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The first few days have been entirely different than what I had expected... but then again, I'm not quite sure what I expected. Nevertheless, I was eager but nervous to be leaving the states but tried hard not to think about how much I would miss it. I was excited to be done with classes, pending completion of my last paper and final exam only hours before my flight, but the fact that it had just snowed 7 inches in the Wasatch only made the situation worse. I couldn't go without saying that I was also going to miss my family, friends and Melissa. This was a difficult choice, knowing we would be apart for so long, but we both knew it was something that I always wanted to do. With any luck, I'll get her down to South Africa before I leave.
My expectations are optimistic.
My flights took me through Atlanta, and then, with a quick stop-off in Dakar, Senegal, I was on to Johannesburg. The short stopover in Johannesburg was the pinch I needed to let me know that I was no longer in familiar territory. As I waited at the terminal, hitting hour 29 in my travels, I watched the sun setting for the first time in Africa. Epic. Upon arrival in Cape Town, I was taken to a Hostel nearby where I would be staying for the night. Needless to say, I was really tired and had no trouble falling asleep. The next morning, Oliver and Alex (program directors) picked me up to take me to my house. Oliver then took me another intern to the mall for some essentials. The mall was no different from the states; apart form the abundant amount of unfamiliar brand name apparel and the lack of the usual food-court-fare. We then went on a hike to a place called "Elephants Eye" with Oliver, Sean, Carston (dive master at Obzside) and a few other friends on theirs. The view was awesome. I thought that being at such a low altitude I would have no problem running some of the trail… not true. I'm not in the physical condition that I used to be. It was awesome to see the city from above on such a clear day (it's a lot bigger than I thought). After we got down, we went to Babbos for some food and drinks. . Being my first day, how could I say no. Babbos is a local eatery in one of the main areas of Obz (Observatory) and it had immediately become my designated place to hang out because of their chill-style tunes and eclectic atmosphere. Afterwards, we went to another house nearby full of interns and students, all with different nationalities. Given that it was a moustache party, I figured someone from the US planned it… sure enough. On Sunday I got to go out on the boat in False Bay with Obzside. I got to hang out on the water with the Skipper and help with the dives. It was a long day. In a nutshell, my first few days have taught me that if I'm going to make it around this place safely, I need to learn a few things about life in South Africa. The route to my house isn't the friendliest of places and seeing as it lies between me and Obz (the part of Cape town i live in), I'll look at that as a motivation to not eat out and perhaps save a little more $ for when Melissa comes
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