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Our trip to South Africa was filled with funny, serious, intense, challenging, exciting moments...everything I could have possibly gained from this Global Seminar was achieved and surpassed. So many simple things I will miss and remember, so lets reflect everyone :)

-Walking to pick n' pay to get grocceries (for most that ended up being everyday!)
-Having iced coffee in the morning after realizing that it wasn't...ok really wasn't....tasteful drinkning it just black.
-House 7's small kitchen table that was filled with all of us every morning
-Being blessed to get an AMAZING view of Table Mountain every morning, I mean who honestly gets to wake up walk down their driveway and look at a mountain in the distance everyday. That's a blessing that never got old
-Derek is quite sassy! haha (along with Greg....ok and I guess me a little bit!)
-Ellen won the Mortal Combat fight against Derek
-The sun here is seriously no joke...one minute you are soaking it all in the next your stomache looks like a tomatoe
-The vans here are made for 12 but I'd say can seat 20
-Imagine 20 people in the van first....then 20 people singing in the van together (we were quite musical during the trip)
-Every topic can somehow come back to Justin Bieber :) haha
-Apparently I was called a rabbit since I can eat raw veggies plain?
-The exit signs in South Africa are a picture guy running...clearly you need to be in a rush when you leave a premisis
-Aquello and Bonaqua water = pop....best sparkling water ever
- Interstudy people are amazing!
- We had awesome van drivers (especially Brown sugar with his strobe light!)
- Delta 4.....enough said..so glad they joined us in Cape Town eventually
-Charles from Interstudy had some phrases we all will be using back at the states....so don't think its too weird if we say things like "Doooooootz, my girl, my man, chyaaa, and you're on point" along with common phrases like "Howz it? cheers, and pleasure"
-You really can go three weeks on a trip without having your Smartphone attached to your hip
-I am going to miss playing snake on the nokia phone we were given
-Kelly can make awesome animal noises
-Ellen would be happy to show you her gun dance anytime
-Having free wii fi at one of the houses made it quite a hot comodity at night for facebook, emailing and skype.
-Lemons here are actually green, not yellow
-Anthony, Greg and Nate love their drums they bought here and are quite talented at playing them
- Noodles and toast become quite a common meal choice...cooking extravagent meals was too much work!
- The fresh fruit was so so so so so so so so so so so yummy!!
- Megan can't handle a toaster...she'll put a cheesy mini pizza in one. That didn't go over too well
- Due to matching outfits one day, Derek, Aurora and I called ourselves "the family"
-Traveling for 24 hours to get to our destination was definately worth it
-Joe Bergs is the best place ever
- Charissa's famous quotes...."RESPECT YOURSELF" and of course "LOOK AT YOUR LIFFFFFFFE"
-South African people can dance and sing extrememly well..they are so musically talented
-Once Christina starts crying...everyone will follow
-Mini buses aren't as intimidating and scary as they seem....."Cape Town??"
-All members of this group brought forth inspiration, reflections and experiences that I have learned from
-Who knew it would be so hard to say goodbye
- I will be back in Cape Town again someday
- I am proud to say I beleive we formed our own community. We shared vulnerabilities, hurt, frustration together along with extreme happiness and excitement
-I wouldn't have changed anything about this trip...I was extremely blessed and fortunate to have gotten the chance to get to know these people and share such a powerful and impacting experience with them

Thank you to everyone who was apart of this trip with me...Nate you did such a fantastic job at putting this together and I am so grateful.
sooo....whens the first reunion???? :) I miss everyone already and know that what happened these past three weeks is something I have grown from and will impact the person I evolve into.

-Emily Holland

p.s. Comment any other things I forgot from the trip that are memorable!

wow...I can't even process still what has been happening these past couple days. A lot of things have slapped me strait in the face. It is hard for me to descibe the complete transition between dancing with this kids during our service learning project with MaAfrika to visually seeing where this happy, care-free children live. I am having a difficult time grasping how they are able to fufill and obtain such a lifestyle that is clearly extreme poverty. Many will get the chance to see pictures yet physically being present in the situation is what left my body feeling numb. I feel like I have heard many times the challenges these people face each day yet when you are first hand witnessing it so many more emotions of astonishment and feelings of powerlessness come forth.
I came on this trip expecting to be challenged and presented with moments that I would want to ignore and brush off....and I've learned that I am doing more than just witnessing how these people live their lives. I am interacting with these people and in return learning from them. I will admit initially, and even still a little bit now, I feel like an intrudor. However, I have been able to be around the people and they are constantly smiling, greeting without judgement, and openly telling their stories. Being willing to express and be grateful for what they are given is such a powerful characteristic that I to this day need practice with. The kids I was around today brought a sense of euphoria I feel has been contained in my past due to fear of judgement. They provided me with an environment full of willingness to be around me even though I was unfamiliar to them....I realized you can learn so much for kids. They are so blunt, straightforward and sociable without worrying about how others would view their opinion. It was so funny to have a girl come up to me and ask why my skin was faling off! I had been peeling on my shoulder from the sun and a simple question she didn't need to think twice about or contimplate beforehand..sometimes you just need to be genuine and real and I'm beginning to develop that personality trait around these kids.
There are so many things I could go on discussing about what has been going on these past few days yet I am finding it extremely challenging to articulate what I am trying to say. I think there is still much self processing I need to do to truely reflect upon my time here. I am so thankful for being allowed to be a part of something so influencial even though it is so incredibly challenging at the same time.

