i will retire to capetown.

We went on a tour of Capetown, South Africa last weekend. Capetown is the most well known city in South Africa and is about thirty minutes away from Stellenbosch where I live. CAPETOWN IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE I'VE EVER BEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! I almost cried, because it was just so beautiful. I found myself thinking, "Why do I deserve to see such beauty?"

The city is craddled between mountains and the ocean. It's just beautiful. To think, I almost missed the tour too. I was late, as usual, to meeting the bus. As I approached the meeting spot, the buses were LITTERALY pulling off. I had to run and flag down the bus. If I would have tied my shoe string on the way there, I would have gotten left. That's how close I was to getting left. But, I made it.

Our first stop was at the Capetown Gardens. When we got there, there were two little girls performing in front of the gardens for money. They were really good dancers and really cute. Their shirts said something about an anti-rape organization. I recorded it with my camera!

The garden itself was not that exciting. There were crazy squirrels just like at Vanderbilt, and I even saw two fat rats hanging out with the squirrels. The overall beauty of Capetown shined through though. Next, we went to Signal Point. From Signal Point, you can see all of Capetown. There was a guy selling icecream there (and you know I had to get some!) and people parasailing in the sky over the ocean. I happened to get a picture of one person parasailing. It looks fun!

After Signal Point, we went to some beach, which the tour guide said was "one of the most sought after beaches in South Africa." This is where I had to really take some time out to myself to count my blessings. It was really just breathtaking.

After this, we went to a mall and back to Stellenbosch. It was just a great day. I know that I will be living in Capetown someday. If you want to see more pictures of Capetown, click here!

The first week

I've spent my first official week at Stellenbosch. I'm a little scared, because I swear it feels like a month. I feel like I've been here for a month!

I started classes. It's a little weird though. In America, most classes are Tuesday/Thursday or Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Here, all of my classes are once a week. So, I have one different class everyday! So, I hope, that leaves me with a lot of free time. I haven't met many South African students, but I hope to meet some soon.

The food in Stellenbosch is pretty good and cheap, but when I'm at the grocery store, I get a little nervous. I'm scared of the deli meats. Can I really buy ham that's laying next to something that says "tongue"? And, there is no such thing as beef hotdogs here.. at least, I didn't find any. They also have salsa, but don't sell tortilla chips. Milk lasts about 4 days here because it doesn't have any of the preservatives and stuff that our milk has in America. And, they're cereal selection is heartbreaking. All they have is Corn Flakes... Frosted Flakes (which are called Frosties, but still have Tony the Tiger on them), and an assortment of bran flakes.

The driving here is bad, but not as bad as in London. I do feel the danger of getting run over though. Everyone drives a stick shift, so they are more reluctant to stop, because it's a lot of work. Stop signs here seem to mean pause. I saw someone get in a wreck today! He was on a motorcycle and nipped the front of a truck. He flew off his bike, but luckily, he was wearing a helmet. He seemed fine, but it was just scary. South Africa has the most automobile deaths in the world... mostly due to drunk driving. I will not be getting behind the wheel anytime soon.

My friends are partying way too much for me. We've partied 3 times already and it's barely been a week! Last night we went out and it seemed as if all of Stellenbosch was drunk! It was crazy. Tomorrow, we're off to the Cedarberg Mountains! Wish me luck!

i'm here (PART 2 - South Africa)

Our plane arrived in Capetown, South Africa. I had a hard time falling asleep this time on the plane. British Airways has a lot of entertainment for their passengers on the planes, so I watched movies and cartoons the entire 11 hours flight.


After getting our luggage, we met Mike, the temporary director of the program, and we got on a bus that drove us from Capetown to Stellenbosch, where I'm staying. On our way to Stellenbosch, we saw townships, residential developments where during Apartheid Blacks were forced to live. These are those shack towns that you see on Feed the Children. THERE WERE MILES AND MILES OF THEM! They stretched the entire 30 minute drive from Capetown to Stellenbosch. I recorded it with my camera....

It was crazy. On one side of the highway, they government was renovating its airport. And on the other side, thousands were living in shacks.

The first thing I got excited about were the beautiful mountains that surround Stellenbosch.

There are mountains everywhere you turn! It's absolutely beautiful here. There are also many wineries. And, ALL the buildings are WHITE, including all the buildings on campus and all around town. The town is really clean.

The second thing I got excited about was the McDonalds! After seeing those townships, I needed to see something American! As soon as we got to Stellenbosch University, we were moved into our rooms. I thought I was going to ask Satcher to be my flatmate, but somehow, when it was time to choose flatmates, I ended up wit no partner. I felt a little bamboozled, you know? I was like, "Dang.. when did everyone ask somebody?" It felt like I had been left out of an under the table deal. This girl named Lacey didn't have a partner either so we decided to be together. I didn't know Lacey that well. The only thing I knew about her was that she was Mormon, so I was a little nervous about her. But now I am so GLAD she is my flatmate. She is so sweet and sassy. After the kind of sneaky roommate deal though, I decided it was a little too soon to be trying to really make friends here. Not everyone is a David Law, Arielle, or Kristen (my best friends). I kind of removed myself from that little situation.

Flats house 8 people. There is one big conference looking room that connects all the people in the flat to the main exit. However, each pair of people has their own little area with a kitchen (so that's 4 kitchens per flat). The only thing Lacey and I share is a kitchen. I have my own room and my own bathroom (for the first time in my entire life!). I usually go over to my friends' house. They are with my program too, but they were forced to live in a house because no one else wanted it. We were all wrong though. The house is the better option. The house is called the Hillbilly House, and it has a lot of rooms. Not only do the students on my program stay there, but also other foreign students stay there. There are students from Germany and Namibia. It's like my 2nd home, because I go over there everyday just to chill out. After the whole housing thing, I was a little hesitant to be friends with folks, but I really like the people who live in the Hillbilly House.

