I know I have been incredibly slack in my journal writing, I just seem to spend no time on the computers recently as they are about a 15 minute walk from my halls of residence! But I'll try and fill you in on a little bit of what I've been up to since I arrived, over a month ago now-can't quite believe it. Highlights so far have been, experiencing the stellenbosch nightlife which is so cheap and so good, there are about 10 different clubs here (none of which you have to pay to get in), a million and one bars, a huge pool bar, and yes a double brandy and coke for 75p!! My alchohol intake has severely increased since being here, but I guess it'll prepare me for the next 3 years at uni! I am now an official student at stellnbosch university, have the card to prove it until 2010!! I have had a few classes studying Afrikaans, "hoe gaan dit mit jou!?" and classes in transitional justice, learning all about the history of south africa and other african countries, which has been fascinating, and a real eye opener-there's so much that has gone on, which we've been completely oblivious to on our little island. The first weekend here i went on a tour of the Garden Route, this was amazing! We were offered the chance to go by one of our drivers, Calvin, who drives us to some of our volunteer placements. We went on a coach with Calvin and all his family and friends ( all black- i say this beacuse due to the history of SA and the tensions which still exist here, especially in Stellenbosch, it is very unusual for white people to socialise like this with black or 'coloured' people- crazzzy!) , 3 of us GAP students decided to go... we had such a good time, visited the Addo Elephant Park- saw some elephants, wilderbeast, warthogs, antilope, giant tortoises and ohh dung beatles! and had a spectacular Braai (BBQ) after! took a old fashioned steam train through the mountains, visited places such as jeffery's Bay, mossel bay and other beautiful sights along the way! made some really good friends on the trip too, Calvin said 'you are one of the family' at the end of the trip! I met a really nice guy called Ashley on the trip who i regularly hang out with as he also lives in Stellenbosch which is nice as i have visited the beach, been to several wild parties and he is also taking me to cape Town to explore sometime too! a good contact to have! I've also taken part in a date-auction where some of the international students 'sold themselves' to go on a date, to raise money for a local township where we help out. Although twoof Ashley's friends who are in the SA police like he used to be, were shot and killed there (policemen), on that subject, Asley used to be in SA force before being shot twice in the arm!. Obviously a major issue here is that it is unvbelievably racist, Ashley in particular has really opened our eyes to the racism which exists in Stellenbosch. This is a particularly bad part of South Africa, as the university established itself as an Afrikaans university, the language of which was created to exclude the blacks originally. It is a very elitest university, the only one in the country which doesn't have to advertise, and so many of the students are 'up their own arses'! if you like, and really look down and exclude the blacks. So people like Ashley feel they can't go into a white club, and it's true he does get stared at, and equally it is unheard of in his town for a black guy to be with a white girl. All very shocking, and really quite strange for us, as it just isn't like that in the UK. Ok...what else have I been up to?! This weekend Katy and I (new friend out here!) got picked up by a John Wills, who used to go to my college in Cambridge, but who is now living out here in a small country town, in the middle of nowhere called Napier! about 2 hours from here. We stayed in his home, met his mum, stepdad and new adopted baby sister (4 months old!), went to the local pubs, restaurant, went to the beach, collected shells, went up the sand dunes, had some billtong (like beef jerky!) had a fantastic steak dinner, went on the back of a scooter, well, i actually had a go at driving one but Katy was too wossy! then went into cape town, watched the sun set with table mountain in the distance, ate at a rather lovely restaurant, enduldged in oysters! and then went out clubbing with the rich and beautiful! A nice change from the challenges we face with our volunteer work. I do two different volunteer projects mainly, on Tuesdays and Fridays i work at a place called Macassar heaven, whioch is a shelter for children that have been abused, quite often sexually abused. there are 14 kids there in total... lovely kids in need of love and attention! but hard work also, i have been doing fun activities such as cookie baking, pasta shell jewelry and mnay other exciting tasks to keep them ocupied!This week they have recieved two new born babies that were abondoned by their mother who were HIV positive- a disease that affects so many here! I've been enjoying being an drama teacher for one day a week -Thursdays, pretty mad we just get left along with these kids, all responsibility on us, but no previous experience or training. Just would NEVER happen in England!! The kids are great, so much more respect for the teacher (aka me! haha) than you would find in england, behaviour problems are so minimal here! Although trying to teach them is certainly amusing and challenging! There are other projects that I didnt get to do due to numbers such as Cotlands Hospice- this is mainly for babies that are very very sick, alot of them have AIDS or TB etc. I think this project would be most distressing to take part in as some babies do not live for long there, and appear to suffer greatly from these diseases! When we went on a site visit there it was most distressing to see such innocent babies experiencing such horrible things! There is also a project called 'Little Angels' which is with disabled and mentally disabled kids. kids there have a range of problems, from brain damage to cerbyl pausey to downs syndrome, spinal prblems, fluid on the brain etc many have a combo of such problems! its really sad to see, one of two appear to be 'living vegatables' and they have no body movement, eyesight or hearing and struggle to breath! all these experiences make me apriciate how lucky i am to be healthy and lead the life i do! I'm sure there's a lot more to tell but can't think of anything right now, and quite need a nap after getting back at 3.30 this morning and having to get up for class! Hope you're all well, i hope to upload photos on here very soon so stay tuned! lots of love, miss you all, take care xxxx ps. excuse spelling and poor grammer- this was written at great speed!