First Official Day of Class

Good Evening!

It's 8 in the evening here in Port Elizabeth. Today was our first day of environmental lectures! We were picked up for class at 8:30 and met in the biology building. The building is pretty big and each floor is devoted to a different field of study (ex: zoology on floor two, pharmacology, etc). Our professor for the day was a lady that specialized in marine ecology and worked for a company that does impact assessments of the environment in South Africa. She lectured us about the environmental issues that South Africa has to deal with, which are a lot. They are overpopulated, have tons of water issues (they face droughts pretty often and have water quality problems), and are affected by invasive species of plants and animals. We also learned how we would be graded. We have to turn in a portfolio at the end of our month stay that is a summary of our whole trip and the lectures. We also include how the trip has affected our view of South Africa and affected us.

After our lecture we went on a "trail walk" at the game reserve located behind the university. It rained the first couple days we were here so this trail was more like a large collection of ponds. The girl that took us is working on getting her doctorate in zoology and wanted to show us some of the invasive plants that have made South Africa their home and some wild animals. This reserve isn't like the big game reserves, only zebras and some small antelope type animals live here. I was pretty excited to see zebras (I think Addison was too), but we didn't end up seeing them. Today also marks day two that we haven't seen a monkey on campus. We even ate lunch out in the open today AND I left my food out hoping one would want to meet us. The closest we got to seeing a zebra was going through their fecal matter. Yup. Our guide seemed to enjoy picking up all the fecal matter we came across and making us observe it.

We have been studying for our respective tests now. Yes, I have finally pulled out my GRE stuff and have been studying. Tomorrow we have our last day of class and I think it may last from 8:30 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening. On monday we leave for a week long trip to the Karoo! We won't be able to update that week since there isn't internet access. We are going with a professor and he is showing us the different biomes that can be found in South Africa. It should be a good and interesting time, but that's not for a couple more days so we'll mention more later!

Natalia & Addison

Yes, that's Zebra fecal matter.

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I'm the only guy on the trip so I lucked out in the accommodations department. I get an apartment to myself. On the downside I have to wake up extra early every morning to battle the bath tub (it has no shower.) Above the tub which I assume was made for toddlers is a 2 gallon hot water heater that when combined with another 2 gallons of cold water gives me almost enough water to cover my feet.

Evil

I'm still at the point where I understand less than half of what most people with a typical accent say... The lady at the lunch counter where we ordered lunch rolled her eyes the first, second, and third time I had to ask her to repeat what she had said. Oops. Figuring out the lectures was fun too, I just hoped she didn't call on me because most of the time I had no clue what was going on. Something about polluted water? I don't know. Luckily the only grade is a journal we turn in at the end of class... and 95% of that is opinions and feelings and what not.

My super awesome notes from the 3 hour lecture

After lunch we went on a nature walk which was pretty neat at first because I had no idea that there was this giant nature preserve (>880 ha the girl said) in the back yard of the university. I caught a glimpse of some little creature.... the girl giving us the tour I'm pretty sure had said what they were about ten times but that bit of info was in the 50% of things I couldn't really interpret due to her accent. Anyway the "nature walk" quickly turned into "let's cross 25 creeks in our tennis shoes and dissect poop." It was still pretty fun, not what any of us were expecting for sure.

I'm trying to study for the DAT but it's been pretty hard because I need internet for some lectures and problem explanations and whatnot and the internet rarely works... and probably more prevalent is the fact that I absolutely hate everything on the DAT and have a hard time caring about any of it at all.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's a long day of lectures but hey, we are getting 6 hours of  bio credit and after tomorrow there are only like two more lectures (if that.) Can't get much better than that, plus from the 50% of what I do understand it seems pretty interesting.