What a great way to start off 2011..storming into a South African club 25 people deep, singing Dynamite, owning the place and as a group connecting and experiencing such a unique opportunity. All of us we didn't think would have imagined our study abroad experience to look like this so far. We created our own community, something extremely emphasized here, in such a short period of time. We had our own lived- experience on New Years living in the moment and realizing and reflecting upon this bodily experience later.
It was such a positive thing when all of us celebrated an important and emphasized holiday without our family and outside our element in a completely foreign environment. It was during New Years we felt like we shared these discomforts together. It felt as if we were just going with whatever was to come and enjoying eachothers company. We realized that we wouldn't have come together like this if this trip hadn't been put in place. That night all of us branched out of our comfort zones, let loose and allowed ourselves to enjoy the moment we were given! And believe us when we say South Africans can celebrate New Years!
Throughout the night we were our own community, watching out for one another and really feeling like guards were let down. Each day some more of our genuine selves are exposed to one another and that just draws and brings us closer together for as we learned a true community is built through the vulnerabilities and honesty within one another. We cannot wait to continue to celebrate our happines, but also show empathy for ones vulnerabilities, and admiration in the strength for openess. Bring on 2011 because we goin' light it up like its dynamite!!!
Aurora and Emily
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpGgBYeOgi0

yay yay yay so excited that finally the rest of the crew made it. so happy also that I get to celebrate New Years with this group of people and it doesn't hurt to experience it in some nice weather also :)):) Today was super sunny and clearly the heat was more intense than I anticipated...I burned quite a bit but hey some sun is better than none! I was fortunate enough to experience my first train ride and get to dip my feet in the Indian Ocean for the first time also.
I am so thankful that the people I am with have grown so close in such a short period of time...it is amazing how much we have bonded in merely two days together. Through them I have realized that I wasn't the only person experiencing and witnessing the initial discomfort and they helped me represent myself in a more outgoing manner. Rather than being timid, softspoken and extremely self conscious, I evolved slowly into a more comfortable sociable person. It made me realize that you can't always seek to escape when uncomfortable situations arise. Often you learn that within time and allowing yourself to push through the initial stress, you find a fufilling experience that you would have missed if you stopped at the first sign of fear. So far I've learned that beyond the tough stuff lies something even more personal and obtainable...something that truely will connect you with the environment you are in. Doing this created the reassurance that stepping outside what I thought was my threshold actually opened up a new level of engagement and opportunity with people who in actuality I didn't think I connected with. When you allow yourself to find a connection with others, more than never you will notice that you can relate to them in more ways than you anticipated. People in South Africa are different to Americans in many ways, yet they are similar in many as well.
One differentiation that continues to amuse me and more than ever astonish me is how they feel about themselves. Growing up in a culture with such emphasis on weight, appearance and health, I came to South Africa to observe their habits around this area. What I can conclude from these past two days is that they are who they are and from what I have seen their appearance is literally one of the least of their worries. I'll admit when I first got to my house, I had somewhat of a freak out when I realized I had packed the wrong adaptor and had to wait until the next day to get one....for now how was I going to do my hair if we went out! My thought process is still initially emphasizing on how I look. I took a walk outside and thought everyone was staring at me because I had no makeup on and didn't get the chance to do my hair since I didn't have a plug in......in actuality people have their own stuff to worry about and odds are I'm not being judged for how I look. Throughout the rest of this trip, I want to hold on to that realization and think about what really matters in life. For some of these people don't think about blow drying and straightening their hair in the morning and don't treat someone differently or give them less attention if they don't focus solely on their appearance.
I hope to continue to keep this insight with me throughout the rest of the trip and can't wait to grow closer to my other group members and the culture of South Africa. sending love from the south african sunshine!

Happy Holidays to everyone! Quite odd that I am up this early in the morning...I must either be extremely excited for Christmas or cannot wait to explore the rich history and culture of South Africa. Over break I have been able to reflect a lot about what this opportunity will be like for me. After spending most of my life engulfed in American culture and restricted by my own limits and expectations, I realize now this pattern of thinking was devloping me into a person who didn't dare step outside her comfort zone into an area of unknown.
The past year of my life was an opportunity for me to learn more about myself and what developed me into an indivual with extremely high standards and thought processes that lacked a grey area. I want to use this experience to my advantage and continue to explore who I am as an individual.
South Africa has their own interpretation and definition of a community, beleiving that what one does affects not solely themselves but also everyone else. In the past I was harming myself with my words and in return harming others around me. I want to learn what life is like in a community with such an emphasis on how ones actions can effect an entire community. I view this as an opportunity for me to reflect what they believe into my own life and my own past experiences.
Throughout our prior orientations, I have come to the realization that our group is going to be discussing certain topics that are extremely sensitive and uncomfortable. However, it is these moments that help us grow not only individually but also as a community. That is what I believe makes the country of South Africa so unique and appreciative of what they have. They listen to each others stories and by learning about one another, a strong, personal relationship is formed. I felt that way when our group shared our stories during an orientaion meeting. Sure you may feel vulnerable and exposed in the beginning yet the support and appreciation you receive after by far surpass the small moment of embarassment.
I cannot wait to spend three weeks with such a wonderful group of people. I anticipate challenges, growth and such unique experiences for all of us. I am blessed to have been given this opportunity to meet these people who I am venturing across the country with ready to take on all that South Africa has to offer! Only 2 days left. I am ready to step outside my comfort zone for I beleive this is an appropriate time, location and support group to do so with. whoooo hoo! :)
Emily