My experience thus far has amazing and I'm not sure where to begin or how to describe everything I have done and encountered. Arriving in Cape Town, South Africa was wonderful for 2 reasons; I no longer had to sit through 12 hour plane rides and I was finally in the place where I would be studying, learning, and interacting with the people of South Africa. I definitely had some culture shock when I went to the grocery store for the first time and had to try and figure out their form of currency. Another frustrating element is trying to charge all of my electronics. No adapters or converters I bought have worked so I've had to spend more money buying converters and adapters here (so not ideal).
One thing I was expecting was the vast similarities between here and the United States. They love KFC here. There's one on every corner! Also, the food is not to different from what I'm use to eating. I have enjoyed the cuisine here I must say! (Although for all of you who know me, they like coke here. Not a Pepsi friendly place!)
The first full day we was here we all went exploring around the neighborhood where we are staying and visited the beach. This involved taking the train for the first time (very similar to the light rail at home). We all were taking pictures when a man came up to us and told us that security would confiscate our cameras if they saw us using them...kind of weird, but we all put them away quickly! While on the bus a jazz band hoped on and starting playing. This was really fun and everyone enjoyed listening to the live music while on the train. Getting to the beach was such a wonderful experience because we were at the Indian Ocean. Such a pretty sight to see!
The next day we took a sight seeing tour of Cape Town. This was very cool because not only did I see the city, but I got to sit on a double decker bus which was AWESOME!! While on the bus tour the highlights for me were driving up table top mountain which had such breath taking views of the city and ocean. The highlight of this trip though was stopping and Camps bay for lunch. Here we saw the Atlantic Ocean. We all ate lunch at a café that overlooked the beach. So cool! I also got my first South African tan lines!!
One thing I am still anticipating is to see a baboon. Many locals talk about how they see them all the time, but I have yet to see one! (Expect a blog entry and picture when I see my first one ☺!)