Addison

NMMC and Port Elizabeth

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday we met all of the other people in our program. They are from all over the USA. My other room mate is from West Virginia and she wants to be a vet. Today we began the day at 8:30 AM. We got picked up from the Beacon Lodge and headed to campus for an orientation, campus tour, lecture, and tour of Port Elizabeth. The university is pretty. There are 6 different campuses in South Africa. Four are in Port Elizabeth and two are in George. George is three hours away and, I guess, the halfway point between us and Cape Town. There are monkeys that live on the campus, but we didn't get to see any today. They said that they become especially friendly when you are eating your lunch and if you are playing with anything that is shiny. The University and where we are staying are located in Summerstrand. This is a white suburb of Port Elizabeth and it kindof reminds Addison and I of Miami. The architecture of the houses is pretty similar to the houses you see in Miami. All of the houses are surrounded by tall walls or gates and have signs outside their houses saying that they are protected by armed response alarm companies. Some of the houses have bars on the windows, but they are to keep the monkeys out.

After our tour we went to our lecture which was on the History of South Africa. Now, I'm going to be honest and tell you that I am relatively ignorant on the history of South Africa. It's sad, especially since a lot of the big deal events happened during my lifetime. I have always admired Nelson Mandela and I knew what he stood for, but I just didn't know very much of the background to the Apartheid. Our lecturer began by talking about the unemployment rate in South Africa compared with the United States and the European Union. South Africa is at close to a 40% unemployment rate. He then broke that figure down into the different racial groups that contribute to it. Of that figure, 80% are black Africans, 15% are "colored" (Colored people are essentially "mixed"- they are the child of a European and a Black African), and 10% are white. He then delved into the issues that surround that 80% of unemployed black Africans. Most of the blacks in that category are males between the ages of 20 and 30. He told us that people are always wary of traveling to South Africa because they hear about high crime rates. He told us that the biggest percentage of criminals are black males between the ages of 15 and 30 and that an astounding amount of the crimes do not happen in the white suburbs, but happen in the black townships (translate: 99.99% black communities). He wanted us to understand that South Africa is just 18 years into it's new democracy and the wounds that are left from the Apartheid are still very fresh and nowhere near to being healed. He said that we would be faced with images of life that are so far and so different from the life we are accustomed to and he wanted us to understand why things are the way they are and to question these reasons. Racism is still very much so alive in South Africa and the amount of inequality that surrounds this racism is really frustrating. Of course, I didn't have to travel to South Africa to tell you that...the ties that can be made to the issues that are still alive in Mississippi are really astounding. His lecture was meant to be a preface to the tour of Port Elizabeth that we were about to go on and it really was perfect.

We set off on a tour with the rest of the students in our Environmental group (there are 6 of us), our tour guide- a man from a township here in Port Elizabeth, and a university intern that is a white African. He began by driving us around Port Elizabeth. By the way, they drive on the left side of the road here and they drive like MANIACS. Our tour guide didn't or else everything would of been a blur, but the taxi drivers are seriously all over the place. The British influence is also very evident. We are staying in "holiday flats" (translate: vacation homes) and they say cheers when they leave and call each other mate. He showed us the port and the down town area. The port is huge and the down town is very obviously European inspired. The buildings are all very beautifully and artfully designed. Then we went to where all the townships are. I'm going to stop for a second to tell y'all that I'm not sure if I can describe these peoples living conditions accurately. If you picture the slums that they depicted in Slumdog Millionaire you've got a very accurate picture as to how these people live. There are people walking and hanging out on the streets. There are little children all over the place and SO MANY dogs. We were experiencing such a mix of emotions. I felt awkward for being a "tourist" in their township, so guilty for the life I live, sad for the lack of opportunity they have(and for the dogs...I'm not even going to go there..I would take every single one home if I could....Maybe Sam could get 12 new friends Mommy and Daddy???), and angry that people live like this. We took pictures (I know, I know...but it'll serve as a good reminder when I'm beginning to think my life is too hard or I wish I had another purse or something equally as petty) that we'll include for y'all to kind of get a feel of what we're talking about. We stopped to have a typical South African meal. It was...good, haha. We had beef, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, and rice and gravy. Oh, and cow stomach. Which I tired! I know I didn't have to go to South Africa to try it, but hey! It wasn't my favorite thing in the world, but it wasn't too terrible.

