We arrived in Windhoek today!! The city is gorgeous! It is situated in a valley and the mountains surrounding it remind me of Santa Fe. The CGE house is great. It is a lot larger than I was lead to believe and the room I am sharing with 5 (yes 5) other women is not too small. I doubt we have enough closet space but we will cope. Tonight is the first night I have been super tired. We have kept a gruelling schedule the past 10 days in order to see everything in Jo'Burg. I enjoyed Jo'Burg but I was happy to leave today. The city is HUGE and has a ton of pollution. While the educational opportunities are limitless in Johannesburg it is not the tourist hub of South Africa.
This past weekend we all completed a home stay with a family in or around Soweto. My family lived just outside Soweto in a semi-suburb. In South Africa you either live in a township, semi-suburb, the city, or a suburb. My family had 2 little boys who were very laid back and quite. The Mom was ill while we were there and we did not do very much at all. Luckily, the family next door was also hosting and Adela and I played over there a lot. We were able to walk to the stadium where the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be held. The whole city is preparing for those 2 weeks. We also attended church with our family. It was different to be the only white person in a crowd of ~3,000. We also ate a lot of pap this weekend. Pap is a very traditional porridge type dish that is served with sauce. It looks a lot like mashed potatoes.
The people on my trip are great! I am having a blast getting to know them and spending an insane amount of time together. Last night, we went out to dinner at Black. It is a very nice restaurant in downtown Jo'Burg and is currently the only place in downtown open for dinner. Since 1994 very few business owners have moved back into downtown for fear of violence. However, that is rapidly changing. The meal was fabulous and it was great to get dressed up!
I will have more regular access to Internet now and I will hopefully figure out how to post pictures soon. I can not thank you all enough for leaving comments and making me feel connected to home. I am having a great time and I can not wait to start my internship next week and get started exploring Windhoek tomorrow!
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4 comments:
You sound amazing!!!!! I am glad you are adapting and enjoying every minute. You are missed!! Dont worry though I am still jobless and bored out of my mind. I wish I was there!!! Keep posting, I love hearing all of your adventures. I am currently living my life through you! xoxoxoxooxo love you tons
Finally! I have been waiting and wondering when you would show up again. I got your e-mail and will respond to that as well. Enjoy!!!
Love you lots and lots--Mom
Hey sister! It was so wonderful to finally hear from you again... I was sitting at dinner the other night thinking...wow I miss Kristin... it sounds like you are having amazing experiences already! I miss you and love you lots and lots!
So glad you are able to communicate with all of us again. Miss you, keep sending the great stories, can['t wait to see the pictures. How about an email?
Miss you more
Grandma
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