashion clothing stores, liquor and fine chocolate stores, and so much Gouda cheese. There was cheese everywhere. And of course many of the souvenirs featured sex and marijuana, which is not a surprise. I took some pictures on my phone that I will have to upload when I get home, they're pretty funny.

I was really surprised that before getting to my gate in the Amsterdam airport, we had to go through another security check point right at the door. I couldn't even bring my water that I had gotten in Amsterdam onto the plane. And when I bought things in the airport they had to scan my boarding pass before going through with the transaction, which was really weird. I guess Amsterdam is just a little strange. I had a bit more luck on my flight to Cape Town as far as sleep goes. I took many consecutive naps, each only lasting about 45 minutes. Again the food was really good, but they do some weird stuff on KLM flights. They give you almonds instead of peanuts, and these funky smelling hot towels that I'm not really sure what they are supposed to be used for. Wiping your face or hands? I don't know.When we finally got to Cape Town, there really was no customs at all. We just walked down a hallway, passing all the customs officers, and none of them said anything.

My first night in Stellenbosch I only slept for 3 hours. I woke up at 3:30am and stayed up all day, I just couldn't sleep. A few friends and I walked around town with my South African roommate during the day and we went out for the first time that evening. We went to a really small pub-type restaurant, had some really good pizza, and drinks! It is so strange being 18 and legally able to have alcohol. It is also strange how the prices in rand seem so large when really everything is so cheap. For example, something that costs 20 rand is only about $2.50, and something that costs 80 rand is really only around $10. So it seems like I'm spending a lot of money when I'm really not.

Yesterday was orientation day, so all the academic information was covered as well as details about our social programs they have planned for us. Like last night, they had planned a dance party and a group drumming session for us all to partake in. It was so much fun, the drumming was so cool. We basically just copied the rhythms that the man leading us did, and he and two other men would start doing there own thing. They were so talented, it was amazing to watch. After the drumming it was time to eat, and we had some delicious food. They also provided wine for us, and I tried both a white and a red, but didn't like either of them. A taste for wine is either acquired or I just will never be a wine person.

We got our first taste of Stellenbosch rain yesterday. I guess it wasn't really an actual rain, but it was enough to be really uncomfortable and cold. I really want to get a sweatshirt and sweatpants ASAP, it can get really chilly here. Monica, my residence hall, doesn't have any heating, so we have to use portable heaters, which are absolutely amazing. This building gets so cold at night, so whenever I come into the room, I automatically turn the heater on.

Today was the first day of class, and I honestly had a hard time staying awake.... The material was really interesting and I enjoyed listening to the lecturer, but I was so exhausted all day. I thought that I had overcome the jet-lag, but maybe not yet. I had my laptop registered this morning, we went to class, had a tea break, went to class, had lunch, and again went to class... It was a lot of class time, and the number of class hours per day for the rest of the week is only going to increase. Tonight we went to a restaurant called Cubaña, which was okay. The food wasn't anything too spectacular, and I had my first real strawberry daiquiri, which didn't taste too different from a non-alcoholic one. Now it is only a little after 10pm and I am so tired... most likely it is going to be early to bed for me.

Wow, this was a really long post.... Just wanted to catch you all up on the happenings here :) I'm having a lot of fun and have met some awesome people. I will keep this updated as often as I can.