 The man who gave us our lecture said that so many people are so quick to pull out their money and stuff them in the cups of the people that are out begging, but in the end the only good it does is for their ego. He said if we really want to help, we should look into NGOs that seek to educate these people and help them find jobs and put our time and effort and money into these programs. He also said for every 7 people that come to South Africa, 1 permanent job is created. So here is our PSA, COME TO SOUTH AFRICA!!

We hope y'all are enjoying our blog! We miss y'all and love y'all! 

Love, Natalia and Addison

Getting To and exploring Port Elizabeth

Hello again!

Sorry for the past couple days of silence we've been having some technical difficulties and some trouble getting on the wifi around here! I'm currently at the coffee shop next door using and abusing their "free" wifi.

Let me update you on our past couple days! We left NYC on Friday morning. The plane ride to Johannesburg was actually 14 hours and some minutes. Our plane was pretty huge! I took some pictures of it, but it doesn't entirely do this huge vehicle much justice. Our seats were pretty comfortable and we sat together this time around. We also had the two side seats so we didnt have to squeeze in with 2 other people in the middle aisle of seats. Surprisingly, it didn't feel like 14 hours. I guess that's because I watched 5 movies and slept for, altogether, probably 6 hours of the flight? Addison doesn't sleep well on flights so he watched movies and studied for a bit ( yeah, I know... He makes me look like such a slacker on a regular basis..). If you're interested in watching a good movie anytime soon I suggest Big Miracle. It's about whales trapped in Alaska. It's good, but, I will warn you, the last 30 minutes are a mixture of joy and sadness. I had to contain my giddy laughter and my tears so I wouldn't look like a crazy person. The plane had a camera on its tail so we could watch our plane in flight on the tv! It was cool and Addison really enjoyed that. I've got some pictures of that too.

We got to Johannesburg at 7:30 am their time. There was a giant stagnant line at customs, but right when we got up to the line they opened up a whole section and we got through in 15 minutes rather than what looked like it would take an hour. We got our bags and had to wait 4 hours to board our next plane. We got some snazzy little go phones ( think back to the phone you had in 2000 and that's the one we've got. It's pretty much identical to my first phone). We were able to exchange money. The exchange rate is pretty close to 10 USD for 1 rand. I got pretty exhausted while waiting to board our plane to Port Elizabeth and pretty much passed out on the floor. Addison got pictures of that too.

We got to Port Elizabeth at 3:30 or so. We were picked up by a girl that works for the university named Jadey and went to our temporary housing. There was a big rugby game that night between South Africa and England so she suggested we go watch it at a restaurant or bar. Both Addison's and my room mates weren't home when we arrived. We had every intention of going and watching the game, but after taking a shower the jet lag set in and we realized we had no idea where to go or how to get there...so we both passed out around 5:30-6:00 in the evening. I ended up sleeping 14 hours. I only woke up because Addison texted me at 7:15 ish. We knew that all of the Ole Miss people were staying at the same place we were so we tried to figure out where they were. I know a couple of the girls that are on the trip already so I was keeping an eye out for them. We finally saw one of them leaving he house and pretty much ambushed her. I guess I should mention that we hadn't exactly eaten anything since our plane ride from Johannesburg so needless to say we were pretty hungry. We did have some of the snacks my mom sent with me (thank you, mommy) though, but goldfish and Pringles can only do so much sometimes. My friend, Jessica, was able to tell us where the super market was and how to get there. We caught a cab and went a couple streets down to the mall that has a Pick-n-Pay (grocery store) and other restaurants. We went to Wimpy's, like McDonalds, and thoroughly enjoyed our hamburgers and chips (translate: french fries).

