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!
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