That's Jayden, Josiah, and Maggie. They all live in the Hillbilly House. I like em'. I'll try to get more detailed about Stellenbosch and my adventures in my next post. Until then, Buh BYE!

If you want to see more pictures of Stellenbosch, click here!

well.. i'm here! (London)

I'm here in Stellenbosch, South Africa! I've been here for a few days, but I'm just now getting the Internet set up. I have so much to say.

Let me first start with the plane ride. I WAS TERRIFIED! I just kept thinking the plane was going to crash. I was so nervous, but I got on the plane and basically went to sleep the whole entire time. I was sitting next to this girl named Satcher from South Carolina, who is like a plane riding professional because she didn't seemed worried about the plane ride at all. She is also doing the same program in South Africa with me.

When we arrived in London, there was this little short guy their with a sign waiting to pick us up. There was also like seven other students there who had just arrived as well and had been waiting for us so that they could go. So we got into this MERCEDES VAN! Yes... a mercedes van. It was so nice. That was the first thing I learned about London... almost everyone drives a mercedes, bmw, or volkswagon car.



And all the cars were clean! I just saw 1 dirty car the whole time I was there. The driver took the long route to our hotel through the streets, but it was nice. London is full of parks, and all the houses look pretty much the same... brick chimmney, antennas, and two stories.

At the hotel, Satcher was my roommate. She got homesick pretty quickly to the point where she had a panic attack. I've been fine! I KNOW I can't be like, "Momma, I'm ready to come home!" I'd get cursed-out. So, I'm here!


London.. London... London... Where do I begin? London is a place that I could visit, but I could NEVER EVER live there.

--The traffic is HORRIBLE! There is constantly heavy traffic and people drive like maniacs. They also drive on the left-hand side of the road. I almost got run over like three times, and I saved a few of the other students' lives by yanking them back on the sidewalk before they got ran over! It's ridiculous.

--I was so dehydrated there, because they don't give you a big cup to drink out of at restaurants. They give you the smallest cup of water and the smallest cup of Coke. They think of drinks at meal time as just something to aid the meal, not something to relieve thirst. The entire time I was there, I kept getting mad because they'd always give me either a small glass of water or a glass that's only 1/2 to 3/4 full of water.

--EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE IN LONDON! Not only is everything expensive, but the American dollar is poop there. If you buy a meal for 10 pounds, that means you actually spent $20 American dollars on it! I bought an umbrella for like 6 pounds... which means I bought a little umbrella for 12 dollars!!! It's like a cheap dollar store one too. The price exchange there made me so mad.

--The food is GROSS! Everywhere I went there was a Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut, or some other familar restaurant and I understand why... English food is nasty. That's why they have so many American restaurants. They're food is gross. I'm talking baked beans and whole boiled eggs for breakfast. Where's the syrup? Where's the delicious stuff? Every meal there was disappointing.


London isn't all bad though.The architecture in London is so beautiful . All of the buildings are hundreds of years old and in great condition. Every building is so detailed. There are statues and parks on every corner. Most of the museums are FREE, and contain beautiful art and history. I got to visit the British Museum, which had NOTHING British it in. It was full of stolen stuff from other civilizations such as the Egyptians and Romans. They even had the Rosetta Stone there!

Overall, London was still cool. I would have liked to go there for a week and took my time and visited all of the wonderful places, but because I was only there for 3 days, I had to squeeze too many events into one day and rush too much. By the end, my feet hurt so bad from walking so much.

If you want to see more pictures of London, click here!

I'm an American...

To deprive me of a cellular phone and the Internet is torture. Why not just take the air I breath?!

I finally have the Internet again so expect a real update shortly!

i'm leaving today! this is it.... here I come london!

WHAT AM I DOING? I'm scared. I'm afraid of the airplane crashing... and I'm afraid of being away from home for so long. FOUR MONTHS AWAY FROM HOME!

David and I shared a tearful goodbye this morning, and right now, all I really want to do is go back and snuggle up in his arms.

Why do I have to be so ambitious?

I'm scared scared scared! I can't hide my fear.

what in the world am i doing?

At some point a few weeks ago, I really sat back and thought about everything that I will have to endure when I study abroad in South Africa (being away from my family, friends, boyfriend, meeting and living new people, having to learn at least some of a new language, basically starting over in a new place). I found myself thinking "Oh My God! Danielle, what are you doing?"

I really don't have a good answer. I can explain the reason why I want to go to South Africa. I want to observe the racial gains since Apartheid ended. But, it's more than just that. I would have studied somewhere else if not South Africa.... I would have studied anywhere.

My mom said that when I was a little girl, like 3 or 4, I looked up at her and said "Why do we live here? Why have you never moved anywhere?" She said it made her feel bad because she was thinking "Dang.. Why have I never moved?" Lol (laugh outloud).

I've always known I would be a traveler and that I'd never stay in Chattanooga. I don't know where it comes from... I just have never felt that Chattanooga was my destiny.

But now that I am a week from leaving, Chattanooga as a destiny is starting to look real good. LOL! To be direct, I'm hella nervous. I got my plane tickets Monday and this whole thing became real. However, there's no way I am going to back down... I must go.