The mall is across the street from the beach so we took a little stroll before catching the cab back to our houses. Port Elizabeth is pretty. The beach looks a lot like the beaches you see in California where there are lots of big rock formations on the sand. The water is pretty cold, but there were lots of people out surfing. We also saw lots of people with their puppies (!!!) out enjoying the beach. The plant life here is really interesting. There are lots of tropical looking plants like palm trees, but then there are pine trees and other types of trees that don't seem like they belong next to a palm tree.

When we got back we had to pack to move to our permanent residence for the month. As we were coming back Addison and I were talking about this sign we saw that said to Beware of Monkeys. When we were leaving for the mall I saw this monkey running on the roof of the university. One of the girls with us said that the monkeys will get in your house and steal your stuff if you leave your windows open. As we were walking back to our houses we spotted a monkey in someone's window. We took more pictures then were probably necessary of these monkeys and were probably a little more excited than was necessary too. There were like 2 or 3 monkeys that hung out on the roof and on the trees right by our houses. Monkeys are basically their raccoons and mongooses are their squirrels.

Our permanent houses are pretty nice. I'm rooming with a girl from Ole Miss and some other girl we'll meet today from...well, we don't know. Addison has a room to himself. Side Note: Addison is studying while I'm blogging (....I KNOW..I'll start tomorrow..). We also met the precious little puppy that lives at our new house. Naturally, we're in love. We're staying at this place called Beacon Lodge. I don't know what her name is, but she wears a cone around her head. She has a bad eye and she messes with it so they put a cone on her so she won't touch it. She is so sweet and can not get enough of your loving. She even followed Addison upstairs to his house and sat on his couch waiting for him to pet her. If you don't give her the amount of attention she wants she barks at you to let you know she's displeased. This was her when we got back, she was in a state of complete happiness. It was precious.

We walked on the beach last night with my room mate, Alicia, and a girl named Amanda that is getting her masters and is taking another class, but is from Ole Miss too. We got dinner at this place called the board walk and it was delicious. Amanda is older than we are and has assumed the position of mother of the pack. She is constantly on the look out for suspicious characters and warning us of their presence. If anyone of us gets our stuff stolen, it will be pretty shocking.

Sorry for this super long entry...I promise I'll try to keep my stories short and update sooner so it's not super long! We miss all of you guys! Classes start tomorrow so I'll try to update while on campus and tell y'all all about class!

All my love, Natalia

And So It Begins!

Hello to all of our family and friends!

Addison and I thought that it would be a good idea to start a blog while studying in South Africa to be able to remember this incredible trip and to be able to keep all of y'all in the loop! I'm assuming I'll be the main author of this blog so bear with me as this is my first time as a blogger (so excited to become a part of the blogosphere)!! I'm sure if I try hard enough, though, I can get Addison to contribute some of his experiences and thoughts.

So we left for the airport in New Orleans this morning at 7:00 a.m. with my sweet parents. Our flight left at 10:40 for JFK in New York. We ended up not sitting next to each other, but Addison was behind me so it wasn't too bad. I'm probably not the best flight partner anyways..I fall asleep before the flight attendant finishes talking about what to do in case of an emergency. It was a two and a half hour flight and I think Addison was able to get a little bit of sleeping time on the flight as well. I'm currently reading the memoir that my grandfather wrote so in between my naps I was able to read a couple of chapters. Maybe it's because it's about my family, but I am thoroughly enjoying it! I highly recommend it ;)

We got to NYC at 2:40 or so in the afternoon, and we've just been enjoying being in New York. We ate at this delicious restaurant called Tony's (I think). The plates of food were humongous and soo tasty! We got fettuccine alfredo and chicken parmesan and put a pretty nice sized dent in the giant plates! I guess sleeping on a plane has that affect on you?

Anyways, We've got a looooong day on the plane tomorrow! I'll try and update on the plane ride (I mean I have like 13 hours so I'm sure I'll find the time).

My mom suggested I learn some words in Afrikaans-- So, I will leave you all with this picture of us on the subway(it's a little blurry) and totsiens y'all! (translate: good bye y'all). Also, shout out to my boys James and Wade! NBA champs!!

Love Love Love, Natalia