Day 1- First Impressions

I’m finally here. We made it to South Africa yesterday (Wednesday, June 30) around 10:00pm. It was definitely a relief to finally be off an airplane after a total of 18 hours of flying. And spending 11 hours straight in the air is enough to drive anyone a little crazy. In an attempt to stave off boredom, a lot of people (myself included) started pacing the aisles and standing around in the back of the plane by the kitchen around halfway through the flight.

Our homes in South Africa for the first 12 days are a couple bed-and-breakfast places in a suburb northeast of Cape Town called Durbanville. Most of our group is staying in Deo Gratia, the guest house I mentioned in my first post, but there wasn’t room there for all of us, so I and a few other girls are staying in another bed-and-breakfast down the road. We’re staying in a little cabin-like building with a small kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom upstairs in this sort of attic room. The furniture and the feel of the place remind me of being in a cottage up north, except for the fact that the roof is thatched and rounded in the front. It definitely has a uniquely African feel that way. Supposedly in a few days we’ll all be switching rooms so that everyone has a chance to stay at both lodges. Our coordinators like to change things up for us.

This morning (Thursday, July 1) we went to a mall in Durbanville to get things like plug adapters, calling cards, toiletries, and cheap cell phones to use while we’re here. According to Corvell, our coordinator, South Africans love to shop and there are malls like the one we went to all over the metropolitan areas in South Africa. This mall wasn’t much different from a large mall in the U.S., although there were businesses like foreign exchange bureaus, a post office, and a grocery store than you aren’t likely to find in your average U.S. mall. But it’s nice to have a place for one-stop shopping here. We also visited a cheetah conservation center where we were able to go into the cheetah enclosure and pet the cheetahs. (Although only when the cheetah is lying down and the trainer is holding its head.) Overall, it was a very nice, relaxing first day. I also enjoyed riding in the van and just looking out the window at the countryside. It’s exciting to just ride around and see new things everywhere I look.

Petting the cheetah

A little on South African money: The currency here is called the rand and 1 U.S. dollar = about 7 rand. There are 1, 2, and 5 rand coins and 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand bills. I’m definitely getting some useful practice in dividing by 7 to find out how much I’m paying for everything. It’s a little disconcerting for a brief second when I’ve gone to order something like a sandwich that’s labeled 29.95 – until I remember it’s in rand not dollars and I’m really only paying a little over $4.

All in all, after one day I’m definitely enjoying myself. The landscape around here is stunningly beautiful with mountains in the distance and green grass and trees everywhere, even in the middle of winter here. (Average temperatures are in the 50s right now. Winter in South Africa is similar to winter in southern Georgia or Texas in the U.S.) From first impression a lot of things seem similar to the U.S., at least as far as food, lodging, and shopping are concerned. But looking around at the land and the people on the streets, I definitely feel like I’m half a world away from home. It’s a nice change though, especially because most of the people are so friendly and the landscape is so beautiful. I’m definitely glad I came.