hey everybody!!! my first entry from stellenbosch... sounds scary doesnt it! is scary lol! i've just managed to delete the last copy of this entry i had practically finished which was really stupid so lets have another crack at it!!! Day 1 (this is confusing cos my day/time clock is soooo mucked up from the flight!). we started off on the way to the airport with my bag, i swear, weighing practically more than me!!! dad ofcourse was taking all sorts of AWFUL fotos of me looking dreadfull (thanks a lot lol) while mum was doing here typical crying palava lol ;o). got on safe and sound with a girl called katie (with an "ie" - you'll see the importance as there is another with a "y") who happened to be sharing my room for the time being so that was good! gave me a chance to meet and get to know one person a bit at least, altho to be fair i had met laura younger very briefly at the orientation (yes again there are two lauras... all very confusing isnt it lol). everyone seems very nice so i'm sure i'll make some good mates. we got collected at the airport after we waited for the rest of them, i think we got going at about 1, and were taken back to the uni to dump our stuff. we are atm in temporary rooms cos ours havent finished being cleaned yet... i think we move in tomorra thank god cos the present ones are a bit skanky! we were given temporary student cards to get in and out and then we were taken to the nearest mall to get some "necessary shopping" even though none of us really new what that was meant to include?!? lol. we seem to have three alocated drivers. i shall describe... numero uno: juan - a tom welling look-a-like, sort of. numero two: conrad - a complete joka who is rubbish at remembering names lol. numero three: lyle - just really sweet, prob the shyest of the three. we also met dineo but it wasnt until day two when we realised fully her "potential" lol. during this day my eyes were REALLY literally closing on me... i dont think i've actually ever been as tired so as u can imagine i slept very well that night!!! Day 2: we were met at 10 by conrad - waaaaaay too early lol, and taken to the international office where we had our orientation day. this is where we learnt that dineo is kinda scatty and also can reaaaaaally talk - almost more than me, and as you'll all note that is impressive! + her accent is funny lol she says huge as "eeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuggggggge!!!" she told us about the academic side of things... monday mornings are apparently "study days" with the afternoons off and we are going to learn some africance and some african history altho i think dineo practically covered all of that already lol! our lecturer will be called tyrone savage and we were all thinking dude what a name, he'll be some young hip thing... later we saw him: about 60, grey, big moustach etc... not quite the image we'd conjured up!!! we also got told a bit about the placements. it seems like they're actually quite diff to what i origionally thought. there are infact four if i remember right... two skls, 1 primary and 1 secondary where we might help out, a little angels centre which i didnt quite understand... i think its for mentally and physically disabled kids and it sounds quite good. then theres the youth project which is where you play and show affection at help out some kids who have been taken off the streets and ofcourse cotlands, the centre for small children who are either victims of cancer/neglect or HIV/aids. the kayamandi project which i told all of you about (a teaching one) is actually one that a group at the uni called ISOS do and we all join in with that every wed i believe. we then went around the uni campus being shown around the diff buildings etc... we got our comp accounts and proper student cards etc. the actually campus itself (we're in the international bit which is kinda outside) is reallllllyyyyyyyyyyy nice and beautiful! we have discovered that i bike really is a good thing. we went to visit the gym and stuff - all so extraordinarily cheap! and their pool is eeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuge as they would say - olympic size with diving boards :oD!!! i am still completely baffled as to where everything is so i have to rely on following or i think i would prob never make it back home lol. so onto today... Day 3: i'm only half way through but i'm grabbing this 2 hour opportunity as it gets dark quite quickly and seeing as i dont know my way around.. well yeh. so far we have gone to visit the primary skl (shamely i've forgotten the name) and it was lovely!!! bigger than i thought but we got shown around by the headmaster who is a lovely man who has very strong beliefs about constantly praising and encouraging a child which is nice to see. all the kids are sooo sweet and well behaved its astonishing. we walked into one of the classrooms and in chorus as all primary kids do they recited "good morning teacher and friends" and another class sung the skl song to us lol, was so sweet! thats about all we've sqeezed in for today... in about an hour we are heading off with the ISOS group to kayamandi to see what thats about so i'll update you on that in the Day 3 part 2 special! i've found out that my ten day break is on the 10th/12th of june which is cool so i can start planning that! i'm missing you all very much but want to lap up as much of this as i can to make the most of it. i'll post again soon, hope your all well! lots of love to y'all emily xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx